flesh in this world. We are in
the world. But you're not of this world.
You're not from this world. So don't live like this world. How are you going to do that?
By being fortified with the mind of Christ. So let's look at these
verses and see if the Lord might teach us something. Verse 1,
chapter 4. For as much then as Christ has
suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with
the same mind. For he that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin." Now, believers are not of the
world, like I said. But our old man is. That old man we're carrying around
with us, he's from the world. He still loves sin. He loves
the things of the world. He loves the things of the flesh.
He's just as strong as he ever was. So Peter gives some fortification
to God's to strengthen us so we can live like people who have
been born again. We need to be fortified so we
can walk like Christ, not like the people of the flesh. And
Peter begins by reminding us that Christ has suffered for
us in the flesh. Now, can you hear of his sacrifice
too often? He suffered in the flesh for
your sins. God the Son became a man. And we say he became a man. He
took on him a body of human flesh, a human body. But when we say
he took on him flesh, that's more than just taking on him
a body of flesh like what we have. God's Son also took on
him a human nature. Now, who can explain that? But
he did that for his people. The Lord Jesus Christ never ceased
to be God. He never stopped being God. But
he was 100% man, a human body, a human nature. It's no wonder
the Apostle Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness,
that God was manifest in the flesh. And Peter reminds us that
in his flesh, in his human nature, in his human flesh, the Lord
Jesus Christ suffered for sin. He suffered for the sin of his
people. And Christ our Savior, as He suffered in His human nature,
in His human soul, through that sacrifice, the sin of His people
is gone, forever put away under His blood. The blood of the sacrifice
of Christ has paid the sin debt of His elect in full. The debt
is paid so fully, the debt is blotted out so fully, there is
no more record of our sin. or anywhere else God sees, that
record's been expunged. So there's no condemnation left
to anyone who believes Christ, because Christ fully suffered.
We looked at this last week, the just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God. And we have eternal life in Him,
in His person. What a blessing. To think that
God was willing to take on him humanity and suffer in his human
flesh, in his human nature for his people. A wretched, depraved,
vile people. Now that's divine love. Can you ever get tired of that?
You came out here on a cold Wednesday night. Is that what you come
to hear? The sacrifice of Christ. He suffered for your sins. That's good news that we can't
hear too often, especially as we trudge through this flesh,
this world of sin. And this is the gospel of our
salvation. And this is also this gospel,
the gospel of Christ's suffering for his people is the fortification
that God's word gives to his people to not walk after the
flesh anymore. Peter says, arm yourselves. He
means fortify yourself. Take up arms. Fortify yourself
with the mind of Christ. Now, what does that mean? Fortify
yourself with the mind of Christ. Well, think about this. What
was the mind of Christ? What was his attitude during
his earthly ministry, this time of his flesh? Well, he lived
his life seeking to please his father, not seeking to please
himself, Not seeking to please anybody else for that matter.
He lived seeking to please his father, to honor his father. He lived a life, secondly, of
perfect holiness. No sin. Now, he agreed to be
made sin, but he never sinned. He lived in the midst of people
who sinned. He loved the people who were
sinners, came to die for them, but he never allowed for sin.
He never made room for it. He never made an excuse for sin.
He's perfectly holy. Thirdly, he lived seeking the
salvation of his people. Everything he did was always
to this purpose, the salvation of his people. He set his face
like a flint toward Jerusalem. He must suffer in his flesh for
his people. Everything he did was for their
salvation. Fourthly, he lived a life of
humility. There's never been a man of greater
humility than the Lord Jesus Christ. This man is God's son. I mean, just start with the humility
that he's a man and go from there. What a man of humility. Now arm
yourself with that same mind. Arm yourself with this attitude
and live your life seeking to please the Father. You know,
I hear people say, well, you know, if you're going to live
your life, you've got to learn to please yourself. No, you don't have
to learn that. This flesh has got that down.
You don't have to learn that. Arm yourself with this attitude
that you're not going to live seeking to please yourself anymore,
but seeking to please your Father. Arm yourself with this attitude
that you live a holy life. Now, I know we can't do that. We cannot be holy for an instant. But don't give in to it. Don't
give in to sin. Don't make an excuse for it.
