All right, brethren, let's go
back now to Galatians 1. Our subject tonight is servants
or men-pleasers. Servants or men-pleasers. Paul
says in verse 10, for do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. There are only two kinds of preachers
in the world. They are men-pleasers and servants
of Christ. That's the only two kinds of
preachers there are. Preachers who are men-pleasers
are not the servants of Christ, and preachers who are the servants
of Christ are not men-pleasers. The message a man preaches is
the message a man believes. The message he preaches publicly
is the message he believes. There's a lot of folks who will
say privately they believe the doctrine of grace, but they won't
preach it. What a man preaches is what he
believes. A man preaches what he believes. He won't preach
it because he doesn't believe it. God said, to the law and
to the testimony, if they preach not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them. The test is, does God
get the glory or does man get the glory? Does God get the glory
or does man get the glory? Is the doctrine to please men?
Is it to give man a part? Is it to give him something to
do? Is it to take the offense out? If so, man gets the glory. That's a man pleaser. If it's
according to the scriptures, if it declares salvation is of
the Lord and doesn't explain away salvation being of the Lord,
if it's according to the scriptures and glorifies God, that's a servant
of Christ. and the Lord won't share his
glory. He said, I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory will
I not give to another, nor my praise to graven images. Now
I want to take a brief look at some doctrine we all are familiar
with, scriptures we're familiar with, and I want to compare men-pleasers
with servants of Christ. Just some doctrine we know, some
scriptures we know. Go over to your right to Ephesians
1, and let's look at the doctrine of election. Christ's servant
preaches the doctrine of election. Those that are servants of Christ
are gonna preach the doctrine of election. Not sometimes, not
every now and then, not every half dozen messages or so, every
time he stands in the pulpit. If you're going to preach salvation,
you've got to preach where salvation begins. And it begins with God
choosing who He will save. It says here in verse 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God our Father,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. The us are
those saints at Ephesus. That's who He's writing to. All
who were sanctified in time were blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he had chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. That we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself, 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 beloved. Scriptures
are clear that of God are you in Christ Jesus. It was God our
Father who chose his people in Christ Jesus. Now election is
unto salvation. It's not salvation. Now there
is, we were chosen in Christ and
God declared the end from the beginning. He blessed us with
all spiritual blessings, but he chose us unto salvation. Now
there are some men-pleasers who preach that if you're an elect
child of God, then it doesn't matter if you ever believe on
God, if you ever hear the gospel or believe on Christ, it doesn't
matter. If you're elect, you'll die and you'll be saved. That's
a man-pleaser because what that's doing is it's making a man feel
good if he never believes on Christ, if he lives all his days
Never darken the door of the place where the gospel is preached.
Or if family does that, he has the comfort of saying, well,
if he was elect, he'd say. That's a man pleaser, that's
not what the scripture said. Christ's servant declares that
God chose us unto salvation and calls us in time. He chose us
in eternity and he calls us in time. In 2 Thessalonians 2.13
it says, God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. So God gets the glory. Those
he chose, he chose unto salvation and eternity, and he calls them
in time. Election is by God's sovereign,
unconditional grace. Sovereign, unconditional grace.
Men-pleasers say, God saw something in us, he foreknew something
in his people, and that's why he chose his people. That's a
man-pleaser. That doesn't offend men, that
pleases men. Because it makes you to be the
cause of God choosing you. But Christ's servant declares
that any condition in man makes election to cease to be of grace
and makes it to be a work. If there's a condition in the
sinner, it ceases to be grace and it becomes a work. Romans
9-11, we're very familiar with, but let me give it to you in
case there's some that hear this that haven't heard it. Romans
9-11, talking about Jacob and Esau. Verse 11 says, the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. Here's God's purpose
in choosing his people. That it be not of works, but
of him that calleth. They had done neither good or
evil. that the purpose of God according to election might stand
not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said to her,
the elder shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. What are we gonna say about that?
Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. He said to Moses,
Lord willing, we'll see this Sunday. This is his glory. I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy.
