Wilkinson, who obviously had
the wisdom of a Manola's wife, that verse 4 says, "'Him exalting,
self-abasing, this is victory.'" That's profound. Not many preachers
know what she's talking about right there. Acts 8, and I'll
not keep you long. Partly because of my desire to
get through this message. It's a difficult message, but
it comes up, here it is, right in the context of our study.
of this book of Acts. Do you remember anything about
the last study we did from the book of Acts? I do. I had a good time with it. Acts
chapter 8, verses 5 through 8 say this, Philip went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. We went back
through and saw how the apostles preached Christ. And the people,
with one accord, God gave a great hearing to his gospel, and the
people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip
spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. And unclean
spirits cried with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed
with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame,
were healed. And there was great joy in that
city, great joy, as there always is. wherever the gospel is preached
consistently. Joy and Zion around the gospel. How blessed it is and how blessed
it was in consideration of that passage. But the Lord always tempers good
with evil. The Lord always tempers joy with
sorrow. I was reading through a book
I have, a book of quotes, and I didn't write it down, but it
went something like this. You can always count on it that
if you're up on the mountain, you've got to come down in the
valley. And he said something to this effect, generally, if
you're very high, very up on the mountain on Sunday night,
watch out for Monday morning. The Lord establishes us, though,
in this way. He tests us, tries us. He establishes
us, matures us. Trials, afflictions, problems,
persecutions, troubles, And trouble itself tries us,
it establishes us, it matures us, it settles us. Now, I've
said this several times before, there are really only two sources
of trouble within the Church, two things that can cause trouble. Number one, the chief thing that
would cause trouble in the Church would be if a man quit preaching
the gospel. That would greatly trouble the
hearts of the sheep if he quit feeding them the gospel. If he
quit preaching Christ their peace, then their peace would be shaken.
They would be disturbed, wouldn't they? Troubled, unsettled, the
people. The only thing that really causes
problems in the Church is inner strife and division that comes
up in the midst of the Church, discord among the brethren. These two things are the greatest
sources of trouble, the resources of all trouble within the Church. The early Church was not immune
from trouble. of both of these natures, and
neither will we be. Along the first lines, I've known
men who started out well preaching the gospel, and there's a fine
church where they were, and they began to dabble and go off into
other things, and the church greatly suffered because of it.
Sometimes the churches didn't recover because of it. local
church I'm talking about. Of course, God's people do. I'm talking about an assembly
of people that appear to be a church. And then strife, division within,
discord among the people has wrecked, has ruined, has caused
havoc in many assemblies. The early church was not immune
from this. Right after this joyous occasion, Right after this joyful
occasion of great revival or great outpouring of God's Spirit,
it says there was a great trial in their midst. I'm just going
to browse down through here and make some applications where
I can, and hopefully dwell in verse 23. Look at it. Right after this great joy, it
says in verse 8, there was great joy in that city, It was a certain man. It was
a problem in the form of a person. Great joy, but a certain man,
it says, called Simon, which before time in the same city
used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out
or pretending that he himself was some great one. some great one. We call him Simon
Magus. Have you ever heard anyone called
him by that name, Simon Magus? That comes from the Greek word
magician. Magus, magician. Simon the magician. He used sorcery
and magic. He bewitched the people, it said. He bewitched the people. This
man practiced demonic arts and incantations and sorceries and
many people followed him. Now, this is hard for us to relate
to. We're not confronted with this sort of thing very often,
are we? I don't think anybody in here
is practicing witchcraft, are they? But we're not confronted
with this sort of thing, and it's kind of hard for us to relate
to this thing, and we think ourselves to be incapable of falling for
such obvious error and heresy. Well, what about this thing that
is becoming quite popular now, the psychic network? Surely, I shouldn't even have to say
this, surely nobody in here has called one of those numbers. It would grieve me to no end
to hear that. That's witchcraft. That's sorcery.
