Luke chapter 4. This won't be
in my text, but I wanted you to read it. The title of my message
is Simple Ultimatums. Simple ultimatums. What's that
word mean? Well, it's a final proposition.
It's a condition or a demand. This is a truth. It's how it
is. An ultimatum. Especially one, this is the definition,
whose rejection will end negotiations. If you reject this, stop the
train. It's over. And cause a resort
to force or other retaliation. There's going to be consequences
to not bowing and receiving and accepting these ultimatums. And
they're very simple ultimatums. They're plain and they're concise. And it's this simplicity. And mankind, it's so simple,
we understand what the Lord's talking about. And it's that
simplicity, and it's the fact that we do understand it, our
old nature, a natural man walking around, that we get mad because
of the words of the Lord, because we understand them. And that
anger can manifest in a whole bunch of things. You read how
to parent children? Go read Proverbs. Well, now, it could mean, it
means what it says. We don't like it. I know what
this Bible says. The trial I'm going through right
now, I give myself to the word and I can explain everything
about it. I can tell you what God says. I don't like that and
you won't either. Here's what the Word says, take
it up to God. Right? He's done it and that's right,
but we have an old nature. You have an old nature. Everybody
out there, that's the only nature they have. Maybe it's the people
inside these four walls. But they're plain and concise
and we understand them. The Lord's opponents understood
what He said in most cases. There's a lot of things we don't
understand, but there's a lot of things we do. Look here in Luke 4, verse
24. Luke 4, 24. Our Lord speaks here, and He
says, Verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his
own country. In another place He says, a prophet
is not without honor saved in his own country or saved in his
own home. Be a parent. I'm just dad. What
do I know? It's true. He goes, But I tell
you of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in the day of Elias.
when the heavens were shut up for three years and six months
and great famine was throughout the land. But unto none of them
was a lie sent save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman
that was a widow." The only one God sent his prophet to was to
a Gentile lady. He's telling these Jews this,
these Pharisees. And many lepers, verse 27, were
in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them
was cleansed save Naaman the Syrian." There's a whole mess
of lepers in this physical nation of Israel and he goes, I didn't
heal one of them. God didn't send his prophet to
one of them. He sent it to a Gentile, Naaman. And all they in the synagogue,
what he's saying is, just because you're born into this Don't mean
nothing. You have to be born to God. Just
because I was born to a believing grandfather and believing parents,
and I was raised underneath the gospel of one of the best priests
this generation has ever even heard of, doesn't mean anything. It don't matter. That's what
he's saying to them. The Lord said, I'll save who
I will. And that made them mad. Look at verse 28. And all they
in the synagogue, when they had heard these things, they were
filled with wrath. Because they understood. They knew what he
was talking about. They got it. And rose up and
thrust him out of the city and led him into the brow of the
hill whereon their city was built that they might cast him down
headlong. Let's kill him right now. That's how mad that was.
Because they understood. They got it. And he walked right
through them. They understood that it was plain.
So many things we're not sure on. There's so many things that
are mysterious. There's so many things in these
scriptures that are confusing to our little tiny brains. And
to focus on that, those things that we don't understand, is
to pacify the mind and take the focus off the parts that are
plain and simple that we can't understand. Most of y'all was
here and experienced this. There was a man in this back
room back here And he was putting the focus of everybody on conspiracy
theories and promoting numerology and eschatology and all this
other stuff and being insulting to the Lord's sheep. And I wouldn't
stand for it. I popped on him. And I said,
all you're doing is taking focus. This is a pacifier with no milk
in it. It's a pacifier to keep you busy and occupied so you
don't know that you offended a holy God. And you need a righteousness
and you can't produce one. That's true. That's plain. That's
simple. And that's the last time I saw
that man. Because he has his own righteousness. He's got his
own deep thinking things he's got to concentrate on. We're enemies outside of his
son. We're enemies of God apart from his son. You tell me what
else matters. Does what's floating up in that
sky matter? Does what's happening up there in Sacramento matter?
