Difficult tune to sing, but a
worthy prayer. I can only recall having recommended to you. One or two messages. Take messages of my own. in the past, but I strongly urge
everyone to get these messages and listen to them again. I strongly
urge you to get these messages and listen to them again. As
I said at first, when I first began this, yes, when I first
began this, study on these seven letters
to the churches, I said that if I could make it mandatory
that you be here, I would. And some of you see now why that
is so. Because the whole counsel of
the Lord Jesus Christ is found, is contained in all of those
letters, all of these letters to his churches. And the Lord
said seven times, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches. And he that does not heed that
command of our Lord, the command that he gave seven times, and
hear these messages, not mine, but his messages to the Church,
he that does not, or she that does not, is either without those
hearing ears. They are either lost, that is,
they do not have regenerated hearing. Or they're in that dangerous
state of the Ephesians, having left their first love, and they're
gone after something else. Or they are in the state of the
people at Sardis, who were living dangerously close to apostasy. They had a name, but were dead,
and they needed to strengthen those things which remain, that
are ready to die. Or they are in this state of
the Laodiceans, a state of spiritual lukewarmness. These letters are
so fitting. And each one of you, if you've
been here, if you've heard these, you've tried them on. They fit
perfectly, don't they? This is a robe, this is a coat
that our Lord has woven that fits everyone from the smallest
to the largest, from the youngest to the oldest. These letters
are so fitting, and I personally see the workings of all of these
things written to the churches. I see these workings in our little
congregation here. Small as it may be, I see the
workings of every single one of these churches. I see every
point of commendation, every point our Lord commended the
churches for, and every problem area. I see those things. in
our little congregation and in myself. Particularly, though,
this state of the Laodiceans. This is the Lord's last letter
to the Church, and it's perhaps his most convicting, isn't it? And that's needful, that's providential. The Lord, in his wisdom, is leaving
such a sobering message with us, such a serious and convicting and thought-provoking
letter with us, because in the latter days, and the time is
now, judgment will begin at the house of God. And so I believe
that's where we are, that we need to be left in a state of
constantly examining ourselves. All right, this lukewarmness,
a terrible state to be in. And if you will just look around
tonight, you'll see it, or the fact that some are not here for
whatever reason. That is, unless it's absolutely
unavoidable. That is an evidence of this lukewarmness. You only have to look within
yourselves to feel it too, evidence of it. And I can almost guarantee
it, I wish I could say this weeping, I do inside, I can almost guarantee
it that before this message is over, someone in this congregation
will nearly be fast asleep during the course of presenting it. So it's quite evident. It happens
every time. I'm not. This is nothing new.
So it's quite evident in it that this state creeps in every congregation. And every person at some point
in time. All right, now look at verse
fourteen, this is where we begin. And under the angel of the church.
Of the lay of the seasons, right. These things saith the Amen."
What a name! I like all of the names and references
our Lord makes concerning himself. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter
1 with me. means sure. Somebody says amen
to something that they rejoice in, what they're saying is that's
sure, that's true, it means truly, it means so be it, or I hardly
give my assent to that. It's true, it's sure, it's so
be it, so be it. Christ is the sure one. He calls
himself, as the scriptures do, the surety. He is the only sure
thing, isn't he? The sure one. He is the only
true one, and he is the one whom whatever he says, it's a sure
thing. It will be done. So be it. That's
the way it will be. So be it, whatever the Lord says.
And this is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20. He
says, "...all the promises of God in Christ are yea, that there
is their yes, and in him, amen. It's sure. It's just as certain. Well, it's more certain than
anything you can think of. More certain. It's hard to say
as sure as a day is long. A day's not very long. It's as
sure as he is. Everything he says. And every
true child of God Every true child of God says amen to all
of his precepts, and everything that he says, they say amen to
it. So his word is sure, and everything
he says, coming from his own mouth, from his word, you say
amen to it. And he even takes that name to
himself. All right, look back at the text. He says, These things
saith the amen, or that is the sure, the true, the true one. These things saith the faithful
one." I love that verse that says, "...faithful are the wounds
of a friend." That surely must speak to Christ, mustn't it,
first and foremost? Christ is that friend that sticketh
closer than a brother, isn't he? He's that brother that is
born for adversity, is he not? He's the one by whose wounds
we are He's the one whose faithfulness saves us. Faithful are his wounds,
yes. And all he says, all that he
says is true, is just, is right, and the very best and most needful
thing for us. There are no idle words in God's
Word. No idle words. He never spoke one idle word. And even his wounding words,
even the words that wound us. are very faithful, aren't they?
