In Romans chapter 1, the Apostle
Paul makes this statement. I am ready. I am ready. Ready. That's my subject tonight. Ready. Ready. Back in the mid-70s, I read a
story about a young communist. This young man left one of our
eastern universities and traveled to Mexico to live and labor among
the Mexican people in his efforts to spread communism to that part
of the world. He wrote to his fiancee, breaking
off their engagement, and this is what he wrote, there is one
thing about which I am in dead earnest, and that is the cause
of communism. It is my life, my business, my
hobby, my sweetheart, my family, my bread, and my drink. I work
at it in the daytime and dream of it at the night. Its hold
on me grows, not lessens as time goes by. I cannot carry on a
friendship, a love affair, or a conversation without relating
it to the cause of communism, which drives and guides my life. I evaluate people, books, ideas,
and actions according to their attitude toward communism. I'm ready to die for communism. Find me a man or woman who has
that attitude toward the Son of God, and I'll find you somebody
who knows God. You and I who call ourselves
by the name of Christ, who call ourselves followers of Christ,
who call ourselves worshippers of Christ, who call ourselves
disciples of Christ. You and I ought to be so fully
consecrated, dedicated, and submissive to Christ that we can truly say
of the Lord Jesus what that young man said of communism. There
is one thing about which I am in dead earnest. and that is
the cause of Christ. Christ is my life, my business,
my hobby, my sweetheart, my family, my bread, and my drink. I work
for him in the daytime and dream of him at night. His hold on
me grows, not lessens as time goes by. I cannot carry on a
friendship, a love affair, or a conversation without relating
it to Christ, who drives and guides my life. I evaluate people,
books, ideas, and actions according to their attitude toward Christ. I'm ready to die for Christ. I wish I could speak directly
to each of you. I pray that God will allow me
to do so. I'd like to give this message
to each of you personally, as if you and I were alone in the
room together. I'm calling for consecration
to the son of God, wholehearted consecration to Jesus Christ,
the Lord. I don't suggest that anyone should
quit his job, forsake his family and all earthly responsibilities.
and retire to a monastery or to some kind of a religious community. That would be contrary both to
the spirit and the letter of Holy Scripture. But I do say
this, every true believer must be dedicated and consecrated
to the cause of Christ. So fully submissive to Christ,
to his will, his glory, and his cause, that everything else becomes
secondary and insignificant. I chose my words deliberately,
and I thought about them a long time when I wrote that down.
We ought to be so consecrated, dedicated to Christ, his cause
and his glory, that everything else becomes secondary and insignificant. For most religious people, the
worship of Christ, the gospel of Christ, the church of Christ,
the cause of Christ, at best, are only matters of secondary
importance, but not for God's people. For the believer, Christ
is much more than the most important thing in his life. Christ is
our life. There's a huge difference. The
believer labors for Christ in the daytime and dreams of Christ
at night. His meat and drink is Christ
the Lord. The cause of Christ is his cause.
The glory of Christ is his desire and his ambition. Let's see if
that's not what our Lord said. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew
chapter 10. Now I know what I've said thus far
seems to most and may seem to many of you to be extravagant. I have a reputation for being
plain spoken and overly emphatic. Believe me, I am not being anywhere
near as emphatic as I wish I could be. Listen to what the Lord Jesus
says. Matthew 10 verse 37. This is what our Lord describes
as faith. This is what our Lord describes
as living before God. This is what our Lord describes
as following him. This is what our Lord describes
as Christianity. Anything less is just a delusion. Matthew 10, 37. He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh
not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall
lose it. And he that loseth his life for
my sake shall find it. You can keep your life. You sure
can. I can keep my life. I sure can. You can rule your life. You sure
can. I can rule my life by my own
decisions, by my own will, by my own desires, by my own taste. I can do that and go to hell. Or you can lose your life. I
can lose my life. Lose it to Christ the Lord. Lose it to his will, his dominion,
his cause, his glory. And in losing it to him, I find
life. Is that what he said? Is that
what he said? That's what he said. This is what Mr. Spurgeon said