Does what's happening in these local governments matter? You
tell me something more important than us having the righteousness
of God in Christ. That's a need. We need it, don't
we? They're in the scriptures. What
about dinosaurs and behemoths and leviathans? Who cares? We need a substitute. Unicorns! What about the unicorns? That's
not important. We need a place prepared for
us, a place of reconciliation before God. Where did Cain's
wife come from? I need to be the bride of Christ.
You get that? How did Nebuchadnezzar, he looked
inside that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or cast into that
furnace, and he said, I see four. He said, that one has the form
of the Son of God. He said, that one looks like
Jesus Christ. How'd he know what he looked like? You ever wondered
that? I've wondered that since I was a little tiny kid. How'd
he know? They could have told him about the Lord Jesus Christ.
How'd he know what he looked like? He did. I need to see him
as my willing substitute. Them three was cast in the fire.
He showed up there by himself. I don't need to know how he knew
that. I need to know him. I need to know the Lord. The
day the Lord comes back, We need the One that is coming
back right now. That's what we need. It's inconsequential
when the Lord comes. That's His business. I need Him
with me right now. I want to keep it simple. A few
points. Accept power be given. All powers
of God. A double L. These lights are
on because of God. I can raise my hand up because
the Lord gave me power to do that. A fly lands on somebody
because God gave that fly power to do something. Saturn turns
and hits orbit or whatever. The Lord did it. It's His power. All power comes from Him. From
the ant to the president to whatever. He did it. It's His power. Except the Father draws a sinner
to Christ, you're going to die. We can't come to Him. We won't
come to Him, except He draws a man. Except you repent. God has all power. If He don't
save you, you ain't gonna be saved. And unless you repent,
that's what King Nebuchadnezzar did. He said, Blessed is the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel
and delivered His servants that trusted in Him. He's talking
about their God, isn't he? "...and have changed the king's
words." That's Daniel 3.28. I said this is all going to happen
and the Lord changed my words. That ain't what happened. The Lord was turning him from
himself to Christ. You're going to turn from them
old idols and them old ways and that old fellowship and that
old religion and that old whatever to Him. Except you repent. Except He's got all power. Except
the Father draws a cedar to the cross, except you repent, except
your righteousness exceed the scribes and the Pharisees. What's
that mean? Except there's a righteousness
we can't even explain and you ain't never seen with your eyes
of flesh. You're going to have to have
a righteousness that's better than that. Except a seed fall on the ground.
That's how. How is all this going to happen?
Except a seed fall onto the ground and die. Then it'll bring forth
much fruit. Then somebody's gonna be given
life and they're gonna wake up and they're gonna say, he has all
the power. He drew me. That's turning from self to him.
He's on my righteousness. Cause he did it. John 19. I'll show you how I
got here. John 19. Verse 1, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus,
and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns, and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple
robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him
with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth,
and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that
ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and saith unto
them, Behold the man. When the chief priests therefore
and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify
him. Pilate saith unto them, Ye take
him, take ye him, you do it. You go crucify him, for I find
no fault in him. The Jews answered him, we have
a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself
the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid." I'll look at this next week,
Lord willing. There's some hours that took
place, there's some contemplation. Some teeth sucking, some considering.
I think this is This might be God
sitting here. And went again into the judgment
hall. He wasn't there yet. Went again into the judgment
hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Tell me who you are. Then pride
comes in, verse 10. Then saith Pilate unto him, speakest
thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have
the power to crucify thee? have the power to release thee.
