Here in Matthew 11, verse 6,
it says this, And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. It's hard for us who know the
Lord Jesus Christ for us to grasp that anybody would be offended
with Christ. And this word offended means
to stumble over. To stumble over. But God laid
him for a stumbling stone and a rock of offense for those that
be disobedient. They stumble at the Word. But
for us to understand why our Lord made this statement, and
blessed is he who shall not be offended in me, John was in prison. He hadn't yet cut off his head.
And he had sent two of his disciples to the Lord Jesus Christ to ask
Him. Verse 3, it said unto him, sent
him to ask Christ, are you he that should come, or do we look
for another? What he's asking, are you the Messiah, the one
that was promised, the one that was spoken of, the one that,
are you he that should come? Are you that prophet? Are you
that Messiah? Are you the Savior? Are you the
Redeemer that's to come? And our Lord gave him this evidence.
He says this, he said, the blind, in verse 5, the blind received
their sight. I know that for a fact. I received
mine. And the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The
deaf hear. I know all those. I was a leper.
I've been cleansed. Deaf. And now I hear. The dead
are raised. I know that too. I was raised
from the dead. And the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And I'm in that category too. I was related to Adam. I didn't
have anything. Didn't have anything. And so
our Lord Jesus to me says, now you go back and you tell John,
you go back and tell John everything that I've told you, what you've
seen. Now what in the world was John's motive for sending his
two disciples? You know, John was the one who
says, behold, the Lamb of God was taken away the sin of the
world. And when he told that, Peter and John was following
him and they were Disciples of John followed him around, and
when he pointed out Christ, they left John and went following
Christ. Immediately after that. And John told them time and time
again, you know, when asked who he was, he said, I'm not he,
I'm just the one coming before him. I'm not worthy to lose his
shoelace. So John pointed out the Messiah
when he came. He pointed out the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was his fore one. In fact, they were first cousins.
After the flesh. But what was John's motive in
sending these disciples? Was he offended with Christ?
Huh? Did he send them disciples for
his sake or for their sake? Did he want these disciples that
he sent over there to understand, now you're not to follow me,
you're to follow Christ. I don't need any disciples. I
don't have any disciples. Christ is the only Redeemer.
Christ is the only Savior. So when they went over there
to ask him, our Lord Jesus said, you see all these things that's
going on, you go back and tell John that. And oh, here he was
in prison. You know, does he think maybe
I've been a false witness? Maybe I bore witness to the wrong
one? Was he here having while he was in prison a fit of unbelief?
Huh? Was he having depression? But
our Lord says, you go tell John. Blessed is he. Blessed is he. Who is not offended in me? Who
doesn't stumble in me? Now, I truly don't know John's
motive, his reason for sending those two disciples over to the
Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know the motive behind
that. I don't know the reason. My personal opinion is, I think
he sent them over there for the disciples. That's what I think
he sent them for, for his sake. John was the prophet-son of God.
He knew that. He knew and multitudes came to
him. But I think that he sent those
disciples over there so that they would know the Messiah.
That they would see that it's the Christ. And I don't know,
but I'll tell you one thing. I know I want to look at this
verse of Scripture for myself. Am I offended with Christ? Do
I stumble over Christ? Or am I one of those blessed
ones who's not offended in Him? Who doesn't stumble over Him?
That's what I want. A lot of people stumble over
Christ. A lot of people today stumble over Christ. You know,
they accept Him in their hearts, they walk an aisle, they get
on an altar, but when they find out His claims and His demands,
and that He's Almighty God, and that He's the only Savior, the
only Redeemer, and He's sovereign, He saves whom He will, then they
get offended at Him. I've preached lots of places
and lots of messages, and other preachers have too, where people
have been offended at the Christ we've preached. Offended and
stumbled at the one. That's not my Savior. That's
not the one I know. That's not the one I know. But
let's look at some people and what makes some people to be
offended at Christ. Blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended. And that offense means to stumble
over, fall over. And I'll tell you something men's
never offended at. There are some who are offended
with Christ and they'll never trust Him and they'll never believe
in Him. Men are not offended. They don't stumble over good
works. Nobody's offended over good works. Nobody's offended
over morality. Nobody's offended over love.
Nobody's offended with the God of love. Nobody's offended with
the church or with church baptism. But there's lots of folks offended
with Christ. Lots of them. You know, it says
there in John 7, 43, and there was a division because of him.
Some said, well, is this that prophet that you... Oh, no, no.
