I've chosen an article from Charles
Spurgeon for our devotional time before we go to prayer. Mr. Spurgeon takes his thoughts from
Luke 24, verse 27, where it says, he expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Mr. Spurgeon writes, the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus had a most profitable journey.
Their companion and teacher was the best of tutors, the interpreter
one of a thousand, in whom he hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. The Lord Jesus descended, condescended
to become a preacher of the gospel, and he was not ashamed to exercise
his calling before an audience of two persons. Neither does he now refuse to
become the teacher of even one, Let us court the company of so
excellent an instructor, for till he is made unto us wisdom,
we shall never be wise unto salvation. This unrivaled tutor used as
his class book the best of books. Although able to reveal fresh
truth, he preferred to expound of the old. He knew by his omniscience
what was in the most instructive way of teaching. And by turning
at once to Moses and the prophets, he showed us that the surest
road to wisdom is not speculation, is not reasoning or reading human
books, but meditation upon the Word of God. The readiest way to be spiritually
rich in heavenly knowledge is to dig into this mine of diamonds,
to gather pearls from this heavenly sea. When Jesus Himself sought
to enrich others, He wrought in the quarry of Holy Scriptures,
didn't He? The favored pair that were led
to consider the best of subjects for Jesus spake of Jesus himself
and expounded the things concerning himself. Here the diamond cut
the diamond. And what could be more admirable,
the master of the house unlocked his own doors, conducted the
guests to his table, and placed his own dainties upon it. He
who hid the treasure in the field himself guided the searchers
to it. Our Lord would naturally discourse
upon the sweetest of topics. He could find none sweeter than
His own persons and work. With an eye to these, with an
eye to these points, we should always search the Word. Oh, for
grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both our teacher and
as our lessons. Will you join me in prayer, please?
Our Father, we praise You and thank You for revealing the truths
of Your Word to our hearts and souls. All here today, Lord,
are very much aware because of Your making us aware, revealing
to us the truth that there was a day, a day that we all walked
this world having no desire for You. Most of us had looked into the
Word of God, but saw nothing. We were as those who had eyes,
but could not see. We were as those who had ears,
but could not hear. And by the miraculous power of
our Lord and Savior, You came to us in our day of need, in
the day of Your love, and You gave us life. Life in Your Son,
the Lord Jesus. And we praise you and thank you,
Father, for revealing these truths to us. I ask, Lord, that you
would be with me now. I have notes. But, Father, it
is up to you to take what I have put on the paper, what you have
inspired me to put as notes, and to feed your sheep with it.
I cannot speak to the hearts, Lord, only you can do that. And
I ask, Father, that you would take this study this morning
and feed your sheep. Comfort the people of Christ.
And the only way I know to do that, Father, is to speak about
Christ and Him crucified. In the name of our Savior, I
pray. Amen. Once again, we turn in our Bibles
to the letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the saints in Philippi.
brothers and sisters in Christ, the church that called out as
Mike mentioned earlier. Paul was under house arrest and
the church at Philippi had sent one of their own with supplies
and monies to aid Paul while he was in this trial. And Paul
is filled with their love for doing so. And he writes to express
it to them. In the last couple of weeks,
we looked deep into these first six verses, considering many
points, but the one point that echoes throughout Holy Scripture
is, who gets the glory? You see, all glory belongs to
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And He will not share it with
another. Our Lord tells us in Scripture,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. What do we have
that God has not given to us? And if God has given it to us,
then why do we glory as though it was ours in the first place? All glory in heaven and earth
and things above the earth, in the earth and below the earth
belong to our Lord and Savior. The Gospel of Christ is who He
is. The good news of Christ is who
He is, and He is God in the flesh. He's the God-Man. God Almighty
humbled Himself and became flesh. Why? Because the people were
given to Him by God the Father before the world was. And the
only way for their salvation The only way for them to spend
an eternity with God who is holier, so holy that He cannot even look
upon sin, the only way for those people to be with Him throughout
eternity is for Christ, for God to supply Himself as their substitute,
as their sacrifice. The Gospel of Christ is what
He has done. His name is Jesus for He shall
save His people. These points that I bring out
every Sunday bring reassurance to this poor soul, to this sinner
who goes throughout this world walking in the shadow of death.