concerning that statement by our Redeemer. No man has truly
given himself to Christ unless he has said, my Lord, I give
thee this day my body, my soul, my powers, my talents, my goods,
my house, my children, and all that I have. Henceforth, I hold
them at thy will as a steward unto thee. They are thine. As for me, I have nothing. I have surrendered all to thee. Is that not reasonable? I beseech
you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
who know the grace of God, you who have been redeemed by the
blood of Christ, you who have been saved by God's free grace,
I beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. This is the spirit and attitude
I find displayed in the lives of our Lord's disciples and in
the ministry of the early church. Those believers in those early
days were men and women so committed
to Christ, so zealously committed, so utterly consecrated and dedicated
to Christ and to one another. that they soon turned the world
upside down. Isn't that amazing? They soon
turned the world upside down. Those many women lived for Christ
and died for Christ. Everywhere they went, they bore
witness to Christ. In everything they did, they
served Christ. And certainly, this is the spirit
of devotion. dedication and consecration to
Christ that was evident in the Apostle Paul. This man is held
before us imminently as an example of one who is born of God, a
pattern of those who follow the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus had
no sooner called to him out of heaven saying, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? That he answered like this, who
art thou Lord? Who art thou, Lord? Did you hear
what Mark read to us in 1 Samuel 25? David sent to Abigail and
called for her to come and be his wife. She said, his wife? His wife? Behold, I will be servant
to his servants and wash his servants' feet. Who art thou,
Lord? Who art thou, Master? Who art
thou, Lord? Almost immediately after that,
his question was, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He was a man in all circumstances,
at all costs, ready to do Christ bidding throughout life. Whatever
happened to him, he was ready, ready to serve, Ready to suffer,
ready to sacrifice, ready to preach, ready to die for Christ
and his cause. That's called faith. That's called
devotion. That's called consecration to
the son of God. Paul was ready to serve Christ.
Look here at our text in Romans 1 15. This is just going to be
the starting point, but look at it carefully. Paul considered himself a debtor. And he said, as much as in me
is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome. I'm ready to go to Rome, that
citadel of ungodliness, that citadel of moral perversity,
that citadel of idolatry. I'm ready to go to you who are
at Rome and preach the gospel there. He was ready to serve
Christ wherever God opened away. Paul spent his days, all his
days, since the Lord saved him by his grace, preaching the gospel. But he was ready to preach at
Rome also. If in his good providence, God would open the door and make
the opportunity, Paul was ready to seize it, no matter what it
cost him, no matter what the danger might be involved. He
was ready to go anywhere with the gospel. He wasn't ready to
preach another gospel, but ready to go anywhere with the gospel.
He was ready to sacrifice anything to preach the gospel. He wasn't
ready to hide it, not from anyone, but ready to preach it. He was
ready to endure anything to preach the gospel, but he wasn't ready
to tone it down in the least. But that's not all. Paul was
ready to serve Christ in any capacity, at any place, for any
purpose for which the Lord might be pleased to use him. Ready
to every good work. That's the words he used. Ready
to every good work. Someone years ago made this observation. I forgot who it was. He said
if two angels were sent from heaven to earth by God, one to
rule the world and the other to sweep the streets for God's
glory, it wouldn't matter to either which did which. They're
doing God's bidding, doing God's will. Lots of people are willing
to do things by which they say they're serving the Lord as long
as they're doing what they want to do under their own constraints,
under their own ambitions, under their own desires. Not willing
to serve Him. That's not serving Him. I'll
go here and I'll do that, but I'm not going there and I'm not
doing that. That's beneath me. I once knew a man who had great
aspirations to be a pastor and preacher. He was asked to teach
some children, but that was beneath him. That was beneath him. He's
not doing anything. He's not doing anything. No,
those who serve Christ, serve Christ with willing and glad
hearts, happy and honored, happy and honored to wash the feet
of his servants. And if you're not honored to
wash the feet of his servants, you're not going to serve him.
