Let's open our Bibles together
to Romans chapter 7. Romans 7. Our pastor has asked we start
with verse 14 and read through the end of the chapter. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it is good. Now then it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 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. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of
sin. Let's pray. our God and Father in heaven,
Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, let us not take this privilege
for granted. Lord, to come into thy house
and to hear thy word preached, Lord, to worship thee. Lord, we thank you for your many
blessings. We thank you for our our families,
for our homes, Lord, for your provision, Lord, all that your
hand has provided. Lord, above all, we thank you
for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, bless us to know
more of him. Lord, cause us to not fret and
to worry, but Lord, to rest, to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ,
to rest in thee. knowing that thou doest all things
well. Lord, we again thank you for
your many blessings. We thank you for these many young
ones that you've given us. Lord, we pray for them. Lord,
we pray that you would protect and keep them in this world. Lord, above all, that you would
reveal the Lord Jesus Christ to them in mercy and grace. Lord,
for those of our number who are in a time of trouble and difficulty,
Lord, we pray your hand of comfort, strength, and healing upon them. Lord, we pray for Judy as they
run these tests and care for her. Lord, we pray for our brother
Aaron. Lord, that your hand would be
upon him in days to come. Now, again, we thank you for
this opportunity to worship and pray for your presence. Lord,
just here for a little bit, set aside the thoughts and cares
of this world. Lord, those things that so easily
take up our mind. Lord, let us see Christ. Let
us see more of our Savior. For it's in his name we pray
and give thee thanks. Thank you. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunge beneath that
flood, Lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty
stains. Lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. May I, though vile as He, wash
all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious
blood Shall never lose its power. Will all the ransomed Church
of God Be safe to sin no more? Be safe to sin no more? Be safe to sin no more? Till all the ransomed Church
of God Be saved to sin no more. E'er since, by faith, I saw the
stream Thy flowing wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die. And shall be till I die And shall
be till I die Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be
till I die Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing
thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power
to save And in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save That has to be my very favorite
hymn. And the second verse of that
hymn has to be my favorite verse of all time. The dying thief
rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away. That's the gospel
that I need. That's the gospel I try to preach.
If God ever sends a sinner who's guilty, it's that thief. Guilty of murder. Murdering God's
son. Guilty of insurrection against
God's government. I've got good news. I'll stumble
around with it and bumble around with it now, but oh, one day
we're going to sing it, aren't we? One day. All right. 1 Timothy chapter 6. I just have two verses as a text
this morning. That's why I asked Brother Eric
to read Romans chapter 7, which is a good commentary in our text
this morning. I've titled the message, Fighting
the Good Fight of Faith. Fighting the Good Fight of Faith. Now God's people are called on
to be peaceable people. Listen to a few scriptures. 1
Corinthians 7, verse 15, God hath called us to peace, to peace. Colossians 3, verse 15, let the
peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also you're called.
Romans 12, verse 18, if it be possible, as much as life in
you, live peaceably with all men. God's people are to contend
for the faith. We're to never compromise the
gospel in order to have peace. But we're to be peaceable people.
But in our text this morning, we're also told to fight. Look
at verse 11, 1 Timothy chapter 6. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness, Fight the good fight of faith. Lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses." Now, fight the
good fight of faith. Now, when we talk about fighting
here, our fight is not with the world. Now, we are to contend
for the faith in the world. We're to contend and preach the
gospel in this world, but not fighting with the world over
it. Our Lord will take care of the world. He said, I've overcome
the world. And our fight isn't against other
people. It doesn't mean you're supposed to go pick a fight with
everybody you know. This fight, the good fight of
faith, is a fight against ourselves. This fight that Paul's talking
about here is the same thing he talked about in Romans 7.
