Do ye more than others, do not
even the publicans so. Now it's a very great fault in
any ministry if the doctrine of justification by faith alone
be not clearly taught. It must be clearly taught. And
it's not only a great fault if it's not clearly taught, but
in most cases, it's a fatal one. Now, let me try to introduce
that statement of our Lord Jesus Christ here, when He said, What
do ye more than others? By making a few brief remarks,
about justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Now, up
here where it says in verse 44, that I say unto you, love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute
you. Now notice the next two words.
that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."
Now this is what I mean by saying that justification by faith alone
in the Lord Jesus Christ must be clearly set forth. If not,
it's a great fault and could be a fatal one for many. Now, it does not mean that because
you love your enemies, and you bless them that curse you, and
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you, that that will be the means of you
or me becoming the children of our Father which art in heaven.
Now, we're justified by faith. We are justified by faith in
God, in Christ alone, and not by the works of the law. No man
is justified by the works of the law. We are justified by
faith. Now, the merit by which a soul enters heaven is not its
own. When I say merit, I mean goodness. The goodness by which a soul
enters in to the heaven of God is not its own, it is the merit
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we've got to teach plainly,
and we've got to understand. We've got to understand some
things. If we don't understand these things, then we're not
going to know Him. Because to understand is to know. This is eternal life that they
might know Thee, the only true God. So we've got to understand
some things, and we've got to understand them clearly, or we're
going to make a mistake about that which is vital to the well-being
of our soul. Now, we've got to make known
and to teach plainly and understand that the faith which saves the
soul, is not a dead faith. It's not a dead faith. But it
is a faith which operates with purifying effect upon our whole
nature and produces in us fruits of righteousness to the praise
and to the honor and to the glory of God. And now that's what's
involved in being saved. But to be saved from our sins,
from the penalty of our sins, from the dominion of our sins,
and ultimately the power of sin, is to be saved by faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. But this faith, this faith now,
which is a gift of God. This faith so operates in us
by the Holy Ghost that it produces in us a purifying effect. Let me read something to you
over here that I read just a minute ago in the book of James. Let me read this. Chapter 2, I think it is. Chapter
2, verse 15 or verse 14. What shall it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith
save him? That is, can faith alone save
him? Notice now, the key to this verse
is this right here. What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say Though a man say, it's only a man saying that
he has faith and has not works. If he says that. Now, if a brother
or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you
say unto him, Depart in peace, and be ye warmed and filled,
notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful
to the body, what good is it? What good is it to tell him,
be filled and be warmed and be nourished and be encouraged and
be warmed and all of that, if you do not help him? What does
it profit? Then he said, faith, faith, even
so faith, if it hath not works his dead being alone. If the
faith that you say And I say that saves me and justifies me
before God and that faith and faith alone, if that faith does
not operate effectively to the producing of purifying effects
and righteous deeds, righteous attitudes, and righteous works
in my life, wrought by the Spirit of God to the praise and to the
honor and to the glory of God, then that faith is dead. That's
what he's saying. That faith is dead. It is a dead
faith. It's a faith we say we have,
but we don't have it. If a man says he has faith and
not works, a man that has saving faith, a man that has the faith
of God's elect, then that faith operates effectively
to producing a conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if it does not do that, then we are just saying we have a
faith. We are just saying, well, I have
got a faith. And that faith is spurious. That
faith is If it be void of right desires and attitudes and works,
then it's a dead faith. Now listen to this. Even so faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. That is, being by itself. It's
alone, it's a dead faith. Yea, a man may say, He may say
this, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without
thy works, or show me some copies of your faith, and I will show
thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is
one God? Thou doest well. The devils also
believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works, justified before men by works? He wasn't justified
before God by works. No man is justified before God
by works. The works that are wrought in
his heart by the Spirit of God to produce these purifying effects
in his life are only the evidence of this faith which is alive,
this faith which is given to God's elect. Abraham was justified before
men, and your works, your works justify you before men. Your works doesn't justify you
before God. They only give evidence before
men that your faith is genuine. We're justified by faith alone. But our works are evidence of
our justification. And if there is no works, this
is what I'm trying to say, if there is no works, then there
is no evidence of faith. The evidence of faith is works. And if there's no works, then
it's a dead faith. It's just a faith that we say.