Very faithful to us. Very faithful. They're extremely
faithful. That's just what we need. The
Lord knows that. I thought as I was saying some
of these things that are hard to speak, so hard to say, but
they're true nonetheless. That the best friend you can
have is someone who will tell you the truth. even if it hurts,
even at the risk of you thinking he's your enemy,
that he's picking on you or whatever. But the Lord is that true and
faithful one. Everything he says is true, it's
just what we need, and it's faithful. It's the very best thing we need,
the very best thing, even if it wounds us, right? Even if
it wounds us. Faithful are his wounds. And
he says here, he calls himself the true witness. The true witness. Christ is the one true witness. The one true witness of God.
Didn't he say, no man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and
he to whom the Son will reveal it. You can't know God, but through
Christ. He's the only one. You can't
know him. You can't know God by creation. He can't know God by Mohammed,
Confucius, Buddha, whoever it may be, only through Christ. He is the true witness of the
Father. If you want to know God, study
Christ. That's the reason Christ came.
That's the reason he came down on this earth, wasn't it? He
said, I came to reveal the Father. Philip, I am the Father. You want to know the Father?
You want to see the Father? you're looking at him. That's
what Christ said. No man knoweth the Father, but
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal. And you want to
know what God is like, who God is, what he's like, what he does,
what he says? Study Christ. Study all he is,
all he was, all he said, all he did. And you'll know the Father. You'll know God. And then he
says, he's the beginning of the creation of God. In the beginning
was the Word. The word was with God, the word
was God. All things were made by him, without him was not anything
made, it was made. Christ is that word by whom all
things were created. He is the creator. And he's also
called the firstborn among many brethren. The firstborn among
many brethren, a new race of peoples, sons of God, sons of
God, the beginning of the creation of God, of the new creation,
the recreation of God. Christ is the beginning. Verse
fifteen, all right, he says, now, I know thy works. I know thy works, or thy lack
of them. He says, I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot. Thou art neither cold nor hot. In other words, you're not altogether
cold as in death, but certainly not hot as in true passion of
life. You know, a dead person, have
any of you ever felt a dead person, handled a dead person? I have.
When I was a fifteen-year-old boy, I pulled my best friend
out of a basement where he had been fixated my best friend grew
up with him as a small boy. As a matter of fact he was fixated
he was killed in a little basement of a house that we used to live
in my brothers and I slept in that basement countless times. There was a little gas heater
in that basement that we always used unvented And we slept in
it countless times. Well, after we sold that home
and moved out, another family moved in who had a young boy.
And this best friend of mine spent the night with that young
boy. And they were down in that basement using that gas heater
and the flame went out and they both died. And I was 15 at the
time and another friend discovered them. The son of a member at
13th Street discovered them. He was supposed to have slept
with them that night, but his mother said, no, son, not tonight
for some reason. And he came running over to get
me and we ran over there and I found them. Both of them had
been dead for some time. We pulled them out, carried them
out, and tried to resuscitate them. At any rate, they were
dead, stone-cold dead, dead as an icy cold to the touch, totally
void of any warmth whatsoever, totally void of any personality
warmth. One of them had his eyes open.
Have you ever seen a dead person stare? It's an icy stare. Icy stare. Icy fegal to them
and an icy look about them. But the person who is alive now,
the person who is alive, and that person is warm to the touch,
truly warm to the touch, even hot. You know, who would you
say is the most alive person? What example could you use of
someone who's who's more full of life and them and bigger and
vitality and energy than any other child. Right you know child
I used to worry about hours for the first several years of her
life her heartbeat at a rapid pace you ever notice that about
your child you think something's wrong. I used to want to take
her to the doctor because her heart, up until six years old,
seven years old, just beat like that. Full of life. And hot. That's the reason they can run
outside in a t-shirt in January and not feel it. It's the reason
she kicks her covers off at night, you know, on the coldest night.
