Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 460. 460. What a joy divine, Leaning on
the everlasting arms! What a blessed rest, What a peace
divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms! Lay to me, leading from the everlasting
Lord. Lead me, lead me, safe and secure
from all alarm. Lead me, Yeah. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
37. Number 37. my soul my soul Our great power went to the moon. in the I'll break them all. I'll break them all. It takes
my soul. I'll break them all. I'll break
them all. And when I think that God his
Son not sparing, sent him to die, my scares continue. ? Then sings my soul, my Savior
God to Thee ? ? How great Thou art, how great Thou art ? ? Then
sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee ? In Christ shall come, with shout
of acclamation, and take me home. My God, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee, How great Thou art! Mark chapter 3 finish up mark
chapter 3 this morning God willing I I'll read verse 31 through 35. And there came then his brethren
and his mother, and standing without, sent unto him, calling
him. And the multitude set about him,
and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without
seek for thee. And he answered them, saying,
Who is my mother? or my brethren. And he looked
round about on them which said about him, and said, Behold,
my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will
of God, the same is my brother and my sister and my mother." Great and blessed God in heaven. The God who inhabits eternity
declares the end from the beginning and things that haven't been
done as if they've already been. And Lord, we thank you that you're
great enough, glorious enough, powerful enough to measure the
waters of this world just in the hollow of your hand. All
these nations with all their powers might and majesty that
they think they have, Lord, you say they're just a drop in the
bucket, that they're just like a small dust on a balance. So
when we consider this world and all that's in it, oh Lord, we're
so thankful that you called us out of it, that you separated
us unto yourself, separated unto the gospel of the grace of God,
separated us to the Lord Jesus Christ, and what he did on the
behalf of poor sinners like ourselves. Lord, we thank you, bless you,
praise you. And Lord, we ask for your presence
in the service today. Oh, how we need you in this service.
Lord, we can go through the songs, we can go through an outline,
we can pray, but Lord, all those things can be done without you. But we can't worship without
you. We can't hear the word of God with power without you. We
can't preach the word of God with power without you. So Lord,
here we are in great need of you and desire you to be in our
midst. And Father, for those that are
my preacher brethren in the churches that are meeting together, God
bless them. Lord, use them mightily to your
glory. And for those that are not with
us, we ask for your great traveling mercies upon them. Keep your
dear people. And Lord Jesus, have mercy. Oh God, have mercy upon our lost
loved ones and do it for Christ's sake. Save your sheep. Send the
gospel to the heart and the understanding. We ask these things in our blessed
Savior's name. Amen and amen. Oh, let me mention this. No service
tonight. No service tonight. If you show up, there will be
nobody here. Hymn number 454, on that fifth verse, that first
line, let's say, to me, he's given a new heart. ? Christ has forsaken us ? What a wonderful Savior is Jesus,
my Jesus. is Jesus my Lord. I praise Him for a cleansing
blood, what a wonderful Savior. At reckons of my soul It's Jesus, my Jesus What a wonderful
Savior It's Jesus, my Lord He cleansed my heart from all sin
What a wonderful Savior What a wonderful Savior What
a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus He gives me overcoming grace
He gives me overcoming grace What a wonderful Savior ? It's Jesus, my Jesus ? What a
wonderful Savior ? It's Jesus, my Lord ? To me he's given a
new heart ? To me he's given a new heart ? What a wonderful
Savior ? The world shall never share a
part ? What a wonderful Savior ? What a wonderful Savior ? Is
Jesus, my Jesus ? What a wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord. We'll stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. God's lamp has been provided. The firstborn has been killed. Eternally decided, His purpose
is fulfilled. the blood that we dearly need. We mission is through Christ
the pure sinner such as me. God said when I see the Priscille. All right, let's look here at
our text today. Verses 31 through 45. And our Lord said he had a family.