What about psychiatry? Get a load of this statistic. Do you know who leads
the world's professions in suicides? I'm talking about professions,
doctors, lawyers. Do you know who leads in that
category in suicide? Psychiatrists. I would imagine they lead in
divorces and things like that. I didn't look that statistically
up, but I did see the other one with my very eye. I'll give you
the source if you ever ask for it. Fortune tellers? No, surely
not. Madame so-and-so? That sounds
silly. What about horoscope? You don't look at your horoscope,
do you, Shirley? You think I'm being silly, don't
you? There are a lot of people taken by these things, aren't
there? But let me really expose some of the subtleties of a sorcerer. Look over at Acts 13. It mentions
another sorcerer. Another one of these sorcerers is exposed. You know, there are many sons
of Satan out there. Christ said it, didn't he? Many
false prophets have gone out into the world, sons of Satan.
Satan has his ministers, and they have learned the art of
sorcery, cleverly casting their spells on others. Here's another
one. His name is Elemas, verse 8, Acts 13. This is how he practiced
his sorcery. Elemas the sorcerer, so his name
by interpretation, withstood them. he withstood the apostles,
seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, who
also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes
on this fellow and said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief,
thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt
thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? He said
that this man practiced his art of sorcery through subtleties
and mischiefs and perverting things. Over in 2 Corinthians,
you don't have to turn there, but I'll show you another place,
it says in 2 Corinthians 11, and we'll get to this in a couple
of months. 2 Corinthians 11, Paul said this,
he says, less by any means. The serpent,
like he beguiled Eve through his subtlety." You know, Eve was the wisest
woman ever to have walked this planet. No woman has ever been
on this earth as smart or as intelligent as Eve. She was deceived
through the subtlety of this one called Satan. You don't think
you're is possible. Paul said, I fear, lest through
his subtlety, and here is the chief thing he was concerned
about, that their minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. From looking to, trusting, following,
believing Christ, trusting him alone for their salvation. But
he that cometh, preaching another Jesus, and so on. And he said
this in that same chapter, Note marvel, brethren, Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers
of righteousness, whose ends shall be according to their works.
Satan didn't come directly denying the truth, did he? Satan started this thing in the
garden with his sorcery. And he did it by subtle innuendos,
didn't he? He didn't directly deny the Word
of God, he just cast a little doubt on it, didn't he? Just created in the mind of Eve
one little doubt, one little tidbit of doubt, of suspicion
toward God. inserting a little thought in
her head, and thereby perverting her. And his ministers, Satan's
ministers, mostly preachers, but those ministers have been
doing the same thing ever since, haven't they? They don't go about
directly denying the word of God. Or the elect would see through
that very clearly, but Christ said it was so close that even
the elect, if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived. So they don't go about directly
denying the word of God, but casting little doubts in the
minds of the people concerning it. Casting little doubts. And this thing goes deeper than
just preachers, people. It comes down to where we live.
Have you ever been the instrument of Satan to cause a little bit
of problem? Satan's instrument for division.
Do you know what the sorcerer's chief tool is? Look over at James
chapter 3 with me. When I said James, you probably
already got it figured out. Do you know what the sorcerer's
chief tool is? The thing he uses the most? Anybody? What are you sticking
your tongue out at me for, Vicki? That's right. That's the answer
without saying. Look at it in James 3, verses
5 through 8. The tongue is a little member Oh, it boasts great things, doesn't
it? Oh, my. If we were half as big
as our tongues, we'd be giants, wouldn't we? If we were half
as big and as mighty and as smart as we say we are, if we did half
the things we say, if we lived up to half of our boasts, we'd
be president, chief executive officer. the greatest men on
earth. Behold, oh, how great a matter
a little fire kindleth, a little spark. A tongue is a fire, a
whirl of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, and
it defileth the whole body." And this has to allude to the
Church. Setting on fire the course of
nature, or that is, human nature, it will set it on fire. One little
spark from a tongue, from anybody, will set on fire human nature
and cause it to just do its natural thing that it will do. hate,
envy, strife, jealousy, suspicion, backbiting, and so forth. It's
set on fire of hell. Every kind of beast, bird, serpent,
and the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind, but the
tongue can no man tame. That's something in it.
