All that I know about God, his
grace, his salvation, all that I know concerning the gospel
of God, and all I know of his son, causes me to live continually,
day by day, with three heavy, heavy, overwhelming burdens on
my heart. These are things I desire more
than anything in this world. And yet these things I know I
shall never have while I live in this world. I want with all
my heart to live in total, uninterrupted, perfect communion with my Savior. Don't you? uninterrupted sweet communion
all the time. And frankly, I don't know that
I've ever enjoyed a full minute of it. As soon as my heart is moved
a little toward God, my flesh rises up in retaliation with
some evil, but all to live in communion with Christ. Second,
I want total, perfect, uninterrupted consecration to God my Savior. Consecration to God. As the priests
were consecrated to God in the Old Testament, to give themselves
wholly to the work of the holy thing, so I would be consecrated
to my God. Let me see if I can illustrate
what I'm talking about. You're all familiar with the
name John Bunyan, and many of you are familiar with his work,
Pilgrim's Progress. He wrote many, many other things,
outstanding, outstanding things. Bunyan was in prison in Bedford,
England for 12 years. I've been there three times and
have gone through the various things in the museum there surrounding
Bunyan's life in Bedford Prison. Now, the jail that Bunyan was
in was not anything like a prison as we call it today. As a matter
of fact, I read some things this week concerning Bunyan, his time
in Bedford Prison, and sadly, some of the things I read Suggested
that things weren't near as bad as you might suppose. Well, let
me tell you how bad they were The jail Bunyan was in was a
box just a wooden box suspended from a bridge over a river You
can imagine the dampness you can imagine the filth in that
wooden box It was only about four maybe four and a half feet
high. I've seen the door less than
the height of this pulpit and That box was about the size of
the vestibule out there, only cut to height in half. He spent
12 years in that wooden box. Do you know why? Do you know
why? Because he refused not to preach
the gospel in Bedford. He could have left anytime he
wanted to. All he had to do was agree not
to preach. That's all he had to do. That's
all he had to do. Rather, he spent 12 years in
that jail in Bedford making shoelaces to provide for his family what
little he could provide for them. His family suffering because
of his determination to obey Christ. His blind daughter he
hardly ever saw because of his determination, his determination
to do the will of God. When offered repeatedly opportunity
to be released, he said, I will rather have moss grow over my
dead eyes than disobey my God. That's called consecration. I
want that. I want that. on our first trip
to England, 1987, I think it was. I had just read J.C. Ryle's book, Old Paths, and he
was discussing one portion of why the martyrs were burned.
And I'd read a chapter about what he called the Two Marys,
as they became known, in a little place called Wigtown, Scotland.
And as Brother Clark and his wife were driving us around on
our way to Ireland, to catch a ferry to go to Ireland, we
went by a place and just saw a little inlet and I recognized
the name. I said, Brother Bill, if you
don't mind, pull in here. And we pulled into that little inlet
and there happened to be a plaque commemorating the fact that I'm
about to tell you about. These two women, one much younger
than the other, were staked out at the sea when the tide was
low. And they were left there to drown
when the tide arose unless they were willing to deny the faith
of the gospel. Now let me tell you what they
had to do. All they had to do to be released,
all they had to do was say the bread and wine at the Lord's
table is the body and blood of Christ. That's all they had to
say. That's all they had to say. older woman down closer to the
waters, hoping that the younger, when she heard this older woman
drowning, would be forced to give up her faith. But rather
than do so, because they were two women saved by God's grace,
they were consecrated to the Son of God and would rather die
in those circumstances than to deny the Redeemer. God, give
me such consecration. God, give you such consecration. And I desire, more than words
can describe, total, uninterrupted, perfect conformity to my Redeemer. To be like Him. to be like him. Brother Don, don't you know we're
like him, been redeemed by his blood, robed in his righteousness,
born again by his spirit? I know all that. I think pretty
well. I long in day by day practice of heart and mind and life to
be like him. Oh, that I may know him in the
fellowship of his suffering. in the power of his resurrection,
being made conformable constantly to his death. Utterly, utterly
conformed to Christ. By the grace of God, I have a
good hope these things shall soon be mine, but not while I'm
on this earth. In the meanwhile, I want to live
in this world for the honor of him, who loved me and gave himself
for me. My subject today is living under
grace. Our text will be Romans chapter
6, verses 11 through 23. Living under grace. We do live under grace, not under
law. God's people in this world are
totally, totally, totally free from the law. God's people, God's
people are not motivated by law. They're not ruled by law. They're
not constrained by law. They don't live by law. We're
free from the law. We live under grace. Look at
verse 14 of Romans 6. If there was any place in all
the word of God where a statement would be made clarifying this
matter of the believer's relationship to the law, you should find it
in Romans chapter 6. If there's any place in all the
Word of God where one of the inspired writers would write
to us and tell us, now this is where the law comes into the
life of the believer, it would be Romans chapter 6. Romans 6
in the first part of this chapter the Apostle has just told us
about our baptism our realization of our union with Christ our
confession of faith in Christ and our commitment of consecration
to Christ Walking with him in the newness of life now in verse
14. Here's what it says Sin shall
not have dominion over you sin shall not have dominion over
you. That's God's promise. And here's
the basis of it. For ye are not under the law,
but under grace. Verse 15. What then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law, but under grace? God forbid. I'm calling on you
who know God to devote yourselves to Christ, to live in this world
for the glory of God, and I'm calling upon myself to say, in
keeping with the entire New Testament, I make my appeal upon the basis
of the fact that in Christ we live by grace, we live under
grace, and we live because of grace, entirely free from the
law. Entirely free from any constraint
of legal principle or legal motive. What do you mean pastor? I mean,
I promise you nothing in return. I Promise you nothing in return.