He had a family. He said in verse 35, for whosoever
shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and sister
and mother. Are you in his family? Are you in Christ's family? That's
a good question, ain't it? You know, in verse 21, remember
his kinsmen, his brothers came to him, and his kinsfolk come
to him and said, He's beside himself. You know, all the things
that he was doing, and all the miracles that he was saying,
and the things that he was teaching, They thought he's lost his mind,
he's lost his mind. And then the devil, you know,
the Pharisees and the scribes come along and said he has a
devil, that he cast out the devil by the devil. And he said a house
divided against itself cannot possibly stand. Satan, if he
cast out Satan, then he don't even have a kingdom. His kingdoms
come to an end. And then he warned about blaspheming
the Holy Ghost, and how do you blaspheme against the Holy Ghost?
You attribute the work of God and the work of the Spirit of
God to the devil. They said, you know, when our
Lord Jesus Christ done His work, they said, He hath done this
by an unclean spirit, attributing to God and the Holy Spirit things
that's not real, things that say it's false. Sin is of the
devil. And when you go across that line,
there ain't no coming back. But I say, and I always say this,
a believer cannot do that. It'd be impossible for a believer
to do that. Be impossible for a child of
God to blaspheme against God, against the Holy Spirit. Be impossible
to him. And then look what it said in
verse 31 here. Let's go down through here and look at these
verses together. And there came then his brethren and his mother. His brethren and his mother.
You know, he had lots of brothers. He had lots of brethren. And
I tell you, if you want to see them and their names, just turn
over to Luke chapter 6 and verse 3. Just turn over one page, if
you've got a Bible like mine. Turn it over one page, Mark chapter
6 and verse 3. It tells his brothers' names.
and they talkin' about the Lord Jesus Christ, and they said here,
Mark chapter 6 and verse 3, Is not this the carpenter, the son
of Mary? Mary's son. The brother of James,
and Joses, and of Judah, and Simon. So that's four brothers
he's got that was born of Mary and Joseph. Christ was not born
of Joseph, Christ was born of God. He was sin of God, born
of God, He was God manifest in the flesh. But Mary and Joseph
had children after Christ, and they had four sons, and then
He talked about His sisters, Are they here with us? And they're
here with us. So I don't know how many sisters
he had, but they just mentioned the brothers as four brothers.
And his brethren, I don't know if all four of them was there
or not, but his mother, Mary, and there's certain groups that
make much out of Mary. But Mary is just exactly like
us. She needed a Savior. She was
as wicked and as lost as anybody ever was, and the only thing
that made a difference in her and any other woman was God chose
HER to carry the seed of God in HER womb, the Son of God in
HER womb, She's not to be worshiped. She needed a savior. She needed
the blood applied. She needed regeneration. She
did everything that we need to be born again and spend eternity
with God almighty, spend eternity with Christ. And she came, they
came. And they stood without. Evidently,
there's a big crowd there. Maybe he's still in the same
house. Maybe it's the same time. And they decided, you know, well,
we can't get to him. So what they said, they're standing
without. They can't even get in the building.
They can't get to where he's at. Got a big crowd. You'd think
his mother would have been able to say, listen, I want to get
in here and see my son. But that's not what happens.
And they stand without. And there's a big crowd there.
So they told somebody standing outside, Go somebody, go tell
my son. Go tell Jesus that his mother
and his brothers outside here and they want him to come out.
They call him, come out here. And they calling him. And they
call him out. Now why in the world would they
do that? You know our Lord loved his mother. You know he cared
for his brothers. But I don't think they understand
what he was doing. I don't think they understand
what he was doing. He said in John 7, in verse 5,
that neither did his brethren believe on him. And I think that
they didn't understand what he was doing, the great work that
he was doing. And what they was doing was trying
to get him, since he stayed so busy, day and night, healing
people, preaching the gospel. and working day and night. I
mean, big crowds constantly around him. It said there in one place
that he didn't even have room enough or time enough to have
a meal because he stayed so busy. And maybe they come and said,
well, son, you need to spare yourself. You need to rest a
little bit. You need to take better care of your body. You
need to take better care of yourself. Maybe that's what they was going
to do. But oh my. There was a great multitude there,
so it started down through there. Everybody gathered around there.
