Last Sunday, after the morning
service, we had a fellowship dinner at the rec park. And Hannah and I were the first
to arrive, which shocked me because we're
never the first to arrive, but we were. And some people started
trickling in. And about two picnic shelters
down, there was a group that was holding a church service. And the preacher who was leading
this message, he was preaching, that man was so obnoxious. It was obnoxious. He was so loud. I legitimately asked if he had
a microphone. I was impressed with his volume. Very obnoxious,
but it was loud. This man, he was hollering at the top of his
lungs. He wanted everyone to know I'm over here preaching.
Everyone in the campground, he wanted them to know I'm laying out the word over
here. I'm over here preaching. I couldn't help but think about
Matthew 6. Our Lord said, when you pray, don't be as the hypocrites
are. They love to stand in the synagogues
on the street corners. That they may be seen of men. He said, get in your closet. What this man was hollering,
the point he was trying to make to these few people that were
sitting there, what he was saying to them was, you have something
to live for. That's what he kept hollering
at them. You have something to live for. And I was thinking about that.
That is just not so. That is not so. Turn with me
over to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20
says, I am crucified with Christ. I am crucified with Christ. Those
poor, poor people, I felt so sorry for those poor people sitting
there listening to him. I wish that man would have been
hollering from the top of his lungs the truth. I wish he would
have been saying, you are crucified with Christ, not you have something
to live for. You are crucified with Christ.
I'm crucified with Christ. Verse 20 says, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I. Yet not I. Without Christ, I
am nothing but a dead man. Without Christ, I'm nothing but
a dead man. Without Christ, that whole event
over there at the picnic shelter was the dead leading the dead
without Christ. It was the dead leading the dead.
And the dead have nothing to live for. They're dead. They
have nothing to live for. They're dead. Verse 20 says,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me." That's the only reason I'm alive. That's
the only reason I'm alive. So what that man had to say was
just not so. It's just not so. Well, that man, his noise pollution
continued for about 10 or 15 minutes. It went on, it went
on, it went on. And listening to him sparked some conversation
between some of us. I was helping one of the brethren
get some things out of his car. We were unloading coolers and
things like that. And he was talking about being
in religion. And he said, I actually had a
preacher tell me, they were talking about God's sovereignty. And
he said, I actually had a preacher tell me that God was obligated
to come to every man and offer him salvation at least once in
that man's lifetime. God was obligated to that at
least once. He had to come offer salvation
to every man at least once. He's obligated to that. That
is just not so. That is not so. Turn with me
over to Daniel chapter 4 after Ezekiel. Daniel 4, look at verse 35. It says, "...all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay His hand or saying to him, what doest
thou? None. I wrote right here in my
notes, Selah. Let's just dwell on that for
a minute. None. Turn over to Romans chapter
9. Romans 9 verse 11 says, For the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her,
The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
He doesn't come and offer him salvation one time. He leaves
him alone. He never shows up. He withdraws
himself and he hardens him. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What that man told our brother,
that God is obligated to come and offer salvation, is just
not so. It is just not so. Men love to tell that lie that
God has a wonderful plan for your life. That's not so. That is not so. God does not
have a wonderful plan for your life. Look at Acts 15 with me. Acts 15 verse 18 says, Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world. Every single one of them. Psalm 37 23 says the steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord. Every step ordered. Romans 8.28 says everything is
according to purpose, doesn't it? It's all according to purpose. He does not have a wonderful
plan for anybody's life. Nobody. That statement is not
so. Men love to say from pulpits
that God wants everybody to be saved. That's not so. It is just not so. Go with me
to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says,
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. If God wanted everybody to be
saved, Everybody would be saved. Everybody. That's just so. God
wants you to be saved. That's not so. That's not so. If God wanted you to be saved,
you would already be saved. Now there comes a point in a
person's life when God turns the light on. There comes a point
when God quickens them from darkness to light, death to life. What
that is, is the point when God notifies them of their salvation. That's what it is. They were
saved from the foundation of the world in Christ, and they
are lost, they're lost, they're lost, and all of a sudden one
day God tells them, I already saved you. You already were saved. What must I do? It was done before
the foundation of the world. It's a notification. The message
of the gospel is not what Christ wants to do. It's what Christ
has already done. That's the message of the gospel.