Don't you know who I am?" That's what Nebuchadnezzar said to those
three Hebrew children. They said, I'm going to throw
you in that fire. And who's the God that's going to get you out
of my hands? The Lord revealed Himself to Nebuchadnezzar about
eight years later. Paul said the same thing. Every
one of us said the same thing. You know who I am? Who are you? And Jesus answered. Verse 11. Thou couldst have no power. You
got power? Okay. Thou couldst have no power. At all is in italics and I like
it. At all against me except the only way you have power to
take your next breath. Except it were given thee from
above. Therefore he that delivereth
men to thee hath a greater sin, except it were given from above,
except power be given." Who are we dealing with? Who's Pilate
dealing with? Who are you dealing with? Who
am I dealing with? This ain't governments and this
ain't... that stuff don't matter all of
a sudden. We're sinners in the hands of an angry God. Who are
we dealing with? This is the one that has all
the power. Power comes from Him. This is the one that is all wise. He is wisdom. All faith comes from Him. People
are yackety-yacking about faith. They don't know nothing of it
because He's the one that's faithful. It's His faith He gives to us.
It's a gift. It originated there. His power
gives it to us. This is God. If there's another power of anything
you can imagine, friction, centrifugal force, if there's something that
he isn't the God of, he ain't God. And you think he was in
trouble before? We're in a mess. He is. He said there is no power. You have no power except they
were given from the above. The Lord gives all power to all
things at all times to perform His will and His purpose for
the good of His people and for His glory. That's as plain as
it gets. He has all power. Natural men
don't like that. We have an old nature in us that
don't like it because I want to put my hand to it and I want
to try to do something. And I keep getting hurdle and
hurdle and hurdle and hurdle and I think I'm being diligent
for the gospel's sake. Or I'm an idiot. It's one of the two, isn't it?
Turn over to 1 Samuel, chapter 2. Let's turn a little bit this
evening. 1 Samuel, chapter 2. If you get
the Kings, turn to the left. 1 Samuel, chapter 2. Verse 1, this is Hannah's prayer. Samuel's mother. Verse 7, 2,
1. Hannah prayed and said, My heart
rejoiceth in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in
thy salvation. I rejoice in your Christ. what
Simeon saw. There is none holy as the Lord,
for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like
our God. Talk no more, so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions
are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are
broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they
that were hungry ceased. so that the barren hath born
seven, and she that hath many children was wax feeble. The
Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up. And that's what he said, Jeremiah,
he said, I knew you before I formed you in the womb. The Lord is
the one that forms children in the womb. Paul said, the one
that separated me from my mother's womb. He's the one that determines
when a child's born. He's the one that walks in their
steps and if they become a king, he turns their heart like a river.
Whether so ever we will. And he's the one that appointed
the time for that to stop. That's power. That's power. We have nothing except He gives
it from above. The Lord killeth first six and
maketh it alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth
up. He maketh poor and maketh rich. In a person's life, if
they have money, they don't have money. This is physical too,
right? If you have something, the Lord
did that. We had a president a couple years
ago, people did backflips because he said, if you got a business,
you didn't build that. That's right. If you know God,
that's right. You didn't. He did it. He had
the power to do that. He did it. I pay my bills. No,
I don't. He gives me the power to pay
my bills. That's what James said. Don't say we're gonna go in this
city, we're gonna do this for a year or that. He said, you say if the Lord
wills, He'll do it. He maketh poor and He maketh rich. And
that's physical, but that's spiritual. He allows us to be poor if we're
poor, and He makes us rich in Christ. He's the one that does
that. He makes you rich in Christ.
You'll get to work and you'll start going to work in the morning. You'll
work harder than people you work for. You'll be nice to those that He put
in power over you. Those that are put over us, He gives that
power to. He bringeth low and lifteth up.
That's the richness in all things. The abilities we have. to sing,
or to play music, or to do math, or run a business, or to be a
good employee, whatever it is, to understand things, to have
knowledge and then have understanding of that knowledge, whatever it
is, He did that. That's not changed. Paul said,
who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou that
thou didst not receive? And now if you've received it,
why are you glorying like you made it up by yourself? Except all
power come from Him. Verse 8, He raises up the poor
out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill,
and set them among princes, and to make them inherit the thrones
of glory. He does all this. We understand
all those things, don't we? That's plain. Who did it? The
Lord did it. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them. Fools get
wrapped up in a couple words that we cannot see fully. We
see through a glass dimly. And they ignore all the things
they plainly can see. It's not necessarily what is
done or how it's done, it's who has done it. I want to know Him. I'll figure that out later. That's
what's necessary. Walk in the light we are given.
