Greetings, friends, and welcome
to another broadcast of the Old School Primitive Baptist with
Elder Don Martin, Sr. Stay tuned for another Gospel
message of God's free and sovereign grace. Now, we know the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God. We believe that. We believe that
it is infallible, meaning that it is without error. We believe
that it has been preserved because the King James 1611 version of
which I adhere to and which most of the brethren that I know and
minister among and the churches that we're affiliated with still
maintain that the 1611 authorized version of the King James Bible
is the English translation that is still valid and is still the
most beautiful, classic English poetic composition of spiritual
writing preserved for us today. It's a beautiful book. And the
way that the classical English is set forth in it is divinely,
I believe, given of God. And you know, people don't realize
this, but you know, when the Bible was translated, It was first translated, I think,
into, I believe, German, and then I think it was Whitecliffe
that translated it in 1611. Well, no, before that, into English,
and then the 1611 edition come from that by the group of theologians
that King James had called together to do the translating into the
1611 edition. But, in all of that, the Word
of God has been divinely given, preserved for us, that we might
be blessed in it and with it. For the Word of God is the truth. And we believe it's the truth.
If I thought that there was error in this book, then I could no
longer preach from it and stand before you and make an attempt
to try to express to you a certain subject matter from it if I thought
there was error in it. But I believe that the Word of
God has been preserved for us, it's been maintained for us,
it's been kept as long as it has. They've tried to stamp it
out. They've tried to burn it out. They've tried to eliminate
it from various nations and countries and they've done a pretty good
job in some areas, especially in the stronghold of communism
back in the 30s and 40s and 50s in China and in the Soviet Union
and so forth. But let me tell you something,
they had never really eradicated the word of God in any of those
societies or cultures. For there was always a remnant
of people that had either the memory of the word of God as
they had read it and studied it prior to the time that they
tried to eliminate it from society. They had it by memory or they
had it to where they could at least write it down and had portions
of it to where they could still share it one with another in
secret house meetings. There has always been a church
throughout the areas where it was always tried to be stamped
out. And you know that the churches that were in areas where the
government tried to eliminate Christianity as where the strongest
believers were. Because they were under persecution,
and under persecution are Christ's people seen to shine the brightest. I'll give you a perfect example.
When you are feeling your best, physically and mentally, you
are usually the furthest from God in mind and thought. When you're feeling your best,
physically and mentally, you're normally, usually, the furthest
from God in mind and thought. But when things come upon us,
and things emotionally begin to shake us, and things physically
begin to afflict us, where is the first thing we go to? It
is, Oh God. Oh God, 9-1-1, Heaven, here I
come, I'm calling. Lord, have mercy on me. But the
Bible is written, and it's written for God's people. The Bible is
not a book that is written like any other book that's ever been
put together, compiled, and penned by men. Because the Bible is
a spiritual book and can only be understood by the Spirit. And I'm going to prove that to
you, first of all, this morning. The Bible says in the second
chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul's writing to the church at Corinth.
His first letter to the church at Corinth, he writes, and he
tells them, starting at verse 9 of chapter 2, Paul talks about the Word of
God and about his ministry, and in verse 9 of chapter 2 of 1
Corinthians, he says, But as it is written, I have not seen
nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man,
the things which God has prepared for them that love him, period. I've heard that scripture quoted
many times and a preacher will stop right there and he will
say that it has not been seen of man nor has it entered into
his ear. nor into the heart of men, the
things which God has got prepared for them to love him, talking
about that there's things yet to come, which there is things
to come, which we cannot perceive right now with our finite minds
as mortal living human creatures. But listen what the Bible goes
on to say. But God, Now he just got through
saying the things have not been seen, it has not entered into
the heart of man, or has it been revealed to man. But God has
revealed them unto us by His Spirit. So you can't just put
the period there and stop and then start building a doctrine
on things that have not yet been revealed, which is a true thing. But Tolkien was on to say, but
God has now revealed some things to us. The Bible says, and it's
by His Spirit. You see that word Spirit there?
