Thank you, Joy. How long is the
office going to let you stay here? Good morning. I'm hoping that. The information
that we're getting on this coronavirus is going to continue in the direction
that it's going, and we'll be able to. drop the masks soon. In the meantime, we'll let caution
be our guide. The pews are taped off. If you
could kind of figure out, look behind you. If you've got
blue tape behind you, just scoot over a little bit. That'll help
with folks in front of you. If you haven't seen the new building
yet, all the drywall is up and they're supposed to mud it this
week. So I know you'll be excited to go in and see it. And these
actually are the new doors for the front door. That's frame
over there. So hopefully that'll be going
in also this week. So starting to starting to take
shape. Jeremiah chapter 21 verse 8.
You don't have to look this up. Just one verse and unto this
people thou shalt say thus saith the Lord behold. I set before
you. The way of life. And the way
of death. I set before you the way of life. And the way of death. The Lord
Jesus himself is the way of life. And everything outside of him.
is the way of death. Might he be pleased to enable
us to look to Christ and rest in Christ and have hope of eternal
life. Let's stand together. Tom, you're
going to come and lead us in the hymn on the back of your
bulletin. O Lord, our Lord, how wondrous
great is Thine exalted name! The glories of Thy heavenly state
let men and babes proclaim! When I behold thy works on high,
The moon that rules the night, And stars that well adorn the
sky, Those moving worlds of light, Lord, what is man, or all his
race, who dwells so far below, that you should visit him with
grace and love his nature so? that thine eternal son should
bear to take a mortal form made lower than his angels are to
save a dying worm. Please be seated. Good morning. Our call to worship
will be found in Psalm 51. Psalm 51. It's my prayer for me and for you
that as we read this, the Lord would be pleased by his spirit
to give us faith and repentance this morning. Psalm 51 verse
one. Lord, have mercy upon me, O God. According to thy loving kindness,
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Oh, wash me thoroughly from mine
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge, I
confess, my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against
thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me. and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and
blot out all mine iniquities. Oh, create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from
thy presence. Take not thy Holy Spirit from
me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. and uphold me
with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors
thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver
me from blood guiltness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and
my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open
thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou
desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest
not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise. Do good and thy good pleasure
unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem,
then shall thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
with burnt offering and whole burnt offering, then shall they
offer bullocks upon thy altar. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, our God, we are thankful
that you are a God of mercy, a God that delights to show mercy
gives grace to those, Lord, who view broken and given a contrite
heart and spirit. That's our prayer this morning,
as you did the first hour, reminding us, Lord, that thou art holy
and sovereign, and you are the only God worthy of worship. Thankful,
Lord, for bringing us here this morning to hear that. And we
anticipate again, Lord, what you're about to say to us again
this next hour. To our dear brother, your gospel
preacher, pray again that you would give him the boldness.
Lord, give him the ability and freedom to your spirit. Lord,
forgive us. Pray that you would continue
to feed us and teach us. Give us the ears now to hear,
eyes to see. Lord, that we may leave here
rejoicing once again in thy righteousness, thy gospel, thy salvation, thy
mercy. For we ask all these things into
one that is above all, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number three from your Spiral Gospel
Hymns hymnal. Number three. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant
mercy I sing, nor fear with thy righteousness on my person and
offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God
with me can have nothing to do, ? My Savior's obedience and blood
? Hide all my transgressions from view ? The work which His
goodness began ? The arm of His strength will complete ? His
promises yea and amen ? And never was forfeited yet Things future
nor things that are now, Not all things below nor above, Can
make him his purpose forego, Or sever my soul from his love. My name from the palm of His
hands Eternity will not erase. Impressed on His heart it remains
In marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure,
as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure,
the glorified spirits in heaven. Please be seated. If you want to read along, this
is number five in the Spiral Hymnal. Come ye sinners poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you. Full of mercy, joined with power,
He is able He is able He is willing Doubt no more Come, ye needy Come and welcome
God's free bounty Glorify True belief and true repentance Every
grace that draws us not Without money, without money Come to
Jesus Christ and buy Let not conscience make you linger
Nor of fitness fondly dream All the fitness he requireth Is to
have great need of him This he gives you, this he gives you,
tis the Spirit's rising beam. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised
and broken by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
it's sinners Jesus came to call. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
sinners Jesus came to call. This is a faithful saying. And
worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief. The Lord himself said, I did
not come. The well need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Acts chapter 4? Pray this morning. The Lord will first of all make
us to be sinners. Because centers are the only
ones he saves. But the good news is he saves everyone. Every single
one. The only reason the person is
not saved. Is because. They're not a center. I've titled this message, What
