Let's take a Bible and turn with
me to the book of Titus. Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. I would like to read
this first chapter. Well, I'm going to read through
verse 9. Titus chapter 1, verse 29. The scriptures said Paul was
a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. According to
the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth,
which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God,
that eternal life, promised before the world began, but hath in
due time manifested his word through preaching, which is committed
unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior, to Titus,
by my own Son after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
For this cause let I thee increase, that thou shouldest set in order
the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city
as I have appointed thee." If any be blameless, a husband
of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot
or unruly, or ambitious, must be blameless as the steward of
God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, not
a striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality,
a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, tempered, holding fast
the faithful word that he has been taught, that he may be able
by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. The Apostle Paul, scripture says
forth, left a young man named Titus
in Crete. And Paul said that concerning
Titus, he was his spiritual son. My son, he said. After the common
faith. Not common, meaning just ordinary. Meaning common, that is consistent
with all believers. All believers believe. Same thing. Titus would ordain elders in
every city. Paul had left him there under
the Spirit of God's direction to go around and sign up, recognize. Whenever the Lord is pleased
to raise up men to preach, people, what happens is the church recognizes
that blessing of God. The Lord teaches, I've said this
before, it's amazing to me how simple this is now. I remember
when I read, I was reading Spurgeon's lecture to my students, and he
was talking about the qualifications of a preacher. And you know what
the first qualification was? God teaches him the gospel. First thing that God does when
he raises up a true preacher is teaches him the gospel. He gifts that man. Gives him
a gift to be able to preach. Gives him a desire to want to
preach. called him to be a pastor, gives him a heart to want to
study, to be in a study and want to be there, want to look into
God's Word, to search for truth found in God's scriptures. So
Paul gave Titus instruction concerning the qualifications of a true
preacher. And this is one of the things
that he gave Titus' instructions concerning the men that Titus
would recognize, folks in those cities would recognize, concerning
those that God had called, verse 9 says, holding fast, fast, the
faithful word as he had been taught, and God's preachers are
taught, they're taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine
both to exhort and to convince the game-sayers. Sound doctrine. That's what I
want to preach out this morning. Sound, faithful, truth. That's what it is. Doctrine. Truth. Doctrine. Sound, faithful, You know, I've heard people say,
I just, you know, I don't make too much doctrine. Doctrine is the truth of it. That's what we preach. Sound,
truthful doctrine. Faithful. Faithful. This is a
faithful Savior. Worthy of all acceptation. Jesus Christ is what saved sinners. Why faithful? Because it's the
Word of God. God's Word is faithful. And it's never deceitful. All
other false things that are taught, they're deceptive. There's one
truth. And I know that that's so. There's
one truth. concerning God. Now that's got
to be God Almighty's truth. The Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, the life. It's got to be one way. The Lord
said, I'm it. I began to think, oh man, it's
found doctrine to exhort, that is, to instruct concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's worth it. To exhort, advise,
and instruct concerning the blessed Lord Jesus, and concerning this
sound doctrine to convince the game-sayers. That is, to answer
those that are in error. Now this is what sound doctrine
does. Blessed by Almighty God, Sound
doctrine. Truthful, faithful word. I know this. This is God's Word. This is God's Scriptures. How
do I know this is God's Scriptures? Because God says it is. He says, when did God say that?
Well, that's to find out when the Lord Jesus Christ said that.
What says the Scriptures? The reference to God's Word. The Holy Scriptures. Sound doctrine. This is what the Scriptures say
concerning itself. And you remember this. When I
say these Scriptures, I'm talking about God Himself talking. It's
God's Word. Here's what the Scriptures say.
All Scripture given by inspiration of God. and it's profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, that is conviction, for correction, that
is to build anew, for instruction in righteousness, that is education
in justification. You want to know what God Almighty
has to say about being justified before God? What does the Scripture
say? It is by the grace of God that
Almighty God would give a man or a woman any light whatsoever
in God's scriptures. Sound doctrine. When I say sound
doctrine, I'm saying this, the gospel, the gospel. Whenever the gospel is preached,
truth, that's sound doctrine. Scripture itself says, concerning
out of the mouth of the Apostle Paul. Also, I'm not ashamed of
this. I'm not ashamed of this. Men, men, try to push against
it. I understand. Whenever a sound doctrine is
set forth, this is what you're going to
hear. You're going to hear sound doctrine
woven into every passage in the Word of God. Sound doctrine.
