I hope it's what the Lord says.
If I don't give you my opinion, if I tell you what the word says,
one, I can't get it, two, I can't go wrong. I've got some understanding
with it, but someone asked me a question a couple of years
ago, and I worked on this, and I thought that it's just too
fresh, and everybody's too passionate about everything going on in
our nation erroneously. Everybody's too carnal, everybody's
too caught up in the flesh. And we gotta wait till this wound
heals over and scabs up some, and then maybe we can learn the
lesson. And we can apply what God teaches us from his word. My pastor, whenever he puts out
sermon notes every week, it begins, he was an English major, proposition.
Here's the intent of what I'm trying to teach you. Then he
has the body of the message, and at the end, he'll have a
little, in all bold letters, application. Here's how we apply
what we was trying to learn, okay? I'm gonna put it in shoe
leather. Everybody likes shoe leather.
Is that better than application? I want us to learn this. Paul refused
to circumcise Titus. He gives the why. Paul circumcised
Timothy, and he gives the why. This has to do with circumcision.
There are books wrote about this, books upon books upon books to
where there's no end, the scripture says, on everything, but this
too. Why? Why? Why? We need to learn something. Why?
You know what it tells us plainly? It says because. It does. If we just breathe in, breathe
out, and read another half a sentence, God might teach us something
and ask him to teach us something. What was going on here in Acts
15? It says in Acts 15 verse 1, Paul and Barnabas was there
preaching and teaching and certain men, Acts 15 1, certain men which
came down from Judea taught the brethren. That's our first problem. You
see it already starting off on a bad foot. They were down there.
They were there to teach because they know something. Well, you
weren't sent a God there to teach. Paul and Barnabas were, weren't
they? Why don't you listen to them? What's that got to do with
saving? when therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them. They laid it out as
plain as they could. And you know what they had to
teach them? Moses. They had Genesis 17, 11. Circumcision. Lord, so I'm gonna give you circumcision.
And this is a, the word is token. It's just a picture. I'm gonna
circumcise a heart to my people. And then what else they have?
Miracles. What more? Obviously God sent
us and we're telling you what God says from his word. Will
that suit you? It doesn't most. It doesn't most. They determined that Paul and
Barnabas, verse two, and certain of the others should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and the elders about this question. We don't believe you, Paul. We
don't believe you, Barnabas. Now you go up there to Jerusalem
to the grownups. You know, I've lived through
this. I had a pastor call me one time. He said, I was instructed
to get on to you and correct you because I'm older and I've
been doing this longer. And we had a good laugh and moved on. You say what the word says. Here's
what the word says as well. What did you do for lunch today?
How's that new car working? Is the tires wearing okay? Just
laughed about it, moved on. There's some, I gotta learn that
too. We'll look at Joseph weeping
on the neck of his father here soon. Our Lord weeps. He's a
God of emotion. His word says so. He laughs,
he cries, he's pleased, he delights in things. It says that, doesn't
it? And then our Lord used those
little kids down at the market. He said, we've popped under you
and you've not danced. I've gave you this good news
and nobody's danced a jig. We've mourned under you. I've
cried and said, this is me. And you've not lamented. This
is just a theatrical performance. Paul and Barnabas did the best
they could. They taught them what they knew.
Didn't work. So they went on up to Jerusalem,
verse three. And being brought on their way, how are they gonna
swing getting up there? Because they preached full time
by the church. They paid their way. They passed
through Phineas and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the
Gentiles. And they caused great joy unto
all the brethren. They preached the whole way up
through there. God saved sinners. And that made people happy. God
saved Gentile dogs. And that made Gentile dogs happy.
