all stand together and sing hymn
number 51. Hymn number 51. Praise the Saviour, ye who know
him, who can tell how much we owe him. Gladly let us render
to him all we are and have. Jesus is the name that charms
us, He for conflict fits and arms us, Nothing moves and nothing
harms us, While we trust in Him. Trust in Him, ye saints, forever
He is faithful, changing never Neither force nor cow can sever
Those he loves from him. Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
To Thyself and still believing Till the hour of our receiving
Promise joys with Thee Then we shall be where we would be. Then we shall be what we should
be. Things that are not, how nor
could be, soon shall be our own. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
195. 195. I have a message from the Lord, Alleluia. A message unto you I'll give. It's recorded in His Word. Hallelujah, it is only that you
look and live. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. Tis recorded in His Word, Alleluia. It is only the Jew who can live. I'm a message full of love, Alleluia. A message, O my friend, for you. Tis a message from above, Alleluia. Jesus said it, and I know tis
true. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. It's recorded in His Word, Alleluia. It is only that you look and
live. Life is promised unto you, Alleluia. The eternal life thy soul shall
have, If you'll only look to Him, Alleluia. Look to Jesus, who alone can
save. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. Tis recorded in His Word, Alleluia. It is only that you look and
live. I will tell you how I came, Alleluia,
To Jesus when he made me whole. Trust believing on his name,
Alleluia, I trusted when he saved my soul. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. There's some prep work in For Jude, they start preaching
that on Sunday night or start next Wednesday, I don't know
when. I feel like it'd be a good book to go through. But I want you to look in chapter
three, verse 17 and 18. Chapter three, 17 and 18. Know ye therefore, beloved, know
ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory for now, ever
and ever. That's where I'm gonna preach
from. And let's pray. Our Father, our blessed God in
heaven, how merciful. Lord, you give us mercies every
day, and none of them ever go unused. We need them all day,
every day. We'll need them in the morning
when we get up, those new mercies. We'll need that grace that only
you can give. And, Lord, we're so thankful
that you're the God that you are, that you're no pretender
after the throne, that you have all power in heaven and earth,
and that you, Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world to save
sinners. And I'm so grateful that you
made me to be a sinner. I didn't make myself to be one,
though I was one. I didn't even know what a sinner
was until you made me one. I didn't know what salvation
was until you taught me. I didn't know what hope was until
you gave it to me. I didn't know what sight was
until I could see, gave me eyes. So Lord, I'm so thankful and
blessed be your name. Be with us here tonight. And
again, I pray for my brothers and sisters that are going through
If they could be here, they would, but I know that, Lord, you've
put them in a position they can't come. But I also pray for those
among us who have trials and who have burdens and who have
fears and anxieties. I pray also for them. Lord, we
know that you uphold us in everything that happens in this world. For
our sake, for your sake, you bring it to pass to cause us
to lean more, come to Christ, and know that your grace is sufficient.
Bring glory to yourself in this service tonight. We ask these
sayings in our Lord Jesus' name, amen. Page 31 in our course books. 31 in our course book, we'll
sing Zion's Hill. There waits for me a glad tomorrow
Where gates of pearl swing open wide And when I pass this veil of
sorrow I'll dwell upon the other side Someday beyond the reach
of mortal gain Someday God only knows just where
and when The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still And
I shall go to dwell on Zion's hill Someday I'll hear the angels
singing Beyond the shadows of the zoo And all the bells of
heaven ringing While saints are singing, home
sweet home, Some day, beyond the reach of moral key, Someday God only knows just where
and when The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still And
I shall go to dwell on Zion's hill I want to bring a message there
out of verse 18 of 2 Peter chapter 3, 18. But grow in grace. He talked
about falling from your own steadfastness, you know, led away with the air
of the wicked. But he said, don't you do that,
but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory both now and forever. I mentioned
this just a little while ago about growing in grace. Somebody
said, I wished I did. I wished I did. You know, most of us, when we
read this verse, we say, what in the world does it mean? Am
I really actually growing? Am I growing in grace? Am I growing
in knowledge? You ever wonder if you're growing
any at all? Feel like you take three steps
forward and two steps forward and three back? But the apostle's
given many, many warnings before he gets to this place. Look back
over in chapter two in verse one. He gives many warnings. That's why it's to be diligent
to grow in grace. But there were false prophets
also among the people. Even as there shall be false
teachers among you who privately, privately shall bring in damnable
heresies." They don't just come right out with it. Even denying
the Lord that bought them and bring down upon themselves destruction. Destruction. Look what he says
down here in verse 20 of chapter 2. Oh, he gives such warnings here.