No, that can't possibly be him because Christ was going to come
out of Bethlehem. He wasn't going to come out of
Galilee. Well, how can the man do these works if he's not that
prophet? And they just argued and fussed and fight and over-argued
over him. When old Wade was offended in
him, they argued over who he was. But I tell you what caused
some folks to be offensive over him. And that's because of his
appearance. Because of his appearance. Now,
I'm going to show you what I mean. Look over in Matthew 13. Matthew
13. Verse 54. Oh, this is what caused some
people to be offended. And that's the way it is today.
You know, and here in Matthew, 13.54 says, And when he was come into
his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch
that they were astonished, and said, With that this man these
wisdom and these mighty works. Now watch it. Is not this the
carpenter's son? is not His mother called Mary
and His brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and His sisters,
are they not all with us? Which then hath this man all
these things?" Now listen, but they were offended at Him, offended
in Him. They stumbled at Him. They looked
at Him and said, Oh my, this can't be a Savior. How can He
have this wisdom? How can He preach with this power?
How can He have this authority? How come people gather around?
Here's a man, we know Him. We know him. That's what the
Lord said, a prophet without honor saving his own country.
His mother and daddy and his brothers and sisters come one
time, all these preachers in the house, and they says, go
in there and tell them we want him out here. Because they thought
he had lost his mind. And his own brethren believed
not on him. They were astumbled at him because he's a carpenter.
We know his mother, his brothers and sisters. What if somebody
you knew, all the brothers and sisters and somebody said, I'm
he that came from God. I'm he that came to redeem him.
I'm he that came to save sinners. Told his own mother. Told his
own mother. Woman, I've got work to do that
you don't know nothing of. I've got to be about my father's
business. And his own mother had to trust him for salvation.
You imagine. No wonder folks would get offended
at him. How's he doing up here teaching and preaching? We know
his brothers, his brothers, his sisters. They're all among them.
So they stumbled over that. And oh, here's the Prince of
Peace laid in a manger. Eternal God come born in a stable. Oh, no, no. He couldn't possibly
be the Messiah. He's just a carpenter's son.
He ain't nobody. And then I'll tell you another
reason people stumble over him. Because there wasn't very many
people that followed him, very many people that believed on
him. In fact, when he got to the end of his ministry, there
was only 120 after three years of preaching. You think preachers,
you know, they get discouraged because they don't see anything
happening? Listen, our Lord Jesus preached
for three years and a little longer, and when it was all said
and done, only 120 people were gathered together. And when he
stood at the cross, there wasn't but five who identified with
him. And there was a multitude that
followed Him around, and that's what they said, you know, said,
Oh, if any of the rulers believed on Him, if any of those, if just
anybody believed on Him, everybody that was anybody, turn thumbs
down on Him. You know who heard Him? The common people heard
Him gladly. Only those people who had a need
came to Him. Only those people who were poor
came to Him. Only those people who were sick
came to Him. Only those people who were sinners
came to Him. And oh, beloved, that's what
You know, as a multitude turned and walked away from there, twelve
left, and one of them was the devil. And he looked down and
said, you going to go too? That's what, you know, that's
no surprise. You going to go too? Lord, to whom? Twelve of
them said, Lord, to whom shall we go? After preaching, thousands
followed. They ended up with twelve. Start
all over again. Start all over again. And all
beloved, no wonder it says, straight is the gate, narrow is the way,
which leads unto life. Todd Nyberg, a fellow, told him
one time, Todd had an article in the newspaper and was preaching
on the radio, and this preacher called him. And the article was
questions that nobody's asking. The first question is, how can
a man be just with God? For whom did Christ die? Who
will be saved? Ask these questions like that,
and this preacher called him and he says, Well, it just said,
why the hell are you asking those questions? And Todd told him
what he believed and asked him what he believed. He says, you
know, there ain't enough people believe what you do to fill a
phone booth. Because he says, two people are not stupid enough
to believe what you believe. And that's the way it is. You
go up the road up here and they got hundreds in a building. You
come here, we got a handful. You go someplace else and there's
just a few here and a few there. A handful here, Dan and Terry,
they go over where Wayne Boyd preached, and there's what, four
or five of you at the most sometimes, two or three? Wayne called me
the other day and told me that he preached to one man in a motel
room last week. I've been with Henry Mahan. When
Henry Mahan sat down in a chair and opened his Bible, two people
sitting on the couch, a man and his wife, sitting just like you're
sitting, he opened his Bible, sat down in the chair and preached
to those two people. He preached from 1 Peter. So
you see, it's nuts, and that's why people say, boy, if God's
with you, why are you dealing with so few people? God ain't
blessing you. You don't know how to build a
church. You don't know how to get folks in. You don't know
how to, oh, Archie, if you don't do what we tell you, we've got
just exactly the formula for you. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ
didn't have any. He had the Gospel. He had Himself. And He looked them square in
the eye and said, except you believe I'm He, you'll die in your sins.