and Why Do We Speak? What and Why Do We Speak? The apostles after the ascension
of our Lord were preaching the gospel. And they were apprehended and
put in custody. and threatened by the religious
leaders of the day to not speak in this name anymore. To which they responded, you've
got to decide for yourself what you think is right. As far as
we're concerned, all we can do is obey God. Let's read these
verses together as I've just paraphrased them. Verse 14 of
Acts chapter 4. and beholding the man which was
healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council,
they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do to these
men? For that indeed a notable miracle
hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it. Now I
want you to notice, when they threatened them, they don't threaten
them to quit performing miracles, they threaten them to quit speaking,
quit preaching the gospel. But that it spread no further
among the people. Let us straightway threaten them
that they speak henceforth no more, that they speak henceforth
to no man in this name. And they called them and commanded
them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. That was the offense. The offense
was the preaching of the gospel. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. You decide whether
or not you think we ought to obey you or whether we ought
to obey God. For we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard." Peter said, we handled the word
of life. We did not bring to you cunningly
devised fables. This is not the opinion of a
man we saw and we heard from the very son of God. And we can
do nothing but what he's commanded us to do, preach his gospel. Verse 21, so when they had further
threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they
might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified
God for what was done. And the man was above 40 years
old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. And being let go,
they went to their own company and reported all that the chief
priests and the elders had said unto them. And when they heard
that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, thou art God, which hath made heaven and earth and the
sea and all that is in them. That's a good way to start with
prayer. Affirming the sovereign created power of our God. He created and he sustains all
things by his power. verse 25, who by the mouth of
thy servant, David hath said, why did the heathen rage? And
the people imagine a vain thing, you know, that's from Psalm two.
And so the Lord is interpreting Psalm two, um, in light of what
these Pharisees are doing. They just calling them heathens.
Uh, they were the religious leaders of the day, but they didn't believe
the gospel, which made them heathens. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ, against his anointed one. For of a truth
against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. Everything that happened,
happened according to the determinate counsel of God. Man acting in
his wicked will against God was ordained by God. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings,
and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak
thy word by stretching forth thy hand to heal, and that signs
and wonders may be done in the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the
place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word
of God with boldness. What and why do we speak? Now someone's thinking, well,
you know, I, I just don't feel like I'm very good at speaking
to people about Christ. A couple of things I want to
say about that. First of all, As we grow in grace
and in the knowledge of Christ, the Lord gives us more and more
knowledge to share and more truth that we can share because of
the compassion that God's put into our hearts for our loved
ones and for our friends that we we want to share. And the Lord gives opportunities
to share. But in my experience. In my experience,
the vast, vast majority of those opportunities are for my benefit,
not theirs. So as the Lord opens doors of
opportunity and gives you the ability to speak, know that more times than not,
that will be given to you more for you. than for them. Truth is that the Lord's pleased
to save through preaching. And if they come and they hear
the gospel and God shuts their mouths and opens their hearts,
then they'll be saved. But rarely does that happen in
a one-on-one conversation. The second thing I want to say
is that this matter of speaking, what and why do we speak, is
not something that one man does. If you are part of the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're part of that voice. You are participating
in the preaching of the gospel as you pray for the the opportunities
for the gospel to go out. As you participate in the hearing
of the gospel, as you support the ministry of the gospel, you
are part of that voice. So this voice is not the voice
of one or two individuals. This is the voice of the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, declaring the truth that they have been
made to believe. The scripture says that the church
is the pillar and the ground of the truth. So yes, God may
call and gift certain individuals to speak more ably than you,
but that doesn't mean that your voice is not joined in with the
voice of the church declaring the gospel in whatever means
the Lord provides. You shall be my witnesses. In Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria
and unto the uttermost parts of the world, the gospel goes
out through the call that's issued forth through the church. What do we speak? Well, turn
with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. We speak the
same thing that Peter and John were speaking when they
were arrested. We're speaking of Christ. We're preaching the
Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1, look with me
at verse 17. Paul said, for Christ sent me
not to baptize. And he's not diminishing the
importance of baptism. He's just saying, I'll leave
that to the pastors of the church to take care of that. Paul was
a missionary. that God sent out to preach the
gospel. And so he said, for Christ sent
me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but to us which are saved, it
is the power of God. What do we preach? We preach
Christ and Him crucified. We preach His person and we preach
His accomplished work. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." What do we
do? We preach the gospel. We're not
here to tell interesting stories. We're not here to enlighten people
on history. We're here to lift up Christ.