We're just claiming something. We're claiming something that
we've never had. We're saying that we've been
someplace that we never have been. It's a religious pretension. Verse 22, And seest thou how
faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scriptures was fulfilled,
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him
for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God? You
see then how that by works a man is justified, that he is before
men. And not by faith only. The faith... I hope you can see this. I hope
I'm not fouling you up here. I don't think that I am. You
see then that how by works a man is justified. Justified before
men. Now, you say, well, you're adding
to the Scriptures. I think that that's the tenor
of it. that by works a man is justified
before men, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab
the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers
and had sent them out another way. For as the body without
the spirit is dead, that is, when the spirit departs from
the body, the body is lifeless and the body is dead, so faith
without works is dead also. And that's what I'm trying to
say here, is that the justification of faith, and by faith, and through
faith, which the Bible declares from cover to cover. Throughout
the Bible, that's the gospel message, that a man is justified
by faith and faith alone. But I'm saying that we've got
to make this plain. that the faith which saves the
soul is not a dead faith, but a faith which operates with a
purifying effect upon our whole nature, and it produces in us
fruits of righteousness to the praise and to the glory of God.
That's what I'm saying. And I'm saying that if it don't
do that, then it is a dead faith. It's a pretentious faith. It's a faith that we say we have,
but we don't have it. Now, it is not by personal holiness
that a man shall enter into glory. But yet, on the other hand, the
Scripture says, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Now,
it is not by good works that a man is justified, but if a
man shall continue to live an ungodly life, his faith will
not justify him, for his faith is not the faith of God's elect,
since the faith of God's elect is wrought in the elect of God
by the Holy Spirit, and this faith brings that man into the
conformity of the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we just
got to learn to place the precepts or the statues or the commands
of God in their right position. We've got to put them in the
right place. We've got to learn that. Now, the commands of the Lord
Jesus Christ are never given or are not upon a legal tenor
of this, which is this do and live, this do and live. Do this and do this and do this
and ultimately you will have eternal life. Now that is a legalistic
tenor. And the commands of God, we are
not to look upon the commands of God like that, we are to look
upon the commands and the statues and the very whispers of the
Spirit of God towards compliance to obedience, we must look upon
those, not in a legal tenor, but we've got to look upon them
like this. We've got to say, live and then
do this. Now you see, we're not to give
attention to the commandments to be saved. We are not to give
attention to the commandments to be saved. But because we are
already saved, because we already have life, then we give attention
to the commands of God Almighty. Because we have life. We have life through the mean. We have life through the Lord
Jesus Christ. We know that. But the means whereby
we are embraced in this oneness or in this union with God in
Christ, that means is faith. That is, we believe. It is a
God-given belief, a God-given faith. It's a God-given reliance. It's a God-given trust. It's a God-given depending upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, which we never had before. But God
give it to us. And when He hath given it to
us, then we look with attention to the commands of God. Then
we say, live, we are alive now, and then we do. Then we sing,
all for Jesus, all for Jesus. All right. Our master motive
then is to be gratitude unto Him for all that He's done for
us. That's our motive for our service
to Him is out of gratitude, out of thanksgiving. He's done so
much for us. He came where we was. He rescued
us from from ourselves. He rescued us from sin. He rescued us from our own sins. He rescued us from the penalty
of a burning hell. He put us upon the solid rock. He gives us hope in our hearts. He has given us peace, comfort,
joy. He has given us a prospect of
the glory of the Eternal to come. He's done all this for us who
was unworthy. And no way at any time if we
lived to be a thousand years old could we have anything that
would tend to be conducive unto God in order that He might bless
us. There's nothing about us. And
so out of gratitude, out of thanksgiving, out of just sheer debt, Call
it debt. Out of debt to Him. We say, Lord,
I'm Yours. I'm Yours. I live for You. Whatever command in the Bible
that I see is brought before me, and I have some understanding
of it, I submit to it. I submit to it. Not because I
do it in order to live. I do it. I want to do it. I comply
with it because I live. And it's out of gratitude to
You. You see? I'm saying, brethren, we've got
to understand We've got to understand justification by faith! And it's
got to be made clear, and if it's not made clear, well, then
it's going to be a fatal mistake to all of us. This business of
saying, I'm saved. I'm saved. I profess faith in
the Lord Jesus. I believe intelligently that
He was, He is, He ever lives. I believe that He's God. I read
the Bible. But there is no outward evidence. There's no outward evidence of
our faith. Then this faith is a dead faith
and we're going to miss it all. And I'll get to it in just a
little bit. Our text said, What do ye more than others? You read
some of this. This is pure law. Pure law in
the fifth chapter of the book of Matthew. Pure law. You read it. You read it. And in light of these things,
in light of these things that our Lord said about, well, He
talks about divorcing. It's been said that whosoever
shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.
