All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Romans 16 again. When I was here a week before
last, I read and preached from chapter 16, verse 17 and 18.
My actual text for this morning will be verse 19, but I'm going
to read 17 and 18 Again, with it, because that
context is vital. Okay, it's vital. So let's look
at it, Romans 16, verse 17. Now, I beseech you, brethren,
mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. So doctrine is
important. Doctrine don't save you, but
when God saves you, he begins to teach you his doctrine. And
we're to avoid those that teach contrary to that doctrine. Then
it goes on, for they that are such, that is these people that
teach these contrary things, for they that are such, for they
that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
and by good words, not bad words, we're not talking about immoral
words, good words, and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple.
Now that's the context. Paul does not then say, now,
let's talk. Four, do you see this? Four,
so this directly connects the context of what he's about to
say with what he's just said in 17 and 18. Four, your obedience
is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf,
but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple
concerning evil, and it's that last phrase there, it's why I
want to emphasize the context. Because our flesh, our minds,
tend to go, we hear good and evil, begin to think of what?
Moral and immoral, right? Right versus wrong, correct? But the context here is not just
about general immorality or general unrighteousness, but the context
of this good and evil is the truth concerning the person and
work of Jesus Christ. That's the context. My flesh
would take me away from Christ in verse 19 and concentrate on
me. But we've not left Christ yet.
Now here's the title to my message, Clear and Unmixed. And I hope we'll see why I use
that as the title here in a moment. Clear and Unmixed. Think about
remarkable words for your obedience. For your obedience. You see,
our obedience doesn't save us. Our obedience doesn't cause God
to save us. But when God saves us, we become
obedient. But here's something about this
word obedience. And you could see it read that
way if you have an amplified Bible, or if you have one at
home or have one now for that matter, you can look it up. They
use it here with the word obedience, loyalty. Loyalty. Most of religion don't mind to
be obedient, but they have no loyalty. When I was in religion,
when I was in free will, work-centered, man-centered religion, I knew
what it was to obey. I could do what they told me
to do, but I wasn't loyal to it. I did it, one, out of fear
of hell. Didn't want to go to hell. Two,
because I didn't want to look bad in front of everybody else.
We're talking about loyalty. for your loyalty is come abroad
unto all. Now when he says all, of course
we know that's limited. The American natives that were
alive during this time didn't hear about these people's obedience
or their loyalty, but it spreads amongst God's people. God's people. Obedience, loyalty. Loyalty is
full devotion. That with which we are loyal,
obedient, the new man, is fully obedient. but our old man is
still fully disobedient. The believer is a conundrum because
the believer has two, and I'm not gonna use the word natures.
I don't think it's a wrong word. We are two men. We're an old
man and we're a new man. And until God Almighty does something
for you in your grace, you're nothing but old man. But then
when he gives you new man, when he creates, because the book
says this new man is created created by God in righteousness
and true holiness. So it means full devotion. And
I say it this way, I don't mean this boastfully, I want God to
be glorified. God deserves to be glorified.
Now God will be glorified, but I don't want him to have to glorify
himself in spite of me. I don't want him to have to do
that. Loyalty is, I want God to be glorified. And if you're
a true believer, that's what's within you in the new man. I want God to be glorified. I
delight to do what honors Christ. Religion knows very little about
that, if anything at all. They do what they do for reward
or to miss hell or to get to heaven, but they don't do it
for the honor of Christ. If I give up this and take on
that, it's got to be for the honor of Christ or it's nothing
but self. And we'll see this, I pray God
we'll see this a little more here in a moment. I delight to
do what honors Christ. I hate me when me fails. I hate
me when me fails. But I will not give up. That's
loyalty. I will not give up in spite of
myself. In spite of the fact that I fall flat on my face,
there is something, and I know what that is, it's the power
of God, it's the love of God that constrains me that says,
Walter, don't quit, even if you fall again. The righteous man
falls how many times? As many as God lets him. But
the book in the Old Testament says that we fall seven times.
