we rightfully build monuments
to people we consider to be heroes, men and women who are known for
outstanding deeds of heroism, of charity, of kindness, sacrifice,
devotion. It seems most reasonable to me
that there should be a monument to faith, not just any faith,
but to faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, faith, faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ is the way men honor God. I chose my words deliberately.
I didn't say faith in Christ is a way or even the best way
to honor God. There is no honor of God in your
heart except by faith in Jesus Christ. Apart from faith in the
Lord Jesus, everything that you think is a tribute to God, giving
honor to God is the contempt of God and the despising of God. Faith in Christ is the way Men
on earth honor God. Believing on the Lord Jesus,
we take sides with God against ourselves. Believing on the Lord
Jesus, we trust his righteousness, his blood as our only acceptance
with God. Believing on the Lord Jesus,
we acknowledge God to be right and just and holy and true in
all his ways. Faith in Christ. is the way men
and women honor God. And faith in Christ is that which
makes men and women most honorable in the world. Faith in Christ makes sinful
men and women honorable in their lives, in their behavior, in
their conduct. You see, faith in Christ alters
the life of a man Faith in Christ changes who you are Faith in
Christ changes how you behave faith in the Lord Jesus Alters
everything about a person the Apostle Paul writing by divine
inspiration Raised a monument to faith We often call it Faith's
Hall of Fame. I'm not sure that's proper because
in that declaration, we tend to give honor more to the person
to whom God has given faith than to faith in Christ. Hebrews chapter
11 is a monument to faith. It's not a monument to those
who believe God. Rather, it is a monument to faith
in Jesus Christ. I know that in this day, people
talk about faith. They are people of faith. Our
politicians all talk about faith. And people like to commend people
of faith. Jews and Muslims and Christians
and Hindus and Mormons and, you know, if you believe in a stump,
that's people of faith. That's barbarism. That's barbarism. Faith in Christ
is another story. Faith in Christ is here honored
by God Almighty in marvelous acts. These acts of faith are
performed by ordinary men and women. Nothing exceptional about
them. In fact, The apostle being led
by the Spirit of God seems to deliberately pass over most of
the extraordinary men and women who stood out in history and
chooses ordinary folks, just ordinary folks, people who really
are not known for anything much except for the fact that they
believe God. And he chooses 48 distinct acts
of faith. by which he honors God, speaking
of the faith that God the Holy Spirit wrought in these who are
listed in this 11th chapter of Hebrews. The acts of faith performed
here are performed by ordinary men and women, just ordinary
men and women, but they are not ordinary acts. Everything described
in this 11th chapter of Hebrews is an act of faith, which means
that it could not have been done by ordinary human ability. The things performed here could
not have been performed by ordinary human ability. The things performed
by these men and women were contrary to reason, to logic, and to ability. Contrary to all those things,
yet they were performed by ordinary folks just like you and me. Just
like Mark and Regina Henson. Just ordinary Joes, ordinary
Marys, performed by people like you and me. Nothing extraordinary
about them. And these extraordinary acts
performed by these ordinary people are acts that are performed by
all who believe God. I'm not looking for something
to say, David, I want you to hear that. If you have faith
in Christ, and if Don Fortner has faith in Christ, the things
listed in this 11th chapter of Hebrews are the very things you
and I experience and perform by faith in Jesus Christ the
Lord. These extraordinary acts performed
by ordinary people are performed by all who trust Christ. Like Abel. Every sinner who believes
God obtains witness in his own conscience that he's righteous
before God. Every sinner who trusts Christ,
if you trust the Lord Jesus, you have witness from God himself
in your own conscience that you are righteous before God. And
if you have God's witness, you don't need anyone else's. I don't
spend my time trying to make men think I'm righteous. I'm
concerned with only one thing. Does God Almighty declare me
righteous? If God says I'm righteous, I'm
righteous. And I have witnessed from God
that I'm righteous. Like Enoch, every sinner who
trusts the Lord Jesus Christ is delivered from death because
he pleases God. because it pleases God. I recall
years ago, I was preaching in a Bible conference and a fellow
got up and announced at the beginning of his message, I was scheduled
to follow him. He said, I see they've got Brother
Fortner on here, so I guess he can clean up the mess I make.