That is, it's been said. But I say unto you, whosoever
shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication,
causeth her to commit adultery. And whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced, commits adultery." So there's two involved here
that's committing adultery on the wrong grounds of divorce.
Again, you've heard that it's been said by old times, thou
shalt not swear by yourself and performance, on and on and on
and on and on. Our Lord said, What do ye more
than others?" He said, the Pharisees do all these things. Well, I
said, if you just love them that love you, what reward have you? He said, even the publicans do
that. If you just greet your brethren only, if you're just
concerned about your brethren only, that is, when you see your...
it doesn't mean... it doesn't mean there... it says,
when you salute your brethren only, it doesn't mean that you
run up and kiss your brother. all that's involved there, or
embraced your brother. But it means when you greet him,
are you so concerned about him that you say, well, may the Lord
bless you today. May the Lord be pleased to prosper
you today. But most of the time, you know,
we're not concerned. We feel, well, am I my brother's
keeper? You go in a store anymore, Wherever
you go, invariably, and it kind of got to me there for a while
because I don't think that too many of those individuals were
really sincere about it, but nevertheless, they were about
as sincere as I was. Wherever you go, you buy something,
give them the dollar, ten dollars, whatever it is, they say, well,
have a good day. Have a good day. Everybody says that anymore.
Wherever you go, have a good day. And that kind of bothered
me for a while until I got to looking at this. Have a good
day. Well, I doubt it if they're too
sincere about it. It's probably their employer
said, now you try to make the customer feel good there, and
it'd be a good idea if you'd say that. But it'd be a good
idea if you and I'd say that too. And say it sincerely. Saluting the brethren. Greeting
the brethren. That's what he's talking about.
Not just the mere planting a kiss on his cheek or embracing him.
manifesting an attitude of concern for him, to the extent that you
might say, I hope that God prospers you this day. I hope that God
watches over you this day and blesses you this day. Well, he
said, if you just salute your brethren only, what do you more
than others? Well, I'm sure that every regenerate
heart, ever-renewed heart in this congregation here this morning,
will feel no opposition to the most holy command of the Lord
Jesus Christ, however severely pure the law may seem to be,
which we have read here in Matthew chapter 5. I'm sure that everyone
that has a renewed heart, that really has embraced the Lord
Jesus Christ in true, genuine, saving faith, I'm sure that your
hearts will agree with it. And you'll say in your heart,
I ask, Lord, and I desire that my life might be conformed to
your Word, however pure that law might be. Now, in the text
here, where do we get to the text now? In the text, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He asks of those who are professors, I say professors
now, of His faith, that they should not only do as much as
others, but to prove their title, that
they should do more than others. You get that? He asks those who
are professors of his faith that they should not only do as much
as others to prove their title, but that they should do more
than others. And he makes this kind of a test
question concerning there being really his followers or his children. Do ye more than others? Well, I can tell you this. There are several good reasons,
and I'll give them to you here. Several good reasons, I believe. Legitimate reasons why the world,
why the Church, and why our Lord Jesus Christ Himself expects
more from Christians than he does from the rest of mankind. I'll tell you why. Number one,
it's because they profess more. If you're a Christian, you profess
more. You profess to be a new creature in Christ Jesus. If you say, I have faith. If
you say, I have faith. I have faith in the Son of God
as my Lord, as my Redeemer, and as my Savior, my refuge, my covering,
my all in all. You say then that you are a new
creature in Christ Jesus. You say that I have experienced
a heaven-wrought work by the Spirit of God in my soul, and
I am a new creature in Christ Jesus, and old things have passed
away, and behold, all things become new. And the things that
I once loved I now hate, and the things that I now hate I
once loved, and so forth. That is what we profess. You
see what I am saying? I'm saying that the church and
the world and even the Lord Himself expects more out of the man who's
a Christian than He does out of those who are not Christians.