You see, Loyalty also is never past loyalty only. Any loyalty
I knew about in religion, it was always about what I was back
then. I went forward, I gave my heart to the Lord, I prayed
the prayer, I joined the church, I was baptized. It was always
with reference, almost always with reference to what I did
back then when I was a little fellow. But loyalty is never
past loyalty only. Not this loyalty, not this loyalty. But yet I would have. Do you see those words? But yet
I would have. That is both present and future
tense. Now consider this. Wise under
good. This is what about wise under
good. It's really quite simple. Clear. A wise man or a wise woman,
even in the natural sense, means a person whose mind is clear.
They see things. Wisdom is not that old man up
there with a big long beard and a pointy hat with the stars and
the half moons and all that on it. It's to see things clearly,
okay? Wise and the good. In other words,
we can put it this way. And I think the Amplified probably
does put it just about like clear about good. That's what it is,
clear about good. You think that's simple enough,
but it's not for us. Because we'll, We'll gag at a
gnat, we'll swallow a camel. No won't we? And apart from the
grace of God, I'd be gagging at gnats all day long and eating
up camels by the dozens. That's the context, wise and
clear about good. But remember, it's gospel truth
here we're talking about. Now folks, don't you get me wrong. It's right and it honors Christ
to pay you bills. It's right and it honors Christ
to don't be stealing and cheating and lying. But if you have all
of those things and you miss the truth of the gospel of Christ,
you got nothing. Even if you give Christ the honor
for all the other stuff. We can't, dare I say it, we can't
be wrong about the truth and deny that. Now you may not know
all the truth, we don't. We are learning. We're growing
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. But God's people, when God does something for you, he
gives you a clear mind. You start to see things as they
are from this book. Now, I still don't understand
trigonometry at all. My regeneration and conversion
didn't help me in mathematics whatsoever. But I tell you what,
it made a world of difference when it come to reading this
book. and hearing this book preached, it made a world of difference.
I found something in me that, it wasn't in me, it wasn't in
me, I found something in me that actually, I'd read this for years,
I was a preacher. All of a sudden, Ellen, it's
like an oasis. I start finding Christ everywhere. When before, I thought he was
just in a few isolated places. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
yeah, but everywhere else, he's here or there. He's in the whole
book. Even, listen to me, even when
we have recorded, and it's in a little bit cryptic language
because it's said as, the words are said as to a king way back
yonder during the Old Testament time, but it's clear from the
context, God's talking about Satan and Satan's fall. You know Satan, when he fell,
he didn't do anything outwardly? You ever go back and read that?
He didn't do anything outwardly, he said, I will. You see, our
will's not our hope, our will's our problem. It's the devil's
problem and it's my problem. I will ascend above the most
high. Well, who's he saying I'm gonna
take over from? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. He existed then, he is the eternal
God. He's the one that spoke all of
this into existence, even before he was made flesh. And there
were times during the Old Testament dispensation, I could say, he
showed up in flesh. Now, I suppose he dropped it,
and Ellen ran him back to glory, but at times he showed up in
human flesh, even in the Old Testament. But when he came into
Bethlehem, he assumed human flesh forever. forever. So wise unto good. But remember,
now brethren, I beg you, I implore you, brethren, mark them which
cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrines that
you've learned and avoid them. Why? Because they don't serve
the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's the good. Because
if I don't have some idea of this one good man and his doctrine,
his gospel, his truth, all the other goodness in the world will
only add to my damnation. Is it any wonder that Isaiah
the prophet was moved back even in the Old Testament dispensation
to cry out, even our righteousnesses are as menses cloths in God's
sight. I mean, Moose stood here several
years ago. You remember him preaching on
that? He said, that's disgusting. You're daggone right, it's disgusting.
