Back now to 2 Timothy 3. Like all the rest of this book, this is the word of God, without a doubt. of that argument. This is the
word of God Almighty, his word, all of it. He writes, our Lord speaks through
a writer, an instrument of a man. He uses men like we would use
a pen or a pencil. And he speaks and men take dictation. They don't interpret. Like Peter
said, no scriptures of any private interpretation or any man's personal
interpretation. He said that holy men spake as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Peter also said, we have not
followed cunningly devised fables when we made known these things
unto you. But this is the word of God. It's through the instrument
of a man, though, in this case, in this portion, The man is the
Apostle Paul, who is writing, but it's God's Word. God is speaking. And he gives encouragement, he
gives warnings, he gives instructions, he gives what I have made the
title of this message, a solemn charge to a young preacher named
Timothy. Are you with me? Everybody? I'm not just preaching a sermon.
I've got better things to do. All right. God's Word. This is God's Word. And he is
speaking through a man, used by God, and speaking to a young
preacher named Timothy. And it applies to us as well.
Look at verse 16, and this is what he says. about the Word
of God. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, all Scripture, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Now, he gives the essence of what the Scriptures are right
there. Do you hear it? Do you read it? Doctrine, reproof,
correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
or that is, mature, well-rounded, throughly furnished unto all
good works. So here he briefly gives us the
essence and the purpose of the scriptures. And he says that
it's the Word of God. All scriptures are given by inspiration
of God. OK? It's God's Word. Is that
settled? It is God's Word. Not the words of a man named
Apostle Paul, but God's Word. It's God's Word. And another
place, Romans 1.16, 1 Corinthians 1, says the Word is the power
of God. that this is how God speaks,
this is how God moves, this is how God does things, this is
how He speaks. You ever remember reading where
it says He upholds all things by the Word of His power? OK? The Word of God. God does
not speak through visions in the woods. God does not speak
through dreams anymore. God speaks through this book,
right? Right. This is God's Word. It's
his power. He created all things by his
Word. Just speaking, God created everything. And he sustains or upholds all
things by the same Word. And now God has written a book
and it's fulfilled. There are no more versions of
it, by the way. It's complete. It's full. God
said, any man add to or take away from it, I'll add to him
the plagues written therein. All right? It's God's Word. And
this is the preacher's tool. This is my tool. The preacher's
tool. I'm a preacher. I make no apology
for that. I apologize for being grouped with these fellows that
call themselves preachers today. I'm ashamed to be associated
with them. Most of them are, rather than the salt of the earth,
are the scum of the earth. in it for money, counting heads,
trying to see what a big work they can have in their name.
You know it's so. But I am a preacher, and this
is my tool, much like Joe drives a truck there. Your truck is
your tool, right? Brother Henry works on automobiles. Your tools are your tools. This
is my tool, right? The Word of God. The Word of
God. Not gimmicks, not tricks, not
my own devised methods, not cunningly this, cunningly that. It's right
here. The Word of God. Therefore, now
look at chapter four. Look at chapter four. And the
scripture says that every preacher, true preacher, is called of God.
God himself called him, put him in the ministry, sent by God,
a preacher is called. He's also called an ambassador
of Christ. When you're an ambassador of
a country, say I were the ambassador of the United States, and I went to the country of
Mexico. where I recently returned from an ambassador of the United
States. What am I to go with if I go
down there from this country and sent by this country to deliver
a particular message from the president of the United States.
What do I do I go down there and tell the people what I think
they're able to hear. Do I go down there and say, well,
this is too hard for them, they won't like this, so this is just
family doctrine, and I'll just tell them what I think they're
able to hear, right? I'd lose my job, wouldn't I?
They'd call me back and say, you're fired. What if Ezekiel
had gone down to that country, the Lord told him, go down, you
tell them what I've told you to tell them. But if he'd gone
down and said, now this is too hard, they're not going to like
this, they're going to get mad at me, and they won't believe
it either. And I want to give them something
they'll believe, and I want them all to believe. I want them all
to come, you know, be members and so forth. So I'll tell them
what I think that God Almighty would have killed him. An ambassador for Christ goes
to the people and tells them what Christ says, doesn't it?