Now that offends sinners. That offends the sinner who's
trusting in something about himself. But if we preach to please men
and take the offense out of that, we're men pleasers rather than
servants of Christ. The servant of Christ has to
declare what the scripture says. It's not of man's will, it's
of God's sovereign will, God's sovereign right to choose whom
he will and pass by whom he will. Election took place in eternity
one time. It took place in eternity one
time. God chose who he would save in Christ and that'll never
be changed. Men pleasers like to say something
like this. When somebody professes Christ
and they're baptized publicly, they'll say things like, oh,
there's a new name written in heaven. Well, that pleases men. To let a man know that he had
something to do with his name being written in the Lamb's Book
of Life? There are no new names written in the Lamb's Book of
Life. Christ's servant's gonna declare that there are no new
names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. When he chose his people
in Christ in eternity, he wrote every name in the Lamb's Book
of Life, and there's no new names written there, and there'll never
be a name blotted out of there. Because he chose us by grace.
Nothing we can do will change that. chose us by grace. The cause of election, we saw
in Ephesians 1 and verse 4, was that he chose us before him in
love, and he did it by his grace. The cause is his love, his everlasting
love, and that love is in Christ. The men-pleasers will say, God
loves us because we love him. If you love Him, God loves you.
We're not the cause of God's love. Scripture says we love
Him because He first loved us. That's what Christ's sermon's
gonna declare. The cause of him calling was his love in Christ,
and that's the only place his love is found, is in Christ.
Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus. That's the only place God loves
a sinner. That's the only place God has
anything for a sinner, is in Christ. Nowhere else. And that
love never changes. Those he loves, he saves. Now,
let's go to Romans 5, and let's talk about original sin. and
total depravity. Now this is really what the issue
is with men pleasers is they won't declare men are guilty
in sin and totally depraved. They keep giving man something
to do in this thing of salvation. Romans 5.12, by one man sin entered
the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men
for that all have sin. all became guilty by Adam's one
original sin in the garden. That sin made us all guilty because
Adam was the head of the whole human race and we became corrupt
in nature because Adam, we were born of Adam. Now, men pleasers
don't talk much today about sin. If you come across some man pleaser
on the television, I don't suggest listening to them, but if you
do happen to land on it, you're not going to hear them say much
about sin. And if you do hear them say anything about sin,
they're going to leave it open to where if you want to believe
there's some good in a man, you can believe there's some good
in a man. They're just not going to declare a sinner totally,
thoroughly depraved in sin so that he can add nothing to his
salvation. They don't declare that. They
say there's some good in us or that we're not as bad as others.
That's a man pleaser. But Christ's servants declare
this, back in Romans 3, In verse 9, what then? Are we, Paul's including
himself in there, are we better than they? Are we Jews better
than the Gentiles? No and no wise. We've before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, they're all under sin. As it's written, there's none
righteous, no not one. Nobody has ever kept the law
of God. That's what, to be righteous,
you have to keep the law of God. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's none that understandeth, and there's none that seeks after
God. Nobody understands God by nature, and nobody's seeking
God by nature. They're all gone out of the way.
They've together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. Now, we're talking about as God
sees good, as God says something good, there's none that doeth
good, no not one. Look at Romans 3 and verse 23. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Well, some men will say, well,
I'll just change that. I'll just, I'll change my ways
and I'll join the church and I'll amend my ways and I'll pull
myself up out of that. Jeremiah said, can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Can the Ethiopian change his
skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good that
are accustomed to do evil. We can't change what we are.
We're sinners, and that's all we'll be. Guilty under the law,
sinners in our nature, and that's all we'll be. Christ's servant
declares this even of himself as a believer. Even after he's
been born of God, Christ's servant is gonna declare this is not
only so of us by nature, this is so of us even after God calls
us. In ourselves, in our sinful flesh,
David was a born again child of God and he said in Psalm 38
7, my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there's no soundness
in my flesh. And he's talking about himself
as a sinner, as a believer. Paul said, I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. To will is present
with me. If you're born of God, you have
a new man and there's a willingness there. It's present all the time
with every believer. But how to perform that which
is good, I find not. He said, oh wretched man that
I am. The only thing our sinful flesh
ever contributes in our life from the time of conception to
the time that we take our last breath, the only thing our sinful
flesh produces is sin, that's it. Man at his very best state
is altogether vanity. Here's the thing of salvation.