But that's what it's like to God when I present myself or
my deeds to God. Like presenting a menses cloth
to him. But the second thing Paul mentioned, why isn't the
good clear about good? Simple, concerning evil. Now, just the way, even as it's
translated into the KJV, it lets you know, simple, you mean I
don't know anything about evil? Take a simple-minded person,
right, but they're not very clear, they don't understand well, that's
not what he's talking about. The word here means this, unmixed. Unmixed. Remember again, the
context is what? Gospel perversion. Don't mix
up error with lie. They don't go together. They
cannot go together. Now, turn to Romans chapter 11,
just a few pages back. If you're at Romans 16, turn
to Romans 11. And I wanna give us a passage
here which deals with both. Clear and unmixed, okay? The truth of God, clear and unmixed,
Romans 11. I say then, hath God cast away
his people? And the context, go back and
read it, check and make sure I'm not pulling a Simon on you,
trying to bewitch you. He's talking about Jewish people,
Israelites, okay? I say then, hath God cast away
his people? God forbid, for I also am, what, an Israelite. of the
seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. So he's talking
about naturally born Israelites, right? That's the context, look
at it. Of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people,
but then he qualifies it. Which he foreknew. You see it? Amongst these Israelites,
you see? These Benjamites, or Judahs,
or Nethilites, all these people. But so, what do you mean, Paul?
What, ye not, what the scripture saith of Elias? So this, in other
words, this is no new doctrine. This is not Paul coming up with
something else, okay? What, ye not, what the scripture
saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel,
saying, you see it? Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, they seek my life.
And I detect a little bit of bellyaching in that, don't you?
You know, why me, Lord? Why do I have to be the one going
through this? I'm by myself, right? And if you ever felt by
yourself, you'll bellyache just like our brother Isaiah did. But you know what? We ain't never
really by ourself. One, he's with us and never leaves us and
forsakes us, even though often we feel like he has. If any forsaking's
happened, guess who did the forsaking? Right here. Lord, they've killed
thy prophets, dig down thine altars. I am left alone, they
seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed. Now not because they didn't bow,
Paul didn't explain this for us. They weren't reserved because
they didn't bow, they didn't bow because they were reserved.
You gotta get the cart and the horse in the right place here.
You switch that around and you're telling lies. You see it? I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so
then at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace even today amongst the Jewish people
and they have no idea what tribe they come from. They can't. Those
records were destroyed in 70 AD when Titus burnt down everything. But there are still Jewish people,
okay? But there is a remnant, a scrap,
a piece. But oh, what a remnant it is. Because God had his love on them
before the world began. And aren't you glad that he's
calling out of the Gentiles a people for his name too? He could have
left this just with the Jews. We didn't deserve it, did we?
We didn't deserve it. Even so, then at this present
time also, there's a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, here's your unmixed. What we just read
is clear. Verses one through five, it's
clear. God never intended to save every
Israelite. There is a remnant. And that
was true even back during the Old Testament age. And it's still
true today, at this present time. But there's the wisdom, there's
the clarity, that here's the no mixing. And if by grace, then
it is no more of works. Though every person God saves
by grace does work. Because he ordained that we walk
in him. I happen to know, by the testimony of this book, if
God ordained something, it gonna happen. Now I may not know whether
it's a good work or not, but I've walked in every good work
God ordained for me to walk in up to this point. The sad part
is that there's a lot of works that don't honor God. But God controls them too. Peter, Satan's desired to sift
his wheat. Satan couldn't touch Peter lest
God give him sex. Have you considered my servant
Job, God said to the devil? He said, yeah, I'm paraphrasing,
yeah, I've considered him, but you won't let me touch him. You
build up a fence around him. He said, I ain't touch him, touch
him. But you can only go so far. See,
people somehow think that God and the devil's in this big struggle
and God's trying to win and the devil's trying. The devil is
on God's leash. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, the book says. The remainder of wrath, he'll
do what? Restrain it. Now does that give me license
to sin? I don't need one, I sin without a license. Still yet. Nobody had to print me up one
to sin. I sinned when I came forth out of my mommy's womb.
I probably cried to my mommy and daddy just cause I was unhappy,
didn't even know I was unhappy. And all they could do was stick
a bottle in my mouth trying to shut me up. You ever see that baby
lay there? Ain't nothing wrong with it.
It ain't starving to death, you know? And meh, meh, that's the
Adamic nature in us. The reality is, as parents, we
don't have to teach our kids to lie. We gotta try to teach
them to tell the truth. It's easy for them to lie. It
is for me, it is for me. Clear and unmixed. And if by
grace there's no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then there's no more grace. Otherwise work
is no more work. But I will add this, because
this is also clear and unmixed. Faith without works is dead. It's a dead faith. It's that
kind of faith that Simon had. It's a dead faith. And if you
look at James, it's not, okay works, I did some soul winning.
