In order for us to witness, truly
witness, to those that we love. They need to see our profession
of something, don't they? The world wants you to profess
you're a Christian by going to church, doing this and doing
that. But over here in chapter 3 of
Hebrews, verse 1, we read this. Partakers of the heavenly calling, That's God the left. That's the
holy brethren, those who have been made holy by Jesus Christ
himself. Partakers of the heavenly calling,
the chosen of God, who have been called by the power of God, consider,
think about, stop for just a moment, put this in your mind, the apostle
The High Priest of our profession. Who is the Apostle? That's Jesus
Christ. Who is this High Priest? The
message that the Apostle brings. That's what the Apostle means.
The Apostle means messenger with power. Jesus Christ said all
power in heaven and earth. He's the messenger sent of God.
And we saw that in the Bible study, so I'm not going to go
back to that again. But he's our messenger, and his message
was the message of the high priest, the one who enters in to the
holiest of holies with blood, blood for the redemption of his
people. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the message that Christ came to this world to preach.
But it says there of our profession, our witness, What is it that
we witness to those that we love, those who belong to the Lord
Jesus, those who've experienced, those who know in our heart what
it is for God to be gracious to a sinner? We read words like
this in Romans 3.11. There is none that understand
it. There is none that seek it after God. We know that was us,
don't we? How do we know? Do we just get
smart one day and start saying, okay, I've been doing all these
things wrong in my life all this time. I've decided, you know
what, it's time for me to start doing something different. I'll
just believe God. Is that what happens to a true
believer? No. No. There are none that understandeth. That's God's Word. That's not
me speaking to you. That's God telling you what His
Word is. There are none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. That was me. And if you
belong to God, that was you at one time as well. Over in Romans
chapter 5, we read these words. For as one by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. Folks, we all come into this
world dead and trespassed in sin. Every single one of us. I was talking to a member of the family. Member
of the family. Might have been a woman, might
have been a man, I don't know. I do know, but I don't want to
share that with you. I was talking to them yesterday
about this very thing. The child in their arm, the child
in their arm is a sinner. What? How dare you talk about
my little precious one? Folks, I'm not talking about
your precious one. God is. God's word says, by one
man's disobedience, many were made sinners. But it also says
this, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. How? In Romans 10 verse 13 we
read these words, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. I got that poster thing over the walkway
out here in the fellowship hall that Brother Mike came up with.
Oh how true it is. If the guy standing before you
is talking about a Christ, a Jesus, and there are many who are right
now, this very minute, spread all over the world, speaking
about a Jesus who wants to be your God. Who wants you to let
Him save you. I was talking about this with
a brother or sister yesterday again. I don't understand how
anybody can think this. And when I made this statement
to this person as they held that child in their arms, they said,
you're absolutely right. If you're sitting there drinking
your coffee and you're looking out the window and that little
child were to run out towards the boulevard where cars are
flying past Would you just stand there and let that child go and
say, well, they need to make their decision now. What makes
you think God is so callous that he's waiting for you to
make your decision? The God I see in scriptures has
loved me from before the world was. Has he loved you? I'm telling
you here today. If God has loved you, if God
has loved you, he will not let you go out into the traffic.
It says, all the Father giveth me shall come to me. Not maybe. I'm not going to let one go running
out there in the traffic. In fact, I love that one so much,
he says, I laid down my life for it. I became flesh. He left me. His glory in heaven
and became flesh for us. This is grace experienced. I can explain it to you left
and right till I'm blue in the face. But if God doesn't show
His grace in your heart, you will not know what I'm talking
about. It took Him to shine His light
in the heart of His child the day that I heard the gospel preached
for the first time sitting right over here You think that was
the first time I'd ever gone to church? Oh, how many times I'd gone with
my mother and sat there trying to keep my eyes open. No, he's talking about those
folks who cheat on their wives. He's talking about those folks
who drink. He's talking about those... Well,
wait a minute. He's talking about me. Did you ever notice that
Paul says, O wretched man that I am. Did anyone in the flesh
ever have a reason more than Paul to declare a difference
in himself? Remember what he was first before
the Lord came and shined his light in his heart? He was a
man who was persecuting the church. He was holding the coats of those
that would stone a man to death. He was holding letters in his
hands for him to go after those who declared themselves to be
Christian and persecute them. Was there ever a man in this
world that could say there's a difference in me today? Yet
Paul said, oh, wretched man, that I am. Every single one of
God's people say that, and will continue to say that until the
day the Lord takes us out of this world. We know what true
sin is. We know that unbelief is our
biggest sin. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How am I to profess this apostle,
this high priest, this one Jesus Christ? I beg of you, consider
him. I want to call my son up. I want to get him on the phone
right now. Consider. I want to pray, Lord, speak to
the hearts of my loved ones, because no
matter what I say, it won't do any good without the power of
God behind it. Consider. Consider my Savior, Christ Jesus. Turn over to Acts chapter 10.