No matter what he says, right? Everything he said. This is what
Paul charges young Timothy to do. I charge thee, chapter 4,
verse 1. I charge thee, therefore, before
God. Paul said it is not men that
we seek to please, but God. Right? He said that, let me turn
over there and read it to you, so you know I'm not misquoting
it. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse
4, he says, We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the
gospel, and that's what we speak. The gospel. I'm not going to
preach on abortion this morning. God doesn't tell me anywhere
in the scriptures to stand up and preach on abortion. Make
a comment here and there. All right, I'll approach you
on abortion. It's wrong. Let's go on. Is that good enough? All right. Even so, we speak
what? The gospel. It's about his son. The gospel's about God's son.
God's listening from heaven. What are you going to say? It
better be about his son. We speak the gospel, not as pleasing
men, but God which trieth the hearts." Now listen to this one.
I can quote this one. 2 Corinthians 2.17. Paul said,
"...we are not as many which corrupt the word of God." That
is, they twist it and pervert it and withhold it or add to
it, make it say what it does not say, make it not say what
it does say. "...we are not as many," 2 Corinthians
2.17, "...which corrupt the word of God." But as of sincerity,"
in other words, I'm sincere about what I'm doing this morning.
I'm not playing games. I'm not just giving you a 45-minute talk. I have a burden for what this word
says. As of sincerity, as of God, it goes on to say, in other
words, a man doesn't send himself. He doesn't put himself in the
ministry. Any man that does, he doesn't
belong in it. This is not a job you apply for. No prophet ever
applied for the job in the Old Testament. None of the apostles
applied for the job. God calls them. As of God, that
is, coming from God, in the sight of God, he goes on to say, 2
Corinthians 2.17, in the sight of God, that is, God's watching
and listening, and Paul says this, so we preach Christ. We preach Christ. He's the theme of heaven. He's the one around whom the
angels sing and praise twenty-four hours a day, do nothing else,
don't they? Twenty elders and the angels
and the seraphs and the cherubims around his throne twenty-four
hours a day Sing about Christ. He's the center of the universe.
Colossians 3 says He's all and in all. So what else have we
got to talk about? He's all I need. Those that are
in Christ are complete in Him. So what am I going to tell you
about this morning? I better preach Christ. God's listening
for that message. And Paul said, We are not pleasing
men, but God which trieth the hearts. Now, the scriptures call men
who put themselves in the ministry, men who do it like a job. I heard
somebody say one time, so-and-so got a church. It's like saying he got a job
down at the mill, you know. He was applying for a job at
panel knitting. He got it. That's not the language
of Scripture. Any man that does it as a job
or is a man-pleaser who does it in order to pacify people,
win friends, and influence people, the Scripture calls him a hireling. Right? Our Lord called them that. A hireling. They're paid to do
this, so that's what they do. They're paid to say things to
please people, so that's what they do. The Scriptures calls men who
are true preachers of the gospel ambassadors for Christ. As though
God did beseech you by those calls, didn't he? Huh? And the charge to young Timothy
and the charge to me, I'm a young preacher, is before God. He said, I charge you before
God. You see that? Before God, that's who you speak
before. That's who you speak. That's
who you're trying to please. That's who you work for, he says.
Not men. God. That's who you speak before. Before Christ, you see that?
And the Lord Jesus Christ who shall Judge the living and the
dead at his appearing in his kingdom." And so he goes on to say, since
it is God we work for, and I'm trying to present this with as
much compassion as I can, people. I'm not preaching down at you.
