Again, I'm going to start reading here in verse 29. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you." I want to deal with this business of
for Christ's sake again and do that in a different way. You
know, when our Lord, He says, you know, hitherto you've asked
nothing in My name. But whatsoever ye ask the Father
in my name, he will give it you." So we use the Lord Jesus Christ's
name to pray. You know, He's the God and Father
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, ask in the Father's
name. And it's because God regards His Son and His person and His
work higher than anything in this universe. And so God, because
of the person of Christ, He does for us. He does for us. And it's just like you or me.
We would do something for somebody because of their person. Because
we have such high regard for their person. And say, well,
you know, I know you wouldn't do this for me, but would you
do it for so and so's sake? And we often do that, and that's
what he's talking about. And so, you know, that's why
Paul said, I beseech you by the mercies of God. And when we look
upon our Lord Jesus Christ, We long to live and walk and talk
and suffer and glorify the Father for Christ's sake. You know,
seeing we also are encompassed about with such a great cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and be seen. And
I don't know what that sin is. I really, truly don't. It may
be unbelief. It may be a sin that's particular
to you. But let us lay aside every weight
and be seen, which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking, looking,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame." And that's the true motive for our lives, for Christ's
sake. That's the true motive for our
lives right now. That's why we're here. We're
here for Christ's sake. We do what we do. We pray in His name.
We live to His name. We live to call His name. We live to honor His name, to
confess His name, to lean on His name. God gave Him a name
that's above every name. There's no other name that we
can be saved by. And that's our true motive for
the lives that we live, is for Christ's sake. How much will
a mother do for her child's sake? How much? How much? So here I'm
going to give us a few things that we're to do for Christ's
sake, for our Lord's sake. First of all, here in verse 32.
Be ye kind, and that word be ye kind, becoming kind. Becoming kind. Not just be ye
kind, but becoming kind. Let it be part and parcel of
your nature, your personality. Tenderhearted, and here's for
Christ's sake, forgiving one another. Forgiving one another.
For Christ's sake. Now, when we talk about forgiving
one another, we're not saying now for old time's sake, let's
forgive one another. For the good times we enjoyed
with one another, let's forgive one another. Not for friendship's
sake, but for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. You see, this
is how God forgave us. And oh, how many sins. We know the sins that God forgave
us of. Oh, bless His holy name, the
sins. We don't even have a clue how
many sins we've committed. And yet God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven us all our sins. And how much for us are we to
forgive? And that's the nature and character
of a believer. I think it's the nature and character
of a believer to forgive. I think it's just natural and
it's normal for a believer to forgive something that's been
done to them that's wronged them. as it is for water to run downhill.
I really truly, I know, I know we have this flesh to deal with.
But I tell you what, to feel an animosity or feel maliciousness
or feel a hardness in your heart towards somebody else, it'll
grieve a believer to death until he's rid of that. He cannot stand
it. He cannot bear it. Because we
have the very nature of Christ in us, and the nature of Christ
in us won't let us be that way. Just won't let us be that way.
Look over here in Colossians 3.12 with me just a moment. You know, just the other day,
just a couple of days ago, somebody that I know thought they had
offended somebody, thought they had hurt their feelings, said
something to hurt their feelings. They got home, they immediately called
on the phone and says, you know, I wouldn't hurt your feelings
for nothing. I hope I didn't hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt
you. I just, you know, and it's hurt them to think that they'd
hurt somebody else's feelings. You don't want to hurt nobody's
feelings. And you know, this is the way. You know how many times have
you whipped your children and they turn right around and come
to you and hug up to you and reach out for you when you get
on to them, especially when they're little. You know why? Because
they know that they've offended you and they want you forgiven.