And that made the ones that were born in the nation of Israel
happy, too, that God saved. Verse 4, Acts 15, verse 4. And
when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church
and of the apostles and the elders, and they declared all the things
that God had done with them. joy they rejoiced i've had this
happen to you i go to a conference or something and i meet up some
other preachers and we just sit down and tell what you want the
lord did for us getting out here and just happy that they'd lead
off here's the problems no you got a lot to be thankful for
us a week of thanksgiving coming up isn't it we thank for disgruntled
I ought to be thankful. But the wolves won't let it go. Verse 5. But there rose up certain
sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to
circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Oh yeah, I forgot that's why we was up here. We got so happy,
we forgot why we was here. Peter stands up there for a few
verses and lays it out plainly. He said, we're all sinners saved
by God's purpose, by his grace and his son. And he says, now
I need to get back to preaching. Verse 10, now therefore why tempt
ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples and neither
our fathers were able to bear? But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they."
Here's a Jew standing there saying, I'm going to be saved just like
them Gentiles, in Christ. Has anything changed in the Old
Testament to the New? Has the church age differed,
varied at all? The message ain't changed, has
it? Paul and Barnabas, they stand
up to all the wonderful things that took place, and all the
brethren rejoicing, and they tell about the miracles that
performed. And it says in verse 22 that the whole church, the
elders, the apostles, and the whole church, it pleased them
to send these men out again to preach. And so you're on warning,
we need to watch you for a couple weeks, and you're gonna have
to write a couple letters about it. And they said, no, they're fine,
they know the gospel, let them go preach it. We'll send a letter,
that way time doesn't have to be wasted again with them coming
up here. Asked and answered. It's already, well, what about,
I think a man has to be circumcised. Yeah, we already went through
that, I'm gonna get back to preaching. If you don't like it, you walk up
to Jerusalem on your own dime. We need to get back to preaching,
we need to get back to teaching. Turn over Galatians 2. We're
getting ready to get there to where Paul meets Timothy, but
here in Galatians 2, this is where he dealt with Titus. Paul took Titus up to Jerusalem
with Barnabas, well before he wrote this letter to Galatia.
And they bumped into some folks there too. This is all works and grace.
Do you understand that? You can substitute circumcision with,
you can apply, use this application to anything. Well, you have to
be, or you can't be, or you have to do this day, or you can't,
you can't do that day. You can't let them kids dress
up. This is a broad spectrum. Apply
it to anything. Okay. Here's, here's Titus. Galatians two verse three. But
neither Titus, who was with me being a Greek, was compelled
to be circumcised. Why wasn't Titus circumcised?
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came
in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus,
that they might bring us into bondage. You can look up Webster's
Dictionary when you get home. This is the thing I got to teach
Don one time. Don called me and said, hey, you know, another
fellow told me, you know what this means, because you spend a lot
of time in the Middle East. I said, I do. He said, what's it mean? I said,
is this what you feel like all the time when I ask you questions?
He got mad and said, get to it. They went to the privy. And they
spied them out to see if they were circumcised or not. They're
in the privy. And then they said, that one
hadn't circumcised, Titus ain't, we're gonna put them in bondage.
Because we put them in bondage, we're the ones binding people,
we're in charge, we're the boss, we're self-righteous. They saw
their liberty. And then they commented on it,
didn't they? Verse five, to whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour. I wouldn't waste five minutes
arguing somebody, the answer is no, next. Why? Why wasn't Titus circumcised? Why didn't Paul allow Titus to
be circumcised? That. Here's the reason. To whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue
with you. Why wasn't Titus circumcised? This was a gospel issue. get it get it let's go if we
can get it in our hearts we'll have it in our heads this was
because of the gospel that was it it was we were fine you came
in and saw some things now you're putting bondage on the lord's
people no We're not gonna do that for the gospel's sake. Titus was not circumcised because
of the gospel's sake. For an example, that caving in
to these Pharisees and these self-righteous people, it was
not right, it won't be tolerated, we ain't doing it. Why? For the
gospel's sake. I want us to learn something,
but we can't learn something unless we have the foundation. So here's
the question, what's the gospel? We're gonna fight over something,
we're gonna fight for something, you better be know what you're
fighting for. Right? First, you can leave a marker
in Galatians if you want to, but 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you. Paul preached the gospel,
didn't he? He preached the gospel? 96% of the time? No, every time. Every time. The Lord saved him, took him
to Asia, taught him for two years, brought him back, and he preached
the gospel. Preached the gospel. Which also
you have received, and wherein ye stand. You believe that God
made you receive it, and you stand in that totally. By which
also you're saved. you keep in memory that which
I preached unto you unless you believed in vain for because
I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received
I just preached to you what was preached to me I just teach you
what God taught me I have to experience it for me to tell
you about it how that how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures how's that His determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
His power. His purpose. It pleased Him. That's how. Christ did that. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures. He gave us the scriptures and
He fulfilled all the scriptures in Him coming and doing this.