Don't make an allowance for it. Be holy as our Father in heaven
is holy. Live a life seeking what's best
for God's church. Before I do anything, I ought
to think, how's this best for you? How's this best for God?
Should I really do this? What is the effect of this going
to be on God's church? Wasn't that the mind of Christ?
And live in humility. I'll tell you a sinner who has
received the eternal grace and mercy of God, a sinner who has
had revealed to him Christ suffered for your sins. That's going to
make a holy humble person. Now that's just humbling to think
Christ suffered for me in His flesh. He suffered for my sins.
Now fortify yourself with the mind of Christ both in how He
lived and the results of His death. He that has suffered in
the flesh has ceased from sin. Now what does that mean? How
does that affect me? What does this mean? He that
has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Well, the Lord
Jesus Christ was made to be sin. He suffered the full penalty
of that sin. God wasn't playing at Calvary.
He suffered the full penalty of God's justice against that
sin that was laid on him. He suffered the wrath of God
and he died. That body died. That man died. But Roy, he's not still dead.
He's risen. He's ascended back on high. He'll
never suffer again. He'll never die again. Sin will never affect our Savior
again. He bore the full penalty of that
sin, so He's done with sin. And sin's done with Him. It's ended. Their relationship
is ended. Now, here's how that death and
that resurrection of Christ affects the believer's walk. Christ is
the believer's representative. He's our representative. What
He did, we did. Whatever he did, we did in him.
So, every believer has already been put to death in Christ,
in our representative. Because our representative was
put to death for sin, we've been put to death for sin. When a
man on death row, he's been sitting there however long, all of his
appeals are up, and he's put to death. He's cleared from guilt. The law is done with him. The
Green Mile, I don't remember what happened. I remember this
line. A fellow on death row, put to death, and there his corpse
is. And somebody is, I don't know
if they're talking mean to him or being mean or whatever. And
one of the guards stopped him and said, you stop it. He's square
with the house again. He's done with the law. He's
met the requirement. He's dead. Leave him alone. He's
square with the house. A believer, you're square with
the house. free from sin because you suffered
in your substitute, died in your substitute. Every believer is
free from the law and free from sin because we've already been
put to death in our representative, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
has ceased from the condemnation of sin and from the dominion
of sin. He rose from the grave. He's
not under the dominion of that sin. He's raised from the dead,
and he lives to God. So do you who believe Christ,
because he's your representative. You have freedom from sin. You are free from the dominion
of sin in Christ. Now, we talk about being free
from sin, free from the dominion of sin. Now, we know that's so,
but that's not been our experience yet, has it? Not been our experience. But isn't that process begun?
Isn't that process of being conformed to the image of Christ, hasn't
that already begun? Do you hate what you once loved? You do if you've been born again.
Do you desire to be like Christ and not be like yourself anymore?
You do if you've been born again. That process has begun. You see,
salvation is a heart work. It's an inner work that produces
a new man with a new heart and a new mind. And that new heart
and that new mind will produce a new walk, a new conduct. Look
at verse 2. That he no longer should live
the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the
will of God. Now, you've got a time to live. You believe you've got a time
to live left here in this world, in this flesh, but you're not
going to live it. like he used to. You're not going
to live it to the lust of the flesh anymore, but to the will
of God. Now, Peter's calling on believers
here, don't live in the ways of the flesh anymore, but live
in the ways of the new man, to the will of God. Now, brother,
if you're going to do that, you've got a battle on your hands. I
mean, this is going to be a battle. The ways of that old man are
opposed to the way of that new man. That old man loved sin as
much as he ever did. That old man is as strong as
he ever was. And if you're going to cease
from sin, you've got to fight on your hands from him now. He
loves sin. He loves all those things. He
hasn't changed. Well, what weapons are you going
to take this battle? You're going to have battle on your hands.
Well, what weapons are you going to take? Well, you better not
take a knife to a gunfight now. What are you going to arm yourself
with? What are you going to fortify yourself with? The mind of Christ. The strongest motivation I can
think of to fight against sin is a love of God for me, that
he would send his son to suffer and die for me. That will make
me hate my sin and fight against it. I have a love for him. I
don't want to live to the will of my flesh anymore. The will
of my flesh is away from God and will always lead me to condemnation. I desire to live to the will
of God. What's the will of God? The salvation of His people through
the suffering of Christ, through the death of Christ. We just
looked at that in our study in John chapter 6. That's the will
of the Father that His elect be saved through the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ by believing Him and they'll be raised up
again to last day. That's God's will. It's also
God's will that His people be holy as He's holy. to live in
His flesh following Him. That's God's will and that is
the desire of every believer. That's the desire that God puts
in us in the new birth. That's your desire, isn't it?
