When I say that it is an honor
to be here, I mean that. I'm absolutely convinced that
I'm standing in a place that the Lord has blessed. That's
so obvious to me. And I thank the Lord, I thank
the Lord for you. I thank God that in his infinite
mercy and grace that he chose to allow the candlestick of his
glorious gospel of free grace to be here. Never take that lightly. Never take it lightly. I'm going
to ask you, if you would, to take your Bibles and turn with
me again to the book of Matthew, chapter 7. I was thinking a moment ago as we were singing and that song that Gabe mentioned
again, teach me thy way. I was thinking about these scriptures.
This is a precious book. This is a precious book. This book is the written word
of God. That God Almighty would speak. You know that which moves a believer. concerning his walk, his walk
of faith, concerning what he does in this world, that which
moves him is his love for Christ. Almighty God has given a believer
a new heart. He's given him a heart that is fresh daily, that which
sinneth not. I've said before, Paul the Apostle says, to will
is present with me, but how to perform that which I would I
find not. And I think to myself, I know
that that which our Lord has said is so. We have in this passage tonight. Our Lord is preaching. And I
tell you, we would do well to hear what he has to say. He's
preaching the Sermon on the Mount. And so I know that these words
that we're about to read. These words are holy. These words
are precious. concerning what He has to say. John 14, 15, He said, If you
love Me, keep My commandments. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, Our
Lord speaking concerning His Word, 1 Corinthians 10, 31, Whether therefore you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 2.17, knowing whatever
you do, we have one purpose, one goal. Do it for the glory
of God. Lord, help me to remember that. Teach me 2 Corinthians 2.17 the
scripture says for we are not as many which corrupt or deal
deceitfully with the word of God but as of sincerity but as
of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ 2 Corinthians 4.2 The scripture says, We have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. Verse 7, 2 Corinthians 4 says,
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. put a watch upon his word. Guard, Lord, your word to my
heart. Remember that this word is eternal.
This word is everlasting. Heaven and earth is going to
pass away He said my words are not going to pass away. Every
word that proceeds from His mouth, every word that He has set forth
concerning His will, His honor, His purpose, Lord of Heaven,
help me to take heed to that. Now tonight I want us to consider
A precious command. A command. He that loves me. If you love me, keep my commandments. Here's a command that was set
forth by our Lord as He preached the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 6 of Matthew 7. And again, let me remind all
of us Who is speaking? Who is speaking here? This is
Almighty God. This is God talking. And Almighty
God says, Give not that which is holy unto the dogs. Neither cast ye your pearls before
swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again
and rend you. Now our Lord here is giving us
some precious instruction on the discretion concerning His
word, His gospel, this glorious gospel. The gospel of God, the
gospel of free grace, sovereign grace, the honor of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This word, give not that which
is holy, the gospel, give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine. Now our Lord himself gave
us instruction turn to Matthew 15 verse 26 our Lord interpreted
that very thing when he said give not that which is holy unto
the dogs the Lord Jesus Christ himself Matthew 15 a woman Syrophoenician woman
had come to him expressed to him her desire she had a daughter
that was very sick and here's what our Lord said to her at
first and he explained that which is holy give not that which is
holy unto the dogs and his explanation was this verse 26 Matthew 15
but he answered and said it's not meat it's not fit to take
the children's bread and cast it to dogs Our Lord Himself said, it's not
good. Here's what the word meat means. It's not meat, it's not good,
it's not valuable, and it's not beautiful. To take the children's bread,
the gospel, and cast it. Again, looking up the word cast
means to throw it in a violent way. to dogs. We don't preach to whip the goats. We're preaching for the honor
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has instructed us to go into
all the world and preach the gospel, to baptize those who
believe, teaching them to observe whatsoever He has commanded. And He gave this word of promise,
I'm with you. So we're here tonight to glorify
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the way we glorify Christ
is to say what Christ has said. We can do no better. We do no
better. We say what our Lord has said.
It's not meat. It's not beautiful. not valuable,
to take the children's bread and take it and try to whip a
dog with it, cast it at them. Whenever I, kids were growing
up and we cooked them some supper, this is some meat, this is some
bread, this is some food for the kids, for my kids, Dickie.
This is my kids, this is food for my kids. For me to take that
food and go outside in the front yard and mock kids from across
the street with it, it's not for you. That's not the purpose
of that bread, of that food. This is my children's bread.
It's for them. It has one purpose, to the honor
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the calling out of His sheep,
Christ Himself. is set forth in the preaching
of the gospel. This is the way the Lord calls
out His people. We preach the gospel, the Spirit
of God blesses the gospel to the calling out. We preach to
every man. We're commanded to do that. As
I just said a while ago, Matthew 28, 19, Go ye therefore and teach
all nations. baptizing them in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to
observe whatsoever I have commanded, all things whatsoever I've commanded
you, and lo, I'm with you always, even until the end of the world.