How's it done? We led it. We determined that
this was accurate. I've decided that this was right.
Ha! how that cross died for our sins
according to the scriptures, and he was buried. That human
body that was made for him, he was fully a man. That body of
a man died, and he went into the grave as the scriptures said
he would, where he'd be. Because I'm a man, it's required
of me to die. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures and he was buried and he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures. Death has no bounds on him. He's
conquered the grave, he's conquered sin, he's conquered death, conquered
hell. He satisfied the Father for me. He didn't die for my
slight misunderstanding of the doctrines of grace. He died for
my sin. That's what I am. and that he was seen of Cephas
and of 12 and then of Paul and then of us. He did all this and
then he reveals himself to us. The Holy Ghost comes and abounds
towards us through the preaching of the gospel and nothing else
and makes life where there was no life. We didn't deserve any
of it. He did it all and it was magnificent.
What's a gospel? Mankind's wrote it down 17 different
ways. but you have to know Him to understand it. It's not memorizing
the tulip, though that's true. That's just bites of the elephant
we can chew. It's not just the three Rs. We're ruined by the
fall. We're redeemed by the blood.
And then we're regenerated. We've got a new life. It wasn't
life there. It's going to do something by the Holy Spirit. The two S's, substitution, satisfaction. He was our substitute, I couldn't
do it, he was in my place, and the father's satisfied for eternity,
and ain't nothing I can add to it, take away from it, and I
can't mess it up. That's good news. Because of that, Titus
will not be circumcised. You ain't putting us underneath
the bondage, I'll take you out in the parking lot, it ain't
happening. I need to rebuke people sharply
whenever they put conditions on brethren. I won't have it. You stop talking that garbage,
and quit it, and you look to Christ. Stop looking to yourself,
stop looking to your experiences, and you look to him. Look to
his word, it's what says it right there. Now do that. Is that worth defending? Is that
worth taking a strong stand over? Turn over Galatians 5. Back to
Galatians 5. We remember in Galatians 2, whenever
Peter came up to Antioch, Paul stood him to the face, He says
that when I saw that they walked not uprightly, oh, they were
doing something wrong, according to the truth of the gospel. Peter getting up and going and
eating with those Jews and putting down his pulled pork sandwich,
he was saying that what they were doing was more important
than the liberty that Christ had already given them, and he
was adjusting himself. And that brought reproach on
the gospel, and it was according to the gospel. And Paul went
and withstood him to the face, right in front of everybody.
He said, you knock it off. I don't want to embarrass folks, but
these children are watching you. These Gentiles, they're following. Barnabas went over there with
you. What are you doing? You're dragging everybody down with
you. Now quit it. Is this important? Is this worth fighting for? Galatians
5 verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if you be circumcised, or you be fill in the blank, you
pick it, sanctified, or holified, or you quit doing days and you
started doing this and all that stuff, and whatever you're doing
profited you a little bit. I mean, just a skosh. If what
you're doing profits you, then Christ shall profit you nothing.