I need to hear the very same points every Sunday reassuring
me that salvation is of the Lord and not of me. The Gospel is what He has done.
He laid down His life for me, for you, for His chosen church. The Gospel is where He is right
now. He is sitting on His throne,
sovereignly working everything out after His determinate counsel,
which Mike just sang about. The Gospel. The Good News. The good news for a sinner is
Christ Jesus. And it's just as plain and simple
as that. There's no need to stand up in front of people and try
to make things complicated. That's how the church has gotten
where it is today in the world. There's nothing more complicated
in any religion than what the Catholics do, swinging their
stuff back and forth and sprinkling water all over everything and
all the things that they do to act righteous. The Gospel is simply Jesus Christ
and Him crucified for His people. But it's under consistent attack. It's under attack by the rudiments
of this world. Men have taken the wonders of
Christ. This is what happened with the
Jewish people. Israel. the 12 tribes of Israel. They
took the wonders of Jesus Christ, what it pointed to, and they
made it a complicated thing of their own. We must do this now. We must do that. We must do this.
What must we do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. There is nothing more simpler
than that. Yet the rudiments of this world
attack it left and right. Look back a few pages from Galatians
chapter 1 for just a moment to Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. The gospel is under attack. And
Paul declares here in Galatians chapter 1 verse 6, he says, I
marvel. Speaking to the church in Galatia,
he says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which
is not another gospel. But there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. In the 7th chapter of Matthew,
verse 15, our Lord says this, He says, Beware of false prophets
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. In Matthew 16, verse 6, He says
this, Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, take heed, beware. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. Beware of the leaven. You know, leaven, it gets in
and it corrupts the meal. It's gotten in and corrupted
the Pharisees in their religious works. It's gotten in and corrupted
the Sadducees in their religious works. In Colossians 2.8 we read
this, beware. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. You see the
difference between making things complicated and the simplicity
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, the simplicity of the gospel. In 2nd Peter 3.17 we hear this,
Ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware, beware, writes Peter, to you and I, beware lest ye
also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from
your own steadfastness. As I said in Bible study, we
don't fall back into that pit of hell that we were once walking
on the path to. God Almighty will not allow His
people to fall. The blood of Christ that was
shed on that cross was pure and perfect, and it accomplished
exactly what He went there and shed that blood for, and that
was to save His people. We cannot be lost. But we do
stumble. Jonah stumbled, and he was swallowed
by a whale, a big fish. The Lord didn't leave him there
though, did He? Just as He will not leave any one of His blood-bought
children. But they do stumble. We can step in it, as I said. Oh Lord, I pray that You would
give me someone Someone who could bring me comfort when I stumble. Someone who will be converted by their own
stumble. Someone who can bring strength
to me and remind me to look away from the flesh and look to my
Savior. Back in our text in Philippians
chapter 1, Paul is addressing the good works. The good works of faith. In other
words, belief of the truth. Spreading the good news of the
gospel. You see, that's what Paul was doing, and that's what
the Philippians were sending their love offerings for. to
support Paul in his ministry, even though he couldn't leave
the house that he was in under house arrest, he was still preaching
the gospel. He was writing the books, the
letters to the churches. So, we see a picture of a church
that Paul had started in Philippi, and how they were sending support
to him, continuing to spread the good news, the gospel. which
he who had began this work in them, is what Paul said in verse
6. And Paul knew that it would be
finished, or in other words, would be accomplished according
to his purpose. Look with me if you would, it's
verses 6 through 8. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. even as it is meet for me to
think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, insomuch
as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the
gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how I greatly
long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ." My title for
this morning's message is Defense of the Gospel. Paul further justifies his confidence
in regard to these people on the basis of two other reasons.
First, that God kept them on Paul's heart continually. And
second, that they stood by him in love and in the defense of
the gospel. That's exactly what goes on here
in Rescue. Mikey and I were talking about the numbers being small.