The Lord Jesus said, and I If I be lifted up, will draw all
men to me. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And
when Paul referred to the church as the pillar and the ground
of the truth, what does the foundation and the walls of a building do?
They hold up the roof, don't they? They hold up the roof. That's the most important part,
isn't it? That's the part that protects us from the elements
of the world, isn't it? And the church is holding up
as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. The church
is the pillar and the ground of the truth. Look at verse 23,
but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jew a stumbling block. The Jew represents the religious.
The preaching of the cross is to the religious a stumbling
block. Why? He's the stone which the
builders rejected, which God made to be the head of the corner.
The stumbling stone that's been thrown out in the yard, the religious
can't deal with it because he doesn't fit into their structure.
The religious structure is a structure of works. The gospel is a message
of grace and the Lord Jesus doesn't fit into that. So to the Jew
or to the religious, he is a stumbling block. And then to the Jew unto
the Greeks, the worldly wise, the irreligious, it's just foolishness. What y'all are doing is just
foolishness. Don't you know that life is, is, uh, what's to be
enjoyed in this world. Why are you putting so much interest
in, in this matter of your soul and your matter of eternal life
and matter of God and matter of Christ. What's the, what's
the point of it all. What's the point of it all. It's
just foolishness to them. I was talking to a man who was
mocking me. And, uh, and the gospel, very,
very irreligious man, nice guy, but very irreligious. And he
said, you just out save the world. Foolishness, but unto them, which are called,
see, you have to be called in order for this gospel to be precious
to you, but to them, which are called both Jew and Greeks. Most of
God's people, the Lord took them through some form of religion
before he, before he called them to himself, but not all of them. Some are brought out of an irreligious
background unto them, which are called both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. The power of God and the wisdom
of God is in the message that we preach. Now, they were threatened
not to preach any more in this name. The name that we preach
is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the sovereign,
successful savior of sinners. That's who we preach. We preach
who He is. He's the Creator and Sustainer
of all of life. He is the Holy One of Israel. He is the Eternal Word of God. He's the One in whom we live. and move and have our being. And outside of Christ, we have
no life. He is the resurrection and the
life. That's who we preach. Without
Christ, there's no hope of life after death. Eat, drink, and
be merry, for tomorrow you shall die. Just indulge yourself in
the things of this world. There's no hope outside of Christ.
He's the bread of life. There's no sustenance for a sinner's
soul. other than the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for sinners. He's the light of
the world. We walk in darkness until he
opens the eyes of our understanding and reveals to us the truth of
who God is and who we are and how it is that God's pleased
to save sinners through the sacrifice of his son. We preach Christ. I've been, I mean, you know,
you just, y'all just preach the same thing over and over again.
And they intended as a, as a, as a slam, you know, it's such
an insult. It's our badge of honor, isn't
it? It's what God's called us to do, to lift up the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who they were preaching.
And that's who they were forbidden to speak of anymore. Turn to me to 2 Timothy chapter
four. You familiar with this passage?
2 Timothy chapter 4. Well, look
at verse 16 in chapter 3, because this is where we get the message
of Christ. We just preach the scriptures.
Just tell me what, tell me what God says. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is profitable. It is profitable
to the soul of a sinner. All the word of God is profitable,
is profitable for doctrine. Doctrine's important because
doctrine points us to Christ. If a doctrine doesn't point us
to Christ, it's of no value. It's profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
that the man of God may be perfect. That's what God requires, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. I charge thee therefore before
God. Now the Apostle Paul is writing
to Timothy, but God's speaking to me and he's speaking to his
church. I charge thee before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead.