Number one, because we profess more. We say that we're something
that they don't say they are. We're saying that we're new creatures.
We've passed from death unto life. That's what we say. We
say that we have We have learned something of the evil of sin. By professing that we are Christians
and new creatures, we are saying we know something of the evil
of sin. We are saying that we know what
sin is. And we are saying, number three,
that we know who sin is against. The evil of sin. How wrong it
is. Not because it makes mother and
father, not because it grieves them, although that is involved,
but because we know that our God is offended every time we
sin. Every time we sin, God is offended. The Lord Jesus Christ is offended. The Holy Spirit is grieved. The Bible says, quench not the
Spirit of God. And that certainly has something
to do with this sin business. We say, now the reason I say
that the church and the world and our Lord, they expect more
out of us than others because we profess more than others. Ever since. We say we know what
sin is. We say we know that it's a principle.
We say we know that it's a principle, it's an attitude of out-and-out
rebellion that's walled up, balled up, built up, steeled in rebellion
against God in our hearts. That's what sin is. Sin is a
principle. It's an attitude. That's what
it is. things that we call sins out
here, which, that's right, that's the correct word for it, sins,
they are only the afterbirth, they're the only, they're the
byproduct of this nature. In other words, we sin because
we're sinners. You see? We don't sin to be sinners,
We sin because we are sinners. We sin because we have a sin
principle. We have the principle of sin
in us. How did it get in us? Well, we profess that we are
new creatures in Christ Jesus. Certainly, we have learned something.
Certainly, we have traced it back to the Garden of Eden. That
in Adam, we fell. He, as our representative, stood
and represented us. We stood in Him. And when the
opportunity presented itself, and the fruit was presented to
Adam, Adam did not decline, but he partook. He said, give it
to me. He reached out his arm and said,
give it to me and let me eat of it. He knew better. He knew
better. Jack, he walked into that thing
with his eyes wide open. He knew exactly what... transpired
what was taking place. And he did it deliberately, he
did it violently, he did it deceitfully, and he did it truthfully, as
truthful as he could be. He did what he wanted to do,
that's what I meant. And he ate of it. And by him doing so, he
plunged. His nature became corrupt and
condemned, and every offspring of that union between
Adam and Eve was just like him. And we're born then with that
principle of rebellion and sin against God in our hearts. Now,
I hope there's no one here that will say, well, preacher, I just
don't believe that. And I think that if I'm good enough, I think
that if I don't do this and I don't do that, I'm going to make it
into heaven. That's all right. If you can keep the law of God,
God will honor it, I guess. If you can keep the law of God
set forth here in the Bible, you can go that way, if you can
do it. But I'm going to tell you what
that law says. That law actually is saying that
you are to be as good as God is. Now, that's what the law
is. That's the sum, substance, and
total of that law. It reflects the genuine perfection
and goodness of Almighty God. And God will not, He will not
accept on any basis anything other than what He is Himself.