Fundamental truth. Fundamental concept. Precepts. Sound doctrine woven into everything. First service I talked about.
I don't care. We're in Genesis. Come right
over here. We're in Proverbs. Many times
we'll preach out of Proverbs. And I do understand, I understand
that absolutely you can look at the Proverbs and you can see
moral virtues. That's what it says at the top
of my Bible. Moral virtues and their contrary
likeness. Let me tell you this. You go
through the book of Proverbs, you go through Leviticus, you
go through Revelation, you go through any book in the word
of God, and God's behind it. And I'm telling you that if sound
doctrine, if Christ is not preached, if Christ is not set forth, if
Christ is not honored, then you didn't preach the gospel. The
gospel is concerning Jesus Christ. His honor, His glory, His praise,
and all of the other things that men preach, if it's not concerning
the glory of God in Christ, then it wasn't the gospel. When sound doctrines are preached,
foundational truth, what are you going to hear? I asked Gary
to sing that first song that we sang. Concerning the, what
Moose Parks wrote concerning it, when the preacher preaches,
what do we listen for? I think Reverend Moose nailed
it. We listen for God's honor, God's
glory, electing, preserving, saving, keeping, redeeming, grace,
grace. Tell me of God's grace. What
will we hear in any passage you preach out of us? I'm going to
preach this message right here, and I'm listening. I'm listening
to what I'm going to say. And I'm going to ask myself this.
Is this what you do, Martin? When you preach, do you set forth
the foundational truth? The sound doctor truth permeates
wherever you are in the scriptures. This is why. People, when they
hear, unless God gives them ears to hear, this is why they'll
say, you know what, you just don't ever preach anything different,
do you? And I'll say, thank you. Thank you. Here's the first thing
that I know concerning found doctrine, wherever we are. Wherever
you are in the Scriptures, found doctrine is set forth when these
concepts, when these precepts, When these truths are set forth,
here's the first one. Almighty God is sovereign. God is sovereign. He is bound
by no law. He is bound by no law. What do you mean what I'm saying
is God's law is what God declares it to be? God Almighty is truthful to His
Word. His Word is His law. His Word is absolute. He is bound by nothing. He's subject to none. He's influenced
by none. He is absolute, independent. He does as he will in the army
of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. None saved his
hand. None said to him, what doeth
thou? God Almighty's law is what God
says it is. And you can say to him, well,
I just don't think that you're fair. Fair. God is fair. God is fair. When God Almighty
says, I am a just God, there's no free bargaining with God. Almighty God, His law, His word
is what He says it is. Men may argue with Him. I'm telling
you, Almighty God says, my counsel shall stand. He has declared
the end from the beginning and from ancient times to things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I will
do all my pleasure." There was no law that God was
bound to in order to be God. God is sovereign in creation. He spoke, let there be life,
life. Let there be earth, earth. Sovereign. Whenever I stand to
preach, whenever any man stands to preach, here's the thing that
we establish first. In Proverbs, the scripture says
he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. That's just waiting. In salvation, this is what the
scripture says, he's the potter who has the power of the clay
of mankind to make, it's in Romans 9, if you want to look at it.
to make of the same law one vessel under honor that is worthy of
the cross and another vessel under dishonor. The foundational
truth of God's sovereignty is set forth in sound doctrine. Man stands up to preach and if
Almighty God has not set forth as sovereign, I can tell you
this, this message ain't gonna fly. If Almighty God is not set forth,
where is your God, David? David said, Psalm 115,3, Our
God is in the heavens, and He has done whatsoever He has done.
