with me here in Philippians three. And here in verse nine, there's
a little phrase in there, this I pray, and this I pray. Philippians one, nine, this I
pray. That's my subject today, this
I pray. You know, the apostle says there
in verse 7, it's necessary for me, it's right for me to thank
this of you all, that God has begun a good work, He'll perform
it. He'll carry it on. And he said,
the reason I do this is because I have you in my heart. You're
in my heart. And even though I'm in prison,
and that's where he's at, he's in prison. He's in jail. They got him for preaching the
gospel. They got him in bonds. And he
said, I have you in my heart, even in my bonds, and in the
defense and confirmation of the gospel. Because even whatever's
going on, you all, every one of you is partakers of my grace.
The same grace that I do. And then he says, God is my record.
God is my record. I tell you something, whenever
you call God and say, God is your record, I go before God
and what I'm telling you is so, now that's something else altogether
again. That's what he told the Corinthians,
that God is my record. I bring God down to record, to
witness today that what I've told you is so. And you know,
he says in Romans 9.1, but I want you to look with me in Job chapter
But he told the Romans, he said, I could wish that I was accursed.
The Holy Ghost bears witness to me that I could wish myself
were accursed for my kinsmen, my brethren, according to the
flesh. He says, God's my witness to that. God knows that that's
what's going on in my heart. But here in Job 16 and verse
19, look what we say, God is my record. In other words, he says, God
Himself is a witness to me. that what I'm saying is so. Boy,
that's something to say that God's my record. I go over, God's
my witness. To have God to be your witness.
And I'll tell you something, He'll either be your witness
in judgment for you, or He'll be your witness in judgment against
you. And if He witnesses right now that you're one of His and
He'll witness for you now, He'll witness for you in eternity too.
But look what Job said here in verse 19 of Job 16. And also
now, behold, my witness is in heaven. My record is on high too. Everything I've ever said and
done, God's got a record of it. And I've got a witness up there
in heaven right now. I've got one right there. My
friends may scorn me, but I've still got a witness in heaven.
I've got a record on high. I've got a record. Now turn back
over to Philippians with me. So God is my record. God's my
witness. And there's not many things I've
called God to be a witness for me for, but it's my relationship
with Christ. And whether I know Him or not,
I say God's my witness, that I do believe that. But now look
what he said here in verse 8. God is my record. And he says
this, I pray, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of
Jesus Christ. Now, he says here how greatly
I long after you. Lots of reasons for people to
long after one another. He said, I long after you, I
long to see you, I long to be with you. There's lots of reasons
for people to long after one another. A husband's be gone
and his wife longs after to come back home, to get back. Wife's
gone, husband's long after wives. Fathers, the son goes off to
join the military, goes off to war, and the father longs to
see his son, longs to see his face, longs to hug him. A mother
and her children, I see the reasons that they would long after one
another. And friends and family, oh, when you don't see them a
long time, you long to see this friend. I remember here recently
somebody I haven't seen in years and years, I seen him and he
just fell on my neck and he said, Oh, my friend, my friend, my
friend, and just went to crying, just went to crying, my friend,
my friend, my old, old friend, just went to crying. Hadn't seen
him and just fell on my neck and just cried and said, my friend,
my friend. Oh, it's so good to see you.
And you know, I tell you, have you ever been homesick? There's
no sickness like homesickness. And that's what we're talking
about. Long to get home, long to go home. And that's why Paul
said, I greatly long after you all. Now, I'll tell you something,
when he says, I long after all of you, he's not talking about
anybody special. He's talking about every one
of them at Philippi. All the saints at Philippi. I long after
every single one of you. Not, you know, all of you. Not,
didn't pick out anybody special. I long after you. And then he
says this, not only do I long after you, but I long after you
in the bowels of Jesus Christ. Now, this bowels of Christ means
the heart and soul of Christ. He said, as my heart, as the
very heart and soul, the inwards of me, and like the in Christ
Jesus, I long after you. Now I'll tell you something about
the apostle. He looked at everything and everyone as it related to
Christ. As it related to Christ and as
he was related to Christ. That's the way he looked at everything.