Now God is absolutely holy, absolutely perfect, and absolutely good
in every respect, and He will not take anybody, I don't care
who they are. I don't care if he's a preacher,
I don't care if he's a I just don't care who they are. God
will not accept anybody except that individual be as good as
he is. Now you want to go to heaven
on your own goodness? There it is. You be as good as
God is and you can make it. If you're as good as God and
you have the audacity to stand before God and say, in myself
I'm as good as you are, then you're welcome to it. You're
welcome to it. But that's what God demands. Listen, we profess, we profess
it. Those of us who claim we're Christians,
we claim we have saving faith, we claim that God visited us. We say that. I've been saying
that for the biggest part of 30 years. I said, God has visited
me and made Himself known to my heart and given me faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, given me repentance. I claim
I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus. I claim I understand something
about evil. I claim I understand something
about sin. I claim I understand the penalty
of sin and who sins against. Well, I've also professed to
have fled from sin. I've also professed to have repented
of it. I've also professed to have fled
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I've also professed to have a
new heart. I've also professed to have a
right spirit. I profess to be a child of God
and an heir of heaven. Other men, for the most part,
do not profess this. That is, when you take the world's
population in consideration. Other men do not profess this,
but everyone who professes to be a Christian professes this.
what I've said and a whole lot more. You profess. You profess
that you're a new creature in Christ Jesus. Now, if that's
so, which I'm sure it is, now if that's so, if you profess
this, then your life must prove it, or else your life gives a
lie to your religious pretension, yours and mine. If, if you profess this that
I've set forth here, then your life must prove it. Now, that's
exactly what James was talking about when he said, Show me your
faith by your works, and I'll show you my faith without works. Exactly what he's saying. Your life's got to prove it.
Your life must prove it or else your life gives lie to your religious
pretension. And you know what? You and I
stand convicted of a falsehood. We stand convicted of a lie.
We are a fraud upon men and a felony against God. And it's a high
crime. and a misdemeanor for a man to
assume the name of the Son of God when he is utterly void of
the divine nature, and he lives in steel rebellion against Him,
and his life is a life of unholiness. That is a high, high form of
treason, and it is a crime against God. What do ye more than others? What do ye more than others?
I say that the world, the church, and even the Lord Himself has
a right, a legitimate right and reason to expect more from those
who profess to be more. He has a right. I have a right. Some people get upset at me because
I say, well, you ought to be on church. I have a right to
expect you to be on church on Sunday. If you profess to be
a believer in Christ, I have a right to expect that. And every
brother who has Christ formed in him, he has the same right
to expect it out of me. But some people get upset. They
say, well, preacher, you ride that too much. I may ride it,
but I'm going to tell you this. We can't do anything unless you're
here. Unless you drop your money in that box, unless you come
here and sit and listen, unless the listening of the Word of
God has an effect upon you, then this church, we just want to
shut it down. We cannot operate apart from people. Can't do it. No way under God's heaven can
you do it. That's the reason you've got
to be here. That's the reason I've said time and time again,
you that make professions of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
you better take a long, hard look down the road here because
it's not going to be easy. It's going to demand something
from you. And if you're not willing to
pay the demands or pay the price, why then pick up your baseball
and your bat and go on home because you ain't ready for it yet. You're
not a candidate for God's salvation yet. You see what I'm talking
about? This is what the Bible says.
Now, what I'm saying is what He says. What do you more than
us? You say, well, I shook hands
with the preacher and I thought, well, that's not enough. I want
to get the job done. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and faith in Him alone produces, if it's true, it produces a purifying
effect in our lives, in our whole nature. And there is some good
works. There's faithfulness. There's
genuineness that's manifested in our hearts. Loyalty. There's love. There's the love
and the grace of giving, the grace of gentleness, and the
comfort and peace. All of this is involved. And
if we don't, brethren, if we profess that we have this, Then,
brethren, you've got to have some evidence or proof in your
life that you do, or else your life gives forth a lie. That's all there is to it. I
hope that my life is not a lie. I shudder to think that here
I've been going along thirty years now, thirty years. Thirty
years of my life I've went under the pretense of religion. That's
right, thirty years. I was a young man. I mean a young
man when I got involved in this Christian business. And you might
say that all of my life, all of my adult life has been spent
in religion. It's my life. I say it's my life. I live for it. I live for it. I live to preach. And have I
been living a pretended life all of this time? going to miss
out on it. I hope not. I want to be sure
about this thing. Don't you? I believe you do.