God's God. Here's the second thing,
I know. Psalms doctrine, the Bible, is
God's Word. And by it alone, God reveals
himself in Christ to men. The Scriptures. The Scriptures. I quoted a moment ago, all Scripture
is given by inspiration from God. A doctrine, or a proof,
or correction, or instruction in righteousness, that the man
of God may be perfect, that he is complete, throughly furnished,
that is, equipped fully unto all good works. Whenever we set forth sound doctrine,
faithful truth, God Almighty must be set forth in siren. And
everything we preach must be based on God's Word. I will say this, I've said this
before, when I stand up to preach, if I can't back up what I'm saying
by God's word, if I can't back it up, and men have good measure
to call me out on anything, anything, but I will tell you this, If
what I set forth, what any man sets forth, is established by
the Scriptures, then I'm telling you, no one has a right to question
it. Show anyone that sets forth sound doctrine, by the Scriptures,
where they're wrong. And that man's bound to stand
up and apologize for it, now that's not what God said. But
I'm telling you, We're going to be judged by this Word. This
is God's Word. Sound doctrine. The Holy Scriptures. The Apostle Paul said to Timothy,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
that is in Christ Jesus. It's the Holy Scriptures and
it's revealed by our Lord. John 5, 6, 9, 30. as being they which testify me."
God's Word. God's Scripture. The Scripture
sets forth that the Lord Jesus Christ said that His work, He was in
this earth, He walked on this earth for thirty-three plus years. three and a half years of that
ministry, the Lord spoke John the Baptist by the Spirit of
God. And John, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, says, Behold,
the Lamb of God, take away the sin of the world. And for three plus years, our
Lord's ministry, He walked this earth Concerning his obedience,
he said, I do all, but it's only those things that please my Father.
People saw that. They touched him. John said,
we touched him. We heard him. We witnessed him. John, Peter, Matthew, these apostles, they walked with him, sang with
him, listened to him, heard him. His works, the Scriptures say,
gave habit of his fish. He made blind men see, deaf men
hear, dumb men speak, raised the dead. He walked on water,
five of those two fish fed, sent it up into heaven. Scripture
says, see, that the right hand of God is on the doorway. Soon He'll return. We don't see
Him now. As men did see Him in human flesh,
we don't see Him now. His works bore witness that He
did. Scripture says also that the
Father became witness of Him. On the day of His baptism, on
the Mount of Transfiguration, the Scripture says forth that
the Father set forth This is my beloved son, in whom I am
well pleased, here ye him." The Father spoke of him, the Lord's
works gave evidence of him, but now what do we have concerning
the evidence of his deity? I want you to turn with me to
2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1, verse 16-21, this
is what Almighty God, 2 Peter, Second Peter 1.16 says, For we
have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his magic. Peter said, I saw him. For he
received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came
such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Not only Peter said, we saw him,
witnessed him, saw his deities, saw his works, God spoke of him. This boy, verse 18, which came
down from heaven, we heard it when we were with him in the
Holy Mount. You listen to verse 19. We have
also a more sure word of prophecy, wherein, too, you do well that
you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place
until the day dawn, and the day star rise in your heart, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures But the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy and near of God's faith,
that they were moved by the Holy Ghost, by the Holy Spirit, by
God's Spirit. Let me tell you what we have
now. We don't see Him walking in human
flesh now. He's ascended. The Father spoke
while He was on this earth, at the Mount, at His baptism, this
is my beloved Son. Peter said, we have This inspirational
proof of who he is, found doctrines, these scriptures. When the disciples walked with
him on the road to Emmaus, speaking of the things that had just taken
place, the scriptures said the Lord spoke to them, beginning
at Moses and all the prophets he expanded unto them in all
the scriptures concerning himself. He is God's Word. Made flesh. And the Holy Scriptures, blessed
by the Spirit of God, is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our
path. David said in Psalm 119.99, is
our testimony of my meditation. What does God have to say? Make
much of the Scriptures. Make much. Read God's Word daily. Well, I've got to go to work
early. Well, get up earlier. Don't start your day
tonight. Meet with God first. Meet with
Him first. Before you go to bed, meet with
Him. That much of God's Scripture.
For the foundational truth, the found doctrine, Sound doctrine
is set forth, God is God, and God's Scriptures alone. It's
the foundation of what we preach, what we believe. Alright, what's the Scriptures
have to say concerning sound doctrine? Here's the third point.