You don't want to go out and sin anymore. It wasn't always that way, was
it? Look at verse 3. For the time past of our life
may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. When
we walk in lasciviousness, lusts, excesses of wine, revelings,
banqueting and abominable idolatries. Well, there's a list. Every believer
has been under the bondage and the control of this whole list
at one time. We've just lived in and lived
for these unbridled lusts of the worldly sins and fleshly
desires and false religion, which is idolatry. I promise you this,
wherever it is God found you, You are an abominable idolater. Now, you may not have bowed down
to a stone statue or ceramic statue, but you are worshipping
the God of your imagination. You know, worshipping this false
God of free will, man-made religion, is just as much idolatry as bowing
down to a statue of Mary. Now it is. Either way, wherever
it is God found you. God could have found you in the
pulpit, in the pew. Could find you in the pulpit
too, for that matter. Hearing the sound of the gospel and not
believing. You're worshiping something,
following something, it was idolatry. That's the way God found us,
every one of us. You were under the control of
all those things. But after God saves a person,
you hate the things that you once loved. They just don't hold
the same attraction to you that it used to do. And this is a universal truth
and experience of most all believers, we often feel guilty and embarrassed
about our former sin and the way we conducted ourselves before
the Lord saved us. And it's embarrassing. We wonder about it. We don't
look back at those things and brag on all those things we used
to do. No, we're ashamed of those things. Don't even break them
up. I wonder when somebody looks
back and says, well, back in the day, I used to do, you know,
and they just seem like they revel in all these things. Believer
ought to be ashamed of those things. Why don't you bring those
things up? And when you feel that way, refer back to verse
1. Christ has suffered for us in
the flesh. Yes, that's embarrassing, but
Christ paid for all that sin. And we also feel guilty and ashamed
of our sin, our conduct, our attitude, our lack of faith now,
even after the Lord saved us, after all the mercy He's shown
to us. And we say, oh my, why did I do that? Why did I think
that? Why did I say that? This is such a bad attitude.
It's embarrassing. When you feel that way, refer
back to verse 1. Christ has suffered for us in
the flesh. Yes, it's embarrassing. Yes,
we ought not have done that. But Christ paid for even that
sin, even that one. You see, seeing Christ crucified
for my sins never makes me feel like I got a hall pass to go
sin more. It makes me hate my sin. It makes
me never want to sin again. It makes me more, more, more,
desire more to be just like my Savior. And people who knew you
back in the day, they're not going to understand that ever.
Not unless God saves them, too, not unless he does for them what
he did for you. Look at verse four in our text.
Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to
the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. You used to be the
servant of Satan. Sure acted like it, didn't you,
when you're under the control and love and all these things
we read in verse three. You're a servant of Satan, but
not anymore. Now you're the servant of God.
There's a new master in town. Well, then act like it. Show
people who your new master is. Let people see him. And when
your old friends see that, they're going to think something strange
has happened to you. I mean, what's gotten into you? Are you
in a cult? I mean, they're going to think this is really strange.
They're going to think it's really strange because their taste hasn't
changed. Yours has, but theirs hasn't.
And they speak evil of you. I mean, they don't understand
it. In this human nature, we don't understand something, so
we just speak evil of it. You know, they speak evil against
you, against your religion, against your faith, against your Savior.
And I don't care who you are, that don't feel good. Now, you
don't like that. I mean, you understand. These
fellows I used to run with, they're reprobate. But I don't like it
when they say these things about me. I mean, you don't like it. Pitying. Now pity them and pray
for them. Remember this. You and I were
just like them at one time. Just like them. Why aren't we
there now? Why aren't we right there with
them? God's electing grace. That's the only reason. God's
grace. You see, you're in a different
position. You can understand them. They
can't understand you. So pray for them. Pray for them.