She doesn't need those covers. She's hot to the touch. Full
of life. Right? Little child. Don't Christ
say, except you be converted and become as little children
with that vitality, with that life, liveliness about you, even
hot, full of zeal, full of enthusiasm, freshness, life. A little child is full of laughter,
isn't it, isn't she? Full of joy. The least little
thing can bring the greatest joy to a child. Oh, they rejoice
and they let it be known. They're not afraid to let it
be known. They're not ashamed of it. Vigor, vitality, that
go to the drop. Alive. Aren't they alive? And enjoying every minute of
it. Well, Christ said, you're not that way. When you grow old,
you get cold. Your circulation leaves you,
doesn't it? Your vim and your vigor and your
vitality and all. and you get cold. It shouldn't
be that way spiritually, should it? The older we get, the more
we grow to know Christ, the more we walk with him, the more our
heart ought to beat a little faster. The more our hearts ought
to burn in love toward him, shouldn't it? The more our hearts and our
lives ought to be full of zeal toward him. The more impassioned
we ought to be about his gospel. The more zealous we ought to
be for his truth, shouldn't we? Christ says here, I would that
you were cold or hot, one or the other. Know what he said? Turn over to Matthew 11 with
me, Matthew chapter 11. I would that you were either
cold or hot, and I'd know what to do with you. Kind of like
what he's saying there, speaking as a man. I speak foolishly,
I speak as a man. Matthew 11, this is a very sobering
passage, one of the more sobering parables our Lord gives. Matthew
11, look at verse 11 with me, verses 11 through 15. Verily
I say unto you, among them that are born of women, now listen,
I started here on purpose. Verily I say unto you, among
them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist." Now, do you know John the Baptist,
the story of John the Baptist? He was sold out to the glory
of God, wasn't he? I'm telling you, that man was
on fire for Christ, was he not? Verse eleven, He that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he. Verse 12, And from the days of
John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
or is gotten by force. The violent take it by force. And all the prophets in the law
prophesied until John, if you will receive it, this is Elias,
which was to come. He that hath . . . I've heard
that before. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Violence, the scriptures talks
about violence concerning people who are really in this thing. Like old Jacob and that angel,
or the Lord himself wrestling. That's a violent confrontation.
Activity. Here's where, here's scriptural
verses, force, striving, striving. pressing, seeking, walking, knocking. Those are active verbs, are they
not? Active. No passive, active verbs in that. Things that require exertion
upon our part. Look at verse... Now, it doesn't
require... The Lord is not requiring that
we live like John the Baptist. Not at all. But that we at least
be as sincere about this thing as he was. Now here it is, sobering,
sobering thoughts. Verses 16 and 17, where unto
shall I liken this generation? Well, it's like children sitting
in the markets and calling unto their friends or fellows, saying,
We've piped unto you, and you have not danced. And we've mourned
unto you, and you have not lamented. In other words, nothing seems
to move you, he said. Nothing seems to touch, no matter
what we say or what we do. Now, I do not subscribe to the
belief that some people are just unemotional. Uh-uh. That's a cop-out. You tell me when the Holy Spirit
of God Almighty, that mighty, powerful wind, that same Spirit
that came down and descended upon the first church that anointed
them with cloven tongues as of fire, be it a preacher or whoever
it may be, that Spirit of God comes down The hand of God touches
a human being, and they don't react to it? Come on. I don't subscribe to
that at all. Not at all. When the Holy Spirit
of God truly speaks, truly moves, men react. Women react. They're moved. When God moves,
men are moved. When the hand of God's heart
knocks on a door, it caves in, a heart's door, it caves in. And they react with passion,
with passion, with feelings of either, any number of feelings,
woe, woe is unto me. Check every reference in the
scriptures of a man or a woman who was met by the Lord or spoken
to by the Lord or saved every single time. They will have some
kind of radical reaction, won't they? Woe, Isaiah, woe is me. Didn't he? When he heard it,
he pronounced woe on himself. Woe, guilt, sorrow, extreme joy
or laughter. I've told you so many times of
old brother Henry Breedlove who would laugh all the time I'd
a whole lot rather hear that than nothing at all, you know.
Laughter. Bernard used to say, when the
God Almighty speaks to somebody, there'll be the three, when he
really speaks, there'll be one of three reactions. They'll get
mad, they'll be sad, or they'll be mighty glad. But you cannot
stay unmoved under the presence of the power of God's Holy Spirit. You show me someone who is, I'll
show you either a lost person or a person who's in a mighty
sad state and dangerously close to being that way, to being lost,
to proving it once and for all. And this movement by God, it
will show in that person's walk, his talk, his face. Or as old
Brother Barnard would say, if God saves a man, even the old
hound dog will know it. He'll know it. As the father
said to the young girl, he'll stick out. If Christ is in somebody,
he'll stick out. It'll show up in their face.
It'll show up in their eyes. It'll show up in their smile. It'll show up in their tears.
Where's old Mr. Wet Eyes that Bunyan talked about
in Mansoul? If not then, if not, that person
is either dead or one of these lukewarm hearers. Do y'all know
what a knot on a log is? Did your dad ever say that to
you, Rick? What's sitting there like a knot
on a log? You know what a knot on a log is? Do you know of anything
good about a knot on a log? Is it good for anything? A knot makes a pretty good fire,
doesn't it? It makes a pretty hot, thin one. These pine knots. A knot on a
log. Look over at Luke 13 with me.