I Don't promise you any rewards in heaven. I don't promise you
any rewards on this earth. I Don't promise you a better
life now. I don't promise you a better
life tomorrow living in this world for God's glory comes from
the constraint of the love of Christ revealed in you and experienced
by you. Anything else is just religious
pretense. Anything else is just religious
pretense. Believers are entirely free from
the law and we live unto God being constrained by the love
of Christ. Now let's begin in this sixth
chapter of Romans. Let me remind you of what we've
seen here in the first part of the chapter, and then we'll get
to our text. In the first three chapters of this great epistle,
the apostle has shown us how the Lord God has made us righteous
in Christ Jesus, the very righteousness of God in him, dead to sin, completely
justified in Christ. In the opening verses of chapter
2, He meets the objection raised by self-righteous legalists saying
that such teaching will lead to a life of sin and licentiousness. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. That just doesn't make any sense. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? Then in verses 3 through 10,
the Holy Spirit reminds us that in our baptism as believers we
have publicly confessed that we're now dead to sin and alive
to God. We're now living in newness of
life in Christ Jesus. Living in newness of life with
our Redeemer. Living in union with the Son
of God. Imagine that. We live in union
with the Son of God for the glory of God while we walk in this
earth. We live here as the servants of God, as the servants of righteousness. And that's what Paul deals with
in those next verses. Now, let's pick up in verse 11. Here the Holy Spirit tells us
that we are to reckon as God reckons. We're to look upon ourselves
in Christ the same way God does. We're to look upon ourselves
in Christ the same way God does, as belonging to him, as righteous,
as his servants. Verse 11, likewise reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what we said in our baptism. For me, it's been nearly 49 years
ago. I'm dead with Christ. I'm risen
with Christ. I live with Christ, and I live
for him. I belong to the Son of God, lock,
stock, and barrel. Verse 12. Let not sin, therefore,
reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust
thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. What
then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Again, that just
doesn't make any sense. only someone who doesn't know
the grace of God would think like that. Only someone who's
never met our God would think like that. Know ye not, verse
60, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants
ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience
unto righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin. but ye have obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made
free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I
speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh. For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness
and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members
servants of righteousness unto holiness. Don't give in to the
lust of your flesh. Rather give in to righteousness
with reference to your sanctification in Christ. For when you were
the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. You
didn't know anything about it. What fruit had you then in those
things whereof you are now ashamed? And where we should be. For the end of those things is
death. But now being made free from sin and become servants
to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, your fruit with reference
to your sanctification in Christ, and the end everlasting life. And here's how it concludes.
For the wages of sin is death. That's what you get from sin.