The Lord may be pleased to give us more light. Surely if He gave
us life, we'll grow, won't we? Might be a little bit, but surely
we'll grow in something. Be thankful for that. The Lord
told Jeremiah, he said, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich
man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord
which exercises loving kindness. I'm merciful. I exercise judgment. I'll by no means clear the guilty
and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord." Don't you want to delight in the things that
your Lord delights in? Or do you want to delight in the things
you don't understand? I want to understand and know Him. He
says so. I want to. Verse 9, He will keep
the feet of His saints. How are we going to be preserved?
He will keep the feet of his saints. And the wicked shall
be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven
shall he thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt
the horn of his anointed." Boy, that poor little girl Hannah.
Don't you wish you could pray like she prayed? You wish you could enter
into the understanding God gave her? How many sermons do you
think she preached out of? I preached out of it twice. Once was here. Who are we dealing with? Who's
mankind walking up down these streets ignorant of? Who they
gonna be dealing with? Doctrines have no power at all
against me, except it were given thee from above, Pilate, Nebuchadnezzar,
and the kings that have yet to meet him. Nothing else could have power
either. I've thought about the highway
patrol. I passed a few of them today and had a lot of driving
to do. It's protect and serve, right? What if on the side of every
highway patrol car they put God's servants to minister unto us
for our good? Would that be right? That's what
the Word of God says in Romans 13, doesn't it? We need to be
aware of these things. My pastor said it about CB radios
a long time ago when that was a popular thing. He said, we'll
make everybody mad. He said, people in truck drivers
on CB radios said, hey, there's a cop down there, y'all need
to slow down. He said, that's evil and that's against God's
servants that sit there for your good. You're sinning against
the Holy God. That's so, isn't it? We're training our children
up to break the law when the law ain't around. Well, there's
a holy law of God that we're going to face one day, apart
from his son. All powers from Him. Where are
them other ultimatums? I've got to keep going. I'll go through
them quick, I promise. The Lord said, except Matthew
18, except you be converted and become as a little children,
you shall not enter the kingdom of God. We're going to have to
be humbled and our big old headedness, because we, like teenagers, I
know, I know, I know. You have to not know. You have
to be a little child that's dependent on their father. He said, except
you be converted. Turn to John 6. We have to understand these things.
The Lord has to give us an understanding. Nicodemus came to the Lord by
night. He understood what the Lord said about the world. He
said, For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son,
Nicodemus. He said, He so loved Gentiles. What are you talking
about? He understood, didn't he? That
rich young ruler, he came to the Lord. He understood. Simple
ultimatums. That's simple truth. The Lord
said, He looked on him and said, One thing thou lackest. You understand
this law stuff. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.
And come, take up thy cross, and follow me." You go where
I go, you come with me. You're a sheep. Follow the shepherd.
Let's go. And he was sad, that rich young
ruler was, at that saying, and went away grieved. Why would
he be grieved? He understood what the Lord said.
Total commitment, for he had great possessions. except power be given, you got
John 6, and except the Father draws a sinner to Christ, John
6, 41. The Jews then murmured at him,
John 6, 41. The Jews then murmured at him
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? How is it then written, how is
it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore
answered and said unto him, Mervyn not among yourselves, no man
can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the
prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me."