He says, ain't nobody going to come to the Father except by
Me. You want to speak to God, you're going to have to speak
to Me. You want to know God, I'm the only one to make you
know Him. You want to have fellowship with God, you're going to have
to speak to Me. If you want to have any dealings at all, and
you want your sins forgiven, you want your leprosy cleansed,
you want your deadness gone, you want your sin put away, there
ain't nobody can do it but Me. Oh, of all the men that's ever
told to come unto Me, Christ says, come unto Me. He didn't
say, go no place else, you come to Me. And He, nobody else ever
said, learn of Me. Jonah didn't say it. Isaiah didn't
say it. John didn't say it. No preacher,
Abraham didn't say it, but Christ says, come unto Me and learn
of Me. And oh, that's why people get offended
in Him, because there's just not very many people following
Him. And I'll tell you another reason why people stumble over
him because of who he claims to be. You know who he claimed
to be? Look with me in John chapter 10. John chapter 10. You know
who he claimed to be? You know he said in John 10 verse
30, turn over there with me for a minute. But our Lord Jesus,
it said about him that he made himself of no reputation and
thought it not robbery to be with God. And being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death. Now, he didn't think it was robbery to be equal with
God because he was equal with God. Now, there's lots of people
that rob God and claim to be equal. They got a righteousness
of their own that they claim will give them a good stand with
God. They rob God when they make that stand. Whenever they say
that they're going to face God and their good works are going
to outweigh their bad works, they're making themselves equal
with God. Whenever they think that their hands is clean and
they've made them clean and they've been, oh, I've accepted Jesus.
Now, you know, I'm living a good holy life. And they think their
holy life is what's going to save them and make them more
accepted. They're going to get more. They're robbing God. They're
making themselves equal with God. But when Christ said, I'm
equal with God, He was equal with God. He's as eternal as
God. He had all the power of God,
all the attributes of God, the wisdom of God, the power of God,
the love of God, the grace of God, the salvation of God, everything
that God has dwelt in Christ bodily. So when he said, I thought it
not right for me to be, he did not. And look what it said here
in John 10, verse 30. I and my Father are one. Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Our Lord says,
many good works have I showed you from my Father, which of
the works do you stone me? Now watch this. They answer,
we ain't going to stone you for a good work. We don't care for
the good works you do. Oh, we like your works. We like
you to feed us. We like you to watch your miracles. We like
to own you. We don't care for your good works. But we're going
to stone you for blasphemy. Because you being a man, make
yourself to be God. Make yourself to be God. Now
look over here in John chapter 5. Let me show you this right
quick. And oh beloved, I rejoice in him being. Who else can save
me from my sins but God? Who can save us from our sins
but God? Only God can save a sinner. Only God can put away sin. Only
God's got the power to save a man, keep him saved. And if Christ
wasn't God, there's no hope for us. Look in John chapter 5 there
in verse 16. And therefore did the Jews persecute
Jesus and sought to slay Him because He had done these things
on the Sabbath day. But our Lord answered them and
said, My Father worketh here, the two, and I work. Therefore
the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had
broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father,
making Himself equal with God. Oh my! Yeah, now they understood
clearly, and understood clearly that if he says God was his Father,
that God Almighty, Him and God was one. That He was the Savior,
that He was the Messiah. And beloved, I'll tell you what
right now, in the sight of God, in the sight of everybody that'll
listen to me, I'll say yes, He's God Almighty, and I'll throw
myself into His arms, into His power, into His salvation. Who
else can save us, Gary, but God? Who else can do it? Who else
can forgive for sin? You know, remember when our Lord
Jesus healed this one fellow. He says, take up your bed and
walk. And this on a Sabbath day. Luke chapter 4, I believe it
is. He said, rise up and take up your bed and walk. And he
did. It was on a Sabbath day. And
they said, oh, this is awful. They didn't care about the fellow
taking up his bed and walking. But the fact that he did it on
a Sabbath day. Killing somebody on the Sabbath day. Doing a good
work on the Sabbath day. Well, a fellow got up and got
his bed, and they began to murmur and murmur, and said, Oh, man,
this man blasphemeth. He said, Which is easier, to
say, Sons, thy sins forgiven thee, or take up your bed and
walk? And he says that you may know the Son of Man hath power
to forgive sins on earth. Then he says, Take up your bed
and walk. I mean, he said, nobody can forgive sins only, but I
said, I just forgave that man of his sins. And beloved, bless
his holy name. And you know, being God, being
God, that means, beloved, when he offered himself a sacrifice,
he was acceptable to God. That he satisfied God. And being
God, if he forgives your sins, being eternally God, then he
has to forgive your sins eternally too. And I'll tell you another
reason why people stumble over him, because Because of his atonement,
because of what his death actually accomplished. You know what his
death accomplished? Most folks think, you know, they
don't get offended in hearing Jesus died for everybody. They
don't get offended in that Jesus made salvation possible for everybody.