Luke chapter 13. That's what many hearers are
like. I don't mean to say this in jest. This is sad. This is
sad as it can be. Many hearers are like knots on
a log. And like I said, the Lord seems to be saying in our language,
he seems to be saying, I don't know what to do with you. This is what, this is a story
here in another sobering passage, and our Lord gave this now. And
they said he came preaching all love and kindness and tenderness,
and he had some, some scorching things to say, didn't he? Piercing
things. Look at verse 6, he spake also
this parable. A certain man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought some fruit
thereon, and found none. He said unto the dresser of his
vineyard, Behold, three years I come seeking fruit on this
fig tree, and find none. Cut it down. Where I combeth
it the ground, I'll plant one that bring me little fruit." And the dresser, this is an advocate
speaking here, and he said, One more year. Let it alone. One more message. And I'll dig it. Let me dig. Dig deep. And even pour in a
little salt. Dung it. And then if it bear enough fruit,
well, if not, if it won't be moved by that, Cut it down. Isn't that what our Lord says? Same thing. Pluck it up. Cut it down. Verse 16, back in our text now.
He says, I would that you were colder. Cold or hot, and he seems
to be saying there, I don't know what to do with you. I don't
know if there's any life there or not. Have you ever come across a tree
in your yard? I planted a crape, or I bought
a crape myrtle. And when you buy those things,
they look dead. When you buy them in the wintertime, in a
dormant stage, they look dead. They're even brittle to the touch.
They look dead. There's no way you can tell, Nancy, if a crape
myrtle's alive or not. It's the same way with some trees.
No way you can tell it. The only way you can tell it
is if later on it starts budding. Right? You plant it, water it,
and later on it starts budding. And some people, it's hard to
tell whether there's any life there or not. The Lord knows.
That seems to be what he's saying. Now, would that you were cold
or hot. But you're not. He said in verse 6, Then because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I'll spew you out
of my mouth." Now, I know what he's saying
there very well. I drink coffee all day long,
and when I first get it and it's hot, boy, I enjoy it. It's good
to the taste. It brings me great pleasure.
But then when it gets cold right away, if I've left it a long
time, I know it's cold. I know it's cold. I'm not going
to take a sip of it. But when I'm in that in-between
state, I don't know if it's hot or if it's cold. I take a sip
of it, I'd rather it been cold. Some people do drink ice cold,
you know. But lukewarm, ain't nobody likes lukewarm anything,
is it? Lukewarm, spew it out of my mouth. Lukewarmness. What is this lukewarmness? that the Lord charges his people
with. Lukewarmness, what is it? Well, lukewarmness is to be without
extremes. He said hot, cold, those are
extremes, aren't they? Lukewarmness is neither. Lukewarmness is to be without
extremes. You cannot remain indifferent
to the gospel, like Barnard said. preach for a verdict. He advised
every young minister to preach for a verdict. Yeah, there's
a decision that needs to be made by every person every time they
hear the gospel. It's a decision to be made. Indecision
means death or disloyalty. And it's to be without extremes,
without extremes. When you hear about God's sovereignty
When somebody really hears it, they're not going to remain indifferent,
are they, Brother Henry? They're not going to do it. God is the doctrines of grace. There's no middle of the road
there. It's lukewarmness. Nobody likes a fence straddler,
do they? That's where all these politicians
are. That's the reason everybody hates politicians. They're all
fence straddlers, right? They hedge on this issue and
that. The Lord says the same thing
about people. No extremes. My dad used to say,
I admire a man who's zealous about whatever he believes in,
even if it's wrong. Even if it's wrong. It's kind
of middle of the road, you know. These preachers are bad about
this. They say they know the truth,
but won't preach it. Those fellas need to be, those
are distasteful fellas. Closet Calvinist ain't no such
bird. Apology. Ain't no such animal. Closet
Calvinist. You're either a believer or you're
not. It's the easy road, though, down on our level. Lukewarmness
is the easy road in religion. If our religion is easy and costs
us nothing, if it's woe is unto us if men speak well of it, everything
can go on. The Lord said, this is what's
going to happen. Over and over again in the Scripture, didn't
he? He said, this is what's going to happen. He said, if you preach
or you believe or you follow me, If you take up your cross and
follow me, this is what's going to happen," he said, didn't he?
He didn't say, it might, maybe. He said, it's going to happen.