We sin, we do the sinning, God does the saving. We're guilty
and depraved by nature. Now here's the true test, the
cross. This is the true test that differentiates
and everything meets at the cross and everything extends from the
cross. This is where the true test is
right here. What did Christ do at the cross? Well, for whom did he die? Who
did he die for? Go with me to John chapter 10. Who did he die for? Well, men-pleasers
say Christ died for all sinners. Some just blatantly say he died
for everybody without exception. But there are other men-pleasers
who are much more subtle, much more careful, and they say, well,
there's some sense in which Christ died for all sinners. He died
for the elect, but there is some sense in which Christ died for
all men. Christ's servant speaks the word
of our Redeemer. Here's what he said, John 10,
11. He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Verse 15, he says, as the Father
knoweth me, so I know I the Father, and I laid down my life for the
sheep. Now look at verse 26, and just
look at that second part. He tells these people they don't
believe, and here's why. Because you are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. Now, you be sure to think about
that. Get that now, just think about that. Christ said, I laid
down my life for the sheep. But he looked at some men there
and he said, you're not of my sheep. There's no sense whatsoever that
he was laying down his life for those fellas. There's no sense. And you can't make it make sense
to say that he did. He didn't. He did not lay down
his life for those fellas. No sense whatsoever. But John
Calvin said, Jesus Christ, the Son of God said, I lay down my
life for the sheep. I don't care what John Calvin
said. Christ said it. Oh, you're a hyper Calvinist.
I'm a calm Christian, thank you very much. Calvinism won't save
you. Only Christ can save. Why is
it so important? Let God be true in every man
a liar. That's what Christ's servants
say, let God be true and every man a liar. Or please men and
call God a liar. There's no middle ground. Paul
said, if I please men, then I'm not the servant of Christ. What
did Christ accomplish? That's why it's so important
to say who he died for. What did he accomplish? What
did he accomplish? Is there some sense in which
Christ failed? No. No. Men pleasers say he made redemption
possible for all men. Somehow he ambiguously died for
some ambiguous sin and made salvation possible, accomplished some kind
of redemption that it wasn't accomplished for anybody or for
any particular sin, just for sin, and somehow made salvation
possible for everybody. That's a man-pleaser. That's
trying to make it so that you have to make Christ blood-effectual. That's a man-pleaser. But these
others who are subtle say there's some sense in which he died for
all men, but when they say that, they're saying the same thing.
There's some sense in which he failed. That's what they're saying. They're saying there's some sense
in which he failed. That's giving a sinner some sense
in which to glory in making Christ's blood effectual is what that's
doing. That's giving the sinner, in some sense, the power to be
the one who's the cause of redemption. But Christ's servant declares
there's no sense in which Christ failed. No sense whatsoever. God our father said he shall
not fail. Christ declared he did not fail
when he said it's finished and the spirit of God declared he
did not fail when he said he by himself purged our sins and
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. By himself,
without any help from anybody else, he purged the sin of his
people. Listen to Isaiah 53 11. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Why? Why is he satisfied? By
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. He did it. He did it. For he
shall bear their iniquities. He did it. Seventy weeks are
determined upon thy people, upon the holy city, to finish the
transgression. Is there some sense in which
he finished the transgression for all men? No. But for his
people, he finished the transgression. He made an end of sins. He made
reconciliation for iniquity. He brought in everlasting righteousness.
He sealed up the vision and the prophecy. He anointed the most
holy. In every sense, Christ eternally redeemed his elect
and his elect alone. He eternally, completely, fully
justified his people and his people alone, because that's
who he was dying for, and he accomplished what he came to
do. Now, if somebody objects to that, I have to ask them,
what are they pleading for? If somebody objects to Christ
accomplishing the redemption, what are they pleading for? What
are they objecting for? Pleading that Christ not receive
all the glory? Pleading not to offend sinners?
If that's the case, what does that make a man? If he's objecting
so he doesn't offend somebody, that makes him a man pleaser.
Christ's servant wants God's Son to get all the glory for
the death he accomplished. Don't you love that, how when
they talked, they talked about the death he accomplished? His
death was an accomplishment. It wasn't a failure. He wasn't
a victim. He accomplished salvation for his people by his death.
He did it for his elect Jew and Gentile. Now let's talk about
regeneration. Let's go to John 3. John 3 and verse 5, Jesus answered Nicodemus and
he said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, accept a man. Now
here's an exception that is sure enough an exception. Except a
man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. Pay attention to that, the kingdom
of God. He can't enter the kingdom of
God unless he's born of the Spirit. Now what? That which is born
of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of God the
Holy Spirit is spirit. Like begets like. That which
is of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of God the
Holy Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you,
you must be born again. We must be born of the spirit
in order to have a new spirit. We gotta be born of God the Holy
Spirit to have a new Holy Spirit. And we can't make that happen.