or if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through
the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are
entangled again therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with
them than the beginning. For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness than after they
had known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. But it has happened. according to the true proverb,
the dog is turned to his own vomit. Again, in the south, it
was worse to a wallowing in the mire." Wallowing in the mire. And then he encourages them to
believe the Word. Men were scoffers, he said here
in chapter 3. Men were scoffers. They scoffed.
When we talk about the coming of Christ, you've been telling
about His coming as long as I can remember, and He ain't come yet. But he said, don't you know that
the worlds that then was upheld by the Word of God, and that
the same is kept in store by God's Word until God himself
melts this element with a fervent heat, and destroys it, and destroys
it. And then he warns them against
ignorance down here in verse 8 of chapter 3. But beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. He exhorts
them to, warns them about ignorance and exhorts them to believe the
promises that God made to his people. Look what he says here
in verse 14 and 15 of chapter three. Wherefore, beloved, and
he always calls them that, beloved, seeing that you look for such
things, be diligent that you may be found in him in peace
without spot and blameless. And account this, that the long-suffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul,
as according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you. And also in all his epistles,
speaking of them, of these things, in which some are things hard
to be understood, which they are unlearned, unstable, rest
them to their own destruction." So he's exhorting these people,
brought all kinds of warnings to them. And he says, don't rest
the scriptures. When you rest the scriptures,
you twist them to make them suit you your opinion and your belief
whether it's scriptural or not and that's what they they were
ignorant and unlearned and so they Twisted the scriptures to
make them come out to suit themselves and all he says beware Beware
you also know these things Beware that you grow in grace And let
me say this at the outset. I remember I There's a fella
here for quite a while, and every time he read scriptures and prayed
for me, he always prayed at the end of his message, or at the
end of his prayer, make Brother Donnie grow in grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus. Always told me that. Always prayed
that way. And I always wondered why he'd
done that. I guess he's had more grace than I did, more knowledge
than I did. That's the only thing I can think
of, but he always prayed for that. Every time he prayed, he
prayed for me to grow in grace and knowledge. And I really,
and I do need to grow in grace and I do need to grow in knowledge.
But let me tell you this, you must first be given grace before
you can grow in grace. You can't grow in something you
don't possess. You can't grow in grace if you
don't have grace. And that's what our Lord Jesus
Christ meant, said, you must be, told Micodemus, you must
be born again. That that's born of the flesh
is flesh, that that's born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto you, you must be born again. And a man
can't give himself life. And 2 Peter says this, he says,
we're made by the promises made partakers of the divine nature. And it says in James 1 18, by
his own will, by the will of God, he begat us with the word
of truth. But you must have, you got to
be have grace before you can grow in grace. And I'll tell
you, that's something you got to have. You got to have a life
and you can't produce that. And you must have new life. Men
don't, let me tell you something. Men don't grow into grace. MEN
DON'T ARRIVE AT GRACE, AND YOU DON'T COME TO GRACE. GRACE COMES
TO YOU. THERE'S BEEN MANY PEOPLE SENT
OVER THE YEARS, AND THEY'VE COME TO THIS CONCLUSION, YOU KNOW,
THEY BELIEVED THEY WAS AN ARMENIAN, AND THEN THEY LEARNED SOME THINGS
ABOUT GRACE, SOME THINGS ABOUT THE BIBLE, AND THEY JUST THOUGHT
THAT THEY GOT A HIGHER UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY
BEING SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD. THEY JUST SAY IT'S A HIGHER FORM
OF DOCTRINE. And other people say, well, when did you come
to the grace of God? When did you come to grace? Grace comes to us, and not we
come to it, he comes to us. Grace has to come to where we
are. Grace has to come and do something for us. And oh my dog,
I tell you, people don't arrive at grace. Well, I just arrived
at it. I don't know how I done it, but
oh my, you don't come to grace. Grace comes to you. And they
said grace was given us in Christ Jesus, when? Before the world
began. But you gotta have grace before
you can grow with grace. And oh, where there's life, I
tell you this, where there's life, there's growth. If you
got the life of Christ in you, there's growth. You can't have
life and not grow. And oh, look over here in John
15, John chapter 15. Look what our master said over
here, what our Lord said. Oh, where there's life, there's
growth. What our master said here in chapter 15, verse 1, it's impossible to have Christ
and not have life and not have growth. He said, I'm the true
vine, and it's one of them I am's of his, and my father is the
husband. Ever branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he takes it away. He just takes it away. And every
branch in me that beareth fruit, he purges it. That means he prunes
it. He prunes it, that it may bring
forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you,
as the branch cannot bear a brood of itself, fruit of itself, except
it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I'm the vine, you're the branches.