You notice that it has a capital S. Everywhere in the Word of
God where the word Spirit is used and it is capitalized, it
is referencing the Spirit of God. When you read the word Spirit
in the Word of God and it is with a small s, it is the Spirit
of man. Now the Bible says that God has
revealed these things unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit,
capital S, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
There's things in this Bible and about God Almighty that cannot
be perceived or received unless the Spirit of God Almighty reveal
it to you. Now the Bible says, for what
man knoweth the things of a man save, that word save can be interpreted
in the Greek as or accept. What man knoweth the things of
a man except the spirit, you see that word spirit there, what
kind of S does it have? A little one. Except. The spirit
of man which is in him. We have a spirit in us that God
has breathed in us that every living human being that has been
born a woman has a spirit. Small s. The spirit is life. We have life by the almighty
God that has given to us when we were born of our mother's
womb. And in this life is a spirit. The spirit is who we are. I am who I am because the spirit
of life is within me. The Bible says the spirit of
man which is in him, even so the things of God knoweth no
man but the spirit of God. Again, capital S in spirit of
God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world. There's that little s again.
We don't have the spirit. We that believe in Christ We
that have been blessed with the hope of salvation by Christ,
vicarious, sacrificial, mediatorship on the cross of Calvary, we believe
what we believe, not by the spirit of man, by the natural mind,
as I'm going to tell you and read to you, but by the spirit
of God. For the Bible says, but the spirit
which is of God. In other words, it's not by the
spirit of the world that we know what we know, but it's by the
spirit which is of God. that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. Everything we receive that
is of God, about God, reveals to us His attributes, His character. It is freely given to us. We
don't do nothing. We don't study and intellectually,
logically come to a conclusion about it with the natural mind. We are divinely given the truth
of the matter by the supernatural operation of the Spirit of God
Almighty. Now the Bible says in verse 13,
which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teach. I'm not speaking to you this
morning about things that man's wisdom has come up with. Man's
wisdom and intellect didn't come up with the words in this book.
They put it together by the divine leadership of the Spirit of God
Almighty. But the Bible says, but that
which is of the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. Verse 14, but the natural man,
now listen to this, the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God. I want to repeat that. The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. You by
nature could not receive one thing when it comes to the knowledge
of God Almighty. It has to be divinely, spiritually
given you supernaturally by God's sovereign work of grace. Grace is unmerited favor. That's what it means. You take
the word grace, you look it up in any dictionary, behind the
Strong's Concordance, any of them, you look up the word grace
in the Greek, and it is divine favor. You are saved by grace
through faith. Not of yourselves. It's a gift
of God. Not of works, lest any man can
boast. You're saved by divine favor.
The old Baptist of which we represent here at Fellowship Primitive
Baptist Church, that's why we're called primitive, because we're
old line, we're old school. We believe in the old way. We believe in what the Bible
says is true, and that God is not limited, and he's absolute
in all of his ways. The Bible says, the psalmist
writes, he says, for our God is in the heavens, and does whatsoever
he pleases. Our God rules among the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, and no man shall stay
his hand. No man has the right to say unto
him, Why doest thou thus? Our God is Almighty God. The primitive Baptists preach
about an Almighty God. Other Baptist folks preach about
a limited God. Other Baptist folks preach about
a God that's waiting on you to do something. Other Christian folks preach
about a God that has just made things an opportunity for you,
but you have to move on and do something yourself in order to
acquire it. Let me tell you something. What
part of man has the capability of moving towards God if he cannot
discern the things of the Spirit? How is he going to come towards
and move towards a spiritual God whom he cannot see? We believe in one we cannot see
with a natural eye. We believe in God by faith. Faith
is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things
not seen. Now you think about that a minute.