I long after you in the heart and soul of Jesus Christ. Everything
he looked at, everything and everyone, he looked at it as
it related to Christ and his relationship to Christ. His love
for them came from Christ. He longed after them because
of Christ. His imitation was in Christ. And he loved them
because they were in Christ and they loved Christ. And oh, beloved,
if there's anything that impresses me in this world, it's the only
thing that impresses me. really, really, truly impresses
me is people's relationships with Jesus Christ. They can talk
about lots of things, make lots of accomplishments, have lots
of money, do lots of things, have great names and doctor's
degrees, but, oh, to have a relationship with Christ, to know Christ and
to love Christ, and, oh, beloved, and how this man loves his master,
And he loved those to whom he was called a priest to administer
to. And these Philippians loved him
too. They were like the Corinthians.
They were like the Galatians. He told the Corinthians, the
more I love you, the less you love me. And look back over here. You keep Philippians. Look back
over in Galatians chapter 4. Look what he says here in Galatians
chapter 4 in verse 14. These folks really loved the
apostle. They were like the Corinthians,
always questioning, setting judgment on him. And he says, the more
I love you, the less I'll be learned. And look how the Galatians
did him. He said in Galatians 4.14, and
my temptation, which was in my flesh, you didn't despise it
or you didn't reject it, but you received me as an angel of
God, as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness
you speak of that you were blessed by me, by the gospel? For I bear
you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked
out your own eyes and have given them to me. Now listen to it.
And I therefore now become your enemy because I tell you the
truth. They went from the time that
they loved him and plucked out their eyes and treated him as
Jesus Christ and then all of a sudden he became an enemy because
of the gospel. because he would not compromise
the gospel. And so this man loved his master.
Look with me again in Philippians now. Oh, he greatly longed after
all of them in the vows of Jesus Christ. And then he says, and
this I pray, and this I pray. Can you calculate the blessing
to have your name, somebody to take your name, to the throne of grace. Somebody
take your name, take you by name, and take your needs, to take your person right straight
up to the throne of grace. Somebody call your name. Somebody
talk about your needs. and you in your knees and somebody
take your person and what you are and what you mean to them
and what you're going to take them up to the throne of grace.
Can you imagine the blessing for somebody to do that for somebody
else? And oh my, when people pray for
you and you pray for them, oh my soul, what a blessing it is
to actually have somebody say, oh listen, I want to bring Rick. I want to bring Obi. I want to bring your name. I want
to bring your name. I want to bring your needs. You
got needs. You got needs in your home. Got
needs with your children. Got needs with your health. You
have needs. And somebody says, oh, listen,
Lord Jesus, there's these new saints. I'll call them by name
and I'll call them with joy. And they've got these awful needs. They've got this heartache. They've
got this grief. They've got this sorrow. They've
got this burden. Oh, we can't imagine. But, oh,
listen, this is what he goes on to say. He mentions specifics.
He thinks that he desired for these believers at Philippi.
And look what he says, this I pray. I pray for all of you now. I
love all of you, and I mention all of you. Oh my, I'm making
mention of you in my prayer, making requests for you. And
then he says here, this I pray, and this is what I want you to
pray for this specifically, that your love may abound yet more
and more. That you love men abound yet
more and more. Evidently, their love was abundant. He said evidently they loved
abundant, abundantly, greatly, yet he prayed that it might grow
and abound more and more and more. Can you love too much? And oh, when he says that your
love may abound, that your love for Christ may abound more. That your love for God the Father
may yet abound more. For your love for the gospel
may yet abound more. That your love for one another
may yet abound more. That your love for believers
in other places may yet abound more. And oh, let's keep Philippians. Look in Romans chapter 12. I'll
tell you something, beloved. You cannot go to the extreme
in Christian love. You can't do it. I don't believe
that you can love enough. John Newton, one time somebody
got on him, said he loved his wife too much. And old John Newton
said, how in the world can I love her too much when Christ said,
told me to love her even as he himself loved the church? So
if I love her as much as Christ loves the church, how can I love
her too much? But look what he said in Romans
12, 9, and 10, talking about love. Oh, I pray that you love
me. Let love be without dissimulation, without lying, without pretending. and
abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good." Listen
now. "...be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly
love and honor for one another." One above another. Oh my, that's
what love does. Now look over here in Romans
13 in verse 8. Oh, this is one of my... I love
this verse of Scripture right here. Love it. owe no man anything
but to love one another. What I owe you? Love. You reckon
I'll ever get that debt paid? Not till we get into eternity.