I'm a sinner. I'm no different. I am by the
grace of God. I without him I can do nothing
I'm preaching to me. This is a message to me if you
want in on it. But this was to me are preaching
at you or directed at anybody that this is the charge given
by God to this young Timothy enemy and to you. And since it
is God that we work for, since God has said all that can be
said in this book, all is said, he has said all that needs to
be said, since his word is his power, his authority, his commands, this is God's word
now, God, then he says, verse 2, Isn't it? Preach the Word. Preach
the Word. That's a solemn charge, isn't
it? It's not an option. Brother Henry, it's not an option
to a preacher. It's a command, isn't it? Preach
the Word. That's my point number one, if
you take a note. Preach the Word. This is the first part of this
charge. Preach the Word. Not modern thought. Not modern
opinions. not psychology, not social issues,
not politics of the day, God's Word. Right? God's Word. Like Brother Bell,
Donna Bell would say, don't preach a sermon about women who dress
like majorettes, smoking cigarettes. Don't preach some silly little
sermon or some motivational, inspirational, tear-jerking little
message. You've got a lot to preach from
here. Preach it. A lot of subject matter. This
is what I'm doing right now, isn't it? I'm going verse by
verse through here. All right? What is the Word of
God? You hear preachers all the time
say, well, I preach the Bible. It's like that fellow was asked
by Spurgeon one time, he said, what do you believe? He said,
we believe the Bible. He said, well, what about the Bible? He
said, well, we believe what the Church believes. And they said,
well, what does the Church believe? He said, well, they believe what
we believe. Oh, what do you all believe? Well, he said, we believe the
same thing. You know, that's pretty broad in it. He believes
the Bible. Everybody preaches the Bible. Only, they say they
do. Only a heretic would say, I don't
preach the Bible. What do you believe? I believe
the Bible. Well, sure you do. Sure you do. What is the Bible?
What is the Word of God? When it says preach the Word
of God, what is it? Huh? You ever heard the word before?
You ever heard that word, word? That ring a bell? Look at John
chapter 1 with me. John chapter 1. What is the Word
of God? The Word of God is a person. Right? The Word of God is not just good
things, good moral stories, you know, good to tell us how to
live. God didn't write the Bible to tell us how to live, although
he does teach us how to live. That's not the purpose of the
Bible, John. The Bible's all about him who came to give life.
There's a difference. Jesus Christ is called the Word,
isn't he? The Word. Look at John 1. That's
what he said. In the beginning was the Word.
Capital W. He's not talking about a Bible.
He's talking about Christ. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. Look at verse 14. And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us. So what do you do when you
preach the Word of God? You preach Christ. Huh? In Him dwelleth all the counsels. All the wisdom, all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge, Colossians said, all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge are found in a person, who he is, what he did. It says
that in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in the
body. And I've already quoted, it says
Christ is all and enough, Colossians 3.11. If Christ is all, What else is there? It all somehow
or another points to him, doesn't it? Sure it does. The Word was
made flesh. Let me try to explain this a
little bit. God is spirit. Scripture says,
Can thou by searching find out God unto perfection? No, you
can't do it. We're flesh, God's spirit. We're flesh, God's spirit. He says, my thoughts and my ways
are as high above man as the heavens are above the earth,
isn't it? If a man sat cross-legged, his eyes crossed, and looking
inwardly into his inner being for a million years, he would
never come to find out God. Right? If a man read this book
until he was cross-eyed, for a hundred million years. He would
never find out God until God reveals himself to him. Right? That's what 1 Corinthians 2 says.
The natural man doesn't know God. Receiveth not the things
of God, neither can he. They're revealed unto us by his
Spirit, he said. 1 Corinthians 2. All right? How
does God reveal himself to us? God came down here. God came
down. God spoke to us. His name was
Jesus Christ. He came down here. He's the manifestation. God's the Spirit. You know, we
never will see God. Never will see it. It says that
in the last chapter of 2 Timothy, doesn't it? No man can see, nor
will see. We'll never see God. We'll see
Jesus Christ. When we go to heaven and see
that one seated on the throne, it'll be Jesus Christ. God's
the Spirit. And we're going to be flesh and
spirit. Explain that, preacher. I can't.
