Deuteronomy 34, I did not know
and still do not know because I'm not done yet that God would
let me finish the first five books of the Bible. I figured
I might be dead before I got to the Deuteronomy chapter 34
and I may be before I finish this message. I may keel over
dead right here this morning. Deuteronomy 34, Moses went up
from the plains of Moab. unto the mountains of Nebo, to
the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord
showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and
all the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah unto
the uttermost, utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the
valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees unto Zoar, God lets
Moses see all the land. That is an amazing thing to consider. But when you read this, if you
read it, did you think of that word Zoar? You remember Zoar? Zoar is where Lot begged to go
rather than going to the mountains, he said to the angels, please
let me, I pray you, go into this city. It's a small city. Now
just chew on that one for a while. Let's move on. The Lord said
unto him, this is the land that I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac,
and unto Joseph, saying, I will give it unto thy, S-E-E-D, seed. Let us never move from the principle
that is given us in scripture. It is seed as of one, not seeds
as of many. The land belongs to Christ. It's his. That's what it's saying. Let's move on. And I have caused
thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. This is Moses. He has spent 40
years tracing in circles around through the wilderness, leading
a stiff-necked and rebellious people, and God says you will
not step one foot into that land. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord, died there in the land of Moab. according to the word
of the Lord. And he buried him, that is the
Lord buried him. And he buried him in a valley
in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor, but no man knoweth
of his sepulcher unto this day. I don't know all the reasons
for that, but I know one reason for that. You know what men and
women would do today if they knew where Moses had been buried?
They'd been worshiping that burial site. Christians will be making
pilgrimage over here to Beth Peor and bowing down to some
tomb or some sepulcher. Israel did it to the brazen serpent.
Remember, it was ordained of God for a specific time, for
a specific purpose, and as you read through the scripture, you
come years down the line, somebody stuck that thing in a closet
somewhere. And somebody had evidently found it and they brought that
thing out. You know what the people were doing? They were worshiping
the brazen serpent. And the king, was it Hezekiah?
Am I remembering, is my memory correct? Hezekiah ground it to
powder and put it in the water and said, you people drink it.
Here's your God, put him in your belly. worshiping a worthless,
this is what Hezekiah called it, nehushtan. You know what
that means? A worthless piece of brass. Consider that. Now, and Moses
was 120 years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his
natural force abated. He was still in what we might
say the prime of his life. And the children of Israel wept
for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. So the days of weeping
and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was
full of the spirit of wisdom for Moses had laid his hands
upon him. You see that? And the children
of Israel hearkened unto him and did as the Lord commanded
Moses. An amazing statement right there,
is it not? And as a matter of fact, I will
say more about this later, they did during the whole lifespan
of Joshua. In the land, they did the whole
lifespan of Joshua and the lifespan of those that directly knew Joshua. But once Joshua and those elders
died, the people again began to plunge into total idolatry. Now, let's look, verse 10, 11,
and 12. And there arose not a prophet
since in Israel, like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. Now think about that. God is
spirit, correct? Spirit is that immaterial part
of anything, that which cannot be seen. As a matter of fact,
God in his absolute holiness and glory cannot be viewed by
fallen sinful men. Yet Moses talked with the Lord
what? Face to face. So who must that
have been? Could have been none other than
Jesus Christ the Lord. in all the signs and the wonders
which the Lord sent him to do, in all the land of Egypt to Pharaoh,
and to all his servants, and to all his land, and all that
mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in
the sight of all Israel. And thus the book of Deuteronomy
ends. There is much that could be said
from this chapter. But I want to go in this direction.
Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites are more than types and shadows.
You hear what I'm saying? They're more than types and shadows.
Moses and Joshua and the Israelites teach us many lessons. Moses
is a type of Christ. Remember in his birth? All that
took place, he's the deliverer that God sends into Egypt to
deliver the people of Israel. But Moses is also a type of the
lawgiver, so much so that John puts it this way. The law came
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Joshua clearly is a type of Christ
because the people had success as long as Joshua was alive. But as soon as Joshua died, they
plunged, began to plunge into idolatry. And folks, that's why
Jesus Christ is eternal even as a man. Because you and I,
even as redeemed, saved people, would not persevere unto the
end were it not for the living, reigning, reconciling Lord God
Jesus Christ. So I say they're more than types
and symbols. Consider this, they were real
people. with actual depravity. And even
though we are never shown one fault of Joshua. Go read the
book of Joshua sometime. Often you will find it worded
this, when a battle was fought and won, who did the credit go
to? Joshua. Joshua, not the people,
but Joshua being led by God Almighty. They were actual people with
actual depravity and in actual need of mercy. Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites
are not figments of men's imaginations. These were at one time real,
living, breathing people. And God showed some of them mercy.
and others he did not. Now is that what's taught in
the book of Deuteronomy? It is. Anyone who denies that
is denying the facts. Mason, not even the truth. They're
just denying the facts that are presented in this Bible. For
instance, you could speak to someone, and some have. I heard
one individual one time speak. He began to quote Romans 8, 28,
and all of those great verses that follow in that passage.