He that abideth in me and I am here, the same bringeth forth
much fruit. Without me, you can do nothing. Without me, you have nothing,
is what our Lord's saying. You know, there's a, you can't
not have growth. Talk about growing in grace.
If there's life where Christ is, it's impossible to have him
and not grow. and have growth. You know, as people say, well,
I'm a born again Christian. There's no such, you know, it's
like saying water's wet. You know, if God, God gives you
life, God gives you life, you'll know it. You don't have to run
around telling everybody, you'll know it and you'll be the one
that knows it too. But anyway, there's a process in growth.
There's a process in growth. It doesn't take place all at
once. You know, you take a newborn
baby, A newborn baby, we got that little wreath here, we've
had these babies over the years, and when a baby's born, he's
got everything he's gonna have until he gets grown. It has all
his fingers, all of his toes, it has eyes and ears and feet
and all that, but he can't do anything. He's a newborn, he's
a newborn baby, but he has life. And then there's a process of
growth. And they grow and they grow and they grow, And then
one day, they're a year old, and they're a little better off
than they was when they was a baby. They learned to walk, they learned
to do things. And then the next thing you know, they're five
years old, but they're still growing. Next thing you know,
they're 10 years old, and 15 years old, and 25 years old,
and 50 years old. And that growth starts as a baby,
and that's the way it is in this new birth. That's the way it
is in this thing of growing in grace. Nobody's born full grown. No believer's born full grown. You know, that's why he said,
desire to send milk of the word that you may grow thereby. And
you know if you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. Oh, my. You know, and this thing of growth
is so mysterious. You know, when Charlie and Ellie
came in, I hadn't seen them in a while. I couldn't believe they'd
grown so much. But I've watched these babies
around here be born. I couldn't take countless babies
born in this place. Next thing you know, they're
grown and married and gone. But they started out as little
bitty babies in that nursery back there, somebody taking care
of them. But they grew, and they grew, and they grew, and they
grew. And that's the way it is in growing in grace. About the
time you think you've arrived, you say, oh my goodness, how
could that be? How could that be? Oh my. Let me show you something then,
Mark. You talk about mysterious. Mark chapter four. Mark chapter
four. About growth being so mysterious. It is a mysterious thing. You
know, people don't see themselves growing. They don't consider themselves
growing until they get big enough to say, I know, I know, I know. You know, they know everything
when they're 10, 12, 15 years old. They get 25 or 30, they
realize, I don't know nothing. Oh, boy. Look what he said here
in verse 26. Mark chapter 4 and verse 26. And he said, so is the kingdom
of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should
sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and
grow up. This is what it says next, he
knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth
fruit of herself, first the blade, a little bitty blade sticking
up. That seed's in the ground, just a tiny little old blade
sticks up. Then there's an ear comes up, and after that, the
full corn in the ear. And that's what he says. He said,
you know, you don't see it happening. You don't see it happening. But
when you put a seed in the ground, it stays there a long time, but
boy, when it springs up. And that's the same way it is
with the birth. You know, when God gives us a birth, he has
to first put a seed in us. And you know what seed it is?