Somebody said, His mother and brothers outside, they want to
hear Him, they want Him out. It went right down until it got
to Him Himself. I mean, there's a multitude,
so somebody has to carry that thing person to person to person
to get to Him. And finally the word got to him,
Lord, your mother and your brother are standing outside and they
want you to come out. They're calling you. They're
calling you. Oh my. And I, Lord, you know what he
says? He don't get up and run to his mother. He don't get up
and run to his brothers. He didn't get up and act like,
well, listen, I'm making a mess out of things. And you know he
loved his mother, you know that. You know he did. And oh my, and
look what he says. And the multitude said about
him, he's sitting right in the middle of a whole great big bunch
of people. I mean, there's a great multitude
about him. And they said unto him, behold,
thy mother and thy brother without seek for thee. They want you,
they're looking for you, they want to talk to you. And he answered them, all that
multitude around him. And he answered them, and he
answered them saying, who is my mother? Who is my mother? And who is my brothers? Who is
my brethren? And he looked around, he was
watching everybody, and he looked around, and everybody's around
him. He sees this great crowd around him. I'm looking at you
all. I can go over to this congregation, I can look at you. And he says,
who is my mother? Marries his mother by birth,
seeded a woman. But he said, who is my mother?
He has four brothers standing out there maybe. And he said,
who is my brother? And oh my, and he looked round
about on everybody sitting around him. And said, behold, talking
about them. And you see there, my mother
and my brethren, and an exclamation point. I want you to understand,
behold, you want to see my mothers? Right there they are. You want
to see my brethren? Here they are. Exclamation point,
nothing else to be said. Oh my. You know twice, Mary involved
herself in the Lord's life, and He never acknowledged her either
time. Once when He turned the water into wine, she said, you
know, He come to her and said, she said something to Him, and
He said, Woman, called her woman, didn't call her mother, woman,
my time's not yet. And then I want you to look with
me over in chapter 2 of Luke, let me show you another time
something happened about the Lord Jesus Christ and how He
treated His mama. And you know it s what He says,
He said, look here in Luke with me, chapter 2 and verse 43. You know it was always, always
our Lord s His family always went up to
Jerusalem. People came from all over the
world to go to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover and the
day of Pentecost. And he was 12 years old and they
all went up to Jerusalem. It said in verse 42, after the
custom of the feast. That's about all folks do is
they do it after custom. Do it after custom. And when
they had fulfilled the days, You know, the days of unleavened
bread, they returned, and as they returned, the child Jesus,
12 years old now, carried behind, waited, stayed behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother knew
nothing of it. They didn't know what he was
doing. Most folks don't know what the Lord's doing. And you'll
never know what the Lord's doing if He don't make you know. He
gotta make you know. And listen, but they supposing
Him to have been in their company. How many people today suppose
the Lord Jesus Christ is in their company? How many people suppose
that Christ is with us today? They're not gonna talk about
how powerful He is, how glorious He is, how sovereign He is. what
a blessed power He's got, and what a glorious Savior He is. They're not going to do that.
And they went a day's journey. And a day's journey, say your
life is a day. That's what David said, he said,
make me to know my days. Make me to know my end. My life
is a hand's breath, it's a vapor. And they went a day's journey,
and now there's gonna be a lot of people that'll go through
the days of their life, and a day, that's about all it'll amount
to, when it's said and done. A day! A day! And he wasn't there. He wasn't there. And they said,
well listen, let's go see our kinfolks, let's see our brothers,
let's see our sisters. Let's go visit them that we know,
see if he's around them, because he's surely not with us. When
you find out Christ's not with you, if you ever find that out,
you know what'll happen to you? You'll start seeking Him, and
they went looking for Him. And I tell you what, if you find
out he's not with you, and it'll shake you up, and what you do
is you'll start looking for him, and you, and listen, when you
search for me with all your heart, our Lord said, you gonna find
me. You gonna find me. And oh my, they went about their
kinsfolks and their acquaintance. Kinsfolks and acquaintance. You
know, that's why. And you know what Paul said when
he said, when God saved him, he said, I didn't confer with
flesh and blood. Most folks, when God starts dealing with
them, they run back to mom or daddy or somebody that's in their
family that's got religion, and they start saying, well, you
know, this preacher said this, and preacher talked about election,
God's sovereignty, talked about God saving his elect, God saving
his sheep, crying, dying for his sheep, substitutionary death
just for his people. Say, what do you think about
that? Oh, honey, don't you dare believe that. You know better
than that. But they're looking, they're
looking. And look what it said in verse 45. And when they found
him not. Oh boy, when you can't find him.