And the person he was speaking to says, well, I don't believe
it like that. Well, he was just quoting what the book says. How
many times have you quoted? Someone says, well, God loves
everyone. And you quote, Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. And they say, well, I don't believe
that. Well, then you don't believe the book. Someone says, well,
it sounds to me like the first thing to do is to convince someone
that the book of God is absolutely true. I can't do it. Some preachers
hold ministries around trying to prove that the Bible is inerrant.
infallible, verbally inspired, plenary inspired. I don't have
to do that. You know why? Because God the
Son said when he sent his spirit, he will convince the world. That's
Jews and Gentiles. That's bond and free. That's
rich and poor. That's male and female. He will
reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. I
don't have to reprove anybody of it. I am called to proclaim
it. then the Spirit of God takes
that truth and convinces whom He will of that truth. Here's the question. When it
comes to mercy, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to
all of those great words that describe the many great blessings
that comes with God's mercy and God's salvation and God's compassion,
who is it that has the mercy? God. And this book encourages us to
beg him for that mercy. But we dare not demand it of
him. Because you do not have, I do
not have a right to demand of God his mercy. If you go out
here today and you offend somebody and you hurt them seriously,
whether it's physically or just verbally or whatever it is, go
to them and demand to them that they show you mercy. It ain't
gonna work. It ain't gonna work. Mercy cannot
be earned. It cannot be demanded or else
it is not mercy. Who has mercy? But here's another
question, who does not? Who is regenerate? That is, to
whom has God given by his spirit spiritual life. We're all born
dead in trespasses and in sins. There are people who are elect
that's chosen by God before the world began. There are people
that God rejected before the world began. Right? That's what
this book clearly teaches. But in time, God sends his spirit
and gives those people spiritual life because the elect are born
as spiritually dead as the reprobate, as the rejected. I am persuaded
I'm one of God's elect, but I am no better by nature than the
worst reprobate that ever walked. Jacob was not better than Esau. As a matter of fact, comparing
man to man, Esau was probably more noble than Jacob was. His
name meant surplanter. He was a conniving, conniving
person. But who has mercy? Who does not?
Who is regenerate? Who is not regenerate? Who believes
God? There's one. Who believes God?
And who does not? Has that question ever burned
in your soul? Have you ever wondered about the answer to those questions
concerning yourself and concerning others? If you haven't, you're
a heartless piece of work. If you haven't, you're heartless.
Heartless. Does that question burn? Think
of this, look at Moses' resume. and there arose not a prophet
since in Israel, like unto Moses, the Lord knew him face to face.
And look at all that God used him to do. Go back and look at
Egypt. I mean, this man walked up into the face of the most
powerful man upon the face of the earth in that region, in
that time, and says, God said, let my people go. He didn't go
up and beg him to do it. He said, God said, do it. And
scripture calls him the most meek man that ever was. So meekness
is not Mahatma Gandhi walking around like this. No, meekness
is this. You know who your God is. And
you are nothing, but my God is everything. And when my God commands,
don't be ashamed, don't be afraid to set forth his commands. That's meekness. But here's Moses.
Look at him. There has been no greater prophet
than him. And yet, Mason, God didn't let
him put one toe in the promised land for one sin. It was because of one sin. You
remember it? Remember what he did? He struck
the rock a second time. Now there was a rock that water
came out of and gave the people of Israel their water all throughout
most of their 40 year journey. And Paul comes along and tells
us that rock was none other than Jesus Christ himself. And when
the rock first appeared, God said, take your staff and strike
it. And when Moses struck it, water gushed, sweet, unsalty,
pure water gushed forth from that rock and the people drank.
But they needed water on another occasion. And God said, speak
to the rock. What did Moses do? Must I bring
you forth water out of this rock? He got angry, you remember? Raised
up his staff and hit it again. And because of that one thing,
He was never allowed to step a toe within the promised land. Why? Because Christ don't die
but one time. He was stricken once and once
only. Why? Because when he did it that
one time, he secured, he accomplished all that God meant for him to
accomplish. He saved some people when he
died on that tree. Those he saved when he died on
that tree didn't even know it. but he had saved them. He secured
all mercy and grace toward them and that would be eventually
given to them by dying in their place on that tree and you don't
hit Christ a second time. You just speak to the rock. and
then the rock will give forth his water as he is pleased. And because of that one sin,
Moses didn't enter in. Look at Israel's resume. And
the children of Israel wept for Moses. They wept for Moses. Now what had their ancestors,
their mothers and fathers, been doing for 40 years? Badgering
Moses, wanting to kill Moses, were they not? And yet here is
this younger generation raising up and they now mourn Moses. Well, the older generation wanted
him dead. And they mourned for him. And look at what it says, the
last part of verse nine. and the children of Israel hearkened
unto Joshua, that's the hymn there, and did as the Lord commanded
Moses. Were they better than the others?
Remember, they came out of the loins of those who had come before
them. He that is born of woman is a
few days full of trouble. Can a unclean thing bring forth
a clean thing? Were these people of Israel,
were these Jews better than their parents? No, because the scripture
says we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yet
Moses is told he can't go in, and this group of people march
in and begin to conquer the land, you see it? Now look at Joshua's
resume. And Joshua, the son of Nun, was
full of the spirit of wisdom. And as I said before, you read
through the book of Joshua, you will not find one fault in Joshua
mentioned. But Joshua was as sinful as me.
