Take our Bibles and turn to the
book of Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9. I would like to begin reading in
chapter 9, verse 51. Luke 9, 51. And it came to pass when the
time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his
face. And they went and entered into
a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they
did not receive him because his face was as though he would go
to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James
and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command
fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elias
did? But he turned and rebuked them
and said, You know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the
Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening, we
thank You for the privilege that we have to meet together and
to hear and to consider Your blessed Word. We thank You that
You've given us a heart that would long to be here and a mind
that understands, as we're taught by the Spirit of God, the unsearchable
riches of the grace of God. Lord, would you bless this evening. Would you bless the preaching.
Would you bless the hearing. And may it be to the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. About a week ago, I was talking to someone that had heard me preach one time. And I was supposed to go back and preach
again. informed me that there would
be some stipulations before I could come back and preach. And they
told me what the stipulations were. And they questioned what I was
preaching and said that I wouldn't be able to continue preaching
that. And so I informed them exactly
what I believed. And I said, now let me be real
clear with you. If I do come back, I said, what
you hear me preaching, what you hear me telling you right now
is going to permeate everything I say. I said, this is the way
it is. God Almighty is sovereign. And He does as He will, and He
has a people, and He's going to save His people, and only
His people are going to be called out of darkness. God Almighty
has an everlastingly loved people. And they said this. They said,
that may fly where you go to church, but it doesn't fly here. And so it was probably best if
I just It was quiet anymore because I'm sure I was going to say the
wrong thing. And my first reaction when they
said that was, in my mind, to defend the honor, the character
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I wanted to do something.
I wanted to say something. And as often the case, when I
began to get upset, I want to say something, but I don't know
what exactly I'm supposed to say. This message this evening is
a message that I truly believe is a needful message, for if
no one else, it is for me. I was telling some of the men
a moment ago that there are times that I believe that this is the
message of the hour. I pray that it's the message
of the hour, but this message this evening is, as I said, if
for no one else, this is for me. I've entitled it, When Men
Oppose Christ. And I want to take this passage
of Scripture that I just read and glean, I pray, from the Lord's
teaching to His disciples concerning what we do, what we should do
when men oppose the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 51 says, "...and it came
to pass when the time was come that he should be received up.
He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." Now our Lord's
determination to work, to walk, to obey His
Father in the redemption of His people, that was ever before
His face. He said, My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent Me. Now we serve One that came into this
world and absolutely accomplished the salvation of His elect. He redeemed them. He came into
this world, made sin. That's what the Scripture says.
He hath made Him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. When He was at the cross,
He said, It is finished. He did not make salvation possible. saved His people. It came to
pass when the time was come that He should be received up, He
steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem and sent, verse
52 and 53, messengers before His face and they went and entered
into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for Him and they
did not receive Him because His face was as though he would go
to Jerusalem. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ
sent messengers before Him then, He sends messengers now. Now, all believers are messengers. I know that. But especially we
know that God Almighty sends preachers of the Gospel. He calls
a man to preach. This is the criteria of a man
that God's called. Number one, God saves him. God calls him. God gifts him. God gives him a message. And
God blesses that message. He said, I will give you pastors
after my heart. They'll teach you and instruct
you. The Lord sent messengers before
His face. And they entered into that city
of the Samaritans. And those Samaritans concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, they didn't receive Him. The reason was His
face was as though He would go to Jerusalem. Now, the Lord had
a purpose. He was going to Jerusalem. He
was going to finish the work that the Father had given Him
to do. He was going. He set His faith as aflint. This is His people. This is redemption. This is God's salvation. Now whatever they thought He
was supposed to do was not what He was doing. They didn't receive
Him because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem. You
see, man by nature thinks that the Lord is to do things their
way. But Almighty God is going to
do that which He is pleased to do. It enangered Him. It's not what we want. It's what
He does, what He wants. My counsels stand. Well, verse
54, when the disciples, James and John, saw this, they said,
Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven
and consume them, even as Elias, Elijah, did? James and John, I think, voiced
what I felt. It angered me. Number one, I
thought, what do you mean? What do you mean you're going
to set stipulations? What do you mean you're going
to tell me what I can and can't preach? Who do you think you
are? And my first inclination was, what if God just kills you? What
if God just wipes you off the map? I believe that these men, and
I honestly believe that they, I would pray, I thought, that
my zealousness was for the honor of Christ. I would pray that
it was. They even used Scripture that
supported. Would you like for us, Lord, would you like for us to command
fire to come down? Now here's the Lord of glory
standing here. Lord, would you want us to call
fire down from heaven like Elijah did and kill them for you? But you know, the zeal was not
a zeal according to knowledge. They weren't the judge and jury
and executioner and neither am I. I'm just a voice. And the Lord, in verse 55 and
56, said He turned and He rebuked them. Now, He had been dishonored. He had been dishonored. It made
the disciples mad. And they wanted to wipe those
Samaritans out. You know, it's real strange to
me. The Samaritans and the Jews never did get along. I wonder what they would have
said if it had been one of their kids. He turned and rebuked them and
said, You know not what manner of spirit ye are. But the Son
of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
And they went to another village. What he said was, Your attitude
is not right. You're acting out of revenge.