It's the civil war that goes on inside every believer. The
fight, the warfare between the flesh and the spirit, the old
man and the new man. See, Paul says this is a good
fight of faith. of faith. And that's what the
old man and the new man constantly war about. They war over if salvation
by works or salvation by faith. Which is it? Well, how does a
believer fight that good fight of faith? Every believer here
knows about this civil war that goes on inside us between the
old man and the new man. Well, how do I fight that good
fight of faith? Now I want to give you 10 ways,
I hesitate to tell you, 10 ways from our text, 10 words from
our text, and it sounds like a lot of points, but I promise
you, I will be brief. But number one is this, we fight
the good fight of faith by being a man or a woman of God. In verse 11, Paul says, but thou,
O man of God. Now throughout scriptures, prophets
and preachers are called a man of God. Moses, Samuel, David
were all called a man of God. Elijah and Elisha, Timothy, a
man of God. But look over a page of 2 Timothy
3. Every believer, every believer,
not just Moses, prophets and preachers, but every believer
is a man or a woman of God. In 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, all
scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God, every believer, may be perfect and thoroughly
furnished unto all good works." The word of God is given to instruct
and perfect and mature every believer. So every believer is
a man or woman of God. And the only person who can fight
this good fight of faith is a person who has God-given faith. You
can't fight the fight of faith without faith, can you? Well,
who has God-given faith? Who is it that has that? Every
believer. Every believer who's been born
of God has faith. The Apostle John, 1 John 5, verse
4, said, For whatsoever, whosoever is born of God overcometh the
world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. Our faith. So every believer
has faith, and the only person who can fight this good fight
of faith is a person who's been born again. To be a man or woman of God is
to be of God, of God, is to be born by God, of God, from God,
is to be from God, is to have the nature of God, because you've
been made a partaker of the divine nature through the new birth.
Look at John chapter 8. To be of God is to be under the
control of God, under the direction of God. John 8, verse 42. Jesus said unto them, If God
were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and
came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Now, if you're of God, you're
born of a child, like a child is born of his father. Our Lord
says, if you are of God, you would love me. If you're of God,
you love the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because God controls you,
because God directs you. Read on verse 43. Why do you
not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. Here's why you cannot hear my
word. Understand it, believe it, because
you're of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father he
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and a boat not
in the truth, because there's no truth in him. But he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he's a liar and the father
of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. You believe me not because you're
of the devil. You're of the world. You're under
the control of. You're being directed by Satan.
You're being directed by this dead, evil, sinful flesh. But
no believer is of the world. Every believer is of God. In
his great high priestly prayer, our Lord says, Speaking of his
people, those people for whom he's getting ready to die, they're
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. They're not
of the world. They're of God. They're under
his control. They're under his direction.
They're the children of God. They've been born again by the
Spirit of God. Then, to be of God is to be saved
by God. To be of God is to be chosen
by God, to be redeemed by God. to be called by God, to be given
life and faith by God, and to be kept by God, by His power. Salvation is of the Lord. To be of God is to be saved by
God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 29, but of Him, of God,
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption. How is Christ
your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification and redemption?
of God. He made him. To be saved, to
be of God is to be saved by God. And the only people who will
fight this good fight of faith are those who are of God. They've
been born again by the Spirit of God. They've been saved by
God. They're under the direction and control of God. They're of
God. All right, number two, we fight the good fight of faith
by fleeing some things. Paul says, but thou, O man of
God, flee these things. Now an army in a war won't always
be charging. You know, sometimes generals
make a mistake when they say absolutely no retreat. Sometimes
armies need to retreat if they're going to be annihilated. Why
then retreat? Gather together and live to fight
another day. And on that day, you go forward again. Well, the
believer is to flee something. Now, that doesn't mean we're
to retreat. The believer is never to retreat from the gospel. We're
never to retreat from Christ. We're never to retreat and run
out from under his protection. We're never to compromise the
gospel in order to have peace. But the believer is to flee many
things. We're to flee the things of this
world. We're to flee the lust of this flesh, the way of this
flesh. We're to flee it. So you can't
fight a good fight of faith living after the flesh and following
the logic and motions of the flesh. We quote you a few more
scriptures. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 14. These
are the things we're to flee. Wherefore, my dearly beloved,
flee from idolatry. Flee from it. Flee from false
religion. Just run away from it as fast
as you can. Don't hang around it. Don't hang
around the edges of it. It can poison your soul. Flee
from it. And how can you not? How could
a believer ever tolerate the worship of anything other than
Christ alone. How could a believer sit and
say they're worshiping, listening to the free will religions, listening
to the works of the flesh, listening to a man tell you that your deeds
and what you do, what you don't do makes you righteous before
God. How can a believer tolerate such a thing? That's what the
old man loves. And in this good fight of faith,
we're fighting that old man. We're fighting that old man who
loves idolatry. Well, if the old man loves anything,
flee from it. Just run away from it. Flee so
you don't get sucked in. Flee from the voice of a stranger
who's preaching. Flee from him. And flee to follow
Christ. Colossians 6, verse 18. Flee
fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body. But he that committeth fornication
sinneth against his own body. And what Paul is talking about
there is sexual sins. And buddy, that's not what's
being taught in today's world, is it? No, in today's world,
what you're being taught feels good to it. You have nothing
wrong with it. The Word of God says, flee fornication. Flee
these sexual sins. It's a sin against your own body.