Look at verse 5. He is one that is speaking evil
of you, who shall give account to him that is ready to judge
the quick and the dead. 4 For this cause was the gospel
preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in
the Spirit. Here is the reason we preach the gospel to unbelievers
now. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the
judgment. All men are going to have to
give an account. Must give an account. And these
former friends who blaspheme God, talk evil of you, persecute
you because you don't run with them anymore, now they're going
to have to give an account. They're going to have to give
an account for that to God. Well, in that day, I sure would
like it if their plea was Christ. I'd just be so pleased if their
plea, their hope, was the Lord Jesus Christ. So you know what
we do? We pray for them and we preach
to them. We preach the gospel to them. They're dead! And the
only way they're going to have eternal life is to hear Christ
preached and believe on Him. That's the only way. Faith cometh
by hearing. Isn't that the way you were?
That's the way I was. Isn't that the way you were?
Dead! You were dead in sins until one day God sent you a preacher
And you heard the gospel. You believed it. God made you
alive in Him. Could be. The Lord have mercy
on them, too. Could be. And if He does, it's
going to be through hearing the same gospel preached that you
heard. So as we have opportunity, let's preach the gospel. That's
why we're on the radio and on the Internet and doing it. Let's
preach the gospel so people can hear of the Savior. Have the
mind of Christ. Did he preach the gospel to the
lost? He did. Well, let's do the same. Our
Lord even preached the gospel. See, we don't know who's going
to believe and who won't. People say, well, if I believe
what you believe, I just preached to the elect. Well, you can tell
me who they are. I'd be fine. We don't know, do we? So we preached
to all men, all creatures. Our Lord knew who would believe
Him and who would betray Him. He knew. He preached the gospel. to those he knew wouldn't believe. He preached the gospel to Judas
who he knew would betray him. He preached the gospel to those
who he knew would listen for a little while and then leave.
Now, even that wasn't a failure. Even that accomplished God's
purpose. The gospel always accomplishes
God's purpose. Now, I confess to you there's
many times Jan and I drive home And I just don't even think I
got the strength to drive home. I feel like a complete and utter
failure. I mean, I just hope the Lord
comes for ever. I have to do that again. I just
can't. I mean, I just feel like a failure. I feel like I failed
the Lord and let you down and just. And that is probably so, but
you know what? I may have been a failure, the
gospel wasn't. God's Word will never return
unto him void. It will accomplish the purpose
that God sent it to accomplish. That applies to you and me right
here tonight. Now, the Gospel, it's either going to give life
to the dead, it's going to feed God's people, or it will add
to the condemnation of those who refuse to believe. The Gospel
will either judge us in this life and cause us to condemn
ourselves, or it will judge us in the day of judgment and condemn
us for not believing the Christ we heard preached." Now, you remember Brother Henry
saying this, as well as I do, we're responsible for what we've
heard. And he said we're responsible
even for what we could have heard. Now, I want to ask you something.
Let's not even deal with this issue of what you could have
heard. I mean, I guess that applies to the whole city of Ashland.
Ashland, the city of Ashland is responsible for what they
could have heard. But let's get down, I mean, right
down to brass tacks. What about you and me? We've
heard the gospel. I mean, by God's grace now, we've
heard the gospel. God's given us, put us in a place
where we can hear his gospel preached. Why haven't you believed? Why
don't you believe? Not believing just adds to our
condemnation. If you look at Matthew chapter
11, I'll show you this. The refusal to believe the gospel
just adds to our condemnation. It'll give life. It'll give life
to the dead. It'll feed God's people. It'll
feed His sheep. But it will add to the condemnation
of those who refuse to believe. Matthew 11 verse 20. Then began he to upgrade the
cities where most of his mighty works were done, because they
repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! Could you just substitute Ashland,
and Lexington, and Rocky Mountain, Pikeville, and the Angeles cities?
Could you do that? Woe unto thee, Ashland! Woe unto thee, Lexington! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago and sat clothed in ashes. But I say unto
you, it should be more tolerable. for tire and sight in the day
of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell." This is
where our Lord taught. We were just reading that. This
is where our Lord taught. You are exalted unto heaven,
you shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works
which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would
remain unto this day. But I say unto you, it should
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for thee. Why is that? Sodom didn't have
the gospel preached to it. These cities did. They could
have heard, and they didn't. Or, worse yet, they did hear
and went away. So this is a hard saying. Who
can hear it? But now, bless your heart, somebody is going to believe. Somebody's going to believe.