This was Simon's chief talent. This was Simon's chief talent.
Like his daddy, the devil, he was a smooth talker. He was a
silver-tongued devil. That's where we got that saying,
a silver-tongued devil. Look back at the text in Acts
chapter 8. Look at verses 10 and 11. This will tell you what
I'm saying here. Verse 10 and 11, it says, "...to
whom they all gave heed." they heard what he was saying
first. He talked them into some things, and from the least to
the greatest, everybody was taken. They said,
even this man is the great power of God. Verse 11, And to him
they had regard, because that of a long time he had bewitched
them with sorcerers. They all gave heed, listened
to him, and were amazed by and taken up with this man." Verse
12, but. Thank God for this but. But these people, being God's
elect, God's sheep, they believed Philip's preaching, the things
concerning the kingdom of God and the name, the authority,
the majesty, the power, the gospel, the blood and the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. They believed, had confidence
in, trusted in Christ and him alone. Thank God for this. Thank God, a stranger, they will
not follow the sheep, but will flee from him. They only know
the shepherd's voice, even coming from the voice of a man. They'll
know. Thank God for that, because we're
all easily taken, aren't we? Easily. We're easy prey. Sheep,
that's a characteristic of sheep. They're very weak. They're easily
led. That makes my position that much
more precarious, doesn't it? Barnard used to say, Be careful
what you say. Somebody is going to believe
you. My, my. And they believed. Thank
God, preaching of the gospel, they heard the gospel plainly
and believed, and they became grounded and settled in the truth.
And that was their defense from the voice of strangers, from
Simon's people of this Lord. They heard word after word, exhortation
from God's Word. We saw how Stephen preached a
running commentary through the scriptures, and I have no doubt
we're going to see that here in Acts 8, how Philip did, too.
He just went over to Isaiah 53 and started preaching to the
eunuch. This is preaching, verse by verse, line upon line, precept
upon precept, line upon line, precept upon precept. Because
the sheep, they see that that's God's And if there's no deviating
from that, if comparing spiritual things with spiritual things,
word of God with the word of God, you can't err that way.
That's safe. To write the same things unto
you, to me, is not grievous, but for you, Paul said, it's
safe to hear the same things over and over again. Bring into
remembrance all these things. And they heard word after word
after word of exhortation from God's word. And there's no guile
in God's word. There's no trickery, there's
no cunning. Peter said that, didn't he? We
haven't followed cunningly devised fables. This is the only thing
we're trying to follow. Peter said, this is the only
thing we want to impart to you. Not what we think, not our clever
this and that and the other, not our thoughts, but what this
book says. Beware the man or woman who gives
you anything but this. anything but this, and any perversion
of it, the exposition of God's word. And it will clearly cause
God's people to see the right paths and walk therein, clearly.
It's a shining light, it will show them. And it says they were
baptized. Look at it, verse 12. When they
believed these things that Philip was preaching, what things? The
things of Christ. The things of Christ, of course.
things of the kingdom of God. He is the kingdom of God, the
name, the authority, the power of Christ. They were baptized. Baptism is commanded by our Lord
Jesus Christ, commanded. It's not an option, it's a command. And all those who have not confessed
him publicly in the waters of baptism are in disobedience to
him. This is the way we confess him. All believers must confess him
that way. Then Simon himself believed also. There's a whole message right
there, isn't there? Simon himself believed also. Several times in the scriptures
it said, many believed on Christ. Many believed on him. Brother
Nyberg preached a message on that down in Cherokee last year.
A good message. I've touched on it. Listen to this verse of scripture.