When I get up in the morning, I'll owe you love again some
more. I'll owe you some more love. I'll owe it to you some
more. I'll owe it to you again. Look
what he goes on to say For he that loveth another, what he
does, he's fulfilled the law. The Lord said those two commandments
hang on the law. Love God and love your neighbor
as yourself. And he that loves another and loves his brother,
he's fulfilled the law. Don't commit adultery. Don't
kill. Don't steal. Don't bear false
witness. Don't covet. And if there's any other thing
to say about the commandment, just briefly comprehend it in
this section. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. Now, this is how you know you
love. Love works no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is
the fulfilling of the law. If you've got love, you're not
going to hurt somebody. You're not going to be mean to
them. You're not going to fake ill of them. You're not going
to turn against them. No, no. No, no, this thing that people
in love and they may fall out of love and they may fall in
love with somebody else and all that, that's tommyrot. If you
ever fall in love and if God ever puts the love of Christ
in your heart, it's there. This idea, you know, that you
fall in and out of love and that you can love Christ for a while
and go back to the world? There ain't nothing to that.
That you can love the gospel and then change the gospel? That
you can love the church and the saints of God and then walk off
and leave them? There's nothing to that. I'm
telling you what, if God ever puts the love of Christ in your
heart, you'll stay where the gospel's at, you'll stay with
the saints of God, you'll stay with Christ, and you'll love
one another, and you'll do that till the day God calls you to
the next world. There ain't no ifs, ands, or
buts about that. I don't know much, but I know that. You know,
listen, when I walk off and leave my wife, I love her. How could
I walk off and leave her if I loved her? And the weaker she becomes, the
more I love her, because I got to be her strength. How in the world can you walk
off and leave people you love and mistreat people you love
and not wait on people that you love to meet the needs of the
people that you love? And that's why Paul said, oh,
I pray that you love one another, that you abound in this love.
Let this love fit. I know you love one another,
but let it just grow and grow and grow. And let me tell you
something. Do you think you love enough
now? Oh, do you think you love enough
now? I'll tell you a little story. My son just called this morning.
He's 42 years old. But here's a little bitty fella
about, I think he was 10. Him and I was playing nurse football
in the living room. I was on my knees, and he was
running. And we was playing football. And boy, we was playing there,
and then all of a sudden, you know, we's down, And he just
started crying and fell on my neck, laying on the floor, just
crying and crying and said, Daddy, I love you so much. I love you
so much. I can't tell you how much I love
you. And he's proved it for years and years and years and years.
And now he's got one of his own that he loves. And he said, you
think you love him for a little? I said, you ain't seen nothing
yet. It just gets bigger. Don't it?
Huh? Don't it? Alright, back over
in our text. Oh my, that you may abound yet
more and more in love. Now watch what else he says here.
Love for Christ, love for one another, love for the Father,
love for believers. Then he says, verse 9 again,
yet more and more, I pray that your love may abound more and
more, and that it may abound in knowledge and in all judgment.
Oh my, that your love may abound in knowledge and not in all judgment.
Now what this means is, beloved, this word judgment means sins,
just plain old sins, common sins. He says that you may grow in
this knowledge and in all judgment, that you may love the knowledge
of God's Word, that you may love the knowledge of God's will and
purpose in Christ. I love the fact that God chose
a people in Christ. I love the fact of God's will
and purpose in Christ before the foundation of the world.
I love the fact that I know that God and everything works together
for good to them that love God and are called according to His
purpose. And I want to grow in that knowledge. I love that knowledge,
don't you? I love the knowledge of God's
Word. I love the knowledge of knowing
that God is sovereign, that God is all powerful, that God is
omnipotent. That God is the God of judgment,
God is the God of justice, God is the God of righteousness.