Now the word quick means living. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ is going to stand judgment of the living and the dead. He's
going to present Himself for the living and the dead will
be judged by the law. At His appearing and His kingdom,
what is He charging us to do? Preach the Word. The whole Word. Preach the Word. Be instant,
in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long-suffering. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own loss, they
shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Somebody told me recently that
me and Joel Osteen are their two favorite preachers. And they listen regular. You see why it's important for
us to preach the gospel? This is the word of God. The
word of God endureth forever and this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. So, what do we speak? We speak
the same thing those apostles were speaking when they were
arrested and threatened. We speak of Christ. We speak
of who he is and we speak of what he has accomplished. And he accomplished what he accomplished
because he is who he is. Only he was able to satisfy the
demands of God's justice. Only he was able to lay down
his sinless life. God made him sin for us who knew
no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, the
son of God, the one who's holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate
from sinners, higher than the heavens, only he was able to
do that. And that's exactly what he did.
And we preach Christ. Why? Why? Well, first and foremost,
because we're commanded to do so. We're commanded to do so. What did the apostles say in
response to their threat? You guys are religious, you say
you know God, you decide for yourself. God's told us one thing
and you're telling us something else. Who do we obey? It was a rhetorical question,
wasn't it? We know who we're gonna obey.
We're going to obey God. We preach the gospel because
he has commanded us to preach the gospel. The Lord said, as
he departed from this earth, all power has been given unto
me in heaven and in earth. Therefore, therefore, go and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I've commanded you, and lo, I'm with you always. And when he ascended from the
Mount of Olives, he told those disciples, you go back to Jerusalem
and you wait for the Holy Ghost to come upon you. And when he
does, you're going to be my witnesses. You're going to be preaching
the gospel. Now, turn to me to Romans chapter
13, because I think in light of some of the things that we're
going through, particularly in our current circumstances,
Whether we're thinking about the coronavirus or whether we're
thinking about the riots that are taking place, there's something
that believers need to understand. And that is these disciples were
disobeying the governing authorities. Why? Because the governing authorities
were telling them not to do something that God said do. The only time civil disobedience
is authorized by God is if the governing authorities command
that you do something that God says don't do, or they command
that you don't do something that God says do. And if you have
to disobey the civil authorities in light of that, in order to
be faithful to God, be prepared to suffer the consequences. Because
there will be consequences for it. So be prepared for that. Now look what God says about
this matter of civil authority. Romans chapter 13 verse 1, let
every soul Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, and the
powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the powers, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise
of the same. For he is the minister of God
to thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword
in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute
wrath upon all them that doeth evil. What's the Lord saying? Well, it's clear, isn't it? You
disobey the governing authorities, you're disobeying God. He's the
one that put them there. Now, fortunately, you know, You
read the New Testament, the New Testament believers lived under
the most horrendous governing authorities. I mean, it was awful. And yet you hear of nothing in
any of the epistles where the church is called to stand in
civil disobedience to the authorities of the day. No, you just preach
the gospel. And if they tell you not to preach
the gospel, preach the gospel. and be ready to suffer the consequences.
They'll kill you for it. And they did. They did. But anything else they tell you
to do, if it doesn't violate what God said not to do, you
obey. You obey. God put them there. Now, I think that's a word that
need to be heard in light of our current circumstances, because
our civil authorities are, I think, doing the best they can. You
know, there's a lot of people get upset about
a lot of things that our president says. And you know that I've
never used this pulpit for political purposes and don't intend to
do it now. But I want to share something that made me fear God. More than anything I've ever
heard, I support our prayer. I'm thankful that we have the
governing authorities we have. But the other day, I heard him
say, in trying to encourage the Americans to, you know, to get
out of this thing, he said, we Americans are the captains of
our own fate. And I thought, oh, Lord, Lord,
forgive him. What? What more? I mean, if what we're going through
hasn't shown us that we're not the captain of our own fate,
what more would God have to do to show us that we're not the
captains of our own fate? Or don't don't don't don't punish
us for that. And then I thought, well, you
know, that's pretty much, the fact that the President of the
United States actually voiced it is what caused me to fear
God. I mean, I feared God in that moment worse than anything
I've ever heard him say. Why do we speak? We speak because God has commanded
us to speak. Secondly, Jeremiah chapter 20,
will you turn with me there? I thought after that, I lost
my train of thought there for a moment, I'm sorry. I thought
after that, I thought, well, you know, he just voiced what
everybody else believes. that we are the captain of our
own fate, particularly when it comes to our salvation. Men believe,
other than believers, everybody else believes that they are the
captain of their own fate when it comes to the salvation of
their souls. There's something that they have to do in order
to make what God has offered work for them. And so they become
the captain of their own fate. That's just the general opinion
of the world. In other words, when the president
said that, nobody thought anything about it. But doesn't that cause
you to cringe for our president to stand up and say, we're the
captain of our fate in the midst of what we're going through and
think, Lord, don't do more to make us see that we're not the... You have your Bibles open to
Jeremiah chapter 20. The second reason that we preach Christ
regardless of and in spite of whatever else might be happening
we continue to preach Christ and the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ the only place where that message is heard. Now we hear
it outside the church. Jeremiah chapter 20 look at verse
8 Oh Lord thou hast deceived me I was deceived thou art stronger
than I and has prevailed. I am in derision daily. Everyone
mocketh me." Now anybody who's tried to preach the gospel understands
what Jeremiah is saying. To be discouraged in the lack
of response in preaching the gospel and being ready to quit. For since I spake, I cried out,