That Jesus opened the door now and all you've got to do is walk
through it and if you'll exercise your free will, if you'll make
the right choice, if you'll do the right thing, if you'll cooperate
with the Holy Spirit when He comes, if you'll cooperate with
Him and the grace of God when He comes, then you'll be saved.
But we preach Christ and this is the thing about it. Our Lord
Jesus said, I lay down my life for who? The sheep. He says, no man takes my life
from me. I've got the power to lay it down. I've got the power
to take it up again. He said, herein doeth my Father
love me because I laid down my life for the sheep. And there's
other sheep which God has for them also must bring. There'll
be one shepherd and one foal. Oh, beloved. And that's why the
Scripture says, you know, there in 1 Corinthians 1.23, unto the
Jews he's a stumbling block. To the Greeks he's foolishness.
To think that one man And that's why he's called the Lamb of God.
That's why he's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Because as a Lamb, he could die as a Lamb. He could offer himself
as a substitute. As a Lamb, he could bear our
sins. As a Lamb, he could be an offering. And that standing
in our room has said, how can this man, how can this Nazarene,
how can this carpenter son, How can this man who's called the
Lamb of God, how can he bear all the sins of all of his people
for all time and all eternity? How can he do that? And on top
of that, I'm not bad enough that I need somebody else to answer
for my sins. That's what the Jew said, I don't
need nobody to answer for my sins. The Greeks say, that's
the foolishest thing I've ever heard. We've got gods all over
the place and you tell me that your god will not be satisfied
until blood is shed. You mean to tell me your god
will not be satisfied and put sin away without the shedding
of blood? Why would he be like that? Because
he's holy. And he's of a pure eyes and behold,
iniquity. He cannot look upon sin. And
wherever sin is at, it must be punished. And the soul that sinneth,
it must die. So the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, He says, as a corn of wheat falls into the
ground and dies, except it die, it abideth alone. But if it dies,
it bringeth forth much fruit. And oh, beloved I, in the wrath
of God, that's something I don't want to deal with, a just God
outside of Christ. And the wrath of God, when it
came down, when Christ was on that cross and it got dark, And
they said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That God
forsaken him. Why? Because he had to die. Why
did he have to die? Because he was made to be sinned.
Why was he made to be sinned? Because God said he was wounded
for our transgression, bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement
of our peace was upon him. The Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And where that sin was found,
God poured His wrath out upon him. And on the brazen altar, when
they put the sin offering on it, they laid it on there and
they laid it in order. And the fire would come up and
it would consume that sacrifice. And then they'd take the ashes
out without the camp. Well, this time, our Lord Jesus
Christ, when the fire fell on Him, He consumed the fire of
the wrath of God. And there ain't a drop of wrath
for any child of God for whom Christ died. They came to him
and said, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. But you believe not. Why don't you believe? Because
you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. And oh, beloved, I
need a substitute. He says, the Son of Man must
suffer, must go to Jerusalem, must bear the sins of many, must
die. And Simon Peter said, oh no,
you can't possibly do that. And then when he is on the cross,
you know what they said about him? He saved others, but he
can't even save himself. Can't even save himself. Bless his holy name that he couldn't
save himself. And God couldn't save him. Justice
wouldn't let God save him. That's what man's got to deal
with, is the justice of God. And oh my, it's the precious
blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin. And everything
that we do has to be perfect. And since we haven't got perfection,
it has to be perfect in order to be accepted. Well, Christ
was perfect. And when He offered Himself without
spot, through the eternal Spirit to God as an offering for our
sins and obtained eternal redemption for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
when He came back out from the presence of God, He came out
with eternal redemption. And when it says we're redeemed
and we've been sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and just
like they sprinkle the people with the blood, beloved, the
Holy Ghost sprinkles the blood of Christ on our conscience,
and that's why we come with liberty and confidence into the presence
of God. Because His blood cleansed our conscience. And I feel sorry
for folks whose conscience is always troubling. They go to
church all the time. And they hear the preachers preach,
and they're all the time praying, and all the time making promises
to themselves, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm
going to start living better, I'm going to start praying more,
I'm going to start doing, oh, I'm going to be better to my
wife, be better to my kids, I'm going to start attending church
more, read my Bible more. And they're never satisfied. But I tell you one thing, if
Christ And His blood is ever applied to your soul. And the
Holy Ghost sprinkles your conscience from dead works by the blood
of Christ. Your conscience will be clean, it will go that quiet
in the sight of God. And you'll never look for anything
else to make you upset. You'll never look for peace anyplace
else, will you? You'll never, because you know
Scott Richardson made a statement years ago that just, one of them
statements that just knocks you down when you hear it. He says,
what will quieten a screaming conscience? He says, a perfect
sacrifice. And Christ is that perfect sacrifice.
