OK, back to Luke chapter 3. I'll
stand up here so I can turn this microphone up. Luke chapter 3. I have much to cover, so let's dive right in. Now,
in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius
Pilate, Governor, Herod, Tetrarch, Philip, Tetrarch, another man,
Licinius, Tetrarch, these were evil and wicked men. This was
an evil and wicked time. Corrupt rulers, tyrants, Roman tyranny. Verse 2, and Annas and Cleophas
being the high priests. Religion was corrupt too. Two
priests, two high priests, confused, corrupt. So politics and religion. That sounds familiar, doesn't
it? Sounds like 1998, an accurate
description. That, it says, the word of God
came unto John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. The word of
God came to John in the wilderness. As with our calling, not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called, but God has chosen the foolish things, base things,
things that are naught. John the Baptist was a nobody,
a man in the wilderness, but the Word of God came to him. That made him one of the most
important men around. Word of God came to John in the
wilderness. John was a solitary man. John lived in the wilderness,
a solitary man. He lived out in the elements.
Another place says that he wore a coat of camel hair. That's
a pretty rough coat, isn't it? Camel hair. ate locusts and wild honey. I don't know if that's the bugs,
locusts, or what, but nevertheless, he was, he's a man. That's what it says. He's this family's man. He was
a man. And I believe one of the reasons
he lived out in the wilderness like this was to prove that he
was totally dependent on God. that God sent him, and God would
sustain him. And also, he was not supported
by the freewill offerings of men. Nobody paid his way, Henry. He depended on God. This is proof. This man came from God. He came
from God. He lived on God. Now this was a prophet, and Christ,
Scripture says, when he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men.
He gave some prophets. He gave some apostles, evangelists,
pastors, and teachers. And they have all different ministries,
different manners in which they live. That's they that preach
the gospel, Scripture says, they live by the gospel. But John
was a prophet. He was an evangelist. And God
sustained him for everything. And I tell you what, what he
was going to say, wasn't anybody going to... Got his head cut
off, so wasn't anybody going to pay him. They were going to
pay to have him killed. But God better be supporting
him. But John lived as he did. I believe
John lived as he did because John is the one of whom Malachi
Malachi's prophecy spoke when he said, this is before the great
and coming day of the Lord. He said, Behold, I send you Elijah
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. We just talked about the day
in Hebrews 10 this morning, and so much more as you see the day
approaching. And Malachi called it the great
and dreadful day. And John's going to tell us a
little bit about this dreadful, this great and dreadful day.
But the point I'm trying to show you is that this is Elijah. Remember
when Christ said that? If you'll receive it, he said
this is Elijah who was to come, that Malachi prophesied of. And
Elijah, as a fulfillment, as a type of Elijah, Elijah once
lived in the desert, too, did he? In solitary, may he live?
By the brook Chenreth. And a raven came and gave him
all his meat, didn't he? All right, well, that's the prophet.
Here's his methods. Verse 3, And he came into all
the country about Jordan preaching, as if he wasn't a socializer. I don't think anybody would have
invited John to tea and wine. He wasn't a visitor. There's
a place for that. But he wasn't John's place. He
wasn't an entertainer. There's no place for that. He
wasn't a, well, he was a preacher. That's what he did. He was a preacher, preaching,
and that's what he did, buddy. That's what he did. Bold, forceful,
dogmatic. If you'd asked John, if you'd
have said, you think you're right and everybody else is wrong,
he'd have said, yep. Wouldn't he? Huh? Yeah, I am. That's what Paul says. Dogmatic, forceful, loud. It says, look at it, verse four,
as is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, loud, because Isaiah
said, the voice said, cry, didn't it? Also, the voice said, get
up into the mountain and lift up your voice with strength.
John Gere said that John spoke in a way of vehemence and zeal,
and he said the word implied like a—when it says crying, it
sounded like the word implied like an ox lowing. Now, not only is preaching out
of style today, But the style of what they call preaching is
utterly repugnant, isn't it? Not only is preaching out of
style today, but you don't dare lift up your voice in preaching
to that. That's certainly out of style.