It's the incorruptible root of God. And he plants a seed in
us. And then that seed may stay there
for a while. And as that seed's there, you
start hearing the gospel more and more and more and more and
more. The seed's planted. And then somebody comes along,
keeps watering, keeps watering, keeps preaching, keeps watering,
keeps preaching. And next thing you know, that seed springs up.
That seed starts manifesting itself in life. It manifests
itself in profession. It manifests itself in baptism.
It manifests itself in new life and a new love for the Word,
a new love for the brethren, a new love for everything that's
high and holy in God, a love that you never had before. And,
oh, my, oh, growth is progressive and gradual. And I'll tell you
something, it's not mechanical either. It's not mechanical.
No, you can have a pile of gravel out here, and you can pile more
gravel on it, more gravel on it. That's mechanical. And the
reason it is, you can have, just keep piling on, piling on, but
it has no life in it. I don't care how big the thing
is, it don't have any life in it. And oh my, it doesn't have
life. I don't care how big you go,
it doesn't grow because it don't have life in it. And I tell you,
doctrine, doctrine can be piled on you. Doctrine can be piled
on you. I remember Scott Richardson,
oh, I don't know how many times I've heard him say this. Oh my,
he said, oh, that guy just, oh. He just, I'm so tired of them
preaching to my head. I said, trying to instruct me
and everything, you know, and all the things. Oh, I want somebody
to speak to my heart. I want somebody, and that's why,
you know, doctrine, people can pile doctrine on you. You know,
I'm gonna preach on the doctrine of sin. I'm gonna preach on the
doctrine of sodology. I'm gonna preach on the doctrine
of predestination. I'm gonna preach on the doctrine
of justification. I'm gonna preach on all these
doctrines. And you sit here and say, oh, I got, yeah, oh, my,
here's where we're really learning something. But are you growing? You know, pile on, pile on, doctrine. And a person can learn all the
mannerisms. People can learn mannerisms.
You know, there's a dear friend of mine, he had a parrot for
23 years and it died. But you know, I used to call
what they called polyparrot religion. People learn what you're saying,
and they catch on to what you're saying, and they just repeat
what they hear you say. They think that's what they want
to hear. I won't poly pair religion. I
don't. No, no. Man, I tell you, if you
can get the mannerisms piled on, you can get other people
to acceptance, but it does not mean you have life and you're
growing. Growing. You know, there's a
couple of denominations that they want, they go through what
they call a confirmation process. And what it is, is they'll teach
you what they call the catechism. And there are several things
that you have to learn. How did we become sin? And how did you,
you know, and how's God and how you did, you know, and you got
about 10 or 12 things. I could go, I had a catechism
and I could show you, do you, but anyway, You gotta go in and
you answer all the right questions. They'll train you, they'll train
you, and they'll tell you what you're supposed to believe and
how you're supposed to understand it. And they'll train you in
that, and then they'll bring you in front of the church, in
front of everybody, and they'll start asking you them questions.
Yes, yes, yes, yeah, I got that, yeah, yeah, got that, got that,
yeah, yeah. The church accept them to be confirmed, and that's
how you get in. Oh, people confirm you. You know
what confirms you? You learn the catechism. I remember
I was in a Presbyterian church, me and Don Fortner and Tim James
and Moose Parks. We was in a Presbyterian church
up in Louisville one time. And they brought out all them
kids. They brought out a whole bunch
of kids out of a classroom. And those kids stood up there,
and they asked all, you know, the woman that's teaching them,
ask them one question, they answered it, and ask another question,
10 or 12 kids, ask them a different question, and they all answered
the questions right. That bothered me, oh, that bothered
me. And I didn't, I got up and I said, you know, I said, that's,
that's, That's something that these kids are learning, things
like that. But you know, I said they can learn all the catechisms.