Death. Death. Death. Death. Just continually dying. Just continually dying. And finally, everlasting death
in hell. But the gift of God, here's the
fruit of righteousness, which is in connection with our sanctification,
our holiness, our new birth. The gift of God is eternal life. through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now, knowing that I'm dead to sin, freed from the law, and
saved by the grace of God, I have a question. A question that lays
heavily on my heart all the time. A question that really has, for
the past nearly 49 years, been my motive, my constraint. my governing principle through
life in every relationship I have. It was my relationship to this question that determined
my relationship with that lady when I first met her when I was
17 years old. And my relationship with that
lady is still determined by this same thing. My daughter, I think
you know my love for her. Grandchildren, my son-in-law,
love them. But my relationship with them,
what I do with them, the time I spend with them or don't spend
with them is determined by this one thing. How can I live in
this world for the glory of God? When all is said and done, there
is no other question in life that really matters. How can
I live in this world for the glory of God? This is the question
I want to answer in this message. And I know when I'm done preaching,
there'll be more left unanswered than answered. But there's nothing
in the life of a believer of such great importance as the
will of God and the glory of God. How can I live in this world
for the glory of God? Now, Don Renneri, is that really
such an overwhelming question? Is that really such a great issue? Let's look at scriptures. Turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I want to call your attention
to three texts, and I'll try to answer the question. Corinthians
chapter 10 verse 31 Most people come to church and
They bring their religion in the door and then the way to
go out they leave it at the door And when they come back next
service, they pick it up again and when they leave they leave
it at the door And when they come back again, they pick it
up again. And when they leave they leave it at the door Not
so with God's people Not so with God's people. Listen to this.
1 Corinthians 10 31. Whether therefore you eat or
drink. Whether you eat or drink. You might think the passage is
talking primarily about the Lord's Supper. It is. I concur with
that. But it's talking about more than
that. I know that because of the next phrase. Or whatsoever
you do. whatsoever you do. You young people, if you know
God, you choose your companions on this basis. If you know God,
you choose the place where you take work and the place where
you live and the way you live in your house on this basis. Whatsoever you do, do all. glory of God. That takes in everything, doesn't
it? Does that take in everything?
Everything. Whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. Look at chapter 3 of Colossians,
Colossians chapter 3, verse 17, Whatsoever you do, in word or
deed, set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth. I was chatting with a dear friend
last night who reminded me of something I had forgotten. This
had been many years ago. He and another friend were at
odds. And he was speaking to me about
him. They've become good friends again now. He was speaking to
me about him. And he had just reason to be
upset. And I said to him, I'd forgotten
this, he reminded me last night, he said, I never will forget
late at night you said to me when I was talking to you, and
I called him by name, be careful. You may be talking about somebody
for whom Christ shed His blood. That is, I never got over that.
Whatsoever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Do all to the glory of God. Now
look at 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. Verse 11, If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God. If any man minister, any man
serve, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that
God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. that God in all things may be
glorified through Christ Jesus our Savior. All right, now let's
look at some scripture and let me answer this question. Colossians
chapter two. Colossians two. How can I live in this world
for the glory of God? Here's my first answer. We have
to begin at the beginning. If we would live here, For God's
glory, we must live by faith in Christ Jesus. Colossians 2
verse 6. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive
Christ? How did you receive Christ? Did
you receive him as a a good, moral, righteous man? Did you receive Him because you
felt now that you're worthy of having Him? Did you receive Him
because you now put yourself in a position, you really now
feel like you're worthy to receive the Lord? Oh, no, no. If you
received Him, you received Him as a dirty, vile, naked, wretched,
empty-handed, bankrupt, undone sinner with no claim on God and
nothing to distinguish you from any other part of Adam's fallen
race, knowing yourself to be nothing but sin, trusting him
alone as your righteousness and your redemption, your wisdom
and your sanctification. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. Don Fortner, if you would live
here for God's glory, you must live constantly trusting Christ
as a sinner, deserving God's wrath, unfit for the company
of other human beings, let alone God. And Brother Mark, that will cause
you to bite your tongue, if we can learn it. If we can learn
it. If we can learn it. As you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, in all your filth and degradation and
sin and corruption, utterly unfit for human society, let alone
God's society. So walk in Him. If you ever grow above that,
you've grown too big. Walk in the Spirit. That's the
language of this book, isn't it? Paul's urging us in Romans
6, don't yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness
and sin. Don't give in to your flesh. Don't give in to the lust
of your flesh. Don't give in to your vile affections.
But walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh. live continually trusting the
Lord Jesus. Be ye filled with the Spirit. What on earth is that talking
about? I know if you go about anywhere, about everywhere, these
days folks are infected with the poison of Pentecostalism
and they think being filled with the Spirit is acting stupid and
rolling in the floor and talking in tongues and dancing in the
church aisles and Merle Hart, to walk in the Spirit
is to walk on this earth as an empty-handed, poor, bankrupt,
destitute sinner with nothing but Christ. That's what it is
to walk in the Spirit. As you walk in the Spirit, trusting
Christ alone as all your righteousness, all your redemption, all your
acceptance with God, you walk in the Spirit not fulfilling
the lust of the flesh, but being filled with the Spirit. This
is how Enoch walked with God. You remember Enoch was translated
that he should not see death, and was not found because he
was translated, because God translated him. But before his translation,
he had this testimony that he pleased God. I can't think of two things naturally more contradictory
than this, or two things spiritually more compatible than this. I walk before God with the awareness
of what I am, constantly acknowledging my sin with this testimony from
God in my soul. that I please God. How can that
be? How can that be? When I please myself, that's
nothing but pride. There's nothing about me that
pleases me but to please God. How can that be? God is pleased
with me in His Son. And the only person who knows
that is one who believes His Son, knowing himself to be All
right, here's the second thing. You walk by faith, continually
by faith. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. Lean not into your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your
paths. Live by faith in Christ. And if we would live in this
world for the glory of God, we must do so remembering what God has done for us by his
grace. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
6. 1 Thessalonians 6. Verse 9, Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? What's he talking about? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminates, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind. He's talking about fornicators,
folks who live in fornication and adultery. And idolaters,
for folks who live to themselves, are the very worst of idolaters. Shelby and I were shocked this
week, just shocked. Shouldn't have been, we were
just shocked. Talking to a young lady, dealing with some medical
things I had to deal with And chatting a little bit. And Mark,
she sat in the office in here and chatted with us. Like I talk about going to your
house to eat pizza. She'd been living with this fella
for four years. We'd been together for four years.
I can tell you, and never once blushed. Never once blushed. It's just, everybody does this. Be not deceived. The unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Fornicators, idolaters,
adulterers, effeminate folks. Talk about sodomites. Not going
to inherit the kingdom of God. Not going to happen. Not going
to happen. Well, Brother Don, you're just out of step with
the times. Would to God I could get you out of step with the
times. Would to God I could get you out of step with the times.
You young ladies, hear your pastor. I hope your mama and daddy tell
you the same thing. Cherish chastity. Cherish chastity. Cherish chastity
that you may have that to give to your husband when God gives
you a man to be your husband. These things are ungodly. But
don't get on your high horse. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, folks who just
abuse other men by their self-centered, idolatrous conduct. They'll not
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. I haven't missed anybody here. I haven't missed anybody here.
Such were some of you. Don't ever condone such behavior
in others or excuse it in yourself. Don't look down your nose on
folks that just like you, just like me, but at the same time,
don't give any bend at all to God's word and God's truth. This is where you were when God
saved you by his grace, but now you're washed. sanctified. Me, washed in the blood of Christ,
born again by the Spirit of God, justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Verse 19, what? Don Fortner, don't you know this?
Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you? which you have of God. God has
come and taken up residence in us. God has set his throne in
us. And you're not your own, for
you're bought with a price. My God, you owe me. Lock, stock,
and barrel. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirits, which are God's. Don't ever forget where you were
and what you were when God saved you by his grace. Mr. Spurgeon once told of a young
pastor visiting a fellow in his congregation. And the man was
quite wealthy, and the pastor wanted to see his a large estate
and he walked around the property and saw his gardens and walked
through the house and saw the well-decorated, ornate, splendorous
place. And walking down into the hall,
he saw a door cracked open and just glanced at it. It looked
kind of odd, so he opened the door and went in. It was just
bare, untreated, unstained walls, just wood walls. A dirt floor
for pictures, just stuff stuck on the wall. Very crude furnishings. And the young pastor said to
him, I don't understand. I said, what is this? And the man said to
him, old pastor, he said, that's my remembrance room. He said,
I didn't always live like I do now. And I come in here just
every little bit and sit down for a while and remember where
I came from. Don't forget where you came from,
my brother. Don't forget where you came from,
my sister. Don't forget where you came from,
my soul. God lifted us from the dung heap
of fallen humanity and set us among princes as the sons of
God. Live like it. You're not your
own. You're bought with a price. Here's
the third thing. If we would live here, For God's
glory, we must seek the will of God and the glory of God in
all things, and above all things. I don't mean that we should endeavor
to show people that we're godly. Don't do that. Matthew 6 says
don't do that. Read 6 Matthew. Don't make any
effort to show people you're godly. Because what people call
godliness is just what they say. Don't attempt to show people
you're godly. I do mean that we ought to be consumed with
the love of Christ for us. Utterly consumed with the love
of Christ for us. And utterly consumed with love
for Christ. Utterly consumed with love for
Christ. Nearly 47 years ago, this lady
agreed to marry me. We got married and we had scrimped
and saved between us enough money to go on a honeymoon to Asheville,
North Carolina. I mean, it was a lavish thing. It was lavish. We stayed at the
downtown motel. It was lavish. And you know what
we did? We spent every dime we had. Every dime we had. It wasn't
much, just a couple hundred dollars. Every dime we had. And you know
where I took that lady to live? She moved into a trailer. Now you folks who think of trailers
today, you don't have a clue. This was a trailer. I'm talking
about a trailer. It was almost eight feet wide,
about 30 feet long. And didn't have doors, we had
walls. We'd slide the walls back and
I'd suck up to go through the place where we had the walls.