If it satisfied God, if Christ satisfied God, and that's who
must be satisfied. His justice must be satisfied
that said the soul that sins must die. The truth must be satisfied
that I will by no means clear the guilty. His mercy must be
upheld when He says, I'll be merciful to those whose iniquities
and their children's for thousands of generations. That blessed
is the man to whom I will not impute iniquity. And blessed
is the man who is holy. And so how is God's love and
mercy and grace and justice and wrath and righteousness, how
are they all going to meet? In Christ on the cross. The wrath
of God said, I've got to pour it out against sin. The justice
said, I've got to punish him for my sin. For his sin, he's
got to die. Well, Christ died. The wrath
of God come on him. And then, but what caused that?
God so loved that he gave. And God in grace found out a
way that he could punish one person for all the sins of all
of his people for all time and eternity. And that justice says,
now take the sword and put it back in its sheath and wipe the
blood off of it. I'll never come and require their
sin from them ever again. And if it satisfied God, then
it'll satisfy you. But until you understand God
satisfied, you'll never be satisfied. Oh, that's what you call risking.
That's what you call resting. Oh, we have no salvation, we
have no remission of sins, no gospel. Apart from our Lord's
substitutionary sacrifice on that cross. Why did Christ die? Why did He come? Why did He die?
Who did He die for? If He just made salvation possible,
then there ain't nobody going to be saved. Did He die for all the sins of
some men? Some of the sins of all men?
Or all the sins of some men? If He died just for some of the
sins of all men, what sin did He die for? There'd be nobody
saved. You say, well, that's unbelief. Well, that's a sin,
ain't it? I've had enough of that since
I've been converted. So who died for that sin? Who put that sin
away? Christ did. Oh, listen, people want to find
every excuse in the world to keep from trusting Christ and
everything He did. Oh, that sounds like the finest
thing in the world, preacher, but there ain't no buts to it. Ain't that right? God said, this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He never said that
about anybody else. And Beloved, it says, he was declared to be
the Son of God with power when he was raised again from the
dead. And after he by himself purged our sins, he sat down
at the right hand of the Mergester on high, waiting there till all
of his enemies made his footstool. And Beloved, right now he dwells
in the presence of God. Nobody else has ever said that
God is right here. Nobody else has that power. Nobody else has
that authority. And I tell you, as that old preacher said, God
will not speak to nor be spoken to by any member of the human
race apart from Jesus Christ. Now if you want to work yourself,
you want to work yourself, you get God to accept you, you want
to work, you want to be sanctified, you want to sanctify yourself
and do all these works, you go ahead and make yourself Enjoy
yourself. But I tell you what, I'm not
going to. I ain't doing a thing in this world for my salvation.
My salvation was done 2,000 years ago. It was finished. All my sins was put away 2,000
years ago. Everything God required of me
was done 2,000 years ago. Everything God requires of me
sits right now in God's right hand. That's a gospel worth believing.
I'll tell you another reason why they stumbled, not only because
of his atonement. In this particular, he died for
his people. Yeah, he poured out his soul
unto death for his people. He was stricken and afflicted
for my people, God said. He shall save his people from
their sins. And I tell you, there's sheep and there's goats, and
goats don't turn into sheep. And that's what he said, you
know, goats. And there's some, and he said,
how are you going to escape the damnation of hell? There were
men ordained to this condemnation that turned the grace of God
into lasciviousness. Christ died for a particular
people. And the only thing I'm interested
in, are you one of those for whom Christ died? How can I know?