It opens you up for disease and just using your body in a way
that's dishonoring to God. Using your body in a way that
violates the picture of Christ in Mary. The sexual relationship
is for a husband and a wife. It's a picture of Christ. Now
flee from that. I know the world tells you it's
all OK. Whatever you want to do is all
OK. But the Word of God says it's not. So flee from it. Flee from the logic of this world.
2 Timothy 2 verse 22. Flee also youthful lusts, but
follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace within the call
on the Lord I have a pure heart. Flee youthful lust. Flee those
things that young people desire before you know any better. Before
you know any better. Flee those things. Flee those
things. And follow after some wisdom that comes from maturity. Now in context here, when Paul
is talking about flee these things, he's talking about the love of
money. Verse 10, that's what he was talking about. For the
love of money is the root of all evil. which while some coveted
after, they've erred from the faith and pierced them through
with many sorrows." Now here what Paul's saying is to flee
from that love of money. Flee from making it your goal
to be rich. When Paul there talked about
those that would be rich, he's talking about those that have
made it their goal to be rich because they find some security
or whatever in it. Now flee that. Flee being covetous. First of all, flee being covetous
because it's wrong. Covetousness is wrong. But not
to the believer. Secondly, you flee covetousness
because you don't have anything to covet. If you have Christ,
if you're clinging to Him, if you believe Him, you've got everything
you need and no reason to be covetous. So flee that. Flee
it. Just run away from it. But those
who would be rich, those who make it their goal to be rich. Like I said last week, there's
nothing wrong with being wealthy. There's nothing wrong with having
plenty like that. The Lord gives it to you to use
to bless others. But people who would be rich,
who make it their goal to be rich, I'm telling you, they fall
into all sorts of traps, all sorts of snares. Say a person's
made it their goal to be rich. Well, they'll be tempted. They're
going to come across this situation. They're going to be tempted to
compromise the gospel. Because if they don't, it'll cost them.
It'll cost them. People in business might not
like that, might want to do business with you. They'll compromise
the gospel in order to gain more from the unbeliever, from the
world. Here's another trap. Those that have set their heart,
their goal on being wealthy, they're going to find this. They're
not going to have time for worship. If you're going to be wealthy,
it's going to take some time. It's going to take some effort.
You're just going to have to work at it. And you'll find you
don't have time to worship God. And here's another one. There's
another trap. Those that would be wealthy,
that would have these riches, they're going to fall into the
trap of becoming selfish. It'll happen every single time
unless God keeps you from it. It'll make you selfish, and you
won't give. A pastor friend of mine said, you know, rich people
don't get rich by giving their money away. They don't get rich
by putting money in offering plates, you know. They're trying
to accumulate, not give. It's a trap that someone could
fall in. That's part of worshiping God is bringing an offering and
coming to His courts with thanksgiving. And this is especially true of
those seeking to make themselves rich by their own works. Thinking
that there is some security before God. that God will be more happy
with them the more good works that they do. They're trying
to get rich by their own works. And that is exactly what the
old man is constantly trying to get us to do. Constantly.
