Whatever it may be, whatever
your lot is, God in faithfulness has done that in goodness. Good. Everything he does is good. It's
right. It's just. It's just the best thing for
his people. And if you're not his people and you acknowledge
the hand of God in it, it may be that he's doing what he's
doing to you to bring you to himself. And that would be the
best thing to ever happen to you. All right, turn with me
over to 1 Timothy chapter 1. First Timothy chapter one. One time the psalmist David. Was so put out with everybody. He got so put out and upset. By the guile. And the deceit and the hypocrisy. and the unfaithfulness of most
everyone, even some of his friends. He got so put out and so upset
with people that he wrote this, I said in my haste, all men are
liars. Have you ever been there? Have
you ever said that? I know exactly how he feels.
He said, I said in my haste, all men are liars. When you can't
seem to find anyone who's altogether truthful and without guile, somebody
who will be up front with you and above board and faithful
and consistent as a friend or whoever. Somebody who you don't
worry about abusing you or talking about you or turning upon you. You ever been to that point where
you felt like everybody's a hypocrite and a liar? I've heard and all of us have
talked about other people and we've often heard quite a bit
of talk about certain people. And oftentimes I've heard differing
reports concerning one thing or one person I've heard somebody
say one thing about something or someone or somebody say another
and exactly the opposite and I might ask is there anyone who
can believe that anybody out there telling the truth. I remember
a man came to me one time in in in real concern he was concerned
about what the report he was hearing about a particular preacher. And he came to me and I believe
in truth he really want to know Something about the man and and
he was hearing conflicting reports. And he said, would you tell me,
would you tell me what you think, what you know about this man,
about the situation, would you tell me? I said, well, brother. There's got to be somebody you
can believe out there, it's got to be somebody who would tell
you the truth. Who's not in this thing. for
with an ulterior motive or prejudiced motives against or for something
or someone, but somebody who will tell you the truth when
you need to know the truth. Is there anybody out there? David
said all men are liars. The Scripture says a faithful
witness will not lie. A faithful witness will not lie
to you. Listen to this proverb. Proverbs
20, verse 6, it says this, Most men will proclaim his own goodness,
but a faithful man who can not. Do you understand that? In other words, most men will
proclaim their own goodness. They will justify their own cause,
their own rights, and so forth. But a faithful man, a man who
will be flat-out honest with you, faithful to you and tell
you Who can find him? Who can find him? Listen, I'll tell you where to
find one. There's one. David was right. The Holy Spirit
recorded that right. All men are liars. Let God be
true. Every man a liar. God is faithful,
the scripture says, by whom you were called under the fellowship
of his son. Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do
it." The Lord is faithful, Paul said. He said again, He is faithful,
that promised. He cannot lie. Revelation 1 says
this about Christ. It says this, From Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness. Listen to this. He says, I saw
heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and somebody was sitting
on that horse. And he that sat upon that horse, this was his
name, Faithful and True. And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write
this down, for these words are Faithful and True. Revelation twenty-two says that
he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and they're true. Psalm 119, we read it, All thy
commandments are faithful and true. Psalm 119, 138 says this,
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very
faithful. So there is someone you can believe. And the man who will be most
faithful to you is the man who will be most faithful to the
faithful one. To his faithful word. There is
someone you can believe. Everything he says is right. It's true. Isn't that where you
want to go for answers? I do. Got any questions? Who doesn't? You got any questions?
Where do you want to go for answers? I received a pamphlet in the
mail yesterday from a man who was a we should have brought
with me a. Title a mile long clinical psychoanalyst
Christian. which a bigger the the flip of
the these as the wide the way behind his name. And he was giving
me this. Chart to fill out concerning
someone I never heard of you said this woman was a member
of this church I never even heard her name before I guess she did
tend to be a little girl I don't know who she was but. And he
had this pamphlet all made out and impressive pamphlet of what
all they were doing at this this place. We on that did this early
on that day. He's a lot. He's a lot of. Private joke on you. He's a lot. God never let this is where you
go for and you got a question. Don't have any questions you
need to. Sure don't have the answer God has all the answers
that And all he says is true, it's right, it's just, it's faithful.
