Last week or so, a couple weeks,
obviously we've had a lot going on. And then personally, myself
and my family, the Lord sent us some trials last week or so. And I'm thankful for those trials. I'll tell you more about them
later when we're meeting together. But it's on purpose. The Lord does everything on purpose.
But as those trials came to me, I was wondering, I hope all men
ask, am I a servant of God? Whose servant am I? I was studying
there in Galatians. If we open back up to Galatians
chapter 1. I had a message ready yesterday. I was going to finish
out this chapter, and then that didn't happen. So I'm going to
look at Galatians 1 verse 10 tonight. Paul writes, therefore, do I
now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. That weighed heavy on me as I
studied that. We know that there's only two religions in this world.
of something that man does for God, or God does everything for
man. There's only two. When the Lord
has judgment on this earth for all the humans that ever lived,
you're either going to be judged solely in what He sees in your
flesh through Adam, or you're going to be judged solely in
what He sees across righteousness and what He's put in you. There's
only two. And when we persuade men, people
talk, conservants, people, of a minister to people, they either
persuade men or they persuade God. Someone stands at his pulpit,
they either please men or they please God. And so if you're
a servant, you're not in between. You're either a servant of God
or you're a servant of man. But I hope we're able to see
that today. And then John Preston once wrote
this. He said, there is not a sermon which is heard, but it sets us
near heaven or to hell. I hope for today I'm able to
set us to heaven. I want us to Christ. I hope I'm
able to serve the Lord. But what is it to persuade men?
The Greek word there is a verb and it's to convince, to pacify,
conciliate, or to relay by inward certainty. So what is it to convince
men? We do that. People talk. One
man will talk another man into religion, won't they? That's
what's common practice in my family and everywhere I grew
up. I'm certain it's the same out
here. Get as many people as you can. And they help people and
they teach them. Oh, look, I got 75 people to
come to church last month. A lot of places have a board
on the wall. They'll keep the numbers, how
many people showed up, how much they gave. This is our star pupil
this month. He brought in most of his friends
from school. But persuading men into religion
is what most pulpits are doing in this nation, around the world.
Pacifying men. I tell everybody that comes,
it's in the sound of their voice, everything's all right. Everything's
going to be fine when it's not going to be fine. They lie to
them. To tell a man that everything's going to be okay when it's not
is cruel. They tell men that they can instinctively
accept the truth or they can obey that authority. What's that
mean? Inside everybody is something
good. Everybody's got a little good in them and they've got
to encourage that. You've got to push that little good and
get them to do a little better. Harry Graham wrote that and said,
if man can take one step towards God, why can't he take five?
And if he can take five, why don't he take 50? And if he can
take 50, why don't he act like a man and walk the whole way?
That's to lie to them. And part of that definition is
to rely on inward certainty. That's what you're telling them.
You did something. You made a decision. You did
a work. You did an act. And then you
can rely on what you did. That's persuading men. Also persuade
men in a negative way is to tell them that men and brethren, the
men and women that Christ died for, that Christ is made faithful
to tell others that they aren't faithful. People spread lies
and slander about people I love, people I know, people Christ
died for, and they'll tell you about it. They didn't do anything
worthy of salvation. Christ did it all for them, and
then another man will go and say that he's a fraud. That's
painful. It's dangerous. But why do these
things make men and women happy? What would make somebody want
to do those things? That sounds really bad when you say it that
way, don't it? But that's our sinful nature. By nature, humans
want a God that's like they are. They want something they can
relate to. And the majority of humans on this earth that have
been in the past or today and will be as long as the Lord lets
this earth go, they have a God that is just like them. It's
not much different than a man. They have a God that's like a
man. They don't have the God man. I've read this to you before
in Psalm 135. It says, The idols of the heathen
are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths,
but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. Neither is there any
breath in their mouths. They that make them are like
unto them. The ones that make those gods,
they're just like you. They're just like me. So is everyone
that trusts in Him. So if you convince a man, you
persuade men to come to the throne of a false god, they're trusting
in something that you are, that you made, that you created, that's
like you. But why would someone want to
persuade men and women? Let's turn there in Galatians,
turn over to Galatians chapter 6. Galatians 6 and verse 13. Now these brethren in Galatia that were troubled by
that other gospel, those people come to them and
say, we believe Christ died for an elect people. We believe in
five-point Calvinism. And they loved it. And we thank
Christ died for our people. He called them, he brought them
to his knowledge and his son, and he's keeping them to the
end. He's gonna be the one to preserve them. But those Gentile
boys over there, they have to be circumcised. That's what they
have to do. They added one molecule 11 to
everything else that's good. So man can stand up here and
tell you everything that's correct. It doesn't say anything wrong,
but one little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump, doesn't
it? So look here in Galatians 6, 13. Speaking of those, for
neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law. Those
boys wanting to keep you underneath the Mosaic law, they weren't
keeping it themselves. They thought they were, but they
weren't. But desire to have you circumcised. Why? That they may
glory in your flesh. They wanted to be lifted up because
they talked to them, guys, look at all these people I converted.
