In many things we offend all. What a sad, sad fact. The fact it is. In many things
we offend all. I take those words written by
the Apostle James for the title of my message and my subject
this evening. I wish it weren't so, but I know
it is, and I cannot deny it, and I will not deny it. In many
things we offend all. You'll find my text in James
chapter 3. The early church, like the church
today, was a mixed multitude. In the congregations at Jerusalem
and in Galatia, at Corinth and in Ephesus, in Rome and in all
Judea, were congregations of nominal professors of religion
mingled with the people of God who possessed true godliness.
They were sitting side by side, the seed of the serpent and the
woman's seed. The children of the devil sat
at the Lord's table with the sons of God. Reprobate vessels
of wrath sat in the house of God, fending themselves for destruction
by willfully trampling underfoot the blood of the Son of God.
while vessels of mercy were prepared for glory by the very gospel
the others despised. Because that's the way it always
has been, that's the way it is, and that's the way it always
shall be so long as we live in this world. God the Holy Ghost,
by his servant James, uses this fact to teach us again that we
are terribly, terribly, prone to forget this, in many things
we offend all. As it is in the professed Church
of God, as it is in this world, so it is in you and me. And each of us who is born of
God, living here in this body of flesh, both righteousness
and sin, both faith and unbelief, both good and evil, both purity
and pretense, both sincerity and hypocrisy, both the child
of God and the child of the devil, That which is born of flesh and
is flesh and that which is born of the spirit and is spirit resides. That's what lives in us. That's
what lives in us. James has told us in the first
two chapters of this epistle of the unstable double-minded
man. That is the very religious man
or woman who is a mere professor of the Word, who merely professes
faith in Christ. He hears the Word. He hears the
Word, and he may verbally, accurately defend the doctrine of the Word,
but it has no effect on his life. It hasn't made him a new creature
in Christ Jesus. The gospel they profess doesn't
alter their lives at all except in an outward way. And James
tells us that their religion has made them nothing but men
who partially observed the law in chapter 2. They just partially
observed the law. And partially observing the law,
they think they make themselves righteous. Partially observing
the law, they think they make themselves good. Doing what they
think they can do to do good, they presume they've done well.
Failing to understand. failing to understand that if
you offend in one point, you've broken the whole law. Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. Oh, what a picture we have in
that second chapter of the vast majority of the religious people
of this world, both preachers and folks sitting in the churches
and filling the church pews. There are people who partially
observe the Word of God. Just partially observe the Word
of God. I had an experience down in North Wilkesboro when a preacher
down there, a young lady, came to hear me preach one night and
she attended the same Bible, she is attending the same Bible
college that I attended, my wife graduated from, and I know it
well. And I knew as I was preaching,
she would be becoming more and more enraged. And it doesn't
do well for women, young or old, to challenge me with regard to
doctrine. I don't pay much attention to
female theologians, but I tried to be nice to her. She kept pushing
and kept pushing and kept pushing. And I said to her, she kept telling
me, she said, I'm a Christian. I know I'm a Christian. And she
must have said it at least 20 times in the course of our conversation.
I am a Christian. I know I'm a Christian. And I
said, honey, you don't know God. You're lost. How could you dare
say that? I said, because you only receive
God's word as you choose to receive it. You refuse to bow to the
revelation of God. Multitudes partially obey God
and think by their partial obedience they are Christian. They are
righteous. They're good. They find things
written in the Word of God they don't like and they just take
a kind of pen knife and cut it out and say, well, we'll just
put that over there. We won't bother with that anymore. And it doesn't
matter whether we're talking about doctrine or ordinances
or day-by-day conduct. God's people bow to the Word. God's people bow to the Word
of God. If I understand it, that's wonderful.
If I don't understand what's revealed in this book, I bow
to the Word of God. That's what believers do. I don't
suggest by any means that believers know everything and practice
everything as they ought to do. I don't suggest that by any means. But I do declare, without any
question, believing men and women, bow to God's revelation. They
bow to God's revelation. A devil-minded man, he partially
bows. He thinks he is doing good by
the things he does, by tipping his hat to God, and reverencing
God in some ways, and worshiping God in some ways. But he runs
across the doctrines of the gospel. Particular redemption, limited
atonement, election, sovereignty. It doesn't matter what it is.