I mean, nothing. We didn't own a stick of furniture.
And she moved into that place with me. And why would a woman
do that? She was utterly consumed with
something. Her love for me. The trailer
didn't matter. The trailer just didn't matter.
Oh, God, teach me to live being utterly consumed with your love
for me and let me so love you that I'm utterly consumed with
that love. The secret to satisfaction in
this world, I know. The secret to satisfaction in
this world, I know. It is doing the will of God. It is doing the will of God. It's doing God's will. Our Savior
said, my meat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent
me. Surrender everything to Christ. and nothing will matter but him
and his will. You remember when David had fetched
Mephibosheth, and Mephibosheth ate at the king's table with
his feet under the king's table as one of the king's sons, and
then Absalom led a revolt against David, and David fled from his
throne. And then when Absalom was killed,
David came back to Jerusalem, and Mephibosheth's servant, Ziba,
The fellow that David, he said, now you go out and you plow the
fields and plant the corn and you pick the corn and shuck it
and silk it and you freeze it and then bring it to Mephibosheth,
put it in his freezer and cook it for him when he wants to.
That was Ziba. Well, Ziba met David on his way
back to Jerusalem. He said, Mephibosheth seized
the opportunity. He thought, sure, now David's
going to be overthrown. I want to get even with David.
And so David said to Ziba, All that I gave to Mephibosheth is
yours. And then David came to Jerusalem,
and there sat Mephibosheth. And he said, why didn't you come
out to meet me? He said, David, don't you remember I don't have
any legs? Don't you remember I'm laying on both my feet? He
said, my servant Ziba has betrayed me. He's spoken evil against
me. And David said, oh, Mephibosheth,
I ought to have known better. But I've already given Ziba everything
that was yours. And you remember how Mephibosheth
spoke? Oh, it's all right. Let Ziba
have all. That's all he's got. I've got
my king. Let Ziba have all. Nothing else matters. Surrender all to Christ. Live
in this world for His will and His glory and you'll live with
peace. Fourth, if we would live in this
world for the glory of God, we must deal honestly with ourselves
and about ourselves. We are all as an unclean thing
and our righteousnesses, all our righteousnesses, are as filthy
rags a stench. Filthy rags. Filthy rags. Our righteousnesses are filthy
rags before God. That's true. But that's not what
the text says. Our righteousnesses are filthy
rags. We know it. Our very best deeds
but polluted, filthy, minstrels claws. And we all do fade as
a leaf. And our iniquities like the wind
have taken us away. I know that in me that is in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Now when you come to deal with
yourself honestly, honestly, honestly, Deal with yourself
honestly, what you know you are. And I don't know, I don't know
that I'll ever learn this until I leave this world, but I keep
praying God may teach me this. If I learn to live honestly with
myself, it won't be hard for me to esteem you better than
myself. Won't be hard for me to see good
things in you and not the evil. Because I'm going to be honest
with you, I haven't yet seen in any of you what I know is
in me. Not what? All right, turn to
Ephesians chapter 5. I'll wrap this up. If we would live in this world
for the glory of God, we must, by the grace of God, walk all
our days in love for God and his people. Look at Ephesians
4, 32. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. Have any idea, David, what that
word means? Followers? Imitate. Be imitators of God. He says,
children of God, act like God. What? Act like God. What's he talking about? And
walk in love. as Christ our God also hath loved
us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweet-smelling savor. I read again this morning the
26th chapter of Matthew. That woman brought that alabaster
box of ointment, broke it open, on the Savior's feet, washed
his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of
her head. And the disciples, following Judas' lead, they said,
why this waste? We could have taken this and
sold it for a lot, done a lot of good with it. Why this waste?
And the master said, you leave her alone. She's come to anoint
me for my burial. She hath done what she could. She hath wrought a good work
on me. Do you know he never said that
about anything performed by anybody else on this earth ever? What did she do? What was it
she did for the Savior? Oh man, she was zealous. She
spent her life ministering to folks who were lepers and made
herself a leper. Oh, what a great woman. I'll
tell you what she did. She did what she could for Christ. Oh my God, will you give us grace? Will you give me grace? to do
what I can in the days of my appointed time for you. Amen. God bless you. You're dismissed.