And yes, they are. But what amazement our Lord has
shown me and those of this congregation how the gospel goes out from
here at Rescue. We go out on YouTube now, we
go out on Sermon Audio because of the virus that came about.
We went about and started that, found out it was easier than
we thought it would be. We send our CDs out all over
the country, some even to Canada, I believe. Our bulletins, not only do they
go out to all kinds of people around the country, there are
some, such as our brother Ron Halsey in Arkansas, who sends
out those CDs from there, copies them, and goes around and puts
them around in the post office on their bulletin boards. And
then he goes around a week later, and they're mostly all gone.
Now, we don't know what happens to them, but our God does, doesn't
he? these wonderful brothers and
sisters in Christ stood by him in love for the defense of the
gospel. The amplified version of the
Bible says it this way, it is right and appropriate for me
to have this confidence and feel this way about you all. Because
even as you do me, I hold you in my heart as partakers and
sharers, one and all with me of grace. This is true when I
am shut up in prison and when I am out in the field, for God
is my witness how I long for and pursue you all with love."
Folks, our attendance, our support, Our desire to come out on Sunday
mornings or Friday nights and hear the gospel preached is an
important part of defending the truths of God. But even in that, we are weak,
are we not? So what does our Lord tell us
about defending His truths? Turn back one page from Philippians
chapter 1, if you would. Back to the letter to the saints
at Ephesus, chapter 6. As believers of God's truths,
we live in a world of evil. We are surrounded by evil powers
and evil people. We're not just talking about
those who would do harm to another. We're talking about the evil
of the religious world. Those who would, by evil means,
rob God of His glory. We are surrounded by evil powers,
evil people. Folks, I'm telling you now, this
world is not a friend of God's grace, nor of God Himself. Not
only is sin around us, but sin is within us. The Christian life
is a race to be run. Read about it in Hebrews 12.1
if you'd like. It's a battle to be fought as
we see in 1 Timothy 6.12. And it's a conflict that will
not be over until the day we die. We need help and strength
to stand up against the deceit and the strategies of Satan.
As I said in Bible study, Satan is the master of deceit. He's
been doing it for a long time. He's had a lot of experience
at it. He's so good at it that he deceives
himself, running around, roaring like a lion, thinking he's actually
going to take God's people away from him, which he's not. But he roars loud, and even loud
enough that even if it were possible, the saints of God would be pulled
away. That's God's Word. We need help. We need God's strength
to stand up against all the deceit and the strategies of Satan.
This One who is a great enemy of Christ and His people and
our Lord has provided an armor for us. He's provided an armor
for His chosen people. Weapons to be used against Satan,
sin and error. Look at verse 11 with me of chapter
6. Paul says, put on the whole armor
of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. Folks, the devil has been at
this for a long time, and we're no match for his deceitfulness.
Are we not weak in faith at times? Our only strength is in our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Keeper. Look at verse 12. For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. We're not contending against
the physical opponents, frail, mortal human beings, men and
women. These are not our real enemies.
Our battle is against the wicked spirits, it says, who inhabit
the supernatural sphere and who deal in lies. What lies am I
talking about? I'm talking about the lies of
pride, the lies of idolatry, the lies of covetousness, the
lies of lust, deceit, self-righteousness, and all manner of sin that is
against God. In verse 13 we read this, "...Wherefore,
take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." You see how important it is to
look to our Lord and Savior for our strength, for our armor,
to His Word? So important that Paul wrote
it twice. It says, take upon yourselves the complete armor
of God that has been provided for you. This is the armor of
God. And this armor teaches us about
Christ Jesus our Lord from cover to cover. That you may be able to resist
these evils and stand during every trial, every conflict,
every temptation. And having met every demand to
continue to stand firmly in Christ, the battle is not against flesh.
Therefore, the armor and the weapons which God provides are
not carnal. It's not something we can find
in ourselves. It's spiritual. In 2 Corinthians 10 verses 3-5
we read this. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our wherefore
are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of the
strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. In verses 14 through 18 we read
the parts of this armor. Stand therefore
having your loins girt about with truth and having on the
breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." So let's take
a quick look at these. The first one is, gird your loins,
gird about with truth. In other words, wrap it about
you. A girdle wraps around the waist.