And there's nothing wrong with witnessing to folks about the
Lord. And you don't have to be a theologian to do it. The only
prerequisite for you witnessing about the Lord is has the Lord
done something for you? Now that's a prerequisite. If
you don't, you're not a witness. But God already done something
for you, you can just tell people this is what God did for me. Matt, you don't have to go through
all the five points. You don't have to have all your Baptistic
doctrine lined up just right. Just tell them what God did for
you. How he opened your eyes. How he brought you to bow to
Christ Jesus the Lord and you begin to see and are still seeing,
learning of the glory of his person and work. I'm caught up
with Jesus Christ. There's times when I'm at work,
Mac, and I've got to concentrate on what I'm doing and all of
a sudden the Lord of glory pops into my mind. And in some jobs,
you gotta be careful what you're thinking about. Let me tell you,
if you're one of God's, he will not let you go. Now, he may let you fall all
the way down, but he still won't let you go. There's clear and
unmixed. Now, here are a few passages
that are clear. Turn to Isaiah. That's an Old
Testament, if that helps you. Isaiah 42. Now this is important,
because this is kind of the starting point, or one of the starting
points, let me put it that way, it may be better. Isaiah chapter
42. Behold my servant, whom I uphold. by an elect in whom my soul delighteth. Now listen, there are thousands,
there are myriad, a number which no man can number of every white
tribe, kindred, tongue, and people, that God Almighty chosen Christ
before the world began, and he chose him totally apart from
any good or evil in themselves, thus saith the book. But this
man is the only one that was ever chosen because of who he
was. He deserved to be chosen. He's
the eternally. It's not like all of a sudden
God says, I'll choose him. He's always been the elect. Behold my servant, upon whom
I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth, I have put
my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. And that ain't talking, folks,
about damnation. That ain't talking about hell.
That ain't talking about the great white throne. It's talking
about this elect one's going to do something for the Gentiles.
He's gonna make a determination. That's what a judgment is, right?
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. And then people,
some of these folks tell us, well, the Old Testament knew
nothing about this Gentile being saved. It's all over the place. Abraham was told, I'll make you
a father of many nations, right? Oh, how steeped I was in that
kind of stuff. years ago. He shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street." What's that mean?
He's not trying to force the matter. He just came forth and
what? Preached the matter. He didn't
get out there and argue. People come to him, want to argue,
he just keep pointing them to the truth, didn't he? Pointing
them to the truth. Good master or master, tell my
brother to to divide the inheritance with me. Help your brother out. You know what Christ told him?
He didn't say, well, let's go talk to him. Let's get this straight.
He says, beware of covetousness. That just puts you right down
in the dirt, don't it? Down in the dirt. One woman came to him
begging him, Lord, have mercy upon me, and not even for her
own malady, but for her small daughter's malady. And at first,
he just totally Ignored her. What do we do by nature? She's
gonna treat me that way. Why she had a need, she had an
itch that only God could scratch. She kept after him. She kept
after him. So much so that the disciples
finally said, Lord, send her away. She's bothering us. She
wasn't bothering them. She wasn't crying out to them.