How are we going to come to this one that has all the power? The
Father is going to have to draw you. You can't do it, and you
won't do it. You don't want nothing to do
with God, and He has to come to you and save you. You don't
have to go save Him. He has to draw us. How do we come to Christ? He
said, everyone that's taught of God, He's going to teach all
of them, and He's learned of the Father, they're going to
come unto Me. What is it to come to Christ? That's to believe
Him. Not believe in Him like them
demons do and everything else that Satan does. To believe Him.
That's what he said. He said, except to be given from
above, you ain't gonna have no power. That's so. Well now I
think, well then you don't believe Him. You believe you. To come
to Christ is to believe Him. To come to Christ is to trust
Him. I don't know if it was any good for y'all. That was good
for me. I needed that last weekend. He's for me. I'll walk through
that door. I'll walk through a field of
bullets. I don't care. He's for me. Nothing else matters. It's
fine. That thorn in the flesh, that
means Paul was hurting in his flesh. It was like a thorn being
stuck in him and it wouldn't go away. The Lord put it there
so he could give him faith. His grace could be in him and
sustain him. We have to trust him. I want
to trust him. And that's daily. I believe his word today. I'm
going to trust Him today. And to come to Christ is to know
Him and love Him. Know and understand. Ah, buddy,
okay, I know what He's doing. I can't tell you in great detail.
I don't have all the theological examinations thereabouts. But
I know Him, and I know He's saving His people. And whatever power
is going on, He did that. Whatever didn't happen, He was
pleased for it not to happen. And to need Him. Do you need
Him? This one that has all power,
this one that draws every one of his sheep to himself. Do you
need him? Or is this a tickle of the ears? It's just an interesting doctrine
we happen to stumble upon, and we're right now. No. Come to
him. Come to him. Except the father,
which has sent me to draw him. Nobody else can. And those that
he draws, they will be raised up at the last day. I don't know
what that's going to be like. It's going to be. It's going
to happen. We have to be given a new life
by the all-powerful God to come to Christ. A new heart, a new
mind, and a new King. That's who it comes from. This
wasn't so simple, but it's just as true. I won't have you turn
there, but Nicodemus came to the Lord by night physically.
He physically came to the Lord. That rich young ruler physically
came to the Lord. That didn't mean nothing. There's
a lot of people that physically sit in pews and listen to the
gospel. That don't mean nothing. That's come to them in the heart.
The Lord said, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Do you know
what the kingdom of God is? Unless you're born again, you don't
even know. It's Christ and His body. It's His church, wherever
He is. That's heaven, isn't it? You
can't see that unless the Lord gives you new life. And He said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, Nicodemus didn't get that. He
said, what are you talking about? I've got to be born again? Go
back to my mother's womb, and the Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You ain't going to
know what it is, and you ain't going to go there unless I do
the work. My power I draw you. Understandable ultimatums. Simple
ultimatums. Except power be given, except
the Father draw sinners to Christ, and except you repent. We're
going to repent. Turn over to Luke 13. Luke 13. This will be concerning us. I've told
you before, there's five types of repentance recorded, or five
meanings of the word in the Scriptures, but this is the turning, this
is us, how it affects us. Luke 13, verse 1. They were present at that season,
some that told Him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices, And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Supposedly that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans,
because they suffered such things? Do you think they're worse off?
I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish." You're going to have to repent. The Lord said except
you repent. That's plain. Except ye turn.
He says it twice. Verse 4, Or those eighteen upon
whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that
they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? You
think somebody is a bigger sinner than you? Nay, I tell you, nay,
but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Unless you're
the biggest sinner, and you turn from yourself to God and take
sides with Him against you, you're going to perish in your sins.