They didn't find him. They didn't find him. Oh my. Well, I better go back. I better
go looking for him. I missed him somewhere. I missed
him somewhere in my life. Oh my, they turned back again
to Jerusalem, and look what it says, seeking Him, seeking Him. And so they went a day, and it
takes them a whole day to get back. So they're on the third
day now. Day going, the day coming. They're
on the third day, now watch what happens. They found Him. You
look for, you'll find Him. Where'd they find Him at? In
the temple. He's God's tabernacle. That's
where God meets man, in Christ. And look what he said. Now he's
just 12 years old now. And he's sitting in the midst
of the doctors, the smartest people in Israel at the time.
Some of the smartest people maybe, probably in the world. Both hearing
them, listen to what they've got to say, and asking them questions. And all that heard him, listen
to this now, were astonished at his understanding and his
answers. And verse 48, and when they saw
him, his mother and daddy saw him. They were amazed. And his mother said unto him,
son, why have you thus dealt with us? Why'd you treat us like
this? We have been sorrowing for you
and sought you with a sorrow. We're scared, we're worrying
about you. And he said unto them, mama, I'm sorry. Mama, I'm sorry
I worried you. Oh, I just feel so bad about
worrying you. I feel so bad about hurting your
feelings. No, what'd he say? How is it? How is it that you
sought me? Don't you understand that I must
be about my father's business? And they understood, didn't understand
a thing in the world he was talking about. Huh? Didn't understand
it. I tell you what, that's how he
treats, and his mother, that's what he said, don't you know?
He never said, Mama, I'm sorry for worrying you. I didn't cry. He's 12 years old. I got to be
about my father's business. You all go on with your life,
you go on back to Bethlehem, and you do what you got to do.
I got to be about my father's business. And our Lord Jesus
said here in verse 34, He said, I'm gonna tell you who my real
family is. And He gonna tell you how you recognize them. He
is talking to them that sit round about Him at home. And here's
the first thing I want us to understand, that His family is
not according to blood. Not according to blood. Our family,
really, our family's not according to blood. No, no, our real family,
I mean, we have blood kin. We have lots of kinfolks. I got
lots of kinfolks. I got a sister and a brother
and a half-brother and a half-sister, and I've got a couple of stepbrothers,
you know, and I've got lots of kinfolks, lots and lots of cousins.
But my relationship with them is NOTHING, NOTHING compared
to my relationship with God s people, NOTHING. And that s what our
Lord said, To as many as received Him, to them gave He the power
To become the sons of God, even them which believe on his name,
which were born, not of the will of man, not of the will of the
flesh, not of blood, but what are they born of then? God, God. And I tell you, he said, and
what he said, my brother, here's my mother and here's my brothers.
And here's my, and he said in verse 35, the same as my, whosoever
shall, and this is how you recognize them, whosoever shall do the
will of God, the same as my brother, my sister, and my mother. Oh
my. And let me tell you something,
when we get to heaven, everybody talks about I'll see mama and
I'll see daddy and you know, we'll sit down and have these
wonderful conversations and everything will be hunky dory. In heaven,
there won't be no families. There won't be no families in
heaven. There won't be none in heaven. I've got a lot of believers,
a lot of kin folks that's already gone. A lot of people that I
love, gone! But when I get there, I tell
you what, I don't care if I, you know, it's not, I'm not gonna
be there and be with my mother-in-law and my father-in-law and Mary,
I'm not gonna be with them people. We're all gonna be one family.