Do you believe Him? Do you trust Him? Do you cast
yourself on Him? Do you say, I've got to have
Him? And I'll tell you another thing that causes people to be
offended, stumble over the gospel. It's too much grace in the gospel.
Too much grace. Too much grace for them. Justified
by faith alone. Too much grace. And grace was
given us in Christ before the world ever began. Grace was given
me Christ. Grace for grace is what we have.
Grace went before grace. And oh, what grace is in the
gospel. Nothing either great or small.
Nothing sin or no. Jesus did it and did it all long,
long ago. Being justified freely by what?
His grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith in that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. It's not
of words. Lest any man should boast. If
a man does a work, guarantee you he'll boast about it. If
he has something where he thinks he can approach God, he'll brag
about it. He can't help himself. He just
can't help it. And people told us all the time,
they say, boy, you all come up with some new doctrine. Oh, it's
always been the gospel. I want to show you something.
Look in Zechariah. Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament.
Zechariah is the book right before Malachi. Zechariah. Look here with me in chapter
4. Zechariah chapter 4. You know the scripture says,
if it's of works, don't even talk about grace. Romans 11,
5. If it's of works, there's no way it can be of grace. Ain't
that what he says? If you want to be saved by works in what
you do, don't even use the term grace. If you're going to be
saved by grace and look to grace alone, and salvation being entirely
the Lord, then you don't mention works. It's all of grace. Ain't
that right? It can never be both. Not by
works, and I'll give you a verse script, you can look at it when
you get home, Titus chapter 3 and verse 4. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His own mercy, He saved us. God, who hath called us with
a holy call, and not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before, the world began. Now you know that's what God
says about it. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. God went and found Adam where
Adam was. Adam didn't seek God. God sought
Adam. God to Abraham wasn't looking
for God. God sought Abraham. Look here in Isaiah 4 and verse
6. Zechariah, is that what I said?
What else did I say? Isaiah? I do that all the time, I'm sorry.
Then he answered, spake unto me, saying, This is the word
of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou,
O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt
become a plain. And he shall bring forth the
headstone thereof with shouting, with crying, Grace, grace unto
it. He's building the building. He's
going to put this topstone on. Grace, grace. Moreover, the word
of the Lord come unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have
laid the foundation of this house. His hands also shall finish it. And thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts hath sent me. I am Ezra Babble, that's the
high priest, that's the one that God sent, and he built the house,
and he lays the top stone on it with grace. He laid the foundation
in grace, and he tops the stone with grace. And oh beloved, a
church stands or falls by this blessed doctrine. We're either working our way
to glory, or Christ did the work for us. There is one person who worked
their way to glory into the presence of God, and that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he had enough virtue, because of his person, to make every one of us go by
his own work. God regards us as his own son.
I've heard folks saying, you know, Bruce Crabtree said, don't
take away my endeavors, I'll have nothing to trust in. I'd
be scared to death to trust. Go to the presence of God without
something of my own? I don't want to go there with
nothing, but Christ. Stand before God to plead in
Him. And I'll tell you another thing that causes people to stumble
over. Here's teaching. Here's teaching. Forgive your enemies. Love them
that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully
use you. Bless them that curse you. Oh
my goodness! That's too much! We can't do
that! Huh? If a man slaps you on the
right cheek, give him the left. If a man sues you for your coat,
go ahead and give him your cloak. Don't argue with him. Huh? Oh, my. Folks are always worried
about what somebody does with their hands, but oh, they worry
about what people do with their hearts. And many get offended
here. But the true believer, he's the
happiest, most miserable creature on the top of God's earth. He wants to be like Christ, and
at the same time, he's got this old rotten flesh in him. He has
this war. He has this war. Paul was a man Beloved, when
he was in jail, he sang praises unto God, and then when he dealt
with his own heart before God, he said, O wretched man that
I am. When he was being beaten with many stripes, he sang praises
unto God, but when he got down to his own heart and his presence
before God, he said, O wretched man that I am. Ain't that something? And all,
beloved, many stumbled at this stumbling stone. And let me hurry
and give you, and there's lots of folks who have professions.