Constantly trying to get us to earn God's favor by our works.
That salvation is by works. Now flee that. Flee from trusting
in your own works. Flee from that. Flee from trying
to deliver yourself from the wrath of God against your sin.
Flee from that. and flee to Christ, our city
of refuge. Flee to Him. And I know that
the Lord has to give us the desire and the ability to flee those
things. Because all those things appeal to the flesh, don't they?
The Lord has to give us the desire and the ability to flee these
things. But we're to strive to flee from them too. We're to
strive. I know they appeal to the flesh,
but don't surrender. Don't surrender to them. Flee
them. Fight them. All right, here's
the third thing. We fight the good fight of faith
by following after righteousness. Verse 11 says, flee these things
and follow after righteousness. Now, remember, we're fighting
the flesh. We're fighting our old man. And that old man is
constantly telling us that righteousness comes by the law. The old man
is constantly telling us that how well you act and how well
you obey the law and how moral you are, that's righteousness
before God. And that's wrong. That's absolutely
wrong. And the only way you can fight
that error is by faith in Christ. It's the only way. The only way
you can fight that error that righteousness comes by the law
is by trusting Christ to be all your righteousness. If you're
trusting Christ to be all your righteousness, you have no need
to trust your own self, do you? Not if you're trusting Christ.
And that's what Paul said in Romans 7. Brother Eric read to
us. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? This flesh
nature that keeps me from doing the things that I want to do,
doing the things that I know is right, and making me do the
things I don't want to do. How can I ever be delivered from
that? Who's going to deliver me from
this dead carcass I'm carrying around? Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul said, I'm thankful God's
provided the way. God's provided the victor. I'm
going to be delivered from that through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
by having Him as all my righteousness. Now, I know that the Lord has
to make us righteous and give us righteousness by faith. I
know that. You know I know that. That's why I preach to you every
week. I know that. But we're also told to strive to follow
after righteousness, too. See, this is a good fight of
faith. Buddy, you're going to get licked
if you're passive in a fight. Isn't that right? You're going
to get licked if you're passive in a fight. So seek Christ. Seek Him. Seek to have Christ
as your righteousness and seek never to have any of your works
added to it. This is what our Lord said. Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now you seek that. I know God's
got to give it to you, but you seek it. And all these other
things, Lord said, will be added to you. So strive not to listen
to the lies of that old man. And strive. Your flesh is constantly
going to be telling you, oh, God's going to be happy with
you if you do this. Now do what's right. Do what's right. But don't
trust your righteousness to it. Don't think it's making God more
happy with you. Strive to never listen to the lies of that old
man. And strive to never trust in anything you've done. and
strive to constantly look to Christ, to constantly trust Him. I think this is a good rule of
thumb. You talk about Christ, your righteousness, as much as
the old man talks about your righteousness. Now how much does
the old man talk about your works and your righteousness? Constantly,
doesn't he? Then you constantly Talk about
Christ, your righteousness. Constantly look to Him. Constantly
depending on Him. That's what David, the sweet
psalmist of Israel said. Psalm 71, verse 24. My tongue
also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long. Just look to
Christ. Just look to Him and trust Him.
Look at Philippians chapter 3. Seek Christ. The only righteousness
we'll ever have is Christ. And I know God's got to give
Him to us, but seek Him. Strive to have Christ as all
of your righteousness. I don't think God ever blessed
a preacher any more than He blessed the Apostle Paul. And after everything is said
and done, this is what the Apostle Paul is striving to do, to be
found in Christ, to have Christ as all his righteousness. Philippians
3, verse 7. Earlier here, Paul talks about
everything he could have trusted in, in His flesh, in the Jewish
religion, and it was more than anybody. But he says in verse
7, what things were gained to me? Those things I thought were
gained to me, there were things I did, things about me, those
I counted lost for Christ. I was glad to give them up to
lay hold on Christ. He ain't doubtless, and I count
all things but loss. Everything about me is a loss.