And Joshua was as sinful from you. It wasn't because Joshua
was a special person, for Moses had laid his hands upon him. Do you see that? Now, when you
read When you read Deuteronomy 34, can you see the difference? Can you say, all right, I understand
now who's saved and who's not. I can point them all out. I can
look at that one and say, well, that one's got it. And I can
look at this one and say, well, this one doesn't have it. We
might say that, but we got a 50-50 shot. it's a 50-50 shot. You know why?
Because salvation is something that when it happens to you.
Now Paul spoke about what God did for us. But because he did
certain things for us, he's gonna do certain things to us. But
those things are primarily, I'm not saying they're all, but they're
primarily, and I know they began down in here. Down in here. You see, I've heard And I have
even said myself, so I'm not trying to preach down anybody.
I'm just trying to state the facts as they are. I have heard
and even said myself, well, so and so may be one of God's elect.
You ever done that about somebody? So and so may be one, and we
start to treat this person different than we would another because
we at least hope they might be one of God's elect, huh? Ever treat that child or grandchild
with all this great love, because they might be one of God's elect,
but then meet somebody on the street that just got under your
crowd, and in your mind, you just wish it just went on to
hell. Huh? Now, none of you good church
folk ever did anything like that, did you? No, yeah, we have. Or this. Well, I think God's
working on so-and-so. You ever said that about somebody?
I've seen God work on some people, what I thought was God working
on some people, And they come into this small group and just
love this group and go for years and years and years. And the
next thing you know, what happens? They turn their back on the truth
of God. Turn their back on the truth
of God and walk away. And don't, I'm not talking about
somebody moving and having to go to another place and find
another place to worship. What I'm talking about, I will
not follow that God. Ellen, after years, of being
received into a grace fellowship. When we think, well, so-and-so
may be one of God's elect, or I think God's working on so-and-so,
maybe, maybe not. Judas felt great remorse, didn't
he? He felt great remorse, but what
did he do? He went out and hanged himself.
Esau was seeking for a change. He wished he was different, and
he sought it carefully with tears, but he couldn't find it. He couldn't
find it. You see, when God does his work,
now what I'm gonna give you, if you want to follow along,
that's fine. First John chapter five. I was gonna say I'm gonna
move quickly so you don't have to turn, but you don't have to
turn anyway, but 1 John chapter five. I wanna give us five things
that manifest who is really saved, who is converted, who is regenerate,
who's not regenerate, who is a believer, who is not a believer. When I say who is a believer,
I mean who believes God, not believes in God. Not believes
it, but believes God. Look at 1 John 5. Whosoever,
that's a word that's liked today, right? Some people use that one
word to build a whole doctrine around that one word. Do they
not? But you know what whosoever means?
Whosoever. But it's qualified. It's qualified. It's only a certain group of
whosoever. because everybody else are whosoever
will not. They are not a part of that group.
Whosoever, what's that say? The next qualifier, the qualifier
rather. Whosoever believeth. And isn't
that exactly what John 3.16 says? For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son. For what purpose? For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish. A person who remains an unbeliever's
never been under that love. Never intended by God to be saved.
It's that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. Whosoever believeth, but then
here is the qualifier for the believing. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. You see that? Now it doesn't
say whosoever says it, There's a lot of people that say it,
but they don't believe it. A lot of people say it, but they
don't believe it because they've never really heard what it means
for him to have or to be the Christ. I'll give you one passage.
Isaiah chapter 42. This describes who the Christ
is, and of course, you look at Isaiah 42, look at the first
few verses, Christ actually quotes that of himself, and it's recorded
in the New Testament. So we know this is speaking of
Christ. Look at what it says in verse four, of the Christ,
God's elect one. Remember, God's people are chosen
in him, based upon him. He is their merit. He is their
surety. But he was chosen because of
his merits. He was chosen because of his
righteousness. Mason, he is, in one manner of
speaking, he is the only elect person. The one that was chosen
because of who he was. We're chosen in him. That is
because of his purpose and who he is. He was chosen in himself. But look at what it says of him.
Verse four of this Christ. He shall not fail. Now let's
just stop right there. I'm not even gonna read anymore.
You can read the rest, read all of it later. Make sure what I'm
telling you is the facts, the truth. But one moniker of the
Messiah is what? He shall not fail. Now I ask any reasonably minded
person, and I simply do that because I don't know who has
life and who doesn't. I don't know who can see and
who doesn't. But if someone, attempts to do something, and
it is said of that person that they expended their whole being
to accomplish something, and yet it doesn't come to pass.
Can you say that they did not fail? No, they're a complete
failure. You see, if you want to know
what did God intend to happen through the death of Jesus Christ,
go to the last two chapters of the Bible and read the last two
chapters of the Bible when God sums it all up and that's exactly
what God intended to do through the death of Jesus Christ. Some
people are in glory with Christ and some people are under the
condemnation of God. That's what God meant to do.