You're going to be hated. Didn't he say that? You're going
to be hated by all men, for my name's sake. And the time will
come, too, when they're thinking they're doing God a favor, kicking
you out of the synagogue and kill you if they could, and so
forth and so on. It costs something. It costs
you your reputation. Christ said if you save your
life, that is your reputation, save your skin, you lose your
soul. Didn't He? Ain't no halfway there. You can't save both. You can't
save your reputation and uphold Christ. Can't do it. Can't do
it. You can't have fellowship with
light and have fellowship with darkness. Can't do it. You're
going to compromise somehow, right? Somehow or another. And this is a great insult to
Christ, this lukewarmness is a great insult to Christ. Why? Was there a more passionate man
ever to walk the planet? I mean a man who was, when I
talk about passions, I'm not talking about base sexual lust,
I'm talking about the passion of life. Passion is anything,
any extreme zeal or enthusiasm you have about anything. You
have a passion for it. Right? Was there ever a more
passionate man on the earth concerning the things of his father and
the things concerning us? We? Over a bunch of rebels? Terry, have you ever done that? He did, didn't he? Sweat blood,
just passion, full of passion and zeal. I always do those things. My meat and my drink is to do
the Heavenly Father's will. I always do those things which
please the Heavenly Father. Full of passion and zeal for
His people and so forth. Full of passion. But, and he
says, if he felt that much compassion for us, and we render unto him,
after hearing about this passion, that's another word, Ellen, for
the Lord's sufferings on the cross. That's what the old Puritans
call his passion. There was never a more passionate
time that our Lord endured or went through than on that cross,
full of emotion and passion. But upon hearing of his passions,
and his suffering for us, and his zeal and his love for us, and his heart breaking for us,
and his sweating drops of blood for us, it was not for himself,
it was for us ungrateful children. Upon hearing about that and then
hearing it with an indifferent air, isn't that the highest insult? Isn't that the highest insult
we can render unto our Lord? For Him to be so passionate regarding
us, for us to be indifferent. Have you ever talked to your
child like this? Have you ever talked to your
child and talked with absolute, with a really poor your heart, Have you ever really, I mean,
poured your heart out, said, son, I'm trying to tell you something. Would you listen to me? Huh? Have you ever talked to your
child like that? Please listen to me. Have you ever got this
back from them? Huh? Are you listening to me? That's not funny. It's an insult
to you, isn't it? You're wanting to cry your heart
out. You're trying to save their soul from destruction or their
body from destruction or whatever, and they're not even listening
to you. Isn't that the highest insult? It insults your love. It's like they're saying, I don't
care, isn't it? This is what the Lord says. And this is the way we all get
at times concerning the gospel. It's the highest insult. It's
the highest insult. Until finally, you know, finally,
after you get through talking to those children, you warn them
and warn them and warn them and warn them. And they don't hear
you. Until finally, they do something
again that you can warn them and warn them and warn them.
Then your wrath comes down upon them, don't you? Then your wrath
comes down upon you. You say, I told you, now I'm
going to lay down the law. Then what happens? They start
hearing you don't do it. Oh, don't do that. I won't do
it again. Anything but that. I won't. They
don't mean it. They're just sorry for it. They're
going to get a whipping. They're not sorry for what they've done.
This is the repentance Esau saw carefully with tears. Is it not? It's not a repentance for being
so bad, or sinning against you, or sinning against your love,
or not listening. It's repentance because they're
about to get a weapon that they never got before, or they're
about to lose their favorite toy. Right? And the Lord says,
it's too late. And you say as a parent, it's
too late. I told you. Even with strong crying and tears,
I warned you and asked you, even begged you. to listen to. And our Lord here is not talking.
Really now, really, I searched and searched and searched about
this. And. I tried to relate this to the
church, but really now, when he says, I'll spew you out of
my mouth, that means this person was lost. Christ used to cast somebody
out, they're lost. This is how serious this warning
is of lukewarmness, how dangerous it is. It's dangerous, dangerous,
dangerous, dangerous. And we need to take warning,
all of us, me included, that we need to laugh, we need to
mourn, you know, this piping starts, we need to dance. If you don't do anything, dance. Weep something, or go to the
optometrist, check out your tear ducts, something's wrong. Better
yet, go to the great physician and say, something's wrong here,
ain't nothing coming out. Right? My tear ducts are dried
up. I can hear the most heart-rending
story I've ever heard, and nothing happens. Help me. before it's everlastingly too
late. Now here's some excuses, some reasons. The excuses they
use, verse 17, it says, Because thou sayest, and see this, these
are excuses that people use. Because you say, here's what
you say, here's what I say, here's what people say in regards to
themselves. Well, I'm rich. Spiritual pride
is the beginning of destruction. I'm rich. I got a handle on that. I know some things. I'm rich. You know, lost people in the
scriptures, lost people are usually portrayed as those who think
they're saved. The majority of the time in the
scriptures, those who are spoken of as being lost, or people that
thought they were saved. Isn't that something? Look at that sometimes. People
that thought they were saved. Even the great Apostle Paul gives
us a reason for it. He says, I haven't arrived yet.
