Turn with me and let's just read
a verse or two of Scripture, and then I'll look in Song of
Solomon. John 15. John 15. Let's pray together. Our merciful God, Lord, Savior,
Father, we are thankful for this evening, thankful to be able
to be here. Lord, I pray that tonight you
would bless the reading of your Word, the preaching of it. Lord,
I pray that what is said would be honorable. the glory of our
matchless God and Savior. Lord, I thank You that You've
assembled this group, that You've raised up a place where we can
come together and worship. We ask You to be with our friends
that are away and those that are visiting other places, those
that are sick, Heal them according to Your mercy, Your grace. Bless,
I pray, the preaching of Your Word in other places, other assemblies. May we be sensitive and careful
to hear. May we be taught by Your Spirit. For Christ's sake, amen. John
15, 1, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine. No more can ye, except ye abide
in me." Now turn over to Song of Solomon, chapter 8. I have entitled this message, The
Believer's Responsibility. Now there are some things that,
as a believer, we have been taught by the Spirit of God. We know
from the Word of God, and this is the only way we know this,
that the Father has chosen a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy And listen to this, you've
heard this before, but listen to this, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love. We as believers, we trust Him
who has told us by His Spirit that we have been adopted. adopted by God, and therefore,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." Now that title,
that position, just exceeds the capability of a man to perceive
a joint heir with Christ, an heir of God, and a joint heir
with Christ. We know that we've been redeemed
from the curse of the law. What's the curse of the law?
Death. That's the curse of the law.
Do and live. Don't do and die. The curse of
the law. Been redeemed from the curse
of the law by Christ who has made a curse for us. Now, I looked up that word. made
a curse. It means to have judgment called
upon. Why did he have judgment called
upon him? Because he was made sin. I've
heard a little Scott say so many times, and oh, how true and how
much I learned from just listening to him. It wasn't a pasted-on
sin. Just like it's not a pasted-on
righteousness. Truly, He was made sin, made
a curse for us. Whatever you are, whatever you
were born in Adam, that's what He was made to be. He has redeemed
us, bought us from the curse of the law, being made a curse. And thirdly, we know that we
have been regenerated, that is to say, reborn, recovered from
a state of spiritual death. Now just think of the word, regenerated. Adam was made a living soul and
he died spiritually, no capability, of perception of spiritual things. And every man, every woman born
in Adam is dead. They cannot perceive the things
of God. They can't receive them. Incapable
of any act of spiritual apprehension because Christ is not there. Christ is life. He said, I'm
the way. He's the way. He's the only way. He's the only way to the Father.
He is the truth. Everything else is a lie. And
He's the life. Everything else is death. So
without Christ in you, the hope of glory, you're dead. Now, this
life is not by works of righteousness that we've done, but it's by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, quickened,
made alive, something done for you that you could not do for
yourself. Knowing then that these truths
pertain to the chosen, the redeemed, the regenerated people of God.
Now there are some folks in here, and I'm convinced, I'm just I'm
convinced God's called out of darkness. They act. Consistency is according
to these Scriptures. These signs shall follow them
that believe. But there's a question that enters
my mind and the mind of every believer. I'm convinced of that. What are we doing here now? He's
chosen us in Christ. He has chosen us. He has redeemed
us. And He has regenerated us. Now,
what are we doing? Why are we here? Why are we required to live in
this world and go through this life? Now, have you ever thought
about that? Now, some die at an early age. Some die in the middle. Some
older. Why? Well, in the final words
of the book of Love, Song of Solomon. And I was going to look
at verses 11-14. I think I'm going to just look
at verses 11 and 12 for a few minutes. In these final verses,
Song of Solomon, Book of Love, part of the answer to that question
is answered, I believe, in these Scriptures. Surely I know with
confidence we can say when someone says, why are we still in this
world? Someone says, well, it's God's
will. Well, I understand that. I understand that. He does all
things after the counsel of His own will. But let me ask you
something. Does the Scripture reveal something
of why? I know He does. But why He does? I think in these last few verses,
We learn something of our responsibility in this life. You've heard people
talk about practical responsibility, practical things. I mean, I understand
what they mean. I understand their terminology. But I'd rather say it like this.