Faith is the substance. In other words, when I touch
this flower here, I'm feeling a substance. There's something
there. It's tangible. Faith is the substance. There's something to faith that
we can grab a hold of in our mind and soul and it is tangible
to the inward soul of those whom God has revealed His Son Jesus
to. He is the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We have faith
given us as a gift of God that is an evidence of our hope. You hope because you have faith. And you have faith and it causes
you to hope. They both are synonymously worked
together. You can't separate faith and
hope. And faith is a gift of God, as I said earlier. The Bible
says that it is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Paul says, I'm
crucified in Christ, but nevertheless I live, but not I, but Christ
liveth in me. The life that I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of. That word of is a very strong
preposition. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It is the faith
of Jesus Christ that we have within us that are blessed to
believe. It is faith, faith, the faith
of Christ. It is Christ who is the author,
the Bible says, and the finisher of our faith. You say, finisher? Faith shall be finished? Let
me tell you something. If you were translated within
the next moment from this mortal realm into immortal glory in
a resurrected body like in the Jesus, what good is faith going
to do you? You no longer need it. Faith
is that which is used in this time realm of which we live as
the tool to lay hold upon Christ Jesus and to believe that He
is who He is. When we get to heaven's glory,
faith was no longer needed. Brother Buddy, hope won't be
up there. Because our hope is going to
be seen. It will be seen with the eye
of a new body, incorruptible, immortal, likened unto his own
body, the Bible says. That's our hope. And that's what
we look forward to. The Bible says that that in verse
15 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2, But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet he himself is judge of no man. In other words,
you that have been blessed to be spiritual by the Spirit of
God, no man can judge you because God has given you something that
they don't know nothing about. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? Who knows the mind of God,
that the creature may instruct God as to what he should do? For the Bible says, For we have
the mind of Christ. We have by the Spirit of God
within us the mind of Christ in regarding the things of the
spirit world and heaven. Now, in saying all of that, in saying all of that, I wanted
to set the foundation that the natural man cannot discern the
things of the Spirit. If you have loved ones, sons,
daughters, grandchildren, neighbors, I don't care, sisters, brothers,
mothers, fathers, about spiritual things just don't seem to perceive
anything you're saying and they even say that I don't want to
hear it. You know why? Because you might as well be
talking Chinese to them. The truth only hurts
that they can't perceive it. They're hearing something that
they cannot understand so therefore it turns them off and it's aggravating
to them. If somebody walked up to you
and started talking to you in French, what would you say to
them? No, no comprendo. I don't understand what you're
saying. When you start talking to somebody about their relationship
with God and God has not dealt with their heart and opened their
minds, eye and ears to hear the truth of the matter, you're not
going to get anywhere with that. I've talked to many people about
their relationship with God, and have many say, well, that's
fine for you, but I don't believe that stuff. They're just telling
me the truth. I can't make them believe it.
Now, I used to be able to think I could. Brother Buddy, I've
come along with missionary ranks. Ain't nothin' that, uh, uh, Demo
Vasquez out there tryin' to save the world ain't done, but I hadn't
been a part of it one time. even take my own blood brother
and to get him into a position where he would believe on Christ,
and he just simply told me, he said, I just don't believe it.
I don't have any faith to believe it. I said, that's all it takes
is just faith. He said, I don't have any. I
said, well y'all, it's just a matter believe in Christ who said that
he would save those who would seek him. He said, I don't believe
that he is who he is, even seeking. And he was telling me the truth.
And here I was trying to get him saved. I was trying to get
him converted. And he was just telling me the
truth of the matter. He didn't have any faith. that it took
me about five years or so before God began to reveal in the word
of God to me why I wasn't getting much response from folks I was
talking to. I was running off co-workers
I was working with and they didn't even want to be around me, but
I guess. I was trying to get them in church, trying to get
them saved, trying to get them fit for heaven. They didn't even
want to be around me. And I come to find out why after
a while, because I was talking a different language to them.