You see, when God does his work, whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Messiah is born of God. And I can only answer that for
me, that if I believe that Jesus is the Christ, I can only answer
that for me. You can only answer that for
you. You cannot answer that for someone
else. If I were to ask my wife, honey,
Do I believe enough so that you think I'm one of God's? Well,
I'm sure I'm just putting her in a spot. She lives with me,
sleeps with me, spends a lot of her life around me. If she's
honest, she'd probably have to say, I don't see a lot in you. What about you? I see your faults
and your failures and your utter sins. So that can only be known
by the individual down in here. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God, and everyone, so how many does
that include? That's all the whosoever, but it's all the whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ. That's a qualifier, no one else. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him
that begat, that's the one that did the birthing, that begat,
loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that
we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his
commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments. And I will tell you something,
this word keep is not about do. It doesn't say whoever does the
commandments. What does it say? It's to keep them. What do you
do? You put them in here. Do you love the brethren like
they ought to be loved? Ever got mad at a brother and
sister? That ain't the love of God, is it? See, it's not gauged. It's not gauged on how much love
we have. It's just the fact whether we
do love one another or not. That's what it's about. But this
is the love of God that we keep. Put him in here. Mason, I would
keep God's holy law. I would keep God's holy law.
But the more I try, the worse I fail. But by God's grace, I can believe
that Jesus is the Christ. And I love others who believe
that Jesus is the Christ. We got a person in common. And it's that, like I told you
before, you got two guys that love football. They can disagree
on everything else, but they can get together and be happy
watching football, now can't they? Huh? They can disagree
on politics, they can disagree on finance, but if they both
really love football, they can get together and talk about what?
Football! And if you really believe that
Jesus is the Christ, and you come along with somebody else
and they believe that Jesus is the Christ, it doesn't matter
how high or low they are, you can rejoice with that person
in the fact that they believe that Jesus is the Christ. And
if somebody doesn't, If I love football and you hate it, when
football comes on, what's gonna happen? If football's all that's on,
what's gonna happen? Somebody ain't gonna be happy.
Somebody ain't gonna be happy unless somebody compromises. Now if you really love football,
are you gonna compromise? If you really love Christ, you're
not going to compromise. You see, when God does, that's
what, when God does his work, here's another thing. When God
does his work, he does his work. Romans 10, look at what this
says. And you see, I know that most preachers, they're up here
preaching, They're up here preaching against, they stand behind podiums
like this, and some of them in large congregations, some of
them in football stadiums or whatever. And boy, they preach
against sins. Now don't they? As Earl Cochran,
our beloved pastor, used to say, there's some preachers that preach
more against a pack of cigarettes and a can of beer than they do
for the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And God never
says a pack of cigarettes is sinful. God never says a can
of beer is sinful. It's men and women's abuse of
these things that is sinful. That's the problem. Tobacco ain't
evil, as Tim James used to say, and alcohol ain't evil because
it ain't got a soul. It's those of us who have a soul
that are evil. We're the ones that abuse these
things. Look at what it says. Well, Paul
says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is. Now, remember this, Israel had rejected God, rejected Christ,
did they not? But he said, my prayer to God
for Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them record.
Well, they're a bunch of drunks. They love to go to the pool hall.
Is that what it was about? No, that wasn't a problem. For
I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. They're religious
people. They were very moral people.
Now granted, there was some that were immoral, but those were
the ones that seemed to flock to Christ more than anybody else.
Wasn't it not? The sinners and publicans rejoiced
to come hear what he said, cause he wasn't up there pointing the
finger and said, you're going to hell if you don't straighten
up. No, he said, if you're thirsty, come to me. Now if you're not
thirsty, don't matter. I don't care whether you're religious
or not. I don't care whether you're moral or immoral. It don't
matter. But if you're thirsty, come to me. Our Lord taught one
time, he that hungereth and thirsteth after righteousness shall be
filled. My heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them
record. They have a zeal, but not according to knowledge. Now
let me tell you something. Let me just say this, knowledge
doesn't save you, but God doesn't save you and leave you ignorant.
And they shall all, this is what Christ said, and they shall all,
John chapter six, it's recorded, and they shall all be taught
of God. So if God's gonna save you, if
he's gonna convert you, if you're gonna be regenerated by the Spirit
and converted by the gospel, God's gonna teach you some things.
He's gonna teach you some things. As a matter of fact, you'll hear
it through someone preaching or someone witnessing to you
from the Word of God, but it's the Spirit of God that does the
actual teaching. Paul says that clearly in 1 Corinthians
chapter two. Which things we speak, but the
Holy Ghost teaches them. Because he's gotta be the one
that really, I can academically, if a man or woman's honest, say
that's okay, look at this, what it says, okay, it's what it says,
but they're not gonna love it. They're not gonna join to it
unless God Almighty does something for them down in here. So it's
not according to knowledge. So there is going to be some
knowledge, but the knowledge ain't saving you. The knowledge
is what God's given you when he's saving you. But look, for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness. Here was their
main problem, and going about to establish their own righteousness. And folks, I don't say this to
be mean, but that's what most of professed Christianity is
about today, trying to get men and women to do their own righteousness
and say, all right, have I done enough? So at least when I stand
before God, my righteousness at least outweighs my bad. See,
the problem is I don't care if your righteousness is 99.9 and
your unrighteousness is just .1, God won't have you. because
God's not going to receive any sin into his presence. And how's that done away with?