For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I've suffered the loss of all things. You're suffering
the loss of everything I've done. Suffering the loss of all my
morality and all my goodness. I didn't suffer much to lose
it, did I? Didn't suffer much. Paul said,
I've suffered the loss of all those things, and I count them
but dung. You know what that is. I count
that but cow manure. That I may win Christ. I'm seeking
Him. That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith. Oh, that
I may know him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable unto his
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead." Paul says, that's what I'm seeking after. After
everything is said and done, he's still seeking that. He's
following after it. To have Christ as his righteousness.
The writer to the Hebrews said, labor, labor, strive, work at
this to enter into his rest. Labor to enter into the rest
of Christ. And I tell you what he's saying
there. You work hard not to trust in your works and you rest in
Christ your righteousness. And you know when you'll rest
in him? When God's convinced you he's all you need. That's
when you'll rest in him. Now, if you seek to have righteousness
by your own works, What you do, what you don't do, you'll never
have righteousness. But if you seek Christ your righteousness
and you rest in him and him alone, that's when you'll have righteousness.
So fight, fight to have Christ. Seek him and to have his righteousness. Him as your righteousness, I
should say. All right, here's the fourth thing. We fight the
good fight of faith by following after godliness. Paul says, flee
these things, follow after righteousness and godliness. I've told you
this in the past couple of weeks, we've looked at this godliness.
Godliness does not mean acting like God. You know, so you act
like God, people can see God in you. They couldn't see God
in Christ. They couldn't see Christ in Christ. That's not
what the word means. The word, the Greek word there
actually means piety. It means well-devout. Now seek
this, follow after this. to have devotion to Christ. Devotion. Seek to be devoted
to Him. Seek to be devoted to the Gospel
of Christ. Seek to be addicted to the Gospel
of Christ. Just be devoted to it so that
every time these doors are open, you're here to hear, if it's
humanly possible. Seek to be devoted to Christ.
I tell you, the only way that we can defeat this old flesh,
this old man in this good fight of faith, is to be addicted to
Christ. To be addicted to the gospel.
To be constantly reminded as much as that old man constantly
tries to get us to go back under captivity to the law. We need
to be constantly reminded Christ is all we need. You have everything.
Christ is all you have. Just refuse. Refuse anything
but Christ alone and be devoted to Him. Addicted to it. Refuse
it because you don't need it. You don't need your own works
now. Refuse it because you don't need it. Refuse it because you
don't like it. It ought not taste good to you
for somebody to tell you, if you do this, this, and this,
and live this way, and this way, and this way, God will be more
happy with you. That ought not taste good to you. You ought
to just spew it out of your mouth. Refuse it because it's deadly
to your soul. Refuse it. You know, a good husband
will be devoted to his wife. It's not just, I signed a legal
piece of paper She's my wife, so I got to do this, this, this,
and this. I read a book about it. I got
to do these things, these four things. No. You don't recover
all of that love. Love. A good husband is devoted
to his wife because he loves her. He's devoted to her. You
wives, don't you like that? These chicks dig that. You know
what wives dig? You know what they love? A husband
who's devoted to her. And husband, isn't that true
of a wife? Don't you love a wife that's devoted to you? Just devoted. Well, a healthy child of God
is devoted to our Savior, devoted to our Lord, devoted to believing
Him, to hearing of Him, to following Him, to serving Him. And I know
that the Lord has to give us godliness. That's a gift of God. I know that He has to give us
this devotion and this piety, but we're also to strive after
it too. to strive after, to strive to
be where God might give it to us. And I'll tell you where He'll
give it to us. It's through the preaching of Christ. The more
you hear of Christ, the more you'll be devoted to Him. All
right, here's the fifth thing. We fight the good fight of faith
by following after faith. Bosses follow after faith. Now,
salvation is by faith without our works. And by that, I mean
without our works in any way at any time. But true faith also
works, doesn't it? It works out of a motive of love
and thanksgiving, not in order to get life, but because you
have it. Not in order to get God to love
you, but because He does. Faith without works is dead faith. It can't save anybody. So strive
to be zealous of good works. Strive to do that. Without ever
thinking your works add to your righteousness. Be zealous of
good works. To help your brethren. To help
them out of love. Not in order to get God to be
happier with you, but because you're His loving child, loving
son, loving daughter who serves out of love. Strive to believe
Christ. To believe He's all you need. To believe He's all of your salvation
and nothing you can do can make anything about Christ more perfect. I mean, think about... I talked
to you in the Bible lesson this morning about unbelief, ignoring
the obvious. Isn't that obvious? There's nothing
that I can do to add to the perfection of Christ. That's obvious, isn't
it? How absurd! To trust Christ alone. That's
faith. And I know that the Lord has
to give us faith in Christ. There are those who hear me preach
every week. I know, do not know the Lord. I pray every day that
the Lord give you faith. Every single day. Because I know
the only way you'll have it is if God gives it to us. I know
that. Faith is the gift of God. And the Lord has to make us faithful.