They've made professions, they've joined a church, they've walked
an aisle, they've done something, they've confessed that they know
Christ, they've confessed that they're believers. And they're
offended with Christ. And they'll endure for a while,
and after a while, they stumble over Christ. And one of the greatest
reasons is because the newness wears off. Folks will make a
profession. And in a little while, it's good
for three or four months, maybe six months, maybe even a year.
And after a while, it gets boring. It's the same old, same old.
You know, something's more important. The newness wears off. You know
how many times that's happened to folks? Oh, did that ever happen
to you years ago when you make a profession, you know, it lasts
about three months, and you'd go back and say, well, you know,
it's just not interesting anymore. You know, at first, it's real
interesting, it's new. Then the novelty wears off. And then another
reason why they get offended at him after they make a profession,
they think, well, I'll always be happy. They thought they'd
always be happy. You know, they was happy when they got converted.
They was happy when the church accepted them. They was happy
when everybody rejoiced over them. There's happiness there.
Oh, we bless God that you got saved. Well, how do you know
you're so happy? Well, when the happiness wears
off, and the trials come, and the burdens come, You know, then the salvation
goes with it. The whole thing, you know, they
don't like the cross. They like the crown, but they
don't like the cross. And I'll tell you another reason
why they quit after a while, get offended with Christ and
stumble over Him. When somebody opposes them, when they start
getting questioned, When somebody starts, well, how can you believe
that? Why do you believe about this?
Why do you believe about that? They get opposition that they
didn't expect. They're like that stony ground here. The sea fell
among stones and it sprung up immediately. And oh my, they
were so happy. And then persecution came by
and by because of the Word. And they quit. They quit. They
thought they'd be happy forever. And then all of a sudden they
meet folks, you know, that want to question what you believe.
Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you go to church up there?
What do you know about the Bible? They come to find out and their
friends turn against them. Oppose them. Their acquaintances
oppose them. Their family does. They make jokes about it. Find
out you're a Christian, they'll see something and say, I thought
you was a Christian. And they find out you're a preacher,
especially on the job. Hey, preacher! Make jokes about
you. Ridicule you. Have you ever had that happen
to you when they find out you're a believer? Ah, make fun of you. Oh, when they say things around
them, you know, they'll say things around you, see how you're going
to react to it. You're going to react to it. And I'll
tell you another reason to cause them to stumble over. You know,
you've got folks that they just ain't made over all the time.
Just made over, you know how it is. You've got to just give
them lots and lots of tender love and care. And if they don't
get that, they'll quit, you know. They get offended. Them folks
up there just don't love like they're supposed to. And then
they get offended and stumble over people who don't encourage
them like they ought to be encouraged. You go to somebody and try to
tell them some troubles, something like that, and they got troubles
of their own, they don't pay enough attention to you, you get offended
and quit because you didn't encourage them when they... Man, maybe
you needed encouragement at that time. And all another reason
is because too much self-denial. Too much self-denial. You know,
I ain't nobody. It's going to cost me something,
Father Christ. It's going to cost me some of my time. It's
going to cost me some of my effort. It's going to cost me a little
of my money. It's going to cost me some commitment. It's going
to cost me some opposition. Look what our Lord said there
in Matthew 10, verse 37. Oh, and you know, talking about
friends and acquaintances, you know. He said back up there in
verse 34, Think not that I have come to send peace on earth.
Matthew 10, 34. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. Oh my! For I have come to set a man
at barrens against his father and his daughter, against her
mother, and the dogma against her mother-in-law. How many homes,
because the gospel came into it, start fusses and fights and
arguments. Now people say, I liked you better
before you got saved. And a man's foes shall be they
of his own household. And he that loveth father and
mother more than me, he's not worthy of me. He loveth his son
or daughter more than me, he's not worthy of me. If you don't,
you know, my daughter won't go up there, so you know I'm not
going to go up there." Well, listen, your daughter, if you
don't believe the gospel, she's grown, she don't believe the
gospel, you come where the gospel's at no matter what. You leave
your children, where they going to do what they going to do? And watch what he said, He that
taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
You find your life, you find it in this world. You find the
peace you want, you find the friends you want, you find the
job you want, you find the places you want to go, you find your
money, you find your niche in life, you find your life, you'll
lose it. But you lose my life, your life, for my sake. Give
it up. And for the gospel. And I'll
tell you another reason people stumble. They see somebody acting
bad. Some believer acting bad. New
young believers. And I'm sure I've done this myself. A baby in Christ sees somebody
do something and they get so offended. And then because of
trials. Some are offended and quit because
of trials. God sends them to trial. Like
Job, you know, God sent him a trial, and he says, the Lord took, the
Lord gave, and the Lord took away. And there's not very many
Jobs that will say, though He slay me, yet I'm going to trust
Him. You know, people, just some little
something don't amount to nothing. Say, well, so-and-so happened,
and I couldn't come. And when they get in trouble,
when they start having trials, and trials does not produce faith.
