again. fellowships a little, little
far and few between up around where I'm at. And all these Bible
conferences and fifth Saturdays that we used to have has been
a good place for us to get spiritually fed. And we haven't had that
in a while. And we've really longed for that. But it's good to be with you
again. Appreciate the accommodations that you guys always make for
us who come. for the ladies and the men who just tirelessly do
the service around here for the food and the upkeep. It's just
a blessing and we thank you for that. Turn with me this morning,
if you would, to Matthew chapter 11. I know that I give Brother
Royce a couple other passages and we will get to those passages.
But in my preparations coming up to this, I found another passage
that I wanted to start with and lead with. I'm not changing anything
up, just the one I was going to read first. But Matthew chapter
11, if you would. I'm going to start reading in verse
28. The Word of God says, Come unto me
all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly
in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is
easy and my burden is light. How many of us read those passages
and say yes Lord please? How many of us read that and
say, I desire that to be my experience? That my burden, Jonathan and
Brother James, danced all around my message today and tomorrow. But how many of us, and I agree
with these brothers, how many of us often feel that we're just
not good enough? We're not doing enough. Everything
that we're doing is soiled by our flesh and it's just how do
I know am I pleasing to the Lord? How do I know am I doing the
things that God wants me to do? How do I know that? Well brethren,
I hope in this message that I can bring some comfort and peace
to you from God's Word. And I think this is where the
answer to this question begins, is Jesus said, come unto me.
Come unto me. As you know, Jesus used that
phrase often in his ministry. As a matter of fact, in John
6 and verse 35, if you want to turn there and look with me,
you'll see that Jesus uses this phrase and we see that it is
connected and synonymous with believe on me. John 6 and verse
35 says, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life,
he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst." To come to Jesus Christ is not
a volition on your own that you come to the front of a church
and make a decision for Jesus Christ. Coming to Jesus Christ
is being given faith to believe upon Jesus Christ for all of
your salvation. To repent is to repent of dead
works, meaning I have turned from believing that my way, my
righteousness, my deeds is good enough and turning and looking
solely to Christ and saying that everything that He has done for
me is enough. That's what repentance is. Now
surely we should repent of our sins, but I believe primarily
that repentance in the Word of God is repenting from dead works. And looking unto Christ, looking
unto the author and the finisher of our faith, He is the one who
gives me faith, He is the one who is sustaining my faith, and
brethren, He is the one who is going to keep that faith until
the very end where faith will end in sight. So the answer to
our question is, am I doing enough? Is my worth sufficient? Am I
doing the things that God wants me to do? The beginning to that
answer is, come to me. Come unto Christ. Believe upon
Christ. That's where your comfort will
be. That's where the ease of mind
will be. That's where your satisfaction
will be found is whenever you look unto Christ. Now back in
our passage there you'll see he says, Come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden. Now a lot of people want to make
that a condition of salvation. A lot of people want to make
that as a sign that, there we go, we must have free will because
Jesus is telling everybody to come unto me. Listen, brethren,
the only ones who are laborious, have a laborious feeling, that
is heavy laden, are those who have been given to know that
there is a load. To know that they have sin, to
know that they have an inability to do what God requires. Those
are the ones who are weary and heavy laden. And Jesus says, take my yoke
upon you. Now we all know what a yoke is
if you've ever heard of farming or any kind of old study. I don't know, there may be people
that still like to do that today. There's these guys that like
to get back to old days and they may be out there with a mule
and a yoke and pulling a hoe or whatever you call them. I'm
not a farmer. But you know what a yoke is.