Look at what I had them do. That's what they were glorying
in, so they glory in themselves. I had them do that for the Lord.
You can word it however you want to, but they were doing that
for their own selfish interests. But a person that's able to glory
in the conversion of someone else, a person that can glory
in the works that they persuaded someone else to perform, they're
in for a rude awakening when it comes time for judgment. Paul,
right there in Galatians 1 verse 10, he's also asking, am I the
one who persuades you? He just got through telling them
in those first nine verses, addressing their error and telling them
what the gospel was. Am I the one persuading you or is God
the one that persuades you? Did a man talk you into it? And
to believe in what he preached? Or did God Almighty come to you? Did He touch you in the heart?
Did He reveal these things to reveal Christ in you? But let's
turn to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42. Listen to the language
here. I pray the Lord to keep me. That's
the only way. I told y'all this before. I told other pastors
who are faithful and helped me. I said, if someone looks to me
for They trust me to fill a pulpit.
They trust me to preach to you. They trust me to be wise and
to guide you. They trust me to serve you faithfully. You're
going to be disappointed. If you look to Christ, he's the
only one that can make us faithful. He's the only one that can teach
us. He is our wisdom, our righteousness, and our sanctification, isn't
he? He's the one that gives it. But listen to the language. There's
a lot of people out there that speak I don't know where they
get it from. It's an imagination. It's a work
of their own hands. It's where they created it. They
speak of a Lord and they use His language. They use a language
that's not used in this gospel. It's not used in these scriptures.
The Lord wants to do things and tries to do things. I don't understand
that. Read here in Isaiah 42. And speaking of Christ here,
behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul
delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax he not quench. He shall
bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged,
till he has set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait
for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spreadeth forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it, and the spirit to them that walk
therein. Here's what he says. I the Lord have called thee into
righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee,
and give thee for a covenant of the people for a lot of the
Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from
the prison, and to them that sat in darkness out of the prison
house. I am the Lord. That is my name
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images. Does that sound wishy-washy? He shall. He will. Well, I did this. No, you didn't.
But, as Don says, quit butting like a goat and bow. That's what
the Lord says. He does the work, doesn't He?
That's not an offer of salvation. That's not a God that wants to
do things. That's not a God that's trying
to do things. Our God doesn't try to convince.
He convinces. He doesn't attempt to save. He
saves, doesn't He? He doesn't want to love you.
He perfectly and completely does love you. He sent Christ for
you, didn't He? Gave His only Son for you. That's
love. And there in Isaiah 42 verse
8, will a man contribute in any way to the Lord's works? Well,
I persuaded these men. I got 180 people to start coming
to church. I sat up late at night with them
and read scripture with them. There's a big sign going to Philadelphia.
Pray for those in purgatory. That sign costs money. Somebody
got up early in the morning, worked for a living, earned a
wage, and took that wage and put that on that billboard. Will
that be part of their glory? Will they share that with the
Lord? No. We saw it in verse 8, "...I am
the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another,
neither my praise to graven images." We saw it in Samuel before. The
Lord created His people, and through His providence He brings
them to hear the gospel. He puts them underneath someone
that preaches the truth to them. And He calls them, and He shows
them Christ, and He preserves them. But for what cause? For
His namesake. Not for our namesake. Not for
the good things that I've done. Not for all that hard, all that
persuading I did. He does it for His namesake.
That's comfort, isn't it? That makes me happy. We was talking
this morning. I can't mess this up. The Lord
does it on purpose. He comes to us and He keeps us.
He does everything. Brother Graham said that, Don's
friend from West Virginia. He said, either a man is sovereign
and God is in subjection to man's will, or God is sovereign and
the man is in subjection to God's will. Hits one or the other.
Either or. So that's persuading men. A lot
of things that people do. Paul asked, do I persuade men
or do I persuade God? Does he please men? The word pleasing, it's a verb
also, to lift, to take up, to expiate sin. It means to get
away with sin. Isn't that something? To please
somebody is to get rid of their sin. That's the Hebrew word.
It's interesting. But should we please one another? Should we please our brethren?
Of course we should, shouldn't we? Look in Romans 15. I want
to please you all. I love you. I care for you. I
want you to be pleased with what I do, but that's not my main
goal. That's not why I come here. Romans 15 verse 1, We then that
are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and
not to please ourselves. Help those weak brothers. Let
every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.
