First chapter of Acts. What is it to be witnesses unto
Christ? Have you ever looked into God's
Word and seen what it is? We have been taught through traditions
in the church and through traditions with men of what it is. We see
people all around us doing it, and we see great numbers flocking
to them. But do we know what God's Word
says it is? Is it to testify in Christ's name? It is. That's what everybody says they're
doing. Is it to cast out devils, the
evil spirits which would turn us from Christ to the flesh?
It is. That's what everybody claims
to be doing. Is it to actively work in Christ's kingdom for
the furtherance of the gospel, for the glory of Christ and the
good of His people? It is. And that's what most everybody
claims to be doing. But the Lord Jesus ended His
sermon on the mount with these same characteristics describing
those which He says are workers of iniquity. Why were they called workers
of iniquity instead of witnesses of our Lord? They did those things. If you looked at them, they did
the very same things the rest of the folks were doing. The Lord said this in Matthew
7.21. He said, Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. He that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven." So you mean I could testify in Christ's
name and I could go cast out wickedness in His name and I
could actively work in Christ's kingdom in His name and not be
doing the will of His Father which is in heaven? That's what
Christ said. If you go to the Sermon on the
Mount, Matthew 5, Look over there with me. Hold your place here
and ask. Matthew chapter 5. If you look there, and you go
through this sermon, I think we need to do that sometime.
We go through this sermon, we're going to find out that everything
that Christ says here describes His people. And the opposite
of everything Christ says here describes those that He calls
workers of iniquity. And in fact, he leads right up
to the point in this sermon to where he says, in one gospel,
he gives a parable. And he says, the kingdom of God
is likened to a man that sowed good seed. That good seed is
the Word of Christ. And it brought forth. But somebody
else went forth and sowed some seeds, sowed tares. And tares
began to grow up with the wheat. The person that sows the good
seed is a witness of Christ. The person that sows the bad
seed, the tares, is somebody that's using His name. They're
using His Word. They're using a lot of truth. Sounds like a lot of truth. But
He said it's all iniquity. Every bit of it. Look here in
verse 3 of Matthew 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
These folks aren't poor in spirit. They don't need Christ. They
don't need the Spirit of God to strengthen them, to keep them
continually. Blessed are they that mourn.
Isaiah, he had the same difficulty in his day. We think that because
it happened in Isaiah's day that it's different than in our day.
You know what they did in Isaiah's day? They built places to worship. Just like we do. They call on
the name, Lord, Lord, just like we do. But Isaiah said, you haven't
mourned. You haven't seen your transgression. You're wearied in the greatness
of your own way. your own understanding, your
own thoughts of who God is, your own doing, everything that you've
done. It's all in your way. It's all
according to your way. It's not according to God's way.
You haven't seen what you are and mourned what you are. Blessed
are the meek. God's people are meek. You remember
that parable when the Lord spoke and He said in the day when He
gathers the sheep, on his right hand and the goats on his left
hand. He's going to tell the sheep, come, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you before the foundation of the world. I was hungry and
you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was naked and you clothed me. And they said, when did we
ever feed you? When did we ever clothe you?
When did we ever do anything for you? And he said, as much
as you did it to these other ones that are standing right
here with you. You preached them the gospel of Christ. You fed
them with My Word. You gave them that which heals
the thirsty, quenches their thirst, the gospel. You gave them understanding
of the righteousness of Christ, which is their clothing. And
the ones on the other side said, when did we ever see you hungry
and thirsty and naked and in prison and not do these things
for you? What's the spirit of this evangelistic
age that we live in. Is it nothing more than just
an extension of the flesh? Look what we've done. Look what
mighty works we've built. Look at the size of this building.
Look at the programs that we have. Look at all the multitudes
of people we got. I just believe if God revealed
who the wheat are and who the tares are, we'd be real surprised
at just how few there really is, if any, in some of the places. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness." Not after doing. The man that
thirsts after righteousness, he'll be doing. That man will
be doing. The man that wants to just be
doing, he don't care a thing in the world about righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart.
They don't have cow. They're not using the wisdom
of words to try to get men. You know the Apostle Paul. I'm
going to leave this alone. I'm going to get back to my message
here. But the Apostle Paul, you know that he was a sportsman.