And then use that knowledge in all judgment. Oh my, the knowledge
of knowing the true way of salvation. How many people know the true
way of salvation? How God can save a sinner and
stay holy and just and righteous and take a sinful, sinful man
and make him holy. How can God take a sinner, one
with venom in his heart and venom in his soul and venom in his
tongue, and take that sinner and bring him to himself and
still sit on his throne in his holiness and his glory and his
justice and his righteousness and come down and save that sinner
and never compromise his character? How can He do that? The only
way He can do it is by taking His Son and making His Son to
be what you are, to bear your sin, to bear your guilt, to bear
your shame in His own body on that tree. And when you come
to Christ by faith and say, He died for me, He bore my sin,
He bore my justice. When you believe on Christ, God
just, to say, yes, he believes on my son and I'll never hold
him guilty ever again. In fact, I'll declare him righteous. Oh, my. More and more knowledge
of grace. More knowledge of the person
and work of Christ. More knowledge of the work of
the Holy Spirit. More of God's work in His church
in this world. And he's talking here about spiritual
knowledge. He's not talking about just knowledge
for the sake of knowledge. He's praying for spiritual knowledge.
Spiritual knowledge. I've been studying the scripture.
I've been pastoring here. Is it 34 years in March? Is that
what I said? 34 years in March. Started in
1979. So it'd be 34 years. Is that
what that'd be? And I've been studying this book
all them years. And it seems like I know less than when I
first started. It seems like I know less and less. You know,
the Bible gets bigger. You know, I look at something
and I say, boy, oh boy, what does that mean? What does that
mean? Huh? And then certain things stand
out to you that didn't stand out before. You know. But look what he goes on to say.
So this knowledge, this spiritual knowledge, that's what he's praying
for. That's what they need. Now, knowledge in and of itself
puffs up. I'll show you that. Look with
me over in 1 Corinthians 10. Let me show you something. You
know, knowledge puffs up. Knowledge puffs up. You know,
if you talk to somebody and they'll say, Oh, I know it. I know it.
I know it. Knowledge makes you arrogant, makes you, you know,
if you think you know something, nobody tell you nothing. You
can't imagine. You ever been, you ever face,
talk to somebody, Some of these, you know, I've talked to a couple
of preachers about it sometimes, and they say, well, you can't
tell me nothing. I know that. I went to school. I did, too,
Bush College. And the Bushes up behind the
house, well, they all got towards that. Mary told a preacher that
one time. Well, a preacher's wife. We was
down in Chattanooga, big, big Presbyterian church in the Preacher,
a real popular, pretty famous preacher was going to be there
preaching. We went down to Charlotte. Charlotte and Ed Lawson were
down there, and they wanted us to come down. So we went down.
We was in the service, and this preacher's wife, that's my wife,
says, now this has been, oh my goodness, this has been 32 years
ago, 30, 32 years ago. Said, now where did your husband
go to church, go to school? Mary said, well, he went to Bush
College. Really? Where's that at? She said, where's
yourself at now? Mary's just fast on her feet
like that. Oh, she's fast on her feet. It's like Henry one
time, that's not, said, where'd Don Fortner go to school? That's
the only school I ever know that went to was Ford School. Which, of course, that's not
true. But oh, oh boy. But anyway, knowledge puffs up. It puffs up. Makes you, you know,
you can't tell nobody that knows everything, anything. Just as
quick as you start to tell somebody something, they say, I know it.
Just shut up. Just shut up. If they know it, don't tell them.
Just shut up. Somebody knows something. Just
shut up. Leave them alone. But now look what he said here.
Without talking about knowledge, you know, I want you to grow
in knowledge and abound in knowledge. But he said here, look at the
last part of verse, chapter 8, verse 8, chapter 8 here in verse
1 of 1 Corinthians. Now, as touching things offered
unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. We all know that
you're not supposed to. have anything to do with idols. But knowledge puffs up. When
you say you know something, that knowledge, and you glory in your
knowledge, it'll puff you up. It'll make you think, oh boy,
I'm really something. But charity, what it does, it establishes,
it builds other people up. It builds other people up. And
listen to this, if any man thinks he knows anything, if a man thinks
he knows anything, you know what he said? He don't know nothing.
Yet is it ought to know. That's awful plain language,
ain't it? That's awful plain language. Oh, my. Now, let's
go back over to our text. Now, he said, I pray that you'd
grow in the knowledge and in all judgment. And this knowledge,
this judgment he's talking about, and all knowledge and judgment
there in verse 9, is all judgment having sense with the knowledge.