Because the spirit of man, by nature which they had, was not
able to receive the spirit of God of which words I was speaking
from the Holy Writ to them. And so, the bottom line is this,
unless God opens the heart and the mind of an individual to
perceive and receive the truth of Christ, they can never receive
it, nor will they believe it. Now you might as well just take
that to the bank. But let me tell you something,
when God does, by His Spirit, reveal himself, and man's unworthiness,
and Christ being the only antidote for salvation, and once that
is revealed to an individual, you can't keep them away. Because
they're going to come when the Good Shepherd calls. Because
the Bible says, Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd. And he says,
and my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. He did not say
they're going to try to follow him. He said they're going to
follow him. That's why I am an ardent believer that God's elect
people, chosen, ordained, appointed, heirs of divine, sovereign grace,
are going to persevere to the end. Because the Bible says,
unless you endure to the end, you are not going to be saved.
But I guarantee you one thing, all that Christ had come to seek
and to save are going to persevere to the end, because He shall
lose none, He said. I shall lose none. All that the Father gave to me
shall come to me. and I shall no wise lose none."
I wouldn't give you a penny for a salvation if somebody tells
me they believe in Christ today and two years later they're out
here living a life with no interest in the church or the things of
God any longer. I wouldn't give you a penny for
that salvation. But let me tell you something.
You tell me about somebody who's come to know their inadequate
sinful self and how that Christ has been revealed to them as
Savior and Lord and Redeemer to that poor wayfaring sinner
and has come to believe on Christ by faith. had a life-changing
experience. And they start walking to a new
tune, singing a new song. And I'll tell you what, I'll
show you someone that's had a life-changing miracle happen to them. That's
a miracle. People say, well, you know, over
here at this church, they believe in signs and wonders. They believe
in laying hands on the sick and making them whole. Well, let
me tell you something. If they believe that, follow
me down to All Children's Hospital. We've got some healing to do.
Alright? Do you really believe that? Come
on down here to Sun City Hospital. We got some folks in there that's
dying that need to be raised up. Now you say, well that's
ridiculous. No it ain't! It ain't! Now I believe that God in His
divine purpose can take and raise up anybody in any affliction
if He so desires. But the signs and wonders and
gifts of healing is no longer prevalent today because there's
no need for it. The signs and wonders fulfilled
a purpose in the apostolic preaching of the gospel until the gospel
went forth throughout all of the world. And the Bible says,
in Hebrews, says that we'll no longer go about teaching our
neighbors to know the Lord, for all shall know Him, brother,
but it won't take. All of God's elect are going
to come to know Him in time. They're going to come to know
Him, believe upon Him, trust Him, and walk in His way, and
desire to please Him. And I've said all this to take
you to the book of Ephesians. And in the first chapter of the
book of Ephesians, Paul writes to the church at Ephesus. Now
again, I told you that the book is not written for the world.
This book is written for those who believe in God through Jesus
Christ their Lord, His only begotten Son. This book is a supernatural
book. It is only revealing the truth
to those who have a spiritual mind given to them by God and
the Spirit of God that dwells within them. We've already set
the premise that the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit, neither can they know it for them things. But by the Spirit of God shall
they know then those things that they are revealed. Paul writing to the church at
Ephesus, he starts off in chapter 1, verse 1, chapter 1, and he
says this. He says, Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God. First of all, we establish this,
that the apostle Paul is writing this church, And he's telling
these brethren that he has personally been there and ministered to
and preached to them. He says, I'm writing to you this
letter as an apostle, and I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ, and
I am such by the will of God. Not by the will of man. Not by
his own desire, choice, decision. But he says, by the will of God,
and I'm writing to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now the book of Ephesians is
a very unique book because in the first chapter and the second
chapter you'll find the phrase in Christ used quite a bit. Because Paul in his teaching
of the doctrine of what we have encountered by God in Christ
is established because it's all about in Christ. He goes on to
say, look at verse 4, according as He has chosen us. Whoa! We've been chosen? He has chosen
us in Him when before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love. Listen to this. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, we have been
adopted. We who were alienated from the
things of God by natural birth because of the depravity of man,
by nature we are sinful. We are under the curse of sin.