He was an athlete. He talks about beating the air
like a shadow boxer. He talks about running a race
and only one gets the prize. He knew something about being
an athlete. I wonder why our Lord never commanded Paul to
build some kind of athletic field to draw his people in. Build
a basketball court, Paul, so you can get people to come. If
you draw them in that way, then you can preach the gospel to
them. Build a track so they can go out and run, Paul. You know
about running track. They'd be impressed with how
much you know about running track. And then once you get them in
there, you can preach the gospel to them. Because it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching His Son to save them that believe. Not by means and methods and Well, let's see here. Let's see.
I want to know what it is to be a witness. The title of the message is,
And ye shall be witnesses unto me. Our text is Acts 1, verse
4. And being assembled together
with them. This is the Lord assembled together. He's brought all of
His disciples and His apostles back together now. They fled
and He brought them all back together. commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence. When they therefore were come
together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them,
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the
Father hath put in his own power, but you shall receive power after
the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses
unto Me, both in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and
unto the uttermost part of the earth." In this passage, Christ
commands His people to do three things. And then He tells them,
when these three things are accomplished, you shall be witnesses unto Me. And these three things were accomplished
ten days before they ever went to Jerusalem and spoke a word. First of all, Christ's witnesses
begin by obeying Christ, our only lawgiver. That's first and
foremost. Secondly, Christ's witnesses
obey by waiting on the Holy Spirit, their strength. And thirdly,
Christ's witnesses trust God to make His Word effectual. Now let's look at this. Christ's
witnesses first obey Christ, our only Lawgiver. Look at verse
4. Being assembled together with
them, the Lord Jesus Christ commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem. Now, you're going to have to
paint a picture in your mind's eye. They just saw Christ die. that ignominious death on the
cross. They saw the shame that He endured
on the cross. They saw the hatred in the eyes
and the venom spewing from the lips of the people that scourged
Him, that beat Him and mocked Him and passed by Him. And they
hear Christ tell them, don't leave Jerusalem. They were out
a good ways out of Jerusalem. He told them, don't depart from
Jerusalem. The first thing that a believer
is going to have to do is he is going to have to die to his
flesh. This flesh is going to have to
be put down. And we are going to have to trust
Christ. Think of what they must have thought knowing Christ is
telling them to go back to Jerusalem. Go back to the face of their
enemy. Go back there to that place. And He doesn't tell them
what's going to happen. He tells them the Spirit's going
to be poured out, but He doesn't tell them what they're going
to do when they get there. When you read Scripture, you
hear about the beginning of a person's faith being a great fight of
afflictions, without and within. When Christ first reveals Himself
in a man, There's a great fight of afflictions with our own flesh
wanting to go the way we've always gone. We want to think what we've
always thought. We want to walk after the traditions
we've always been taught. And we think that's serving God. But that man has to die. And
we have to obey Christ. He has to be our only law giver. He gave it. He gave the law. as if He were no man. He gave
the law at Sinai. Let's go back further. When the
first commandment was given in the garden, He was there. When
the law of God was written on Abraham's heart, He was there.
When the law at Sinai was given, He was there. And yet we're told in Scripture
that we're justified, not by obedience to the law, but by
the law of faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? No. That's the only way we fulfill
the law, is by believing Him, trusting Him, obeying Him. I
want you to think of some things that He did when He walked this
earth. Whose will did our Savior accomplish? Jesus said unto some
one day, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me and
to finish His work. Is it our will to do what we
want or what our captain commands? Who did our Savior look to for
wisdom when He walked this earth as the servant of God? He said,
I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment
is just. Can we do anything of ourselves?
Christ said, as my Father teaches me, so I have discernment. He
said, therefore, my judgment, my discernment, it's just. It's
right. And why does Christ say He did
this? Because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. Whose message did Christ preach?
He said, He that sent me is true. I speak to the world those things
which I have heard of Him. He said, When you have lifted
up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am. I am. And I do nothing of myself, but
as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." By going
to Jerusalem, the disciples are going to manifest. They are going
to be witnesses by their obedience that they believe Christ, that
they are sold out to Christ. Is that why we are doing what
we are doing? We have to first obey Christ. Who has God made
our wisdom? Is it ourselves or is it Christ?