If you're not honored to serve in the least capacity where God
honors you to use you, you will not serve him in any capacity,
no matter what title you have, no matter how much men applaud
you. Should we not be ready to do
just that? Should we not count it a privilege
to give or do anything for Christ, for his honor, for his cause,
for his people, for the furtherance of the gospel? Let us be ready
and willing to serve our master just this way. Turn over to 2
Corinthians chapter 12. Paul writes to the church at
Corinth, And the church at Corinth was
in a horrible state. It was in a horrible state. They had a church family. Called
a church family, but they were constantly divided about one
thing or another Divided about the preachers they wanted to
hear divided about the preachers. They liked the preachers They
didn't like divided about how they conducted themselves divided
even about their spiritual gifts so some thought they had great
gifts and some thought they others had insignificant gifts and that
that caused division and rift among them and Paul writes to
the Corinthians God's people God's church. And he said, I'm
ready to come to you. Look at this. Verse 14. I'm ready
to come and set things in order where there's terrible disorder.
You see, serving Christ will not always get you applause.
Serving Christ will often cause you to be the object of man's
ridicule and scorn and the brunt of his viciousness. Paul full
well knew that. But he said, my interest is not
what I get from you. My interest is you. My interest
is not how you can benefit me. My interest is how I can benefit
you for the glory of God. Look at verse 14. Behold, the
third time I'm ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome
to you. That is, I'm not asking you for
anything. For I seek not yours, but you. I seek not yours, but you. Here's the attitude of one who
serves Christ. Verse 15. I will very gladly
spend and be spent for you. I will very gladly spend and
be spent for you. Now what's the next words? Though
the more abundantly I love you, the less I'd be loved. That often
is the case. That often is the case. Skip
down to verse 19. Again, thank ye that we excuse
ourselves unto you. We speak before God in Christ,
but we do all things. We do all things dearly beloved
for your edified. God's servants don't use God's
people to serve themselves. Not God's servants. I'm talking
about preachers, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, deacons, elders,
Sunday school teachers, men and women who have no title at all.
God's servants don't use God's people to serve themselves. They use themselves to serve
God's people. God's servants do. They give
their lives to the service of men's souls, ready to go anywhere
at any cost if they could be of benefit to eternity bound
sinners. I read yesterday about a Moravian
missionary. I believe this was back in 1850
or 1750. Niklaus Zinzendorf, who was head
of the Moravian Church, asked one of the men in the church
in Germany if he might be willing to go to Greenland to preach
the gospel. The poor man had never even heard
of Greenland. He didn't have any idea where
it was or what it involved. His answer was, yes, sir. Zinzendorf
said to him, when will you go? He said, when my boots come home
from the cobbler, I'm ready to go. And when his boots came home
from the cobbler, he was off to Greenland. Paul was ready
to preach the gospel, ready to serve Christ, ready to serve
Christ in whatever circumstance God put him in. And he was ready
to suffer for Christ as well. Turn to Acts chapter 20. He said, I'm ready not to be
bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus. In order to do the will of God,
in order to bring honor and glory to Christ, in order to benefit
God's people, in order to preach the gospel of God's grace, Paul
was ready to suffer any adversity, imprisonment, hardship, even
death, ready to do it for Christ's sake. Oh God, make me such a
man. When he was about to leave Ephesus,
he says in Acts 20 verse 22, Now behold, I go bound in the
Spirit to Jerusalem. I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm going
to Jerusalem. I'm going to go there where the
Pharisees and Sadducees all oppose the cause of Christ, where the
Sanhedrin nailed the Son of God to the cursed tree using Roman
soldiers to do it. I'm going there to meet with
those people among whom I once served my flesh and called it
serving God. I'm going to go preach the gospel
to them. I go bound to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesses
in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me He said
the Holy Ghost has let me know wherever I go Wherever I go. This is what I'm going to meet
with Bonds and afflictions. I'm going to meet with hardship
and opposition Everywhere I go Now watch what it says in verse
24 But none of these things move
me. None of these things move me.
I'm not even moved by them. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry,
the service, the service. That's what the word ministry
is. It's service. Which I have received of the
Lord Jesus. to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. And now, behold, I know that
ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God
shall see my face no more. Turn over to chapter 21. Paul and his companions are at
the house of Philip the evangelist, and a prophet by the name of
Agabus stopped by. Look what he said, verse 11.