Boy, was he right. He was preaching on Enoch, walking
with God. And he made the whole thing to
be Enoch's great, great acts of righteousness and holiness
by which he pleased God. It amounted to Enoch didn't smoke,
drink, cuss, or chew. And he didn't run with folks
who do. And I had already planned to preach from Hebrews chapter
11, verse 6. Enoch had this testimony that
he pleased God. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God. You were there. Impossible to
please. Enoch pleased God not by what
he did. Not by what he did. And you don't
please God by what you do. Enoch pleased God by trusting
Christ. Trusting the Lord Jesus pleases
God. And those who trust Christ, like
Enoch, are delivered from death because they please God. Like
Noah. All who are born of God are heirs
of righteousness. Like Abraham, all believers are
strangers and pilgrims in this world. And all believers, like
Abraham, received Isaac back from the dead. All believers,
by faith in Christ, receive life from the dead. Faith triumphs
over natural affection. Abraham is listed here. He took
his son Isaac up to the mountain, sacrificed him to God. How come? Merle, he was persuaded that
God was able to raise him from the dead. What a testimony. What a testimony. Abraham said
to his servants, you fellows stay right here. I and the lad
will go yonder and worship God. He was going there to sacrifice
his son. That's his reason for going on
the mount and he said and we will return to you He went there
to slay Isaac fully convinced that God Almighty would raise
him from the dead because God told Abraham out of that boy.
The Messiah is coming Faith stands firm against the allurements
of the world all faith does all faith does Faith stands firm
against the allurements of the world. Like Moses, faith esteems
the riches of Christ or the reproaches of Christ better than the riches
of Egypt. Like Moses, faith departs from
Egypt and all its glory and riches and majesty for the testimony
of Christ. Faith keeps the Passover. and the sprinkling of blood.
Faith believes on the Son of God, Christ Jesus crucified,
and the heart is sprinkled continually by faith with the blood of Christ.
Faith, like old Jacob leaning on his staff when he was departing
from the world, worships God. Faith is the worship of God. Faith in Christ is the worship
of God. It's not saying I believe in
Jesus. It's not saying I want to go to heaven when I die. It's
not making a profession of faith. Faith is the worship of God in
my life. Faith is patient in trial. Faith endures to the end, seeing
him that is invisible. I just read it again here in
Hebrews 11 verse 13. These all died in faith. All God's people do. These all
died in faith. Faith is not a temporary thing. Faith is not a spasm of religion. Faith is not something we did
yesterday or 20 years ago. Faith is the way of life for
God's people. We live by faith. We walk in
faith. We shall die in faith if we're
gods. Now, I want to pick up this evening
where I left off this morning. Look at Hebrews chapter 11. And
I want to talk to you about Rahab's faith in Christ. Here, God, the
Holy Spirit takes a woman who was a harlot. I'll repeat what
I said this morning, just in case somebody hears me tonight
who didn't hear me this morning. Rahab was a harlot. She was not
just an innkeeper, she was a harlot. And the Lord God chose this harlot. Christ redeemed this harlot.
God gave this harlot faith in Christ. And here God, the Holy
Spirit, takes a woman who was a harlot and uses her to teach
us what faith is. Do you have faith in Christ?
Do you believe on the Son of God? Do you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ? Look at Rahab, listen to what
God says, and you'll find out right now. By faith, Hebrews
1131, by faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed
not when she had received the spies with peace. All of those who came up out
of Egypt, who were 20 years old and upward perished in the wilderness
because they believed not. All of them, all of them. And
when Joshua comes across Jordan and Jericho falls, Rahab stands
secure and she perished not with them that believed not when she
had received the spies with peace. Rahab the harlot is here held
before us as an example of what faith in Christ is. She believed
God. What grace is here displayed?