All he does, everything he does with his friends, his people,
even with his enemies, it's true, it's right, it's just, it's faithful.
It's the best thing. It's the very best thing for
everybody involved. Isn't that where we need to go?
It sure is. I'm going to give you four faithful
sayings from the Scriptures, four faithful sayings that God
gives us from the Scriptures. And the first is found here in
first Timothy one every nearly everyone in here could quote
first Timothy one verse fifteen. This is a faithful saying and worthy. I tell you folks
if you ever listen to something you need to listen to this is
worthy of all expectation or just something we need to pay
attention to. This is a faithful. It's a good
move. I'm about to give you some good
news. I mean, God's about to give us some good news. It's
going to be the best news you have heard, provided you make
the. Make the conditions of this problem. If you're a sinner. I got some
good news. I've got something that's going
to cheer your heart. Huh? It's a faithful saying, too.
It's true. God said it. He can't lie. And
it's worthy to be heard. And if you ever really get a
hold of it, if it ever grips your heart, you'll hear it and
you'll never get tired of hearing it again. You'll say, tell me
again. You'll come back the next Wednesday night. Tell that to
me again. Same thing? Yeah, same thing. Again, again. Tell it's an old, old story.
I forget so soon. Tell it to me. Well, here it
is. This is a faithful saying. Worthy
of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world. Now, maybe you sat there when you
heard that or read that and make an impression. As uninterested as people may
be, as unimportant as they may think this to be, This is the most glorious, mysterious,
unspeakable thing that human ears have ever heard. God came
to earth. The Son of God walked this planet. And as unbelievable and difficult
it may be for some to receive this, it's one of the truest
and most faithful things you'll ever hear in all your life. If
it's not the truest and most faithful, the Son of God walked
this planet. A God whom we cannot see, a God
whom we cannot hear, the God who made this planet, the God
who made you, the God who made the sun, the moon, the stars
and the trees and the skies and the earth and gave us everything
we have, that God who can consume everything just by saying a word.
just by blowing with one of his nostrils, consuming the universe,
that God took on a body of a man and walked this planet, walked
around. It's true. It's true. Some people
say he's just another man, you know, just a martyr. No, no,
no, no, no, it's God. It's true. Now, he didn't come
down here. He came down here with purpose.
God came down here for a reason. See, there's a purpose for every
time. Time for every purpose under heaven is a reason. And
the Son of God came down here in the fullness of time and said
he was made of woman, born of a woman, made under the law to
do something. He didn't come down here with
plan B from God Almighty. God sent Moses, they say God
sent Moses with the law, or God made Adam and Adam failed, and
God sent Moses with the law. Try this. And that failed, so
God had Plan C. Plan C. Christ. Come down here with another plan
and hope this and hope that. No, he came with an eternal...
Scripture talks about a covenant, and I smile every time I think
the word covenant. Ordered in all things and share
an agreement and architectural blueprint for the salvation of
some human beings and Christ came down here with this in hand,
this architect, this role. You know, they roll up blueprints.
They've seen blue. All of them are rolled up. The
scriptures talks about the words being a role, an architectural
blueprint. in the hands of our great savior
who came down to this earth and said, and opened it up everything
we read there in Psalm 119 was the Lord Jesus Christ talking.
He said, I've kept your precepts, make me strong in your word.
And he referred to it the whole time he was there to say, I've
got to do this because it is written. Now, what have I got
to do? What have I got to say? Every
word, every step What have I got to do? It says over here that
I'm supposed to do this now. Now I'm going to take another
step. Now I'm supposed to do this, to fulfill all righteousness
for us. He came down here not to try
to do anything, but to get a job done. Get a job done. Do a job. Now, he didn't come
to make salvation possible. Now listen to me. Listen to me. He didn't come to make salvation
possible. Now, this is a faithful saying.