It says, Now when many saw him, when many believed in his name,
when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus did not commit
himself unto them, because he knew all men. He knew them. He knew them. Simon is a good
example of this. Simon got religion. He lost his
influence when everybody else came to the knowledge of Christ.
He lost all his business, all his influence. He said, I don't
give this man the slightest possibility of being a saved man, based on
all I see here. Not the slightest possibility.
But Simon, you see, I believe what happened here was he lost
his livelihood and his following and his influence and all, and
he thought, Well, I'd better get on the bandwagon. I'd better
get in on that. Like Terry Bradshaw, you remember
that quarterback of the Steelers? They asked him one time when
he got religion and started singing gospel music. Boy, his mouth
revealed it. He came out one day on national
television and said, You have a big money in gospel music. He said it. His own mouth condemned
it. Big money in it. Well, Simon
saw that. He lost his father, lost his
influence, and also he got religion, and he began to be taken up with
it. He got interested in And he was taken up with what he
saw, though, not Christ. Verse 14 through 17, let's read
down through there. Now, when the apostles which
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word
of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. When they heard about
this outpouring of God's word or the belief of the gospel,
they sent Peter and John down there, and when they were come
down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost,
for as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid their hands
on these men, and they received the Holy Ghost. Now, I've dealt
with this a little bit before, and I'm not going to spend a
great deal of time on it. It's a difficult passage. But remember this. Here's the
clue to this. Here's the key to this. I'm not
even going to deal with all this nonsense concerning the Holy
Spirit and all this foolishness that goes on today. Remember
this. Here's the key. This book was
written concerning the formation of the early church. The early
church was being formed. This was at a time when there
were basically just a few men. There were eleven apostles now,
soon to be twelve, and there were seventy men spread out.
You remember when the Lord sent seventy men out? That made about eighty-two men
all over the Middle East and other places. That's not many
preachers, is it, considering how big an area that is. At a
time when there was a shortage, remember when Christ said this?
He said, Look on the fields, they're white with harvest. Here's the key. Pray that the
Lord of Harvest will send forth laborers. Remember that? And this is what this is all
about. This is what this meeting of the Apostles was for. There
was a need for pastors, teachers, like we read in Ephesians, for
the officers who needed the gifts of the Holy Spirit because they
didn't have a Bible. Therefore, this was the reason
for this meeting. They went down there and prayed
that God would give these gifts of the Holy Spirit to these men
and equip them to lead this pagan church in this Gentile land.
Right? That's as plain to me and that's
as clear to me. That's what it's all about. That's
what that was all about. There was no second baptism.
We saw that in Ephesians 4. No second baptism. One baptism. Right? Is that clear in your
mind? No second baptism of the Holy Spirit in the way they're
talking about it today. One baptism, one baptism. But
there was a need for the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the early
Church, so that was the reason for the meeting here. Verse 18. And when Simon saw that through
the laying on of the apostles' hands The Holy Ghost was given,
he tried to bribe them. He wanted in on it. He wanted
this power. He offered money. He wanted this
authority. What it was, he wanted to be
an apostle. He wanted to be a preacher. To put it in our language, to
put it so we can understand it, he wanted to be a preacher. Not for the glory of God. not out of love and gratitude
to Christ for saving his soul and that others might hear the
glorious message of Christ, not for the good and edification
of others, but for the fame and the fortune and the power that
it brought, and the romance of the pastorate. You know, it looks
real good, doesn't it? To put on your nice clothes and
go and sit in your little office and study and talk to people
and visit the romance of the pastorate. Only a fool would
think it romantic. So he tried to bribe the apostles
with money. Give me this power, power, power,
power. Verse 19, Give me also this power,
that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost.