Through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Establish their
own righteousness and have not, what's that word? Here's our
problem. This is my problem of nature, it's your problem of
nature, and have not submitted, bowed down to. You see that? and have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. Well, what is that, right? Isn't
that the question then? Isn't that the question? Here
it is. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth. What was the problem? What's
our problem? We don't bow to Christ. We don't bow to Christ. But let me tell you something.
God, here's my third thing, God will manifest his work in a certain,
decisive, determinative way. First Thessalonians, let's look
at that. So I hope you see, I'm not just trying to pick out one
passage and Mason, I'm not trying to say okay, here's what this
means, I'm showing you all over the word of God what God is saying
is actually true of those who believe God as opposed to those
who do not believe God. If you believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the book says what? You're born of God. But you believe
that he is the Christ, not this weak, effeminate, sissy, felon
Jesus that this religious world has pawned off to men and women
today. It's just not Jesus. It's that other Jesus that Jesus,
the Jesus of God, warned everybody about. He's an imposter. Look at what Paul said to these
Thessalonians. For sake of time, I'll begin in verse four. Knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now, how in the world
could Paul know that? The election is one of grace. So you can't look at a person
and say, well, they're pretty good. I think God chose them.
That ain't the way it works. And Paul tells us clearly that
that election in Christ took place before the foundation of
the world. So how in the world could Paul
say, I know you people are the elect of God, right? I know that,
look. For our gospel came not to you
in word only, but in power. And this is, A progressive thing
here, now this is not power. Oh, the preacher up there, he
preached one of them powerful messages. That's not what it's
talking about. Jonathan Edwards one time preached a message,
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. And he preached it by candlelight. And he just read it, just read
the message. And God brought those people
down. to the feet of Christ, and other
men have sat and listened to Mason's powerful, powerful gospel
messages, and it didn't fade of just like water off a duck's
back. Why? Because it don't come in word
only, but it is the gospel that's coming now. This is not the preacher's
prowess. This is not the preacher's ability.
It has nothing to do with the preacher other than he's doing
what? He's preaching the gospel. If he's not preaching the gospel,
I don't care how powerful he is. He may convince you of a
million worlds and a million things, but if not the gospel,
this ain't true of you. But our gospel came not to you
in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost, why? Because
that's the only way anybody's gonna get it. If I teach it to
you, you can forget it easy. But if the Holy Ghost ever teaches
you, bless God, you'll never forget it. You'll never be able
to get away from it, even though you may be like Joan and try.
These people were saved and lost, saved and lost. Not if God saves
you. God's not gonna let you go. I don't care how far down
you go. He's not gonna let you go. He bought you if you're his. If he died for you, he bought
you. You are his. Your body is his. You are bought
with a price. You are God's property. And he'll have you. He'll have
you. Look, for our gospel came not
in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.
And Paul pointed this out. It's not assurance about us.
It's not, boy, I came real confident about myself. No, it's assurance
that this word is God's word. This word is true. And you begin
to see, you begin to see Christ is the sum and substance of all
of it. If I learned the whole Bible
and missed Christ, I've learned nothing. I've learned nothing. And in much assurance, as ye
know what manner of men were among you for your sake. And
ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction." In other words, God Almighty
dealt with you. That's what that's talking about.
But at the same time, what else? With joy. of the Holy Ghost. You see, when God begins, Mason,
forgive me if I miss any of you. When God begins to convert a
person, I don't think God begins to regenerate. God either gives
you life or he don't. You either have it or you don't.
But conversion can be a long, drawn-out process. I'm talking
about initial, the first initial. We never get over conversion.
We're constantly being converted. You understand that. But there
is an initial conversion by the preaching of the gospel. And
some people, like that, they hear it, and it's like, God,
I gotta bow to Christ. And other people, boy, they struggle,
and they fight, and they study, and then they quit studying,
and they pray for a while. They say, well, it's useless
to pray. They try to believe God. It just don't seem like
it's coming anywhere. But that's God doing his work if God is
doing that work. Much affliction with joy of the
Holy Ghost. Look, so that ye were in samples. It's, as Earl
used to say, it's gonna leak out on ya. Right? When God does
his work, it's gonna start to leak out on ya. So that ye were
in samples. Notice, in sample, not an example.