Adam's curse reigns upon all mankind until God does a work
of grace and transforms the heart, mind and souls of an individual.
Man by nature, the smallest of children are born under the curse
of sin. The Bible says that we are predestinated
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Listen
as to why. According to the good pleasure
of His will. It didn't say a thing in there
about because you decided to be a Christian or because it
has anything to do with you. It says that we have been adopted.
Now let me ask you something. When a little child is born,
and I don't care whether it's newborn, a month old, or two
years old, when it is adopted, what part does the child play? in the decision of that adoption? None. It is merely a recipient
of a man and woman, in most cases, hopefully, that desires to have
a child that they may not be able to have naturally, and they
want to adopt this child as unto their own. The child has nothing
to do with it! other than being a recipient
of the parenthood of these people who desire to have this child
as their own. And the paperwork is filled out,
they have been approved as being legitimate parents, and they
are given this child and they adopt it as if it was their very
own. So it is with everyone who believes
in Jesus Christ. They have been adopted, not of
anything you've done, could do, ever will do, but because God
has chose you by grace, divine favor, to bring you into a relationship
with His Son, Jesus, and make you an heir of grace and a child
of God, by mercy and divine love alone. Isn't that wonderful? That ought to cause the church
to shout. The Bible goes on to say, to the praise of the glory
of His grace. We talked about grace, meaning
unmerited favor. It is to the praise and the glory
of Christ's unmerited favor. It's unmerited favor that we
rejoice and we praise God this morning. I hope it is right. You're here. to praise God for
unmerited favor. We don't praise Him because we
decided to be good folks and coming to church is just a good
thing to do. We ought to be coming here to
praise Him for what He's done in us, making us desires to be
here. I mean, I've come here because
I didn't have any choice in the matter. You say, I could have
stayed home. I couldn't either. Now look what it says here in
verse 6 as we go on, wherein He hath made us. Listen now,
God has made us acceptable or accepted in the beloved. He's
made us accepted. In other words, He's made us
accepted among the beloved of God. How's He done that? Through His blood and through
His body that was put on that cross. that sacrificed all that
was necessary before God Almighty and paid the ultimate price for
all the sins of God's elect people. You notice I said all of the
sins of God's elect people? Yes, God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
shall never perish, but have everlasting life. The key to
that verse, listen to me closely, the key to that verse is that
whosoever believeth in Him. That Bible does not say that
God provided salvation for everybody in this world. It says it is
for those whosoever believeth in Him. If you don't believe
in Christ today, salvation ain't yours, I guarantee you that.
I can say this with all sincerity and with honesty, that if you
do not believe in Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners,
salvation is not yours. Simple as that. Now it could
be in time, but it is only going to be at a time when God causes
you to believe it. For whosoever believeth shall
never perish, but have everlasting life. And then we go down here and
look at verse 7. And whom we have redemption through His blood,
which I just said, for the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. There's that word grace, unmerited
favor. It's all unmerited favor. Every
time you see the word grace, I want you, if God permits, cause
your mind to say unmerited favor. This is what it is. wherein he hath abounded towards
us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his own good pleasure which
he hath purposed in himself." It is God's own good pleasure! which he hath purposed in himself,
to make us the heirs of grace, to adopt us into his family,
to make us the children of God, which hath been predestined to
be before even the foundation of the world." Now, is that hard
to believe? Well, it shouldn't be to those
who have the mind of Christ and have the Spirit of Christ in
them, because that's what the Bible says. I just read it to
you. And then the Bible goes on to say in verse 10, that in
the dispensation of the fullness of times, which has come to pass,
he might gather together in one all things, here's that word,
the two words again, in Christ. It's in Christ. Everything we
have is in Christ. We have sanctification because
we're in Christ. We have righteousness because
we're in Christ. We have redemption because we're
in Christ. According to 1st Corinthians
1 30. The Bible says, "...in whom also we have obtained an
inheritance." Oh my goodness, we've not only been adopted brothers
and sisters, we have an inheritance. We have an inheritance being
predestinated, oh my, my, my, having been predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. I just read to you 11 verses
of the first chapter of Ephesians and not a thing has been said
in there about us having any part of any of this going on.