How are you going to call? It says in verse 10 or verse
14 of Romans. Turn to Acts chapter 10. But
how are you going to call on somebody you've never heard of?
If all you've ever heard is about this Jesus who is trying to save
somebody but can't because you won't let him, this Jesus who
loves everybody that he's created, If that's all you've ever heard,
and you've never heard about the true and living God, the
Jesus who loved Jacob and hated Esau, the Jesus who has loved
his people from before the world was, this Jesus who's not going
to let any of his children go, if you've never heard of him,
how are you going to call on him? How are you going to call
on him? How are you going to believe
on someone you've never heard of? How shall you hear without a preacher? I declare unto you today that
God has chosen a remnant out of every tribe, every nation,
every tongue, to be a witness of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what we are. We are witnesses of His grace
in us. Chosen from before the foundation
of the world as we read in Ephesians 1 verse 4. Chosen to salvation
through the sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. That's in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse
13. Chosen to be vessels of mercy
formed by the potter. That's in Romans 9 verse 23. Are you with me in Acts chapter
10? Look here at verse 39, will you? And we are witnesses of
all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in
Jerusalem when they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised
up the third day and showed him openly. Now look at this. Listen,
look at page, look at verse 41. Not to all the people. but unto witnesses chosen before
God. Witnesses. Witnesses of God's
grace. That's my message for you this
morning. God help me to be a witness of
your grace to my loved ones. How can I witness to my child,
my son, my daughter, my grandchildren, my friends that I love much that
I play golf with, how can I witness to them? Just as those that it
is written about here were chosen to see the resurrection of Christ,
all of God's people are chosen before of God to witness the
things of Christ in them. Not with the eye of the flesh,
but with the eye of faith. It says in 2 Corinthians 5-7,
we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk in belief. Our spirit
believes God. Not just part of it. Not just
those things that we can figure out on our own, in our own minds. Let me tell you something. Scripture
has warned us about what we think in this flesh of things that
are right. It warns us. Beware. Beware of what men think is right.
God's ways are not our ways. Do you understand what that means? That means whatever you think
is fair, doesn't mean anything to God,
because what God does is always fair. It's always right. It's always perfect. If it wasn't,
he couldn't be called God. He'd be unworthy of that name. Oh, how thankful I am that he
is. When Abraham was told of God, that through the seed of
his son, a great nation would be raised, And through that nation,
a Savior would come into this world. What was it accounted
to him for righteousness sake for? He believed God. Was it because he went to church
on Sundays? No. Was it because he made a decision
to begin following Christ that time? What happened when God
called him out of the land of Chaldea and said, Abraham, leave
that behind? What did he do? He left it behind.
When God called the disciples along the seashore and he walked
by and he said, come follow me, what did they do? They stopped
everything they were doing. They even left their father and
followed him immediately. When God's people hear the word
of God, Lazarus, Come forth. John, come forth. James, come
forth. Becky, Mike, all of your names
that he has spoken to, to your heart. When he says, come forth,
he's speaking with the power of God. It's irresistible. It's the grace. My kids want
to, you know, they want to, what brought you to the Lord, John?
Well, his word did. The power of God spoke to my heart. They
know that. Both of them. They know that
with these ears, but they don't hear it with these ears. That's
our witness. That's our profession. Christ
came with a message. He came with the message, I shall
save my people, not me. He came with the message that
it's not your will. Nor is it your running or your
works, but it is of me that showeth mercy." That's the message Christ
came with. That's our profession. That's
our witnessing to our family. You tell those two girls that
every day, that's how God will save them.
That's how God will call his people out of darkness. By the
professing of who our Lord is. I wish I would have been able
to do that when I was your age. Don't get me wrong, I'm not second
questioning God. His purpose is exactly as it
is done. I would never question him. that
doesn't stop the hope in me that I could have shared, that I could
have professed who the Lord is today, as it did, as I do today. All those whose names are written
in the book of life, before a star ever twinkled in the sky, will
receive the very same gift of belief In Hebrews 1.1, we read
these words, God, who at sundry times in diverse manner spake
in times past unto the Father by the prophets. The old time
prophets of the Old Testament spoke of Christ just as we do
today, only Christ had not come in the flesh. The Son of God
has always been the Son of God, the Savior of his people. But
he had not become flesh yet. So the Lord spoke to His people
through the prophets. But in these half last days,
it says, continuing on from Hebrews 1, half in these last days, spoken
unto us. Dad, how did the Lord speak to
you? He spoke to me through His Word.