And again, you know, our grandchildren, when I do them, I remember only
having to whip Doogie one time. One time. And he turned right around to
me and hugged me and just cried like a baby and said, Oh, daddy,
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Because he thought
he had hurt my feelings and disappointed me. And that's what we're talking
about as believers. We don't want to disappoint and
don't want to hurt and don't want to offend. It's just God
give us a nature that will let us do that. And I tell you, when
you find people that don't know how to forgive, that just want
to argue and be full of anger and clamor and fuss and fight
and strike, you found somebody that the grace of God is not
in. I believe that. But here in Colossians 3.12,
look what it says. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved. God's elect, holy, beloved of
God. Put on vows of mercy. That vow
means hearts full of mercy. Kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things, put
on charity. That will bind you together perfectly. Ain't that right? Bind you together
perfectly. And then look over here and sit
with me in 2 Corinthians 4. St. Corinthians 4. And by love
serve one another. Serve one another. St. Corinthians chapter 4 and verse
5. Paul said here, and he says, For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. And watch this. And ourselves,
your servants, for Jesus' sake. for Jesus' sake. You see, beloved,
our Lord Jesus Christ came to serve. He got down and He washed
His disciples' feet, and He said, As ye see me do, so do you. You call me Master and Lord,
and you're right. You're right about that. But
oh, as ye see me do, do ye also likewise. And here our Lord came
not to minister, be ministered unto, but to minister and give
His life a ransom for many. And this is what, by love, serve
one another. Paul said, I come to serve. And
you remember over there when he told the Corinthians in one
place, he says, you know, if God forgave anything, I forgive
you in Christ. And Paul gloried in this. He
gloried in this business of being a servant. He says, though I
be free from all men, I'm under bondage to no man. I don't have
to answer to no man. God has set me free. I am free
to do what I want. To go where I want, I'm free. I'm free from the law. I'm free
from men's opinions. I'm free from men's traditions. I'm free from fear of men. I'm free from being here. But
for Christ's sake, I've made myself a servant to every single
one of them. When I'm around a Jew, I'm going
to serve him as a Jew. When I'm around a Gentile, I'm
going to serve him like he's a Gentile. I'm going to be all
things to all men. If a man's weak, except who else
could be weaker than me? If a man has been in trouble,
who's had more trouble than I? So I know what it is to get down
and serve with other people. That's what he's done. And you
know what's done is done in what we do when we're talking about
serving one another. What is done is done for the
body of Christ. Let me show you that over here
in Ephesians 6. That quick. He's one of those fellas, he
loves to have the preeminence. You know, there are men pleasers,
but what's done is done for the body of Christ. And whatever
we do, even by serving one another, it adds nothing to the perfecting
of the body of Christ. We just do what we do because
it's the right thing to do. He said here in Ephesians 6,
5, servants, talking about servants now. Be obedient to them that
are your masters according to the flesh. And you do it with
fear and trembleness, watch this, and singleness of heart as unto
Christ. You're out on your job, you're
out on your business, whatever you're doing, you remember this,
that you have a master. And you're working for Him, and
He's paying you. But also remember this, that you're a Christ-free
man. You're serving Him in singleness
of heart. And servants, not with eye service. Don't just stand
and twiddle your thumbs until the boss comes around and the
fellow looks at you. But as the servants of Christ, that's what
we are, doing the will of God from the heart. Because whatever
you're doing, whoever you're working for, you really belong
to Christ. And you're doing the will of
Christ. Ain't that right? You women worship dishes? Do
it with Christ in your heart. You fellas have to go to work
for a living? Do it for Christ in your heart. This is the will
of God. God gave me this job. God gave me this position. God
gave me what I have. And I'm going to serve Him to
the best of my ability in this position He gave me. This is
the will of God where I'm at and what I'm doing. It's God's
will for me to be here. And that's why we serve one another.