You know, the only purpose of the gospel is not just to add
to the condemnation of those who refuse to believe. Somebody's
going to believe. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father. Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for it seemed good
in thy sight." Salvation is by grace. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, believer, you are free from
sin, free from the law. The law does not have anything
to do with you anymore. But we have not fully experienced
that freedom yet, have we? in the flesh. Men still see us
in the flesh. But we live to God in the Spirit,
don't we? So you who live to God in the
Spirit, here's some instructions. Here's some fortification. How
to live the rest of your time here in the flesh. Now, there's
some things we quit. There's some things we used to
love, we now hate. Here's a few things to love.
Here's a few things to do. Verse 7, But the end of all things
is at hand. Be ye therefore sober. Now, we
usually think of the end is at hand, let me go back to this,
the end is at hand. You know, the time of our Lord's return
could be very near, could be very near. It may be any moment.
It may not be. It may be, by the way, we count
time a long time from now. I don't know. You know, there's
really no use speculating about it. Scripture said no man knows
that time, so there's no use speculating about it. I tend
to think the Lord's not coming just real, real soon for this
reason. Everybody's expecting it. I mean,
you can't turn on the TV without, you know, the apocalypse is going
to be any second, you know. The Lord says it's going to be
a time you don't expect. Seems like right now everybody's
expecting it. I don't know. I shouldn't even have speculated
that because we don't know. But I tell you this, the time
the Lord's coming for you and me is going to be soon. Now,
it's going to be soon. I'm shocked how quickly the past
25 years have gone. A quarter of a century has gone
like that. I mean, just, I can't believe
it. It's a blink of an eye. In the
next blink of an eye, the next 25, and I'm telling you the next
25 years are going to go a whole lot faster than the last 25 did.
In the next blink of an eye, most of us won't be here. The
Lord will have come for us. Where's old Frank? Well, the
Lord came for him. Even if the Lord doesn't come
soon, if he doesn't return soon, life's just a vapor, just a hand
breath. It's just that long. And it's
done. The end's at hand. So given the
brevity of life, here's a few instructions. Here's a few things
to be armed with, armed with the mind of Christ. And the first
on your list is be sober. Now, we think of be sober, we
usually think of this in terms of not drinking alcohol to excess
and things, and certainly that's included. But this means a whole
lot more than that. It means don't do anything in
this life to excess. Just don't do it. Use all things
with moderation. Everything God's given you is
good. Use it with moderation. But all your fleshly passions
now, curb them so that you're in your right mind. If you get
intoxicated and carried away with these other things, you
won't be in your right mind. So be sober. Use these things
in moderation. Isn't that the mind of Christ?
That's what our Savior did. They accused Him of being a winebibber.
He wasn't. And our Savior would not get
carried away with the things that this world has to offer.
But Satan tempted Him and offered Him everything the world has.
He was sober. He wasn't intoxicated. He wasn't
impressed by it. Don't you either. Don't become
drunken with those things. Keep all these worldly enjoyments
in their place. And I'll tell you how to do that.
Remember, they're temporary. The end's at hand. Just that
long. The end's at hand. Second, the
end is at hand. The end of all things is at hand.
Watch unto prayer. Be a person of prayer, a man
and a woman of prayer. And I'm not just talking about
just going through the motions of prayer, you know, but actually
Calling on God. Communicating with our Heavenly
Father. I begin every day this way. I read the Scripture and pray
about everything. Just pray. Just communicating
with our Heavenly Father. Thanking Him. Praising Him. Seeking His will. Talk frequently
to your Heavenly Father. Is that the mind of Christ? Is
that what our Savior did? What a man of prayer. Have the
mind of Christ. The end of all things is at hand.
He's coming for me soon. I'm going to enjoy talking to
him. I hope it's real soon. I'm going
to enjoy talking to him until he does. Third, take this, arm
yourself with this, fervent charity. Verse 8, And above all things,
Have fervent charity among yourselves. For charity shall cover the multitude
of sins. Peter's not just talking about
just any love here. They didn't say we're putting
on love. No. He said fervent love. That word fervent is white
hot. It also means this. It means
without ceasing. Well, that's the only kind of
real love there is. Real love never stops. It's without ceasing.