And when he was coming to us, he took Paul's girdle and bound
his own hands and feet and said, thus saith the Holy Ghost, so
shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle
and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when
we heard these things, Luke says, both we and they of that place
besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Oh, Paul, you can't
do that. You can't do that. If you go
to Jerusalem, they're going to arrest you. If you go to Jerusalem,
they're going to take you to Rome. If you go to Jerusalem,
they're going to put you to death. You can't do that, Paul. You've
got to consider yourself. Then Paul answered, what mean
ye to weep and to break my heart? What mean ye to weep and to break
my heart? For I am ready. Not to be bound
only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. That's called faith in Christ. That's called living for God. That's called serving the Redeemer. Now, turn to 2 Timothy chapter
4. 2 Timothy 4. Paul was ready to sacrifice anything
for Christ, for the glory of God, for the furtherance of the
gospel, for the good of God's church. He was ready to sacrifice
anything, including his own life. Look at verse 6, 2 Timothy 4.
For I am now ready to be offered. I'm ready to lay down my life
as a sacrifice to God. and the time of my departure
is at hand. I fought a good fight. I finished
my course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but to all them also that love his appearance. Paul was
willing to live for Christ, willing to suffer for Christ, willing
to die for Christ. When his life was almost over,
when the time of his departure was at hand, he was ready, ready
to lay down his life for Christ. He had finished his course, and
he was ready to die. He looked downward to the grave,
and he did it without fear. He said, I'm ready to be offered.
He looked backward upon all his past days since God had saved
him by his grace. And he did it without shame.
He said, I have fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept the faith. You read that and you almost
ask yourself, how could he write such a thing? Wasn't that pride? Wasn't that arrogancy? Not at
all. Not at all. I know that because
this man wrote by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. Bob,
what he says here, he wrote because God the Holy Spirit directed
him to write it. How could a man say, I fought
a good fight? I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Because
he had. Because he had. He had a fight
all the time. Inward and outward. And he said,
I fought this good fight. He had a course, a course laid
out for him by the hand of God's providence according to the purpose
of God from eternity. He said, I finished my course.
He said, I've kept the faith. I've not been turned aside from
the gospel. He had faithfully served the
Lord in his day. His life he had spent in the
cause of the Redeemer. His life he had spent in the
service of Christ. He understood and acknowledged
and confessed his sins. He understood, acknowledged and
confessed his weaknesses and his failures. But he speaks honestly
and tells the truth when he says, I've fought a good fight. I finished
my course. I've kept the faith. And so he
looked forward to the great day of reckoning and he did it with
no doubt. He said, henceforth, there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness. not something he earned, something
that God gives him. And God gives to all his saints,
all who keep the faith, all who continue steadfast in the faith,
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge
shall give me, give me rightly and not to me only, but to all
them also that love his appearing. Is this the spirit and attitude
that's found in us. This is the thing I'm calling
for. I want us, you and me individually, and us collectively as a body
of believers, to give ourselves in wholehearted devotion to the
Son of God. Now let me do what I can to motivate
and stir our hearts in this direction. by God the Spirit. First, I want
you to understand that I'm driven and motivated by a true, earnest
compassion for the souls of men. Let us be. Paul put it this way, the love
of Christ constraineth us. The love of Christ constraineth
us. Our Lord Jesus, as a man, was
moved with compassion upon Jerusalem. He saw them, and he began to
weep. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Scattered like sheep with no
shepherd. How oft would I gather thy children,
as hens gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
That rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus, and the master
explained to him what's involved in faith. It's called surrender
to me. Go sell everything you've got.
Give it to the poor. Come follow me. And the rich
young ruler checked his bank account, checked his property
deeds, and said, I don't think so, and walked away from the
Son of God. And the scripture tells us the
master looked on him and loved him. You can make what you want
to of that. That's all the scripture says
about it. That's all it says about it. What's it telling us? Jesus Christ, the perfect man,
was moved in his life, in all his life, with a deep compassion,
a deep concern for the welfare of other human beings. The love of Christ constraineth
us. As God is my witness, I'm not in this business of preaching
for personal gain or for any personal interest. We are not
as many, Paul said, which corrupt the word of God, that as of sincerity,
as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. For we preach
not ourselves, That is, we don't preach about ourselves, from
ourselves, or for our own benefit, but Christ Jesus the Lord, from
Christ, about Christ, and for Christ, and ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake. God's preachers are not servants
under the thumb of men doing what men tell them to do. I know
preachers are everywhere, preachers everywhere are controlled by
deacon boards and boards of church rulers and so forth and they
go here and do that and say this and don't say that and they have
this time here and that time there according to whatever they're
told to do because they can be controlled by somebody who controls
their purse strings, not God's servants. Not God's servants. You're not going to control the
man sent from God. If I'm God's servant, there's
no possibility of you or anybody else controlling what I do except
God himself. It's not going to happen. Not
on God's. But I'll tell you something about God's servants that's not
true of other preachers. And this is true of God's people.