It's what Scripture says. Now that's what the scripture says. This absolutely dispels
the lie of a man being able to have a free will. This scripture
right here, listen to this. As it is written, there's none
like Jesus. No, not one. There's none that
understand Him. There's none that speak without
the gospel. They're all going out of the way. They are together
become unprofitable. There's none that do it good. No, not one. Now men say that man has free will. Say God wants to save men. If they'll let God save them,
exercise their free will, that is not what God said. That's
a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. I'm telling you, sound doctrine
is set forth when Almighty God is set forth as sovereign. That
His scriptures is the foundation of what we believe. And these
scriptures set forth that man is absolutely unable to reconcile
himself back to God. He cannot! Why? He's dead! Spiritually dead! Man's depravity permeates the
very fiber of sound doctrine. Man can't do anything. Man will not have any honor in
salvation. Man will have no glory What does
the scripture say concerning man? Man would do nothing but boast.
That's all it does. Man would have nothing
to do but pat himself on the back. I'm telling you, unless
God Almighty intervenes to save a man, unless God puts that man
under the frown of the gospel, The gospel, Paul says in Romans
1, 16, 17, Paul says, I'm not ashamed of him. Unless God is
pleased to put a man under the sound of the gospel. This is
the only message that God's going to save us down the road. I had a man tell me, he said, well
I was saved under the teaching of free will. I said, no you
weren't. No you weren't. How do you know? I said, God says you weren't. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of God. It is the power of God on your
salvation. If any man preaches any other
gospel than that which we preach, there be a curse. Does it matter
what you hear, my dear friend? God says it does. God does. Almighty God must intervene. When sound doctrine is preached,
are never appealed to, to do something for themselves according
to their own ability. When they met Philippian James,
he said, what must I do to be saved? Paul told him, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the scripture says it's given
unto you to believe. You can't believe yourself. No,
you can't. No, you can't. Show me in the scriptures where
it says you can. You're not going to find it, I'm going to tell
you right now. I'll save you the time. Try it. Try it. I remember the first
time I heard this message right here, I stood out to disprove
it. That can't be. That can't be. Sure that can't
be. And the more I looked, I remember
making this statement. This truth of God's electing,
preserving, saving grace permeates these scriptures everywhere. And I have never seen it. Here's the fourth thing I know. The salvation of any sinner is founded upon
God's mercy and God's compassion. toward those that He's pleased
to show us. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy.
A sound doctrine set forth that Almighty God is pleased to show
mercy to whomsoever He will. I know that the men will get
flabbergasted, the preachers that preach that. Let me ask
you this, where did the preachers that preach it get it? There's my question. Who are
you mad at? Who are you mad at? You're mad
at Nathan because he stands up and praises him? You're mad at
me? These men that read these scriptures,
make these comments, who said it? Almighty God is the one that
says it. Paul, under the inspiration of
God's Spirit, 2 Thessalonians 2.13, how many times did I read
this? We're bound? to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief in the truth. God Almighty says, I choose,
I show mercy, I show compassion to whomsoever I will. This is
what it says. He did this according to the
good pleasure of His will. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the velocity." This is what Romans 11, I quoted
this in the first message, I'll read it for you. This is what
Romans 11, 5 says, according, there is a remnant, according
to the election of grace. Romans 11, 5, the basis of what
we preach. And here we can stand confident
and stand assured, this is what God has to say. And let men say
what they will, let God be true, every man is a liar. Romans 9.29, except the
Lord has said, oh, and left us a seed. We have been in Sodom
and been like unto Gomorrah. Sound gospel, God's sovereign. The Scriptures is a foundation
of what we know and believe. Man is totally unable. God Almighty chooses to show
mercy to whomsoever He will. Men can stand and preach against
that, and fuss against it, and knock on the house, and stand
before God Almighty. And God Himself says, depart
from me, I never knew you. And all the way to hell scream
out blasphemies against him under whom they shall suffer eternal
wrath and judgment. My friends, this is what God
is in fact. This is the fifth thing I know. There's
seven of them. Let me count them. There's five. The Lord Jesus Christ lived. as God's elect representative,
that's what he lived and died. He lived establishing righteousness
for men. And he died under the wrath of
God's law, because sin was Sin, he was made, as we said
in that first service, made sin. He was made the guiltiness. Here
again, look up the word. When it says sin, made sin, look
it up, the guiltiness. He was made sin. I said before, men will say,
Well, he paid the penalty of it. He paid the penalty of it.