That's something that goes over a beast of burden. Now, whenever you start talking
about a yoke and you start talking about burdens and things like
that, you think about work. But Jesus here says something
really strange. He says that his yoke is easy
and his burden is light. Now let me ask you, in all honesty,
do you often feel that it's easy and light? Often times we don't. And I think the reason why is
because we're not coming unto Him. We're not looking unto Him. We're looking to ourselves. We're
trusting in ourselves. Listen, brother, God has laid
upon His people for the proofing and the proving that great warfare
between the spirit and the flesh. This habitation and consternation
will not go away until we have laid this body of death down
and put on incorruption. Amidst this warfare the children
of God often are weary and heavy laden with the yoke of works
and sin that they cannot bear. In much effort they strive to
keep the law and even become more exasperated when men try
to press upon them the traditions of men. Having all of us at some point
in our life felt the cry of Paul, oh wretched man that I am. When we try to look to the law
to be honoring and pleasing to God, we often find ourselves
bankrupt, unable. Now that isn't to say that the
law is bad. That doesn't say that we don't desire to keep
the law. But the fact remains that none
of us, from the pastor down, can keep the law. And the law
externally is not what we should be looking for to be pleasing
unto God. Matter of fact, what Jesus said
at the beginning of this passage, come unto me or believe on me,
that is the work that God has given for us to do. The Bible
says this is the work of God that you believe. Not that you
pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Not that you get
out there and get busy for Jesus. But that you believe. That's
what we're asked to do. And when we believe on Jesus
Christ as the last night as the message was given, we learn that
through grace we keep the law. We are burdened in our heart
to do that which God has called us to do. We desire to be obedient. We desire to do what Christ would
have us to do. We deny ungodliness. But Jesus said it's going to
be rest. It's going to be easy. How is it going to be easy? Well
brethren, it becomes easy whenever we rest in Him. It becomes easy
whenever we trust in Him. The word rest doesn't speak of
anything that you do, right? Whenever I come home from work,
I get in my recliner and I become a statue. I rest. Things that are easy means that
they're not hard. I mean, don't take a seminary
degree to know that. Things that are light means that
they're not heavy. But yet many a Christian is burdened
down with our works. Another thing I find in the Scripture
about our works that we can rest in is that these are not our
works, but His works. Look with me, if you would, at
Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. Look with me, if you would, down
at verse 6. It says, being confident of this
very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will
give you the instructions on how to finish it. Is that what
it says? No, it says being confident. There it comes back to what Jesus
said, come unto me. Believe on me. Your confidence
in doing the works of God is going to come when you're looking
to me and not yourself. Be confident of this very thing.
Why? Because I've promised. And I'm
not like man who lies. I cannot lie. I've made with
an oath that this is going to be what happens. Be confident
of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Who's going
to perform it? He is. Well, you're meaning that
we're robots? Call it what you will. I'd rather be a robot under a
sovereign God Guy who thinks he knows everything
and is free willing and out there controlling the universe and
keeping God from doing his thing. Foolishness. Philippians chapter
2 verse 13. Now brethren, I know that verse
12 is there. And several years ago, I would
be up here preaching verse 12 and denying and excluding verse
13. But now I start with verse 13
and I don't want to say I exclude verse 12 because it's God's Word.
But brethren, that's where the stress is. Are we to work out our salvation
with fear and trembling? Absolutely. Why? For, for it is God which
worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Both to will, that's the initiative,
that's the desire. God gives you the will and desire. That's what we've been talking
about that grace does for us. Grace gives us the will and the
desire to do what God wants us to do. It is God who works in you to
will. But not only just to will. Not just the desire to do it. If we trust God's Word, it says
that He also worketh in us to do. That is actually the activity,
the action, the accomplishing of that good pleasure. So we
have a promise here that He is going to perform it. We have
a promise here that He is going to give us the will and the action
to do it. So that makes it His works, right?
Not mine. Well if that's the truth and
I believe it to be the truth, but it doesn't matter whether
I believe it or not, it's still the truth. Right? Me believing
it doesn't make it the truth. Isaiah chapter 46, if you would. I want to keep reading because
I see the old clock's going. I'm going to stand between you
and lunch. Isaiah 46, starting in verse 8, the Bible says, Remember
the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else.