I believe you want to be sure. I do. I don't want to miss out
on it. There's a story one time of a
traveler who, upon his return from home, or
upon his return to home from a foreign country, he'd been
away. decided that he'd better come on back home. And so he
finally got home, and after he got there, well, he began to
tell his accomplishments and achievements to those that gathered
around. And he told them that while he
was away in this foreign country, he said, I jumped a great distance. He
said, I just got right back and I took a great big leap. And
he said, I leaped a tremendous distance. And he told them the
exact distance there. And people were just amazed at
this man's agility and ability to leap and to jump. And they
just stood there with their mouths open and listened to this fellow.
But finally one of them said, now wait a minute. He said, I'll
tell you what I'm going to do. He said, I've got something here
will give forth the exact measurement, and he said, I'm going to measure
the exact distance that you jumped in that foreign country right
out here on the ground before us, and I want you to jump. If you jumped that distance in
that foreign country, well then you ought to be able to jump
the same distance here. Now I want you to get back there
and prove it. Prove right here before us What
you did in that foreign country, and he said, then we'll believe
you. Well, what he was doing, he was
asking for proof. He was asking for proof. Now,
the world, in the time in which we live right now, will surely
want some proof. They want some proof. You see,
you say and I say that I've experienced this and I've experienced that.
Now, if you have no proof, that you have experienced this, then
the world is at a place right now that they're going to look
you in the eye and tell you face to face that you're a big liar. That's what they're going to
tell you. They're going to say, no sir, don't you tell me that
you're a Christian. Because I know at least what is expected out
of a Christian. They'll tell you. They'll tell
you. That's the reason there's a whole lot of folks that You
know, we talk to and you talk to that will tell you, well,
we just don't want to be a Christian because it demands too much. Well, they're at least being
honest. And they know some things. They know that if a man is a
Christian, that he ought to be like this or he ought to be like
that. They know that. You tell them, say, well, do
you go to church? No, I don't go to church. Well, they say,
well, do you go? Yes, I go to church. Well, you're
not any different than I am. Your life is not any different
than mine. I can't see the difference between the two of us. They want
some proof of your claim. And they have a right. They have
a right to demand some proof of that which you claim to be.
You see? That's what our text says. What
do ye more than others? Others do this. that make no
profession whatsoever. They do this. What do ye more
than them? That's what our Lord is saying
here. Well, I read this story one time
about this painter, great painter. He was going to portray on canvas
the picture, or at least what he visualized the Apostle Peter
and the Apostle Paul to look like. And he labored hard and
long on putting his impression upon canvas. And there was an
observer of this great painter who came in every day and watched
him. And finally, at the end of the
painting, or the conclusion of it, why, the observer noticed
that the faces of the two apostles that he portrayed on canvas was
very red. And he told the painter, he said,
don't you think that you've made their faces too red? And he said,
no. He said, well, why did you make
them so red? Well, he said, they're red because
that depicts the blush that's upon their face when they see
the conduct of those that claims to be their successors. How,
brethren, humanly speaking, how the Lord Jesus Christ, how he
must blush at our misgivings, many of us. He's been crucified
and put to an open shame and his blood has been trampled underneath
our feet time and time again by our conduct. We profess, brethren,
something. We actually do. We professed
it by our baptism. We went down into the watery
grave and we professed. When we went down there, we said
we died. We died with the Lord Jesus Christ. We died unto sin. And we died and we're buried
and you're looking at a dead man now. I'm dead! Dead! rudiments of this world, I'm
dead unto sin, and I rise again to walk in newness of life, new
desires, new appetites, new attitudes. That's what we say. Well, listen,
we may expect more from Christians than others because it's a fact
that they who are truly Christians that they are more than others. Not only profess to be more than
others, but they are more than others. It's not just mere talk,
it's a fact. Because a believer in Christ
is what? He's been born again. A true
believer in Christ Jesus has been born again. He is not only,
as others are, made by God, but He has been twice made, twice
born. See, He is more than others.