Will you listen to me? You're a sinner. I ain't just
stating doctrine here. I'm going to give you some hope
and some comfort and some peace. He didn't come down here just
to make it possible for you to get to heaven. He came down here
to make absolutely certain you'd be there. Now, if somebody before this
message is over doesn't shout, there's something wrong here.
He didn't come down here to make salvation possible. He did not
come down here to show men and women how to live. He came down
here for dead, rotten, stinking sinners to make them live. Open
their eyes, open their ears. And it's true beyond a shadow
of a doubt. The Son of God came. And He came
with express orders from God Almighty. There's a people down
there that I have chosen, I have loved. Who is it? How do I know
I'm one of the elect? Call on God, you're one of the
elect. Don't worry about that. Leave that with God, OK? I don't
know if I'm one of the elect. Do you need Christ? Do you see
you're in need of the gospel? Do you believe there's a holy
God? Call on him! You're one of the elect. You're
one of the elect. And Christ came down here for
these elect, chosen people. He chose from the foundation
of the world. I don't apologize for that. That's glory to God. It glorifies His sovereignty,
His wisdom, His mercy, His grace, His love. Every attribute of
His character is glorified with His eternal election. Because
if He hadn't chosen somebody, nobody would have chosen Him.
But thank God He chose a people as the sands of the seashore
and as the stars of the sky. And He chose those people and
sent Christ down here to live for them. You say, I just can't
live right. No, you can't live right. You
never will live right. Not righteous like God required
Wilbert. I just can't be what I want to
be. You'll never will. Christ did. He can. He will. He did. He was right. Why? He didn't have to come down
here and prove anything, did he? He come down here, let me
show you how it's done. No, he didn't have to do that.
He did it for some sinners. He did it for some sinners. We've
got a holy God we're going to face someday, a God who can see
right through us, who can smell the smell of sin. He said, you're
going to have to smell good. You're going to have to look
good. I can see right through you. Your heart's even going
to have to be right. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity,
who's going to stand before this holy God? Those that stand in
Christ. And Christ stood on this earth
and said, come unto me. This was a faithful saying. Christ
came and said, you come. to me. This is good news. This is the most faithful thing
you'll ever hear. This is faithful to your soul. This is faithful
to your life. This is faithful to your family. Commit your family
to Him. Your children. Son, look to Christ.
Daughter, trust Christ. Seek the Lord. Son, He'll save
you. Daughter, it's true. God came. He came
to establish a righteousness. He came down to shed His blood.
If you went to hell right now, if I went to hell right now,
we'd get exactly what we deserve. We'd go to hell. If God were
to punish us according to what we deserve since we've been sitting
here this morning, an eternity in hell would not be enough.
It wouldn't satisfy. That's the reason it took the
Son of God himself six hours of excruciating pain and agony
under the very full force of God Almighty's
wrath to pay for these sins of you and I. And he shed his blood. You haven't
resisted under blood, striving against sin. Thank God he did.
And he shed that blood. He shed that blood as a substitute.
He was a lamb. God slit his own son's throat. and poured the blood out and
offered the blood before the Lord. And God says, when I see
the blood, there'll be no condemnation. I know this is a bloody, old-fashioned
religion, but without the shedding of blood, there's no remission
of sins. And God says, I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Whose blood? My blood? You can't
shed enough of it. Christ's blood is sufficient.
And he shed it for sinners, all those that just need it. Lord,
I need the blood. I'm black. Would you wash me
in that crimson tide, that I may be whiter than snow? Come now,
God said, let's reason together. Your sins are scarlet, aren't
they? You're a dyad in a world center, aren't you? Scarlet.
Well, though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white
as snow. I'll make it appear like it never had any. Man, I
need that. Well, this is a faithful saint.
Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners. And he came
and he lived and he died and he saved. He did it. I can't emphasize this strong
enough, can I? He did it. And he ever lives
to make intercession. It's a faithful saint. He ever
lives to make intercession for his people. He's praying for
you, Peter. Thomas, doubting Thomas, where
are you? Where are you? I see you. Peter,
you denied the Lord, didn't you? He's worthless, no good, ungrateful
wretch. Look at how he took care of you.