The Lord has to make us devoted to Him. But yet, we're still
told to strive after, to follow after, strive to have faith.
We're to fight that old man so that we trust Christ alone. were
to fight, to strive, to be faithful to his cause. All right, number
six, we fight the good fight of faith by following after love.
Paul says, follow after love. Follow after love for Christ.
Follow after love for the gospel of Christ. And if you know him
and you believe him, how can you not love him? We love him. because He first loved us. Christ's great love for His people
makes us love Him. We can't help it. And God help
us if our love for Him ever grows cold. God help us. Oh, how can
we when He first loved us? And the more that we love Christ,
And the more we love his gospel, the less we'll find fault with
what he's doing. That's exactly right. The more we love Christ,
the less we'll find fault in what the sovereign king is doing.
The more we love his gospel, the more that we'll rest in it.
I mean, it's just right. You all know that. It's hard
for us to see the faults of somebody we really love, isn't it? It's
just hard to see. You tend to believe somebody
you really love, don't you? For the more we love Christ,
the more we'll rest in Him. The more we hear of Him, the
more we'll rest in Him. Follow after love for Christ, and then
follow after love for one another. Look at 1 John chapter 4. Follow
after love for each other. Our Lord said, by this shall
all men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one to another. So follow after this love for
each other. Strive to have it. Strive to show it. 1 John 4,
verse 19. We love him. Every believer can
say that we love him because he first loved us. Now, if any
man say, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth
God love his brother also. Now that's a commandment from
God. That's the nature of a believer. If a man doesn't say he loves
God and hates his brother, he's a liar. That's not so. The nature
of a believer is to love your brethren. And it's the commandment
of God. That's two pretty good reasons
to show love to your brethren, isn't it? Now God commands us
to show it. Show it. Strive to show it. Look
for ways. I know, I know this. I know you
feel affection for each other. I know you do. Look for ways
to put it into action. Don't wait to be asked. Look
for ways. And I know this. I know the Lord has to give us
love. I know He has got to give us a nature that loves. Otherwise,
the only person we ever love is ourselves. But we're to strive
to be loving. We're to strive to show that
love, too. We're to fight against the hatefulness of our nature
and strive to show love. Right? Here's the seventh thing.
We fight the good fight of faith by following after patience.
Paul says, follow after patience. Look at Romans chapter 5. Now, just imagine that anybody
here that's thinking at all, this thing about patience, that's
troubling, isn't it? I mean, I remember just being a real
little guy. and knowing I have absolutely
no patience. I mean, none. I mean, I just cannot stand to
waste my time. I just can't stand it. I mean,
I knew that about myself as a little guy. I mean, patience? How in
this world am I going to follow after patience? Well, patience
comes from trusting the Lord. Romans 5, verse 3. And not only
so, But we glory in tribulations, in trials, in sufferings. We
glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience.