If you got a hand in it, and I mean a piece of leaven, that's
what it is, leaven of the whole lump, Christ will profit you
nothing. I decided, and I found the right place, and I came to
the doctrines of grace, and I did this, and I found that. Christ
will profit you nothing. He has to crush me. God's people
repent because they know what they are. And he showed me what
I was and he gave me a heart of repentance and he turned me
to him because he saved me because he'd already died for me and
was rose for me. And then he told me about it. Verse three, for I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, if he's a debtor, to keep the
whole law. If you keep one part, you got
to keep it all. That's the rules, buddy. Christ has become of no
effect unto you. Whosoever you are justified by
the law, you're fallen from grace. If you think there's something
that's making God be conditioned to show you favor or merit in
something you've done, you've fallen from grace. That's why
I started I'm gonna speak plain as I can't I ain't here to preach
to this thing to that I'm here to preach to you. That's why
I came here preaching Galatians from the get-go That's why I
came to preach the first John from kick Oh These things worth
splitting hairs over that's why this whole books written It's eternal death and life very
important Verse five, for we through the
Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. We believe on him. Me and Cameron
were driving a car that day. That's what this whole thing's
wrapped up in, love. Love does something, love weeps.
Love rejoices, love's happy, love's sad. Love has compassion
towards another, doesn't it? There's an emotional reaction
to those things. The emotional reaction does not make the love.
The love produces the emotional reaction. Paul had a heart for
people. Do you know that? That mountain
genius said one time, old Scott Richards, he said, we're in the
people business. I'm in the preaching business to declare the gospel
to folks, but that's to somebody. That's to people. We have a heart
for people. Isaac said that, didn't he? He
said, Dad, we got the wood, we got the hay and the stubble,
and we got fire. That's what everybody has. Boy,
they had some fiery preaching. They had some fiery preaching,
didn't they? They had a lot of facts. That's wood, it's hay, it's stubble,
and it's fire. That's what this whole world
has. What's the important thing? Oh, I felt good and emotional
when I come out of there. What's important? Where's the lamb? I see the wood, I see the hay,
I see the stubble, I see the fire, you do too. A kid did.
A teenager could tell you that's all it was. Where's the lamb? That's what's important. That's
the only thing God wants to see. That's just gonna burn. Need
the lamb, don't we? Even if they're fiery, it doesn't
matter, they need the lamb. Turn over 1 Corinthians 9. I have a good illustration. We
do all these things that have a heart for people, it's for
the gospel's sake. And it takes a lot of wisdom and discernment.
It takes a lot of really understanding the gospel to stand up for the
gospel. You gotta know what you're standing
up for, but know how to. And the best illustration I saw
was when Brother Henry came out here preaching in California.
And there's a big controversy going on in that time. And I
said, what do you think about this? I said, do you think the
Lord's coming? And you know what his wise, mature,
I've been preaching for 50 years response was? I hope he is. Wouldn't
that be nice if he came? You know what wisdom that is?
Was that a point I could have fought him on and won? My own
head anyway. Yeah. Get that. Don't worry about that stumbling
stone. I'm here to preach. I'm here to preach. Could we fight
over these particulars? We could, but I'm here to preach.
That's wise, isn't it? Look here, that's what Paul did.
1 Corinthians 9, verse 17, and verse 16. He says, necessities
laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.
For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward. But if against
my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
What is my reward then? Verily, when I preach the gospel,
I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse
not my power in the gospel. For though I be free from all
men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain no
more. What's he talking about? And
unto the Jews I became a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. And
unto them that are under the law, as under the law, that I
might gain them that are under the law. And to them that are
without the law, as without the law, not being without law to
God, but under the law to Christ, this is for the gospel's sake,
that I might gain them which are without the law. To the weak
I became as weak. that I might gain the week. Somebody
called me and said, I'm just tore up and I'm slow. And I said,
I know what it's like. I get it. I'm not that morning.
I'm fine. I woke up, sunshine. It's really
pretty outside. I'm rejoicing. I can enter into
that weakness. I know. I know. Because the next
morning they might be real happy and I might be the one wicked.
And they'll say, I know. They'll say it back to me, won't they?
Come all things to all people. Weak as in the week that I might
gain the week, and I am made all things to all men, that I
might by all means save some. I might be used, that's what
he's saying. And I do this for the gospel's sake, that I might
be partaker thereof with you. God made me a preacher, and I
want to bend over backwards and kiss my heels on absolutely anything
for the gospel's sake, for Christ's sake, and for my brethren's sake. We can take a stand on anything.