It's one thing to know, not have knowledge. That's why Paul said,
knowledge proveth not, but charity edify. It's one thing to know
something, it's another thing how to know how to use what knowledge
you have. For the wisdom to use it, for
the sense to use it. How to use it, how to honor God
with it. In fact, if you notice what he's
talking about, the more we learn of Him, the more we will love
and the more we'll want to know of Him. And then look what he
says, in this I pray, verse 10, that you may approve The things
that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense
till the day of Christ. He said that you may approve
things that are excellent. Now, what does that word mean?
Try, that you may prove, approve the things that are excellent.
That word approve means to try, to try. And things that are excellent,
that means things that are different. You try things that are excellent. Try. Is it approval of what's
right? Disapproval of what's wrong.
Things that differ. You have this sense. You have
this knowledge and this sense. And this judgment and this sense
that you may approve things that are excellent and things that
are different. Now, let me tell you something.
This is what judgment will do. This is what sense will do for
you. This is what knowledge will do for you. You'll make a distinction
in things that differ. Let me tell you, grace and morality
differ. Oh, what a difference there is
in grace and morality. A lot of people think because
they live a good, clean life, what they call a good, clean
life, that that's all it takes to get to glory. Grace and morality
is the difference between daylight and dark. Grace is what God saves
men by. And then what about temporal
and eternal? Everything here is temporal.
Everything here is temporal. Every relationship's temporal.
Every home's temporal. Every car's temporal. We're temporal.
Our clothes are temporal. Everything's, every relationship's
temporal. And then, but we're always the same kind of eternal
beings. Great difference between temporal and eternal. Great difference
between law and gospel. Great difference between the
doctrines of men and the doctrine of Christ. There is a difference
between faith and works to justify you or Christ to justify you.
And so these differences, these things that differ, he says,
you try these things and prove them by the Word. Somebody comes
along, starts trying to tell you, well, I know that you're
saved by the Gospel and saved by grace, but... That's the end of that, beloved.
Whatever somebody's telling you, you take and go to the Word of
God and try what they're saying about the Scripture. If it's
according to the law and testimony, if it's not according to the
law and the testimony, leave it alone. And that's why Paul
says things that are true, things that are excellent, you receive
them and you embrace them. You embrace the grace of God.
Law don't have nothing to do with saving us, Henry. Law don't
have nothing to do with justifying us. And I ain't going to go under
law in no way, shape, form or fashion. And I'm not going to tell you
what I told you all this other day. Just quit using the term. Quit using the term. He's got
a good heart. You just don't know Christ. Just
quit using that term because it's a lie. It's not true. And that's why we talk about
things that are different. Saying he's a good, good fellow. He's good. May be good to his
wife, may be good to his kids, may be good where he works. But
boy, I tell you, before God, that's an old mother's story.
The only thing that makes you acceptable before God is Christ,
His blood and His righteousness. The only way you'll ever have
a good heart is for God to take out that stony heart of flesh
and put in a heart, a new heart. to put in a new spirit, to cleanse
you from the filthiness of your flesh. The only way in the world
a man can ever really call on God is for God to give him a
heart to do it with. This generation today say, give
me a heart, give me a heart, give me a heart. They say, Jesus
wants your heart. What in the world would He do
with this rotten, stinking thing? He's got to come and give you
a heart. Give your heart to Jesus. Listen,
He doesn't have to give you a heart. We've got it backwards. That's
what I'm talking about, proving things to the rest of the things
that are not. Now, after you get converted,
after you get saved, after the grace of God gives you that new
heart, then your heart, you don't have no problem. Your heart belongs
after Christ. Your heart belongs after the
truth. Your heart belongs after the gospel. Wouldn't you all agree with that? Oh, my. Then he says here, that
prove things that are excellent, that you may be sincere without
offense till the day of Christ. This word, be sincere without
offense, that word sincere means pure. It means to be pure. It's
to hold something up in the light And then when you hold it up
in the light, you look, see if there's any blemishes in it,
any faults in it, anything wrong with it. And that's what it means
to be sincere. That's why Paul says, God's my
record. He can hold it up to the light. And so if you're sincere,
you know, and he's talking about the honesty, purity, purity of
heart, only the pure in heart shall see God. So, you know,
you hold it up to the light. Hold up your profession. Hold
up your profession. Hold up your fame. Hold up your
relationship with Christ. Hold it up to the life. Now, I'm not talking about holding
up your life. I'm not talking about holding up your thoughts.