Man's depravity. Oh, no, no, no, no. You can't
say that. You can't say that. That's just
not right. If God says it, it's right, Bill. And if you know
God, you bow to what God says. Just that simple. Come the ordinances
of the gospel. him and Haw and refused to bow
to the scriptures, and even when they see clearly that this is
what the scriptures teach with regard to confessing Christ in
baptism, remembering the Lord and the Lord's Supper and so
on, they refuse to bow to the revelation of God. Not God's
people. Not God. We who believe God don't hold
God in our court and sit as judges over God. If you believe God,
you don't hold God in your court and sit as a judge over God.
Rather, you find yourself standing before the throne of the king
and you bow to the king and you bow to his word. Every believer
does. Only rebels refuse to do so. The same is true with regard
to our conduct, the way we behave in this world. We don't choose. We don't pick. We don't select for ourselves
things that seem good to us and say, that's all right, and then
push other things aside. Not believers. Believers bow
to the Word of God. Now, let's look here at James
chapter 3. The apostle here speaks of bitter
envying and strife in the heart. He speaks of lying against the
truth. And he says, truly in many things
we offend all. Now this fact every heaven born
soul knows. But it's a fact we appear too
much to forget. In many things we offend all. I don't need to prove that to
any of you. You have the evidence of it in
your heart. You have the evidence of it in your life, and I have
it in mine. With the same tongue, with this
tongue, we bless God and curse men. With the same tongue. These things ought not to be
so, as James tells us, but they are. Let's read verses 1 through
14 together. And I'll make some brief comment
on it, but principally I'm just going to read some scripture
to you. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall
receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend
all. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole
body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they
may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold, also
the ships, which though they be so great and are driven of
fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm,
whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so, the tongue is a little
member. and boasteth great things. Behold,
how great a matter a little fire kindleth, and the tongue is a
fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea is tamed,
and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made at the
similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. Doth the fountain send forth
at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can a fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no
fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man
and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter
envy and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth. Let me show you four things in
this portion of Scripture. Number one, here the Spirit of
God teaches us again something that we are taught throughout
the New Testament. We are not to set ourselves up
masters and judges of God's people. We are not to set ourselves up
ever, ever, as masters and judges of God's people. My brethren,
be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater
condemnation. Now this might be applied to
men when they set themselves up as preachers, the great error
folks make when they do so. Let none run who have not been
sent. Let none put themselves into
the work of the gospel ministry who are not gifted and called
and sent of God for that work. Yet we're clearly taught to pray
that God would raise up from our midst men to preach the gospel,
that he would raise up laborers and send them forth into his
harvest for the gathering end of his elect. We're clearly taught
in this book that the office of a bishop, the work of the
ministry, is a work to be desired. It is a good work to be desired
by any man who is born of God's Spirit. So James obviously is
not telling us here that it's a bad thing for a fellow to be
a preacher, for there'll be many preachers and teachers of the
word. Rather, he's telling us what we're told throughout the
scriptures. We're not the masters of God's people. And we're not
to be judges of one another. Turn over to Matthew chapter
7. Hold your hands here, James. We won't be going alone, but
turn to Matthew chapter 7. Let's look at two passages of
Scripture. Matthew chapter 7 and Romans
14. I want you to see it. James 3.1 is James declaring
an abbreviated statement of exactly what our Master says here in
Matthew chapter 7. Judge not. Judge not, that you be not judged. Don't sit in judgment over others,
lest you be judged. Here's the reason. For with what
judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure
you meet, it shall be measured to you again. In other words,
you will be condemned by your own mouth when you set yourself
up as a judge over somebody else. Your own words will condemn you.
Read on. And why beholdest thou the moat
that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam
that's in thine own eye? Isn't it amazing how clearly
we can see a little speck of dust on somebody else's face?
Isn't it amazing? And if you look at it long enough,
it looks like a huge, big pile of mud on their face. And if
you talk about it, you would think it covered their whole
bodies. It's easy for us to see the evil that others do. This
was David's problem. When Nathan came to him and told
him about that man who came and just wanted something to eat.