And we can't stop that from happening. That's what he says next. The
wind blows where it listeth. Now here's the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and where there it goeth.
So is everyone that's born of the Spirit. You can't make it, the wind blow,
and you can't stop the wind blowing. And that's so with the man born
of the Spirit of God. Men pleasers tell poor, spiritually
dead sinners that they have a free will to accept or reject Jesus. Now, the Jesus they're telling
them that they can accept or reject is the Jesus that can't
do anything for them unless they accept him. They ought to reject
that Jesus. They should reject that Jesus,
because he can't do anything. But Christ's servant declares,
no part of the new birth is of the sinner. No part of the new
birth is of the sinner. It's of the Holy Spirit of God.
He is as unstoppable as the wind. He gives a new spirit, he gives
faith, he gives repentance, he gives all things that pertain
to life and godliness when we're born in the new birth. He does
it, and he draws his people to Christ. And the psalmist said
in Psalm 65, for blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes
to approach unto thee. that he may dwell in thy court.
We'll be satisfied, we shall be satisfied with the goodness
of thy house, even of thy holy temple. So God does the choosing. We come into this world, we're
guilty by Adam, we're corrupt in our nature, totally depraved,
can't do a thing for ourselves. So salvation, thankfully, started
with God choosing whom he would save in Christ. And then Christ
came into this world and He was made of a woman, made under the
law, fulfilled the law for His elect, went to the cross, justified
His elect, made His elect righteous, and accomplished it. And then
in time, God the Holy Spirit comes and regenerates His child
and tells us what Christ accomplished for us and brings us to believe
on Christ. And we're brought to believe
on Him irresistibly. Now let's talk about sanctification.
Now this is what Paul's going to deal with most in this chapter,
so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it, but I do want
to deal with it. Sanctification is to be holy, is to be a holy,
pure, new creation within. That's sanctification, holiness. To be holy and pure, newly created
within. A new spirit created within a
dead sinner. A new holy man created within
this old man of sin. to be washed, it's called, to
be cleansed, to be sanctified, to be purified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Now some men pleasers
describe it as a co-effort between the believer and God. Some say
it's partly God does it and partly man does it. Other men pleasers
claim it's all of God, but they compel and they constrain professing
believers to do. They say, except you keep the
Ten Commandments, you're not holy. Except you obey man-made
commandments and traditions, you're not holy. Look at Galatians
6. Here's what Paul said they're
doing. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 12. As many as desire to
make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to do. They constrain you to go under
law. Only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. The only way this is
going to be remedied and a man is going to have his flesh mortified
and made to walk in godliness is preaching the cross of Christ.
and they're not going to preach the cross of Christ, because
everything I'm preaching to you now is going to offend people.
They won't have nobody to make holy. They'll leave, unless God
gives them life and faith in Christ, and they're not going
to do that. They're going to suffer persecution for that,
so they're going to make a fair show in the flesh in what they
show out and make people do. by compelling and constraining.
Now look at this, though. Neither they themselves, who
claim to be outwardly keeping the law, they don't keep the
law either. If there's anybody listening
to this who's a Sabbatarian or thinks there's any particular
commandment they have to keep, or there's a preacher telling
them this, let me, listen to what Paul's saying. Your preacher
don't keep it either. He don't. The preacher that's
telling men you gotta keep whatever commandment or you can't be saying,
he ain't keeping it either. He don't keep it either, never.
No man ever kept one of them. But he desires to constrain you
that he might glory in your flesh. Most men pleasers teach that,
now listen carefully, the more outward sin you put away, and
the more good works you do, the holier you're becoming. Actually,
that doesn't make you holy at all. Some say you completely
put away your sin and become perfectly holy. Others say you
never put it away completely, but you do reach a degree of
holiness that makes you right for heaven. What if a believer
starts out and he's turned and he's turned to Christ, and he's
starting to do some good works, and he's starting to put away
some outward sin, and he gets paralyzed. What's he going to
do? He can't do any good works. He
quit all his sin outwardly, but he can't do any good works. Christ's servants declare sanctification
is of God. Holiness is of God. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5.23
tells us that the God of peace sanctifies his people wholly. W-H-O-L-L-Y. It means completely. It means he preserves you, your
whole spirit, soul, and body blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Son sanctified us by
his will. by him fulfilling the will of
God whenever he perfected forever his people by his one offering.