Peter, where are you? Go tell Peter. Keep coming back. It's a faithful Savior. He's
faithful. You see, we're not faithful.
There's nothing faithful about us. Full of faith. He's faithful. It's faithful,
trustworthy, dependable, one you can hang your eternal destiny
on. Christ came into the world to save sinners. Sinner, not
righteous, not righteous. It doesn't say anything in the
Scriptures about you being, if you'll be a good person, God
will save you. No, it doesn't say that. It doesn't say anywhere
in the Scriptures. Now, if you'll just quit this
and quit that and start doing this and start doing that, God
will pay attention to you. Doesn't say anything about your
morality. This is a good thing here. I've got some good news
for you. Because all of sin that comes short of the glory of God
ain't none that doeth good, no, not one. None righteous, no,
not one, including the preacher. I'm going to preach to myself.
Seriously, I need this. Not the righteous. I ain't righteous.
My thoughts this morning, Who would like to stand up? Is
anybody willing to stand up here this morning and say, and reveal
your thoughts to this church? Anybody? Neither is the preacher. That's the reason I stand in
him. I don't stand behind Christ. I don't stand behind Christ.
You better believe it. I'm going to hang on to his,
not his apron string, but his robe of righteousness until the
day I die, until the day I stand in God's presence. God, you must stand in front
of me, between me and the Holy God, until the day that I'm changed,
until this corruption puts on incorruption, until this mortality
puts on immortality, until Christ says it's OK to come out in the
open now. Huh? I won't have to hide. until Christ
changes me completely makes him me like he is as he is perfect
and thought worthy and he says it so you can come out now God
can look at you now but until then we got to be up under his
you kids when when you were kids you ever get under your mama's
apron or skirt handle used to like to do it get under her mama's
dress you know wear this long flowing robe bathrobe and she'd
be under there and you couldn't see her she'd walk up that's
where we have to be In. You know. God can see it. This is faithful. It's good news. It is not. Christ didn't come
down here to save godly people. You know that. You say that in
Romans five, Terry, that Christ died for the godly. Who did that
for ungodly that you. In other words, you don't seem
much like God. You don't seem much like Christ. You don't seem
very religious. I just ain't a good Christian. Where does
it say God came to save good Christians? Huh? I'm not being
sacrilegious here. Am I? I'm telling some good news
to sinners. God will make you a good Christian,
but you won't think you're a good Christian. Others will think
you're a pretty good Christian, but you won't think you're a
good Christian. You'll think you're a bad Christian. You'll
wonder if you're a Christian at all. But that's who Christ
came to make a Christian. That's who he came to save. Not
the godly, but the ungodly. Not self-helpers. If you'll just
try your best, God will help you. If you'll give up, God will
help you. That's what. God doesn't help the helpers,
those that try their best. He helps the helpless. That's
the thing people need to do more than anything. Give up. Cry uncle. That's what he was doing with
old Jacob, didn't he? This is a faithful say now that
listen to me now listen. Now you were a sinner when God
found you. You didn't give a flip about God Almighty if you're
a believer. God found you and called you by his grace and revealed
the gospel to you. You didn't give a flip about
God. You weren't seeking God. Henry Starr were you seeking
the Lord? Well I don't know about you. You're shaking your head
no you weren't and if everybody's honest here they'd say no I wasn't.
I wasn't looking for God, I was looking for Christ. I didn't
get, I was 18, 19 years old, I couldn't, this was the most
ridiculous, foolish, I didn't, sir, I didn't, this was old-fashioned,
square, in the language of my generation, uncool. I was too
cool for this, that's, that ain't groovy, you know I used to say
that, groovy, That ain't groovy. That's uncool. That's stupid.