But that's so. That's so. God is spirit. We're
flesh. God had to come to us and be
flesh and manifest himself to us. Reveal himself to us. Is
that clear? God came down to reveal himself
to us. God became a man. And all this book tells about
that man. Why did God come? Just to give
us morals? Just to tell us how much He loves
us and wants so badly for us to do something for Him and accept
Him as our personal Savior? I'll say it one more time. That
is not in the Bible anywhere. Accept Him. God is not up for
acceptance. Neither is Jesus Christ. We're
the ones on trial. Ephesians 1, 6 says that we must
be accepted in the beloved. Why did Christ come down here?
Just to tell us some good things and try to get us in the mood
of believing on him? No. He came down here. He said,
I am come that they might have life. Just like old Lazarus who
was dead in the tomb, he said, and you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sin. Many people, the people that
God had chosen before the foundation of the world, were dead and trespassed
in sin. And Jesus Christ came down here
to call them out of that grave of sin, to give them life, to
save them, to do for them what they could not do for themselves.
It's not a cooperative effort. It's all the work of this man,
this God-man, Jesus Christ. That's the reason the angels
said, Call his name Jesus. Why? Has a good ring to it? No,
it means something. What does it mean, angels? It
means Savior. Not a tempter. Not he will try
if you let him. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. And I don't know about you, but
that is all my hope and all my plea and all my salvation. 2
Timothy 2.19, the foundation of God standeth sure. Where you
better be resting all your hope, your trust, your refuge, your
faith is that the Lord knoweth them that are his. 2 Timothy
2.19. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. God chose them. They are his
people. Christ came down here to save
them. Did he do it? He most certainly did. He did
everything necessary to save them. He went back to heaven.
He sends his Holy Spirit down here to round them up, just like
a cowboy would round up his calves. How does he do that? By this
word right here, preaching the gospel. preaching the gospel. Christ said, they're my sheep,
they'll hear my voice. What's that? It's gospel. What
I've been doing right this morning. They'll hear it. Some won't. Some are goats. Some are goats. You know what
goats do, don't you? They When you say something like,
yeah, God chose a people, Ephesians 1, 4, God chose a people for
the foundation of the world. Election, 27 times in the New
Testament. Goats say, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but. Sheep say, yeah, that's right. Sheep say, I'm glad you enjoyed
that. Sheep say, I did too, I enjoyed
it. Sheep say, that's the way he, that's the way I see him.
Because if he hadn't chosen me, I never would have chosen him.
Right? And Spurgeon said he had to have
done it before I was ever born. Because if he'd have waited,
he never would have chosen me then. Does that make sense to you?
It does to an old sinner. An old sinner sees that. Self-righteous,
no. Self-righteous, good, moral people
who deserve heaven, they don't like election. They don't like
God being sovereign. Why? Well, they've done some
good things for him. They deserve to go to heaven. Old sinners see that they don't
deserve anything. If they're going to get there,
it's going to be 110 percent by the grace of God Almighty.
Right? And the only reason they chose
or that they believe or they choose him is because he first
loved and chose them. Right? So why preach that, preacher? Preach the word, he says to young
Timothy. Preach it. It says election. Don't apologize for it. Praise
God for it. It says predestination four times.
Don't apologize. What's to apologize about? Huh? Thank God he has predestinated
I'm going to be like his son. I can't do it. I'm trying my
dead level best, and I fail miserably all the time. I fall all the
time. Thank God, Joe, he said, you're going to be like my son.