Here, Rahab is an example of that change that's wrought in
the sinner's heart by the touch of the master's hand. The most
hideous lusts are conquered when Christ is revealed in you. The most bestial debauchery is
defeated by the grace of God. The most useless, the most worthless
dregs of fallen humanity are made the instruments of the greatest
possible good and benefit by the gift of faith in Jesus Christ
our Lord. I want you to see. And see clearly. That faith in Christ is the greatest
gift God Almighty can or will give to sinners in this world. Faith in Christ is the greatest
gift you can ever receive. Faith in Christ, the greatest
blessing God can ever bestow. Faith in Christ. If you seek
anything for your sons and daughters, If you seek anything for your
neighbors and friends, if you seek anything for your foes,
ask of God that he may give them faith. That he may give them faith.
I've said this to you numerous times, I've said it to my children
numerous times. My daughter's 41 years old now,
got those two grandchildren, I love them. I love them. I ask
God for just one thing for them. Just one thing. Just one thing. God, give them faith in Christ
Jesus. That's all. That's all. Faith
in Christ. Their riches or poverty is meaningless. Their good health Our weakness
of body is really meaningless. Their standing in society or
lack of it is meaningless. The preacher, you don't mean
that you go ask him. You ask. Nothing else is important,
just faith in Christ. Oh, thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift. If you don't have it, I urge
you, seek it for yourself. If God's given it to you, seek
it for others. If God's given it to you, speak
like Paul did and cry thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Oh, gift of gifts. Oh, grace
of faith. My God, how can it be that thou
who has discerning love should give this gift to me? Ah, grace. And to the most unlikely hearts,
it is thy boast to come, the glory of thy light to find in
darkest spots a home. Thy choice, O God of goodness,
then I lovingly adore. O give me grace to keep thy grace
and grace to long for more. Let me show you six things briefly
about Rahab's faith. Number one, I want you to understand
that Rahab's faith was saving faith. Faith in Christ is saving
faith. Oh, preacher, we're good Calvinists.
We're good sovereign grace people. We don't use terms like that.
Well, it's time you started to. Our Lord said, thy faith hath
saved thee. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
Without faith there is no salvation. And the only way you will ever
experience God's salvation is if you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Rahab's faith was saving faith. We read here, By faith the harlot
Rahab perished not. She was delivered amid the general
destruction of Jericho purely and only through her faith. Her
salvation, however, was not merely a temporal salvation. It was
not merely a temporal deliverance of her body from the sword. Rather,
it was the redemption and the deliverance of her soul out of
hell. Oh, great gift faith is. It is that which saves the soul
from hell. It is that which saves the soul
from hell. No arm but the almighty arm of
the omnipotent God can deliver a soul from hell. Nothing but
the almighty efficacious saving blood atonement of God's darling
son can swallow up the infinite torrent of God's holy wrath and
justice. And faith, faith in Jesus Christ
is the instrument by which all this grace is received. that
glass received some water a little while ago. Do you know how it
got the water? Well, it didn't do anything by
the doubt. It's just sitting there. Shelby put the ice in
there and poured the water in. That's how it got the water.
And that's a one word that's translated received in the scriptures. We receive the new birth without
doing anything. We receive life without doing
anything. Something must be done to us
and in us to receive life. Now, watch this. I'm fixing to
receive some water. Watch this, watch. I reached out and took it to
as many as received him. That's the word. To as many as
reached out and took Him. To as many as reached out for
Christ and took Him. To them gave He the power to
become the sons of God. Believing on Christ, you receive
the right, the authority, permission from God Himself to believe on
the Lord Jesus and call God your Father. What a great thing salvation
of the soul is. You can never know how great
it is until you experience it. Only two people who know what
salvation is. Only two people. Some of you
here have no idea what it is. I'll tell you two people who
do. The Savior and the saved. There's only two. The only people
who know what forgiveness is, is the one forgiven and the one
who forgives. The only ones who know what it is to be free from
prison is the prisoner set free and the one who sets him free.