I was under the preaching of His Word in a church where the
truth is preached. And God spoke to my heart. He
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds,
who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself." Folks, salvation is of the Lord.
That's it. Plain and simple. Salvation is
of the Lord. That's the gospel. It's not the
Lord plus something you have done. But it is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. By
Himself, it says there in Hebrews, purged our sins and sat down
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This Jesus This One
who is God in the flesh has shown Himself and is still showing
Himself to His blood-bought children wherever they may be throughout
all of the world in all of time. He's showing us the things of
Himself throughout His Word. He's speaking to us through the
preaching of His Word, expounding on the things of Christ as He
did with the two men on the road to Emmaus. Remember that story?
Remember the story? There were two men who were walking
along, and they were all bummed out. They were like, oh, we thought
He was going to be the Christ. And here He is dead. The Lord
came to them and spoke to them while they walked on that road.
And it says He expounded. That's what He's doing today.
That's what he did the day he called me out of darkness. That's
what the day That's what he did the day he spoke to your heart
if you belong to him He spoke to you through his word Telling
you telling you by the profession of those around you that he is
god almighty Telling you that he laid down his life for a certain
people and because it's the God in the flesh, this life that
he gave, there's nothing going to stop it from the purpose it
was laid down for. Not even you. That's good news
to me. I don't know about you folks,
but that's great news to me because I know how fast I can screw things
up. I know how fast I can turn and start doing something wrong. I know how quick I can be a sinner. I was reading an article by Henry
Manning, and he says, stop beating up the man who's preaching. Remember
this, they're just a man. If he's preaching something contrary
to God's Word, that's different. But if he makes a mistake and
says, well, this Lord's Word says such and such and such and
such, and that's over here and such and such, and he happens
to be wrong about where that is, quit beating him up for it. We're just men. Turn over to
Mark chapter 8 if you would. Mark chapter 8. With the eye of faith. With God
given faith. Now remember, over in Ephesians
chapter 1 it says we are saved by grace. Did you notice that? Saved by grace, not by faith.
We're saved through faith. In other words, through the believing
of God. We are saved by grace, by His
grace, through faith. Not of yourselves, and not of,
you know, I'm not quoting that right. So see there? The flesh
has come out. Let me just turn over there real
quick and quote it correctly. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, in that not of yourselves it is." Now this isn't grace.
We're saved by grace, but it's through faith, through belief.
Whosoever believeth, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. With the eye of faith, we believe
God's word. We are witnesses to the fact
that Christ is God in the flesh. Here in Mark we see God feeding
about 4,000 souls in a way that no one else could. We see a miracle,
a miracle of God that cannot be explained. that no man could
ever do. Here in verse 1 of chapter 8,
we read, in those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing
to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him and said unto them,
I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with
me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away
fasting to their houses, they will faint by the way, for diverse
are them that came from afar. And his disciples answered, and
he said, from whence can a man satisfy these men with bread
here in the wilderness? And he asked them, how many loaves
have ye? And they said, seven. And he
commanded the people to sit down on the ground, and he took up
seven loaves, and gave them thanks, and break it, and gave them to
his disciples, and set before them. And they did set before
them upon the people. before the people. And they had
a few small fishes, and he blessed and commanded to set them also
before them. So they did eat, and were filled,
and took up the broken meat that was left, seven baskets. And
they that had eaten were about 4,000, and he sent them away. So we see right here in this
very, folks, there were lots of people who saw that that day.
There were people everywhere all around it says about that
means there were more There were some who didn't get fit, but
he said he fed about 4,000 people, right? People had heard about
that miracle all around Imagine the guy down at the bottom of
the hill That baskets never gonna make it to me Here comes the
basket Wow What America? You think there weren't millions
of people who saw the sea open up? And try land for the Israelites? You think there weren't millions
of people who saw that? Just the ones who walked through
on dry ground. You think they weren't walking
through with those? Wow. Look at that. Yet they had not experienced
the grace of God. How many of those who walked
through that water, who saw the power of God through His word,
or in face-to-face, and yet they went out into the wilderness
in unbelief? Witnessing to those that we love.