I've decreed it. I've purposed it. That's all
this old sinner's hope. That's all my refuge. That's
where I'm trusting. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus Christ's blood and his righteousness. I dare not
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on that name, Jesus. What does it mean? Savior. It's not, won't you accept Jesus? He wants to and can't because
you won't let him. I don't need a Jesus like that. I need one whose name means what
it means. I need one who's the great shepherd,
the Scripture says, the chief shepherd, who comes down here
seeking that lost sheep, and he says, I'll find him. Every
one of them. Not this one because he was too
weak and couldn't make the first step. That's me, the right sheep
of the family. I can't take the first step. The Scripture said, like Abraham
said to that man in hell, there's a vast gulf fixed between you
and me. I can't take that first step.
It's too big. Jesus Christ can and did. He took the first step and let—throw
away that little thing you have on your wall as footprints in
the sand. There never have been but one
set of footprints. Not two. Huh? Not two. He's carried me. He
said, I'll carry you from the cradle to the grave. He's carried
me all the way. He picked me up like old Mephibosheth
down in Lodabar, laying on both his feet, and carried me all
the way to the king's table. If I'm going to get there, he's
going to have to carry me. Right? See, God gets all the
glory this way, doesn't he? Christ gets all the glory this
way. He that glorieth living, glory in the Lord. Well, this
whole book tells about that. I might as well throw my notes
away, hadn't I? This whole book is about this
one who was to come and do this. OK? Genesis. What's Genesis all about? Jewish
history? The Bible is not a book of history.
It is his story. It's the old, old story. Genesis,
the woman seed. My wife's class is learning that
verse of Scripture. No, Deborah's class, aren't they?
The woman see, it shall bruise thy head. He said to the serpent,
you shall bruise his heel. Who's that? What's that talking
about? I had a little girl ask me that last night. What's that
mean? I said, that's a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what that is. So is the rest of the Scriptures.
When Christ preached to those disciples on the road to Emmaus,
it must have been a long sermon, John. It says he opened unto
them the scriptures. He said, beginning at Moses,
that's the first five books, and the prophets, that's the
rest of it, and the Psalms, and expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself, he said. saw a preacher write in a local
article, he said, well, the Old Testament has good literary value. I said, that's beautiful language. Oh, my soul, man, get out. Don't call yourself a preacher.
If that's all the Old Testament means to you, you don't learn
about it. Genesis, he's the woman sea,
he's Noah's ark. Is that just a story about an
ancient flood? Oh, it's about Christ, whom we must be in to
be saved from the overflowing scourge of God's wrath. It's
about Abraham and Isaac. Is it all about Abraham's faith?
No, it's about that ram that was caught in the thicket to
take Isaac's place. Christ hung on the cross. Exodus,
the Passover lamb, is that just about Jewish ceremony? Ceremonial
law? That's Christ, the Passover lamb
who was shed, without whose blood there's no remission of sins.
Huh? The tabernacle in the wilderness, is that just a place to go worship
for the Jews? Oh no, it's about Jesus Christ
from start to finish. Every aspect of that tabernacle
is about Jesus Christ. Every piece of Oh, I'd love to start right in
on that and preach on that. Leviticus, the great atonement. Numbers, the brazen serpent,
that serpent lifted up on a pole that everybody looked to, was
healed of their killing disease. What's that all about? Jesus
Christ. Deuteronomy, the city of refuge.
Oh, let me start there. Let me tell you about the cities
of refuge. Whether a manslayer, a killer
who's guilty, who deserves to die, will flee to that city,
he's justified. He's cleared. The law doesn't
hold him accountable. That's Jesus Christ. Joshua,
Rahab's line. Would you give me time to preach
on that? Rahab's line. Judges, the angel. Ruth, the kinsman redeemer. Oh,
man. The Kinsman Redeemer. Is that
all about Ruth? Is that book about Ruth? No,
it's about Boaz. Who's Boaz? Jesus Christ, our
Kinsman Redeemer, the one who has the right to redeem, the
only one who can redeem a Moabite woman like me, an enemy of God,
a stranger from the covenant of promise, who marries me and
takes me all the way to his throne. Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther,
Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Lamentations, Ezekiel, on and on. It's all about Jesus Christ.