That's old-fashioned. Well, I'm smart. I sit on my
roof cross-legged and gaze at my navel, you know. I've learned
wisdom. I've gone into Hinduism, and
I've taken this and that and the other to enlighten me, to
make me stupid. See, I've learned wisdom. Had
not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? In time, when
God called me by His grace, I wasn't looking for Him. I wasn't calling
on Him. Thank God He called me. And he said, no, straighten up,
boy. Straighten up and listen up here. You don't know nothing.
You are nothing. You can't do nothing. You're
a nobody from nowhere. And that's where you're going.
You're going to hell. That's where you're going. And you're
going to kill yourself so fast if I don't save you. Thank God
he did. He did. Not self helpers. Now, don't get me wrong. Those
God they're seeking the Lord, but not until he first six in.
Ain't nobody seeking the Lord, whom the Lord hadn't first sought.
That way, God gets all the glory set. You can't say, I decided
nothing, can you? Can't say, I decided to accept
Jesus. I decided to seek the Lord. I went to church and I
made my decision. You can't say that. God won't
have it. He'll not share his glory with
another. What you'll say before God is that I decided to go to
hell. I decided not to accept Jesus. I decided not to let him
into my heart. And God says, well, I decided
that you will. It's a faithful saying. He came
down here to say, am I going to get to the other three? Man, how could you? This is a
faithful saying. worthy of all acceptation. Why
is it worthy of all acceptation? Because all are sinners. Whether
we know it or need it or not, we need this. We need this. Faith will say, you were a sinner
when God found you, when you were born, you have lived a sinful
life all of your life, You'll be a sinner until the day you
die. Now this is good, good news. This is faithful saving. Christ
came down to save sinners, present tense. Past, present, and future
tense sinners. I have been, I am now, and I
will be a sinner. Do you need that? Huh? I'm being
faithful to you this morning. I've got some good news for anybody
that needs it. So don't despair because you're
a sinner. Christ came to save sinners. Oh, Scott, nobody that ever heard
that message will ever forget it. He said you can't, he said
you must fit the character described in the promise, to have the promise. In other words, the Scripture
makes a promise to somebody. You've got to fit the character
described in the promise. All right, here's the promise.
Christ came down here to save. Who did he come here to save? Don't disrespect. And that's
the reason Scott said, go ahead and call me a sinner. Convince
me of it. You're a dirty, low-down, no
good. You're a wreck. Yeah, keep it
coming. I'm not making light of this. I'm just telling you
where there's hope. You're no good. You sinned against God.
You've lived an unfruitful life. You haven't glorified God. You
haven't done any good. You're unrighteous. God ought
to send you to hell. That's right. But you know what
it says right here? That's the kind He came to save.
But go ahead and call me a sinner. And this is the faith to save.
Christ came to save sinners. And don't quit because you're...
Don't despair of your... No, let me get this right. Despair
of yourself. You say, I just despair of myself.
You ought to. You ought to. You'll never find anything good
in it. Look inside. You'll never find anything but
blackness, right? So I just despair myself. You ought to. But you
should never despair of Christ. Never. People. Oh, William J. I've told you
this time and again. Maybe somebody will hear it for
the first time. John Newton was sitting in his study one day.
John Newton. You know the story of John Newton.
He was a slave trader. Ain't nobody in here who's sinned
half of what John blasphemous, vile, slave-trader, committing
other human beings. Paul, the apostle, said, I'm
the chief. That's what he said in the next
verse. I put people to death because they believed the truth.
But John Newton was a slave-trader now, treating men and women and
children like animals and selling them for his own profit. Vile,
blasphemous sailor, rum-drinking, cussing, cursing, slave-trader. And the Lord saved him. And one
day he was sitting in his study, pastor of a church, sitting in
his study, and a man named William J. came running in and said,
Brother Newton, good news. He said, good news. You know
that God saved old Bill Smith of Bath? Did you know that God
saved him? That old wine old no good, you
know that God saved him? He said, Brother Newton, I'll
never despair of God saving anybody now that he saved old Bill Smith. Brother Newton said, Brother
J, since God saved me, I'll never despair of anybody being saved. Christ came to save sinners.