The only ones who know what God's salvation is are those who experience
it and Christ who gives it. By faith, the harlot Rahab perished
not. God sent his word and she believed
it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. Oh, what a wonder. that God almighty
crossed your path with his word. Sent somebody to tell you who
God is and what Christ accomplished and how God saves sinners. Lord
willing, tomorrow we'll take off and go up to Alaska and I'll
go up there and preach to 25 or 30 people three times. Maybe a few more, maybe less,
I don't know. Why would you do that? Travel so far. Preach 20, 25, 30 people. Why?
Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And if God has anyone there whom
he will call by his grace, he will call them by the word of
his grace. You who are God's cherish the hearing of the word. You who are not. Oh, God, make
you wise to seek ever to hear God speak by his word. God, through
his word, showed Rahab the blood. The spy said, you, you take this
scarlet rope and bind it to the window. And when we see that
rope, everything will be all right. And that rope clearly
signifying the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh
God, make you to understand that God saves sinners by the merit
of Christ's atoning blood and no other way. God, make you to
understand there's no hope for your soul, no cleansing but the
precious blood of Christ. Now hear me. The same faith that
saved Rahab saves sinners today. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Trust the
Son of God and you shall be saved. Even if your name is Rahab. Oh, bless God. Even if you are
debauched, degenerate, filthy, offscouring of the world harlot
faith Faith in Christ is that by which sinners receive eternal
salvation There is therefore now no condemnation of them which
are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after
the spirit No condemnation to anyone who believes on the Son
of God by the gift and grace of God the Holy Spirit All right. Here's the second thing Rahab's faith was a singular
faith A singular faith Singular faith,
what do you mean preacher? She's the only one in the city
who believed God. Everybody else heard the same
thing she heard. They heard how God brought Israel
out of Egypt. They heard about the Passover land. They heard
about the parting of the Red Sea. They heard about the slaying
of Pharaoh. They heard about Shaihan and
Og, the kings that Israel destroyed. They heard all those things,
so much so that their hearts quaked within them, and they
had no strength left within them. They were terrified as Joshua
and the children of Israel walked up to Jericho. As Rahab described
them, can you imagine how the people inside those city walls
must have sat and quaked for three days. They'd never seen
an army like this. Here comes an army armed with
nothing but the cross of Jesus Christ, the Ark of the Covenant.
Armed with nothing but blood atonement and the glory of God.
That's all they had. That's all they had. And some
ram's horns. And they're marching around the
city. Just marched around the city. Didn't shoot a gun. Didn't
throw a rock. Didn't say a word. Just marched
around the city. Went back, sat down. Next day, same thing. Next day, same thing. And then
they marched around the city carrying that same mark of the
covenant. And God said, bless the hordes! And the walls fell
down. And Rahab believed God. Everybody
else perished. Everybody else perished. Hers
was a singular faith. She believed God when she had
no support. She believed God when she had
no companion. She believed God when she had
no one to take her by the arm and say, come, let's walk this
way. She believed God all alone in a whole city of reprobate
men. Rahab and Rahab alone believed
God. And if you Believe God you will
believe God all alone for yourself Mama and daddy can't believe
God for you we don't bring babies up here and Sprinkle a little
water on them and dedicate them to the Lord and say we'll believe
God for them because you can't You can't we we don't we don't
do things make our children think that somehow something we do
gives them a step up toward God That's damning to the child not
helpful to the child We don't practice such things. If you
believe God, you must believe God for yourself. You will not
walk through the gates of heaven on your daddy's faith. It won't
happen. You must believe God for yourself. You see, faith
in Christ is always an individual thing. So on the day of Pentecost,
there were 3000 souls that were saved. That was without an altar
call. That that was without singing
just as I am. 3,000 men and women heard Peter preach, and 3,000
had Christ revealed in them, and 3,000 believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and they didn't need anybody to tell them how
to do it. They believed Him. They believed Him. So it is with
faith. You must believe Christ for yourself. And faith in Christ stands alone. That means if your wife doesn't
believe, it doesn't change you. That means if your husband doesn't
believe, it doesn't change you. That means if mom or daddy don't
believe, it doesn't change you. That means if your sons or daughters
don't believe, it doesn't change you. Faith in Christ stands alone. Stands on Christ Jesus alone. Faith in Christ always, I stress
the word always, swims upstream against the tide. It never goes
with the flow. Never. Faith in Christ stands
by itself. Like Moses. He turned aside to
see this great site. The bush burned, but was not
consumed. He said, Oh, I've got to know
what's going on. And he stepped up and God said, Moses, pull
your shoes off. You're standing on holy ground.