We are your servants. Mark Henson, if we're gods, we
spend our lives serving God's people. Serving God's people. Your servants, for Christ's sake.
I know that men and women are perishing for want of the knowledge
of God Almighty in Christ Jesus. I know that all must appear before
the judgment bar of Christ. And I'll say with Paul, knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. I go wherever
God will open the door before me, as God gives me strength
to do it, doing everything in my power, using every energy
I have to preach the gospel of God's grace to eternity-bound
men and women, persuading sinners to believe on the Son of God. my earnest compassion. Second, let us be motivated and driven
by a real conviction, a real conviction of the gospel of God's
free grace in Christ. The gospel we preach, Paul has
been describing it in the first chapter of Romans, is the gospel
of God, the gospel revealed in the prophets, the gospel concerning
God's son. The gospel of God's free grace
in Jesus Christ addresses three issues, really, and answers three
basic questions. First, it addresses the matter
of ruin by the fall. It tells us what happened in
the garden. Man fell. Man became guilty. Man became sinful. Man died in
the garden. The gospel addresses the issue
of redemption by the blood. It tells us what happened at
Calvary. The gospel of God's grace declares the accomplishment
of redemption by Christ. Almost every day, I get an email
from someone who's either read something I wrote or heard something
I preached and they send me something and say, you ought to go hear
this sermon. You ought to go hear what this man has to say.
You'll profit by this. And I have been having correspondence
with a fellow for the last, oh, three or four weeks. It was just
that regard, trying to get me to go hear something. And I keep
telling him. I said, there's a couple of fellows
you recommend. I said, I'll tell you what you
do. You go find me something they preached that clearly states
the doctrine of limited atonement. By that, I mean that Christ Jesus
actually accomplished the redemption of God's elect when he died at
Calvary. That there's no possibility that
any sinner for whom Jesus Christ died shall perish under the wrath
of God. You find me that and I'll listen
to that sermon. You find me that. And he's written back to me several
times, y'all listen to this one, y'all listen to that one. It
sort of deals with this, sort of deals with that. And then
the last note I got from him said, he said, this sermon will
really excite you. And I wrote him back and I said,
I don't get excited over anything any man's got to say who won't
preach the gospel of Christ accomplished redemption. That's where the
rubber hits the road. Jesus Christ is no failure. He's God almighty. The gospel
addresses this issue. Redemption accomplished by Christ. That's what happened in the garden
on the cross. And then it addresses this issue.
Regeneration by the Holy ghost. The gospel tells sinners how
God saves sinners. The gospel doesn't tell sinners
how to get saved. The gospel doesn't tell sinners
what they must do to be saved. The gospel tells sinners how
God saves sinners. My friend, Brother Jerry Eskridge,
who went home just a while back was in the hospital many years
ago, and a fellow's in the hospital bed beside him, about to have
heart surgery. He said, but everything's all
right. I went down to the church house last night and got saved.
Jerry said, I doubt that. And man, the fellow was disturbed.
The fellow was disturbed. What do you mean? You didn't
go get saved. You didn't go let God save you.
If that's all you had, you're no better off than you were before.
The gospel tells sinners how God saves sinners. The wind bloweth
where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So
is every one that is born of the Spirit. God saves whom he
will by the sovereign power of his irresistible grace, giving
life to dead sinners. And third, I speak for myself
here as a preacher. I'm driven. I'm motivated. Inspired by divine commission. I want you to read it Ezekiel
chapter 37 Ezekiel chapter 37 I Can't tell you how many times
I had been told in the last 45 years almost Don you take yourself too seriously
You take this thing too seriously And I keep telling myself and
others, I haven't begun yet to be anywhere near as serious as
I ought to be about this business of preaching. Look at Ezekiel
37, verse 33, rather, verse 7. So thou son of man, I have set
thee a watchman under the house of Israel. Therefore thou shalt
hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say
to the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die. If thou
dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity. But his blood will I require
at thine hand. Meryl Hart, I can't imagine a
more sobering word for any man to hear God speak to him. Don Fortner, I've set you as
a watchman upon the walls of Zion. It is your duty, your responsibility,
your privilege to warn the wicked of wrath to come. If you warn
them not, they'll die in their iniquity, but their blood will
I require at your hand. Again, I say, make of that what
you will. That's what it says. That's what
it says. Nevertheless, if thou warn the
wicked of his way to turn from it, and he do not turn from his
way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Thou hast delivered thy soul.