Now, if the Apostle Paul said that, he says, so I'm going to
I'm going to strive, I'm going to press toward that prize, toward
that mark, the prize of the high calling of God. I'm going to
pray. I'm going to knock. Apostle Paul, he went to heaven,
John. He went up to heaven. The Lord
took him straight up to heaven. He said, well, I'm not there
yet. I'm not in yet. Now, Paul, surely now you're
as sure of heaven as if you're already there. No, he said, I'm
not there yet. I don't want to take anything
for granted. And I'm the preacher, another Paul. But man, I ain't
there yet. There's a lot of preachers, better
preachers, a lot better preachers than I am, have fallen. A lot better preachers than I
am preach to others, and they themselves have become castaways.
So Paul said, I'm going to keep my body in subjection. Less than
doing that, I myself become a castaway. If that Paul said it, boy, this
little pinhead Paul better be saying the same thing. I'm rich. I'm rich. Increased
with goods. People don't take the goods,
the worldly goods, as being the blessings of God. They may be,
they are. Everything we have is a goodness,
I mean, it's God's grace, it's God's gift to us. But it might
be a test. a trial. Worldliness, like we've said
before, worldliness is the chief cause of this, of not only the
other maladies that the church has got into worldliness, but
as much, or the cheapest cause of lukewarmness in here in the
gospel is anything or nothing. Anything. Every time I, before
I come up here, I wrestle with this more than anything else.
Lord, get this stuff out of my head. I'm supposed to have this. It's got to touch my heart if
it's going to touch anybody's heart. If it's going to come
out with any zeal, with any fervency, with any enthusiasm at all, with
any feeling. Here I'm trying to preach as
a dying man to dying men. If it comes out just like reading
my notes, then Lord, something's wrong. Something else is bothering
me. I haven't got my mind, my affections
set on things. Worldly, nothing will do it.
Where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be, that's
where your mind, your affections, your thoughts will be taken up
with, not the things of Christ. Increase with goods. Goods, he
says, in a sense, increase with knowledge, knowledge of doctrine.
Well, I've learned five scriptures. I used to only know two. One old writer said these people
were at ease, and they were at ease in Zion, and they interpreted
that as being peace with God. They had all the comforts of
life, and they confused that with blessings and comforts of
Christ. It's not the same, not the same. And one more time, if I could
say it one more time, one more message, the love of the world
is enmity against God. If there's anything that is more
clearly spoken of throughout this book, it's talking about
the impossibility of loving or striving or seeking or pursuing
this world as a love, loving this world and doing the same
thing with Christ. If there's anything, it's absolutely
impossible, that is. Christ said you cannot. You cannot. And he says here, they have need
of nothing. They have need of nothing. It's only one conclusion that
you can draw about someone who can take or leave the gospel. They don't need Christ, right? That's the only one conclusion
you can draw about somebody who doesn't need the gospel, need
to hear it, who can take it or leave it. They don't need it,
right? I mean, they don't need it. Christ
said, he said, someday I'm going to say to these people, I don't
need you either. I don't need you. What I need with you? What
does he need with any of us, Joe? We sure need him knowing
that. And he's going to say, I never
knew you. And they're going to be forced to say, well, I didn't
know you either. And Christ will say, well, you
sure didn't know me, because you rarely gave me the time of
day. Let's put this in the proper
perspective of knowing one another be married or something. What
kind of marriage would it be if the wife and the husband never
spoke to one another? Huh? They're not married. What is it? They got their names
on a piece of paper, but they're not married. Huh? They got the letter of the law,
but they're not married. They never speak to one another?
They never show any love or concern for one another and so forth?
And Christ will say, to some people, you sure didn't know
me because you rarely gave me the time of day. And when you
did come to where I was, you didn't even speak to me or listen
while I spoke. He said, two or three are gathered
together, I'm going to speak. I'm going to speak, albeit through
a man. But he speaks nonetheless, Terry. Any man speak, let him
speak to the oracles of God. Christ said, I'll speak through
you. It's not you to speak, he said, but it's me. And Christ
says to some people that when you do come to where I am, you
don't even listen while I'm speaking. Many people need to make a living,
but they don't need Christ through his life. Many people need to go to work,
but they don't seem to need to go to worship. Many people need
a new house, but don't need a new heart. Really, it's the other
way around in all those cases. The fact is we go, and we do,
we go where we want to go. Right? I'm not picking on you,
Rick, I'm just, you're just sitting there like, oh, Brother Henry,
if you want to go turkey hunting, or deer hunting, or, or, or,
or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or,
or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or,
or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or,
or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or,
or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or,
or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or and do whatever I need to do.