They are. But if God don't do something
for them in grace, they are not. That's all they're ever going
to know is the catechism. And you know, that woman ended
up leaving that church and going over and becoming a member of
a Baptist church. And she stopped that just for
the fact that she said, I make. That's what our Lord meant when
he says the blind lead the blind and they both should fall into
the ditch. And if you're in darkness, how are you going to teach people
that are still in darkness? And how dangerous it is, how
dangerous it is for people to think that I've arrived somewhere
because I've got my eyes dotted, my teeth crossed, and I know
my ABCs. But this business of salvation
is a life-changing thing, and it's a growth, and it's a progressive
growth. Oh, my. You know, there's a perception,
and then there's a reality. You know what that means? It's
like, you know, take somebody that's an anorexic. When they
look in the mirror, they see themselves real heavy and real
fat. But in reality, they're skin and bones. They look awful. They're starving themselves to
death. And then like the Pharisees, Their perception was that they're
the holiest, the best people that ever lived, that they kept
the law, and Christ was the devil, and they understood everything
about the law. And that's what Pharisee means,
separated one. But the reality was, our Lord
says your graveyards with dead men's bones in them, your vipers
and your snakes. Their perception of their self,
it was one thing, one thing, but the reality of what they
really are is another. It's another. Oh my. And I don't, I don't, oh my goodness. What we perceive of ourselves
and what reality is two different things. And I tell you, I want
my, I want my reality to be Christ. Oh my. You know, growth is never
sudden. Growth is never sudden. Look
over, you know, you're back in 2 Peter. You're all in 2 Peter
again. Go back over there. I want to show you something
in 1 John, you know, 2 Peter, and then there's John right beside
it. But you know, growth is never sudden. There's babes, young men, and
fathers. Look what he said here in John chapter 2, 1st John chapter
2 in verse 12. This is what I'm talking about. I write unto you little children
because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write
unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the
beginning. I write unto you young men Because
you have overcome the wicked one. And he goes on to say about
the father, and the kids, and the young men, and old Titus
said the same thing. You aged men, you teach the young
men. You aged women, you teach the
younger women. So you have this age, so you
go back and teach people things. Things, you know. Ah, there's
a difference in growth, and maturity, and responsibility. So grow in
grace. You gotta have it before you
can grow in it. You gotta have life before you can do it. You
can't know Christ and not have life. You know, and then it says,
grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grow in the grace
of Christ. What does then the Lord Jesus,
what does this mean? Well, let me tell you what it
doesn't mean. It doesn't mean I'm to grow in
graciousness, though it does include that. It doesn't mean
I should grow in my graces, you know, the possession of the graces
that God gives us as believers, such as humility, faith, love,
generosity, hope. And though it includes all that,
when it says grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, what
is he talking about? Well, it means that we live,
we live in the glorious realm of grace. We live in the realm
of grace. And what does that mean? That
means we're not under law, not under law, but under grace. You
know, we're not under God's wrath, but under God's grace. Now look
in Romans 6, 14. In Romans 6, 14. You know this,
I don't understand. Under law or grace. There's people
that teach, you know, that you go to the cross to be saved and
you go back under the law to learn how to live. To learn how
to live a holy life. But oh my, look what he said
here in Romans 6, 14. For sin shall not have dominion over
you. That means sin is not your master. That means sin does not reign
over you. That means sin does not have
dominion over your mind, your will, your heart, your life.
It does not have dominion, power over you. Why? Because you're
not under law. You know, all the law can do
if you're trying to be under the law is make you sin, make
you a rebel. I've said it so many times again,
you husbands go home and lay down the law to your wife and
tell her what you won't said and done, and if they don't do
that, then they're in trouble. And see how that goes over. And
that's the same way the law is. When you face the law of God,
all you can do is go against it. But he says, but we're not
under the law, but under grace. Oh my, either law or grace, no
middle ground. And why does not sin have dominion
over us? Because we're dead to the law.
We're dead to sin. We're dead to its guilt. I don't
feel guilt. God took my sin away. How can
I feel guilty over something I don't have before God Almighty? Oh my, we're not under it as
a curse. We're not under it as a covenant.