Jonah, he's their sovereign Savior, salvations of the Lord. Micah,
he's Bethlehem's infant. Nahum, he's the comforter. Habakkuk,
he's the faithful one. Zephaniah, he's the universal
governor. Haggai is the desire of all nations
to whom they shall come. Zechariah is that foundation
stone upon which all rest. Malachi is the messenger of the
covenant. It's a hymn book. This book is
all about hymn. Literary value That's the reason Christ said
to those Pharisees, he said, you do err, not knowing the Scripture.
You don't know the Scripture, nor the power of God. If you haven't seen the Word
of God in the Word of God, you don't know anything about the
Word of God. The Old Testament says all the way through, this
is what it's about, this reason God wrote the Old Testament. Somebody's coming. That's what
he's saying. It's all the way through. That's
what I just, that's the reason he's types and pictures. Somebody's
coming. When Adam sinned, just as soon
as Adam sinned, God preached the gospel then to Genesis 3.15.
I quoted it to you. God said, the Roman seed's coming. And God kicked Adam out of the
garden, you know, and Adam was kicked out and lost the life
of God and so forth and was in sin and saw his dead son lying
there and saw what a mess they were in. What do you think he
wanted to hear about? Oh, Lord, tell me one more time
about that coming seed. A preacher got up one morning
when Adam went to church and the preacher preached on the
Ten Commandments. He said, now you've got to do this, you've
got to do that, you better live right, Adam. Adam threw up his
hands and said, I tried that, and I failed. Would you tell
me about that coming seed again? Do you know that story, preacher,
about the coming seed who's going to get me out of this mess I
can't get myself out of? Huh? About this coming Messiah,
the Old Testament says somebody's coming. The Gospels say, I wouldn't be accused of being
charismatic, or an old primitive Baptist preacher. I'd holler.
The Gospels say, He's here. He's here! John the Baptist said it. Behold! You know all those rivers of
blood that were shed down through the ages in the Old Testament?
Lambs without which you cannot come before a holy God? Look
at that! God's Lamb! to take away all
sins, once and for all. Does that rejoice your heart? And the epistles say, you know
what the epistles say? Well, you've got to do this,
you've got to do that, you better do that. Yeah, but the theme and
the thesis of the epistles are, he's coming again. And the revelation,
he's coming again. I wanted to preach all the way
through verse 5, and 2 Timothy, I can't. I'm not going to do
it. But that's enough. When he says you preach the word,
you preach the word. He says you'd be instant. If
you're still there, look at verse 2. It says you'd be instant,
in season, out of season. What does that mean? That means
whether it's popular or not. And people, let me tell you something.
The word of God is out of season today. It's out of season. It's the reason preachers get
them a book with 52 sermons in it and preach them once a year
for one week out of every year. It's the reason they're getting
up and telling, you know, cute and clever, tear-jerking stories
and not preaching the Word of God. It's out of season. And not only that, but it's out
of season. There's nobody, very few people truly believe that
this is God's Word. No one believes it's absolute
truth. It's up to your own interpretation, right? That's what everybody
will say to you. The clearest and plainest of
Scripture, if you read to them something like Romans 9, it said,
The children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil of the purpose of God, according to election might stand,
it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And they'll
say, I don't believe that. I've done that. I've just read
it. I don't believe that." No, you don't, because Christ
said, "...they that are of God, heareth God's word." And he said,
"...you are not of God, therefore you hear not God's word." That's
God's word, isn't it? I don't have any problem
with that. Not at all. Not at all. He's God, isn't He?
He has the right to do what he, he said, cannot I do with my
own what I will? Sure he can, he's God. He can
and he does. That's what makes him God. That's
wherein our God differs from the one being preached out there
today. The God being preached out there today only can do what
you let him do. The God of the Bible and my God
and your God and all men's God, whether they acknowledge it or
not, does as he will, according to his will, among the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand, or say, You can't do that. He can and does. That's the God of the Bible.