You know what it's called? The family of God. That's what
our Lord said. You know, in heaven, they don't
marry or give any marriage. He said, in heaven, there's no
marriage. And who in the world cares? Oh, people make some of
the dumbest statements in the world. But when we all get there,
you know, we'll know Abraham, we'll know Isaac, we'll know
Jacob, and we'll know one another as God knows us now. but it won't
have any flesh to do with it. You know, I was talking to a
fellow the other day, and he wanted to start talking about
some experiences he had, and I started talking about God.
I said, you know, God, you know, when we look out here and you
see all this, God inhabits eternity. As far as you can understand,
and you can't get it, God inhabits eternity. And we're gonna inhabit
eternity with him. And I said, He measures the waters
in the hall of His hand. He said, I never heard anybody
talk like that. Never heard anybody describe
it that way. You know why? You don't hear
nobody knows God. And I'll tell you what, that's
why He says, My family, My family. My family is not my mother standing
out there. They're not my brothers out there.
It's the people that's doing what my father wills be done. That's the people that's my children.
Oh my. And how do we know things? How
will we know things in heaven? Well, we all have something in
common here. And whosoever shall do the will
of my Father, the will of God which is in heaven. The same
is my mother, my brothers, and my sisters. Now it says, for
whosoever shall do the will of God. Let's talk about God. God is a person. God is a person. He's eternal. He's infinite. He's independent. He's sovereign. He's immutable. He's just. He's long-suffering. He's patient. He's merciful. He's gracious. And God is love. And He's a person. He is a person. And all persons
have a will. God has a will. You and I have
a will. You and I have a will. And you
know what I'd love to have happen to me? I'd love for my will to
happen for my will. If I could have my will, everybody
would love me. I mean love me. Really, really
love me. And not only that, would they
not only love me, but they'd even like me. Everybody would. Everybody would. But I don't
have the ability to do that. I don't have that ability. I've
got the will, but I don't have the ability to carry it out.
And I don't have the ability to have it to happen. And the
difference, and you know, every one of us here has a will. And
we oftentimes will to do things. And we'll go here, we'll go yonder,
and we'll make up, you know, but the difference between God's
will and everybody else's will, He's got the power to carry out
His will. to make sure His will's done,
to make sure His will will come to pass. You know what it's called? God being God, God being sovereign,
God being all-powerful. He has a will, oh yes, He has
a will. And He has the ability to carry
out that will. He's got the power to make it
come to pass. Our God is in the heavens, and
you know what He does? As He pleases. God is in the heavens, in the
earth, and He does according to His will in the armies of
heaven among the inhabitants of the earth, and nobody can
hinder Him from doing His will. He does His pleasure in the heavens
and the earth and in the deep places of the sea. He does according
to His will. Oh my. He works all things after
the counsel of His own will. You know, Proverbs 19.21 says
this. There's many devices in a man's
heart. Many devices. And we talk about
things we're going to do, and we have all these devices. I'm
going to do this, and I'm going to go here, and I want this done,
that done, all this stuff done. We have all kinds of devices
going on in our heart. But you know what it says? The council, your devices, he
said, don't amount to nothing. The counsel of God, let every
man devise what he wants to do, but the counsel of God, that's
what's gonna stand. Ain't you grateful that that's
the way it is? Oh my. Men, oh listen, God decreed,
you know, people talk about God decrees, His decrees. And I've
said this before, there's only one decree. God decreed one time,
decreed one time, And when He made that decree, everything
that happens from the time He said, let there be until He says
there's time no more, that's what's gonna be carried out,
that one decree. That one decree. He declared
what the scripture said. He declared the end from the
beginning. So that means that whatever happens
between those two places has to happen just exactly what God
says gonna happen. If that's not so, who's got the
power? You know, Satan cannot do except
what Christ and God Almighty allows him to do. God's got to
give him permission to do what he wants. If he wants to get
to you, God's got to give him permission to come to you. That's
what Job said to Job, said, I'll give you permission, but I'll
tell you what, you can't go on this far. And God will only let
him go so far. He may let him go far enough
to make you even think, well, God don't even exist. And then
he'll lift, make him back up. And you'll say, oh God, thank
you. Listen, he may let him, he may turn him loose on you
for just a season. That's what he told old Simon
Peter, said he sought to sift you as wheat. But you know what? It can't happen. Oh my. He is absolutely sovereign. He's free. He is absolutely free
and independent. Men brag about his free will,
but they won't talk about God's freedom. Men want to choose what
he wants to go and where he wants to go, but what about God's will?