Whatever it takes, if you really have a need, you'll do it, won't
you? Now, I take comfort in knowing
that God has a sheep, and they'll hear his voice. And they'll follow
him, and wherever his voice is, whenever his voice is, they'll
come. They'll hear it. This is the reason I rejoice
over some of you people. Oh, Howard Joyce, I know that
you're going to be here because Christ is your life, and you
have heard his voice and you follow him. This is a way that
you follow Christ. It's wherever his voice is, you
follow it. Right? You follow it. You go where he is. Though, sad
to say, it's really a few in number. I believe the Lord has
blessed us above many so-called churches, because we have more
than a few here that I can say that about. But did you read
in the paper today where that one couple got kicked out because
they hadn't been there in a long time? Nobody has to worry about that
around here, not at all. With Matthew 18, the Lord, that's
what they use for discipline, talking about discipline. And
it does have its usage there in discipline, going to somebody,
treating them as a heathen and a publican. You know, don't pretend
that that person is a believer, there's something wrong with
them. But what do you do, Brother Tim James told me this one time,
what do you do to a heathen and a publican? You preach to them. Publicans need the gospel. and
kick them out. You can't come here anymore.
You can't hear the gospel. We don't want you to be saved. Nobody has to worry about that
around here. They're not going to kick you
out at all. We're not even going to... Well,
lukewarmness, though. People that are lukewarm don't
realize it. This is the sad thing about it. People that are really
in this state don't realize it. Here's what they say. They know
it's not that they are wretched. They don't know that they're
wretched. See, everybody's wretched. Everybody's wretched. The most
faithful man or woman preacher, especially, is wretched. Everybody
is wretched, but not everybody knows it. Salvation is knowing
it, and feeling it, and repenting of it, and asking forgiveness
for it, and seeking a way out of it. Salvation is to say, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me? Lord, and it is to keep coming
and saying, Lord, deliver me. You show me a person who does
not feel a wretchedness, I'll show you a person who has never
been dealt with by the Lord God and the Holy Spirit. This is
how the Holy Spirit sets the first step in regeneration. Show them their wretchedness.
And they know it. And they feel it. And they're not going to
be satisfied until they get rid of it. And they're going to come
every time to hear about how it ends. Tell me again how the
Lord got rid of this. I've got this you know people
have a con. People have a. A. Certain ailment they will
go where they can hear where they can seek the remedy or whatever
and they seek the company of those who have like or similar
illnesses. Misery loves company that sort
of thing you know they'll seek the company of those you got
the problem to want to let's talk. And everybody, you know,
they love to hear, how you doing? I throw up, my mind hurts. They
feed off of one another. You know, wretched sinners go
where the gospel is. They go where the gospel is.
Tell me about that again. I've got that same problem. You mean
you've got that problem? Yeah, I've got that problem.
All who know it and feel it, they cry out about it. They're
alive under God. And they say they're miserable.
miserable, pitiful and pathetic. People get into such pitiful
and pathetic states that other people know
it, but they don't. You know what? Other people know
it. It's like a person who goes on
extended fasting. They become all gaunt and shriveled
up, and they eventually lose their appetite altogether. And everybody else says, well,
you look back. People with this bulimia. You know that gorgeous
themselves and throw it up and all and they start dying, slowly
start dying and wasting away to nothing, becoming gaunt looking.
And everybody sees this and they start warning them. You're looking,
you've got problems. Oh no, I look fine. Matter of
fact, they think they look fat. That's how deceived they become. They look in the mirror and even
though their skin and bones, they think they look fat. They
need to lose some more weight. And this is a picture of spiritual
lukewarm. They think they're fine when
all the time they're wasting away to nothing. And everybody
else sees it and knows it, but they don't. Miserable. And don't know it. Poor. Poor. Poor in grace, poor in faith,
poor in this, poor in that, poor in everything. The Scriptures
talk about giving us unsearchable riches of Christ. Got a blank
check to to draw from and don't have a penny to your name. That's
poor in it. Don't have a mustard seed of
faith. That's poor in it. Blind, blind,
and so blind as they who will not see. Naked. Here's good counsel,
let me hurry. Verse 18, he says, I counsel
thee. I counsel thee. And this is not just advice.