And I know, I know a little bit about this thing. I know that
the volume of the voice, the volume has mostly to do with
being heard, doesn't it? The volume of your voice is according
to how you want to be heard. Nevertheless, it has something
to do with urgency, too, doesn't it? Huh? Suppose you're a child. There's
Rebecca back there. Suppose Jonathan were running
across the street and a car was coming. He's about to get hit
by a car. How would you holler at it? Would
you holler? So you see this place for you.
Depends on how urgent this is. Well, John's
message, we'll see it. Very urgent. Very urgent. Well,
preaching's what he did, though. Preaching's what he did, and
did loud, dogmatic preaching. Because this is what God had
chosen to do by the foolishness of preaching, save them that
believe, Scripture says. If anybody's going to be saved,
it's going to be under the preaching of the gospel. All right? Now,
look at his message here. That's his manner. That's his
method. Here's his message, verse 3.
John came preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission
of sin. Preaching the baptism of repentance. John came preaching the baptism
of repentance. What do you mean, preaching?
Well, go on. You see there's a semicolon behind
that? Don't stop there. All right?
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way
of the Lord. Make his path straight. Every
valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be brought
low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough
way shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation
of God." Quoting Isaiah, and as every
true preacher must do, he's merely repeating what God has already
said, isn't he? John didn't have a new message,
did he? He had an old one. It didn't originate with him,
an old message. All right, this is recorded in
all four Gospels, what he said here, not to mention Isaiah. Is this important? Well, let's look at it then,
all right? Can you watch with me for a little while? It's mighty
important, recorded by a time. All right, look at verse four
again. As it is written in the book, the words of Isaiah the
prophet say, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the Lord. Now again, the voice. One time
they came to John, asked him who he was and what he said. What'd he say? They're boys, that's what he
said. Who are you, boys? You see, a true messenger of
God does not desire to be known. Mark it down. If God sends a
man, he's not interested in you knowing who he is. He's not interested in a name
for himself. George Whitefield one time said, Let the name of
George Whitefield perish from the earth, but let the name of
Jesus Christ be exalted. Do you know some of the best
hymns and articles that I've ever read or sung have the name
Anonymous behind them? That's as it should be. He will not share his glory with
another. Well, it says here, the voice of one crying in the
wilderness. This is indeed a wilderness,
isn't it, that we're living in? And he says this. Here's the
first thing he says, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare
ye the way of the Lord. Now, John was what they used
to call a harbinger, a harbinger. That means a harbinger was one
who was sent to prepare the way and prepare the people for the
coming of a great and powerful dignitary or person. Whenever
a great and powerful person was going to go out into a place,
he would send a harbinger to prepare the way for him, like
in the days of powerful kings or monarchs. The king would send
a man out into some lowly village that he was going to come to,
and bless it with his regal and royal presence. He would send
this harbinger out into that village to prepare his coming. And this harbinger himself was
a man of authority. He was no wimp. He didn't push a foot around.
He didn't pull punches. He didn't mince words. He was
no beggar. He didn't ask anybody, Joe, for
anything. God sent him and he sent him
with commands. And this is the way it would
go. This would actually happen. A man would come into a town
and he'd make demands and start shouting commands of the people,
start barking orders. Get that out of here. That's
what he did. Pull it up now. Get in there. Pick that up. Move it out of
here. King's coming. He'll have that house right there. Get out. He wants that. We need
that. That's the way Harbinger would
go. Give commands. Get that cleaned up here. Move
that out of here. Pick that up. Out of the way.
King's coming. Well, when John came preparing
the way of the Lord, he was preparing the way of no mere monarch. This
is the king of kings. This is the Lord of lords. And
he came crying. He didn't ask anybody anything.
He came making demands. Repent! Didn't he? Not like these fellows today,
you know, asking people. These fellows are beggars. They're
way upstairs. They're not men, they're mice. They're begging. They're solicitors, aren't they?
Asking this and asking that. John says, bow. Bow. Look at this. He says, make
his paths straight. Make his paths straight. You
know, the king was coming through a place and It was the job of
the harbinger, the true harbinger, was to make the place smooth,
to make the path smooth for the king to come through, to remove
any obstacles. Remove any obstacles in order
for men and women to see the king, get to the king. The king's
coming. Remove everything out of the
way so people can get to the king and clearly see him and
hear him. That's a good picture of it. The obstacles of religion
that men put in our way. We need to get them out of the
way, don't we? Get the soul winner out of the way. Get the deacon
out of the way. Get the pastor out of the way. One of our men
likes to say sometimes, I didn't see any of you. I just saw Christ.