He's standing at your heart's door knocking. That's not so. That's not so. He said you're
the one that needs to be knocking. He said you knock and it'll be
open to you. You start seeking and you'll
find. Matter of fact, he said, I'm
going to take out your heart. Stand there and knock at it?
No. I'm going to reach in and I'm going to take out that old
stony heart and I'm going to crush that one. And then I'm going
to put in a brand new heart. So he's not standing anywhere
knocking. That's just not so. Jesus Christ
came to show us the way. That's not so. Jesus Christ is
the way. Accept him and he'll put in a
good word to God for you. That's not so. Jesus Christ is
God. He is the judge. If you have
been drawn to Christ, you have been drawn to Omega. The end. The last. God of very God. Now let's go
to our text. Go with me to Acts 17. Acts 17 verse 10 says, 17 And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea. who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all
readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so." You know why we just turned about every
scripture in the book? Searching the scriptures. see
whether these things are so. They searched the scriptures
daily to find out whether or not these things are so. Wouldn't we be so wise to get
into the word, to get into the word, wouldn't this town, those
poor people who were in that picnic shelter, get in the word,
open the word, see whether what that man is saying is so. So wise, rather than being set
in our tradition, our opinion. That's what we, that song we
sang, I quoted that verse. It's not in device or creed.
I trust the ever living one. It's not in my denomination. We would be so wise to see what
God has to say about it. Whatever God has to say about
it is the way it's going to be set for all eternity. that's
the way to be set for all eternity well I think what difference
does that make well see I just think that okay
whatever God has said is the way to be set for all eternity
so we'd be so wise to get in here and see whether these things
are so verse 10 and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and
Silas by night unto Berea who coming thither went into the
synagogue of the Jews, these were more noble." Noble means
well. It means well, well to be, well
off. It means higher because of well-being,
well. When I read that, I thought about
sickness and health. These were more well. They were more well. Verse 11
says, These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that
they received the word with all readiness of mind. That means
they received it with zeal. Zeal. I mean, they wanted to
find out what does it say in here. And so do I. They were inclined to it. That's
what it means. Verse 11 says, and they searched
the scriptures daily. They searched the scriptures
daily. Do you know when we need God's
word and God's help? Do you know when
we need his comfort and his guidance and his reassurance? Do you know when we need to hear
His voice and feel His touch? Daily. Daily. Four times a week is not enough. Not for me. I need it daily. I need it daily. Usually we're
hurting daily. Usually. We are hurting daily. Usually we are downcast daily. Usually it's every day. The day
could start out so good. You know what I need at that
exact moment in time? That's what I need. When we don't search the scriptures,
we become the opposite of noble. Noble means well. When we don't
search the scriptures, we become sick. We become sick. We need this word more than we
need oxygen. If God took away my oxygen, I
would be better off than if God took away this word. I actually,
that's not a figure of speech, I actually need this word more
than I need oxygen. We need this word more than we
need money. And we all need money. But we
need it more. We need this word more than anything
this world can offer us. Anything. Now, I want to show
you something. They search the scriptures to
see whether these things are so, and that's what we're doing. You have not all come here for
just any random reason. We're here to find out something.
So I want to show you something over in Matthew chapter 6. Turn
with me over to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew 6 verse 24 says, No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon. Mammon means confidence or wealth
personified. Meaning it's not just money.