I cried violence and spoil because the word of the Lord was made
a reproach unto me and a derision daily. They reproached me and
derided me because of what I preached and what I believed. Then said
I. I will not make mention of him.
I'll just shut up. I'll just quit preaching. Nor
speak anymore in his name. Nobody believes what I'm saying.
But. His word was in my heart as a
burning fire shut up in my bones. And I was weary with forbearing
and I could not stay. That's not just for the preacher.
That's for every child of God, child of God. How many times
have you gotten so discouraged? Oh, you know, I'm just going
to quit on this. It's just, and then the Lord
wouldn't let you. His word burned like a fire in
your bones. You're like those disciples coming
back from the road to Emmaus when after the Lord appeared
to them in Luke chapter 24. And what'd they say? Oh, did
not our hearts burn within us as he spake with us along the
way? And what'd they do? And immediately
they went back to Jerusalem to report to the disciples what
they had seen and what they had heard. They went back and preached
the gospel. He's risen. He's risen. I can't
keep it quiet. Why do we preach? Number one,
we preach because we're commanded to preach. We preach Christ because
we're commanded to preach. Number two, because we are compelled
by the Spirit of God to declare this gospel. And you are compelled
to be here and to listen to this gospel and to support this message
and this ministry. David said in Psalm 39, my heart
was hot within me while I was musing the fire burned, then
spake I with my tongue. I couldn't keep it in. Couldn't
keep it in. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. We're compelled to speak, aren't
we? We're compelled to be a part of this, this message, this ministry. Thirdly, we preach the gospel
of Christ. Who and why do we preach or do
we speak? These men were forbidden to speak.
We speak of Christ and him crucified and how that he died and was
buried and rose again according to the scriptures. Not that he
did, but why he did. You see, the gospel's in the
why. Not in the that. Everybody that calls them the
2.3 billion people in the world that call themselves Christians
believe that Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 years ago died on a Roman
cross, was put in a grave, and raised from the dead. But they
don't know why he died on the cross. They don't know why he
was put in the grave. They don't know why he was raised
from the dead. And the gospel is in the why. It's in the why. Don't comfort
yourself in thinking that because you believe a historical event
that that makes you a Christian. God has to reveal to you what
was accomplished in that historical event. Christ put away the sins
of his people when he died on Calvary's cross. When he bowed
his head and said, it is finished, it was finished. Everything necessary
for the salvation of God's people was accomplished. God put him
in the grave. buried in our sins, were buried
with Christ in baptism, raised to walk a new life. God raised
him from the dead because God was satisfied and the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the proof that God has given to his
people that everything necessary for their salvation was finished
in Christ. We preach because we're commanded
to preach. We preach because we're compelled
to preach by the spirit of God. We're preached the gospel because
of compassion for the lost. My God, give us more compassion
for the lost. We live in a dying world and
the only hope this world has is to believe Christ. To believe
the gospel. And how can they call upon him
in whom they've not believed? And how can they believe on him
and who they not heard? And how can they hear without
a preacher? We preach out of compassion. For the dying souls
of our lost friends and family members and children and parents. Knowing that Lord, if you don't
give them ears to hear. If you don't save them. If you
don't cause them to believe, They will go to hell. Paul said, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God is that Israel might be saved. My kinsmen,
according to the flesh, we have kinsmen according to the flesh
that aren't saved. They don't know they're not saved.