What color is that carpet? Who cares? Longstanding debate between Ford
and Chevy. I have an opinion, but I'll keep it to myself. Doesn't
matter. It's for the gospel's sake. For
his word's sake, for his righteousness. That's what the proverb says.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth
souls is wise. One that soul winners are destroyed
by modern religion, but one whose focus is that people be brought
to God, be reconciled to God. That's a wise person. That's
what's needful, isn't it? Not digging wells. Back to Acts
16. Acts 16, verse one. Then came he to Derbe and Lystra,
and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, a
certain man. This is Timothy. We get two books
in our New Testament written as letters to Timothy. Paul loved
him. The son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess and believed,
but his father was a Greek. There's a whole lot we could
comment on that. That's against the law. Y'all not do it. Believers
shouldn't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. But it was
Timothy of a certain woman. And she was a Jew, but his father
was a Greek. So he wasn't he wasn't circumcised. And he was
reported well, which was well reported by the brethren that
were at Lystra and Iconium. He come with a good report. God
gifted this man to preach, and most of the time the people around
him know it before that fella does. Not the other way around.
Somebody came to Brother Spurgeon and said, the Holy Ghost led
me to come tell you that I'm supposed to preach this weekend.
And Brother Spurgeon said, that's funny, he didn't tell me nothing
about it. Just you, huh? Normally works the opposite of
what we think, isn't it? But him, would Paul have to go
forth with him? Paul said, I'm going to go preaching
and you're going to go with me. As a friend of mine told me one
time, it's a pastor's intuition. He's got an idea. He can see
all that wood, hay, and stubble, and he could see the lamb, and
he could see those that the Lord's equipped for his service. And
he took him. He took him. Does it say he gingerly
invited him? Timothy, this would be just fabulous
if you were so inclined to come with me on said journey and talk
to him in a bunch of old English. No, he took him. What a picture
that is. Timothy was drafted in this war. You're going to be a soldier.
Come down and took him. Timothy would tell you the same
thing. He got drafted. I was sitting there minding my
own business. The Lord came and took me. used
Paul to do it, but he took him and he circumcised him. What? What? How could we ever discern why
Paul did this? There are things written without
end concerning this. How could we know for sure? Paul
refused to have Titus circumcised. Paul had walked from all the
way down there to all the way up here in Acts 15, and everybody
agreed, and they're carrying letters with them. You don't
want to be circumcised. Knock that junk off. And he saw Timothy.
He said, Lord's going to use you. If you want to come preach
with me, I can just know it. Now come out back. I'm going to circumcise
you. How could we know why he did that? You know, we're so
dumb. Mankind, it's hard telling like what the IQ was of Adam.
Which sin just keeps making us dumber as time goes on. Look
at the next word. Him would Paul have go forth
with him and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which
were in those quarters. Because of who they're going
to preach to. For they knew all that his father was a Greek.
They knew he was a Greek. They knew that going into it.
This was not a gospel issue. This happened beforehand, wasn't
it? This was a stumbling stone issue. That's what that was.
If they saw this, well, your daddy's a Greek and he's not
circumcised. I ain't listening to him. Paul said, we'll get that
out the way before you even go. And then whenever they spy you
out privily, they won't have nothing to say and they may have to hear
what you have to preach to them. Maybe they'll be concerned about
Christ and him crucified. according to the scriptures.
But we'll get that out of the way now. How could Paul know
that? This was a stumbling stone that
the man sent of God for that people, for that generation,
he recognized it and he dealt with it. And he didn't care what
other people had to say about it. Lois and Eunice might be like,
what are you doing? Mind your own business. Don't matter what I'm
doing. Come on, Timothy. Timothy was
teachable. If the Lord's gonna teach somebody,
he will make them teachable, not teachers. He'll make them
teachable, and they'll ask questions, and not tell people what they
know. He was teachable, and he submitted to Paul. Somebody brought up having a
podcast in this generation, because that's what the media is going
to, and I thought, who in the world, who's qualified to make
that call as to the parameters of this, and if this is a good
idea or not? I know exactly who he is. Lord sent us this generation,
didn't he? I grew up with it. I know some of the pitfalls.