Despair of yourself. You're all together despicable
and despairable, if that's a word. But don't despair of Christ.
He can save, he will save to the what? Uttermost, them that
come unto God by him. What is it to come to Christ?
Come to Christ, here's Scott again, wise, coal-mine wisdom. Come to Christ, don't move a
muscle. don't go through this and that
don't come here to people see you crack it right there in a
few years they cry here. I need. Who would have you? The world
knows you're a hypocrite. You know you're a hypocrite.
No good? Who's going to have me? Huh? Who would have you? There's only
one who is eternally long-suffering and receives no good despicable
people. Christ. He's only one. He's the only one that will keep
putting up with us. His faith will save him. He came
to save sinners. Now, you tack that on your wall.
I'd say, and you refer to it every now and then. It's faithful.
It's faithful. And I'll quit, but I'm not. Look
at this next one here. Number two. First Timothy, chapter
four. Here's another faithful saying.
I'll give you this one, then I'll quit. And pick up another
time. First Timothy, chapter four.
Here's another faithful saying. First Timothy four. Look at verse
8. Now, Paul, I'll give you this
in a minute. Paul had been denouncing all
the lies and the heresies that had been taught by the religious
leaders of his day. All through this fourth chapter,
1 Timothy 4, Paul was denouncing these fellows he calls seducing
spirits. Do you see that in verse 1? He
says these preachers, all they are is seducing spirits, trying
to seduce you out of your money, trying to seduce you maybe out
of your wife. or something. Seducing spirits is what they
are. No good, wicked, vile, womanizing, greedy, covetous dogs. That's what the scriptures call
them. That's what one old learned fellow
said D.D. stands for. That's what it stands for. Dead
dog. Isaiah, I forget which chapter it is, says they're dumb dogs.
Dumb dogs, that's what it is. Dumb dogs that cannot bark. Lying,
loving to sleep and slumber. That's what D.D. stands for,
most of them. Dumb dogs. You can quote me on that. Dumb
dogs. He says that these dumb dogs,
these seducing spirits and their teachings, their doctrines of
devils, he calls them, doctrines of devils. And they were teaching
back then, as they do now, celibacy, abstinence from certain meats
and drinks. In other words, touch not, taste
not, and handle not. And they were saying that sin
was in these things. Right? And if you'll just void
these things and live an outwardly moral life and be a good citizen,
moral, keep the Ten Commandments and be blameless concerning the
law and go through the outward form and so forth, God will accept
you. Paul says in verse 7, he says,
you refuse that. You refuse that. That's not faithful
to you. That'll damn you. Because the Scripture says, It says you'll be under the curse.
Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in
the book of the law to do them. That means everything you don't
even know about. These Sabbatarians, these people
who insist upon living by the law, you've got to cross every I and
dot every T, every jot and every tittle of the law, right? Or
God won't accept us, right? He won't accept us. These fellows
are lying to you. They're lying to you, that you
exercise your body. Verse 7, Refuse profane and old
wives' fables. That's what they are. Some old
pious, self-righteous grandmother sitting there reading her good
Bible, you know, her family Bible that her mama gave her, and her
mama's mama gave her mama. And she's sitting there, you
know, with her hair up in a bun and her sleeves down to her,
and God hating in her heart, you know, a sovereign, hating
a sovereign God in her heart. And she's written, sitting there
reading with a smile on her face. And she reads something and takes
it totally out of context and then comes and sets up this sacredness
next to Godliness, and says, God helps those that help themselves,
or if you'll just live right, God will love you, you know.
Well, that's what my mama said, and my mama, that's an old wives'
fable is what that is. And if you live as holy as God
Almighty, he'll accept you. That ain't no wives' fable. That's
God's Word. And exercise thyself, you know,
exercise your body. If you quit your drinking, your
smoking and all that, I'm not saying drinking and smoking is
good. You know I'm not saying that.