I'm not talking about holding up your words. I'm talking about
holding up your relationship with Christ. That knowledge you
have of Christ. Oh, may our principles, may our
practices bear the test of God's holy light. May our grace be
genuine and our righteousness and our faith be not hypocritical
and put on. May our love to God, may our
love to Christ and our love to one another be real, be genuine. May our hope that God give us
in Christ be a living hope. May God cause our faith to be
built on the foundation of Christ and Him crucified right now. May our lives in this world be
lived by the grace of God in simplicity and godly sincerity. May we do that. Look what he
said down here in verse 27 of chapter 1. May our lives in this
world be lived by the grace of God just in simplicity and godly
sincerity. Just simply trusting Christ and
His righteousness. He says in verse 27, only let
your conversation, your manner of life, how you live in this
world, be as it becomes the gospel of Christ. What would become
the gospel of Christ? What would honor the gospel of
Christ? That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I
may hear of your affairs. Now listen to this, that you
stand fast in one spirit, one mind, striving together for the
faith of the gospel. Oh my. And then back over here
again in verse 10. That you may approve things that
are excellent, that you may be sincere. This I pray now. This
is what he's praying. These individual things. That
you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Be sincere and without offense
till the day of Christ. I'm going to tell you something.
God's people are without offense right now in Christ. Right now,
we're without offense in Christ, with the righteousness of Christ.
But he talks here about being without offense openly, before
God, and without offense before men, before one another, before
our own consciences. To be without offense before
men, be without offense before one another, and be without offense
before our conscience. Now, I'll tell you what, I don't
want to offend anybody. Do you? I don't want to be offensive.
I don't want to cause anybody to ever stumble. And that's why
Paul says, you know, I want you to be without offense. Don't
offend people. Don't offend them by your actions.
Don't offend them by your word. Don't offend them by who you
go. Don't offend them by what you say. Please be without offense
before God. That's why Paul said, I call
it from my record, God save us and keep us from evil. So we
won't wound. or grieve anyone. Oh, don't wound
or grieve anyone. Don't wound or grieve a brother
in Christ, and don't wound or grieve somebody in the world.
Don't give them a reason not to come hear the gospel. And
God give us grace to walk in the light that we've received.
And then let me hurry on here. He says in verse 11, being filled
with all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. This
I pray, that you love the abound, more in knowledge and in judgment,
and I pray that you may approve things that are excellent, that
you may be sincere with all offense to the day of Christ, and I pray
that you might be filled with the fruits of righteousness which
are by Jesus Christ. Now, he talks about the fruits
of righteousness. Now, we have righteousness imputed
to us, and then we're made partakers of the divine nature. Christ
works in us, and Christ works for us what He worked in us.
The Holy Spirit works in us what Christ worked out for us. Now,
let me tell you something about fruit. Fruit comes from seed. Fruit comes from seed. Is that
not right? Now, where in the world are you
going to get the seed that's going to bear the fruit? You know, being filled with the
fruits of righteousness. Now listen to this. These fruits
of righteousness are by Jesus Christ. You know, the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no law. And fruits come from seed. And
that's why Lord Jesus Christ said, you know, John said this,
he says, they that are born of God cannot sin. Why? Because
his seed, Christ's seed, remains in them. Being born again, not
a corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
forever and abideth forever. Christ said that a sower goes
forth to sow seed. The seed is the word of God.
And that's why our Lord Jesus says, you know, without me, you
can do nothing. He's the vine, we're the branches.
And beloved, our fruit comes from Him and Him alone. And oh,
beloved, listen, let me, I'll tell you something that's fruit
of righteousness. It's only Christ that does it.
And being filled, fruit, full of the righteousness of Christ.
And it produces good works. God ordained them before the
world ever began. And then look what he says in
there, and again, which are by Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ. Now, I'm going to show you something
over here in Isaiah 61. I'm just about done. Isaiah 61. Now, we're talking about righteousness.
We're talking about fruits of righteousness. Fruits of righteousness. You know, talking about with
offense and without offense, I know a fella that's a pretty
big shot in one of the biggest churches in Cumberland County.