I'm no man's example. You don't wanna be like me. I'm
an in sample. I show you both the good side
and the bad side. because that's what I am. I have the old man
and the new man. And sometimes it's hard to tell
the difference, and let's just be honest. Because the old man
can be just as religious and moral, even more so sometimes,
than the new man, because the new man hates religion and just
pure morality. The new man wants to worship
Christ and honor Christ and glorify Christ. So you became followers of us
and the Lord having received the joy. Look, so what's your
examples? To all that believe, because only other believers
are gonna really recognize it. You see that? He didn't say,
well, everybody in that Macedonia just knew you were a bunch of
Christians. Oh, no. They persecuted these people
because of who they were. But look, so that ye were examples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, for from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place. Your faith, the God word, is
spread abroad so that we need not say anything. In other words,
as Earl said, it leaked out on them, didn't it? Look, for they
themselves show of us what mannering of entering in we had unto you,
how ye turned, and get this, oh God, help us to get this,
to God from idols. You turn, when God converts you,
that's what turning is, repentance, turning toward God. It's not
just being sorry of your sins, though that is a part of it,
but it's turning to God from idols. Now, still, God the Spirit
burnt that in my mind when I first heard Earl Cochran say this,
you don't turn from seeing, or from idols, to God, because you'll
never get to God. Because we're gonna battle with
idols all the days of our lives. Whether it's a loved one, or
a job, or a paycheck, we all got, or whether it's a hamburger
and a steak, we've all got things that we love in this world. And
all God's gotta do is lift his finger of restraint for a moment
and we'll give ourselves to that thing rather than to God. Now
won't we? So you turn to God from idols. And that from idols is a continual,
ongoing process. John, writing to believers, first
John, read it, but especially chapter five, he said, flee from
idolatry. Well then I thought they already
had. They had, but it's still down in here. It's still down
in here. Let's go on. Look at one more.
God's work is a preserving work. Hebrews chapter 12. I know, I
don't want him to get, I know people accuse us, well, if I
believe what you believe, I'll go out and sin like I want. You
do anyway. You don't have to believe what
I believe to go out and sin all you, you do anyway. Now let's
be honest. Those are catchphrases that people
try to put you down with to make you feel bad about God. because
my savior is God, not me. Christ said, and other sheep
I have. He's talking about some Jewish
sheep. And other sheep I have is some Gentile sheep, which
are not of this fold. Them also I must bring. Remember that? And Jesus also
taught of himself in Luke 15 that when there is a lost sheep,
the good shepherd goes and hunts down that sheep till he finds
it. He lays it on his shoulders and
he brings it all the way home and says to the father and everybody
else around, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that
was lost. You know who the responsible
party for my salvation is? Somebody wanna say it out loud?
Jesus Christ. He's responsible for me. That
makes me want to serve him. It doesn't make me wanna go out
here and dishonor his name. Although I far too often do. Look at what he says, Hebrews
12. I've got to, verse five. That's a move on. And ye have
forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.
My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint
when thou art rebuked of him. Now what's clearly indicated
from those words? You've done something wrong and
you got to be corrected and rebuked for it, right? Chastening don't
mean just beating. It means to beat. but to do so in a way that brings
about correction. Sadly, many of us as parents,
we just whacked our kids when they did something wrong. We
really didn't know how to try to chasten them. We knew how
to whack them, but we didn't know how to chasten them. We're
good at whacking, but we ain't too good at actually teaching
them a lesson. But look at what he says. The
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked to him
for whom the Lord loves. When he loves, loveth, what does
he do to him? He chasteneth, right? Now see, if God loves everybody,
then God's gonna chasten everybody. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth. So it's not pleasant, and he
goes on to say it, it's not pleasant. When God corrects you, it's not
pleasant. And whom the Lord loveth, he chasteth and scourgeth every
son he may receiveth. If he endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. Does God correct you when you
fall flat on your face? Or not? It's that simple, right? It's not that you don't fall
flat on your face, you will. But does God correct you? Or
you just dust yourself off and say, boy, I'm glad not too many
people seen that. And then just go on about your
own merry own way. It don't work that way. You see,
when you sin against God, even if nobody else sees it, the spirit
of God will haunt your conscience. And you can't get over it until
you bow once again at the feet of Christ and say, Lord, have
mercy on me, the sinner. Even if nobody else even knows
about it. Because one thing, one person
you know knows about it. That's your Lord and your Savior. And you know it dishonored Him.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Now look at it. But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, that's all sons, all who are loved,
then are ye illegitimate. You see it? You are bastards.
You remember what I told you that Greek word really means,
don't you? The Greek word we have translated bastard, it means
bastard. And you know what a bastard means,
don't you? It means your mom and your daddy wasn't married
when he was conceived. You're illegitimate. That's what it
means. You're a bastard, not a son.
And that's not a throw off on someone who's been born out of
wed, born out of, to an unmarried parent. That's not a throw off
on, that's just a fact. You're illegitimate. You're not really
born of God. Because everybody that's born of God, God loves
them and God corrects them. That's what he's teaching. Furthermore,
we had fathers of our flesh which correct, now you see it, see
the word there? I didn't make that up. Which, what? Corrected
us. You see that? And we gave them
reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto
the father of spirits than live? For they verily or truly for
a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. That's why
I said what I said. Sadly, as parents, we don't know
how to do it like God does. We just don't know how to do
it. Now, some of us, we're far better than others, don't get
me wrong. But we don't know how to do it like God does it. Because
God makes sure the job gets done. Doesn't he? Because look, but
he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. Not that we might all of a sudden
become holy again. No, that we might be partakers
of his holiness. God says, I won't put up with
this. If you dishonor me, something
will happen. Here's the second one. Turn to
1 Corinthians 11 and read what it says. Now, I
don't have time to go through all the context, but the main
context here is the Corinthians were abusing the Lord's table,
weren't they? They were getting together to
having a big feast. And when they'd get together to have these
big feasts, which there's nothing wrong with having a big feast,
but they would do it in conjunction with the Lord's table. And the
Lord's table had unleavened bread and wine. And they were having
such a hoedown that they were getting drunk off the wine. Right? Now is that the context? That's
the context. But look at what Paul writes. First Corinthians
11, verse 31. For if we would judge ourselves,
You see that? Now that does not mean if we
would punish ourselves. This is not whipping yourself
because you do something wrong. No, this all, what do you do
when you judge something? You step back and take an inventory
of it, right? That's the word used here. Because
look, let me read it all and then go back and look at this.