What he wills to do and who he wills to do it for. Oh my. And let me tell you something,
men does what's in their heart to do. You know that? And the
cross is a perfect illustration of that. Now here's a screaming,
howling mob. They started here in Mark chapter
two. They said they were so mad, they've
gotten mad, and then they devised a way to take Christ and they
purposed and purposed and purposed and willed in their heart they
hated him so much that we're going to kill this man we're
going to apprehend him and we're going to miscreate him and we're
going to crucify him and we're going to be done with him and
they done exactly everything that was in their heart to do
they was wicked hearted evil hearted they hated God they hated
Christ they hated grace they hated what Christ taught and
they were doing everything they would do willingly. When Pilate
come out and said, listen, I find no fault in this man. Crucify
him, he brought him out twice. No fault, brought him out the
third time. And the scripture says, willing,
willing to content the people. He willingly done what he did.
And you know what? They was doing exactly what God
determined before to be done, and they done exactly what they
wanted to do. Figure that one out. They was carrying out God's will.
He said that, He said the anger of man, the wrath of man's gonna
praise Him. And what they done exactly what
they wanted to do, and said, Oh, His blood be on us and our
children. But they was carrying out God's
will, to save his elect people and to bring glory to himself
in the salvation of his elect for Christ's sake. You see, man
does what he wills to do. And you know, bless his name. And people say,
I wouldn't have done that if I'd have been there. Oh, listen,
you don't know your heart then. You don't know your heart. If
I'd have been there, I'd have been right out there in that
mob, crying, crucify, crucify. Because that's what breaks our
heart. We know how sinful we are. That it took God Almighty
by His determined counsel to deliver His blessed son up. And
then He turned around and accused them and charged them with crucifixion. You with wicked hands have taken
and crucified the just one. Oh, I'd have been there. I'd
have been there. I was there. I was there. Where was I at? I was in my sin. I was in my rebellion. I was in my enmity. But I was
also there in Christ. I was also there in His death.
I was also there in his sufferings. I was also there when the justice
of God fell on him. I was there when the wrath of
God fell on him. I was there with him when he
died. I was there with him when he was buried. I was there with
him when God rose him again. And I'm there with him now seated
in the heavenlies. Huh? He says, that's my family. My family. Oh my. Our Lord says those who are his
family are those who do the will of God. Oh my. You remember when our Lord Jesus
went to talk to the woman at the well and his disciples, he
went over there and he was dealing with the woman at the well and
his disciples went into town to buy some food and bring some
food back out there. And so they're coming to bring
food, and there they see him talking to this woman, this Samaritan
woman. And that really confused these
fellas. Jews don't have nothing to do with Samaritans. And he
said, Lord, we got some food here for you. And you know what
our Lord said to him? He said, my meat, my food, my
food, not what you're eating, my food. is to do the will of
him that sent me." And you know what else he said? To finish
the work he sent me to do. He said, I've got to finish that
work. I've got to do it. Oh my. And I tell you what, and you
know what his last words was? He said, I've got to, my means
to do the will of him that sent me and finish the work he gave
me to do. You know what the last words
he said on the cross? It's finished. I come to do his work. Well, did you do it? It's finished. Look with me over here in John,
John chapter 6. Look in John chapter 6 with me.
I want you to see some things over here. And you know, Our Lord is so glorious, oh,
so glorious. John 6, 38, look with me now. Now, everybody knows these verses,
you know. You know, all the father gives
me shall come to me, and I'll no wise cast him out. Look what
he said here in verse 38. He said, I came down from heaven.