Scripture says he gave himself for the church that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
He does it. And the Spirit of God, when we're
born of God, when we're regenerated, the Spirit of God creates a new
spirit. Ephesians says it's a new man
which after God is created. It's a new man created. He wasn't there before. It's
a new man created in righteousness and true holiness. Christ formed
in us. Christ formed in a dead sinner
in union with that new man that's created is the righteousness. Christ is the righteousness.
He is the true holiness of the new man created within. 1 Corinthians
1.30 tells us that's when of God Christ is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption so that we glory
only in the Lord. He's just the same as He's all
our righteousness, He's all our sanctification. Christ is all
our sanctification. Christ is inseparably united
with our new man, as he said, like the vine and the branch.
You can't tell where, with Christ and the new man, you can't tell
where one ends and the other begins. We're one with him. Listen
to Hebrews 2.11, for both he that sanctifieth and they who
are sanctified are all of one. for which cause he's not ashamed
to call us brethren. Our holy redeemer is not ashamed
to call me and you his brethren. Why? Because we're one and we're
holy in that oneness. Now when Christ our holiness
is in a center, our new man, our new spirit is fit. He's meet. to partake of the inheritance
of the saints. He's meek to enter into heaven
right then. Scripture speaks of nothing that
remains to be done to our spirit when we die. Scripture doesn't
say that when you die, there's not one thing that's gonna have
to be done to that new man. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. How can I enter into the kingdom
of God immediately? Well, let me show you something.
Go to Colossians 1. Believer, you're already in the
kingdom of God. Colossians 1 verse 12 says, we
give thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet. That means fit, that means ready,
right now, complete. To be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in Christ our light. who hath delivered us, now look
at that, he hath delivered, past tense, he hath delivered us from
the power of darkness and he hath translated us, right now,
believer, into the kingdom of his dear Son. We're in it. You remember Romans 8 says, you're
not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit if the Spirit of Christ
dwells in you. You're in the Spirit. I can't
explain that to you, but it's true, and I believe it, because
God says it. And this is true right here,
too. He's translated you out of darkness into His kingdom. Why is that a big deal? Go to
1 Corinthians 6, 9. I'll show you why it's a big
deal. Because He told us over in Revelation,
nothing can enter into His kingdom that defiles. Nothing that makes
a lie can enter into His kingdom. It's got to be righteous and
holy, as Christ is righteous and holy, as God is righteous
and holy. That's how holy it's got to be. Now watch this, 1
Corinthians 6, 9. You know how sinful the Corinthians
were? Do you know how awful and what
a bad shape this church was in? It was in a bad shape. Now listen
to this right here, 1 Corinthians 6, 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? What did we just read
in Colossians? He made you fit to inherit the
kingdom. You're translated into the kingdom. He says here, the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived. Fornicators
can't go, idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God. And such were some of you, but you are wise. but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. Well, now that means that you're
getting there. You're going to get there one
day. Are you just partially justified? Are you just partially righteous? Are you completely righteous?
In Christ, you're completely righteous. Are you partially
sanctified? Does Christ create anything that's
just partly holy? It's all holy, what He makes.
You've inherited, you've been translated into the kingdom of
God and you're fit to walk into glory with Him because you've
been born of Him, washed by Him, sanctified, justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. He made
us meet to partake of the inheritance of the saints. What saints? They're
sanctified ones. They're holy ones. and he's translated
us into the kingdom of his dear son. The glory of this mystery,
the light of this, the inheritance of the saints in light. I've
always looked at that as thinking of heaven being that light in
the light of heaven. That light's Christ. You partakers
of the inheritance in Christ our light. And he goes on down
in Colossians 127 and he says, the glory of the mystery is this. The word glory means light. The
light of this mystery, the glory of it is there. It's Christ in
you. That's how you're holy. It's
Christ in you. Well, what about growth? Well,
we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
we don't grow more holy than when we are united with Christ. We don't get more holy. We grow
in grace and knowledge of Him. Paul said this, ye are children
of light. That means you've been called
out of darkness into light. You're in Christ the light. Christ
is your light. You are children of light. Now,
walk as children of light. That's not how you're going to
be made children of light. That's not how you're going to
get more light. You are light. You are children
of light. Now, walk as children of light.