For if we, he's talking to believers, for if we would judge ourselves,
We should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are
chastened, there it is, corrected of the Lord that we should not
be what? Punished with the world. That's
the way you could read that. Do you see it? Right there it
is. Now how do you judge yourself? One thing, don't ever forget
what you really are. Don't ever think you've gotten over being
a sinner. Don't ever think you're above
walking after the flesh. Because Paul says to believers,
walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Even in believers, the lust of
the flesh is still down in here. And all we got to do is just
let down our guard for a moment and we will find out how real
that old man is. Now if we would quit doing that,
If we would, Max, it says, if we would judge ourselves, we
should not be judged. Take an inventory of where you're
at, what you're doing, what's going on. Never forget where
you're being. You remember that last big fall
you had? Do you wanna go through that again? Huh? You remember
when you fell flat on your face and you dishonored your God?
A true believer says, I don't wanna go there again. I understand now why Peter, he
denied the Lord three times, didn't he? The last time he cursed
and swore, I don't know the so-and-so, if you know what I mean. They
brought Christ out of that hall. Christ just looked over at him
and said he went out and wept bitterly. Mason was ashamed of
himself, but you know what? He couldn't stop himself. Do
you know that? Because Satan had desired him
to sift him as wheat, and Satan was gonna have him. to sift him
as wheat because God gave him say so. Now did he not? And he
said, Peter, you will deny me three times. He could not have
denied him four or two. He was going to deny him three
times. But he wasn't going to deny him
any more than that, was he? But Christ said these words.
But I've prayed for you that your faith fail not. And I've said this over, and
I hope maybe God keeps on bringing it to our hearts and minds, when
Peter said, I don't know that S-O-B. Whatever it was, I don't
know the word, but it says he cursed and swore. I don't know
him. He did know him. He still loved
him. but he was scared to death of
what was happening to Christ was going to happen to him, and
he just bragged about, these other guys might leave you, but
not me. See, that's what we get when we brag about ourselves.
Judge yourself. I am not able, Lord, to do this. I not only can't keep your law,
I can't honor your gospel unless you give me the ability to do
so. And you remember the fellow, Paul mentioned him, Lord, I believe.
but he did not say, but I got a lot of unbelief. That is not
what he said. That's often what we do. Often we say, Lord, I
believe, but I got a lot of unbelief. That's a cop-out. That's a cop-out. You know what the man said, don't
you? Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. I can't deal with
it now. If I could, I'd put it away today. Jack, I'd never not believe God
ever again. but I can't because it's still
down in here in the old man. The old man is nothing but unbelief
that manifests itself in a lot of false belief. Unbelief is
not believing anything, it's believing everything except Jesus
Christ. Lord, I believe, help thou my
unbelief. Somebody says, well, I believe
that's a cop-out. I know you do, until God puts you in that
spot. And then you realize it ain't
a cop-out, it's real. Lord, if you don't keep me, I
will fall flat. Galatians 5 puts it this way,
as I said. I've done mentioned it. Never
presume that unbelief's effects are gonna be disannoyed even
for believers. Galatians 5, I wanna read some of that. Galatians
chapter 5. Now some people think that what
we're saying is once God regenerates you and converts you, then when
you see him, it don't matter. You just say, Lord, forgive me,
and everything just goes on sweet. No, sir, it don't happen that
way. Look at what the book says, Galatians 5 and verse 13. For brethren, ye have been called
unto liberty, and we are called unto liberty. Only use not liberty,
what, for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another. For all the law is fulfilled
in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one
another, what's gonna happen? Well, just ask God to forgive
you and everything's gonna be okay. Because when you got two people
biting and devouring one another, both of them are hungry for self.
Both of them are hungry for self. And look, take heed that you
be not consumed one another. See it? This I say then, walk
in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The lusts are going to be there.
You can't ever get rid of the lust, but you won't have to fulfill
it if you walk in the spirit. So what is that difference? Look
at what he says. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary
one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you
would. I know some men could explain it better than me, but
I'd give a stab at it. My flesh would give in totally
to the flesh, but the Spirit of God won't let me do that.
And the Spirit of God leads me to give in to the Spirit altogether,
but my flesh will not let me do that. See, that's what he's
talking about. But if you be led of the spirit,
you're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh, he's
going to tell us What's the right way, and what's the wrong way?