But had no experiential affiliation whatsoever with it. And God wasn't
just. He was not made sin. I said this
morning, why did he die? Why did he die? Why did God kill
him? All those that hear God say,
depart from me or you curse the Lord. I never knew you. They
died without a substitute. Those that died in Christ at
Calvary, they died being made what they are. There was no difference
in the clay. Out of the same Lord, out of
the same Lord, He made one vessel unto honor and another vessel
unto dishonor. Romans 9 really, Romans 9. Those that die in their sins,
die in absolute justice and wrath. Those that died in a substitute,
died in Christ in absolute justice, under God's wrath, in Christ. that God Almighty dealt with
him where sin was found. The law dealt with him in exactness,
just like it shall with those outside of Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ died as a substitute for all that the Father gave him.
Who was he dying for? Based on his words, on the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, I laid down my life for the sheep. Who did he die for? Did he die
for the sins of the whole world? To make salvation possible? And
he paid everybody's debt. Everybody's debt was paid. Everybody's
debt was paid. He paid everybody's debt. Everybody's
sin was paid for by His blood. I said before, God sends one man
to hell. And Christ dies for everybody's
sins. Why are they going to hell? You say, well, he paid for everybody's
sins, but you have to exercise your free will to make it official. Then you believe in salvation
by your work. It ain't gonna fly. It ain't gonna fly. No. He said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. He didn't die as an example.
He didn't die to make salvation possible. A body hath prepared
me Amazing, amazing, amazing, a body was prepared for him. A body that suffered. A body that suffered. A body
that was holy. A body holy, conceived by the
Holy Ghost. But a body that felt pain. A body that aged. A body wherein he was made sin,
and knew no sin, a body in which he suffered the wrath of God,
being made sin, and three days later raised up to five." You
and I don't have one like that. That's what it's going to take.
God made flesh. Here's the sixth thing. Everyone given the Lord Jesus
Christ, in electing grace, everyone given the Son. I just preached
this just a minute ago. All that the Father giveth me,
shall come to me. This is sound doctrine. It's
a sound truth permeated into everything we preach. God's Son,
God's Word, Foundations. Man's unable. God must choose
to show mercy. God Himself must come into this
world, made woman, made under the law. A man must obey God.
A man must pay the penalty. And Almighty God, is surely going
to draw all those at Christ's redeeming. How much blood was
shed in vain? None. None. None. Listen to Psalm 65, blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee
that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Thy people,
Psalm 110 verse 3, shall be living in the day of thy time." This
is sound doctrine. This is faithful truth based
on God's Word. All that the Father gave me. shall come to me, and him that cometh to me, I
will know why he is cast out. Do you want to know what I know?
I know that all that the Father has given the Son, and He shall
reign, they're going to come to Him for life, and they're
going to die in the face. They're going to die in the face.
They will. I'm telling you, Everyone that the Father has given to
the Son in Christ with Him, God's going to teach them this. They'll
all be taught of God. Be taught of God. Rightly. God's people are secure
in Christ. I almost got into this in just
a minute. This is the last one. They're secure. They're secure. My sheep, John 10, 27, 28, hear
my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life.
They shall never perish. He shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. That is the main thing. Thanks be unto God. I
can't pluck myself out. If the Lord should mark an iniquity,
who could stand? But thanks be unto God. Their hope is in Him, their life
is in Him, their salvation is in Him. It's an inheritance.
Peter says, incorruptible, undefiled, its faith is not a waste. It's
reserved in heaven for you. Where's that? Where's that? Tempt. Sound doctrine. I just wrote this as a conclusion.
Sound doctrine. set forth and known according
to the Holy Scriptures that reveals man's total depravity and God's
purpose to show mercy to a chosen race out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. And peace before God has been
made through the blood of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the faithful servant, obedient servant. For all given human
in God's eternal covenant of grace, and those given to the
surety in eternal election, shall surely be regenerated by the
blessed Holy Spirit, and shall be preserved in Christ Jesus."
Whatever sound doctrine is preached, the very fiber of these truths
is going to be found there. God Almighty has set forth His
will, His Word, His truth, His Christ, to a people that is everlasting
in love. May the Lord bless these words
to our hearts for Christ's sake and for the eternal good.