And the fella stole the man's only sheep and killed it. And
David said, I'll kill him. I'll kill him. Oh, such a man's
worthy of death. And Nathan said, David, I'm talking
about you. I'm talking about you. Our Lord Jesus says, Why
beholdest thou the mote that's in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that's in thine own eye? He said, well, Brother
John, you're exaggerating that. Let's see. Or how wilt thou say
to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and
behold a beam, a two by four, a long, is in your eye? Thou
hypocrite, thou hypocrite, until you get rid of the two by four
in your own eye, don't talk about the splinter in your brother's
eye. Now that's what it's saying. Till you get rid of the two by
four in your own eye, don't talk about the splinter in your brother's
eye. Until you have made yourself better than he is, don't talk
about him. Until you've made yourself better
than he is, don't talk to him about his splinter, and don't
talk to your neighbor about his splinter, and don't talk to your
wife about his splinter, and don't talk to yourself about
his splinter. Leave it alone. It's none of your business. It's
none of your business. Read on. Thou hypocrite, first
cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye. When
you got yourself perfectly cleaned up and you done just right, then
you can tell Fred Tuttle what he ought to do. Or you can criticize
him for the way he does what he does. Or you can yak about
what he's done that wasn't so good. And you can talk to other
folks about it. But until you get yourself fixed
so that you don't have anything in your eye, don't you talk to
somebody else about what's in their eye. Is that plain enough? And any questions? That's what
James is telling us. That's what our Lord tells us.
Turn to Romans chapter 14. Let me show you. Romans chapter
14. And I'm going to make a statement
after I read this that I hope you'll understand it. I hope
you'll write it down. I hope you'll remember it. And
every time you start that contrary to it, have it somewhere where
you can read it regularly. All right, this is Romans 14,
4. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? Who art
thou that judgest another man's servant? Who are you, who am
I, to decide how another person's servant is to serve him? He done blown to you. You don't
feed it. You don't clothe it. You don't
take care of it. Who are you? Who am I to decide how somebody
else's servant is supposed to serve him? But you don't. To
his own master, and only to his own master, he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. All right, now listen to my statement.
It is not my business to govern your life, and it's not your
business to govern your brother's life or my life. It is not my
business to govern your life, and it is not your business to
govern your brother's life or my life. It's our business to
help one another along the rough road of life. That's our business. When a man's fallen, pick him
up. When a man's fallen, pick him
up. Set him in the right way. Walk
with him in the way. Hold his hand while he walks
in the way. And nourish him as he walks in the way, and you
walk with him. Our business is not to govern
one another, but to help one another. The whole religious
world seems intent upon making rules and regulations for folks
to live by. And if you live by our rules
and regulations, then you're godly, you're holy, you're sanctified,
oh, you're so good, you're so good, you're so good. But if
you mess up, watch out, because we're coming after you. We're
coming after you. That's the business practice
of the whole religious world. and it's ungodly. It's just ungodly. I often get comments from fellas
about how you ought to conduct this business of pastoring and
fellas get the idea that you somehow ought to check up on
folks and see how much time they read scripture and pray together
and get on folks about coming to church, or how often they
come to church, or giving, or what they give, and how much
they give, and where they give. That's not my business. That
is not my business. My business is to preach the
gospel to you. That's my business. And leave
you in God's hands. And if you're God's, God the
Holy Spirit, by His word, directs your life. And He can do it heaps
better than I can. And he can do the heapsite better
than any church can, or any board of preachers can do it. You see,
preachers and religious people, not just preachers, preachers
and religious people have something in them that just makes them
want to be priests. I'm not talking about priests
before God. And we who are believers, we're
royal priesthood. We have direct access to God
through Christ our Redeemer. But we want to be priests for
others. The whole business of pastoral
counseling, I want to hear about this, I've got to say it. The
whole business of pastoral counseling is preachers trying to be priests.
That's all it is. That's all it is. Trying to stand
between you and God. trying to be intercessor between
you and God. The whole reason preachers try to get you to come
to them for counseling, and the whole reason you go to preachers
for counseling, is because they want to be the mediator, and
you want a mediator, and our only mediator is Christ the Redeemer,
and our only rule is His Word, and He has the power of the rule.