This is the the counselor speaking here. And this is not good advice,
this is a command. I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire. Buy gold tried in the fire. Now years ago I fell in love
with a young girl and decided to marry her. And
so I saved up my hard-earned money. That's the first time
I started saving my money. I never saved it until then. Young men,
don't wait until you start planning to get married. There's not enough
time, and you'll not get enough money. Start now. Start now. But I saved up my money when
I found me a girl. The Lord found me one. I saved
up my money, hard-earned cash, and I started sacrificing. Oh,
man, for a ring? You mean I'm going to start putting
that money away for a ring of all the things that do with your
money? A ring. But I sacrificed. Right? I sacrificed my own personal
desires. Why? Out of love. And I bought
a ring. White gold with a little diamond
in it. Not a very big diamond. It was big enough. Big enough. And she bought me one. There
she is. There it is. I wear it. All the time. It took a little bit of sacrifice.
It's a token of love. I wear it all the time. She wears
hers all the time. You can't have this for one million
dollars. It ain't nothing. You know, it
really ain't nothing. It's just a ring. There's more
where that came from. But it's a symbol. And you can't
have it. I wear it all the time. I wouldn't
sell it. I wouldn't trade it. I always
wear it. As a matter of fact, it's a part of me. I don't even
know it's there. I don't even know it's there. Years ago, the
Lord caused me to fall in love with him, with Christ. And in doing so, I was forced,
yeah, convinced persuaded to give up some of my own personal
desires and money to hear the truth, to hear the gospel. And now I live by it, I wear
it in my heart with me all the time. And nothing, nothing is
too great a sacrifice for this truth for this gospel to hear
this gospel to worship to be with his people. There was nothing too great a
sacrifice when I when I was going to marry that girl. I told you
about sitting up at all hours of the night with her until the
wee hours of the morning going without sleep for days on end
being called out on the railroad when I had been over at her house
for thirty six hours And get called out and be gone on the
run, just be a corpse. But I loved her, I wanted to
be around her. I wasn't a sacrifice. And she'd give me that little
Boyd County Southern voice, you know, he coming over? And slept
in three days, but yes, I'll be right there. Right? Christ said, am I your first
love? You have that sweetheart love
for Christ? Is it a sacrifice to lose an Irishman? It's nothing. I've got to drive
30 minutes. 30 minutes? Well, what a sacrifice. I've
got to get in that old Oldsmobile. It's got padded seats, doesn't
it? Bald tires, but padded seats. It ain't wooden. You can roll
the windows. We'll roll up, won't they? You
don't have to have an icy bed. No sacrifice, is it? Do you consider
that a sacrifice? If we do, there's something wrong.
If we do. This is gold. And it's second nature. Nothing
now is a sacrifice for my wife. Out of my love to her, it's second
nature. If I got the money, I'm fine, honey, fine, to get it.
That's second nature. And nothing, it's second nature.
It's regeneration. To feel this way about Christ
and the things of Christ, what we're doing here, that's regeneration.
It's a sign of regeneration. No sacrifice. Gold, it's gold. That's what it is. I grow more
excited. I'm serious. I'm not just preaching
at you. I'm telling you the truth. That's
what Scott would say. I'm not just preaching, I'm telling
you the truth. I mean this, I grow more excited
about showing you a gold nugget out of this gospel than I do
showing you something in my new suit or something. Really. I'm serious. I grow more excited about showing
you a nugget in the scriptures than I do you this record. That's
the first time I've ever shown it to you. I grow so excited. Don't you get excited about when
you hear you dig a nugget out of a shoe or something? That's
the reason you call me up all the time, John. It's the reason
we get together. It's really, really, and truthfully,
it's more enjoyable for me. I mean this. I was born in Kentucky,
Stan, and your blood is blue in Kentucky. You're born a Wildcat fan. Whether
you like it or not, whether you want to or not, you've got it.
It's right. It's stamped on you. They stamp
it on your birth certificate. Big Wildcat. That's what you're going to be
when you're a Wildcat. Really and truthfully, I grow
more excited about talking about winning Christ than I do about
winning a stupid ball game. Seriously, I mean that with every
fiber of my being. I'm serious as I can be. More enjoyable to me than talking
about winning Christ and his unsearchable riches. And you
can have all the lotteries in the world. Just give me the unsearchable
riches of Christ. And I'll just be flat honest
with you. I'll just get graphic with you. I've had people, you
know, after The Lord blessed me. The Lord blesses me sometimes.
He didn't, maybe not bless you, but sometimes I think a message,
me studying and preaching a message for me. And one time I was particularly
blessed by a message and standing back there at the door greeting
the people. I was just filled, overflowing. You've been that
way before. And a man came back and greeted me at the door. I greeted him at the door, and
the first thing out of his mouth was, he said, it's a nice day,
but I believe it's going to rain. And I'll just be honest.