I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the
beginning. There you go. To me, that's predestination
of all things. He's declared the end from the
beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done. He's declared the things that
are not yet done. That means there are going to be things
that are going to be done that have not been done, but he's
declared them to be so. And you think you're going to
change it? You know, I tell my folks at our church, I said,
a lot of times people think that God is like this kind of, this
hockey goalie. That he's up there and everybody's
little free will is just bouncing things all around the arena and
he's just there to kind of knock it back in play. You know? Keeping
it back in his purpose. No, that's not. He's directing
every bit of it. My counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. Calling the ravenous bird from
the east, that man that executeth my counsel from a far country,
yea, I have spoken it. I will also, I will also bring
it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also
do it. You see all those I's there?
That's not I's for you, it's I's that God has done. God is
doing these things. He is going to do his pleasure. Is your good works the pleasure
of God? Yes. Then who's going to do it?
He is. He's going to perform it. He's
going to will. He's going to do. He is going
to bring it to pass. As I have purposed it, I will
also do it. Now some will say, well what
about sanctification then? Aren't we supposed to be involved
in that? Aren't we supposed to be involved in sanctification?
Well, brethren, I think a lot of people have a misunderstanding
of what sanctification actually is. A lot of people think sanctification
is us progressively becoming more and more holy. A lot of people think that...
Brethren, I've found, and I may be wrong in this, but I believe
the Word of God clearly teaches overwhelmingly in all that which
is of the flesh is flesh. The flesh can't get any better.
But brethren, this earthen vessel contains a treasure and that
treasure can't get any better or worse because it is perfect. The Bible says that which is
in you is perfect and cannot sin. Now this flesh, all it can
do is fleshly things. It doesn't get any better. So
those who believe in this progressive sanctification of getting more
holy and holy, what's getting more holy? If your flesh can't
get any better and is just flesh and that which is in you by the
new birth that is perfect, you can't improve upon perfect. And
if it's perfect, it's not less than perfect. So if the flesh
can't get any better and that which is in you is perfect, can't
get any better, then what is becoming more holy? It's not
that easy. I've not been to seminary and
I know that. Amazing how the wisdom of man
has infiltrated the church. And all it does in its efforts
to be academic and to look like it knows something to impress
men has taken Christ and lowered Him to our level so that we don't
trust in Him, we trust in ourselves. That is the guise of Satan from
the beginning. You can be like God. But brethren, our sanctification
definitely is a working of His. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse
23 says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. That means that's an outward
work not done by me. And he says, and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And pay close attention, here
it is. Faithful is he, stop there. What does it say? Who also will
do it. Not only is he faithful, he's
going to do it. Preacher, aren't we supposed
to do our best? Work for the Lord? Maintain good works. Lay hold of the means of grace.
Aren't we supposed to let go? Let God? Aren't we supposed to
make Jesus our Lord and Savior? Aren't we supposed to give God
control? Jesus take the wheel? Brethren, Philippians 3, 3, for we are
the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. There you go, Brother
James. We have no confidence in the
flesh, but praise the Lord, the child of grace has been given
a hope. Romans 7.18, For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. Don't trust in your flesh. Come
to me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden. Jeremiah said this,
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,
and who can know it? Why would you want to trust in
your own ability to be what God would want you to be? It ain't
gonna happen. So brethren, we trust that He,
as He promised, is doing the work He promised to do, and that
in Him, I am pure, blameless, holy, but not because of anything
I've done in the flesh, but only because I'm in Him. Brethren,
it's His obedience. It's His righteousness. It's
His life that counts with God, not mine. Blessed is the man
unto whom the Lord imputeth not sin. If there was ever a time,
brethren, then that verse has no meaning. The Bible says that he hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor have seen perverseness in Israel.