Who has God made our righteousness? Are we our own righteousness
or is Christ our righteousness? Who has God made our sanctification? Do our works make us holy? Or
did Christ's work make us holy? Who has God made unto us our
redemption? Who bought us out of sin and
from under the law and out of death and satisfied God on our
behalf? Who bought us? Christ did. We didn't buy ourselves. Who's
the way? Who's the truth? Who's the life?
Is it Christ? What other way are we going to
tell men? What other gospel are we going to preach to men? What
other life are we going to tell men, preach to men, and exalt
before men? Who's our comfort? Who's our
consolation? Who's the tie that binds our
heart together in one accord? Is it not Christ the Lord? Who
is the love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit? Who
is the believer's full assurance of understanding? Who's the mystery
of God that's been hidden from ages? In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge? In whom is God pleased that all
fullness should dwell? Then let me ask you this. Who
are we going to preach? Who are we going to obey? Who
are we going to speak of? Are we going to follow the example
that our Savior gave us? He did that and His Father sent
Him to do. He spoke the words His Father gave Him to speak.
And he listened for his father. His father spoke to him and gave
him discernment to do the things he did. Who then are we going
to follow? Are we going to listen to what
Christ tells us to do? Or are we going to listen to
what we always thought was the way to do it? Because we just
went along with the crowd. That's what everybody else did.
Maybe everybody else was wrong. I have searched the Northeast
over. I have looked on websites after website after website.
And I hear the five points of Calvinism preached by all of
them. I was just telling Scott though,
I heard a message where a man preached about Martha and Mary
and he preached how that Martha was covered about with all this
serving these people and how that how Mary sat there at Christ's
feet. And if we're going to be a Mary,
we've got to be out preaching the Gospel. We've got to run
out and try to tell the Good News to people. We've got to
be bringing people in. We've got to be doing all these
things. And you know what he never did through the whole message?
He never preached Christ. I didn't hear anything about
ruin by the fall. I didn't hear anything about
redemption by His blood. I didn't hear anything about
regeneration by the irresistible grace of God. I didn't hear anything
about the keeping grace of God. I didn't hear any of that. I
didn't hear Christ exalted in the least bit. And He brought
the message around to where He told the people to be cumbered
about much serving and didn't tell them about the one thing
needful. We must first hear about Christ. We must first know who
Christ is. I want this congregation to be
a beacon. I want this congregation to be
a reflection of the light that is our Redeemer. And we will,
brethren. We will. I'm convinced of that.
I see a people committed to the cause of Christ that want to
get the Word out. But I'll tell you something that
God's going to make happen. Our King, our Captain, is going
to make sure this is the case before we do anything. We're
going to be of one mind. Settle on Christ. He's the message.
We're going to be of one accord. Christ is the way, the truth,
and the life. Everything we teach is going to be based on Christ.
He's going to be the fulfillment, the fullness, the end of everything
that we teach. Men act like one part of this
Scripture, it and Christ's Word, and another part is, like extortation. of Paul to the Corinthians or
of James or of Peter isn't the same as what Christ preached
throughout the whole time He was on this earth. It's the same. It's not different. It's the
same. The man that cries out to be
told more practical things needs Christ more than anybody. See,
here's the problem, brethren. Listen. It's not that people
throughout the Old Testament that rejected God. It's not that
they weren't religious. They worshipped God. Those that
came, the false prophets that prophesied in His name, and those
that came to the tabernacle to offer a sacrifice, they came
to that sacrifice, to that offering, to that tabernacle sincere. They
were sincere in what they were doing. And what they didn't even
know by the deceitfulness of their own depraved, ignorant
heart is that they were looking to their doing, to their act
of bringing these things and not trusting and obeying Christ
who those things typified. And the same goes for those that
were teaching in Galatians. When they were there teaching
and they were seeing being circumcised, Brethren, they were Judaizers.
They had come from the scribes and the Pharisees. They had multitudes
following them. They weren't telling people,
don't go after Christ. They weren't telling people,
Christ is your righteousness. They weren't telling people that.