We're not to be censorous critics, judges of our brothers and sisters
in Christ, Acting as though they belong to us. Acting as though
we were their masters. That's the first thing. Here's
the second thing. James gives us one reason for
such behavior. Just one reason. Why can't I tell Mark and Donna
Daniels, how to run their affairs, and tell them how to run their
business, and take care of their shop, and raise their children,
and what kind of clothes they ought to wear, and where they
ought to live. Why can't I do that? Why don't I have the right? After all, I'm a believer, and
I care for them, and we want to help them along the way, so
we need to give them some guidelines. Why can't I do that? One reason. One reason. Have you got your
Bible open? Four. Here's the reason. In many things,
we offend all. In many things, we offend all. Saved by God's free grace, washed
in the blood of Christ, born again by His Spirit, sanctified
by His grace, but in many things, we offend all. Notice what James
says. He does not say, in many things
you offend all. Mark, this is the Apostle James. He says in many things we offend
all. He did not say that out of your
mouth proceeds both blessing God and cursing men. He said
with the same tongue We bless God and we curse men. It ought not be like that, but
that's the way it is. In many things, we offend all. You see, God's elect in this
world, God's saints in this world, from the least to the greatest,
are sinners still. That includes you and that includes
me. What is James talking about when
he says, in many things, We offend all. In mind, in thought, in heart,
in deed, we offend all the law of God, all the time. In mind, in thought, In word,
in deed, we'll fend the gospel of God's free grace all the time. Who here doesn't act contrary
to what we profess to believe all the time? Anybody? Anybody? I'm not talking about
outward stuff. Outward stuff's easy to do. Our
stuff's easy to do. I just don't understand folks
who have a big problem with outward things. If you wanna quit drinking,
you can quit drinking. If you wanna quit smoking, you
can quit smoking. If you wanna quit eating fat meat, you can
quit eating fat meat. Outward stuff's not hard to do.
If you wanna start dressing funny, you can dress funny. If you wanna
never go to a picture show again, all you gotta do is not go. If
you wanna quit watching television, you just throw it out the window.
That's easy to do. That's easy to do. But inward. Oh my God, inwardly. Merle Hart,
there's no aspect to the gospel of God's grace I believe I don't
offend all the time. All the time. In many things,
we offend all people. All. How easily, how quickly, how
thoughtlessly we offend one another. We ought not take offense so
easily and we ought not give it so easily, but offend we do. God's saints in this world are
sinners still. Read the book of God and you
see that God makes no attempt to cover that. The fact is every
believer confesses by the grace of God, I am what I am. and confesses
as the song we learned, I am a poor sinner and nothing at
all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. We understand that salvation
is by the grace of God alone. God chose us. God redeemed us. God called us. God gives us faith. God keeps us. God preserves us.
We're saved by God's free grace alone. Our only acceptance with
God is Jesus Christ the Lord. His blood, His righteousness,
He's all our redemption, all our sanctification, all our hope
before God. The believer, the believer is
one who recognizes that he is himself nothing but a sinner
saved by God's free grace. And yet we have to be reminded
again and again and again and again. Simon Satan has desired
to have you that he may sift you sweet And I'm gonna let him
run you through myself And before the night so if you're gonna
deny me and all of you gonna forsake me and Peter says not
me Lord not me not me and the implication being and I'm sure
the implication is this this he was saying I Bill Raleigh
might. I've always been a little suspicious
of him. And Larry Brown might. I've always kind of had a suspicion
about him. But not me, Don Fortner. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
do that. How do you know that's what people say? When our Lord
came to him, he said, Simon, lovest thou me more than these?