That's the only God worth worshiping, isn't it? I'm not going to worship a God
who is less powerful than I am. I'm not going to do it. This
is what Paul is saying. It's out of season. Verses like
that's the Old Testament preacher. God's different today. No, he's
not. Malachi 3, 6 says, I'm the Lord. I've changed not. Same
God of the Old Testament, same God of the New. He's the eternal
God. At all, he's the same yesterday,
today, and forever, isn't he? You know what Hebrews 13 said? 13.8, is it, John? He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Same God. No different. No different. Well, that's out
of season today, out of season. And like I said, preaching is
out of season. They've relegated preaching to
the scrap heap, and we're going to have big scenes now. We'll
replace, we'll give you fifteen minutes, preacher. We'll give
the choir forty-five, you see, because we like good singing.
It doesn't say anywhere in the scriptures,
God is chosen by the foolishness of singing to save them which
believe. Does it? 1 Corinthians 1.20 says that
God had chosen by the foolishness of what? Preaching to save them
and believe. Preaching what? Preaching what
I preached to you this morning. The Word of God, Christ. That
you need to look to him. The Old Testament says somebody's
coming and all that were saved in the Old Testament looked to
him, that coming one. That's what all those ceremonies
and types and lambs that were killed were all about. Anybody
that bought a lamb was saying, I'm dependent, I'm looking to,
I'm trusting the one who's going to come and put away my sin.
That's what this is about. And when he was here, all were
saved by looking to him when he was here. And now he's there. He's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high, and I'm saved the same way by still looking
to him. looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of my faith, of our faith. Preaching that. And he says,
Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering in doctrine.
I've been preaching doctrine to you this morning. Doctrine
that God is holy, man is dead in sin, God chose a people. Doctrine,
scriptural doctrine. He says in verse Three, the time
will come when they won't endure sound doctrine. Isn't that right? Time will come when they won't
endure sound doctrine. After their own lusts shall they heap
to themselves teachers having itching ears. In other words,
they tell a man, We'll pay you to tell us what we want to hear. We'll make you rich. We'll come
out by droves if you'll scratch our back. Scratch our back, we'll
scratch yours. Right? And they're doing it, and they're
getting rich. And people are hearing what they
want to hear, and it's like Jeremiah said, the people said, prophesy
unto us smooth things. Don't come in here and preach
to us and tell us we're worms. Well, that's what the Scripture
says, isn't it? Yeah, but I don't like that. That offends my dignity.
Tell me how much God needs me. Where does it say that in the
Scripture? If it says it in the Scripture, I'll preach it, right?
Don't come in here and tell me that I'm vanity and nothing before
God, useless grasshoppers. Well, that's what it says in
the scriptures, doesn't it? Yeah, but, but, but, but, but, but. Don't come in here and tell me
that I can't do anything. I know I can. I have my own free
will. Where does it say that in the scripture? If it says
it, I'll preach it. But I hear where it says in Romans
9.16 that it is of God's will and God's purpose, not of him
that willeth or him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
Philippians 2.13 says it's of his will, God's will, that maketh
us to do of his good pleasure. That's what it says in the scripture.
They're going to turn away their ears from the truth. We don't
like that. I don't like that. God's people like it. They like it. Why? Because it's
God's word. Number one. God said that, and
that settles it. I don't understand it. You know
I don't fully understand that. Election, God's sovereignty,
man's responsibility. I don't fully understand it,
but I believe it. and I preach it. The time will
come when they will turn away their ears from the truth and
be turned unto fables." So he tells young Timothy, and I'll
quit on this, verse 5, "...watch thou in all things, endure afflictions,
watch thou." In other words, he's saying, Timothy, you're
a watchman. You're a watchman. That's what
a preacher is called, a watchman, not a backscratcher. Not a men
pleaser, but a watchman. He stands up and says, watch.