Praise God that we are seen in Christ. I can never be sure that my works
are done with right motives. I can never be sure that it's
done in pure righteousness, done good enough, and from my heart
and not my flesh. I've often asked myself that. Now listen, brethren, in times
past, I have mimicked righteous acts before. I was ever converted
of God. I mimicked righteous acts. Listen,
that's why our assurance isn't in anything external. Our assurance
comes from inside. The Spirit bears witness with
our spirit that we are His children. That we have a hope that's given
within us, that's from the new birth. But it never comes from
external things. Why? Because we can put on the
dog on the outside. We can mimic and parrot Christianity
and religious things on the outside. But brethren, listen. We can't
do it inwardly. We can't change ourselves inwardly. It was all a farce. It was things
that I manufactured because I grew up in a household that went to
church. I grew up hearing about God and
seeing preaching and being around preaching my whole entire life,
I knew the things to say, I knew the things not to say, I knew
what to do, how to act and all that stuff around the people
that it meant that I needed. I knew who I needed to act that
way and who I could not have to act that way around. See, we know that those things
done in the flesh profit nothing and cannot please God. So, here's
the question. How do I know it's God and not
the self-righteous works of my flesh? How do I know when it's
God at work in me and not me at work in me? How do I know
I'm offering the sacrifice of Abel and not Cain? How can I
know I'm not sowing my own fig leaves? Well here's the deal,
you might be disappointed, we can't. I can't fully know. And if I can't fully know what
is me and what is God, then why should I boast in anything of
what I do? But what I should be boasting
in what Christ has done. what Christ has secured in salvation
for His people, where His obedience and righteousness is imputed
to us, and that He has promised to conform us to His image whenever
He is completed. See, I might not be able to distinguish
whether I'm doing something by the right motive or not, if I'm
doing something of religious nature, but I can trust in Christ
that what is being done is according to His purpose. I will testify
of what Christ has done. If I cannot have confidence in
my flesh, then I'm going to boast in the Lord. I will testify to His work and
His promise. Brethren, listen. The heart God
gives to His people is a broken and contrite heart. Not a boastful
and proud heart that draws attention to yourself worse. You all know
what I'm talking about. You all know those people that
you've had in church before that all goes on and on about how
much they've done for Jesus. Listen, now I come from a Southern
Baptist background and we like to give awards and medals and
certificates for servicing God. And there are people, as my grandpa
used to say, that would come and they would look like some
sort of a war general with all these medals and awards that
they've come from. Listen, some of the most vile
people have a lot of awards. Listen, it isn't about me boasting
in how much I've done for the Lord, because a broken and contrite
heart will not draw attention to my own self-worth. A broken
heart cries out from the realization of their sin and failure to keep
the law of God, and a contrite heart hopes in a righteousness
given. Not given in the flesh, but virtue
of imputation. See, we're not given a righteousness
in the flesh, but we're given a righteousness by imputation.
It's a righteousness that's not our own. It's outside of us.
So how would we ever have the right to boast about anything? Now are there those who have
false humility? Absolutely. You've met them. People that just, I mean they
are just, they tell you how humble they are. But brethren, the child of grace
really has been humbled whenever he's shown his sin and it's continued
hold on the Adamic man. In Romans chapter 7 we probably
see the greatest expression of that in the apostle Paul and
I do believe this is Paul after he was converted, not before.
But Romans chapter 7, if you'll turn there with me, I
want to read just a couple of things here that Paul writes. He says in verse 21, I find then
a law that whenever I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. That's
what I was saying a while ago, that inward man desires these
things. But I see another law in my members, warring against
the law of my mind, where I want to serve God. And bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members, my
flesh. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Brethren, only whenever we are
delivered from this body of death are we fully free from this constant
warfare that we're experiencing. This desire to do good and want
to do good before the Lord, but finding that we're coming up
short. where we need to find rest in Christ. Yeah, we're going
to serve the law of God with our mind alright. The Bible says
that we will do that. But our flesh is going to serve
the law of sin. This may not be popular teaching, but I believe From what I understand
here in Scripture, and I'm open for correction and willing to
be reproved of this, but in verse 25, Paul says, I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, it seems to me that
Paul has resigned within himself to know that this warfare is
going to be here forever. And he says, I am going to serve
the law of God with my mind, and I'm going to serve the law
of sin with my flesh. That consternation will continue. It's not going to get any better.