Do you really love me more than James and John? The others, they
may forsake you, but not me. And the Lord Jesus said, you're
going to find out that I prayed for you. And when you are converted,
strengthen your brethren. You see, the greatest secret to steadfast
commitment and consecration to Christ is a real, genuine awareness
of personal depravity. Look at Romans 12, Romans chapter
12. The secret of steadfast commitment
and consecration to Christ is a genuine awareness of personal
depravity. Now, we all profess to believe
the doctrine of total depravity, but somehow or another, somehow
or another, we wouldn't say it with our mouths, but we really
think we're the exception. And that's what gives way to
offending, setting a judgment over another, deciding what others
have done, talking about it, yakking about it. Nothing but
pride does that. Nothing but pride. Nothing but
pride. Listen to Romans 12, verse 1. I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies
a living sacrifice. All of you who believe God present
your bodies one living sacrifice. That is, you come to God trusting
Christ the Lord. And trusting Christ the Lord,
we, God's people, are a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed
to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. Now look at verse three. For
I say through the grace given to me, to every man that's among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think, but think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man
the measure of faith. Number three. The instrument God has given
us of the greatest possible benefit to other people is also the instrument
of the greatest evil. These tongues. If any man will fend not in word,
the same is a perfect man. and able to bridle the whole
body. This very small, commonly unseen
member of our bodies produces amazing and disastrous things. James gives us three illustrations
of what he's saying. You put a bit in a horse's mouth,
and not very big. When you think about the animal
that you're putting it in, And with that bit, you turn that
horse wherever you want to, just that little bitty bit. You take
a huge ship, a huge ship, and you have just a very small pilot
wheel. And the captain, the pilot of
the ship, guides that huge ship with just that little wheel.
And fire. Oh, take a small fire. I just
read on the news, or saw on the news one day this week. Must
have been yesterday, it's on the day of this week. Somebody
driving down the road in California and had just a chain that was
dangling from the end of the car, and the sparks in the chain
set off a huge forest fire. Just a little spark, just a little
spark, set a fire. The tongue. Oh, what benefit
comes by the use of our tongues. God's given us these tongues
to preach the gospel of His grace for the calling out of His elect.
God's given you your tongue, you Gadarenes who have been made
whole by His grace, to go home to your families and tell them
what wondrous things God's done for you. God's given you these
tongues to use for the comfort and encouragement of one another. God's given us these tongues
to promote one another's names, to promote one another's honor.
That's why God gave us these tongues. That's how we ought
to use them. Preaching the gospel, telling
other folks what wondrous things God's done for us, comforting,
edifying, encouraging God's people, promoting their names and their
honor among all. That's our business. Oh, God,
give me grace. Not to detract from your children,
but to honor them. Honor them everywhere. Oh, what
great evil is done by the evil use of our tongues. Idle gossip,
slander, false accusations. and get accused of things. Well,
if he's not guilty, he won't hurt anything. Oh, I beg to differ. Oh, no. Oh, no. You slander a
man. You slander a man. It's always
something that sticks with him. Always something that sticks.
Well, I took it back. It's still there. It's still
there. You snap, I get over, I may pop
off and blow off some steam, but I get over it. You pour scalded
water on a fellow, you might get over it right now, but he's
still burnt. He's still burnt. Malicious words, discord, son
among brethren. Folks do it and think they're
doing, I don't think, I ain't sure they think they're doing
God's service, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You get together
and you, Yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack,
yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack,
yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack,
yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack,
yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack,
yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack,
yack, yack, yack He that soweth discord among
brethren is described in Proverbs 8 as one of those things that
God hates and his soul abhors. He tells us in Proverbs 13, only,
only, only, only, only, did you hear it? Only by pride cometh
contention. Nothing else causes it. That
means, Merle, if you and I lock horns, It's only because of our
pride. Is that what it means? Only by
pride cometh contention. Hatred. Hatred. Nothing else. Stirreth up strifes. That's what
hatred does. Hatred stirs up. Did you hear
what Merle Hart said? Did you see what he did? I know why he did that. I know
why Eric's looking like that. I can read your mind. Do you
know what's going on? Do you know what's going on?
Listen to what God says. Hatred stirs that stuff up. Nothing but hatred. I don't care
what name you call it. Hatred stirs that stuff up. I
don't care if it's you or your wife. Hatred stirs that stuff
up. Doesn't matter if it's me or
my daughter. Hatred stirs that stuff up. Listen to what God
says. What do you reckon love does?