We're not under a covenant of it, but I've worked, but oh my.
But we're under a covenant of grace. And I want to show you
something else in Galatians 5, 4. You know, people say, you
know, you've heard people say all the time, well, you can fall
from grace. You can fall from grace. Yes, you can. And I'm
going to tell you how you do it. In case you're afraid you're
going to fall from grace, listen, I'm going to tell you how it
happens. you how it happens. Look what he said here in verse
4. For Christ is become of no effect unto you. WHAT HE DID,
HIS BLOOD, HIS WORK, HIS CROSS, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, CHRIST IS
BECOME OF NO EFFECT UNTO YOU, WHOSOEVER YOU ARE JUSTIFIED BY
THE LAW. IF YOU GO BACK ANY WAY AT ALL
FOR HOPE, ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT, HE SAID, IF YOU GO TO IT
IN ANY WAY, YOU FALL FROM GRACE. THAT'S WHAT FALL FROM GRACE IS,
TRYING TO BE JUSTIFIED SOME OTHER WAY THAN THROUGH THE LORD JESUS.
You reckon you can fall from grace? All right. And I tell you, it
means that, it does mean that we're in the glorious realm of
grace. I'm, I'm so thankful we're under the realm of grace and
not under law. Oh my. And grow in this realm
of grace. What does that mean? I'm going
to tell you what it means to me. in the realm of grace. Grow in your understanding of
God's grace. And how in the world would we
get grace? Grace was brought to us. We didn't
come to it. It was brought to us. And it
was brought to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Brought to us through
his death. And oh, by, and he's living to
give it unto us. You know, the law came by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And then He says, grace
for grace. Everything that ever happened
to you is by the grace of God. And then, because you've had
grace, I'm going to give you more grace. God does not never
give us just a little at a time. I mean, we get grace for grace. I don't know if that makes any
sense, but it makes sense to me, you know. He gave me grace,
and then he said, I'm gonna give you some more. You're such a
mess, and you're such a weakling. You're so, you know. I've got
to give you more grace. You won't be able to make it.
I've got to give you more grace. You won't be able to stand. I've
got to give you more grace. You won't never get it. You're
going to never get it until I just keep giving you more and more
and more. And do you understand that that's the only way you
can live is by grace. We're the objects. We're the
objects of God's favor. We're the objects of God's grace.
before the world began. Why? According to his good pleasure. Where? In Christ. And who? The ungodly and sinners. That's
who he gives grace to. And oh my, how much do we know
of grace? How much do we know of grace?
And oh, how much is there to learn? How much do you think you know? Oh, years ago when I first started
preaching the gospel and learning some things about God's grace,
first thing I wanted to do, I wanted to go somewhere and have somebody
teach me. I wanted to sit under some minister,
some preacher that knew something. Because I sit and I didn't know
nothing. I didn't know nothing. And oh boy, I still like, I still
felt like I know so little about grace. And, but anyway, I wanted
to go. You know, there's a few of us
out there at that old building out in Vandiver, and I called
Brother Henry. I said, Brother Henry, I'm gonna
come up there, and I'm gonna sit under your ministry so I
can learn something about God's grace. Said, I don't know anything
about it. I really need to learn. Oh, God,
would you let me, oh, I wanna come. I wanna come sit under
your ministry. He said, Don, I know you would. I know you
would. But he said, it's just not the Lord's will. You got
to stay where you are. He said, if you need help, you
can call me. I'll come preach for you. Then
I called Scott Richardson, told him the same thing. I said, Scott. I said, Scott. I said, oh, I'm
such a mess. Would you let me come up there
and sit under your ministry so I can learn something? Oh, I
want to learn so bad. I want to learn so bad that they
just said, stay put, stay put. And those men over the years,
through coming to our services and preaching for us, and through
me going and being with them and their services, God started
teaching me a little thing. But I still, still so desperately
need to go in grace. Go in grace. How much do we know
about it? We know amazing. We know what
we're saying and it's amazing. That growing in grace is more,
more, being more conscious. Growing in grace is being more
conscious of God. That's the first thing about
being more conscious of God. When grace comes, you become
more conscious of God himself. That's the first thing you start
thinking about. How conscious, you become conscious
of God. And he's not like you thought
he was. He's altogether different. And oh my, you become more conscious
of the Lord Jesus Christ and his holy life and his sacrificial
substitutionary death. And oh my, you become more conscious
of experiencing grace, experiencing our Lord's love, experiencing
his patience, experiencing His faithfulness, experiencing His
long-suffering. Oh, experiencing more of His
grace. And I'll tell you what, when
this grace comes and we're in this realm of grace, we experience
more of His grace. And what happens is, when grace,
when we grow in it, what it does, it makes the Word of God itself
come to life. It makes the Word of God come
to life. It's living. It becomes a living
thing. That's why Paul, God told Paul,
my grace is sufficient. You don't need nothing else but
my grace, my grace. And I want to, I want to show
you something, Deuteronomy 33. I hope I'm not holding you too
long. Deuteronomy 33. It's one of my favorite verses.