Something I need a lot of nowadays. Wrap it about you. Gird yourself with the truth.
And this is where we find the truth in God's Word. How do we stand in defense of
the Gospel? We stand by using the truth of
God's Word. Wrap it about you as a girdle,
the Gospel of God's redemptive glory, in and through Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 1 verse 13 we read
this, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, Dirt up the loins of your mind. Be sober. And hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. This is the first part of the
armor mentioned, for it is the most important and it is the
foundation for all the rest. The truth about God. Myself and my race and Christ
and His redemptive work keeps me close to God and it defends
me against all evil suggestions of Satan which lead to a false
hope. Our Lord's Word says, It is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. I pause for a moment because
I want you to think about that. That's what I'm talking about
using God's Word. Look to God's Word for truth.
When men try to stand before you and say, it is your will.
Come down to the front and make a decision for Jesus. God's Word
says differently. The truth of God says, it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. God's Word says, you have not
chosen me, I have chosen you. Gird your mind with the truth.
Secondly, we see the breastplate of righteousness. This breastplate
of integrity, Right standing before God and holiness cannot
be the works of righteousness of any moral integrity done by
one or produced by one. For Satan could easily define
and defect in that breastplate and destroy us for there is no
righteousness in us. But we're talking about the righteousness
of Christ, our Lord, His righteousness. He who knew no sin was made sin
that we would be made righteous in Him. His perfect righteousness,
which is imputed to us and received by faith, it repels any accusation
or charge that Satan might bring against us. Referencing to Romans 8, 33-34,
we read this, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
How can anyone lay anything to our charges against us? You can charge John for no righteousness. You're absolutely right. John
has no righteousness of his own. But I have a righteousness of
my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because He was made sin for me. He was made sin for you, His
chosen people. And you have a righteousness
to stand on, but it's not in something you find in your flesh,
it's something you find in your spirit, the new spirit that God
gave you when you were born again. When you stand with the breath
prayed of Christ, you stand with the power of God. the power of
His righteousness, perfect in every way. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God as elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ yet that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Thirdly, we see your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Several things can be taught
here. When you stand on the Scriptures, you don't have to guess about
things. Over just a few pages over in
Ephesians 1, we read, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to 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. It's all about
Him. And you can find Scripture upon Scripture upon Scripture
of this truth. It is in God's Word, in God's
Word alone. A firm-footed stability in the
foundation in the gospel of peace. A godly walk that is agreeable
to the gospel of peace. A readiness to go forth into
the highways and the hedges declaring the good news of peace through
Christ. Fourthly, take the shield of faith. I ask you this, does not Satan
hurl darts of doubt at you? Does he not hurl darts of fear
at you? Depression, weariness, and all
manner of questions regarding our spiritual state? Folks, our only shield Our only
shield against these fiery darts that come at us through the Spirit,
that attack our spirit, is our faith in God's Word. In the 20th and 21st verse of
Romans 4 we read this, He, speaking of Abraham, a man who was way
past the age of having children, him and his wife both. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised, what God had promised, he was also able to perform. Our only shield is our faith
in God's purpose, In the 8th chapter of Romans verse 29 and
30 we read this, For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, more important, even
more so than that, whom He did predestinate, them He also called,
and whom He called, them He also justified. In whom He justified,
them He also glorified. Our only shield is our faith
in Christ's redeeming work. In the 34th verse of that same
chapter through 39 we read this, Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of the God, who also maketh intercession
for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God." You see, the shield we have is in our Lord's promises.