He has been chosen by God. He has been redeemed by the Son
of God Almighty. Now you see, upon Him is the blood mark bought
with a price. I am not my own. I don't belong
to myself. I belong to Him. You're not your
own. You've been bought with a price.
You've got the blood mark on you. You're a bond slave. Can any self-denial be too severe
to prove that the Holy Ghost is in you and has subdued your
flesh? Not if you're a true Christian.
Not if you're a true Christian. It won't be anything, no matter
what it is, too hard or too severe. You'll say, well, I'll deny it.
I'll deny it. A crying need, brethren, a crying
need in the lives of those of us who profess to be twice born,
a crying need of self-denial. There's not much self-denial
in my life. There's not much in your life.
There needs to be some self-denial. We need to deny ourselves. Deny
ourselves. I'm not necessarily talking about
money. I'm talking about pleasure also. We need to deny ourselves. You say, well, I know lots of
folks that could come to church on Sunday night, but they won't
do it. They won't do it. Now, why won't they do it? Well,
simply because they're going to picture shows. Or they're
going to mothers or fathers, or they're going to a sister
or their brothers, and they're all going to get together and
have popcorn, watch the television and talk. But they wouldn't come
to church. Well, we've got to have some
pleasure, we've got to have some relaxation. Well, where in the
Bible does it say that? Where in the Bible does it say
that you've got to have some rest and relaxation apart from
your rest and relaxation in Christ Jesus? The Bible says that there's
got to be, got to be, some self-denial. You say, well, you're hard, preacher.
Well, I can't help it. I can't help it. I'm just trying
to be honest. I want to be honest. Honest with you, honest with
my own heart. Self-denial. Can there be any self-denial
that's too severe to prove that the Holy Ghost is in you and
has subdued your flesh? Nothing. Nothing. I don't think. Well, more is
to be expected from those who have been twice born because
they have more. Not only because they are more,
and that's not just mere words, but they are more. But also because
they have more. They have more than others who
don't profess this. Well, you know, they're rich. Those that are Christ-born, they're
rich. Maybe not rich in material things. Maybe you don't have $25,000
in the bank or $50,000 in the bank. Or maybe you don't have
$25 in the bank or even $25 in your pocket, but yet you're rich
if you have the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've got Him, you're rich.
What more can you have? If you've got the Lord Jesus
Christ, you've got all that God is and all that God has. Did
you know that? He that's got the Son of God
is free. If the Son hath made Him free,
He's free indeed. He's got everything. He's got
freedom. He's got comfort. He's got peace. He's got rest. He's got joy. He's got a prospect. of eternal
glory. If he's got Christ, he's got
more. He's got more. We ought to live
like we've got more, aren't we? We ought to live. We ought to
live just like the profession that we profess. What do ye more
than others? If a man tells you to go one
mile, go two miles. Well, if a man takes you to court,
our Lord said, if he takes you to court and he takes your coat. We said, give him your outer
coat too. Take your cloak off and give him that. And if he
says, if there's a fellow comes and he smites you on the right
side of the face, he said, just turn and let him smite you on
the other side. Could you do that? What do you
more than others? We ought to. Why? Because we
have more. Because we're rich. We're rich. A smite on the face. And I doubt
seriously if any of us ever gets too many of them. Probably none
of us have ever had any physical abuse in regard to our
profession. But if we did, it wouldn't be
much. And it certainly wouldn't be
much in light of the short period that we're going to be here.
And it wouldn't be much in light of what we're going to expect
in the world to come. So we ought to be able to endure
it. Whatever would come our way for Jesus' sake. See, we are
rich. Christ Jesus is your all and
in all. And I said that God is yours.