They were telling, Christ is these things, but you need to
obey the law too. You've got to be bound under
the law too. Somehow we get it in our mind
that because circumcision isn't something that anybody preaches
today, that that don't apply to us today. Why do we think
we get people in the door and God saves them through the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified, and then once they're saved,
we move on and we just talk about practical things? And we stop
preaching Christ and Him crucified. If you're circumcised, Christ
will profit you nothing. If you must obey the law, Christ
will profit you nothing. If you're bound by the law, Christ
will profit you nothing. You look into the law, you're
not obeying Christ. The fulfillment of the law is
in Christ. And what a believer does, he
does by the law, faith in Christ. His rule, his motive, everything
that constrains him to do what he does, he does because he is
in love with Christ. And any other motive, It works. I don't care if they're preaching.
I don't care, brethren. It works. That's what Paul's
teaching. The church at Colossae, you know
what they had done? The church at Colossae, they
had moved on past the first principles of the beginning of the Word
of Grace, and they had moved on to where now they were teaching
men, that's true, we want to do those things, but you'd be
a whole lot more profitable and a whole lot better example if
you observed these These rudiments, these elements, touch not, taste
not, and handle not. And two, there's a whole world
of angels. Let's go on and let's learn about
these angels and how God uses these angels. The angels desire
to look into the things that God's people know about Christ. Paul called them philosophers.
He called them deceivers. He called them beguilers. He
called it will-worship, voluntary humility. And he said, you're
dead with Christ. You're dead with Christ. So why
as though living in the world are you subject to these things?
Well, Clay, a man needs to walk a tight line between our antinomianism
and legalism. God's people don't. God's people
don't walk a tightrope. They're not teetering on trying
to stay from a legalist to an antinomian. They're in love with
Christ and they preach Christ and Him crucified and that's
the message God uses to make His people obedient to Him and
to do the things that this godless world wishes they could do. Many
shall say in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your
name? Didn't we cast out devils? Didn't we do many wonderful works? We, we, we, we, we, we, we. All
the way home. Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity. I never knew you. I never knew
you. Let me tell you what Peter said.
Look at Acts 2.36. Peter stood up and he said, Acts
2.36, he said, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both
Lord and Christ. Look over at Acts 4.16. There were some men that saw
Peter and John work a miracle. And they came and they guided
them. And they said to themselves, verse 16, What shall we do to
these men? For that indeed a notable miracle
has been done by them. It is manifest to all them that
dwell in Jerusalem. We can't deny it. But that it
spread no further among the people. Let us straightly threaten them
that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they
called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach
in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, you be the judge. For we
cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Brethren,
God's people, Christ's people are going to preach what they
have seen and heard. He said, Go back to Jerusalem.
Go back to Jerusalem. That's where it's going to start,
at Jerusalem. The place where I was crucified,
they're going to see the mercy and forgiveness of God. I've
sent my people right back to that place first, and I'm going
to save 3,000 souls there. And then, secondly, brethren,
Christ's witnesses wait on the Holy Spirit, their strength.
They were assembled together. And he commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days from now." Now I want you to notice how God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all work together in this.
Look at verse 4. This was a promise of the Father. The Holy Spirit was promised
of the Father. Look at verse 4, and it was preached
and promised by Christ. He said, you've heard this of
me. And look here in verse 2, it
says, He through the Holy Ghost gave commandments unto the apostles
whom He had chosen. You see God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit working together in this? Of
one accord. And then I want you to notice
the certainty with which the Lord commands His people. In
verse 5, John truly baptized with water, but ye shall You
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. It's
not a possibility. It's not going to happen. Look
here at verse 8. But ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto
me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and unto
the uttermost parts of the earth. We talk about like-mindedness.
We talk about being of one accord. That's one accord. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three in one are
settled in perfect accord that something is going to happen,
that Christ is going to be exalted at Jerusalem and in all the world.
And His people are of that same mind that the three in one have
because God works in His people and gives them that one accord
and that one mind. He does it through the preaching
of the Gospel so that they will go and preach nothing but the
Gospel of Christ. Because that's the message He
called them out with, and that's the message He's going to call
the lost sheep out with. That's it. That's it. He opened their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. And He said unto
them, He said, Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance
and remission of sins shall be preached in His name among all
nations beginning at Jerusalem. And He said, You are witnesses
of these things. You know it in your heart. I opened the Scriptures to you.