You know, there's not much difference here. He offered money to them
for these gifts. You know, there's not much difference
at all in a man buying him an education to try to give himself
credentials to be in the ministry. Huh? Do you see any difference
in a man putting all his money into buying himself
an education to equip him to be a pastor? That is a detriment
to the pastor. I learned from a man much wiser
than myself, and he learned from a man, and he learned from a
man, and they all learned chiefly from the man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The place of learning, the seminary
for God's men, is out in the workplace. out in the world,
out among men. Find out where they're at. Find
out what they're doing. Find out their troubles, their
problems. Become one of them. Feel what they're feeling. And
then you can relate to them. You can relate to them. Become
a sinner. You know what I'm saying? I'm not saying go out and commit
open sin or whatever, but when you're sheltered in a cemetery,
When you're sheltered in one of these places, you're not exposed
to sin. Well, you come out of there thinking,
hey, I'm no sinner, and I'm going to straighten the rest of these
people out. Maybe they'll become like me someday. Right? Oh, people, I've seen it a thousand
times, well, a hundred times. I really have. But it goes further
than that. This desire to be a pastor, desire
to be a preacher for anything less than the glory of God, and
out of gratitude from your heart to Christ and a calling Old Simon
wanted to be a preacher, he wanted to be a pastor, he wanted to
have a little church where everybody would follow him, look up to
him, have him with great power and influence. If you have a
little church, that's a misnomer, and you can't have great power
and influence if you have a little church. But if you get your degree
now, you can get in a big church and have great power and influence.
Look at verse 20 and 21. Peter said unto him, here is
his answer to old Simon. Thy money perish with thee, because
thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with
money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter. Thy heart
is not right in the sight of God." Here's another Judas. And many examples in the scriptures
of men that appeared to be good men, fine men, sincere. This man looked good to the people,
they were impressed with him, but God doesn't look and see
as men see, does he? God looks not on the outward
countenance of Scripture, God looks on the heart. And you know
he gave Peter some discernment, too, didn't he? He gave Peter
some discernment, too, and Peter saw through him, too. And Peter
had some discernment. I have witnessed—let me say one
more thing about this thing of the entering in the preaching
and so forth, the ministry. I have witnessed many aspiring
preachers come and go. I've seen many of them come and
go. When you're involved with a large
congregation, you see hundreds of aspiring preachers come and
go. I've never seen one man who actively sought the office,
who actively pursued it, who actively pursued a church, succeed
in the ministry. Not one man. The man who God calls is a difference. The men who God calls are men
that he finds faithful in a few things. Men he finds content
in the state they are. Men he finds who are hardworking,
they put their hands to the plow, whatsoever their hand has found
to do, they've done it with all their might as unto the Lord. Considering that service, considering
that the ministry they have, and then God calls them out.
Elisha, I was just reading about him the other day. He was plowing
with twelve yoke of oxen. There ain't a man in there that
could do that. Twelve yoke, working hard, buddy. And he did it as unto the Lord.
He wasn't out pursuing the ministry. You'll not find one incident
in all the scripture either of a man who desired it, who asked
for it, who pursued it. It's gone. Say, what about Isaiah
in chapter 6? He was already told. He had already
written five chapters. When he said, Here am I, Lord,
send me, he had already written five chapters. This is not a job. You don't
want a man who's up here and this is his job. You want a man
who's called. You understand? And I'll tell you what, August,
just really get honest with you here. I've also seen and heard
some good preachers, some of the best, the best men that everybody
thought, now this man is God's man. I was taken with a young
man, wasn't I, Mindy? There was a young man in 13th
Street Baptist Church who was gifted above everybody, anybody. I've never heard a man preach
like him. Gifted to preach. He had somebody called Leather
Lungs. This boy had a voice, buddy,
and he could preach, and he preached the gospel in no uncertain terms. And everybody thought, This is
God's man! He's going to be called! He's still not in the ministry.
That was years ago. And you know, I got taken with
him. And so did other young men. Todd and I would have told you.
