All power and all glory will
be His. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1 if
you would please. Last Sunday I introduced a series
of messages and I pray the Lord will be pleased to take us through
it. It was initiated by a statement to me on what is called expository
preaching. the expounding of scripture on
a verse-by-verse basis. I pointed out that our Lord preached
an expository message when he walked with the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus. We read in Luke 24, 27, In the
beginning of Moses and all the prophets, he, speaking of the
Lord, expounded unto them in all the scriptures, what? All the good ways that they were
supposed to walk. All the good things that they were supposed
to do? No. No. That's not what our Lord
did at all. He expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning Himself. Christ preached Christ. Plain
and simple. He preached about Himself. I took the time to bring out
in the message The message of salvation. And that message of
salvation is always Christ and Him crucified. There are many things that we're
going to see going through this book of Timothy and the second
Timothy book. Our Lord is going to talk to
each and every one of us, giving us His instructions on how to
live through His Word. And He's going to lead you in
that way. You don't walk in the way the
Lord wants you to walk, guess what's going to happen? If He
loves you, He will chase you. And He will lead you to walk
in that way. That's exactly what He did to Jonah. He allowed Jonah
to run. And Jonah did. And then Jonah was swallowed
up by, well, first he was not attacked, but verbally, what
have you done? What have you done to make the
Lord mad at us that he would bring up this storm against us
out here on the sea? So the men that he was with turned
against him. And when he realized there was
no out from that, OK, look, I understand. It just throw me overboard. And
the Lord prepared a fish for him. Now, some may say, well, that
was a picture of this or a picture of that. But that was chastening,
no matter which way you look at it. If you could put yourself
in that very position, would you not be afraid? Would you
not be learning that, oh, what I did was wrong? Our God rules everything, folks. That's all there is to it. It's
as simple as that. He will guide us in the way we
should walk. And sometimes He's going to allow
us to go the other direction, to fall into A hole, maybe. That he can reach into that hole
like he did with Peter when Peter began to sink. Peter took his eyes off of Christ
for one minute and began to sink. And our Lord reached down lovingly. He grabs ahold of his arm and
pulls him up and pulls him to him. Paul gives clarification of this
very point that I said. As it is in all Scripture, the
message of salvation is always Christ and Him crucified. Look
at verse 3. Verse 3 of chapter 1 in 1 Timothy. As I besought thee, Paul says
to Timothy, to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia,
that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. This will be our subject for
today's message. No other doctrine. Now if you would turn over 2
Corinthians chapter 11 please. Yesterday I had the honor attending services for a young
lady. I had the honor of going to those
services for a young woman who had passed on before her mother. I had the honor of going to these
services to support my sister in Christ. A sister that I have a great
love for because God has given me that great love. Just as he
has given each and every one of us love for each other. What do we have that God hasn't
given us? How can I call you brother and
sister in Christ if it hasn't been for my Lord giving it to
me? Giving you to me as his brother and sister. I had a great honor to be there
and I was asked what I thought of the message that was given.
It was a good message. It was a
good message of what death is. He did a really good job of bringing
out what death is. Death is the result of sin. He brought out how none of us
can run from it. It affects everyone who comes
into this world. You can't run from it. It will
catch you. And sometimes those around us, when they pass on,
we have to go through that sorrow, that deep sorrow. of loss. It was a good message about death.
It was a good message on what the curse is. The curse is sin. It's a result of sin and how
death is something that we must all live with and it will come
to all. It was a good message about hope. The hope that people of God have. The hope of everlasting life
because of what our Lord and Savior did. He did an excellent
job of bringing out what Christ had done on the cross. How God
was made flesh. How God walked as a man upon
this earth and went to the cross because of the love He has for
His people. And because of what God has done,
the people of God have a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and
only in what He has done. Points that were made were sin
and separated man from God. The deity of Christ, the power
of Christ, the love of Christ, the cross, giving of Himself.
But I had a problem with the whole message, for it was not
presented with the power of God. And I told her this. It was presented as an offer.
He gave all those information about who Christ is. He gave all the information of what
Christ had done. He gave all the information of
what the result of sin is. But what Christ had done was
nothing more than an offer to people. There was no fact about what
he preached. Pastor Gene has always taught
me it's not what a man says necessarily, it's what he doesn't say. There
was not one mention of the power of God through election. And because of that, the people
who have heard that message could have walked away with saying,
oh, OK, so all I've got to do is accept what the guy that he
talked about has done, and I'll be saved. And that's not the
case. That is not the case at all. That's what the world says
out there. He said that Christ desires you
to know Him. At another point, He said, the
Lord wants. Not once did He come out and
say that you must... He didn't come out and say that
you must make a decision. And He never came out and said
that you won't let Him. He didn't say those words. I've
given that. Are you with me in 2 Corinthians
chapter 11? Look at verses 3 and 4. Paul says, he says, but I fear
lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtly. This is what was going on yesterday.