We was adopted. We have been made now, given
an inheritance. We have been placed in Christ
before even the foundation of the world. And it's all, if you
notice, all of God. He's done it all. He's still
doing it all. Let me give you a few verses
to think about on the way here. Talking about doing it all? You
say, yeah, but we've got to keep the law. We've got to do this
and do that. Once we believe in Christ, you know, we've got
to be good people. If you're trying to be good enough to please
God, stop it. I've preached this message in
a number of places and poor people look at me like you are trying to please God by your
own efforts and will and your own goodness and self-righteousness?
Stop it! Because the Bible says that He,
Christ, who hath begun a good work in you, shall perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ. For it is God that worketh in
you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Now, what
I say to you is look into Jesus Christ, for it's in Christ that
we are acceptable to God the Father. It's in Christ that we
are made acceptable along the pilgrim walk, along the sojourning
down here in the mortal realm that we live in. We are acceptable
to God by Christ, and we are so daily, by hour, by minute,
it's all by Christ's work. And He just merely works in us,
causing us to will, have a desire, and to do, to perform those things
that He's pleased with. I have a performer. I've wrote
articles on it. I've preached sermons on it.
And I'll tell you what, it's a sweet bomb of an ointment to the hearts and
minds of God's people when you preach about Christ our performer.
He performs all that's needed for us and in us. He performs
in us and causes us to do what we do. I believe that if you're
here this morning with a genuine heart to seek after Christ and
to please Him, praise Him, worship Him, adore Him, it's because
God, God has performed that work in you and caused you to be here
today. I know we got children that are here and they're brought
by their parents. They're not here by happenstance or coincidence
as well. They're here by divine appointment
of God. I believe that with all my heart. That's why the old
Baptists don't believe in having an isolated children's church
and get the kids out away from from the preaching of the gospel
and away from their mothers and dads. You bring them in here
in this meeting house. You set them children down and
you train them to give reverence to the preaching of the word
of God and you trust God's spirit to work in their heart. I don't
care whether they're 2 or whether they're 12. God can take and
transform the heart of a little child in a moment's notice. And they'll never be the same.
You say, oh well, they may not have the remembrance of when
that happened. They don't have to. The main thing is that they,
they what? Persevere to the end. They keep
on keeping on. Right brothers and ladies? Those
that keep on keeping on are those who give evidence that they're
Christ. Alright, let's just move on here. The Bible says, Verse
13, in whom ye also trusted, talk about Christ, that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise. This is why I do not believe
that Christ can lose any of those whom he calls because they're
sealed. We're sealed. We have a seal stamped on us
and over us, and it is the Spirit of Christ in us that seals us. It is the Holy Spirit's promise.
And the Bible goes on to say that in verse 14, which is the
earnest. You know what an earnest is?
I know you old timers do. Brother Earl, you know what an
earnest is. An earnest is something somebody
gives you as a little token or down payment on something. Somebody
comes up and says, well, look, I see all this greenery you've
got out here and all these collard greens out here. You know, I
want this little section over here, but I ain't got no money
on it. How about if I give you a little earnest money to ready
to harvest? Would that be okay? That's a
little down payment. But the Bible says here that
the Holy Spirit of God that's in us, the Spirit of promise,
is an earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of this
purchased possession and to the praise of His glory. What is
the redemption of this purchased possession? It's going to be
the transformation of this moral body of which is standing before
you with flesh and blood running through my veins. And when it's
laid down out here in this grave pot, that I've got designated
out here. When this body quits going on
and the heart stops and my breath stops breathing, I'm going to
be laid right out yonder out here. I'm going to be waiting
for the redemption of this body. But until that time, I've got
an earnest I've got a down payment of what's to come. I've got some
of the understanding of what Christ says. When I come back,
I want to transform your body into an incorruptible body. I
want to make it a resurrected body. I want to make it an immortal
body. And the Bible goes on to say
in verse 15, Paul was a praying man. Paul loved the brethren. Everywhere
he prayed, he wrote 13 of these epistles in here. I mean, you
go from Romans right on through and all the epistles written
to the churches were written by the Apostle Paul for their
admonition and exhortation. and instruction in righteousness
according to the wisdom of God that has been given him in Christ
Jesus. Now the Bible goes on to say, verse 17, that God, that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of Him. In the knowledge of Him. We need to know more and more
and continually the knowledge of Christ. I desire to know more
of the character of Christ. I have studied this book for
some 35, 37 years. And I desire to know more and
more as I read it. I find new inexhaustible things
of the character and of the characteristics of Jesus Christ in it all the
time. and the beauty of His holiness, and the brightness of His glory.