I have showed it to you in My Word. I have given you commandment
and you are going to obey Me. And I am going to pour out the
Spirit on you and I am going to give you power to stand in one
mind and one accord and preach Me. That is what He said. Who
does the Holy Ghost witness? When the Holy Ghost comes, when
the Spirit of God comes to a sinner, who does he witness of? Who does
he preach? Who does the Holy Spirit preach?
If you have any questions about who we should be preaching, who
does the Holy Spirit preach? John 14, 26. John 14, 26. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach
you all things and bring all things to remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you. Look at John 15. Look at John
15 with me. Look at verse 20. He said this to them. He said,
The word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than
his Lord, If they've persecuted me, they will also persecute
you. If they've kept my sin, they'll keep yours also. But
all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake."
They're going to cast you out crying on my name. How would they cast out God's
true preachers that are preaching Christ unto Him crucified and
do it calling on Christ's name? The same way we crucified Christ
and cast Him out calling on God's name. Got him down off the Sabbath
so he wouldn't break the law. Because they know not him that
sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, here's why
they do it. Here's why men want to hear another message. If I
had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. But
now they have no cloak for their sin. If Christ is not all their righteousness,
And all they're doing and all they're striving and all they're
working in His kingdom is all for nothing. If they don't trust
Christ alone, they've got no covering for their sin now. If
I had not done, he that hateth me hateth my Father also. If
I had not done among them the words which none other man did,
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But
now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this
cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written
in their law. They hated me without a cause.
But look here. But when the Comforter is come,
who I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify,
witness of me. And ye also shall bear witness,
because ye have been with me from the beginning. Here is John
16.12. He said, I have yet many things
to say unto you, but you can't bear them now. Howbeit, when
He, the Spirit of the truth, is come, He'll guide you into
all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He
shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will show you things to
come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and
show it unto you. All things that the Father hath
are Mine. Therefore said I that He will take of Mine and show
it unto you. What does the work of the Spirit
of God do in Christ's witnesses? Look at verse 8. But ye shall
receive power. Power to do what? Power to walk
into the midst of those that just crucified your Lord, that
don't want to hear your Lord preached, and stand up and preach
your Lord. We don't have flesh to do that.
We don't have power in our flesh to do that. I showed you last
time, they didn't have power in their flesh to stay assembled
together. He had to bring them all back together and pour His
Spirit out on them and keep them. But law, let me tell you this,
the difference between the law at Sinai, which is whether men
are preaching it before or so-called after conversion, either way,
the difference between the law at Sinai and the law of God written
on the heart of Christ's witness is this. The Law of Sinai. Here's how you can tell if the
message is preaching the Law. Who is the message in the hands
of? Who is the center of the message?
Whose choice is it? Whose work is it? I hear men being preached. I
hear men's abilities being preached. I hear the words preached with
such wisdom and such craftiness. that men can walk out saying,
we heard Christ preached. But yet, they've constantly been
preached a choice, a choice, a doing, something they have
to do to be righteous before God. And the flesh feeds on that
message. The flesh loves that message.
And the flesh will sooner or later say, I want to hear that. Stop preaching to me about these
other things. I want to hear that message. And Isaiah told
the people in his day, he said, you've made your covenant with
death and hell. It's sealed up. Well, thirdly,
Christ's witnesses trust God to gather in the weak. Acts 1-6, When they therefore
were come together, They asked of him, saying, Lord, without
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel. And he said unto them,
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in his own power. I found a verse I want you to
look at that I think goes right along with this. He told them,
he said, You go back to Jerusalem, and you wait for the Holy Ghost,
the promise of the Father. The Holy Ghost is going to be
poured out on you, and you are going to have power to preach
in my name. And then they said, Are you about to restore the
kingdom? I don't know exactly what they meant by that. I think
they meant that it was fixed to be over. And he said, it's not for you
to know what I'm doing. It's not for you to know what
is in the hands of the Father to do. I'm going to show you
a scripture. Turn over to Luke 3. Look at verse 16. He said,
you go wait for the promise of the Father. And he said, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons. Look at Luke
3 and verse 16. John answered, saying unto them
all, I indeed baptize you with water. But one mightier than
I cometh, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose,
and he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Now look at the next verse. "...whose
fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and
will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will
burn with fire unquenchable." What's he saying there? He's
saying It's not for you to know the times or the seasons. It's
not for you to know how far this work is progressing. It's not
for us to know what God is doing. His span is in His hand. What
are we supposed to do? We just go preach the Gospel.