I used to quote it all the time, haven't quoted it in a while.
So we'll just look at it. You know, When we experience
more of His grace, the Word being more alive to us, we enjoy God
more, we need Him more, and oh, we try to have less, less, and
less of self. He must increase, we must decrease. But look what He said here in
verse 35 of Deuteronomy 33. Thy shoes shall be as iron and
brass. That means you'll be able to
walk through this world. And as thy days, so shall thy
strength be. You got today? Have no strength. Got tomorrow? As your days, I'll
give you the strength for that day. That means the grace is
sufficient for you. Oh my. You know, John said, he
must increase and I must decrease. The more we enjoy God more, we
need him more. And, Lord, we want less of self,
less of self. And then let me hurry back over
in our text again. I can get back over there myself. That growing grace and the knowledge,
and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you
this, grace and the Lord Jesus Christ go together. Grace and the Lord Jesus Christ,
they grow together. And the growth and knowledge
of Christ grow together. The more you know of Him, the
more you grow. And the more you know of Him,
the more you want to know of Him. We sang that old song, more
about Jesus would I know. No, grow in our understanding
of the truth as it is in Him. All truth is manifested in Him. I thought about a verse of Scripture,
and I thought, boy, I said, I need to bring a message on that where
it says, to him all the prophets give witness. I'm going to go
through the prophets, starting in Genesis with Moses, and go
through all the prophets, and show you how the prophets give
witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of them do. I'm going to
do that one of these days. I am. I'm going to go through Moses.
To him all the prophets give witness. Well, let's find out
what Moses said about him. Let's find out what Joshua said
about him. Let's find out what David said about him. Let's find
out what Jeremiah said about him, what Daniel said about him,
what Ezekiel said about him. And all of them had something
to say. Zechariah. I have a lot to say. I said,
I'd like going to be a good message if God will ever bless me to
preach it. You know, I don't know if he will. I'll probably,
I'll get up here and just, but oh my, growing our knowledge
concerning him. Oh my, growing our knowledge
concerning him. Oh, there's so much to learn
about Christ. We'll deal with just one aspect
of his personality or one aspect of his work and don't cover it
all. Grow in the knowledge of who
he is, God manifest in the flesh. What he's done put away sin by
the sacrifice of him now. And let me tell you this, grow,
grow in your knowledge and I want to grow in my knowledge of him
personally. I want to have a relationship
with Him personally. Just me and Him. Just me and
Him. Oh, my. Intimate intimacy with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I want to know Him. I want to know Him. He said in
Philippians 3. Paul knew he was forgiven. Paul
knew he was justified. Paul knew he was sanctified.