For even Christ pleased not himself, But as it is written, the reproaches
of them that reproach thee fell on me." So we should care for
one another. We should want to make our brothers
happy. Somebody asked me one time, he
said, how far should I give for a brother or a sister in Christ? I said, you ought to bend over
backwards and kiss your heels. Bend on anything except the gospel,
except on the truth. You can't cave. You can't please
men and persuade men outside of Christ. But anything other
than that, if you want to drive a different car or dye your hair
blue, that's okay. I may try to gently correct you
sometime if you dye your hair crazy colors, but you give. Give on anything. But a servant's goal is not to
preach, it's only to please. It's not my priority. I want
you to be happy with me. I love you. Anybody you love and care
for, you want to please them. But that's not my sole intent. A false preacher not only pleases
the congregation, but he pleases himself. It would be a lot easier
for me not to study and not to spend a lot of time reading books
and listening to messages and worrying about what I was going
to say to you and laboring for a message. It would be a lot
easier for me to speak to you about daily life stuff. We can
come have a talk about marriage. the Christmas holidays, anything
that these other folks talk about, how to raise money for the church,
how to make good sales. I don't even know. I'd be sore
pressed to find things to keep you all busy. But that would
be easier for me than the labor in that word, because for a pastor
to be able to, and preachers, for them, if I say something
to you, I don't know what happens in your daily life. I don't know
you personally and intimately on a daily basis. If I say something,
it stings. That's the Lord speaking to you.
That's not me trying to be vengeful and poke you in the eye. The
Lord's doing that. They please themselves. They
please their congregation. And they do those things because
they have a good outcome. Those numbers on that board go
up. They have more people come to church. They feel good about
themselves. But just because you have a good
outcome, never assume that what you did was right. Because you
don't burn now, it don't mean you won't burn later. Brethren, if everyone is happy
and pleased whenever you tell them the gospel, either you didn't
do a good job of telling it, or you don't know it. That's
an offense of the gospel. It's going to stir some feathers.
As Henry said that, he said he's never split a church, but he's
preached them the gospel. And he said they'll sit on it
for a while, but eventually, if they deal with that gospel
that's been presented to them, that's when the fur flies. The
fangs and claws will come out then. But if you go, same with trials
and tribulations, we looked at that last time, if you go your
whole life and you never have, if everything's wonderful and
comfortable, I have plenty of money in the bank, me and my
wife's never had an argument, my children never gave me any
trouble, and they're all doctors, and everything's just peachy
and hunky-dory, you're probably in trouble. You're not being
chastened by a father that loves you. My children don't have a
life that easy, do they? John 16 there, Christ said, these
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. That's where your only peace
is going to come. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but
be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. That's
comforting. That's pleasing men. They please
themselves. People try to persuade men. Persuade
themselves that what they're doing is right. But do I serve
men? Do I serve myself? Or do I serve
the Lord? How do we persuade God? Turn
over to Luke chapter 18. Luke 18, verse 9. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others. I pray the Lord don't let me
trust in myself. Verse 10. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as
this publican. He's going to tell what he does
for God. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that
I possess. And while he's doing this, the
public, and standing afar off, would not lift up so much his
eyes unto heaven. But he smote upon his breast,
saying, God, be merciful to me, sinner. I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. No true sinner that begs for
mercy has ever been turned away from Christ. They truly beg for
mercy. A lot of people worry about growing
those churches and worldly, finding people to fill the pews, those
things. Filling the pews is easy. We could have this place packed.
And preaching to people, to be able to stand up, or even at
your job, tell them, You want to preach Christ? Read the scriptures
out loud to them. That's what it says in English.
That's the easy part. Find a sinner. Find somebody
that's needy. That's a hard part. That's easy
for me to say for everybody, for myself. I need to realize
I'm a sinner. I need to realize that I'm needy.
I'm in need of mercy. Telling people what God's done
for you is not a difficult task if He's done it for you. To witness,
you just tell the truth. You just tell what you know.
You didn't do it. It's not a doer, it's a witnesser.
You just tell them what you saw. How do we do this? How does the
Lord convince men and women of sin and keep them together as
a local assembly? How are you all kept? How are
we kept? He gathers them. We talked about that this morning.
A lot of people quote that scripture and say, well, where two or three
are gathered in His name, that's where they are. That's their
excuse for not attending services. That's their excuse for a lot
of things. Where two or three are gathered,
when we got together, they gang up on the Lord to have prayer
meetings or whatever their heart's desire is. It says where two
or three are gathered. It doesn't say that they showed
up and then the Lord's come to them. No, He gathered them. He
brought them there. He brought us here. If you're
here and the Lord's pleased to be in our midst, it's something
He puts in my mouth, He puts in your heart. He did that. He gathered. The Lord, through His sovereign
providence, He works in people's lives. He brings them to the
sound of the gospel, convinces them of sin, He convinces them
of Christ's righteousness, their need for it, and He gives them
a heart to beg for mercy. Second Timothy there says, Whereunto
I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of
the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able. That's our persuading. Lord,
how do we persuade God? Lord, you're able. Give me mercy. Then I'm persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that
day. If you persuade the Lord that
He is able and you're in need, He's never let anyone down and
He'll fulfill it. So that's persuading the Lord to please the Lord.