Smoking will maybe give you cancer. Drinking will give you cirrhosis
of the liver and may kill you, too. Overeating will, too. Let's
hear somebody talk about gluttony. Let's hear somebody get up and
denounce those sort of things. But they'll get up and tell you,
if you just do all this, do this and do that and not do this and
do that, you're all right. You're sure for heaven as if
you're already there. Paul says, you refuse that. You
refuse that. He said, that's not faithful.
That's not true to God's Word. It's not faithful to my heart
and soul. He says, exercise yourself unto godliness. Verse 8, bodily
exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come. This is the faith of Satan, and
worthy of all acceptation. Now, I've got to give you this.
What is godliness? Hmm? What is godliness? Are you asking that question?
He says godliness is profitable in all things, and having the
promise of life and life to come and so forth. Well, it can't
be bodily exercise, can it? In other words, it can't be outward. He just said that's not it, isn't
it? It can't be doing or not doing
anything, can it? Huh? According to this text,
can it? Because in the flesh, no man can please God. Didn't I say that? What we do
is never good enough, John, is it? Well, it can't be keeping the
law. Scripture says, by the deeds of the law, nobody will be justified
for God, doesn't it? An outward form, show, and profession
of religion, coming to church, that won't do it. Like I said,
one time I stood up here and said, Are you with me? Are you
here? Somebody has left here already. You can be here and not be here.
See? You can have your body here and
look real good, but not be doing any good at all. You can be sitting there, like
I was talking about, you can be standing up even though you're
sitting down. Like that little boy whose daddy
said to him, his daddy said to him when he was standing, he
said, sit down. And he wouldn't. His father said, sit down. And
he wouldn't. He said, son, you better sit
down. And he sat down. And the boy
said, I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm standing
up on the inside. Now that's not good, kids. I'd
make it so that kid could never sit down. He said that to me. Or he'd wish he could sit down.
But that's the way it is, isn't it? Bodily exercise profits little. Coming before God with all our
this and that, that doesn't profit any. But an inward, vital principle
of godliness, or that is, a relationship with God Almighty. Godliness
is this. Let me ask you to see if you've
got this, all right? See if you've got this godliness. You've got
to have it. It's faithful Godliness is a Godward change
of mind. A Godward change of mind. In
other words, all you used to care about and think about like
an old pig is slopping in the, wallowing in the slop. How do
you say it, you old pig farmer, Henry? Wallowing in the slop.
It's all you used to think about, this world, you know, grubbling
around, grubbling. Look how we grub. It's change
of mind. But all of a sudden, he looks
up. He starts thinking about God. A woman. You didn't used
to do that before, did you? You never gave God a thought.
Wallowing in the mud and the blood and the beard. You never
gave God a thought. What made the change? It's this
vital principle of Godliness God is putting in. Who began
this work and He'll continue it. It's thoughts of God where
once you never had any. You know, I'll admit, but there
were times I went long time without it. My conscience never pricked
me. Nothing I ever did bothered me.
Were you that way? It didn't bother you. Desire,
it's a man or a woman or a young person having desires for God,
but once they didn't have any. Having an interest in things
of God, but once they didn't have any. Having a love for the
gospel, but once it was foolishness to it. Having a love for the
worship of God, wanting to worship God. You want to come here. Do
you get anything out of this? Huh? Huh? That's good. That's a good sign. A sign of
godliness within. You weren't that way before,
were you? Worship the people of God. These old square old
fuddy-duddies. These old fuddy-duddies, you
know. I never hung out with a 60-year-old man. or 70, 50. I wasn't there. When I was 18,
19, I wasn't there. I hung out with you. Why should
I want to? We don't have anything in common. Now there's nobody I'd rather
hang out with. I find very few men my age that I want to hang
around with. Only those that love my Lord.
Who made me change? Where'd that come from? That's
a vital principle of Godliness, is put me in And desire and an
effort. Now, it's not without effort.