Anybody remember? Love covereth all sins. Love covereth all sins. Hatred stirs up in beings and
evil surmising. Love covers it up. An ungodly
man diggeth up evil. Love covers it up. Love covers
it, overlooks it, forgives it, forgets it. Love invents reasons
to avoid strife. This invents reasons. Love puts
the best possible construction on doubtful matters. Love seeks
unity and agreement. Love doesn't rigidly examine
a brother's failures. It won't deliberately expose
his faults. It refuses to uncover the sins of another. That's what
love does. I can prove it. I can prove it. Which of you in 35 years, a little
better than 35 years now, has ever heard that woman say one
bad thing about me? I'll go further than that. You
find me anybody who's ever heard it in the 46 years we've been
married, anybody who's ever heard it, I'll resign as your pastor
immediately and never preach again. Won't happen. Won't happen. How come? Man,
she knows you like nobody does. Yeah, but she's not gonna find
out. She knows all your weaknesses,
yeah, but she's not gonna find out. Not from her. How come? Because that lady loves this
man. And love covers it up. It covers
it up. And if you love me, you'll cover
it up too. And if I love you, I'll cover it up too. Cover up
your sins. Cover up your evil. Just cover
it up. You gotta deal with these things.
Who said you gotta deal with them? God said don't deal with
them. Don't deal with them. Gotta deal with them. Our business
is to love one another. The tongue is a world of iniquity
set on fire of hell, a wild beast, an unruly evil, a poisonous asp
that no man can tame. But God can. So I pray, and I really do pray, relentlessly. Set a watch, O
Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father. Therewith curse we men, which
have made that the civility of God. Out of the same mouth proceeded
blessing and cursing. My brethren, you know these things
ought not be. That the fountains send forth
at the same place sweet water and bitter. Can a fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs. So can no
fountain, both yield salt water and fresh. With those words,
God the Holy Spirit tells us one more time that Believers are people in whom
resides two distinct, diametrically opposing natures. One Adam, the
other Christ. One flesh, the other spirit. One sin, the other righteousness. One born of God, the other born
of hell. That's what we are. Constantly
in need of grace. Now, here's the fourth thing.
Look at verse 13 and 14. The grace of God that brings
salvation gives us that wisdom from above that teaches us to
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world
for the glory of God. Who is a wise man and endued
with knowledge among you? Is there anybody in the whole
crowd that's wise to whom God has given knowledge, real spiritual
wisdom and knowledge? Let that wise man, that one endued
with knowledge, that person who's taught of God, that person who'd
been born again, that's who the wise man is, isn't it? That's
the one to whom God's given knowledge, one who's been born of God, taught
of God. Let that person show out of a good conversation. Show, he's not talking about
a good conversation on telephone, though it includes that. He's
talking about the way Susan Grant lives at home and the way Billy
McCormick lives at home. The way you work in the plant down
there where you work and the way you work in the business
you own. He's talking about your life. Let him show out of a good
conversation his works. I was talking to a very dear
friend yesterday. Got to be a dear friend. His
grandfather, Jewel Smith, was preaching the day God saved me.
And I never saw his grandfather again, but I met this young man
in England while I was there last year. He's pastoring now
in London. He's Jewel's grandson. And he asked me, said, What are
those good works that we're supposed to do? And as is interesting,
you ask, because I can't find anywhere where God ever identifies
them. Only in Mark 14, our Lord said
concerning that woman who brought that alabaster box of ointment,
a very costless ointment, something she did just for him, just because
she loved him. of great personal cost and sacrifice,
and poured it out for his honor. Believing him to be that one
who would die for her and rise again, an act of great faith. And the Lord said, she hath wrought
a good work on me. More or less the only time in
this book God ever calls somebody good. She wrought a good work
on me, a good work on me. Good works, good works, works,
what does it say here? of meekness and of wisdom. Works of humility, knowing I
belong to God, knowing who I am and whose I am, of wisdom, being
taught of God. Works of grace, faith, love. Look at verse 14. But if you have bitter envy and
strife in your hearts, glory not. Lie not against the truth. Love covers all sins. Charity suffereth long and is
kind. envyeth not, charity bonteth
not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, Charity never fails. Oh my God, how you've loved me. Teach me so to love your people. How gracious you have been to
us. Teach us so to be gracious to your people. How forgiving you are. Teach
us so to be forgiving. How marvelously you speak well
of this sinner. And never bring up my sins. Oh God, teach me so to speak
well of my sinning brethren and sisters and never to bring up
their sin. For Christ's sake. Amen.