Unless you're the chief of sinners. What's that? Repentance. The
best definition I've ever heard of repentance. I love it. I've
committed it to memory. And I've traced it back to a
guy quoting it at Princeton in the 1700s. And he didn't even
say who he quoted it from. He said, I heard somebody else
say this. It's good enough not to have
a name attached to it. I'll take it. Repentance concerning us. Out of those five meanings of
the word, what we do. Repentance is the pilgrimage
from the mind of the flesh to the mind of Christ. The pilgrimage. the journey. It's got a beginning,
it has a continuance, it has an end, a culmination. It's the
pilgrimage from the mind of the flesh, that's me, the way I think
things, my way, my thoughts, my doing, why I know to bow unto
the Holy God that has all power and draws me into Him. Turn from
those idols, turn from that fellowship we used to have with people that
wasn't in that boat back then, turn from that boat, burn your
ships, do everything, go to Him. Turn yourself over, lock, stock,
and barrel. Religion's ruined. It's so. Give your heart to Christ. If He gave you the heart, you'll
give it right back to Him. He says, this is yours. You will. Your repentance does. That comes
from a new master. There's three M's. I love it.
A new master gives a new mind, and then you have new manners.
A new master gives a new mind and you have new manners. You
got a new way of going about things. I tipped the lady that dry cleans
my clothes the other day. I wish I'd tipped that propane
guy. He'd come out on a Saturday. That's the Christian thing, as
people say. That's the Christian thing to do. I went to get my
clothes. It was $28.90. I paid her. And she went and
counts the change back. And I said, it's fine. You can
keep the $1.10. We're fine. She really appreciated
that. And I've done that before, because
she got my clothes ready quick. And she don't get on to me when
I didn't. And we had Jaylee's jacket worked on, or Letterman's
jacket. It was super cheap. I'd have paid 10 times that amount.
I thought it was really cheap. I said, I'll keep it. She said,
why are you so gracious? I said, because my God's gracious. That's been a lot in the community.
The Lord tells us in Revelation 2, He said, if you repent from
you and go back to your first lover, I'll take your candlestick
away. He says that. If He put no heart in you, how
can you keep from turning to Him? That's instinct. That's
called the nature. Can't keep from it, huh? Matthew 5, we have to have a
righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees. I'll hurry
for you. Matthew 5, 20 says, For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. When the all-powerful Lord of
Hosts gives us life, when He draws us to Christ, when He gives
us a heart to turn from our ways, our thoughts, our religions,
you fill in the blank, and to turn to Christ, we see Him as
the person, as our righteousness. He's made into His wisdom, righteousness. It's not something to do, it's
not the outside of the cup, He's everything. It's Him. It's Him. We need to come to Him. That's the first thing pictured
in Genesis 3.21, wasn't it? After that fall, it said, "...and
to Adam and his wife did the Lord make coats of skin and clothing."
It's His and He put it on. It has to be from Him and He
has to put it on me. It has to be made one with the Son. This
must be our life in totality. We must be consumed by Him and
of Him. He says in John 6, 53, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. You have
no life in you. They say, that's a hard saying.
Who can? No, it ain't hard. It's easy. You just don't like
it. He had to turn himself over lock, stock, and barrel to it.
I'll read something from my pastor. He's got this years ago as a
young man that had embraced communism, and I sent it to you on an email
before you all showed up. And everything he did, he talked
about communism. That's the only thing that ever came out of his
mouth was communism. And so, Henry took his statement this
man made, and he took the word communism out and put in Christ
every word communism was. I wish I had this dedication.
There is one thing about which I am in total agreement and that
is the cause of Christ Jesus of Communism. That's what he
said. Now from here on I won't say it. He is my life. The hold which Christ has on
me grows, not lessens, as time goes by. I cannot carry on a
friendship, I can't carry on a business, nor a conversation
very long without relating it to Christ. I evaluate people
by their attitude toward Christ. I judge books, ideas, and actions
by their attitudes toward Christ. I'm ready to live for Christ
or ready to die for Christ. That man's committed to communism,
wasn't he? I want that commitment to the all-powerful God that
drew me to His Son that is my righteousness. except you eat
His flesh and drink His blood, unless you make one with Him.