Fifthly, we take a look at the helmet of salvation. The helmet
is a piece of armor for the head and it protects the head against
false doctrines. This helmet is the hope of salvation
and it's in Christ alone. The salvation of which Christ
is the author of and He's the finisher of. In 2 Corinthians
1 29-31 we read this, that no flesh should glory in his presence,
but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That as according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Sixth,
we see the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God itself. The Word of God is compared to
a sword that has two edges, the law and the gospel. When we read the Word of God,
it comes across in two ways. It either cuts to the law, which
condemns, or it cuts to grace, which saves. Oh, for our Lord. using that
right side of the blade, giving us the grace to be saved. Oh, Hebrews 4.12, we read this,
For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is the center
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This two-edged sword means this,
that there's no blunt side. It's going to cut. Our Lord's
Word does not go out void. It's either going to cut to the
law and condemn, or it's going to cut to mercy and grace. Before I come to the last point, We see so much in the world around
us. It can be so heavy upon us at
times. And I know because I fall into
this. I wonder, Lord, where are you? How can things in the world be
so wrong? Pastor Gene shared something
with me and I want to take a moment to share with you Close your eyes for just a moment. Take yourself to a time when
the Lord was to be hung on the cross. Picture in your mind a crowd of people. Good folks. Little Johnny's grandma's right
over there on the sidewalk. looking on. There's the butcher. He's a good
man, takes care of people, gives them meat. What are they doing? Imagine what it would be like
for a child of God to stand there in that day and hear people,
good folks, cry out, crucify Him. Crucify Him! Do we not see the very same thing
happening in today's world? I'm not saying every one of them
are good folks, but there are many good folks mixed in who
fall into that mob mentality. Why? Because they don't have
the hope of this, that God Almighty is working all things out for our good. Those people who knew the Lord,
and there was, you know there was, because Peter was there,
wasn't he? I know he denied the Lord, but wasn't Peter a child
of God? He knew the truths. God had revealed to him who he
was. He said, Thou art the Son of the living God. And the Lord
said to Peter, Flesh and blood haven't revealed that unto you,
my father has. There were people standing in
that very crowd who knew who God was. Can you imagine what
it was for them to see the craziness of people crying out, crucify
Him, crucify Him. Yet it was by the determinate
counsel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Mike sung about just a moment
ago, that all that took place. We don't always see the good
of things that are going on around us for us, but everything is
what our Lord says. Everything is for our good. And declaring it as good is declaring
the Gospel of God. The Gospel of God's Word. Jesus
Christ in Him crucified for the good of His people. For those
that He has loved from before the world began. For you and
I. defending the Gospel. Our Lord is in control of today
just as He was that very day when the crowd cried out to crucify
Him. Give us Barabbas, this one who
is murdered. Give us Him instead and hang
this guy over here. He murdered people. He hasn't
done anything. That's just as crazy as what's
going on in our world today. The last thing we have in our
armor is praying. Oh, there's a lot for Johnny
to pray for. Lord, help me. My last weapon is prayer. And it includes all sorts of
prayer. You know, the Lord says to pray without ceasing. That
means to talk to the Lord in your mind. Some do it verbally,
out loud. Others do it quietly and nobody... I can talk to the Lord just like
that. Some of it's vocal, out loud.
Privately, with just you in your closet or in public. We should
live in an attitude of prayer continually. Our prayers must
and will be in the Spirit by the assistance of the Spirit
of God. We know not what to pray for. You know, is it not like
Christ to provide everything for us, including one who will
take our prayers, no matter how feeble they are, and present
them faultless before the Lord? See how the Lord gives us everything?
He is our armor. And nothing, nothing can penetrate
the armor of God. We preserve, we persevere in
prayer regardless of the suggestions of Satan or our own weak hearts. The 19th verse we read this,
and for me, pray for me, that the utterance may be given unto
me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mysteries
of the gospel." Pray for the ministers of the gospel, that
God will not only open the effectual doors for them to preach, but
that he will give them boldness and wisdom to preach the gospel.
the gospel of Christ Jesus and Him crucified which is a mystery
that only can be understood as the Holy Spirit reveals it. Turn
to Romans chapter 10 with me if you would please. Just a few
pages to the left and I'll close with these final words from Paul
writing to the church at Rome. Romans chapter 10 Verse 11, For
the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek,
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher?" Paul, writing this letter to
the Philippians, he knew that because of their love and their
support for him, God was leading him in the defense of the gospel.
And by their support of him, they too were partners. As we
read in the last part of verse 7, ye all are partakers of my
grace. Partners in defending in the
defense of the gospel. Stand with me if you will.