That's good. That's as it should be, that
men may see Christ only. Do you remember when Peter and
James and John went up to the Mount of Transfiguration? When after they saw Moses and
Elijah, Peter, he was in prayer, so he saw a vision, and after
he saw Moses and Elijah, what did Peter say? Let's build three
temples, tabernacles. Let's build three tabernacles,
one for you, one for Moses. And it said, suddenly, a cloud
overshadowed the land. and said, This is my beloved
son, hear him. I didn't quote it right. This
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Not Moses, not
Elijah, hear him. That's what the voice said. And
any voice that comes from God, that's what it'll say. If God's speaking, that's what
he'll say. The man speaking for God, that's what he'll say. God's
not pleased with anybody but him. Better hear him. Men need
to see him. Get everything and everybody
out of the way. Even Moses, especially Moses, the law, and Elijah. Hear him. And Stan, it says that
After the boys, Peter and James and John, got back up off the
ground, they were so afraid, he says, Who did they see? Jesus
only. After they heard the voice, they
saw one person. They saw him. Well, clear the path. Make his
path straight. That's what the voice cries.
Verse 5. Every valley shall be filled.
Every valley shall be filled. This is what the voice of God
does. Word of God does. Every valley filled. Our Lord
came the first time into this valley of the shadow of death. It says, Every valley shall be
filled. He came to lift up those that are fallen, to exalt the
lowly. But look at the next thing. It says, Every mountain, every
valley shall be filled, but every mountain and hill be brought
low. There's a striking verse over
in Isaiah 23, and I want you to look at it. All right? I want
you to look at it with me. Isaiah 23. Isaiah 23. This is a striking
verse. Ever since I saw it the first
time, I've never forgotten it. This was indelibly printed on
my mind. I wish all the world could see
this. Isaiah 23, verse 9, the Lord of hosts had purposed it. God has this purpose, to sustain
the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt all the honorable
of the earth. He's purposed it. He's going
to bring down every proud look, every proud person, everything
that's exalted, he's going to abase it. And he alone will be
exalted in that day. Every wise man, every beautiful
woman, every strong man is going to be brought down, going to
be brought down. And he alone is going to be exalted
in that day. He's purposed it. He will. When the Lord Jesus
Christ came, boy, those proud Pharisees, they couldn't sound
like that. He brought them down. He brings down self-righteous,
but he lifts up sinners. You see that? Those that are
abased, he's able to exalt, but then they're exalted, he brings
them down. Look at the next thing. He says
the crooked. It says in our text, and the crooked shall be made
straight. The crooked shall be made straight. Pardon my English,
but he's able to straighten out the crookedest, the chief of sinners. I like
that paraphrase of Scripture. Somebody said he's able to save
the gutter most. I like that. He's able to save
the crookedest. He'll straighten them out. He'll
straighten them out. Read on. And the rough ways shall
be made smooth. Rough ways made smooth. You know,
religion makes it rough on people. Don't they? That's what our Lord
said of those Pharisees. He said, you bind heavy burdens
on the people that they're not able to bear. Put stonewind blocks
in the way of people, don't they? Don't they? Don't they judge?
Give people this and that and the other to do, and when they
all they have to do is look to Christ. But the voice, the voice of the
gospel, the voice of God's Word says, get out of the way. The
voice of God's Word says, Don't make it rough on them. Make it
smooth. Don't give them work to do. Tell
them the work's done. Don't leave heavy burdens and
labor on them. Tell them, come unto Him all
that labor and heavy labor. Give them rest. Don't tell them
to observe a day for rest. Tell them Christ is the day. Rough. They make it rough on
folks, don't they? Literally binding them. That shame, that sad? Hmm? Christ says, remove all that.