I want to be one with Him. What's that mean? I don't know,
but I want it. Don't you? I get one with the issue of blood. She said, get out of here. You
can't touch nobody. She said, that's God and I'm
going to touch Him. And then I'll be alright. She
got her finger stepped on. She got kicked in the head. She
got the hem of that garment. She's fine. We get a hold of
Him, we'll be fine. All this is going to be just.
All this is going to be holy. Because He provided Himself as
the Lamb. He's our offering. Isn't that
simple? He has all the power. He draws
His people to Him. He makes us repent. You turn
from all that junk. You turn to Him. He said, leave
all your stuff. That's what Joseph told them,
right? Leave your stuff. You turn from the stuff to Him, the
Savior. And accept the seed falling to
the ground. John 12 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Some may must be lifted up. He that loveth his
life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it until life eternal. If any man serve
me, let him follow me. You go where I go. Why I just
can't leave this place? Well, die and go to hell with
this place. His people go. That's what Brother
Paul said to her in Arkansas the other day. He was talking
about her husband. She says, well, I just, I can't leave my husband. He
said, he can go to hell all by himself. You go to where the
gospel is. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. He that hateth his life shall keep it unto eternal life.
If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am there
shall also my servant be. One, knit together. He said,
Lord, I'm with you always. I'm for you always. If any man
serve me, him will my father honor. How are we going to do
that? He's going to have to have the power. He's going to draw
me to him. He's going to make me repent from all this other
garbage to him. He's got to be my righteousness. That ain't complicated. People
just want a hand in it. And they want their knowledge
and their understanding stuck in there, don't they? How will
he sustain us? That's nice, but this has got
to keep going. What if I lose my mind? I heard a fellow say
one time, Bob, he said, I remember the Lord saved me. I'll never
forget it. You might. He won't forget you. That's what
matters. We don't matter. He does. His
thoughts towards us. How are we going to sustain?
The Lord gave a command in John 15, verse 4. He said, Abide in
me and I in you. Done. Period. There's a period at the end of
that. It's going to happen. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. How in the world does a branch
stay connected to the vine? The vine holds it. The wind blows
that branch. It flops. But where that vine's
got a hold of that branch, that's what keeps it. He has to keep
us. He has all the power. He draws us to Him. We repent.
We are turned from ourselves to Him. This righteousness is
a person. And all that's holy and just
because He died and rose again. Except that corn of wheat fell. That's who Pilate was dealing
with. That's who Nebuchadnezzar was dealing with. That's who
everybody the Lord comes to and draws to Himself and His power.
That's who you're dealing with. That's what everybody else that
he doesn't is going to deal with. I would that all men would be
saved. What about your loved ones? You got kids. You all got
kids. You got a wife and brothers and
sisters and you got stuff, people we know and friends and co-workers
and all that. I want them to know Christ. I
asked the Lord to give me a heart for people just walking up and
down this world that didn't care about Him, they cared about this
world. I said, Lord, give me a heart to pray for them. And
He did. And I weep sometimes seeing countless cars going by,
just ignorant. And I don't want to tell them.
If there's a big hole that's 300 feet deep back here and the
cars are lined up and they're going off that cliff one at a time, wouldn't
you run up there and, well, that's a good Samaritan. I don't want
to be, yeah. Why don't I tell them? I want
to give all I've got to tell somebody. Because He's for us.
He's for us, then. Let's pray. Father, forgive us. Lord, we believe You've given
that. That needs no polishing. That's
a gift from You. Lord, we need help with our unbelief. This old man that's in us, turn
us from ourselves to Christ in Your power. Repent us. Show us
He's our righteousness, Lord, and make us cling to Him. Make
Him more needful than our daily bread and our daily water and
the air that we breathe, because He is. Thank You for revealing
Yourself to a people. Thank You for revealing Yourself
to me, Lord. Give me this knowledge and understanding of who You
are and what You've done through Your Son for Your people. What a God. Thank You, Lord.
be with your saints everywhere, and it's because of that seed
that willingly gave up His life for us. Amen.