Serve one another. And then let me show you another
about death. Look over again, 2 Corinthians
4. 2 Corinthians 4. For Christ's sake, we're delivered
unto death. What do I mean by that? Well, look what Paul says
about it. Look down there in verse 11. Now, verse 11, For we which live
are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. Now, he
was literally talking about he was always delivered unto death,
always appeared. But here's the thing. We're always
facing death. We're always facing our appointment
with death, facing that appointment with a doctor that one of these
days is going to pronounce cancer, heart disease, something wrong
with us. And we're always being delivered
undead. We know that this may be the
day. But also, since we're always facing death, let the life of
Jesus Christ be made manifest while we live in this body. If
whether we're living or dying, may Christ be made manifest in
this mortal body as we say we're doing this, and we want to honor
Christ in this. We want to honor the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we want not by sight, but by faith. And then look what
he said down here in verse 16. For which cause we faint not.
Now listen to it. Though our outward man perish.
Though our outward man perish. Boy, ain't it doing it? Ain't
it doing it? This outward man's just whittling
away. He's just whittling away. Our outward man's perishing. I mean, it really is perishing
every day. Do you know that today, And I
didn't remember until Dirk told me about it. Today is the 20th
year that we've been in this building today. We had our first
service here on the first Sunday of January in 1991. We're having
our 20th year starting today, the first Sunday of January,
2011. Now, we're in the world as 20 years went. And every one of us is 20 years
older than we was when we started. Now, that's astounding. And look
how much our outward and our faces, our bodies just went through
and our lives just went through, and we've buried a lot, went
and sat with many at the hospital that's sick, and brought with
us always, always delivered unto death. And this outward man is
perishing, perishing, but look what it says here. This outward
man may be perishing, but the inward man, that man in Christ,
That Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. That new man,
that inward man, that man that's going to spend eternity with
Christ, he's renewed day by day by day by day. That fellow's
getting younger and getting stronger, and one of these days he'll go
to glory, that man, and we'll leave this in mind. You see, beloved, for Christ's
sake, our self is dead. We count ourselves dead for Christ's
sake. If you seek to save your life
in this world, our Lord says you'll lose it. But whosoever
giveth his life for my sake, he's the one who's found it.
Found it. And believers are not in the
world, not in the flesh, not under the law, not in their sins.
And this death that we're talking about is true freedom in this
life. This death that we're having
in Christ is true freedom in this life. That man that vows
to Christ, he stands taller than anybody in this world. That man
who's under subjection to Christ is the freest person you'll ever
meet. And, oh, beloved, and that's why they still cry from the cross.
Those Christ-haters still cry. Whenever things don't go to the
worst, save thyself, come down from the cross. And that's why
we say, save yourself, come down from the cross. No, I'm not coming
from the cross. I'm not giving up my cross. I'm
not giving up this death that I have in Christ. I'm not giving
up the life that Christ crucified with Christ. I'm not giving it
up. Oh, I'm going to save myself from what? Life is good, life is great,
life is glorious in Christ, what I told you about this morning.
And all folks that want to walk away from Christ because they
have some troubles, and they have some heartaches, and they
have things not go their way, I don't understand it. I don't
understand it. And yet, beloved, where would
we go to if you leave Christ? Hell, let us die, let us die. Right. Paul said, I have the
sins of death in myself. What did Brad preach the message? The end of self. D-E-A-D. Dead. Where am I dead to? I'm dead to the world, dead to
the sin, dead to the world, dead to the flesh. I've got old, beloved,
this new man, this inward man. That's the fellow that needs
Christ. That's the one that's called
her own Christ and looking to Christ. Ain't that right? I've told you this before, and
I've heard Brother Henry mention it. And it's a true story. I
wish I could remember the preacher's name. It might have been Polycarp,
and I don't know. But anyway, a young man came
to him, and he'd been preaching for a while, and he was affected
by how people reacted to him and treated him and that. And
that old preacher told him, he said, young man, go down to the
graveyard. And he said, you go down there,
go to your daddy's grave. Tell him how much you love him.
Tell him how much you appreciate him. He said, well, he can't
hear a word I'm saying. He's dead. He said, then tell
him how he disappointed you and all the things that he done to
hurt you when you was growing up. Tell him all that. He said,
he can't hear nothing. He's dead. He said, you'd be the same way.