The Bible goes on to say in verse 18, For the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His
calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
is in the saints. And that what is the exceeding
greatness of His power, listen now, His power. Remember what
I told you about earlier about those things that are in Christ?
Paul continues to talk about in Christ, His power, His calling. He's the one that adopted. He's
the one that gives us an inheritance. He's the one that's going to
transform us in time. He's the one that has a purchased
possession in us. And he goes on to say, the following
in verse 19, he goes on to say, and what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to usward. Now that word usward, is used
in another place in Peter's epistle. I'm just going to quote you the
verse. It says that God, now listen to this, when people say
that God is not willing that any should perish, now you've
heard this preached in years past probably. God is not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
And you've heard people stand up, and preachers get up and
say, see, God's not willing that any perish, but that everybody
come to repentance. He wants everybody saved. That
ain't what that says. Here's what the Scripture says
in 1 Peter. For God is longsuffering towards
usward, writing to the brethren. Peter was writing to the brethren
in Christ Jesus. If you read the Bible, the book,
it'll tell you that. Peter says, to the brethren in
Christ Jesus, I write unto you these things, God is longsuffering
towards usward, not willing that any perish, any who, of the usward
of whom he is writing to. Amen! It ain't hard to believe
that. Brother Scott, if you take the
Word of God and read it in its context, you don't get in trouble. But when you take a verse and
read it out of context, you'll get in trouble every time. God
is longsuffering towards us, He's not willing that any of
us should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and
every one of God's children will come to repentance. In time,
they will repent when they see themselves as a wretched sinner.
They will call upon Christ of whom they have revealed as the
only Savior of sinners. They will believe upon the Son
of God, God's darling Son, as the only Savior, and one who
has atoned for their sins, and be born of the Spirit of God.
The Bible says in verse 20, which he hath wrought in Christ, in
other words, Christ is working in us according to the working
of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, which He raised
Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the
heavenly places. Far above principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not
only in this world but also in that which is to come. and have
put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of
him that filleth all in all." Jesus Christ is all in all. He's the head of the church.
Who's the head of fellowship privileged about the church?
It is Jesus Christ. If he's not the head of this
church, I don't want to be part of it. I'm serious as a heart
attack. I don't want to be a part of
no church or religious organization where Christ ain't the head.
Because if he ain't the head, some man is, and there's no doubt
some little pope that thinks he knows as much as Christ, and
there's a bunch of them around. But I want Christ to be the head.
I want Him to run the show. I want Him to cause us to sing
praises to His name. I want Him to cause us to get
up on a Sunday, on the first meeting Sunday of the month and
get here and be here, that we can encourage each other in the
faith and the hope of Christ. When you come together here and
I come down here to try to minister to you, I'm encouraged when I
see you. And brothers, when you're not
here, sisters, when you're not here, I'm not encouraged. I'm wondering, well, are they
alright? Are they sick? Are they in the
hospital? I haven't heard anything. Where
are they at? Do we love Him or do we know?
Is He mine or is He not? Jesus Christ, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ is the only advocate
between God and man. That means He's the only one
who can stand in our behalf before God the Father, who demands perfection.