What is the purpose? What is the Lord accomplishing
through His people? and leaving them in this world. Well, the first thing that I
realize in our state of being in this life is that the Lord
is pleased in the calling out of His people to have the gospel
preached. Now, we dealt with that last
time. We have a little sister. That's what we looked at last
time. We have a little sister. She hath no breast. What shall
we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? Why does God have His people
in this world? The Lord has been pleased through
the foolishness of preaching. As I've heard men say, not foolish
preaching, but through the foolishness of preaching. to call out to
save those that believe. The Lord is pleased. Why has
the Lord left His people? He's left them, first of all,
because it has pleased Him. For so it seemed good in Thy
sight. We're not here to question why. Why does the Lord raise up a
pastor? Why did he raise up this faithful
pastor right here all these years? Because it pleased him to do
so. And I'll tell you this, I'll just answer for you. I appreciate
all the time that he took and studied and prepared so I could
listen to him too. I was thankful for that. We have a little sister. What
shall we do for her? We'll preach the gospel to her.
Why does God have His people? And the Lord told her, He said,
if she be a door, if she's a wall, we, Father, Son, and Spirit,
will build upon her a palace of silver. If she's mine, I'll
call her out. So we have, in this world, we've
got a responsibility. Responsible, responsible, responsible. I have a responsibility. to sit
down and study, stand here and preach. But the second thing that I know
of why we're in this world, we have a responsibility of faithfulness
and service where the Lord has placed us. And that's what I
want to deal with tonight. Song of Solomon 8, 11, and 12
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Haman. He let out the vineyard
unto keepers. Every one for the fruit thereof
was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which
is mine, is before me. Thou, O Solomon, must have a
thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred."
Now, without a doubt, we know that Solomon is a type of Christ. The Scripture says that Solomon
had a vineyard at Baal-haman. That word, Baal-haman, means
something to the sort of a place of multitude or the lord and
master of a people or a troop. So God has a people. That's what
he's saying right there. He has Solomon at a vineyard
at Baal Haman. In Matthew 21, verse 33, it says,
There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard, and
hedged it about, and digged a winepress, and built a tower in it, and
led it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. It let
it out. He gave it or entrusted us. Or entrusted to. He let it out. He gave it or entrusted. Now, one thing that we know is
that the church or the vineyard is the Lord's. It said Solomon
had a vineyard. Let me ask you something. What
did he do with the vineyard? What did he do with it? Why are
we here? Well, in the wisdom and providence
of God, He ordained some. Some apostles and some prophets. There were only twelve apostles.
The prophets have written down what we've got written in this
book right here. Some evangelists, some pastors
and teachers. Why? for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and the
knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Why are we here? He is keeping His garden. He
chose it. He redeemed it and revealed it
by regeneration. And He keeps it. by keepers. Solomon had a garden, and he
let out the garden unto keepers, unto those that he set apart
for the preaching of the gospel. Servants, bondservants, who serve
the Lord with gladness or labor. Do you know why? Those that God
calls out, and whatever He's called any man, any woman to
do. Why they do what they do. As
I've said before, we're not all pastors, not all deacons, not
all elders. But I'm telling you, every one
of God's people is exactly, they're an eye or an ear or a nose or
a toe. They're something that God Almighty
has given you to do. And in that, you are to be faithful
in whatever it is. Why did he do it? Well, obviously,
the Scripture says he did it for the fruit. Solomon had a
vineyard at Baal-haman, and he let out the vineyard unto keepers,
every one for the fruit thereof. Every one of this vineyard cost
the Lord Jesus an indescribable price. And the keepers are responsible
to Him. You know, I know we want to believe
that we just go through this life and everything is just no
big deal. We just show up. No big thing. It will be there. You listen to these words in
Acts 20, 28. You take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the
flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. I looked up that word too. You
know what it means? Superintendent. Superintendent. You're a superintendent. You
know whose responsibility it is for all the guys under you? To feed the church of God which
He hath purchased with His own blood. Take heed. Attend to. Guard and hold the
mind toward. Be cautious and apply oneself. Take heed unto yourselves. Peter
says that is to your opinion and to your manner of life. Remember
who you are and who you represent. Take heed to yourselves, to all
the flock of God. Take heed to the charge that
is entrusted to you concerning them. Let me just be real honest
about it. As a believer, I know that in
our carnal thinking, our old man, we can think we're saved
by grace. The Lord will never leave us,
never forsake us. It doesn't really matter, as
I've said before, if that's the attitude that you have. You don't
know Him. You don't know Him, because I'm
telling you A believer loathes the sin that he sees within. He loathes that sin that dwells
in his flesh. I loathe myself. O wretched man,
Paul says that I am. Take heed to yourself. The Scripture says Solomon had
a vineyard. He let out the vineyard unto
keepers, every one for the fruit. thereof, and that keeper was
to bring a thousand pieces of silver. This thousand pieces
of silver refers to the worth or the value of the fruit that
was brought to the master. God's servants have the same
commission. This is what it is. You go into
all the world and preach the gospel. Don't think for one second
that it doesn't matter. Don't think for one second it
doesn't matter. When I tell you that as a believer, you're in
a fishbowl, and don't think that it doesn't matter, it does. It
does. Take heed to yourself and to
the flock. Let me ask you this. Who would
you be more disappointed in? someone that you don't know,
or someone that did something like this, or your pastor. Now, let's just be honest about
it. Take heed. The Lord says Solomon had a vineyard,
and he let out the vineyard unto keepers, and every one for the
fruit thereof. Scripture bears out. I know that
the effects may differ in the faithful discharge of duty. I
know places where the gospel is faithfully preached, and there's
eight people there. But you know it doesn't change
the responsibility that that pastor has to preach the gospel. The service that is rendered
by God's people is valued the same. A thousand pieces of silver. That was it. He let it out to
keepers, whether it's at Katie Baptist Church, or West Hartford
Baptist Church, or the church where Milton Howard pastors,
where there's a smaller group, if that man is faithful, faithful,
faithful, when he stands before Almighty God, someone says, well,
what's going to be his crown? Christ is going to be his crown.