I mean, it's huge. This outfit's huge. Somebody told me the other day
that he'd come and bought a bunch of drugs off of him. Come to
find out he's a drug addict and has been for a long, long time.
And he's, I mean, he's way up in this outfit. Now see, that's
offensive to me. And the person he bought the
drugs off of, they know he's going to go up there at that
church. He's going to get up there and teach. He's going to
get up there and tell them folks what to do and how to live and all
that kind of stuff. And in here, he's a drug addict. Spending
his money on pills to snort and things like that. I think I'll call this preacher
and tell him. That's offensive to me. I don't
want to hear anything that man's got to say. I just don't want to hear it. And you say, well, that's, you
know. But that's why he says, let's be without offense. He
surely can't have an offense before God, can he? Look what he said here in Isaiah
61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, taught by Christ, the fruits of righteousness by Jesus Christ.
Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto
the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison
to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. and the day of vengeance of God,
to God exception or vengeance won, to comfort all that mourn,
to appoint unto them that morning sign, I'm going to give them
beauty for their actions, oil of joy for the morning, the garment
of praise for the Spirit of heaven." Now listen to this, "...that
they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, that he might be glorified." Christ planted trees of righteousness."
That's what he said. And you know, we don't claim
any righteousness, but he had the fruits of righteousness.
That means that you manifest the grace of God, manifest the
love of God. And, oh, beloved, he's our gold.
Back over in our text. He's our gold. He's our motive. He's the one who works in us,
both to will and to do. He's the one that does it. He's
the one that does it. And I want you to see this. And
he says in this, I pray that your love may abound, that you
may abound in knowledge and in all judgment, that you may prove
things that are excellent. You may be sincere, be able to
bear the light. without office till the day of
Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, grace
and love and mercy, tenderness and kindness and gentleness,
generosity, faith, meekness. Oh, my, those are the fruits
of righteousness. And they're all by Jesus Christ. And listen
to this. And I pray that everything that's
done will be under the glory and praise of God. We don't do
what we do right now. We're not here this morning to
obtain life, and we don't do what we do to even receive blessings. But I pray we do what we do for
the glory of God, and that God will be praised, that Lord Jesus
Christ will be praised. We don't do it to get applause
from men or admiration of men. We do what we do by the grace
of Christ our Lord, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
the strength of our Master. And I pray with a view to the
honor and glory of God. David said, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name be glory and honor. And let me
close, show you about a fellow who didn't give God honor. Look
in Acts chapter 12, verse 21. Here's a fellow who didn't give
God honor. This is what happens to people that don't give God
all the glory, God all the praise. That's the fruit of righteousness.
You know one of the fruits of righteousness is giving God all
the glory? Giving God all the glory, that's the fruit of righteousness.
Giving all the attribute and everything to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Everything that's done in us,
it's God that works it in us to do the will of His good pleasure.
What have we got to glory in except Him? And look what it
said here. Verse 21, Acts 12. Upon a set day, Herod, arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto
them. He stood and gave all. He just
spellbound that crowd with his oratory. And the people gave
a shout, it's the voice of a God, it's not a man. Oh boy, man, I tell you, this
fellow, he's something, ain't he? And immediately, the angel
of the Lord smote him. Listen to this, because he gave
not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the
ghost. I mean, he died a miserable,
long death. because he refused to say, I'm
not the voice. John, who are you? Are you the
Christ? No, the voice of one kind in the wilderness. Oh, it's
the voice of a God. Yes, it is. Oh, thank you, thank
you, thank you. God smote him. He died a miserable
man. God, to God be the glory. Our Father, O our Father, Thank
you for the Gospel. Thank you for the Word. Thank
you for your truth. And I pray that you'd be pleased
to bless these things to our hearts, to our understanding,
to our faith, that we may grow in grace, more in love, more
in the knowledge of our Savior, knowledge of your Word, knowledge
of God the Father and His purpose in this world, of the glory that's
in Christ Jesus our Lord, Oh God, cause us to grow and abound
more and more in these things. And our Father, we pray that
you'd cause the gospel today to run well, to really, really
run well to your glory. It's in your hands to do with
it what you will. We know it won't return void.
It'll accomplish what you sent it to do. We thank you in Christ's
name. Amen.