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel.
Thus speak, saying, if our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and
we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them,
as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. What's
it saying? Is that a declaration? from the
God of glory that He is delighted, delighted to save sinners. This is what the prophet said,
He delighteth in mercy. He delighteth in mercy. Read
on. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways. For why will you die, O house
of Israel? Now that's my commission. I am
appointed of God and responsible under God to be the spokesman of this assembly. It's my responsibility to teach
you the things of God. But this commission to preach
the gospel extends to every child of God in this building. It extends
to every member of God's church. There is but one reason for our
existence as a local church, just one reason. Who was it,
Alan, talking about somebody going to church relative because
they're having a trombone thing, something, playing some music.
Churches everywhere have Children's things and adults things and
women's night and men's night and youth night and BS night,
it's all it is. It's all it is. That's all it
is. Just just so much religious BS. It's all it is. If you need an
interpretation, I'll give it to you. That's all it is. What's
the church to do? Preach the gospel. Nothing else. That's our business. That's our
responsibility. That's your business. Your responsibility. It is as much the responsibility
of Samuel as it is of Don Fortner. Let's see if that's so. Matthew
28. Matthew 28. Verse 18. Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world." Fourth. Again, I speak for myself. I
speak for myself. I'm driven. I'm motivated. I
ought to be inspired by a commitment I've made to my Redeemer. And
you ought to be inspired, driven, and motivated by a commitment
you made to the Redeemer. In our baptism, We testified to God and to the
world. I belong to Christ. I belong to Christ. I'm His. Lock, stock, and barrel. I'm
risen with Him with whom I died. Risen with Him by whom and in
whom I'm justified. Risen with Him to walk with Him
in the newness of life. By Jephthah of old, I've lifted
my hand to God. And I can't go back. I can't
go back. With regard to the work of the
ministry, the preaching of the gospel, Paul said, though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid
upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. And then he said, I do this thing
willingly. I'm constrained, but I do this
thing willingly. And one last thing. We ought
to be driven, motivated, inspired in this matter
of Christ's cause, Christ's glory, the preaching of the gospel,
the salvation of God's elect, because there is a cause worthy
of every sacrifice, whatever it is. Worthy of any sacrifice. whatever it is. You remember
when David went out to face Goliath? His brothers looked at him and
said, you come out here to mock us. You come out and mock us.
And David goes out to meet Goliath. And he says, this is why I'm
here. Is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? Hell must be defeated. God's
Israel must be saved. He sent me here to do it. Is
there not a cause? With Paul, I am ready. Ready
to serve. Ready to suffer. Ready to sacrifice. Ready to live. Ready to preach
with my dying breath. and ready to die for Christ's
sake, for the glory of God, for the benefit of his people. How
about you? John Ryland wrote these words. In all my Lord's appointed ways,
my journey I'll pursue. Hinder me not, ye much-loved
saints, for I must go with you. Through floods and flames, if
Jesus lead, I'll follow where he goes. Hinder me not, shall
be my cry, though earth and hell oppose. Through duty and through
trials, too, I'll go at his command. Hinder me not, for I am bound
to Emmanuel's land. And when my Savior calls me home,
still this my cry shall be, hinder me not, Come, welcome death. I'll gladly go with thee. We all talk a great deal, but
talk is cheap. I call upon you, and I call upon
myself before God. Prove now the sincerity of your
love. Rather than singing, oh, how
I love Jesus, pray for grace to love him. Pray for grace to
love him. Love him so as to lay down your
life for him. To you who are ready to perish,
we preach a Redeemer, a God ready to save. And say to you, come
you sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, joined with power. Amen.