She cried out to the Lord. And he turned to her and said,
it's not meat for me to take the children's bread and give
it to dogs. That's an insult. It's an insult. But it was true. That's the whole
problem. It was true. Now, I'll go back
home, bury my daughter when she dies. Something was different
in this woman, Max, she couldn't let go. No matter how Christ
treated her. I'll put it just that way. Because
God always tests true faith. He'll put it to the test. He
said, it's not meat for me to take the children's bread, give
it to the dogs. And you know what she says? Truth,
Lord. Think of the clarity now. Think
of the clarity and the unmixing. But even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. You're right, I'm a dog, but
I'm your dog. I'm your dog. Oh, woman, great. I don't know what all she understood
about Calvary itself. Jack, I don't, but she knew she
needed Christ. Oh, woman, great is thy faith. Oh, well, I'm not even finished
with the passage yet. A bruised reed shall he not break, and
a smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. There you go. You see it? What
made people so mad? Not so much what he did, but
it's what he said. Almost every time when they got
mad at him because of something he did, it's always connected
to something he said. Now here it is, here is this
chosen man. He shall not fail. Now I'm not gonna read anymore,
the rest of it's all true, but here is clear, and unmixed. He, whoever this one is, the
Messiah, when he comes, he shall not fail. If your doctrine doesn't
match that, you don't have the elect one. You don't have the
Messiah. You don't have the Christ of
God. Jesus never tried to do anything. Never, he never tried
to do anything. That demoniac in the synagogue,
he attended synagogue, evidently attended synagogue for years
and nobody caught it. But when Christ came along, what
happened? All of a sudden the demon that was in that man and
that man himself says, depart from us. Now he's telling Christ
to leave. Christ refuses. And he commands
the demon to come out of him. He didn't ask the demon to come
out of him. He didn't ask the man, let me lift him, let me
bring the demon. He just commanded it to be done. Now there's certain things and
certain commands that are given in scripture that are given directly
and only as a command. Here's what you must do. There's
a lot of these in the Bible. Here's what you must do. But
there are some commands in the scripture that God Almighty gives
with the command. He gives the ability to obey,
to be loyal to the command. Woman or a man, withered, crippled
up, stretch forth thy hand. That's the one thing he couldn't
do. Jump up and down, he could do that. Stretch forth, how's
he gonna do that? With the command came the power. Lazarus, come forth. That's the one thing he couldn't
do. He could stink, he could rot, but he couldn't come forth,
unless when Christ says come forth, he gives the ability with
command. Take up your bed and walk. That's
the one thing he couldn't do. They had to carry him in on his
bed and let him down through the ceiling. Take up your bed
and walk. Our Lord never tried to do anything. I remember a preacher preached
for us here several years ago. He's telling us about reading
this, you know, one of the things in a newspaper or magazine. It
was on a Sunday, and it was the religious section of the newspaper,
I believe it was. And he said, this preacher's talking about
God wants, God wants, God wants you to do this. God wants to
do that for you. He said, it's the most wantness God ever heard
of in my life. God don't want anything. He says,
I do all my pleasure. I'll even call a ravenous bird
from the east and he'll make him execute my counsel. Here's another thing, turn to
John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Now here's another thought, think
of it. God's Christ is no failure. Ever. He said, I come to do the
Father's will. Does my doctrine match that of
who he is or not? Some people's doctrine don't
match that. They say he came to do the will of God, but man
wouldn't let him. No. No. Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth.
I am. And they fell down backwards.
The only reason they could take him is because he let them do
it. And he was bold enough to say, if you take me, you got
to let these go. Huh? Why? Because he has the power
to back up his words and his actions. I don't. You see a horde
of people coming with sticks and swords and knives. And I
say, well, if y'all want me, you take me. But now my buddy's
here. You can't touch that. Well, they take us all. They
take us all. but not if you're the Lord's
Christ, because he shall not fail. All right, now, John chapter
10. Think about this. God's Christ
assumed responsibility for somebody. Look at it, John 10. Simple enough,
clear enough, unmixed. Verse 16, and other sheep I have. So there's two different groups
of sheep. He talks about one group here
before, and there's other sheep I have. which are not of this
fold, you see that? Them also I must bring. You see it? He took the responsibility
on himself. He didn't say they must come,
though come they must. But you'll never come until he
brings you. Brings you. Somebody says, you
mean kicking and screaming? Yeah, kicking and screaming for
joy. Once you realize he's got his hand around your neck to
arrest you by his powerful sovereign grace, you'll be glad it's so. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they shall hear
my voice. And there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. That's pretty clear. Pretty unmixed,
too, isn't it? There's no need to be confused
about that. I don't know that anybody's really
confused about it. I'm sure, now I know I was brainwashed
when I was young. Sunday schools brainwashed me
just exactly the way they wanted me reared up. They brainwashed
me. But I know when I read that, I could read the words. My problem
was I didn't love it. I didn't see my need for it.