And patience, experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh
not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet for adventure, for a good man, some would even
dare to die. But God committeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more, being reconciled, we should be saved
by his life. Now, patience. Patience is learned
through trial, through trouble, through tribulation. In those
things, as painful as they are, we learn to trust the Lord. I can't deliver myself, but He
can. And that's tied to Christ our Savior. Paul ties that, for
scarcely for a righteous man will one die, but God commended
His love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. The Lord saved me. This is what
the believer can say in a time of great trouble, great heartache,
great suffering. The Lord saved me. And he's keeping
me. This trial is not the Lord punishing
me for my sin. He already punished my sin and
my substitute. The Lord is using this to teach me. The Lord saved
me and he's keeping me. And believing him, resting in
him, that lets me be patient. because I know how this thing
is going to turn out. And knowing how this thing is
going to turn out can only come from knowing the Lord, from knowing
that He is sovereign, that He's the one who's in control of this
thing. Let me show you that again. James chapter 1. See, the Lord
sent this for my good, and that lets me be patient because I
know Him. I know He's not going to do anything harmful to His
children. James chapter 1. Verse 3, knowing this, that the
trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have
her perfect work, that she may be perfect, mature, and entire,
wanting nothing. This is what the believer knows.
The Lord is using this trial to teach me, to teach me patience,
to make me more mature, so that I learn I need nothing but Him. Now, that kind of patience comes
from knowing that if I have Christ, I have everything. See, we patiently
wait and we patiently endure what we do not understand because
we trust the Lord. We trust that he's doing right,
that he can't make a mistake. We patiently wait on the Lord
if we know that the Lord's suffering, that he's in control of all things.
So whatever is happening to me is not an accident. Whatever
is happening to me is the direct will and purpose of God for me. the purpose of God who does all
things well. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Everything he's doing is right. And the more
that I trust the Lord, the more patient I'll be. The more patient
I'll be to wait on him to accomplish his will. So then, brethren,
let's run the race that's set before us with patience. Now,
how do we endure? How do we endure? How do we keep
running when we're so tired? How do we keep running when that
course is uphill and we're so tired? One way, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Now, don't look
anywhere else. Don't look for strength anywhere else. And here's
something for somebody that's impatient. Don't look for a shortcut. There are no shortcuts in this
matter of faith. Just keep looking to Christ and trusting Him. And
I know that the Lord has to give us patience. I know that does
not come to anybody naturally. But we're still yet told to strive
to be patient, to patiently wait on the Lord by constantly reminding
us this. The Lord is doing what is best
and right, even when I don't understand it and I don't see
it. Reckon the angels who were just standing on the brink of
heaven, waiting on God's command to come down and destroy the
earth as the creature crucified the creator. They didn't understand
what was going on, did they? But we can trust this. The Lord
was doing what was right, wasn't he? The same thing's true in
every situation in the lives of every child of God. All right,
here's the eighth thing. We fight the good fight of faith
by following after meekness. Now meekness is an attitude toward
God. It's an attitude of smallness
before God. It's an attitude of gentleness.
Meekness is this, knowing that everything that the Lord gives
me is right and it's best, even when I don't understand. Meekness
says the Lord's still doing what's best. That's what meekness is.
Meekness is not just being like a little mouse, you know, cowering
in the corner, not saying anything. Meekness is knowing this. that
the Lord's doing what's right for me, what is best. And Peter
says that's the way of believers. It's beautiful. By adorning ourselves,
adorning that inner man with meekness. Now, that sounds good,
doesn't it? To be meek. To know everything
the Lord's doing for me, that's best for me. That's right. What
He's doing is right. That sounds good. And I desire
meekness. If you know the Lord, you do
too. I desire meekness. But how can I have it? Because
this flesh is so proud. How can I fight this good fight
of faith and seek meekness? You notice the pattern? The answers
are the same in every one of them. It's by looking to Christ.
By looking and trusting Him. You know what He said? I am meek
and lowly in heart. Now you look to Him. You trust
Him. You think what He endured. The Son of God in the flesh endured
being made sin. And He patiently suffered. and
died under the wrath of his father. You know why? Meekness. He knew everything his father
was giving him was right and best for his people. Meekness
made him suffer that. I sure am thankful, aren't you?
It's the only way we could be saved. Well, then the believer
says, Lord, give me that attitude. Give me that attitude of meekness.
Knowing what my father is doing is still best, is still right.