Trials, all they do is reveal faith. That's why God sends trials
to make us know whether we've got faith or not. It don't produce
one ounce of faith. Either you've got it or you don't.
And all trials does is reveal that faith. Job didn't get faith through
that trial. It revealed the faith that he
had. And that's why he says, though he slay me, I'm going
to trust him. I'm going to trust him. He said,
oh my. But then he says there, what
did he say? Blessed is he. Blessed is he who is not offended
in me. Oh my, you're offended with Christ?
Are you offended? Did you stumble over Him? Oh,
blessed are those who don't stumble over Him. Blessed are those who
believe Him and trust Him and bow to Him and embrace Him and
know Him and elected by Him, chosen by Him, redeemed by Him
and loved by Him and called by Him. Oh, blessed are those who
have enough grace to cling to Christ under all circumstances.
Oh, that's a blessed person. Blessed person. To be able to
cling to Christ under every circumstances. You know, that's what Barnabas,
he went down to Antioch and he saw the grace of God that was
there manifested among them. He says, he exhorted them to
cleave to the Lord. Cleave to the Lord with full
purpose of heart. That word cleave means be glued
to. And there are folks who are going
to trust Christ through thick or thin, hell or high water.
They're going to trust Him. When they're sick, when they're
not sick, whatever's going on, they cling to Christ. And oh,
what a miserable human being a person must be who has Christ
for three or four months and he's back in the world for three
or four months. What a miserable person somebody
must be that trusts Christ for a while and then don't for a
while. up and down about it. Oh, for grace to trust Him more.
And oh, what a blessed man he is that God gives him faith to
trust Christ, to believe Christ, to embrace Christ, to say, where
He leads me, I'll follow. I have nobody else to turn to.
Nobody else. Oh, for grace to love Him more,
as we sung this morning. And I'll tell you this, Oh, it's
a blessed man who's not offended in Him and those who are waiting
for Him. I'm waiting for Him, ain't you? Our conversation is
in heaven from whence we look for the appearing of our great
God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're waiting. We're
waiting. When's He coming? I don't know.
He may come and get you today. He may come tomorrow. He may
come next week. He may come in a year. But He's
coming. And I'm waiting for him, ain't
you? And this is that old hymn the girl sang, what a day that
will be, when my Savior I shall see, when I look upon His face,
the one who saved me by His grace. Oh my! Where will Demas be then,
the one who was offended with Christ? Where will Judas be then,
the one who was offended with Christ? Where will Alexander
the coppersmith been, the one who was offended with Christ?
Where will all of those be who were ashamed of Him, and stumbled
over Him, and were offended by Him, who made a profession and
turned around back? I heard Scott Richardson preach
a message from Judges 11.35 one time to Don Portners, and he
said, I've lifted my hand to God and I cannot go back. Cannot
go back. And I know this, if you can go
back, you will go back. But those for whom Christ died
cannot go back. Because they're not offended
in Christ. Their foundation is Christ. And what did our Lord say there
in verse 32 of Matthew 10? Are you one of these, blessed
ones, whosoever shall confess Me before men? Or what is it to confess Him?
Confess Him to be my all, my righteousness, my salvation,
my redemption, my justification, my sanctification, my wisdom,
my righteousness. I confess Him to be my whole
salvation. Whosoever therefore shall confess
Him before men, he said, you know what I'll do? I'll tell
my Father about Him. I'll say, that's one of mine.
And those folks who don't confess Him, He says, that's not one
of mine. That's not one of mine. Are you
offended in him? Don't be offended in Christ.
Don't stumble over Christ. Don't stumble over Christ. Don't
let anything cause you to stumble over Christ. Our Father, our gracious, eternal
God, how wondrously blessed you are. How we bless you for your
grace and mercy given us in Christ before the world ever began.
God bless this gospel to the heart today. Bless it to the
mind. Bless it to the soul. Lord, I
can get the ear, but only you can get the heart. Only you can
give understanding. Only you can give sight. Only
you can give hearing. Only you can do that. And I pray
that you'd be pleased to do that today. We ask these things in
our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I certainly would.