But once he made me to see I need him to bring me, Mm, I was glad,
I said, I like that. I like that. Here's a third thing,
turn to Romans five. Romans five. Romans chapter five. All right,
remember, God's Christ is no failure. God's Christ assumed
responsibility for somebody. God's Christ, now listen to me,
God's Christ wrought real reconciliation at Calvary. He wrought it, He
secured it, He guaranteed it, and He did so at Calvary, not
at the front of the church, not when you even came to repent
and believe the truth. If you were reconciled, you were
reconciled when Christ died on that tree, or you'll never be
reconciled at all. Now, clear and unmixed, Romans
chapter five, verse six, for the sake of time. For when we
were yet without strength, so how much strength did we have?
Goose egg. Zero. Nada. We weren't just weak,
we had no strength. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for, now everybody, people
want to argue, who did Christ die for? Right here it is. Christ
died for who? The ungodly. Now if you can't
take your place with the ungodly, then you've got no reason to
believe Christ died for you. Yes or no, is that clear? Is
that simple enough? Is that unmixed enough? I'm not
trying to trick you into believing something, I'm wanting us to
see what this book says and believe the record God gave of his son.
Look, for when we were yet without strength and due time, Christ
died for the ungodly, for scarcely for a righteous man. Now that
is men amongst men, this is not men compared to God. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Can you take your place with
the ungodly sinners? I can, I can. Christ died for,
now look at it, much more than, this is clear? It's unmixed. Much more than being now justified
by his blood. How many times did he shed his
blood? Hebrew says once. once, for all, forever. That means once for all time
and forever. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, but just
so we don't misunderstand. We need clarity in this matter.
Somebody said, what's got here to argue the Armenians into free,
into Calvinists? That ain't gonna do them no good.
It ain't gonna do them no good. I'd rather be a Calvinist than
an Armenian any day of the week, but it ain't gonna do no good.
Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. For if, he's going to splainify
this, or splatify, is that what Art Newenswanter used to say?
We'll splatify this. For if when we were, what? Enemies. Enemies. Not a believer, not
a friend of God. For if when we were, when, now
that's the, get it? When, this is the time. Clear,
unmixed. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And when God finally conquered
my heart and mind, it caused me to just bow down to what the
book says. And even now, when my mind is
turned from the truth of this book, it's like, I find myself
holding my breath in shame and guilt, fear. But when God rips
that all away, there they are. Here's a few passages with
demand, think of it, Titus chapter three, which demand, demand no
mixing. No mixing. Now, folks, there's
a whole lot more to this clarity. I've just scratched the surface
of it. But look at it, Titus chapter
three, is that what I said? Yeah, Titus chapter three. Well,
think about this. See me, see you here. Venture your soul upon this.
See yourself here. Oh, God, make this be me. Look
at it. See me, see you here as unmixed
in our salvation. Verse one of chapter three, putting
them in mind to be subject in the principalities of powers,
to obey madresses, to be ready unto every good work. So anybody
who accuses, well, you're preaching works. I got to preach works,
but I don't preach works for salvation. But I do preach works
because of salvation. Let me tell you something, your
works can't save you, but your works can damn you. Now go figure
that one out. That's a good one there. Your
works can't save you, but your works can still sure damn you.
Hmm, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle,
showing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were
sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various or
divers, lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. But after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, even righteous works. See, even
righteous works, it's unmixed. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. By
the washing of regeneration, that's what God does, and by
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that's what God does. So it's
God's work, right? There's being simple, clear concerning
the good. God must do it all. And if he don't work in me both
to will and to do with his good pleasure, I won't be subject
to principalities' powers either. I'll kick up my heels. I'm a
free, autonomous individual. How dare Joe Biden say I gotta
do this or I gotta do that. Joe Biden is in God's hands,
folks. He put him there. God put him there. God put him
there. Even if Trump don't like it,
and I don't like it, but God put him there. All right, enough
for my political stance. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us. How? Abundantly. This ain't just, okay, have a
little nibble. It's not an offer. He shed. on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ, our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. And then
that preacher preached my granny's funeral, said, God don't make
any man do anything, he's a gentleman. Well, I hope he's one of them.