God says, I'm holy. Be ye holy. You're holy. You've
been made holy. Now be holy. You are. You're not going to do something
to be holy. You are holy. Because He made you holy. Well,
what does scripture mean when it says the path of justice is
a shining light that shineth more and more into the perfect
day? Christ is the light. You don't think that means that
I'm getting brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter the
more I do and the more I do, do you? No, Christ is the light
that shines more and more into the perfect day. We find he alone
is our holiness more and more and more. The constraint of his
love gives a new will that's set on pleasing him. When he's
done this work in you, you have a new will that's set on pleasing
Christ. And you have a new affection,
not affections, Colossians 3 says, a new affection that's set on
Christ at God's right hand. There's your life, there's your
righteousness, there's your holiness, there's your wisdom. It's set
on Him. And so the Spirit renews the new man in knowledge of Christ
after the image of Him that created him, and He makes you, I'm just
giving you an example, He makes you put away some outward sin. some outward sin that's been
troubling you, and you put that away. And then he lets you become so
proud in your flesh that you put it away to show you, you ain't one whit
more holy in your flesh than before you put that sin away.
You talk to older believers, A natural man gets older and
he don't commit the outward acts he used to, he ain't getting
holier. And you talk to older believers
and they'll tell you, they don't do near the outward acts they
used to. And they see themselves as more sinners than ever before.
Why? Because as God makes you mortify
your flesh and stop your outward sins, He's going to give you
more and more light so you can see how condemned this old sinful
flesh really is in thought. I see my sin more now than I
ever have, and I sin less outwardly than I ever have. If you'd have met me when you
was 20 years old, you'd have said, he can't be no believer. Lot didn't
have nothing on me. David didn't have nothing on
me. Well, there's a lot of those
outward sins that are gone. And I see my sin more now than
I ever seen it. Because it ain't just in them
outward things. It's what I am. That's the light
that shines more and more. It's you seeing Christ your light,
Christ your holiness more and more and more and more. And you see this light coming
on in this old condemned building and you start seeing it's just
tore up from the floor up. Can't be trusted. That's growing
in grace and knowledge of Him. It's not something you do or
don't do. It's something He does and teaches
you He's your holiness. That's holiness. That's holiness. That's what Paul's going to deal
with all through this book right here. And he's teaching you,
brethren, that you're complete in Him. Just like you're complete
in Him in righteousness, you're complete in Him in holiness. Growth in grace and knowledge
is of Him. It's of Him, it's from Him, it's
through Him, and it's to Him. And He gets all the glory. And
the fruit of the Spirit that He produces, that don't make
you more holy either. The fruit of the Spirit don't
make you more holy either. The fruit of the Spirit is a
result of the produce of seeing Him as being all your holiness
and Him being all your holiness. Newness of spirit is not constrained
by rigors of law. That's not newness of spirit.
It's not being compelled by men to do something. That's not newness
of spirit. It's the sweetness of Christ's
love, and mercy, and grace, and seeing Him as all your everything. And that makes you walk by faith,
constrained by love. The fruit it produces is faith
which works by love. And that's holiness, that's sanctification. Now if the man pleaser wants
to object and he wants to defend his Sabbath day and he wants
to defend his constraining men and compelling men or whatever,
I ask you again, why are you objecting? Everything I just
said gives Christ all the glory and gives man none. He's the one who gets all the
glory in this thing, we don't. He's our holiness, the same as
he's our righteousness, he is. Well, what about resurrection
and glorification? Now, is there any man pleaser
that's going to try to give man credit for that? Any man pleaser going to try
to help man resurrect themselves and glorify themselves, raise
their bodies new? Finally, fully, forever, Christ
will present His church to Himself, a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.
And you just think about the unspeakable joy of being with
Christ. The unspeakable joy of being
perfectly conformed to His image with all His holy people. There
won't be one man-pleaser to have to contend with. Not one. There'll
be nothing there but servants of Christ. giving Him all the
glory from A to Z. If they didn't want to fellowship
with us here, they wouldn't be happy there. But you'll be happy there, just
nothing but servants of Christ, giving Him all the glory. Amen.