It's not just money. It's anything that is not God. Anything that's not God. We cannot
split our service, our devotion, our honor with God and anything
else. Nothing else. We'll end up loving
one of them and hating the other one. And our Lord said over in
Matthew 16, turn a couple of chapters over to Matthew 16,
verse 24. Matthew 16, 24, then said Jesus
unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever
will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his
life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of
Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, And
then he shall reward every man according to his works. Now we
have given up on this world for Christ's sake. And I thought
about that statement quite a bit because most of us would initially
say, sorry to say, I don't feel like I have, but we have. We
have. We have given up on this world
for Christ's sake. We have willingly let go of the
thoughts of gaining all of the comfort and all of the luxuries that
this world can offer us. We have given up on it. All the
fame, all the fortune it can offer us, we've given up on it.
And the reason is because we know it will cost us Christ. I could go after that, but it
will cost me Christ. Can't serve God and mammon. I'm
going to end up loving one and hating the other. And we are
doing as he's told us to do. We're working while there's 12
hours in a day, providing for our families, providing for his
ministry. And we are enjoying the things
he's given us, but we have given up on the world for the cause
of Christ. We willingly suffer the persecution. of this gospel. Every person
in here that God has given a heart to believe this message knows
from this word you will suffer persecution for my sake in the
gospels. You will not fit in with the
masses out there religiously. And so we willingly suffer that
persecution. And we willingly endure the trials
with patience bowing to the Lord's will. Thy will be done. Not my will, but thine be done.
Giving all the glory to our God for all things. All things are
for Christ's sake. Now let me ask you this. Are
these things so? Are these things so? We are committing our all to
this. We're going to leave this world
clinging to this. Are these things so? All of my hope is in Christ alone. Leading up to this part in our
text, you don't have to go back, but leading up in our text, Paul
preached some things to them, and they started to open up their
word to see if these things were so. Was I really that sinful? You know how sinful the Word
says I am? Was I really that sinful? Was
I so sinful that Christ had to die? Is that so? Did He really win victory in
that grave? Is there really eternal life
through His resurrection? I mean, really, is that so? Let me show you three verses
of Scripture. And I'll close. Three verses
of scripture. The first one is 2 Peter chapter
1. 2 Peter 1 verse 16 says, For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his
majesty." Peter said, We've seen it in person. The things we're
telling you are not what has been repeated to us. We have
seen it all firsthand. He said, I've seen him firsthand. I watched him die. I saw him after he came out of
that tomb. I saw it firsthand. John said,
I saw new Jerusalem. I saw it, the holy city. He said, I'm telling you, I saw
it. An angel came and showed it to me. Paul said, I went to
the third heaven. I physically heard things. He said, I'm telling you firsthand
with these ears, I heard things I wish I could tell you, but
it's not possible. I physically heard things. This is no fairy
tale. This is no fairy tale. Now turn
with me to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 verse 51. This
is our Lord speaking, and He said unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto you. Verily means of a truth, of a
truth. When God says it twice, it's
true. He said, this is true, this is
true. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Hereafter you shall see heaven open. and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of Man. The Lord told that thief,
today you are going to be in paradise. You're going to be
with me in paradise. He said in Matthew 5, blessed
are the pure in heart for they shall see God. They shall see
God. Now turn with me to John 14. John 14 verse 2 says, In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, Are these things so? Are these
things so? God himself said, if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. All right, now we've searched
the scriptures, haven't we? We have searched the scriptures.
We have seen in here what things are so. The question is, do we believe
them? Do we believe them? Do I believe
them? Go back to Acts 17. Verse 10 says, The brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews, These were more noble than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all
readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so. Therefore, many of them believed. Also of honorable women, which
were Greeks, and of men, not a few, a bunch of them. A bunch
of them believed. After God allowed them to search
the scriptures and find out whether these things were so, God said
they were noble. He said they were well because
they searched the scriptures to see what God had to say about
it, and then they believed God. This is my prayer for Kingsport
Sovereign Grace. Lord, make us well. I want all
of us to be well, really well. just like he did for the Baragans.
All right, let's stand together.