You see, as I conclude, the law and the commandments were given
to the children of Israel. And the law and the commandments
were given to Moses by God as an expression of perfection. Now listen to me. The law and
the commandments are perfect. There is no imperfection in them.
They're so perfect that God gave them to Moses to take down and
give the children of Israel and to have it expressed throughout
all the tribes of Israel for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Thousands of years. That it would show it to them
that they are inadequate to keep it. You cannot keep the commandments
and laws of God perfectly. You say, well what about the
Ten Commandments? You just take the Ten Commandments and sit
down and read through them and see if you have failed to keep
any of them. The Bible says, James says, if
a man failed to keep one of the commandments of God, he's guilty
of all of them. Now that's strong medicine. that
what it tells you is that God demands perfection, and if you
fail in one part of it, you might as well fail in all of it, because
you have failed the test! Now, there's only one that's
ever kept the commandments to total perfection, and that is
His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill the law and the commandments. And the Bible says that he took
the handwriting of the ordinances of the law and the statutes and
commandments and they were nailed to his cross. He took upon his
cross. Not only did he shed his blood,
it was his body bruised in our behalf for our sake. to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
and remove our transgressions, that He took the law upon Himself
and fulfilled it to every jot and tittle, and they that be
in Christ are no longer under the law's demands. For we have
a law keeper that has kept it and is no longer that which condemns
us. But the Bible says that the law
is for the lawless and the murderers, the thieves, the liars, the unbelievers. That's what the law is for, is
to reveal to them they have failed. They are sinful. They are destined
for an eternal hell. They need to get straightened
out. They need to get an antidote for their problem. And it's only
found in one place, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ upon that tree.
nailed with his hands and with his ankles to that tree. Jesus
Christ shed his blood in his body and took upon his body the
ordinances of the law in our behalf. I'm not under the law. Let me tell you something, I
am not under no law today. I'm under the law of the Spirit
of Christ who lives in me and causes me to will to do this
good pleasure. No, the law has a purpose and
is still in effect to the lawless. But to those who are in Christ,
it has no rights to us, because God sees it paid in full by the
blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says that you have
been bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
So what has he purchased? He has purchased you as his own
possession and freed you from the law's curse and taken your
sins to be remembered no more. The Bible says to be cast behind
and never to be looked upon again. He has taken our transgressions
from us. You remember the 53rd chapter
of Isaiah, where Isaiah prophesied about Christ's sufferings? It
says, for He has taken suffering in His body for the transgressions
of all of us. And He did it. That's why he
said on the cross when he gave up the ghost, and he said that
just before as he expired in his physical mortal body, he
says, it is finished. The law has been paid for, I
purchased me a people, I bought them with my body and blood,
and it's done. Praise God it's done. And those that believe have that
wonderful hope that it is ours to claim. Hallelujah. No more sacrifices. Oh, He don't
go to that cross every year. Oh, He don't have to do nothing.
He did it once and for all. Once and for all, Christ died
for the ungodly, those of whom He has chosen to be His divine
adopted heirs of grace. Would you pray with me? Dear
Father, my God, It is in the precious name that is above every
name, Jesus Christ, that I come. And Father, I'm thankful that,
Lord, that you have been pleased to give him that name that exceeds
every name that's ever been given man. And that name, the Bible
says, that in that day, the day of the Lord, shall every knee
bow. to the glory and honor of the
Father. Father, I am persuaded that though
a man be a Christ-rejecting sinner and have no use for anything
that the Bible teaches, in that day is going to bow down before
the Almighty Lamb of God as He sits on His throne beside Thee. And he shall say, Jesus is Lord,
even to the condemnation of his soul in an eternal hell. And so, Father God, I thank you
for that word. I thank you, Lord, for that which
you have shared, Lord, with us by thy might and thy spirit.
I pray that it is profitable, Lord, to those who be here today. And Lord be with us as we continue
on to need and fellowship. Bless us is our humble prayer.
Help us in Jesus name. Amen.