Does a believer want to please the Lord? Of course you do. Aaron
Colossians 3, it says, servants obeying in all things were masters
according to the flesh. Not with our service as man pleasers,
don't just do it outwardly, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing that of the Lord,
ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve
Lord Christ. Of course we want to please the
Lord. If He reveals it across to you and shows you what He's
done, why wouldn't we? Oh, that's a labor of love. That's not a work, is it? Is
the Lord pleased in our works? Last time we saw there Matthew,
who the father is pleased in, didn't we? Matthew 17. While
he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and
behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. That's the only
way that the Lord is pleased. He's pleased in Christ. There in Genesis 4, it says,
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock,
and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and
to his offering. 2 Corinthians, For we are unto
God a sweet-smelling saver of Christ, a sweet-smelling saver
of Christ, in them that are saved. Each member of the body of Christ
is a sweet-smelling saver to God. And you know what that means. You ever been real hungry? I
mean, you haven't ate and worked all day and forgot to eat lunch
and you're just starving. And you get home and you get
a smell. I pull in the driveway. Most of the time I forget to
eat breakfast. I get so busy during the day
I don't eat lunch. And I pull in the driveway. As
I open the door to my truck, I have that vent on over top
of the stove, and the wind's always blowing that way down
the driveway. And I open the door of that truck and I can
smell dinner. Boy, that's a sweet savor, isn't it? And that's something
that's going to do me good. I was gone for a year and didn't
see my family when I come home. And I hugged my wife, and I smelled
her hair. Oh, boy, you don't forget the
smell is the closest sense that's linked to memory. You can smell
something. I could be seven years old, and
I remember sitting at my grandpa's porch. But I come home, hadn't
seen my wife in a year, and I smelled her hair as I hugged her, and
oh, it's her smell. Oh, she smells good to me. My
children smell good to me. They come in from play, and hi,
Daddy, and they give me a big hug. Grab them up and sniff them. Newborn babies smell good, don't
they? That's a sweet-smelling savor. That's what we are to
the Lord. Oh, isn't that precious? But
it says there in Corinthians... Oh, we'll look at this first.
Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. I'm getting ahead of myself. Ephesians 5 and verse 1. Be ye
therefore, for this cause, this is what you're doing, be ye therefore
followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also
hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. Christ gave himself for
his elect so we would be made like him. We'd be conformed to
the image of Christ so we should smell like him. It says there
in 2 Corinthians, we are to God a sweet-smelling savor, a sweet
savor of Christ. It says there in Ephesians 5
too, He hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor. So is that pleasing to you? Does
that persuade you? Am I trying to convince you of
things or to the Lord? Do you see that and say, well,
that's right, isn't it? And that's pleasing too, isn't
it? If the Lord shows you that He persuades you, you'll be pleased.
That's guaranteed. But, back in Galatians 1.10,
I'll wrap this up. For do I now persuade men or
God? Or do I seek to please men? And
Paul says this, "'For if I yet pleased men, I should not be
a servant of Christ.'" Now that's easy to read and say, well, a
man stands in a pulpit, he tells mostly the truth, and he says
some good things. I guess we can keep him. That'll
be all right. Ain't no need to run him off.
He probably shouldn't be a servant, probably shouldn't be a minister
of Christ, but that's okay. That's not what those words mean.
If you quickly read that, It would be easy to lean on that,
to lean on our knowledge. The word should not there, the
primary word is the absolutely negative. That means absolutely
not. So I should not, I absolutely
would not be a servant of Christ. The man persuades men of himself
and he pleases men in their carnal nature, he is not a servant of
Christ. But how thankful we are that
if the Lord uses a man and he persuades and he pleases, then
we're just a servant. Where does a servant have to
brag to his master? None, huh? You're just the employee. I may stand up here. Me and Cass
were talking about it last time. My children argue over who gets
to ride up front in my truck. And as a parent, what do I say?
It's going to the same place. Just be quiet. I'm trying to
drive. But they're arguing. So if one
man happens to sit in the front seat and the rest of the men
and women sit in the back seat, there's nothing to get upset.
None of us are the ones driving, are we? But I pray that the Lord
keeps me here and he keeps you here. He's the one that keeps
us. I pray he'll make me a servant of Christ. I pray that in this
community, you all personally, pray I can feed you and comfort
you and persuade you. And I pray I'm used to be persuading
to you what Christ has done. And if that happens, I guarantee
you, you'll be pleased. You'll be pleased in Christ,
not yourself, only in him.