We know they're not. And nothing causes us to want
them. To hear more than for the salvation of their souls. I hear people say, well, I want
my children to be happy. I wanted to be prosperous. My
children are are doing well. And I say to them. If that's
keeping them from Christ, I pray that God will make a miserable.
I pray they'll become failures. Pray the Lord to make them poor.
That's what it takes. Fourthly, and here's where we
can enter in brethren. We preach Christ crucified for
our own confidence, for our own confidence. The times that you
know more sure than ever that you're a believer is when you're
hearing the gospel. Sometimes the only time I know
for sure that I'm a believer. Lord, is it I? And then I hear
the gospel, and my faith is renewed, and I'm resting my hope in Christ,
and I'm able to rejoice in Him and say, yes, I do believe. I do believe. Therefore, I have
spoken. Look at verses 31 in our text
in Acts chapter 4. Verse 31, and when they had prayed,
the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word
of God with confidence. Remember that word boldness from
last Sunday? It's the word confidence, assurance. They spoke the word
of God with confidence. They knew that this is true.
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and
one soul, neither said any of them that ought of the things
which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common
and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them. Great grace was upon them. That's
why we preach the gospel. You need grace, don't you? You're
a sinner. You need to be saved again and
again and again. You know what I'm talking about.
Once the Lord saves you, but you gotta keep coming, don't
you? You get, we get so entangled with the things of this world
and we, and the fears and troubles of this life grip our hearts. Lord, we preach. Yes, because
we're commanded to. Yes, because we're compelled
to. Yes, out of compassion for our loved ones. But I need it
too. It's my assurance, it's my hope. I've got to hear the gospel. Look at verses 23. In our text, Acts chapter 4,
because this is my last point. And. Sometimes we say last but
not least, this is last but greatest. This is the most important point
of all. We preach the Gospel for the glory of God. For the
glory of God. If we all die and go to hell,
the preaching of the Gospel is for his glory. And in the end
of the day, that's the only thing that matter. Everything he's
doing is for his glory. Everything. Look at verse 23. And being let go, they went to
their own company and reported all that the chief priests and
the elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they
lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord,
thou art God, thou hast made heaven and earth and the sea
and all that is in them, who by the mouth of thy holy servant
David has said, why did the heathen rage? And the people imagine
a vain thing. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
and Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Lord, you did this all for your
glory. God is most glorified at Calvary's cross. It's the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace that brings to him more
glory than anything else. All the attributes of God are
seen at the cross. The mercy of God, the grace of
God, the truth of God, the holiness of God, the love of God, the
righteousness of God, the justice of God. Everything is seen most
clearly and most fully at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we preach this gospel. That God might be glorified.
And we say. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name be glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. You see, brethren, we're doing right now today exactly,
exactly what our brethren did 2000 years ago. Nothing's changed. The world hasn't changed. The
gospel hasn't changed. Faith hasn't changed. Everything's
the same. There's nothing new under the
sun. It's the same. And we've got God's word to affirm
to us. Let's let's pray together, our
heavenly father. By your spirit and by your grace,
we pray that you would give us faith to believe all that you've
said. To rest our hope on by dear son,
for it's in his name we pray. Amen. Number 39, let's file him 39. Yeah. Wretched, lost, condemned, and
dying, Guilty I deserve God's wrath. Long I fought against
my Master, Hell-bent I was courting death. But the blood of Christ
had bought me, He refused to let me die. This poor sinner, loved by Jesus,
Must be conquered by and by. At the time which was predestined
In the covenant of God's grace God in mercy sent His Spirit
Blessed time of love and grace to reveal His Son's great merit
as the sinner's substitute. I saw Jesus bleeding, dying,
suffering as my substitute. Precious blood for sin's atonement. Justice could not ask for more. I heard Christ cry, it is finished. And I could resist no more. Thanks to God for intervening. Grace that broke my stubborn
will. Grace that would not let me perish. Grace that rescued me from hell. Sovereign grace I will proclaim
it Irresistible and free Grace that chose me and redeemed me. God by grace alone saved me. Sinner, now you've heard my story. Now I bid you trust my God. Christ, my all-sufficient Savior,
saves poor sinners by His blood. Amen. Enjoy one more Wednesday, and
that's it.