You're acting out of anger and you're not acting out of concern
for my honor. The fruit of God's Spirit is
love and joy and peace and long-suffering and gentleness and goodness and
faith and meekness and temperance that I didn't have. This person angered me. And under
the guise of honor to the Lord, in my heart, if I didn't say
it outwardly, in my heart, this is what I thought. God will get you. You dishonored
God. No. You said something to me
that made me mad. It's not that we approve of false
religion and rebellion against God, because we don't. We do
not. Don't compromise on it. Don't
tolerate it. Not in the least. It's not that
we're not jealous for the honor and glory and praise of the Lord
Jesus Christ, because we are. It's not that judgment is not
going to be poured out on all that oppose. the Lord Jesus Christ
and refuse to bow to Him as He's revealed in these scriptures
because it will. He said it would. But the issue is what He would
have me to do when men oppose Him and oppose us as we preach. That's what He told them. He
said, You know not what manner of spirit you are. I was mad. I was mad. And I said outwardly, you've
offended my God, and I don't doubt that this person did. I
don't doubt it for one second, but it doesn't justify my attitude. I've got five quick things that
I want to say concerning what I believe, and I believe I can
make good on these scripturally. concerning my actions before
Almighty God and men when men oppose the gospel." What do we
do? I've got people in my family.
I've told you that before. I've got people that I live close
by. I've got people that I have associations
with. And if not outwardly, I know
inwardly. They despise the God that I worship. What do I do? Five things I jotted
down. Number one, here's the first
thing I can do. I can believe God. Does the Lord have a people?
Yes. Yes, He does. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
John 6.37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Now here's the first thing I
know. The Lord is going to call His people out of darkness. And when men oppose what I preach,
when men despise outwardly and inwardly the God that we serve, is my attitude in resentment
and anger, is that going to do anything to change God's purpose? No. The first thing I can do,
is I can believe God. I know the Holy Spirit is going
to call out of darkness all that the Father chose and gave to
the Lord Jesus Christ and that Christ redeemed. I know that.
That's the first thing I can do. Here's the second thing I
can do. I can pray for Him. I can pray,
Lord, help me. I'm a frail creature. And I don't
like when somebody says something against the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't like it when they mock
Him. It angers me. It angers me. And
I'm telling you, I pray, Lord, help me. but I can pray for them. I pray that the Lord's will might
be done. In Ezekiel 36-25, let me just read
this to you. In Ezekiel 36-25, I will sprinkle
clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your
filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. The
Lord is going to cleanse His people. In the blood of Christ,
Cleanse them. Verse 26, A new heart will I
give you. I will put my Spirit within you.
I will also save you from all your uncleanness. You shall remember your own evil
ways. And listen to this, Then the
heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord
build the ruined places and plant that which was desolate. I the
Lord have spoken it. I will do it. Thus saith the Lord, the Lord
God. I will yet for this be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do it for them. I will increase
them with men like a flock. I can pray for those that oppose
Him. I can pray for them. Me getting mad at them and wanting
to smack them and call down fire from heaven. Lord, let me call
down fire from heaven. If nobody's ever thought like
that, well, I have. Lord, they've disgraced You.
Kill them. Take them out. You know, I can
pray for them. Here is the third thing I can
do. I can live before men honorably. Matthew 5.16 says, Let your light
so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father which is in heaven. For the honor of the Lord Jesus
Christ, for the honor of the Gospel, that we preach and for
respect toward other people, even those that oppose themselves
and oppose the Lord that we love. A believer ought to be the most
respectful and most respected person in the community, not for the praises of men, but
for the glory of God. honorably. You know, grace gives men and
women a new motive, a new character, new principles. And living according
to the leadership of God's Spirit, making much of the hearing of
the gospel, much, as I mentioned last Sunday, of the scriptures,
making much of prayer and praying and asking the Lord to lead and
guide and direct and help and keep me. Lord, help me. I'm a
frail, hot-headed creature. And I don't want to be. I want
to believe Him. And I want to ask Him. And I
want to walk before men with as much honor and respect and
to realize if they had a heart to come, they'd come. They're
only doing what the Lord's left them to do. And me taking a big
stick and hitting them is not going to change their heart. Here's a fourth thing I can do.
I can tell them the truth. I can't make someone believe,
but I can tell them what I know Almighty God blesses to the salvation
of His elect. I can be truthful with them. Paul said in Romans 1, 16 and
17, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. When providentially the Lord
causes my path to cross with another and the issue is brought up, they
ask, Peter said in 1 Peter 3.15, Be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is
in you with meekness and fear. You can say, yeah, but I don't
preach. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Believers know what
they believe, and they're honorable. Somebody says something, just
be truthful with them. Tell them of God's sovereignty.
And if they resist you, you've done what you could. I'll tell you this, you can always
invite them to come. Why don't you do that? Why don't you tell them, say,
listen, why don't you come to services? Who knows? The Lord may give
them a heart to come. He may draw them. He may give them a
heart to come. And if He does, that's grace
that they came. And here's the last thing I can
do. I can wait on the Lord and I
can trust Him. The Lord's will is going to be
done in His time. It's going to be done. If God
Almighty is going to call a man or a woman out of darkness, He's
going to do it. He said, I will do it. He said,
yet for these things will I be inquired of. If He puts it on
your heart to pray, if you've got some in your family and they
don't know Him, pray for them. Ask the Lord to call them out
of darkness. Lord, You do all things if You
be pleased. Lord, would You have mercy on
my kids, my wife, my grandkids, my husband, my mama, my daddy. You can walk before them with
some honor and respect. And you can trust the Lord and
wait on the Lord. I can't do anything. Ecclesiastes
3.1 says, To everything there is a season and a time to every
purpose under the heaven. David said in Psalm 27.14, Wait
on the Lord and be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine
heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. I'll ask the men if they'll come
at this time.