Is it not? He's gonna define it here. Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, that doesn't mean not washing your hands when you
eat, that's talking about filthy thoughts down inside, and just
running with them, rather than saying, whoa, I got to cut this
off. uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness,
revilings, and such like, of the which I tell you before,
as I've also told you in time past, that they which do some
things in the Greek, this is their way of life. That's what
it's talking about. This is their way of life. They
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. God will stop you in
your tracks. Now it's not you're never gonna
do anything wrong again, but you don't live in these things
anymore. Look, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, well, even faith too, right?
Faith, meekness, temperance against such, there is no law. You can't be too temperate. But
you can be too drunk. But temperance is not abstinence,
it's temperance. But it don't have to all be alcohol.
It may be your job. There's some men that give themselves
to their jobs so much they don't take care of their wives and
their kids. They're gone all the time and that's all that
matters to them is climbing the corporate ladder. Jack, that's
just as sinful. as taking a bottle of whiskey
and chugging the whole thing down and getting bombed out of
your gourd. They that are Christ have crucified the flesh with
the affections and lust. If we live in the spirit, then
do what? Walk in the spirit. In other
words, don't just sit back and say, well, whatever happens,
happens. Then you're going to suffer. Because what's going
to happen is the flesh will take precedence and you will be miserable. If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of what?
Vain glory. What is vain glory? Anything
that doesn't seek to honor God in Christ, that's vain glory.
Vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. But if somebody
is overtaken, what do you do? Oh, just damn them all to hell
unless you straighten up. Is that what it says? Brethren,
if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted. It could be you. Don't become
proud, say, you better straighten up. You better start living right. Well, there ain't none of us
that live right. But we do seek to honor Christ.
Do we not? You see, when we try to convince
ourselves that God is at work, We usually try and help that
work along. Now don't we? Hmm? Now come on now, oh, I read the
Bible to this person. You think you're reading the
Bibles? What's gonna make the difference? No, sir, I want you
to do this. Keep after him. Come hear men
preach the gospel. Now I'm not saying don't read
the Bible to them. That ain't what it's all about. You see, when we think God's
doing the work, that's when we usually try to stick our hands
in the middle and help it alone. And that causes trouble to us
and to the person we're trying to help. And how can I say that?
Because of Psalms 127. Turn there and I will end with
that. Psalm 127. Give you just a second to get there. Accept The Lord build the house. They labor in vain that build
it. You see it? Unless this is God
doing it, you're just wasting your time. And if God's doing
it, you think God needs your help? The God who spoke this
whole universe into existence and you think he needs your help?
The God who brought down Nebuchadnezzar and you think he needs your help? He was a heathen king. The God
who brought down Saul of Tarsus, a righteous religious law keeper. No, he don't need, how many people
were preaching to Saul of Tarsus? I know of one man that did and
he died for it. You remember that? Stephen. That's
the only one the scripture lets us know that preached to Saul
of Tarsus when Saul of Tarsus was still lost, and he lost his
life because of it, because they stoned him to death. But God
didn't have to have Stephen, did he? God don't need us. Look, except the Lord keep the
city. The watchman waketh, but in vain. They didn't say they better not
even wake up. I gotta get out of there. I gotta
get out there. The Lord better be in charge of this. The Lord's
the one gotta be doing this. Look, it is vain for you to rise
up early or to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows. What's
he talking about? Quit sitting around and worrying about it
because you ain't controlling any of it. And when you try,
you're messing it up. You're sticking your hand in
God's business. That's what he's talking about.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat
the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. You see, when you say, I know
God's in control, and you really believe it, you can lay your
head down at night and say, God do it, because I can't. Look
what else? When I first read this message,
I thought, what is some of these things? And then it dawned on
me. Lo, children are an inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of
the womb is his reward. That's true. But can't children
also be a pain in the neck? Don't they make you lay awake
at night and cry tears down your face? You know why we do them?
Now, we're emotional creatures. I'm not throwing off on our emotions,
but because we really don't believe God's in control of these things.
That's why. But look, as arrows are in the
hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Now here's the question. What
is mighty? Arrows, in other words, he don't
just fling it. That mighty man takes that arrow,
what's he do? He knows how to put it on the mark. Put it where it counts. If a
man's coming at you with a sword, you don't wanna stick him in
the toe. You wanna put it right through
here. That's what a wise man does.
Now how many of us always do that? How many of us can make
all of our arrows stick where they should be? How many of us
so well brought up our children that they all just love the Lord,
hmm? Why? Except the Lord build the
house. They labor in vain that build
it. And I'm not wise enough to always put it on the mark. But
who is the Lord? The Lord happy is the man that
hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but
they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Folks, that, I like
to think that's true of me somewhat. But oh, what a bad example I
am of that. What about you? You the greatest
parent that ever walked? When you tell me you are, I'll
tell you you're a liar and let you to sin two times. God is the great parent. No,
I didn't put that up. I want to give you this. So here's
my title. And my subject has been this.
God's work alone makes the difference. You see it? Because when God
works the work, bless God, it will have its determined end. Father, bless these words. Use them for the comfort, the
strength, the conquering of all that are here today and those
who may hear and have heard in other places or later here. Lord,
make your word effectual as you have promised to do, in Christ's
name, amen.