The time is short. Now, the time is just too short
to be hateful. Now, hating other people makes
you miserable. Now, you know, you may be able
to act out on it and make them miserable, too. I promise you,
hating other people makes you miserable. So don't do it. Love one another. And love's
important. I mean, what does Peter say? Above all things, have fervent
charity. This is important. Loves the
chief mark of a believer. What our Lord say, by this all
men shall know you're my disciples. That you have love one to another.
Now, fervent charity. You parents, after I give you
this illustration, you will forever know what fervent charity is.
Fervent charity is how we parents naturally love our children.
I don't care what they do. I mean, I don't care what they
do. We still see the good in them. And we love them because
they're our children. That's fervent charity. Fervent
love. I saw this last week, I think
it was, on TV. This man, he isn't admitted.
I mean, it's not like he's in jail and saying, I didn't do
it. He is an admitted cold-blooded murderer. Killed two people in
cold blood for absolutely no reason. His mother said, now
he's still a good man. Well, she thinks that. That's
fervent love. Society doesn't see it that way.
We don't see it that way because we can't see past that action,
those murders. His mother loves him because
she sees something else. Now, in his case, she might be
seeing things. She could be seeing things that
aren't there. You know how mothers are. But if believers see past
the faults of one another, we look past the faults of our brothers
and sisters and we love them. Yeah, they've got this fault,
but I see Christ in them. I see faith in them. I see love
in them. You're not seeing things. Those
are there in every child of God. We're going to make mistakes
now. We will. But look past the mistakes of
your brothers and sisters and love each other anyway with this
fervent love. Isn't that the mind of Christ?
Oh, it's a humble you. Christ loved the sinful people. And his blood was shed to cover
their sin and blot out a multitude of sins. Well, my brother sinned
against me. I just, I can't get past this.
Wait a minute. Our Lord loved his people and
covered a multitude, an infinite amount of sin. Maybe I can look
past that fault, my brother. You reckon? Fourth, Peter says,
use hospitality, verse 9. Use hospitality one to another
without grudging. You know, this hospitality, this
is not just something of kindness that we show to visitors passing
through. We all do that. You know, you may entertain angels
unawares. But this also means reaching
out to one another. You know, we see each other every
week. Don't let your brothers and sisters that you see here
every week get old. And these ones that you only
see once a year, you know, they get some fascination with them.
Because this hospitality doesn't just mean what we think of as
hospitality to travelers. It means be generous. Be generous. Be generous in giving gifts.
Be generous in kind words that you give to one another and compliments
that you give to one another. Be generous in your help. You
know, people need help. Be generous in giving help. Isn't
that the mind of Christ? He, our Lord, was always helping
people generously without grudging, never expecting anything in return.
Arm yourself with the mind of Christ. Use hospitality. And fifth, use the gift that
God's given you. Use whatever gifts God's given
you for the good of the church. Look at verse 10. As every man
hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister,
let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in
all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise
and dominion for ever and ever." Now, minister whatever gift God
has given you. And we hear this word minister
and we automatically think he's talking about preaching, but
he's not just talking about preaching here. Every believer is not called
to preach, but every believer has gifts, the manifold gifts
of God, the manifold, the many gifts that he gives us. You all
have gifts. This is a gifted, talented group
of people. You've got gifts. Now use them. You think, well, I don't have
many gifts. Well, I tell you, start simply. Start small. Smile
warmly at somebody. You make their day. Just smile
warmly at them. Give somebody a kind word. Pray
for each other. Just pray for each other. People
tell me, I pray for you every day. You don't know how that
thrills me, how that encourages me. Well, don't just do that
for me. Do it for everybody. Pray for one another. Send somebody
a card. Maybe for no reason. Maybe they're
sick and recovering from surgery. Maybe just for no reason whatsoever.
Send them a card. Just make their day. Anybody
can do these kinds of things. These are gifts that people have.
And whatever God's given you, whatever talent he's given you,
use it with all your might. Don't hold nothing back. Give
your best. And just give as much as God's
given you. If He's given you a lot, give a lot. If He's given
you a little, give a little. And that's not just talking about
the offering. This is talking about in all of our interactions
with one another. And don't ever let the fact that
you're not called to preach stop you from ministering to one another. People tell me, well, I can't
do what you can do. Well, I can't do what you can do. So do what
you can do to minister to God's people. We all need each other.