In number nine, we fight the good fight of faith by laying
hold on eternal life. In verse 12, Paul says, fight
the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life. Weren't
to thou art also called. Now lay hold on eternal life.
God's called you to it. God's called his people to it.
But yet he tells us lay hold on it. Lay hold on eternal life,
which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Philippians chapter three
again. I try to think of what does it
mean to lay hold on eternal life? To lay hold on Christ? And the
best illustration I could think of is that poor woman with the
issue of blood. She wasn't letting anything stop
her from getting to the Savior, was she? No, she came up behind
Him and touched the hand of His garment. She laid hold and she
did not let go. Now you, who hear the gospel,
you who believe Christ, you crawl up to Him in the dust and you
lay hold on Him. Don't let go, knowing that He's
all you need. That's what the woman with the
issue of blood, she didn't know everything there was to know, but she knew this,
if I ain't touch Him in His garment, I'm going to be whole. Now you
crawl up at His feet and you lay hold on Him. Philippians
3 verse 12. not as though I had already attained,
either already perfect. See, this is not something you
do once. This is a continual life for the believer. But I
follow after. If that I may apprehend, I may
lay hold on that for which also I am apprehended, laid hold on
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended. I haven't arrived. But this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press, I strive,
I fight, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. Press toward it, lay hold on
it. Lay hold on eternal life. Now I know that God has to give
us life. There's nothing we can do to deserve eternal life. There's
nothing we can do to deserve God giving us his son. But I
tell you what, don't blame God's sovereignty on your inactivity.
We can beg God to give it to us. He doesn't have to, but we
can beg God to give it to us. You can do that. Our Lord says,
this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That's eternal life,
knowing Him, having Him. If you don't have Him, you can
seek Him. You absolutely can. I mean, you can't make God give
them to you. You can't do anything to deserve it. But I tell you
what, if you're seeking Christ, here's an awful good idea. Be
where He is. And you're going to find Him
where He is, aren't you? You children, you play hide-and-seek.
You ever found anybody where they're not? You always find them where
they are. I mean, isn't that right? If
you're going to find the Lord, find Him where He is. Be where
He is. He said He's among His people every single time the
Gospel's preached. That if you don't know Christ,
And you would have him seek him where he's found and be here
where the gospel is being preached. The Lord just might be merciful.
Seek him where he's found. We can be where Christ is preached.
That's the only way God ever gives faith to his people. Faith
cometh by hearing. We can be where he's preached.
It just wouldn't surprise me if God be merciful. There's somebody
seeking him under the sound of the gospel. Lay hold on him. And here's the last thing, we
fight the good fight of faith by professing a good profession.
Paul tells Timothy, verse 12, Weren't you thou also called
and has professed a good profession before many witnesses? Now if
God saved you, if he's given you faith in Christ, then you
confess him publicly, just exactly like the Lord commanded in believers
baptism. Now believers baptism is for
believers, it's for those who already believe, it's for those
You don't be baptized in order to be saved. You're baptized
because God has saved you, because He's revealed Himself to you.
But that's not the end of the story. You keep professing Him. You keep professing Him. You
keep professing Christ and confessing Him by living your life, relying
on Him, by coming to Him every day, by following Him every day,
the same way you very first came to Christ. How is it that you
first came to Christ? You came to Christ because He's
everything that you needed. He's everything. You came to
Him in complete and utter dependence. You came to Him because you must
have Him. Now, you profess Christ by living
your life that way, continually coming to Him because He's everything
that you need. See, in this good fight of faith,
the answer to how do we fight it is in the good fight of faith.
How do we fight it? It's by faith in Christ. It's
by reliance and dependence upon Him. That's the only weapon we
have in this good fight of faith is trusting Christ. May God make it so. May God make
it so. Let's bow together. Our Father,
we thank you for the instruction of your word. The instruction
that once again points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Father,
I pray by your Sovereign mercy grace and power that you'd make
each one of us here this morning leave here Believing trusting
and resting in the Lord. Jesus Christ is our all and in
all Father show us your glory show us your glory saving calling
feeding keeping your people All these things we ask in that great
name, which is above every name In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. All right, you're dismissed.