Other young men got taken with him. We used to go over to his
house and hold a little Bible study. That's dangerous outside
the context of the church. God ordains men as leaders of
the church. And if that's not so, you ditch
them. Unless everybody become our own pastor and leader and
teacher, right? He gave some apostles and evangelists and
pastors and teachers, and we followed this young man, and
we were taken with him to the point where I almost rebelled
against my pastor. I did one time. I confronted
him one time. I'm ashamed to this day. There's nothing grieves
me any more than thinking back on that time when I confronted
my pastor, an ignorant, wise, smart-aleck, young punk who got
a load of little doctrine and confronted a man And all because of that aspiring
young preacher. Well, that young man ended up
being the greatest enemy that church has ever known. And he
left there, and he's still a problem in other places. There's solemn warning and good
advice. heat it. Look at verse 22. He said, Your heart is not right
in the sight of God. Verse 22, "...repent therefore
of this thy wickedness, and pray, God, if perhaps the thought of
thine heart may be forgiven thee." Peter, this is the mercy of God.
It's plenteous, isn't it? It's plenteous! This shows the
mercy of God. He's more ready to forgive than
we are to receive it. Peter said this, he said to Simon,
and don't you know Peter was glad his name was changed? He said, Peter said, He said,
Repent of this thy wickedness, turn from this, and pray God
if perhaps, perhaps, he doesn't have to, but perhaps the thought
of thine heart will be forgiven thee. What mercy, what grace! All the man would have had to
do, humanly speaking, was say, Oh, what have I done? Forgive
me, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner! How could I have been
so wicked and evil? God be merciful to me, the sinner!"
What did he do? that none of these things happened
to me. He wasn't sorry for what was
in his heart. He was worried about the consequences. He got caught, and he wasn't
repentant in his heart. He was worried about the outcome. If Peter would have gone on,
he would have said, Don't ask me to pray for you. I already
told you to pray for yourself. You know, I heard people ask
me that. Have you ever heard that standard
religious answer? Huh? Pray for me, brother. And
I want to say to them every time, Are you praying for yourself?
Huh? Pray for yourself. Peter couldn't
repent for him, could he? Huh? Just as Paul said to the
Corinthians, you're not straightened in me, you're straightened in
yourself. Peter said, you're the one that has a problem, and
you're going to have to deal with it. Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. Right? Verse 23, he said this,
Peter said this, here's your problem, you're in the gall of
bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And let me just take a few minutes
now to dwell on this. This is the title of my message
and the points I wanted to dwell on. The gall of bitterness and
bond of iniquity. Please listen to me, everybody
here. Over in Hebrews 12, turn over
there, Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, the gall
of bitterness. Do you know what the gall of
bitterness is? Well, have you ever had gall come up in your
mouth? I don't know. Have you ever had
gall come up? A couple of you will never have
it again. Maybe not. Maybe your gallbladder
has taken out. Well, it is right. This gall
is a bitter liquid that comes up from the bile ducts. That's
where it comes from. And it leaves a bad taste in
your mouth, and it destroys the taste of everything else. Right?
That's what gall does. I mean, you can be tasting honey,
and if gall comes up, it makes it bitter. Hebrews 12, 15. Look what this says here. Looking
diligently. You know, if we were half as
diligent to find out our own faults as others, He says, looking diligently,
lest any man fail of the grace of God. I've dealt with that
before, didn't I? That means receiving the grace
of God in vain, he said that over 2 Corinthians. That means
to hear message after message after message from God's Word,
message after message, plain, clear preaching from God's Word,
the very Word of God Himself, message after message, and have
no lasting effect on us. That's what that means. And he
said this, go on, he said, "...looking diligently, lest any man fail,
or hear message after message of the grace of God, or the message
of the gospel, and it not have any effect on him, lest any root
of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." It doesn't just affect you, it
affects everybody else. You know, we're being many members
in one body. Bile comes up, the whole body's
affected. Right? Right? A root of bitterness. What is this root of bitterness
that springs up in trouble? Well, it is something or someone
that upsets you or bothers you or offends you. and this gall
rises up and you become indignant, you may have been truly offended
by this person. It still doesn't give you a right
to become bitter, does it? Because James said, we all offend in
many things, don't we? We're all offensive. Even though maybe truly offended,
you don't forbear this person, you don't forgive this person,
you don't consider your own self, but you become indignant, you
become bitter toward that person, and you allow that episode or
that person to spoil everything that goes on in worship. Isn't that sad? You know, when we come in this
house, ain't nobody should see a sorry look on our face. Huh?