Is he going to get any more than anybody else? No. A thousand
pieces of silver. In the next verse, we read words
that can be viewed as spoken by the Lord or His church. And I'll tell you who I think
it is. It says, My vineyard, which is Mine, is before Me. Thou, O Solomon, must have a
thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof, two hundred. Without a doubt, no one could
say that these words couldn't be spoken of by our Lord. The
church is His vineyard, and that is so. My vineyard, which is
mine, is before me. It is His special property, chosen
and redeemed by Him. I find myself grieving When I
realize and I stand here and just the thought will come past
my mind, there's hum that I know that in this room are the Lord's,
that He bought and paid for with His precious blood. Do you realize
the responsibility to stand before God's people, those that He's
everlastingly loved? I understand how someone can
say, but it's all of grace, therefore, it does matter. It does matter. The church is His, given Him
by the Father and bought by His own precious blood. And He will
never leave nor forsake His vineyard. He says, My vineyard is before
Me. Under His watchful eye, Psalm
33, 18 says, Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that
fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy. His vineyard has never been out
of His presence. He has ordered all things that
shall be revealed later. I mean, you could go back hundreds
of years and look at the family tree to see just exactly how
you came into being and that you were placed right here. He
says, My vineyard which is Mine is before Me. He knows the end
from the beginning, orders everything. So here we have the assurance
that the Lord is knowledgeable of His church. But in keeping
with the verse just before, we also can see where the bride
can make this statement. And this is following through
with what I said concerning consistency. The bride can also say, my vineyard,
which is mine, is before me. We know and are convinced, no
one has to convince anyone in here, that the vineyard is the
Lord's. You know that. But remember,
he just said Solomon had a vineyard. That ended it right there. Whose
vineyard is it, Neil? It's the Lord's. The Lord's. But he let it out unto keepers,
answerable to Him. It's His. He will not forsake
it. He will not depart from it. He
will not ever let it go. But in the infinite wisdom of
Almighty God, more than I can perceive. What is really being
accomplished right now? I don't know. Let me just be
honest with you. What is God? What is complete?
I know He is teaching His people. I know He is bringing them to
Himself. I know that He is perfecting His saints. I know that. But
how does it do that? I don't know. I tell you what
I ask. Lord, would you be pleased to
bless this message? Could you bless it to me? We know that He has entrusted
this vineyard to keepers. You think about just if you can,
and I know that we can't. I understand that. But think
about what has been done in this place. Brother Scott, I don't
want to embarrass you, but I thank you. I thank you for faithfulness,
faithfulness, faithfulness. I know that. Brother Henry Mahan,
faithful. Don Fortner, these men, faithful. God has kept faith. He let it
out, put it out to keepers in every one of them. And these
men that God has called out and given a heart for the people,
and they do it as unto the Lord. Do they do it to bring honor
to themselves? No, they're embarrassed. This is an embarrassing thing
for me to have to stand here and talk to you about a pastor.
Imagine how, you know, this is what a pastor is supposed to
do and this is how he's supposed to act and here I am, I'm having
to say it. It's an embarrassing thing, Pat, but I know it's so. He called them out for the perfecting
of the saints. These are His people. We are
to be faithful where we are. This is what the bride can also
say. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me. I know it's His.
But if He's placed you in this vineyard, that's your vineyard.