How can I witness to those that I love? I can tell you this,
there's nothing I can do to help you be saved. I'd like you to
come to church. I'd like you to come to where
the truth is preached. But even doing that is not going
to do you any good unless God Almighty does a work in your
heart. Folks, there's only one God,
and it takes God to reveal himself to you. He's a jealous God, and
he will not share his glory with another. Yet there are three
distinct persons of the Godhead, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. A mystery, absolutely. You say,
well, how can you explain that? I can't. But I can tell you that
by his grace, I believe. Throughout scripture, we see
witnesses to these truths of God. And we believe. We see the witness of God in
His word and we believe. We believe that God the Father
chose a people. That people's name is Israel.
Look over at verse 41 of our text. Back in Acts chapter 10. Acts
chapter 10. God choosing a people for himself,
it says, not to all the people. It says in verse 40, God had
raised up the third day and showed him openly. This is talking about
the Lord Jesus. But not to all the people, but
unto witnesses chosen before of God. That's election. God the Father chose his people.
We see that truth through his word. God the Son redeeming his
people. That's substitution. Look over
verse 39. And we are witnesses of all things
which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
who they slew and hanged on a tree. That's substitution. That's the
Lord Jesus redeeming his people. Full atonement. We see that God,
through the preaching and the reading of his word, we see God
the Spirit calling his people, calling them to hear, to hear
with the heart. Look at verses 43 and 44. To
give him all the prophet's witnesses that through his name, whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remissions of sin. While Peter
was yet speaking, While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy
Ghost fell, and all them which heard the word." I know. You could say in some form that
maybe I'm misusing the word witness. The word witness means to see
with these eyes. Clearly, folks, I see with these
eyes. The grace of God is moving in this heart that was dead.
I see with the eyes of the heart and the grace of our Savior in
laying down His life for me, substituting Himself to be Him
who is perfect in every way, who knew no sin, to be made sin
in my stead, that I would be made the righteousness of God
in Him. I see clearly that there was
a day when I was dead in trespasses and sin, when my heart was black
as anyone else's, hard as a stone. My desires were as all for whom
walk this earth, worldly desires. I was blind as can be to the
truths of spiritual things. I had no ears to hear the wonderful
truths of the gospel. I did not seek the things of
God. It was all about me. It was all
about my world, my pleasures, my will. And then in the day
of his power, trouble came. My world was rocked. I needed
a savior. I wanted to forgive somebody,
but I needed to know that God had forgiven me before I could
forgive them. That's what my need was. I didn't
know it at the time, but that's what it was. In that day, the
Lord showed me through the preaching of His word that all things happen
according to His will. And I saw my need of a Savior.
In that day, the Lord showed me through the preaching of His
word that the only way to hear His word is under the sound of
His truth, grace, sovereign grace. In other words, the Lord passed
by me that day, as we read in Ezekiel, and he said to that
child that laid in the mud, in the blood, still with its cord
hanging from its belly, he saw John, and he said, John, live. You know what that is? This is
exactly what that is. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians
4, 6. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge and the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. How do we profess? What is a better way of asking
this question? What is it we profess? Are we
professing someone who we think should be God? Or are we professing
His Word? The God of this Word. The One
who is sovereign in all things. How can I witness to my children?
You know, I'll close with this. How can I say this? I can't see
how they don't see it. I can't see how they don't see
the sinner that stands before you right now. Because that's
all I have to show them in this flesh. Me going to church every
Sunday is not going to bring my children to God. Me crying
out for forgiveness. Forgiveness for the sin that's
within me right now. Maybe God will use that to bring
them to himself. I think if I was to sum this
whole message up in one, is first the Lord has to show us our need.
I hope my family sees that I'm in need. I hope I don't portray
myself as some better than now, because I'm not. Isn't that what
the world wants us to do? You know what they want us to
do? Show your family that you're a good Christian. I'm not. If there's anything good in me,
it's my Savior, who is all good. I had a whole bunch of stuff
to preach today, and I didn't get to any of it. The Apostle
Paul declared himself to be an example to all who believe. We
are chosen vessels formed by the potter to be vessels of honor,
ordained, predetermined to be witnesses of his grace. That's
what we read. Ordained of God, chosen of God,
grace experienced. How can you witness something
that you've never experienced? You can't. When God comes in the spirit
and shines the light of his grace in us, You cannot hide that light. What's the best way for me to
witness to my family, to my loved ones, to tell them about my Savior
who has saved me from the sinner that I am right now? God help us to be good witnesses
of that light that glows in us.