You know, we become a stumbling block to our brother that way.
We're coming here to worship God. My problems need to go out
the window. Huh? Why am I here anyway? To have
my feelings padded? To have me—people feel sorry
for me? I'm here to worship God. Everybody
else is, too. Better be." Take your problems and dump them
out the window and come in here and worship God, right? If we considered what problems we
could have, we don't have any problems. It's a bitterness You know, most
bitterness comes from within, like I said, this gall of bitterness.
Look over at James 3. I've got to hurry. Most bitterness
comes from within ourselves, people. James 3. You know, if the heart is truly
right, what is it for the heart to be right? What is it for the heart to be
right? It is for there to have the love of God shed abroad in
your heart. That's the heart right. It's
a Christlike heart. That's what it is. It's a heart
that loves. I'm glad Christ's heart was right
toward us. Would he have had reason to be
bitter toward us? He'd have never had nothing to
do with us. Nothing. It is a heart that's
truly right, as the love of God shed abroad in that heart. And
if the heart is truly right, can it become so easily offended
and bitter? Can it? Huh? No. And this is what scares the daylights
out of me. It scares me. Listen to this article, I'm going
to put it in next week's bulletin, it's by my pastor, and listen
to it. I heard someone say, I get so
weary of trying not to offend people. I bet you as a pastor
you've said that to him, I can guarantee you that, because most
of your days are spent trying not to offend people. You have
to word everything so carefully as not to offend somebody. I
get so tired of trying not to offend people. It seems as if
I am forever on guard and upset lest I say something, do something,
or have something which offends somebody. That's sad. Where's the freedom? Where's
the love? Beloved, this ought not to be
said about believer And my pastor says, I can identify with this,
my friend, who said this. This man who's been in the ministry
forty-some years, he said, The one thing I dislike about the
ministry, and the one thing that will one day cause me to rejoice
when I'm no longer in it, is trying to be all things to all
people. You know, the people of the world
are naturally offended by our gospel, by our strong commitment
to sovereign grace. We've got enough enemies. by our strong commitment, by
the fact that we cannot walk with them and their religion
and other activities, and they're offended by our very ways and
so forth. But the love believers share does not behave itself
unbecomingly, is not self-seeking, is not easily provoked, touchy,
fretful, and offended. Am I or you a problem child, a cause for tension, pressure,
sleepless nights? Or are we encouraging, comforting,
a delight to be around? Paul said, Let us grow up in
him and all things. James 3, he said this in verses
11 and 12, he said, Does a fountain send forth at the same place
sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren,
bear olive berries, either of vine figs? So can no fountain
both yield salt water that stains and fresh water that refreshes."
Do you see how that scares me? It scares me. You know, the same test that
was given for false prophets applies to false brethren. You'll
know them by their fruits. Do they bear grapes of thistles,
thorns, fruit, or thorns? Do they edify
or hurt? Do they build up or cast down? Do they gather with us? He that gathers not with us Does
what? Scatter the broad. That's what it is to be bitter.
Part of it. Panic, many reasons, can creep
up. The chief and the foremost one
is spiritual malnourishment. That will cause it every time.
You remember David? You remember this morning, our
morning's message? David got mad at God. Why? He hadn't been around the Ark
very long. He hadn't been around the Ark.