And you have all that God is and all that He has. He's your
portion. Ought not you to do more than
others? You say, but I pray. Pharisees
did that. Pharisees prayed. Well, you say,
well, I give to the church. The Pharisees did that too. They
give 10% of everything. You say, well, I give 10%. Well,
that's what the Pharisees give. That's all they give. You say,
well, I get $800 a month. I give 80 of it. Well, the Pharisees
did the same thing. Accept your righteousness. Exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. You have no hope. That's what the Bible says. Well,
I give, I give 10%. The Pharisees did the same thing.
The Pharisees would take their servant and they'd say, you go
down to the garden down there and you measure the mint and
the cumin and all the herbs and spices right down to the umpteenth
degree so we'll be exactly right that the temple will receive
exactly 10% of everything that I've got. I give ten percent. Well, that's
what the Pharisees give. They give ten percent, too. You
say, well, I pray. Well, the Pharisees did, too.
He prayed sometimes two and three hours at a time, and he wasn't
ashamed of it, either. He didn't hump up in some corner
someplace where no one could see him. He got out in the middle
of the road. He got out there in the middle of the corner,
or in the middle of the street, and he prayed. He wasn't ashamed.
He wasn't ashamed. You say, well, I don't do this,
and I don't, and neither did the Pharisee. You're more to
expect from you. You've been twice born, blood-bought,
you're not your own. You have in you the very nature
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got God in you, the hope
of glory. We ought to do better than what
we're doing, aren't we? I ought to do better than what
I'm doing. I think you ought to do better
than what you're doing. Listen, more to expect. from a Christian, we ought to
do more than others because we are looking for more than others. Be honest now, when those outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ that have no hope, they really have
no hope, and they know they have no hope, unregenerate people.
When they look out the window, what do they see? Everything
is damp and dark and dreary. I'll tell you what they see.
They see the black river of death. That's the only thing they can
see, is they look down the road. I mean, now they may look out
for a while and look at their new car, or look at their new
home, and look at their new clothes, and look at their material possessions,
but the longer they look at it, the farther down the road they're
going to look, and the ultimate object of their vision is going
to finally focus upon reality and truth and the only thing
they're going to see is the dark river of death. That's what they're
going to see. They're going to see death down
the road. Death down the road. Death in
the pot. And you see that death is black
and it's dreary. And I'll tell you, brethren,
The waves are black, and they foam with the wrath of God, and
death and hell are theirs. But the individual who has been
twice born, twice born, he has been twice born, and his title
is proved by the life that he lives, not only to himself, but
unto others. Shall the world know, shall all
men know that you're my disciples? Why? How will the world know? Because you love one another.
That's how they'll know. How will the world know? Because
you love me. You love me more than these.
Listen, if he asks Peter three times, Lovest thou me? Don't
think it's too much if I ask you three or four times if you
love the Lord Jesus. Yes, Peter. Peter had been with
him for three years through thick and thin. And at the end of it,
he looked at Peter right in the face and he said, Lovest thou
me? Do you love me? And Peter said, Yes, I love you. He said, Do you love me? He said,
Yes, I love you. He said, Do you love me? More than these. Peter said,
Yeah, you know my heart. You know I do. I asked you this
morning. I ask myself, what do you more
than others? Do you love him? Do you really
love him? I believe most of you do. I believe
most of you love him. I trust it's been some help to
you. That poor fellow that has no
hope. He can only expect to be doomed and damned. But the fellow
that has hope, it's a good hope. It's a solid hope. His hope is
anchored in the rock, which cannot move. Grounded firm and deep
in the Savior's love. It's a good hope. He hopes to
be with the Lord when he dies. Hopes to be with Him. Not because
he's good. but because his Lord died in
his stead, his place and in his room, and now in this life while
he's here. He tries in his own life to reflect
the goodness and the mercy and the glory of God. He tries to
reflect that in his life by loving, by loving God, by loving his
brethren, by loving all men, by doing good unto all men, by
giving of his time, by giving of his talent, by giving of his
money, by helping others, by being gentle, by being kind,
manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. Well, I hope you have
been helped. If you haven't, I have.