It's going to continue until the day I die. The flesh wars
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. The mind who
desires the law of God and to be right with God in all that
we do, desires those things, but our flesh, the spirit is
willing, but the flesh is weak. It cannot do. And that is going
to be. And so Paul says, okay, that's
just the plight. That's the plight that God has
given unto us. that we might always, and I believe
that He's given it to us for a purpose. God doesn't do anything
without purpose. He's not cavalier. He has done
it for a purpose. And I believe that that purpose
is so that we might be humbled continually and be given to trust
in Christ alone. That flesh is given way so that
we might look to Him and not be prideful and boastful in our
heart. That's why God has ordained this for us. And so we must look
to Him whenever we don't measure up and continually look to Him.
And know that He is not only the author and finisher of our
faith, but He is the sustainer of our faith. And so Paul said,
I will serve with my mind, I myself serve the law of sin, but with
the flesh the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. And here's where the unfortunate
chapter verse break is. 8.1 follows right after that. Paul
says, there is therefore no condemnation. What's the good news? Well brethren,
whenever you're involved in this, is my works good enough? The
flesh has just overtaken me. I don't feel worthy before the
Lord. I don't know what to do. I don't
even know if I'm a Christian or not. There is therefore now
no condemnation. That's pointing us to Christ. Come unto me. Believe on me. Quit looking to yourself because
when you look to yourself, you're going to see the consternation.
But when you look to Christ, you're going to see the perfect
work done. Brethren, if one acknowledges
that it is God who worketh in you to will and to do His good
pleasure, if one acknowledges that apart from me, you can do
nothing, If one acknowledges that faithful is He who calleth
you, who will also do it. If one believes that the God
of peace that brought again the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great
Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do His will
working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through
Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. You see who's
doing the work? You see who we're to look to?
You see what kind of work it is? It's a perfect work. What
did He say there? That's not my words. That's not
Sovereign Grace Baptist words. Make you perfect. in every good
work. Every good work. Brethren, if
one acknowledges and believes all that is promised, then they
should put off the foolish and contradictory messages of conditions
like allow him, let him, make him, give him control, put off
all those things. His work is being completed and
none can stay his hand. He said he would do all his pleasure
and right here he says that he's going to make you perfect in
every good work that which is pleasing in his sight. That's where our hope lies. The
fact that my failings neither slow down nor speed up His perfect
purpose in working us. The fact that we are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before
ordained, that we should walk in them, should give us confidence. Am I slowing God's work down
because I went in that elevator and I should have said something
to that person about the Lord and I didn't. That person is
probably going to miss heaven because of that. The child of grace, I tell this
to our people at church a lot and those who are friends with
me on Facebook, I say this saying quite often. Brethren, we're going to sin
every sin that Christ died for, no more and no less. Have you
ever thought of that? Christ died for all of our sins,
right? Do you think you're going to sin any more sins than what
He died for? And are you going to sin any
less than He died for? I hope you don't. But brethren, here's
the good news. Work every good work that God
has before ordained for us. No more and no less. You're not
going to do more than God's ordained for you. And you're surely not
going to do less from what we read. Brethren, we rest in not
only the fact that he has promised it and he is the one working,
but he is the one bringing about that desire. He is the one who
is performing the thing. That's what Job said. He performeth
the thing that is appointed for me. So we need to conclude that
there are no conditions that hinder his work or progress his
work. We must realize that he is ordained
not only conforming to his image, but the path of conformity to
his image in every detail, including our faithfulness and our faithlessness. He has purposed the tasting of
our depravity as part of His conforming work of growth in
grace and knowledge. Nothing is left undone. All of
our salvation, in all of its points, are not subjective or
conditional, but found in the objective work of Christ alone.
that he may have the preeminence, and that no flesh will glory
in his presence. And so I will say with the psalmist,
I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all
things for me. Amen.