And there he stood barefoot before God all alone. That's where faith
is. Alone with God. Faith is never
the result. Group therapy it is never the
result of external influences except God's influence Faith
in Christ is not something you can talk men into Persuade them
to do not something you can pressure folks to do not something that's
done at the excitement of the moment Faith in Christ is the
gift of God by his word the Holy Spirit working in you faith in
Christ depends on nothing but Christ What a deception this
business of mass evangelism is. These evangelistic crusades that
have gone on so much in our day and days previous. Let me tell
you how the work is performed. They have their plans. Everything's choreographed very
well. And the crescendo is the altar
call. The crescendo is get people to
do something. I can't tell you how many times
I heard when I was in Bible college, you've always got to strike while
the iron's hot. You bring the service to its
climax. And when people are emotionally
stirred, then you seize the moment, you catch them with the hook
and you bring them to the Savior. Can't be done. Can't be done. So they set folks out in these
huge crowds and they're going to start to sing Amazing Grace
or Just As I Am or Jesus I Come. And as they start to sing, folks
out in the congregation get up and start to come. And if you
can work up some tears, that's better. That's even better. And
you notice the fellow beside you come and go with them. And
folks start to come. And it works psychologically,
one on another. And so people are psychologically
massaged and manipulated and come down to the front. Now,
what do we do? You want to be saved? Well, yeah. Well, repeat
after me. And you tell them how to pray.
And then you say, Amen. Now you say, God bless you. Don't
let anybody talk you out of it. That's a sure way to hell, Bobby.
It won't take you to glory. You mean, Brother Dodd, nobody's
ever been saved like that? I mean, nobody has ever been
saved like that. Not you, not your mama, not your
mama's mama. Nobody. Nobody. Salvation is
not a cooperative thing. Salvation is an individual act
of God or an individual sinner who believes God individually
for himself. Number three, Rahab's faith was
steadfast faith. Steadfast faith. She stood firm
in the midst of trouble. We talked this morning about
her house. Standing on that wall, couldn't
fall. I wonder how long I would have
stayed in that house with the wall crumbling around me. Reckon
how long you'd have stayed in that house with everything shaking
around you. Rahab did. Rahab did. Though the world crushed
around her, she stood firm because she believed God. She believed
God when everything she hoped for seemed most unlikely. I read years ago during one of
the droughts out west, many years ago, The community decided to
get together and have a prayer meeting. And so they got together
in one of the church houses and they all had a prayer meeting.
And little boy stepped up on the porch and saw everybody there.
And he said to his mama, said, Mama, why are we here? She said,
we're praying for rain. He said, did anybody bring an
umbrella? Nobody brought an umbrella. Nobody
expected God to do anything. Rahab believed God. when it seemed most unlikely
that house could possibly stand. And she believed God to the end. When Jericho was gone, when all
the inhabitants of Jericho had been slaughtered, when the city
was burned, Rahab was still in her house on the wall. Under the covenant care of God
Almighty, secured by God's own word, Protected by God's blood
before this woman's faith was a self-denying faith All faith is All faith is You can't be my
disciple the Savior said except you deny yourself There's no
such thing as faith in Christ that doesn't involve self-denial.
You see, most people have the idea that faith in Christ is
saying, I believe in Jesus. Your car turns over out here
on the on the highway and somebody plows into the side of it and
your head split open and you know you're about to die and
say, oh, Jesus saved me. That's faith. No, it's not. No,
it's not. No, it's not. Preacher runs downtown
cause you're in the hospital. Mama's called, said, Oh, my boy's
about to die. Go get him to believe on Jesus.