A man was standing before people declaring the gospel in a subtle
way. He was not clear about the fact
that God chose a people before the world began. He was painting a picture of
a God who has done all that He can and now He's waiting for
you to accept it. It was presented as an offer
that you must accept or reject. Dead people can't do anything. And that's what we are when we
come into this world, dead. Just as Lazarus was dead. He
even brought up Lazarus. But he didn't point out that
Lazarus couldn't make a decision. He didn't point out that Lazarus
came to Christ by the power of God Himself speaking to him. So your mind should be corrupted,
continuing verse 3, from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preaching
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another
spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have
not accepted, ye might well bear with him." He said nothing yesterday about
God's electing love. You see, the presenting of truths
of God as an offer leaves one to think, God has done what He
will, now it's up to you to make it effectual by receiving His
offer. Or in other words, by making
a decision to turn from your old ways and to follow Him. This
is diminishing everything about the true and living God. To say
that the Lord Jesus Christ wants or desires something that He
cannot have is to say that He is not God, that He has no power. The blood that was shed on the
cross was worthless. This is what the world uses as
a basis for universal love. God loves all people, but man
will not let Him. That presentation that I heard
yesterday took the power of God and it gave it over to men. And
this is not the gospel of Christ the Lord. Have you got one of today's articles? Allow me a great honor to read
an article that is written by our brother Mike Loveless. When light is black, My Christ, what if everything
you were ever told about the Lord Jesus Christ was wrong?
What if the only hope that you ever had, that you ever believed
in, that you ever counted on, turned out to be a lie and false? How great would be your loss? In Matthew 6, 22 and 23, read,
the light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine
eye be evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore
the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. How great would be your loss.
He goes on to write, the light from God, all light from God
is truth. But much of the so-called light
masquerades for truth in our day, and belief of that false
light runs rampant in our world. Trusting in a false light is
no light whatsoever. There is no darkness blacker
than a false hope. We live in a time of great deception,
grand delusion, a time when most of the so-called Christian world
runs headlong into hell, singing hymns and worshiping side by
side in the halls of great swelling numbers. This is that time, and
this is our world today. In Revelations 13.3 or 2 Thessalonians
3.3, and all the world wondered after the beast. Make your calling and election
sure. Unless a person is born again, the eye which he attempts
to view such matters of faith is evil. He can't possibly perceive
the Kingdom of God through a wicked eye. His single source of light
is darkness, yet he walks in that darkness thinking himself
safe, thinking his path is right. That's exactly what Paul did,
folks, until the Lord came and blinded him with the truth. So then what? Read the Word. Prayerfully. Carefully and often. Take God
at His word. Cry out for His mercy, for the
only hope any of us have is that God would have mercy upon us
and give us life. We must be born again. Make your
calling and election sure. If man is glorified in any way
whatsoever, then your hope is false hope. That's what making the gospel
an offer does. It takes the glory from the Lord
Jesus Christ who has done it all. Who is Lord of all. And it puts
that glory in man's hands. This is the true doctrine. The
true teaching, Jesus Christ shall save His people. His desires
are satisfied. His wants are met. Therefore,
He wants nothing. As God, He rules over everything. He rules over everything. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord." Does what you're saying glorify the act of men,
or does it give God all the glory? For salvation is of the Lord,
plain and simple. That gives all glory to Him.
And folks, it's just that simple. The doctrine, the teachings,
they are all about the Savior. Now turn over to 1 Corinthians,
if you would, chapter 1. The true doctrine of Scripture
presents the true and living God, Jesus Christ our Lord, and
it presents Him as a stumbling block to the world. Foolishness
to some, stumbling block to others. The natural man is brought up
to believe that his destiny is his own. If you'll just do good,
you will accomplish this. If you'll just do that, you will
accomplish this. If you do this, you're going
to have to pay for it that way. That's the way we're brought
up. How else can we think of it? The people cried out, did they
not? What must we do to be saved? They cried out because that's
their nature. What must we do? This offer that was being made.
Okay, we must do it. We've got to accept it. I'm so thankful the Lord didn't
leave it to me to decide. I'm so thankful the Lord didn't
offer His salvation to me. I rejected His salvation for
all the years that I walked this earth until He called me to that
seat one day. And He didn't offer His salvation
to me, He gave it to me. He took that old heart that said,
this man shall not rule over me and He cut it out and He took
it away. Just as He does every one of
His people. We will not come to the Lord unless the Father
draws us. This Jesus. This Jesus of Scripture
that we read about. This One who rules over everything. Including the wills of men. Including
the hearts of men. Scripture says that he's a stumbling
block to the people. A stumbling block to the religious
and foolishness to the pagan. In 1 Peter 2 verses 6-10 it says,
Wherefore also it is contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in
Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe
that he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the
stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner, and the stone of a stumbling, and the rock of
a fence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient." Why do people ignore this? It's because they just don't
want to believe. They can't believe. They can't
see the light because the light has not shined in their heart. Even to them which stumble at
the word being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation.
a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people that
you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light. which in times past were not
a people, but are now the people of God, which hath not obtained
mercy, but have now obtained mercy." Are you with me in 1 Corinthians?