Whether anybody loves you, whether anybody's belittling you, you'd
be the same way. Huh? What people say. We're dead
to this world. We're dead to men's opinions
and feelings about us. And we've got to be that way
for Christ's sake, don't we? We'd walk around with chips on
our shoulders. Well, I wouldn't want to be like that, would you?
And then let me show you another, over here in 2 Corinthians 12. I wanted to do these things here
the first Sunday of the New Year. give us something, you know,
and all the blessings we have, and then how we should live to
our Lord's glory while we live in this world. He lets us live
another year. And then may, for Christ's sake,
we take pleasures in infirmities. Look what Paul said here in 2
Corinthians 12.10. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in distresses for
Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. Now, every one of us knows what
it is to be weak. How many times have you started
to a service, or had something going on in your life, and you
felt your infirmities? You felt your unbelief. You felt
your coldness. You felt the weight of the day
on you, the weight of the week on you. And you had necessities,
or you had things that had to be done. necessities that come
on you. And maybe somebody says something
to persecute you, and you've had distresses. You just get
so distressed. This phone call, that phone call,
this trouble, that trouble, this argument, that thing. Somebody
calls you, and something distresses. And then, oh, beloved, to take
pleasure in them. We don't take pleasure in pain
or suffering or sorrow. But for Christ's sake, Christ
put these on us. Christ gave these to us. Our
Lord Jesus says, Father, you've given me this cup, shall I not
drink it? Shall I not drink it? And then
He goes on to say here, for when I'm weak, then am I strong. When
you absolutely know, know, know and feel it, and have that on
you that you absolutely have nothing whatsoever to bring to
the service, or bring to the table, That's when you're the
very strongest you can possibly be. You know that? Whenever you're so distressed
and so infirm and have such necessities that that's all that you can
deal with, and you can't deal with no more, and you're stressed,
and you come and you say it, and, Lord, If I did anything,
you're going to have to do it. I can't pray, I can't think,
I can't feel nothing but this distress, this necessity, this
reproach. I can't feel nothing but that. And guess what? God always strengthens
you, don't He? Always does. Never failed us
yet, has He? And I'll tell you, when we take a pleasure in affliction,
we're not talking about taking pleasure in somebody, call it
you being a smart aleck, in somebody being mean or hateful towards
you, or you being mean or hateful or proud, or have necessities
for wasting or being miserly. A believer's strength lies in
knowing his weakness. That's where our strength lies,
in knowing our weakness. You know, preachers all the time
trying to find out the best things about their The folks that they
preached to said, you know, you got this strength, that strength.
And everybody, I guess, does. But having strength is not our
problem. Knowing a lot of stuff is not our problem, is it? It's
knowing too much, having too much, being too strong. But,
oh my, empty-handed. Mercy beggars. Mercy beggars. And then let me show you another
one here, over in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 30, for Christ's sake. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 30. Strive together. All serve one another. Forgive one another. Count ourselves dead for Christ's
sake. And then strive together. Look
what Paul said here in Romans 15 and verse 30. Now I beseech you, brethren.
Now watch this. For the Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
and for the love of the Spirit, and for the love of the Holy
Spirit that's in your heart, The love of the Spirit of God
that He's spread upon your heart, that you strive together with
me in your prayers to God for me. Now, when he talks about
striving together in prayer, that first of all tells us that
prayer, oftentimes, is not an easy thing. Oftentimes, it's
not easy. You know, these people say, well,
I separated myself for prayer for you. Get them old-timers.
You know, that's one reason why I don't like to read people's
biographies. You'll find folks that you know, they say they
got up, they prayed before they went to bed, an hour before they
went to bed, got up at four o'clock in the morning, prayed two hours.