Whatever gifts God's given you, minister to your brothers and
sisters with it. And he'll make you a blessing.
He will. There's so many gifts. There's a gift of music and singing. I'm afraid, Mike, I'm sorry if
we ever take you for granted, but I don't know that everybody
realizes the amount of work that Mike Bartram puts in here for
every surface. He practices every song. He's,
I mean, I'm emailing the text, so he looks at the text and tries
to find songs. That's a lot of work. He might like to kick back and
watch TV, but he don't. For your benefit, the church
benefits from that. Mike asked Maggie to sing to
it. I watched him do it last week. He asked her to sing. I
bet her stomach started turning and she started getting nervous,
but she said yes. And you know what she did? She
practiced that song. She put work in on that. And
we benefited, didn't we? Use the gift that God's given
you. I know it's hard, but use it. There's a gift of prayer. You know, private prayer is so
important. Pray for one another in private. Every child of God ought to be
able to talk to our Heavenly Father. Just talk to Him. Prayer
is not used in magical words and big words and words that
take stride of the King James Version. In your language, from
your heart, talk to your Heavenly Father. And then there's men
who have the gift of public prayer. Jan and I were talking Sunday
on the way home. I'm thankful for these men who have the gift
of public prayer. And you men, I want you to know
I know how you feel when you see me coming. You see me eyeballing
you. You hear me call your name to
pray. I know how you feel. And I understand. I know how you feel because public
prayer is very difficult. But you've been given the gift
of public prayer. Now use it. I understand it's
difficult, but use it. It's a blessing to God's church.
They'll let us in prayer. That was helpful to me. That's
an important part of worship. Same thing with reading the scripture.
Reading the scripture aloud in front of everybody is difficult.
We've got men here very gifted at doing that, and I appreciate
it. We use that gift. In our Bible classes, I'm asking
our children to stand up and read the scriptures as we go
look at some of the different scriptures. I know that makes
you nervous. But now, what you're able to do, you have the gift
of reading that aloud. That's a blessing to God's church.
I know it makes you nervous, but this is a gift. Use it. It's good for you, and that gift
is going to be good for God's people. There's a gift to take
care of the building. Y'all wonder, you come here through
the summer, you never see the grass. Somebody's cutting that
grass, making the building look nice on the outside. Everybody
has the opportunity to clean the building one month out of
the year. Anytime you want, you just sign up. Well, you think,
well, that's not very important. Yes, it is, too, now. It is. And when this is your opportunity,
do the best job you can. It's the gift of service. You
know, Janet and I have monthly clean. I mean, that woman can
clean. I can't. Now, do the best you can. I can't do as good as she can,
but I'll do as good as I can to make it comfortable for everybody
to come worship. Henry used to say comfort's important.
You know, you can worship better if you're comfortable. See the
point I'm making? Whatever gifts God's given you,
use it. God didn't give you that gift
for your comfort, for yourself, for your glory. He gave it to
you for the good of His church. Everything God gives this planet,
everything is for the good of His church. God raises up businesses. He raises up countries that are
free. He raises up these things so his people have a free place
to worship. So people have jobs they can
support to ministries. They can give to the poor. Everything
God gives is for the good of his church. Your gifts are the
exact same way. Use them for the good of God's
church. And this does include preaching.
Let me give you this in closing. It does include preaching. And
if we do preach, you men who preach, preaches the oracles of God.
The oracles of God means the actual utterance of God. This is the actual utterance
of God Almighty. Like Paul charged Timothy, preach
the word. Nothing else. Preach the word
in every season, in every instance, preach the word. This is the
only message that God will use to save the lost and defeat his
sheep. That's the mind of Christ. Our
Lord spoke the Word of God as the Word of God. You and I wouldn't
know God if it weren't for the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Prince
of Preachers. Not only is He the Prince of
Preachers, He's the subject of all preaching. So as much as
you can, as much as God's gifted you, preach the gospel. Support the ministry. Preach
like Christ preached. God's glory and the good of His
people. That's what I've tried to do tonight, for His glory
and for your good, and I hope the Lord will bless it to you.
Let's bow and pray.