And so you take him down to Romans road and talk him into making
confession of faith. And so now God saved him. No, he didn't.
No, he didn't. James is just, that's a joke
played on men's soul. A sad, sad joke. Preachers play
it all the time. Faith in Christ involves self-denial,
self-sacrifice. You see faith in Christ is the
surrender of my life to God's Son, my Lord. Lindsay, nothing
else. That's what faith is. It's the
surrender of everything to Christ the Lord. And if you believe
him, surrender's easy. If you believe him, surrender's
easy. Rahab, She hazarded her life. She hazarded her life to protect
those spies, to protect God's kingdom, to protect God's gospel,
to protect the name of God in his glory. She hazarded her life
because she believed God. She couldn't do else. She believed
God. Someone actually made this statement.
I don't have any idea who it was. I didn't write it down.
I just wrote down the statement. I really don't care who it was.
He said, I have a perfect religion. It's just the right kind. It
cost me nothing. Oh, no, no, no. I recall years ago I was sitting
in the waiting room waiting to take Cobalt treatments down in.
Durham, North Carolina. And Duke University. And. I was reading a book by J.C.
Ryle. Called True Christianity, and I had noticed a man over
a period of a few days who was eyeing me carefully, and I always
wait and pray that God will open a door of utterance for the gospel.
And the man said to me, said, I see you reading a book, true
Christianity. What does it take to be a Christian? And I paused for a little bit.
And I said to him, nothing from you. Salvation is in God's Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. By his blood, by his righteousness,
takes nothing from you. But it takes all of you. All
of you. Now hear me. Hear me. God requires
all of you. All of you. God doesn't save
your soul. He saves you. Christ didn't die
to save your soul. He died to save you. Faith in
Christ is the surrender of my life to the rule and dominion
of God's Son. Turn back to Luke chapter 14.
Luke chapter 14. The rich young ruler understood
this. He understood this. The Lord said, go sell everything
you got. Come follow me. And the rich young ruler said,
I don't think so. I don't think so. Our Lord spoke to his disciples
in John 14, verse 25. There went great multitudes with
him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man come to me and
hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. What does the Lord mean? Hate
your mother, and father, and brothers, and sisters, and your
own life? That means, Don Fortner, you give no consideration to
anything that may rival me. No consideration. No consideration. Lance Taylor's down there in
New Guinea. I wonder what his children would
like to do. That doesn't matter. That's what God has for you.
His father, you got his letter in the bulletin today. He and
Marty finished, you got 50 years. living in New Guinea, most barbaric,
crude place on this earth to live. Why would he do that? How could a man do that to his
family? Oh. Not to obey God be a whole lot
worse to your family. No consideration. Read on. Verse
27, Luke 14. Whosoever doth not bear his cross
and come after me cannot be my disciple. Well, I'm blind. That's
my cross. No, you didn't choose that. To
bear your cross is to choose obedience to Christ, knowing
the cost. For which of you, intending to
build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost,
whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after
he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, All
that behold it began to mock and say this man began to build
but was not able to finish Or what king going to make war against
another king said it's not down first And consulted whether he'd
be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against
him with twenty thousand Or else while the other is yet a great
way off. He sendeth an ambusage and desireth
conditions of peace so likewise Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Now I understand, I understand
when I hear folks say, well I can't do that, it costs too much. I
understand fellows that want to preach but they, no I can't
go there, no I can't live on that. I couldn't put my family
through that. I understand. I understand. And
I'll tell you, I understand. I understand. But anybody who
believes God's another story. Bob Duff, I don't hesitate to
call on you, every man and woman in this congregation to make
whatever sacrifice is necessary for the cause of God. I don't
hesitate to do it at any time. I don't hesitate to do so. Why?