But Paul says strive. To strive means it takes some
effort. It takes some effort. And praying
takes some effort. And that's why he says that for
the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, And you know, listen, I want
to say this, and I don't want to be glib about it, flippant
about it, but when we request prayer for somebody, or somebody
requests prayer for us, I sincerely hope that we take it to heart. If somebody calls you and says,
would you pray for so-and-so or something, we ought to do
that then, and then by God's grace to remember. And be honest
enough to say, I'll do it as God calls them to my mind. As
God calls them to my mind. And you know, as believers, we
have different personalities. We're different in our characters.
We're all different in the way we look at things. But as believers,
for Christ's sake, we strive together in prayer. Pray for
one another. Pray for the sick among us. There
are people, Brother Tommy Robbins is laying just in his last days,
striving together in our prayers for him. God keep him in peace
until he takes him home. Pam, with her sickness and affliction,
strive for her, striving together in prayer for me. Striving together in prayer for
those folks who've got a heavy heart. When somebody asks you,
oh my, remember my mother, remember my dad, remember my sister, remember
my children. I tell you, I beg you to please
remember my children, my grandchildren, my daughter. Oh, God have mercy. If the Lord don't intervene, Strive together in prayer. I
mean, you know, and that takes some effort on our part. That's
what he means by striving together. And I'll say this, and I've said
it before. Prayers of the saints are so valued that God Himself
put them in a golden bowl. And then he says to that angel,
he said, what are these? These are the prayers of the
saints. And then he poured them out upon the altar, and they
became a sweet incense that ascended up to the throne of God. That's
what God thinks of our prayer. And, oh, beloved, I'd rather
have the prayers and loves of God's people in this world, have
God's people praying for me, than to have the best doctor,
the best medicine, or to be liked. Now, it'd be awful to be without
them in this world. Wouldn't it? It'd be awful to
be without them. And how many times... I've often
felt like this, and I think I'll just be honest with you. I sometimes
get so discouraged with my children, my grandchildren, that I say,
Lord, it ain't doing no good to pray for them. They don't
care anything about this. I'm just going to quit. Maybe if
I quit praying for them, maybe something will happen for them.
Maybe they'll hit the bottom or something. I don't know. If
I just quit praying for them. Just give up on them. But how
could I do that and love them? How could I do that and love
Christ? How could I do that and have the love of God in my heart?
How could I do it? How could we do it? We can't
do it, can we, James? We can't do it. All right. Let me show you another one here
real quick. Now, Revelations 2. Revelation 2. No, we're not going
to stop. We're going to keep on striving.
And if God lets us live to this time next year, we'll still be
striving together. Still be striving together. Revelation 2 here in verse 2. I know thy works in labor. and
thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil,
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are
not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patient,"
and watch this, "'for my name's sake, and hast labored, and hast
not fainted.'" Labor patiently for His name's sake. Labor patiently. And you know, that's the thing
about it. The secret of perseverance and victory is knowing this,
that our labor is not in vain. Our labor is not in vain. Not
a prayer we've prayed, not a witness we've done, not anything that
we've done for Christ's sake is done in vain. Not one thing
we've ever thought, not one thing we've ever done. And as we persevere
and labor in this world to the glory of God, the glory of Christ,
carrying whatever God gives us in this world, it's knowing,
knowing, That it's not in vain. Huh? It's not in vain. That's
why he says, you know, be not weary in well-doing. Sometimes
we just don't get weary. You know, be not weary in well-doing.
It's well-doing to come hear the gospel. It's well-doing to
keep in touch with the Lord. It's well-doing to give to the
gospel. It's well-doing. to love one
another. It's well-doing to witness for
Christ. It's well-doing to read your Bible. Those are things
that are well-doing. It's well-doing to go to work
and live to the glory of God. It's well-doing to suffer and
suffer patiently. So don't be weary in it. Don't
be weary in it. And the Apostle says, consider
him lest you be weary in painting your minds. And one old hymn
writer said, I will not work my soul to Satan. Talking about
slavery. That my Lord hath done, but I
will work like any slave for the sake of God's dear Son. And then let me show you one
more in 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4. For our Lord Jesus'
sake, This is 1 Corinthians 4.10. We are fools for Christ's sake,
but you are wise. We are weak, but you are strong.