We go preach Christ. He said His span is in His hand.
The times and the seasons are in His hand. When He's pleased,
He'll come and He'll call out His sheep in the season of His
love at the time appointed by Him. And at the time appointed,
He'll call the last one in. He's the one that gives us the
Holy Spirit, and He's the one that's doing the work. We just
trust Him. We just trust Him. The business
of calling out the sheep is God's business. But now, wait a minute. What if I... Turn over to 1 Corinthians
3 with me. What if I don't think this work's
progressing enough? You know, it's just not a lot
of folks coming in. I don't believe that we're getting
the word out fast enough. If we had more people showing
up, I'd be a little more confident, assured. People will look to their own
hand and turn away from God and devise means and methods to get
people to come in. That's why we're in the shape
we're in today in the world. And then you've got to walk that
tightrope. And then before long, that tightrope
gets just strung up a little further and a little further
over on the legalistic side. Because if you offend somebody,
because the offense of the cross, the cross of Christ is offensive.
Paul said, if I preach circumcision, if I preach the law, if I preach
man's doing, I wouldn't be persecuted. The offense of the cross has
ceased. It's ceased. What are we to do? A witness
of God is going to obey Christ. Sold out to Christ. Completely
sold out to Him, lock, stock and barrel. Where you go, I go. Your people will be My people. And they wait on the Spirit of
God. They wait on the Spirit of God. He has to pour His Spirit
out on me to give me a message to preach to you. And I have
to wait on Him to do it. I can't make it happen by myself.
And He has to pour out His Spirit on you for you to believe. And
I can't make that happen. And neither can you. If we could,
every one of our children would believe. But we'd make them.
We can't do it. But what do we do? We wait on
the times and the seasons that are in the Father's hand, and
we don't question Him. We don't question Him, do we? I want this church to be a beacon. And we will. We're going to go
out. We're going to do these things. But let me tell you something,
brethren. We've got to be of one mind. We've got to be of
one accord. How can a man go preach if he
hadn't been sent? Christ has to send us. God has
to send us. He chose who would preach in
His name. And He taught them the Gospel. And He poured out His Spirit
upon them. And He told them, don't ask foolish
questions. You just wait. It's in the Father's
hands. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 5. Who is
Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you have believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man? Paul said, I have planted,
Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither
is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but
God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one. They better be one. They better
be preaching the same gospel. There is no other foundation
that can be laid than Christ. And every man shall receive his
own reward according to his own labor. If a man's preaching works,
and he builds a large congregation bigger than... Charles Spurgeon
never even thought about having a congregation that big. If he does it, and he's done
it, preaching another gospel, that congregation is his reward.
That's as good as it's going to get for him because he doesn't
have Christ. And he's going to be doubly damned for preaching
a lie to him and leading others into a lie. But that man that
preaches Christ, he's not only going to have Christ as his reward,
but he's going to have others that heard his Word through his
preaching. That's the reward. For we're laborers together with
God. You're God's husbandry. You're God's building according
to the grace of God. which is given unto me as a wise
master builder. I have laid the foundation, and
another buildeth their own. But let every man take heed how
he buildeth their own, for other foundations can no man lay than
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Do you consider the results of this,
brethren? If this is how we are sent, if this is how we become
witnesses of Him, And it is. We can't fail. We cannot fail. You see the direct implications
of this? We can't fail. We may not be
as big as somebody else, relatively speaking. We may not be able
to support as many missionaries or go into as many places as
somebody else, relatively speaking. But the key is this. If Christ
is being preached, And God is bringing people out under the
sound of Christ and Him crucified, which is the message He blesses.