He got mad at God, and he began to defend a man, Uzzah, before
God. He got mad at God because of
the man. Can you imagine how bad a shape a man can get into?
Defend a man against the truth of God. and act rationally, we'll
think irrationally and act and speak rationally. We become bitter
over a lot of things. Jot this down. Go back and read
Jeremiah 4 for yourselves. I wanted to read it with you,
but I don't have time. I have two minutes. I'm really trying to
get this thing down to the time limit. Jeremiah 4, read it for
yourself sometime. He said, Your own ways and your
own doings have brought about this trouble on you. He came
right out and said, Your problem is, you have brought your problems
on yourself. That's what he said, to paraphrase. And let me say this, this root
of bitterness is also somebody else at work within you. You're not wrestling with your
own flesh and blood, but against principalities and power, and
there's nothing he would like better, and there's nothing he's
better at. And I told you, he started this
thing that way, didn't he? To give a little root of bitterness,
to put a little innuendo in you, to question God, to question
something, to cause a little strife, to bust this whole thing
up. Spiritual wickedness, and he's a great accuser of the brethren,
isn't he? He won't accuse you so much as
he will others to you. Destroy your peace. And he said
this in our text. He said to Simon, you're in the
bond of iniquity. The bond of iniquity. The next
worst thing that could happen than a root of bitterness is
to become in the bond of iniquity. When Christ said, lead us, keep
us from evil, Talk about the evil one. Because 2 Timothy says
this. Ed Berry gave me this text on
a plaque. When I first came to Rocky Mount,
he gave me this text on a plaque. It's good, buddy. I've still
got it where I can see it every day. It says this in 2 Timothy
2. Listen carefully. The servant
of the Lord must not strive, no matter how hard he wants to. But be gentle unto all men, apt
to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose
themselves." We're our own worst enemy. "...oppose themselves,
if God for adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of
the devil, who are taken captive." by him at his will, at a whim. Remember when Christ said, Peter,
Satan desires you. Do you know Paul one time delivered
a man over to the devil that he might not blaspheme any more?
Do you remember that? Do you remember that? Hymenaeus and
Alexander, a man and his wife. that they might learn not to
blaspheme or cause trouble or sow discord and so forth. Do
you remember the message last Wednesday night in John 15, verse
2? Do you remember? My pastor preached it last Wednesday
night. If you didn't hear it, you need
to get the message. John 15, verse 2 says, He that
beareth not fruit, he taketh away. you take it away. That is, dead-looking
branches ruin the looks and the well-being of the whole tree.
What do you do to a tree that has some apparently dead branches?
You prune them, you get rid of them. They ruin the looks of
the tree, and they'll eventually spread a little bit. That rot
or gangrene or root of bitterness that's within will spread to
others, won't Is this a needful message? Well, let's pray, brethren. Let's
pray that the Lord will deliver us from a root of bitterness,
a gall of bitterness, and a bond of iniquity. The final end of that is a bond
of iniquity. Listen, I don't want to leave
you looking at yourself. I don't want you going away from
here looking at yourself. I want you to look to Christ.
But to him, this is the only way you can get out of a situation
like that, out of a problem like that, the only way, the only
way. We all come real close. If we don't get into it in a
bad way, this gall of bitterness, bond of nickel, we've been in,
we've tasted a little bit of it, we've gotten into it. I confess,
people, I've been in it. And it's a bad thing, it's a
dreadful thing, a ruinous thing. Let's pray, and we need to examine
ourselves. Yes, we do. Repent. Call on God. Study Christ. Emulate him. He said, Be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. Isn't that good enough reason
to never get mad or bitter at anybody? God, for Christ's sake, gave
such an unforgivable, worthless, useless individual
of no value, a hindrance to God, yet he bears with us the long-suffering
of the Lord's salvation. And it may be our salvation for
us to become a little bit like him in that long-suffering department.
All right, stand with me and I'll dismiss this in prayer.