I came down from heaven, that's where I lived, that's where I
dwelt from, that's where I came from. not to do mine own will, I didn't
come here to do my will, but listen to this, the will of Him
that sent me, that's what I come to do, God's will, my Father's
will. And this is the Father's will,
which has sent me, that all which He hath given me, this is His
will, I should lose nothing, but I'm gonna raise it up again
at the last day. And here's another thing about
the will of God, And this is the will that we do, and this
is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which sees
the Son, how do you see Him? By faith, see Him in the Word,
see Him in the Gospel, and oh my, and watch what He says. Everyone
which sees the Son and believes on Him, and believes on Him,
this is God's will, to see the Son, believe on Him, and I'll
raise Him up at the last day. Oh my, and you know what he said
his will was? And he said that I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. He said thou
shall call his name Jesus and he shall save his people from
their sins. Did he do it? Did he do it? Huh? Oh, he describes the true
family of God. But there's also a family that's
not his God. There's some people who's not
everyone makes a claim to being his father. Look over in Matthew
7. Look at Matthew 7. There's lots
of folks who make a claim to be in God's family, but they're
not. It's not everyone who makes the claim that's in the family
of God. Only those who do the will of
the Father. Now look what he said here in verse 21. That's our Master speaking now.
Not everyone, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord. I mean, they repeat it twice.
Lord, Lord. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now listen
to this, but here's the difference in it, but he that doeth the
will of my Father, which is in heaven. And listen, many, many
will say to me in that day, and repeat it again, Lord, Lord,
we've preached in your name, we've preached in your name,
and in your name, we've even cast out devils. And in your
name, everything they've done, they've done in Jesus' name,
have cast out and done many wonderful works. Boy, they really felt good about
their self, felt good about their profession, felt good about their
experience, felt good about everything they done. And I tell you, recently
a man told me, he said, I'm trying my best to be a good person.
I'm really, really giving it everything I got to be a good
person. And I told him one time, a fellow told me, he said, I
get so tired, I get so tired of trying to be good. You try to be good without Christ
and you're fighting a losing battle. Ain't that right? Oh, but look what else he says
now. Then will I profess unto them. This is what I'm gonna say about
you. I'm gonna say this about you. That I never knew you. Never knew you. He knew who they
was, he knew what they did, But he said, I never knew you like
I knew, I know my sheep, and I'm known to them. There's a
difference there, you see. For whom he foreknew, but he
did not, he said, I never knew you. And listen to this. Ye depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. How could they work iniquity
doing all these things in Jesus' name? It's easy if you know how
desperately wicked man is. It's easy. Easy, easy, easy. Oh, it's not everyone that makes
the claim. But our Lord said over there a minute ago, He said,
this is, well, let's look at it. Let me show you something
here. I'll tell you, I'm having you all over the place, but that,
you know, this is a fine, good time to, Matthew, John chapter
six and verse 28. John six, 28. I should have just
told you to stay there when you was there. I meant to do that,
but I get beside myself. Oh, look what our Lord said now
in verse 28. Then said they unto him, what
shall we do that we might work the works of God? What a question. What a question. What shall we
do that we might work the works of God? Our Lord answered and
said unto them, listen to this now, this is the work of God,
this is the work that God does, and this is it right here, that
you believe on him whom God has sent. God works that in you,
believe on him whom he has sent. Let me ask you, do you believe
that the Father sent him? Do you believe that God sent
him into this world? Huh? Do you believe that He did EXACTLY
what the Father sent Him to do? Huh? Do you believe He said when He
said, It s finished, that He completed the work that the Father
sent Him to do? Huh? Do you believe He was SENT to be a Savior and the only Savior
of sinners? Do you believe He now SITS as
a Savior and the only Savior in this world at the right hand
of God? Do you believe God sent Him and
He was a successful Savior? Do you believe that God sent
Him as the sovereign Savior? Are you content? Let me ask you,
this is the work of God. Are you content? to be saved