But according to our Lord's Word, back in Matthew 7, there comes a time when we are
to give not again Looking up these words, what did our Lord
mean when he said that? When he said give not, that is
bestow not, commit not, smite not with the hand, strike not
with the palm, give not that which is holy unto the dogs. Ecclesiastes 3.1 says to everything
there's a season. There's a time to every purpose
unto heaven. A time, the scripture says, Ecclesiastes
3.7, to keep silence and a time to speak. But concerning the dogs and the
swine that our Lord commanded us not to give that which is
holy to or cast pearls before, how are we to discern them. Now,
I know this, our Lord is not mocking His people and telling
them, warning them, admonishing them to not do something and
leaving them in the dark. I know that. Philippians 3.2
tells us to beware of them. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision. Dogs. Men, women who snarl at
the truth of the gospel of Christ. Men that bite with words of reproach
and hatred. Men that hear the glorious gospel
of God's free grace and like the scripture sets forth a dog
that will return to its own vomit. The scripture says a fool returns
to his folly. Dogs, those that hear the truth
and cling to their wicked works of self-righteousness and hate
God. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ
said, they hated me before they hated you. I'm going to say,
well, I don't hate the Lord. Well, the Lord said that there
are those that do. If you love me, he said, you
keep my commandments. Isaiah 56 10 sets forth that
these dogs, and I use the wording of scripture here again, we can
do no better Isaiah 56, verse 10 and 11. Our Lord, through
the prophet Isaiah, is setting forth. Who are they? Isaiah 56, verse 10, verse 11. His watchmen are blind. They're ignorant. They're dumb
dogs. They cannot bark. sleeping or
that is dreaming or talking in their sleep is what the margin
says here. They're dreamers, they're just
talking in a stupor. Lying down, loving to slumber,
yet they're greedy Dogs, they're strong of appetite, which can
never have enough. Or that is, they know not what
it is to be satisfied. God's people rest. They rest
in Christ. They rest in Him. Lord, as you
say it is. Lord, as you say I am, I am.
Lord, you said it's finished. Lord, it's finished. Put away my guilt. When he died,
when he said, I laid down my life for the sheep, you know
what that means? It means he laid down his life
for the sheep. Who did he die for? He died for his people.
He said, all that the father giveth me, here's the assuredness
of his word shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast him out. His word is sure. Greedy dogs
which can never have enough. They're shepherds that cannot
understand. They all look to their own way.
There's not but one way unto God. The Lord Jesus Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. All look to their own way. everyone
for his gain from his quarter. Who are these dogs? These men
stand in pulpit and they lie. They lie on God. Greedy dogs. Revelation 22 15
says for without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and
murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. He is the truth. We are of the
truth. And the truth sets a man free. This is the truth. Man rebelled
against God in the garden. Adam, the one man, by the one
man's transgression, there was one man in the garden. And that
man sinned against God, and all mankind fell. All mankind was
in Adam. And he died spiritually. The Lord told him he would. In
the day that you eateth thereof, you're going to die. And he died. And the first thing he did was
he hid from God. The Lord called to him. Adam,
where are you? You've heard it said before.
You think God didn't know where he was? That was a question for
Adam. Where are you? Well, I was naked. Who told you
you were naked? Did you eat the fruit? The woman. Now he's going to blame another
one. He ate it. Man failed in transgression and
sin and he alienated himself from God and died. Now how is
he going to return? There's only one way. Almighty
God made flesh, God, the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And we looked upon him, Isaiah
said, and we saw no beauty in him that we should behold. No
beauty. Made himself of no reputation. Humbled himself. Came to this
world. made sin, and laid down His life
for His sheep. And the Spirit of God is going
to call everyone that the Father chose in electing grace. He's
going to call them Him and Him and Him and Her. But without
dogs, how do you know those that are
without That's what the scripture says. They are without. First John 2.19 says, They went
out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went
out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Dogs are those, according to
scripture, which have forsaken the right way. and are gone astray
following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosar, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness." 2 Peter 2 15. They're swine. That's what the scripture says.
That's what the Lord described them as. That's what the Lord
called them. Swine, unclean, those that forsake
the right way, the gospel of truth for the rewards of unrighteousness,
greed, mammon, earthly, and the praise of men, and blindly they
will take the way of death over life every time." Well, there's a description.
Our Lord has set forth in His Word who they are, and He's given
us instruction on what we're to do. Well, with these manifested,
those that have despised the gospel of God's grace. What are
we to do? Well, again, turn to Matthew
15, verse 10 to 14. Our Lord again is speaking. And let me say this while we're
turning to Matthew 10. Our Lord had given us instruction.
We're not here as men's judges. There's one judge. One judge. We're not here to judge men.
You know what we're here to do? We're here to hear the Word of
God. Hear the Word of the Lord. And as our Lord preached this
message on the Mount, to hear what He had to say, and to take
His Word, and to hear His Word and ask Lord for grace to truly
hear it. and obey the wisdom of God that
is instructing us. This is God's wisdom. This is
God. I want to make sure, Lord, help
me to hear this. Matthew 15, verse 10 to 14. Matthew 15, oh, I'm in chapter
10, I'm sorry. Matthew 15, beginning in verse
10. He called the multitude and said
unto them, Hear and understand, not that which goeth into the
mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth,
that defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said
unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after
they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. Look at the next three words.
Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into
the ditch. Matthew 10, verse 14. Turn with me there. Again, I
want us to read these words. Again, hear the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. His instruction. Matthew 10,
14, for whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when
you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of
your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment than for that city. Who said that? The Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with
me to Acts 18 verses 5 and 6. Acts 18 verses 5 and 6. Apostle Paul
sent by the Lord. This is Paul the Apostle. This was one that held the coats
of them that stoned Stephen. This is Saul of Tarsus. The one
who on the road to Damascus was stopped by Almighty God and God
arrested him and called out to him and said, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? Who art thou, Lord? He said,
I'm Jesus that you're persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against
the bricks. Lord, Now here's a new heart. What would you have
me to do? This is the Apostle Paul sent. Sent by God according to the
words of our Lord that told Ananias. When the Lord spoke to Ananias
in Damascus and said, I want you to go over to Simon's house.
There's one Saul there. And Ananias said, we've heard
a lot about him, Lord. And he said, he's a chosen vessel
unto me. to preach. And here's the Apostle
Paul doing what Almighty God had commanded him to do. Acts
18 verse 5 and he went and preached and scripture says in verse 5
chapter 18 and when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia,
Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that
Jesus was Christ, the anointed of God. And when they opposed
themselves and blasphemed God, did not receive what the Apostle
Paul preached, the Lord Jesus Christ, the sovereign, electing,
redeeming, regenerating, keeping God of all grace. When they opposed
themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, And said unto
them, Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean from henceforth
I will go unto the Gentiles. But in closing, I've got this
question. What is the only motive for our withholding the children's
bread from those that refuse to hear. Now I don't know, I
don't know who God's sheep are. I don't know who they are. I
do know that the Lord has a sheep. I know that there's a remnant
according to the election of grace. I know that God has an
elect and I know that he's going to save his people. I know that
he's going to save them under the preaching of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that. Our Lord said, cast not that
which is holy to the dogs. When someone refuses to hear, I've had people actually tell
me, I don't want to hear what you're saying anymore. Don't
talk to me about that anymore. What did our Lord do? If you
want to know that which is right, what did He say? And what did
He do? What I think doesn't matter. Someone says, what do you believe?
by the grace of God, whatever he said. That's what I believe. What is the only motive if someone
tells you, tells me, tells you, you, don't talk to me about that
anymore. The Lord said, if you love me,
you keep my commandments. Our motive is not to elevate
ourselves over others. We are not to take the word of
God and use it as a whip to straighten out rebels. We are not to take the pearls
of this gospel, the bread of the children, and use it to try
to reprimand and straighten people out. I'm telling you, Almighty
God is going to save His people. He's going to save them. Christ
is going to be honored. His Word. His Word. Romans 12, verse 19. Romans 12, 19. The Scripture
says, Dearly beloved, Avenge not yourselves, but rather give
place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Our motive to our Lord,
our motive to our Lord is our love for Him. If you love me,
if you love me, keep my commandments. Do you think that Almighty God
is going to honor the obedience of His children? A love for Him is a miracle of
God's grace. The scripture says that when
our Lord says, no man can come, No man can come except it were
given unto him of my father. No man can. No man has the ability. The scripture says in John 6
that many of his disciples went back and walked no more with
him. What did he do? What did the
Lord do? Did he apologize? Did he try another approach?
Did he compromise the message? You know what he did? Bob, he
turned to the 12th and he asked him a question. Will you go away
too? Will you leave too? Do you want
to go? Peter said, Lord, Where are we going to go? Where are we going to go? You have the words of life. Where
are we going? Let me ask you this. What else
do we have, Chris? What else have we got? But Him. He's life. He is life. His word is precious. We know He's going to bless the
truth and we wait upon Him to do that which He alone shall
do. He's going to save His people. We are not to give that which
is holy unto dogs, neither cast our pearls before swine, lest
they trample them, his glorious gospel under their feet, and
turn again and rend us. That is to despise the admonitions
and the admonitioners. Proverbs 9.8 says, Reprove not
a scorner. That is to say, argue not. Don't argue with one that mocks,
scorns, or makes a mouth at, and ridicules, and mocks, mocks. Reprove not a scorner, lest he
hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will
love thee. Hebrews 10, 28, 29 said, He that
despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot
the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite under the
Spirit of grace? Last Scripture, 2 Thessalonians
3, verses 1 to 5. 2 Thessalonians 3, verses 1 to 5. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, says, Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the
word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified. even
as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable
wicked men. For all men have not faith, but
the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from
evil. And we have confidence in the
Lord touching you, that you both do and will do the things which
we command you. And the Lord direct your hearts
into the love of God, into the patient waiting for Christ. This evening, we hear what the preacher, the prophet
of God, has to say. Lord, what do you say? Lord,
teach us. Teach us thy way. Lord, grant
us wisdom. Lord, as we seek after to keep
your commandments, to keep your word, and to keep it with a heart
of knowing that we are what we are by the grace of God. Who
are we? Who are we? I tell you what we
are. I tell you who we are. We're
brands plucked out of the fire. We're the ones, by the grace
of God, that Almighty God has said to the law, deliver him
from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. Lord bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.