You're not your own. You're not your own. I don't
belong to Don Fortner. I have nothing. I willingly surrender
everything to the claims of Christ my Lord. That's what faith is. Well, if that's what faith is,
I don't know many folks who have it. That's what faith is. Number five, Rahab's faith was
a sympathizing faith. She wasn't content to go to heaven
alone. She desired the mercy and grace
of God she had experienced for her family, and she got it for
them. Like that jailer, Paul said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy
house. And he washed their wounds, took them into his house, His
daughters and his wife took care of him and he said, he said,
y'all tell, y'all tell my wife and daughters what you told me.
And before the night was over, they all believed God. The whole
house born of God. Paul said, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. George Whitefield made this statement.
Perhaps the greatest evangelist of the Puritan era, that man
God used for the Great Awakening in England and in America. He
said, as soon as I was converted. I wanted to be the means of the
conversion for all that I had ever known. That's what I'm talking about.
Faith in Christ. Seeks good, everlasting good
for immortal souls. Faith in Christ. Seeks the building of God's kingdom. Faith in Christ seeks the salvation
of God's elect. And one last thing. Look at Titus
chapter two. Titus chapter two. Faith in Christ is sanctified. Rahab's faith
was sanctifying faith. Rahab was no longer a harlot. The grace of God that brings
salvation teaches all who experience it to live graciously. to live godly, to live unto the
Lord. Paul says to Titus, speak thou
the things which become sound doctrine. Oh, now we're going
to talk about good doctrine. OK, let's talk about it. That
the aged women be sober. Sober. Not busybodies, not gossips. Not busybodies, not gossips.
Now, you ladies, forgive me for my political incorrectness and
forgive me tomorrow because it's not going to change. Wanda, dear
lady, folks get your age and they have idle hands and they
spend a lot of time on the phone and a lot of time with neighbors
yakking about people. Don't do it. Don't do it. But rather be sober, grave, temperate,
sound in faith, in charity and patience. And the aged women,
likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false
accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. When
you talk to folks, talk to them about the things of God, that
they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands. Whoo! You would dare raise a
girl like that. If you love her, you will. To
be sober. to love her husbands, to love
their children, to be discreet, to be chaste. To be chaste? In this day? When folks get on
television and demand so that they can live like whores that
the government pay for their birth control? Teach them to
be chaste. It never gets out of style. Chaste. Keepers at home. Take care of
your house. Well, that's no good. Ask any
woman who does it. Ask any woman who does it. Good. Obedient to their own husbands. That the word of God be not blasphemed.
Young men, likewise, exhort to be sober-minded. Sober-minded. There's Ben, he's a young man.
Back yonder, Cody, you're a young man. You want adults to treat
you like men? Don't act like boys. Matt, you
want your daddy to treat you like men? Don't act like boys.
Don't act like boys. You want to be treated like a
man? Act like a man. Make your own way. Stand on your own two
feet. Behave soberly. Read on. Read on. In all things,
showing thyself, he says to Titus, a pattern of good works. Now
preacher, listen to me, he says. in doctrine showing uncorruptness,
gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned. That
he that is of contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing
to say of you. Now. I can't keep folks from
saying bad things about me. I used to try. I gave it up.
I can't do it. And that's not what Paul's telling
me. He's saying you behave in such a way that the fellow who
speaks evil of you You must be ashamed because you've got no
basis for it. You've got no basis for it. You don't. You don't.
Exhort servants, you who work for the men, to be obedient to
their old masters, to please them well in all things, not
answering again, not loitering, but showing all good fidelity
that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. That's it. That's it. Children of God, in all your
life, in all your affairs, believing the Lord Jesus, adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men like it did to folks in Jericho. But it teaches us, like it taught
Rahab, that denying ungodliness and worldly lust We should live
soberly, righteously, and godly right now, March 11, 2012, in
the middle of this perverse generation, right now, in this present evil
world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God, our Savior, who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity. and purify unto himself a peculiar
people. That's not a strange people.
That's not folks who dress funny, walk funny, talk funny. A peculiar
people. A distinctly treasured, precious,
protected people. Zealous of good works. Zealous of God's glory. zealous for the building of God's
kingdom, zealous for the salvation of immortal souls, zealous for
God, our Savior, by whom we live forever. Amen.