You are honorable, but we are despised. Paul says we're counted
fools for Christ's sake. Counted weak for Christ's sake.
You know, that's what they told Paul when he stood before Agrippa.
They said, your much learning has made you mad. Made you mad. You've studied so much and done
so much that you're just a mad man. You've lost your mind. You know, the world says you're
a fool. The world out there says you're
a fool. Your church is small. You give your money and your
time. When you could have it all for yourself, you could save
it, you could invest it, you could enjoy your Sundays without
going to church. The world says you're a fool. And how many of our family members
that says you're a fool? You know, you went by all them
churches to go all the way up there. Why do you drive an hour
to go someplace in all them other churches? Why do they say you're
a fool? And your family says you're a fool. Why do you believe
what you believe? How could you possibly believe in predestination?
How could you possibly believe in election? How could you possibly
believe man is so depraved? How could you possibly believe
little old Mavis has got a heart with little old rattlesnakes
in it and copperheads in it? And they're full of venom. How
can you possibly believe that? How can you let these things
mean more to you than to us? And how many times has the wife
quit and the husband went on? How many times has the husband
went and the wife went on? Huh? And all the religion says,
you're a fool. You mean to tell me you don't
believe in free will? Oh my, you all don't have fundraisers
up there? We don't even preach tithing,
much less fundraising. You mean you don't have soul
winning programs? No wonder you all don't have
no more than you have. No wonder you don't have a successful
ministry. I'm going to tell you who a fool
is. A man or a woman who won't forsake all for Christ's
sake. That's the man that's a fool,
huh? Yeah. And I'll tell you, I'm going
to give you a picture of a fool. Look over in Luke chapter 12.
I'll tell you who the fool is, the man or the woman who don't
forsake all for Christ's sake. Luke chapter 12, verse 16. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground
of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought
within himself, thought within himself, Now,
he's talking to himself now. Nobody else can hear him except
God. And he thought within himself, what shall I do? He began to
ponder. What in the world am I going
to do? I have no room where to bestow my fruits. Oh, my. You read tonight about the first
fruits. Bring the fruits. Come bring them before the Lord.
Come worship God with your first fruits. Christ is the firstfruits,
and we are His coming. But look what he went on to say.
And he said, this is what I'll do. This is what I'm going to
do. I'm going to pull down my barns, and I'm going to be a
grater. And there I'll have to bestow
all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul,
you have much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry." Now watch this now. But God said,
You fool. You fool. This night thy soul
shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be
which thou hast provided? I certainly don't want to be
like that. Do you? No, no. Count me a fool for Christ's
sake. Forgive one another for Christ's
sake. Serve one another. We're delivered for death, for
Christ's sake. Take pleasures in infirmities. Be counted fools,
for Christ's sake. Strive together in prayer, for
Christ's sake, for Christ's sake. Our Father, in the blessed holy
name of the Lord Jesus, we come to bless you for your goodness,
for being patient with us, for giving us a ministry here, giving
us a place to labor, a place to worship, for making us one
in Christ. And Father, let us, and surely
let us, strive together for the furtherance of the gospel, for
the growth of this congregation, for the sick, when they get sick,
Help us always to remember them, visit them, call them. And help
us, O Lord Jesus, to watch out for these young people. Let these
mothers of Israel watch out for them, pray for them, instruct
them and guide them. And we pray for Jacqueline, Lord,
as she starts life in the world. O Lord, please protect her and
keep her and preserve her. Let her know how much she's loved.
And Lord, again, we're not going to forget our own children, our
own grandchildren. We have no hope for them but
You. We have no one that would care for them but You. Lord,
we know what it is to be lost, to be a rebel, to have enmity
in our heart against You. And so, Lord, we pray that as
You broke down the enmity in us, subdued us, changed our will. I pray you do that for them.
God, please help us to honor and glorify you while we live
in this world. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. Amen.