by Him and Him alone. Are you content to let your soul
and give your soul and rest your soul in Him and who He is and
what He did for all time while you're here on this earth and
for all eternity? Are you ready to do that? Content
to do that? He said, this is the work of
God. Oh, but you rest your eternal
soul on him. Oh my. And let me give you one,
and I'm gonna wind this thing up. I don't, let me give you
another. Acts, Acts chapter 16. We need
to look at it. No, two things. I got two things
I want you to see. But Acts chapter 16. We all,
everybody knows about the Philippian jailer. I'm sure you do. Oh my. Acts 16. Look what it says in verse 30,
Acts 16, 30. This is that Philippian jailer
now, and he's talking to Paul and Silas, and he says, Sirs,
Sirs, what must I do? What must I do to be saved? Is there more A critical question that you
could ask, the fair is I don't know what it would be. What must
I do to be saved? What must I do? Huh? What must I do? Well, Paul didn't say, well, you need
to come to an altar. He didn't say you need to quit
your sinning. He didn't say, you know, you
need to start attending church faithfully. He didn't say you
need to change the way you dress. He didn't say you need to quit
your bad habits and take up some new habits. If you wanna know
what it is, how a person is saved, Paul lays it all on the line. Believe. Not work, believe. Not try, believe. Believe. And listen to this,
on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, He's precious, precious
person. He's the Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus. who has come to put away
our sin. Christ, the anointed one, God
sent into this world. Believe, believe in his person,
his name, his work. And look what he says. And thou
shalt be saved. You can't complicate that. It'd
be impossible to complicate that. And I told you, I said two, I
got three. Let me give you another one here
real quick. I'm sorry if I'm taking too long,
but John 7, 14, I want you to see this. And then we're gonna
wind up with one other thing, John 7. Look what he said in verse 14. This astonished people, John
7, verse 14. Now about midst of the feast,
Jesus went up in the temple, and the Jews marveled, saying,
how knoweth this man letters? I mean learning and knowing the
scriptures and things like that, having never learned. Listen
to what our Lord said, my doctrine is not mine, but here he goes
again, that he will send me. Oh my, if any man will do his
will, there we are, in the family of God that does His will, He'll
know of the doctrine. If you've done the Father's will,
you'll know His doctrine. You'll know the doctrine that
Christ taught, the doctrine of the Scriptures. You'll know who
Christ is and what He taught, the doctrine of Christ. And you'll
know whether it's of God or whether I'm talking just about myself,
talking about the doctrine. And oh my, he said this, if a
man wants to talk about himself, and his accomplishments, and
what he's done, and all the things that he's done in this world,
he's seeking his own glory. But oh, if you seek the glory
of God Almighty that sent Christ, the same is true, and there's
no unrighteousness in that man. Oh my. And there's one commandment
I believe every one of us in this building's kept. 1 John
3, and I'm done. 1 John 3. 1 John 3. 1 John 3. Oh, man. I haven't kept the Ten
Commandments. People say, boy, you got to keep
the Ten Commandments. And I haven't done it. I haven't done it. I
ain't even come close. I broke all of them, but I ain't
kept any of them. But look what it said here in verse 23. And this is His commandment.
I've kept this commandment. That we should believe on the
name of His Son, Jesus Christ. I believe on His name, don't
you? I've kept that commandment. That's one commandment I've kept.
And here's another commandment. And love one another. as he gave
us commandment. Oh my. I've kept this commandment. I believe on his son. God commanded
us to. I do, I do, I do. I've kept that commandment. Have
you? Our father in the precious name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the gospel. Thank you
for the things about Christ And oh, Lord, we believe we're in
your family. We believe that we believe that
God sent you, that you came. We know your doctrine. And it's
in our hearts. Father, not my will, but thine
be done. Oh, Lord, hallowed be thy name.
Thy will be done on earth, even as it's done in heaven. And oh,
God, keep us in your will. Keep us for Christ's sake. We
ask these things in His blessed name. Amen. ? There is a name
I love to hear ? ? I love to sing His word ? ? It sounds like
music in my ear ? ? The sweetest name on earth ? HOW I LOVE JESUS,
OH HOW I LOVE JESUS, OH HOW I LOVE JESUS, BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED
ME. I'LL SEE YOU WEDNESDAY, GOD WILLING. GOOD AFTERNOON, GOD BLESS YOU. Just after 11 o'clock.