I know some of the pros and cons. Me and other men that's preaching,
it's my age. It's us, it's on our plate. Next
generation will be something else, that's our business. As
for the furtherance of the gospel, what won't break reproach on
the gospel, that's what we're given to dwell on. Timothy gave up his rights. and
he submitted his body as a grown man, conscious of what's going
on without Lidocaine and without any antiseptic. He submitted
his body and trusted God's apostle because it was for Christ's sake
and for his gospel's sake, that way people would hear him preach.
For the brethren's sake. This is my body, this is my rights. It's what I've heard for years,
ain't you heard that? It's my rights. It's my body. No, it's
not. You were bought with a price,
Timothy. You're not your own. Not to everybody else, that might
be their body. That's your business. Don't go telling Timothys to not do
this. You shut your mouth and listen to what Paul has to say.
Listen to what that man in that generation has to say. There's a stumbling stone, and
Paul got it out of the way. Timothy was glad to do so. That's
what we read in Leviticus 19. Thou shalt not curse the deaf,
nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but thou shalt fear
God, I'm the Lord. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. That's what we need to seek, isn't it? We're to clear the
road to the city refuge without bending the gospel, without compromising
the gospel. But if anything else comes in
the way, get that rock out the way and let them people go to
the city refuge. Tell them about the city refuge. I thought about
traveling and preaching. and keep sensitive people from
being too offended, I went with clothing. What if I was going
to go somewhere and I had to wear that local garb? Like in
India, they have a lot of different clothing than we have. A wardrobe
is different than our wardrobe. And to me, to stand up here in
that wardrobe in this place would be very disrespectful in my heart,
to me, to the gospel's sake. I would not do that. But there,
that's what those brethren consider a respectable Garment that would
show respect to the gospel and to the Lord. So I'd put the garment
on Just put it on Preach or down in Mexico. That's a beautiful.
I like them those beautiful white shirts with the four pockets
That's that's a respectful garment to wear and that's our gospel
is what we wear, isn't it? What we've been clothed in and
so to put on a jacket. What's that to wear a tie who
cares? Put on those real nice colorful
robes. It doesn't matter. I It doesn't matter. It's for
the gospel sake, isn't it? I thought a fella's gonna keep
his job one time or not. He had a hard decision to make.
Do I do this to keep my job? Well, if you're doing it to keep
your job to get a new boat, I don't know. But if I had to do something
to keep a job because my heart was supporting the gospel, do
it. That's where your heart is. Your
heart's on things above. Can you see the application?
Can you see the application of this? Forsaking ourselves, it
doesn't got nothing to do with the gospel. Now somebody come
down and said, you have to do this or you ain't gonna be saved.
We got a problem. We got a problem. But if that's
not it, bend over backwards. I put so much time and money,
didn't we? And a permit to redoing that
house in New Jersey after a tree fell through it. Some of that
stuff was nonsense. I mean, dumb. I had to pay a permit to replace
a water heater. I had never, it would never cross my mind
to do that. That was just the craziest thing ever. It was expensive,
but I did it. And I was, I was angry at home,
but I wasn't angry in public. And that fella come down, he
failed us and failed us and failed us. And it was more money and
more money and more money. And I finally said, you just
want money? I'll just give it to you. Oh, no, it's not that.
We finally got ready, and y'all called us to come out here. So
we sold off everything we had. And that fellow was the one that
had to do something with the permit to sell it. He come out,
and do you remember what happened when we put that house up for
sale? He said, oh, we hate to see y'all go. He said, you've
been so easy to work with, and you make good neighbors in this
little tiny town we're in. If I had have fought that man
tooth and toenail, and I said, would you consider coming to
church with me Sunday, what do you think he'd have done? You think, oh yeah, there's probably
a whole people down there, a whole mess of people down there that's
going to fight me tooth and toenail too. I can't wait to go. Of course they wouldn't. If I was long suffering, and
I gave of myself, and I was tender, and I was understanding, and
I said, you go to church with me on Sunday, what do you think
is more likely to happen? Do you get the application? If
my neighbors, if I'm just, am I a joy to them? Look at that,
read that article that Donnie Bell wrote. My kids are gonna
grow up like me. What if everybody's just like
me? Mine, and me, and withered hands, and it's all right, Lord's
on the throne. No, I ain't bending for the gospel.