That's your vineyard. Be faithful. In 1 Corinthians
4, 1 and 2, Paul says, Let a man sow a count of us as the ministers
of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it
is required in stewards that a man be found what? Faithful. Faithful. Faithful. What do I do? Hear the gospel. Support the
work here. Pray for us. That's what Paul
says. Pray for us, brethren. Whether you eat, whether you
drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. The pastor
can say, the deacon can say, the elder can say, every believer
in this assembly can say, this is my vineyard. This is my vineyard,
which is mine, is before me. This is where the husbandman
planted me. It's where he put me. I had someone
ask me recently, they said, do you like West Virginia? I said,
I love it. Really? I said, I sure do. This
is where I believe God wants me to be. I love it. I love it
here. Why? Because the Lord settled
my heart here. He gave me a heart. You just try to drive me out
of here. That's it. This is where I want
to be. This is where He feeds me. This is where He teaches me.
But you know what? I'm not responsible. I'm responsible to me to study,
to preach, to prepare, but I'm not responsible to you, for you. Proverbs 4.23 says, Keep thy
heart with all diligence. Jude 1.21 says, Keep yourselves
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of God. James 1.27
says we are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. How
do you do that? Well, I can give you a good hint.
Attend the means of God's grace. Hear the Gospel. Sit on the Gospel. Ask and knock and seek. God's people will. They will. My vineyard, which is mine, is
before me. Paul the Apostle said in 2 Timothy
4.7, he said, I fought a good fight. Now listen to this. He said, I finished my course.
I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Do you think
for one second that Paul the Apostle was bringing any glory
to himself and saying, well, this was my construction. I decided
where I'd go to preach here. You know, I was really instrumental
in opening Lydia's heart. No, you know better than that.
The vineyards of the Lord's. What He's called keepers. Faithful stewards. What a joy! What a joy! I mean, you look
at the opening line, you know, James, you know, a servant of
Jesus Christ. What a title! Yes, John, you
know, John the Baptist. Who are you? A voice. A voice. I fought a good fight. I finished
my course. What is the joy of a believer?
That God Almighty give him a heart to be faithful. I mean, to come to a point where
you said, Thank you that you kept me. I am sorry for where
I have failed, and I know I have. I am sorry. I am sorry for my
inconsistencies, but thanks be to you that you kept me right
here, that you didn't let me go. Oh, but without a doubt,
the words that follow must be the words of the bride. Thou,
O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit
thereof two hundred. He must have a thousand. The value of all of the fruit
that He brings to Himself through the infinite wisdom of God. Why does He do it the way He
does it? Because it pleased Him to do
so. He did it according to His own
will. Why does He not call out His
people and take them? Why does He leave them here to
struggle that in the ages to come they might behold the infinite
miracle of God's keeping grace, sustaining grace? Oh, He must
have a thousand. Christ must have the fruit of
His garden. He must have all honor and glory
and praise. We as servants, we're just unprofitable
ones. I said last week or week before,
what does that mean? We're just unprofitable search.
It means we don't add any glory to Him. We don't. But let me
ask you this. Is it not joy unspeakable that
Almighty God would just give you a heart to call upon Him,
to thank Him? I just thank you that you give
me a heart to say thank you. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. But the Lord said when the bride
says, Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, He had said back
in verse 11 at the end, He said that the keeper's was to bring
a thousand pieces of silver. And the bride says, O Solomon,
you must have a thousand. Lord, you get all the honor and
the glory and the praise. You get it all. He says, those that keep the
fruit thereof, 200. The Lord says, those that honor
Me, in 1 Samuel 2.30, those that honor Me, I will honor. We receive our due when He receives
His. What is our due? Him. Him. Is it not enough? Is He not enough?
Oh, He's all. He's all and in all. 1 Thessalonians 2, 19 and 20 says,
For what is our hope, or our joy, or our crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye, Paul says, are
our glory and joy. I don't know how to understand
the fullness of what that said. But I'm convinced at His coming, the Lord in His mercy and grace,
who has a garden, who has a vineyard, and He's let it out, and He's
called some to be apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers
and ears and noses, at His appearing, Our reward, our joy, is Christ
who has received the honor. That's what the four and twenty
elders say when they cast their crowns before Him. Lord, You're
worthy. You're our reward. Lord, we're
joint heirs with You. We're heirs of God, joint heirs
with You. What else do You want? He got a thousand. Stan, we got
two hundred. But oh, what that two hundred
is with him getting a thousand. Our Father, thank You. Thank You just for allowing us
to just come and just perceive something of how in Your mercy
and grace You've allowed us to be in your vineyard. You've allowed
us to study Your Word. You've allowed us to hear it.
You've allowed us, taught us through it, given us a heart. And we realize that even as we
go through this day, we don't even realize how You are bringing
honor to Yourself through Your people. and all the while they
are receiving the reward of your grace and mercy, knowing you,
that I might know Him. Cause us this night to remember
the mercy and grace that you've shown us for Christ's sake. Amen.