I hope he comes and just rocks my world. I hope he forces me
to go against my will and bow to his will. Look, now having
established that, that's clear and unmixed, is it not? Look,
this is a faithful saying, and these things I will, that thou
affirm constantly that they which have believed in God, you see
it? Might be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But there it is. It don't take
a whole lot of explaining for that, does it? What it takes
is the power of God to bow me down to it. There's another one,
Ephesians chapter two. We're almost to the end. I know
you're probably getting hungry and I know I'm getting hungry. That's one of the toughest things
is to preach when you're starting to feel hungry and smell the
food right in the other room. Shame on y'all for doing that
to me. See me now, see you as unmixed in our efforts, our works. Look at it, Ephesians. You know
it, Ephesians 2. And you, as he quickened, who were dated
in trespasses and sins. wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
or our way of life in time past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature,
we hated God just like everybody else. That's what that means.
And were by nature the children of wrath even as others. The
elect are no different. than everybody else. Somebody
said, well, God looked into the future. That's why he chose you,
because he's seen what you would do. Had he not given me the ability
to do it, I never done it. That's what Paul said. Take money
out of another man's account and then give it back to him
and expect you've done something good. Everything we got, we have by
God Almighty. The breath I have in my lungs,
the food that I get to eat, my health, if I have any. And you
think God don't care more about my soul than he does about my
body? If he doesn't, that's not much love, is it? But God, who
is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together, not by
Christ, but how? With Christ. So when he was raised,
in God's sight we were raised too. Still just dead as a hammer,
but still raised with him. And then every time I read this,
I hope I never forget it. I remember Earl saying this years
ago, and Paul just couldn't stand it anymore. By grace you're saved.
By grace you're saved. Most people wanna get to the
faith part first. He ain't even got the faith yet. We're dead
in sins. You see it? We ain't even got
the repentance of faith yet, but he quickened us with Christ. That's... To me, that's clear
and unmixed. Is it not? Clear and unmixed.
By grace, you're saved and raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ. Then in the ages to come,
he might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. Now, for by grace are you saved
through faith. You see, if he quickened you
and he went to glory for you, he gonna give you faith. Yeah,
that's what it says. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. And in
the Greek, the neuter of this thing means that the salvation
is the gift of God, the faith is the gift of God, and the grace
is all the gift of God. It's all a gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are His workmanship, created. You see it? Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk
in them. I thank God that I could see
myself there. And I have no boast in it. I can't brag about it. Ellen, I can't brag about it.
God did it all. God did it all. Am I clear about
good? Gospel good, now, remember, that's
what we're talking about. It's not the black and whites of this
world, you know, and I don't mean black and white people,
good deeds, bad deeds. No, this is a talk about good
concerning the truth of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Don't
lie about him. Don't lie about him. People that
lie about him, avoid them. They're not his servants. They're
serving their own belly. Gospel truth. Think it, do I
refuse to mix my evil, my efforts, no matter how good they might
be. Do I refuse to mix evil with God's free grace? I say it one
more time, that even our righteousnesses, it's not a play on words. Isaiah's
being real. My best efforts are menses cloths
in God's sight. So in closing, now I beseech
you, brethren, Mark them which cause divisions and offenses
contrary to the doctrine which we have learned, and avoid them.
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but
their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive
the hearts of the simple. For your obedience, your loyalty
has come abroad unto all, and I'm glad therefore in your behalf.
But yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, clear
unto that which is good, clear about the gospel, and simple
unmixed about that which is evil. Heavenly Father, thank you for
your word. but Lord, thank you for your
spirit that enables us and gives us a desire to hear your word
and believe your word and rest upon your word. Force us to Christ,
force us to Christ. Lord, we thank you for this whole
group of people here, everyone that's here today and those that
may be listening live stream, maybe even those who may hear
these messages even later on. Lord, be with them. Show them
grace and mercy in Christ. Thank you for the food that we
have and may we enjoy it. In Christ's name, amen.