Paul knew he was saved by grace. Knew he was called. Knew he was
graced in the beloved. But he said, Oh, I want to know
him. I want to converse with him. I want to learn him. I want to
know him in a way that That that's just something that only and
only people that know what I'm talking about. You know, there's
There's been times when you feel like you've actually embraced
Christ or Christ has embraced you Oh learn of him learn of him
converse with him learn about him learn about him Why why why
did the Apostle exhort believers to grow in grace and knowledge?
to be established in the truth and established in the truth. Look what he said here at verse
3, chapter 3 of 2 Peter. Look what he said here, verse
5, 3 to 5. Oh, this is why he exhorts people
to grow in grace and be established in the truth. Knowing this first,
that there shall come scoffers in the last days, walking after
their own lust, saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that God, by the word of God, the heavens were of old
and the earth standing out of the waters. And oh my, and in
the water. That's why we need to learn more
about Christ, is because of that. Look what he said in verse 17.
And this is, oh my, how many times has this happened? He therefore, beloved, calls
them beloved. How many times does he call them
beloved? Three times right here, just a couple of verses. He therefore, beloved, seeing
you know these things, you knew them before, beware lest you
also be led away with the error of the wicked. Somebody come
along and lead you away. You fall from your own steadfastness. What's the only thing that keeps
you from falling? Grace. Grow in grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, growing in this
knowledge, growing in grace, that's the only way, and I'm
about done, that's the only way to face the contradiction of
this life, of the life in this world right here. This world's
full of contradiction. We're full of contradictions.
And I ask myself, I ask myself, and I deal with this myself,
how can people who profess, profess, be so disinterested? How can
people who profess act so contrary to truth? How can people who
profess Be so jealous and be so hateful. How can I be the way I am? Only
thing we can do, grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Without it, we couldn't face
the world. We couldn't face one another. We couldn't face ourselves
without the growing in grace. And I tell you, He said, nothing
shall separate us from the love of God in Christ. And what is
our motive to grow? Is it to be better than others,
more spiritual, stronger, wiser? One true motive to grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be glory
both now and forever and ever. Amen. Right? Well, oh, I want to grow, don't you?
I want to grow. I'm 75 years old. My father-in-law
didn't make a profession. God didn't save him until he
was 75 years old. Before that, he knew everything. Oh, I talked to him, you know.
Oh, listen, I know that, Don. I know that, I know that. God
saved him, and about four or five months later, He said, I'm
75 years old and I'm a baby. I'm just a baby. I don't know
nothing. I got to start all over. He said,
I'm so old to start all over. But that's the way it is. About
the time we think we get up here, God bring us back down. We got
to start. Start growing again. Well. Our Father in the blessed, blessed
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your great mercy
and grace given us in Christ before the world began. God bless
this message. Lord, thank you for it. We want
to grow. Oh, we want to grow. We want
to learn more about our Lord Jesus Christ. We want so to learn
of him. We know, I know so little, deal
with one part leave off a little part, here a little, there a
little. Oh Lord, God bless these dear saints as they go their
way and God bless my brothers and sisters that's not here,
Doc and Janie and Rick and Helen and others that are not with
us through sickness or through afflictions or through great
burdens, whatever it may be. Lord, please bless them encourage
them and strengthen them, for Christ's sake, amen. Turn to
496 in our hymn book. We're gonna sing an old hymn
we ain't sung in a coon's age. And let's stand together and
sing it, and then when we get through with it, you're at liberty
to go. 496, let's stand together. This is where it's at. I heard an old, old story How
a Savior came from glory How He gave His life on Calvary To
save a wretch like me I heard about His groaning of his precious
blood's atoning. Then I repented of my sins and
won the victory. Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior
forever. He sought me and he bought me
with his redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew him, and
all my love is due him. He plunged me to victory. beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about His healing, Of
His cleansing power revealing, How He made the lame to walk
again, And caused the blind to see. And then I cried, Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit. And somehow Jesus came and brought
to me the victory. Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior
forever. He sought me and He bought me
with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and
all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory. Beneath the cleansing flood I
heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory And I heard
about the streets of gold ? Beyond the crystal sea ? About the angels
singing ? And the old redemption story ? And some sweet day I'll
sing up there ? The song of victory Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior
forever. He sought me and He bought me
with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and
all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath
the cleansing flood. I'll see you Sunday, God willing. God bless you.