The voice, the Word of God says, remove all that. Verse six, "...and
all flesh shall see the salvation of God." All flesh, Jew and Gentile,
will come to Christ. All right, you say, somebody
may ask, what's all this got to do with the baptism of repentance? What's all this got to do with
the baptism of repentance? John's not finished preaching. He hasn't quit yet. All right, let's go on. He says
here in verse 7, And said he to the multitudes that came forth
to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who have warned you
to flee from the wrath to come, bring forth therefore fruits
worthy of repentance. That's not a very good Sunday
morning message, having a nice respectable crowd come to hear
you preach, and you stand up and say, you bunch of snakes. That's not polite, is it? Do
you know that's God's Word? Let me read this to you. Romans
3, and this is well suited for a Sunday morning crowd. In other
words, that's who needs to hear it worse than anybody. Those
who think they're good. He says, there's none good. No,
not one. None righteous. No, not one. They're all gone
out of the way. They're all together become unprofitable.
The Word says, stinking. There is none that do it good.
They're throes and open sepulchre. With tongues they have used deceit
to poison it. Asks, snakes, vipers. is under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness." And on and on it goes. And John says, You bring forth
fruit, and eat fruit. A bunch of snakes. I told you John
didn't put full punches, didn't he? Didn't mince words. What
is baptism of repentance, though? What does that mean, baptism?
The word baptized doesn't mean sprinkled. It means, the very
word means to immerse, doesn't it? To immerse. When you're baptized,
you must be immersed to be properly baptized. All right? You must
go down in it, and you must be covered with water, right? You
must be covered with it. All right? The baptism of repentance. The baptism of repentance means
to be filled. with repentance. Now listen, what is repentance?
Is this important? Repentance is not a one-time
thing. It means you're filled with repentance.
It's not a one-time thing. It's not, well, back then, well,
it's not the person says, well, I once was a sinner. No, it's
like Paul said, I am the chief of sinners, right now. Repentance is not a one-time
thing, it's a lifelong thing. As a matter of fact, the older
you get, the more repentant you do, or the more repentant you
feel. See, repentance is not necessarily
a thing you do, it's what you are. Like worship. It's not what you
do, it's what you are. You understand that? I know what
you're sharing. You understand what I'm saying? Worship's not a thing
you go do, it's what you are. You're a worshiper. And repentance is not something
you, you know, oh I gotta, oh I gotta do penance. Oh no, it's
what you, it's what you are. You're full of repentance. John said this. John, who was
filled with the Holy Spirit, in Scripture said, Christ said
there's none better than John. What'd John say? He must increase
in what? I must decrease. And so the more
he increases, what? Then what does? The more we decrease
in our own estimation. Isn't that right? That's repentance. David, David, a man after God's
own heart. That's what God said about him,
a man after my own heart. David said this in Psalm 38.
John, you know that Psalm, don't you? David said that he was a godly
man, he was a godly man, he was a Christ like man, but David
said my iniquities got over my head. And it goes, I'm immersed in
sin. See that? Baptism of repentance.
See that? Repentance. To be full of repentance. And the Scriptures talks about
godly sorrow that needeth not be repented of. Have you heard
that Scripture? I know you have. Repentance that
needeth not to be repented of, godly sorrow. Well, repentance,
listen to this, if you're taking notes, you need to take these
down, or at least try to remember these things, all right? Repentance
is a godly sorrow, first of all, over sin. I didn't say sins, because that's
a result of what? Like Paul said in Romans 7, O
wretched man that I am, David said in Psalm 51, My sin is ever
before me. Job said, I hate not only what
I do, but I hate what I am. Do you understand that? That's
the baptism of repentance. God that's sorry for sin is God
that's sorry for sins. Nobody repents who's not sorry
or ashamed of what they are, and nobody repents who's not
ashamed of what they do. What they do, sins, yes. And
George Whitfield one time said this, he said, the worst thing
of all And the thing that needs to be repented of more than anything,
perhaps, is the sin of self-righteousness. So it's godless sorrow over what
I am, it's godless sorrow over what I do, and it's godless sorrow
over my self-righteousness, over how good I think I am at times. We need to be immersed in this. Think like this all the time.
Repentance? What does the word repentance
mean? I asked Ed that one time out loud, and he told us what
it meant. It means what? Change. Change of heart. Change of mind. Change. That's what repentance means. And when God causes a man, and
the goodness of God leads us to repentance, a man just doesn't
have to change his mind. He can't, Joe, he's dead. Can't change a mind he ain't
got. But God changes a man or a woman's
mind about everything. You see, our thoughts are not
God's thoughts until he gets a hold of us and changes our
thoughts. Our thoughts about God are way
too low until God shows us who he is, and then our thoughts
change. And we repent of what we thought
about God. Every religious person in here,
everyone who was religious, you repent of that religion, don't
you? Don't you? Aren't you ashamed of how low
you had God and how high you had man yourself?