Chapter 1, look at verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize. Baptism is not what will save
you. Oh, I'll baptize you if you come
to me and tell me that the Lord has saved you and that you belong
to Him and that He belongs to you and that He has moved into
your heart and given you the light and that you have put your
faith in Him. I can't see your heart. I can't
turn away somebody who would ask to be baptized. Well, actually I did turn somebody
away, but that was because I didn't know who they were. And all they
wanted to do was come and be baptized. And I told them we
stick to membership only. So I turned them away for that.
But if anybody comes to me and tells me that their faith is
in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, I'll baptize you, but
that's not going to save you. You want to come to the Lord's
table, that's great. You can come to the Lord's table. We
don't have a closed table to anybody. But that's not going
to save you. Just as I pointed out last week
in our introduction to this series of messages, godly living is
not, has never saved anyone. Christ saved His people. And that's the message. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words. lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
But unto us which are saved is the power of God. For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? What
do you mean I'm not alive? I'm alive. I can make a decision.
I can walk the path that I think is right. I know better than that. Where
is the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your choleron, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. The base things of the world
and the things that are despised hath God chosen, yea, the things
which are not, to bring to naught the things that are." Why? Why would God go to all that
trouble? Why would He go about putting
all those things in front of man? Look, folks, our Lord won't share
His glory with another. All glory belongs to Him. God's people know that everything
we have are from Him. How can we boast in anything
that we have? And this goes for our faith.
How can we boast in the faith that God gave us to come to Him?
Because that's what men do. Oh, I'm strong in the faith.
I go to church every Sunday. Oh, I'm strong in the faith.
I go down every Saturday and help the poor. Oh, I'm this,
and oh, I'm that. But God's people know that we're
not. He is. He is all, and all glory goes
to Him. Everything about me, the glory
goes to Him. For I am what my Lord has made
me. that no flesh should glory in
His presence. But of Him, who? But of who? Of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus. You see the difference there
folks? You can present the gospel in two different ways. You can
present it as God Almighty, the ruler of all things, or you can
present it as a little Jesus who's done something and waiting
for you to make that decision, to turn from your ways, to walk
differently than you have been all your life. Or you can talk about the God
who will turn you because He has loved you. That's the gospel. Because He has loved John Reeves,
He turned me one day through a very challenging way and brought
me to hear His Word. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom. I don't come to you today with
words of wisdom through me, but words of wisdom from my Lord. and righteousness of my Lord.
John Reeves has none, but my Lord has all righteousness. And
it belongs to His children who He imputed it to. His children that He loved so
much He gave His only begotten Son for. His children that He
loved so much that He would not let them go to hell. but that
He will have them. Who of God is made into His wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification. We are set apart. We are made
holy by our Savior and by Him alone, right now. I don't care what you see in
the mirror when you go home. I don't care about the sin that
you may see within you. If you belong to Christ, God
looks upon you as white as His sun, dressed in His righteousness,
in the robes of Jesus Christ our Lord. Right now. Who of God has made unto us redemption? We are redeemed by His blood. Perfectly. Wholly. There's nothing left to do. Rest
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when our God has given us
that rest, the rest that rests in what He
has done, that according as it is written in verse 31, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. This is how you know if a preacher
is speaking true doctrine. It points men to the amazing
grace of God that he has for his people. It points to the grace of God
becoming flesh It points to the grace of God
providing himself a sacrifice. It points to the grace of God
taking the sins of his chosen people upon himself. And it points
to the grace of God raising himself from the grave, putting away
those very sins and leaving them to be seen no more. It points to the grace of God
keeping his own, even now, even while we continue in the flesh,
keeping us for his son's sake. till one day we be in His presence
for everlasting eternity. Folks, this is the doctrine,
the teaching that God has ordained to save His people. Look at verses
1 through 5 of chapter 2. And brethren, when I came to
you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of the power.
This is what I've done just now. I've given you a demonstration
of what God's Spirit and power can do and what it will do for
His people. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. allow me to express something
about the power of God before I close. A man once walked this earth satisfying the lusts of the flesh
doing whatever it took to get what he wanted If he wanted something and it
belonged to another, he would take it. And the day came when this man
was caught by the authorities. Taking something that doesn't
belong to you in that day The consequence is his death. So the day came when this man
was to be executed. And even that very day, this man got up and lived according
to the flesh. He and another were taken. along with a third, and they
were hung on a cross. And these two men railed on the
third, even after they had been nailed
to that cross. After the third was nailed. I
don't know if the other two were. I think they were just tied.
Either way, It was the end of their life had come. All through this man's life,
he walked according to the world, never once showing any signs
of being a child of God. At that very moment, our Lord gave that man a heart
to believe. The same thing that he's done
for each and every one of you and I. And the power of God moved upon
that man in the last moments of his life. And he turned to the Lord after
railing on him, he said, remember me. And the Lord so graciously fulfilled his word where he says,
all who come to me I shall in no wise cast out. And said, today you will be with
me in paradise. That's the power of God. Our Lord didn't wait for that
man to turn. He turned him right there. He grabbed ahold of him and he
said, I have loved you from before the world was. You're mine, and you will be
with me in paradise. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. Will you stand with me?