No, you weren't saved underneath the false preaching. You was
not, and scripture say you would. But, other than that, bend over
backwards, and you can drive Fords or Chevys, it's up to you,
I don't care. Makes no means. You may not have compassion for
others to hear the gospel at all. And I understand that. But when God puts a new heart
in you, that new heart that's his, that he put in you, it'll
have compassion at all your neighbors and all those people that despitefully
curse you to hear the gospel too. And you'll bend over backwards
for them. That new man will. Paul said that he was, I wish
myself with a curse from Christ for my brethren, for my kinsmen,
according to the flesh. He knew he couldn't be forsaken
of God if God's died for him, but he's, I mean, at all costs,
if somebody could hear the gospel, what would you give for your
children and your loved ones to hear? I mean it. What would I give for my children
to hear? You're sitting here. I'll get y'all being mad at me
for making you come to church. That's okay. I'll give that up
I know what the benefit may be if the Lord's pleased to save
one of y'all You can read all of Romans 14,
but for time's sake Paul said, For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy
Ghost. He that's in these things serveth Christ. It's acceptable
to God and approved of men. And they said, Meat destroy not
the work of God. It doesn't matter. You eat something
you don't eat. You think that's going to undo what God did? That's
ludicrous. You don't know God. You don't
know what he did if you think it could. He said, It's neither good to
eat flesh or drink wine or anything whereby thy brother stumbleth
or is offended or is made weak. If your brother or sister can't
have a glass of wine, they think that'll hurt them, don't drink
in front of them. That ain't that hard. He said, have your
liberty to yourself. Whenever they're gone, go home
and drink your glass of wine. It's fine. Have a bourbon. Smoke
a cigar. Do what you want. If the Lord's gave you that liberty,
but don't push that on others. I had a hard time learning that.
Still need to learn that. We're free. Don't push it on
them. Don't restrain them. Don't look down on them. God saved
them. If we agree on this gospel. If we agree on this gospel, don't
we? Back in Acts 16, here's the application of it.
What would be the result of having that discernment if God's equipped
a man to see the difference between a gospel sake and for brethren's
sake? Is this a gospel issue or not?
What would be the outcome of following through with that?
I'm interested to hear you. Verse four, and as they went
through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep.
that were ordained to the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
They went through those cities and they preached to them, didn't
they? They told them all the good news again. And so were
the churches established in faith and increased in number daily. What could be the best thing
that would happen if we could take our rights and our privileges
and put them out the way and get those stumbling blocks out
the way where the only thing that people had to handle and
make a call on was crossed and him crucified. The Lord might
add to his church daily. Now we're going to be grumpy
when we do that? No, it's like back in Acts 2, we're rejoicing and that's
how the Lord's going to add to his church daily. Because it's good
news. This is good news. I pray it
is to you. Let's pray together. Father,
be with us. Teach us these things, Lord.
Apply this understanding to our hearts and make us wise. Give
us wisdom. Christ is our wisdom and give
us Him and knowledge of Him and situations with our families
coming up this week, Lord. Make us malleable. Make us bendable,
flexible on anything but the gospel. Don't allow us to pick
bones and pick fights with things that don't matter. Keep Christ in the forefront
of our minds. Forgive us for our unbelief, so rampant in our
wondering. Make us good examples in this
community you've sent us to, Lord. Make us faithful servants. Be with our brethren everywhere.
Be with those that labor. Preach this word, give them a
mouth to speak it, and give those that hear them ears to hear and
hearts to believe. We would that all men be saved.
Thank you for this, Lord. Bless it to the hearts of your
people. As because of Christ, because of his intercession,
we ask it. Amen. I was convinced that wouldn't
take no more than 15 minutes. We'll take about a 10-minute
break, meet back about 10.35, and you're dismissed.