He said there, reproved, rebuked. Watch out, watch out, watch out. There's a wolf. What kind of
watchdog would it be who never barked? Incidentally, read Isaiah
56, verses 10 and 11, before you say it. Right there, Isaiah
56, verses 10 and 11. Read what it says about all these
false prophets. It says they're dumb dogs. An old preacher said that's where
they got the initials BB. Dumb dogs, he said, they love
to sleep. They're greedy. He said they won't bark. Lie
down. They won't bark. They won't bark. A watchdog does though, right?
Woof! Woof! Woof! Right? Look out! Danger! Error! Right? He says, Endure affliction. You'll
endure affliction if you preach like this. That's the reason
this building is not full this morning. It may be, in part,
because I'm not good to look at. It may be. It may be, in part, because I
took the choir a few away, and those who wanted to sing in it
can't. I've got nothing against choirs, I'm going to be in one
in heaven, but that's not what this service is all about. It's
about preaching, what I'm doing right now. It may be in part
because I'm a bad speaker. I never said I was a good speaker.
Moses said the same thing. Lord, I'm not eloquent, never
have been, never will be. God said, I made your mouth and
I can fill it. I don't have a degree. Get a
temperature every now and then. It may be in part for all those
things that we don't have a vast crowd in here, but truth has
always been in the minority. Right? Noah had seven people in that
boat. Our Lord himself had twelve disciples
in that upper room. Twelve disciples. Henry, it never
got much more than that, really. When it was all said and done,
even they forsook him. A few people in Jerusalem, a
few people in Carthage, a few people in Ephesians, in Ephesus,
and so forth. He said, endure afflictions.
If you preach God's word in all its clarity and boldness and
don't apologize for it, be dogmatic about it, he said, you're going
to endure afflictions. That's what Christ said. Christ
said, they're going to hate you. They're going to hate you. And
nobody likes it. I don't like to be hated. I want
friends as well as the next man, but not at the expense of truth.
Paul said, Am I to become your enemy because I tell you the
truth? You're the best friend I ever
had, Paul, for telling me the truth. I can believe a lie and
go to hell. If you tell me the truth, it
will set me free. It will set me free from superstition and
religion of the day, which is the broad road that leads to
destruction. It will set me free out of that
wrong way and put me in the straight and narrow way. Right? It will
set me free from worshiping a god than my imagination and set me
to worship in the true and living God. He said, Endure affliction. Do the work of an evangelist.
Go wherever anybody will have you. Make full proof of thy ministry. Make full proof of your ministry.
And what I've been saying this morning is not a vindication
of me or my ministry. People, this is not a vindication.
I haven't been saying all this to build myself up or this church
or to make members and so forth. I'm saying what I'm saying because
God said it. Because this is what the word
of God says. And not a vindication of me, a vindication of God.
Vindication of God's truth. And this is what I say to all.
This is a solemn charge to me. To me, who claim to be a preacher
of the word, preach it. Don't apologize, preach it. And
it's a solemn charge to anybody who is truly seeking God. If you're truly seeking to know
God, then find out what God's saying. Don't take anybody's
word for it. Take God's word for it. And find out where the word of
God is being proclaimed clearly and consistently, and hear it
and believe it, all of it. Find a teacher who does not mince
words, who does not seek to scratch backs or be men-pleasers, but
God-glorifier. Find you a God-glorifier. Find
you a man who preaches Christ, who points you to Christ. and
you go and you sit and listen to him, that's the safest place
to be. I guarantee you that's where
God is, wherever Christ is being proclaimed to most. That's where
he is. Don't turn your ears from fables unto the truth, unto the
truth. And worship God, like Paul said
in Philippians 3, 3, in spirit, rejoice only in Jesus Christ
and put no confidence in the flesh. Outward acts of religion. God is a spirit. They that worship
him must worship him in spirit, from the heart, not playing games. From the heart, with sincerity,
and what? Truth. Truth. Not denominational truth. Bible
truth. OK, Brother Joe, you have a song
picked out there for us to sing. When I was. Three fourteen.