Huh? You repent of that. You have
a change of heart and mind. You had the heart of God. A man
after a woman after God's own heart. Think about that. Can
two walk together except they be agreed? Well, who agrees with
who? We agree with God. Everything
he says about himself, about us, about salvation. That's salvation. Do you know that? That's salvation. It's for a man or woman to agree
with God about everything he says about himself. To agree
with God about everything he says about us. You're stinking.
That's true. That's right. That's right. Salvation is in Christ alone.
You don't have anything to do with it. That's right. That's
right. That's repentance that needed
not be repented of, and God gave it. It's the goodness of God. It's the sovereign goodness and
grace of God to cause a man or a woman to come to that home.
Only God can change the mind. The Scripture says the King's
house is in the hands of the Lord. Like the rivers of water,
he turns it with his reverend. It's God which worketh in us
both to will and to do His good works. It's a change of mind. It's a turning from sin. Now listen. Repentance is a turning
from sin. And this is what John is going
to go into detail about here. I need this. We all need this
for the rest of our lives. We never get above this. You
say, well, I got over that. Well, whatever it was you got
over, you'll be something else you get under. Is that right? I've conquered that. I have the victory over that.
It'll be something else twice as bad. John is preaching
the baptism of repentance. Mention no words, and he's going
to lay the axe to the grave for the man. All right? And here's
what he said. Verse 7. You bunch of snakes! Is that all right if I call you
that, Gerald? OK. What about a worm? What about
a dog? Is that all right? Good, there's
a man who sounds like God's worked on him a little bit. Yes, this is a needed message
for me. He said when he talked about the poison of asps under
the lips, a mouth full of cursing and bitterness, let me ask you,
what comes out of your mouth easier? blessing or murmuring, complaining.
Still got a little poison in there, and they still apply. Oh, boy, he says, he says, verse
7, Oh, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Who hath warned you? Wrath. This is a Sunday morning
message, Stan, and you're just not going to hear
this today, are you? You're a bunch of snakes. God doesn't love you. He's going to send you to hell. That's what he said. You're not
under the love of God. You're under the wrath of God.
Now this is God's prophet. None of the prophets ever came
preaching the love of God to anybody. Did they? None of them. The apostles didn't
either. When Peter went to Pentecost,
He didn't stand up and preach the love of God, did he? He preached
the sovereign Lord sitting on the throne, and everybody's in
his hand, and he's going to do with them what he will. And they
just better kiss the sun. They better bow. And it struck fear in them. The fear of the sovereign Lord,
the holy God, is the beginning of wisdom, and that's the beginning
of the true gospel message. And he says wrath is coming.
Well that's not a popular day is it? It doesn't matter if so. If there's anything that's totally
discarded in our day. People are making fun of it.
They're making movies about Armageddon. And isn't that what Peter said
in 2 Peter 3? In the last days, scoffers shall
come, mockers shall come. Where's the promise of His coming?
I hear all this talk about God's wrath and He's going to burn
the earth of Armageddon and some war going, you know, the world's
going to end, He's going to burn it up. All things continue as
they have been from the foundation of the world, but beloved, don't
be ignorant of this one thing. He's coming. And yes, he is going to murder
them. As solemn as that is, and as
serious as that is, and as fearful as that is, it's so. It's so. Ah, wrath is coming. He says
in verse 8, he says, Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. Now, fruits worthy of repentance.
He said, and this applies to us, do we say we believe God?
Then let's fear him. We say we believe God, then let's
reverence him. Talk like he is God. Say we love
God, then let's worship him. Bring forth the fruit and eat
for what we say we believe. We say we trust Christ, then
let's renounce that other Jesus we used to believe in. Huh? That other false gospel,
and be baptized, confessing the true Christ. Don't say, look
at verse 8, he says this, don't say, we have Abraham and our
father. I say unto you, God's able of these stones to raise
up children unto Abraham. Well, I'm a Jew, or I'm a Christian. I always had, Barnard said, asked
a man one time, he said, how long you been a Christian? How long you been saved? The
man said, well, about all my life. Myron said, that's too
long. It's too long. Well, I was saved as
an Arminian. No, you weren't. Nobody's saved here in a God
that cannot save. Nobody's saved here in a gospel
that doesn't save. Nobody's saved here in about
a Christ who shed his blood for everybody. I didn't save anybody.