We can be sure, we can be certain, we can be confident that it's
God doing the work. And He's bringing the wheat into
His garner. We don't judge by outward appearances
of things. He added to the church 3,000
souls at the day of Pentecost. And Eli said, I've preached and
preached, and they've all gone astray. but had His Word returned unto
him void? It never does. Whether it goes out and damns
people, or whether it goes out and is a saver of life unto life,
it's accomplished His purpose. Either way. And it does both
every time it's preached. Paul said, when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, He revealed Christ in me. So that's what we do. And we
know Christ is with us. He said, Lo, I'm with you always.
He said, Lo, I'm with you always. Paul said in Colossians 1, y'all
go home tonight, read Colossians 1. Read all of Colossians. I read the whole book today.
It is good. But Paul said in Colossians 1.28, he said, Whom
we preach. We preach Christ. He said, Whom
we preach. Warning every man. How do we
warn them? By preaching to Whom. and teaching
every man in all wisdom by preaching the whole, that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus in that whole. Whereunto I also
labor. It's hard work. Striving, he
said, according to His working which worketh in me mightily. Paul said he didn't do it by
himself. He said, I don't do this in myself. I do it according
to His working. Well, Christ's witnesses testify
of Him before they say a word to anybody else. He told them
not to depart from Jerusalem, and they obeyed Him because they
trusted Christ. He commanded them to wait on
the promise of the Holy Ghost, and they obeyed Him. He declared
to them that God's will and purpose are not for us to be concerned
with, And they didn't ask him any more questions. And what
did they do when God once again wrote these commandments on their
heart, His law on their heart, His charge on their heart? What did
they do? Look at Acts 1.12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath
day's journey. And when they would come in,
they went up into an upper room where both Peter and James and
John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James
the son of Alphaeus, Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
And these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication
with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brethren.
Now, now, Now they're ready. They're ready
now. And the Lord told them, He said,
when these things are accomplished, you shall be witnesses unto Me.
They witnessed. They testified of His greatness
by the fact that they were gathered together in one accord, waiting
on Him. Do you see that? Now they're ready to go witness
to it. They weren't ready before that. Were they ready when they
were scattered? Were they ready when they were all going their
own way, doing their own thing, thinking their own thoughts?
We aren't either. No matter if we're all here together,
if we're not all of the same mind, that Christ has got to
be exalted. That that's the reason God wrote
this book. That that's the reason God gave you a pastor. That that's
the reason God brought you out from among where you were. for His Son to be exalted. If
we're all of that mind and of that accord, we'll be witnesses
unto Him. We'll speak that which we've
seen and which we've heard. That word witness, you know,
it means martyr too. Some of them died. Some of them
laid down their life. But they don't have anything
to glory in. Go home and read Hebrews 11. Yeah, Hebrews 11. These all died in faith, crying
on Him, crying on His name, preaching right up until they didn't have
another breath to preach. You see, they didn't have to
be scolded and shamed and whipped into being obedient to Christ. They were. by the Spirit of God,
by the Spirit of Grace, by the Law of God written in their heart.
That's how we're going to follow Him. And oh, how beautiful upon
the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth,
makes known, broad salvation, that saith undesigned, Thy God
reigneth! That's what we're saying. That's
what we're saying. Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice. With the voice together shall
they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall
bring again Zion. Break forth into joy. Sing together,
ye waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath comforted his
people and hath redeemed Jerusalem. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.
Tell them their warfare is accomplished. Tell them that the Lord has rewarded
them double for all their sins. Oh, I wish I'd turn on my television
and hear somebody saying that. I wish I'd go on Sermon Audio
and download one Presbyterian or Reformed Baptist and hear
them preach that message. I wish I could. If you go to Free Grace Radio, you'll
hear some preaching it. You'll hear them preaching it. The voice said, Cry. What shall
I cry? All flesh is grass. That's not what I'm hearing preached. Tell them their warfare is accomplished.
Lay down your shotgun. Take your big old bucket of water
and pour it on all your gunpowder. You don't need it anymore. You
don't have to fight. You don't have to scold. You
don't have to shame. You don't have to whip. You don't have
to preach that message anymore. It never did make anybody in
Israel obey God. And if the law is our rule of
life, what was Abraham's rule of life? If the law at Sinai,
if we're bound to that law, what made Abraham walk? What made
him obey God? He didn't have that law. It came
430 years after him. What made him obey? Answer that for me.