It's not without exercise, actually. A desire and an effort to be
like Christ. Do you desire to be like Christ? Huh? Do you make
some attempt at it? Now, it's not good enough. I
grant you that. It's not good enough. You're
not making a half-hearted attempt at it. I'm not. But do we want
to be and do we try at all? John, have you tried to curb
your temper when somebody pulls out in front of you? We were talking about that the
other night. John said, I've been praying
about this thing for years. I seem to control it, but when
somebody pulls out in front of me in the car. You try, though,
don't you, buddy? Before, you didn't try. You didn't
try. And it's out of love and gratitude.
It's not because you feel like you do it, but when I'm supposed
to be this way, so I'll do it. No, you want to. Do you see this? Is that within you? That ain't
much, is it? But it's the workings of God Almighty within. That's faithful saying. That's
good news to me. I don't find much good about
me, but the work of God in me. I do feel something of those
workings within me. That's not looking to yourself.
Let's look into what Christ, just examine yourself to see
whether or not you have these interests or not. And it's profitable
in all things. It'll regulate your life. It'll
regulate your life. It'll be health to your body
and welfare to your soul. It'll keep you from going where
you ought not to go. That's what he's saying here.
Godliness is profitable in all things, having promise of this
life. In other words, David said, A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand. It will not come
nigh thee. Like I've been saying about this AIDS thing, count
on it, people. Count on it. Psalm 116 says it
will not come nigh you. Godliness is promptable unto
all things, having promise of this life. They've got people
going to get AIDS. Count on it. Be faithful to your
wife and practice, you know, don't practice sex
outside of marriage. Find you somebody that's true
in faith. You ain't going to get it. Why
don't we start believing God? His Word says it's promise of
this life. You're not going to get it. The only thing you will get if
you do get sick, now listen to me, I can't promise Every believer
of complete health, you may get cancer, you may die. But that's been some of those
glorious testimonies to God of people dying of cancer. I can't promise any believer
of complete health, but I can promise this, that the sickness
won't be unto eternal death. It will be for your good. You
may have to have your knee operated on five more times, but it's
going to be for your good. Count on it. God's Word says
it. We read it in Psalm 119, didn't
we? In thy faithfulness thou hast
afflicted me. Not the surgeon. God did it.
Right? He can't do wrong. He's too good
to do anything wrong. And everything's going to be
for his glory. Count on it. He's going to get glory out of
it. Lazarus was sick, wasn't he? Timothy? Stayed sick. Epiphras? Paul? Yeah, Paul was sick. Brainerd? Spurgeon? McShane? Montgomery? Nybridge? Keep going. God's a choice of people. Get
bad sick. Get bad sick. But there's a promise
of a consolation after that, and life which is to come. It's
the best thing God could do to wean us from this world. The
promise is to all sinners to come to God by Christ, confessing
their sins, repenting, calling on Christ for mercy and grace
and salvation from the heart now, from the heart. And this
is the faithful saying. He'll give you eternal life.
Come to him. Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners,
of whom I am the chief, Paul says. He came to save sinners.
And if you're a sinner and you come to God, he'll save you.
Count on it. His word is settled forever.
That's written. You know that verse, 1 Timothy
1, 15, is written in the portals of heaven with a pin of iron
and a rock? Huh? Ain't nobody can get to
it and change it. And you know everybody that comes
to him's got their name written in a roll, got seals on it. I
don't care what Jimmy Swagger says, you can't take yourself
out of it. I beg to differ. God says none will pluck them
out of his hand. No man. Who shall separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Nobody. Not
even your sins. Boy, isn't that good news? That is good news. And this is
too a faithful saying. Don't put any stock in the outward
form. Practice it. Practice it. I mean, come here, pray, read,
but don't put any stock in that, in your religion. Put all your
stock, all your hopes in Christ. And this thing, determine whether
or not this thing is on the inside, not just the outside. Uh, we do need to come to some
conclusion of whether or not, am I, am I playing games here
or not? Or am I really seeking the Lord?
Am I, do I need Christ? Is this gospel sweet to me or
not? Lord, decide this doubtful case for me. Am I yours or am
I not? Decide it and begin today. Okay, I hope that was of some
help to you. Stand with me and I'll dismiss
this in prayer.