Nobody's saved here in half the truth, but they're saved here
in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Bring forth fruit leap for repentance,
worthy of repentance. Pronounce that other Jesus. Take
up this cross. Say, I believe this is the gospel.
There is no other, and I didn't know it before. That's fruit
leap for repentance. We repent of the religion. Verse
9 says, and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the
tree. Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire. The axe, the word of God,
is called a fire, a hammer, a sword, and now an axe. And it will get
to the root of the matter. It will find out if the root
of the matter is in us. like Job, didn't it? Vicki, everything was taken away
from Job, but he trusted in the Lord. Why? The root of the matter
was in him. The acts of God's Word, it'll
get to the root, the heart of the matter. Find out whether
or not you're—and you read that tonight—are the heart of the
issues of life. The Word of God operates on the heart, the root. I know that Christ
is indeed the vine, you're the branches. All right, verse 10.
And the people asked him, the people asked him, saying, What
shall we do then? Now, they're not asking him,
What must we do to be saved? Not oblique. But he said, Bring forth fruit,
meat for repentance. bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. And then they say, well, what
shall we do? What do we bring? Now, John gets, he exposes everything
in every one of us, not only Dan. Look at verse 11. He censors
and people say, what shall we do? And he answered and said
unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath
none. He that hath meat, let him do
likewise. What's he talking about? That sound familiar? Giving. He said, bring forth
fruit, meat for repentance. Have you been given much? Then much is required of you. Have you freely received? Then freely give. Have you been given everything?
Is there anything you have that you have not received?" So what
does he say? Turn around and give it back.
Bring forth fruit, meat, or fit for what you say. Giving, giving. Look at the next
sentence, verses 12 and 13. Then came also publicans to be
baptized. and said unto him, Master, what
shall we do? And he said unto them, exact
no more than that which is appointed unto you." Now, Republicans were
frauds. They were embezzlers, tax collectors,
and that's how they got rich, all of them. They got more than
was coming to them. That's how they got rich. But the Lord saved one of those
old boys, didn't he? Remember his name? I'll give
you a hint. He was up a tree. little fellow named Zacchaeus.
And you know what happened when the Lord said to him, and this
is how he's saved? The Lord called him, didn't he? The Lord came by, he saw the
Lord, and the Lord called him and brought him down. Listen.
He's up at sea on purpose. And the Lord brought him down.
Well, and this is what the Lord said to him. Today I must abide
at your house. Well, you know what Zacchaeus
said? Jackie said, if I had taken anything from anybody wrongfully,
I'm going to restore it fourfold. And he also said, in the half
of my goods, I'm going to give it to four. He was a rich man. He said, in the half of my goods,
I'm going to give them away. And whatever I've done to somebody,
I'm going to give them fourfold back. Was this man bringing forth fruit,
meat? All right, look at verse fourteen. And soldiers likewise demanded
of him, saying, What shall we do? Now, what about a soldier?
What's your picture of a soldier? Was anybody in here in the service?
Yeah, you. Charles. Anybody else? Charles
or Henry? There you are. Were you fellas
sweet, kind, nice, gentle, easy going, just good salt of the
earth? I know you're not. You've got
marks all over your arm from when you were there. You think of a soldier, you think
of a rough, gruff fellow that's ready to get in a fight. It's especially true of Navy
men, isn't it? They just swagger. They just walk around looking
for Marines. I've known a lot of them. They're
looking for somebody to say something. Well, this is what the Lord says
to these fellows. What must we do? What shall we do?" And he
said, do violence to no man. God's people are not brawlers.
He said in his definition of deacons and pastors and all that,
he said, not a striker, not a brawler, not a violence, evil, mean-tempered. Huh? Not an angry, constantly
angry man or woman. They haven't experienced grace.
Now, that doesn't mean that we all, every one of us, don't get
angry every now and then. That doesn't mean that every
now and then, every one of us don't want to absolutely knock
somebody's teeth off. Do you? If you look at my teeth,
the enamel is just a background. from gripping them.