If you have your Bible, turn
to I Corinthians chapter 9. I want to read beginning with verse 16. I Corinthians chapter 9 verse
16. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of. For necessity is laid upon me,
Yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this
thing willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will a dispensation
of the gospel is committed unto me, what is my reward then? Verily, that when I preach the
gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that
I abuse not my power in the gospel. For though I be free from all
men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain them
more. And unto the Jews I became as
a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under
the law as under the law, that I might gain them that are under
the law. To them that are without law,
as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law
to Christ. The rule of life for a believer
is Jesus Christ. That I might gain them that are
without law. To the weak became I as weak,
that I might gain the weak. I made all things to all men,
that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's
sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." There's some tremendous thoughts
expressed here by the Apostle Paul, and I wanted to talk to
you a little bit today about by all means saving some, by
all means saving some. Now that's a very strange way
of speaking. The Apostle Paul here, you might want to ask him some
questions about that statement. We remember where the Apostle
Peter on the day of Pentecost said to the people, those who
had rejected Christ and crucified Him, He said, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation. Save yourself from this untoward
generation. That's a very odd expression,
isn't it? Peter was alive today, we'd call
him on the carpet and ask him, What did you mean by such a statement
as that? save yourself we know nobody
can save themselves and we know that both Peter and Paul was crystal clear on the doctrine
of salvation being by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus
Christ and that salvation was not something that a man could
do for himself or for anyone else But Paul wrote to young
Timothy and told him to remember the teaching that he had received.
And he said, take heed to those things, because by so doing you
can both save thyself and them that hear thee. Well, that's
another odd expression, isn't it? And we would like to know
what Paul is talking about. Why would he make such a statement
as that? Is not salvation of God alone?
Paul did not insinuate, he was not insinuating that he could
save anybody. Now the doctrine that salvation
is of God alone and is the work of the Holy Spirit was dear to
Paul and Peter and dear to us. Our testimony must be clear on
this point, and I think it is. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says that,
For by grace are ye saved through faith, that not of yourselves.
It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And
Paul said in Timothy, Who has saved us and called us, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So our
testimony must be clear on this point. Romans 9, you remember
Paul said that it is God that showeth mercy. It is God that
showeth mercy. It is not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy. So salvation
is indeed the work of God alone, and we have tried to be clear
on this, but this expression used here gives great prominence
to instrumentality, to the fact that God uses instruments in
the salvation of sinners. The verse is often quoted out
of 1 Corinthians 1, I believe it s verse 21, where that scripture
says that God has chosen through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. All through the Word of God,
we read in, just for an example, 2 Corinthians it is, chapter
5, beginning with verse 18, says, And all things are of God, who
hath given us the ministry of reconciliation. to wit that God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing
their trespasses unto them and we beseech you be you reconciled
to God we pray you be you reconciled to God men have been chosen by
God and have been blessed by God to be a blessing to others
God makes men instruments now I would like to say that I believe,
and I think the scripture bears this out, that everybody that
God saves, that He gives them a passion in their souls when
He saves them to want to see other people brought into the
kingdom of God. He puts a passion, a desire in
the hearts of those that He saves that they might that they want
others to experience what they've experienced. They want others
to feel the joy that their salvation has brought to their own soul.
If a parent has been saved, they cannot help but want their children
to be saved. If one child out of the family
experiences the grace of God and is a protector of the benefit,
then they cannot help but want all their brothers and sisters
to experience the grace of God and to experience salvation through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we recognize, and it s not
something that is hard to detect in our day because it s very
prominent, that some would exaggerate the power of instrumentality
and look to men instead of the Lord for the saving of men. Look to men and beg men as it
were instead of begging God for men. They beg men to make a confession
and we know that some have given too much prominence to instrumentality. But both are taught in the Word
of God. The fact that salvation is of
God and the fact that God uses men and women, boys and girls
to testify and bear witness of the Gospel to others to bring
His sheep into the fold. God uses human instruments. I've been reading a book about
the Civil War and the great revivals that broke out in the camps of
the Army of Northern Virginia. And there was tremendous moving
of the Spirit of God in those army camps. And God rested and
saved numerous souls. But there seemed to be three
things that were involved in those revivals. Well, we know
that it was a time of great anxiety for all those soldiers because
many were dying. There were 620,000 men who died
in the Civil War on both sides. 620,000. And so it was a time
of great anxiety. A man didn't know when he ate
his breakfast in the morning whether he would ever eat another
meal or not. And he was very serious about his soul. And there
was a great movement among the soldiers and they couldn't find
enough preachers to preach. They was looking for chaplains
because they needed them to preach in the various regiments and
sometimes it would hold up to three services a day. And they
would hold services sometimes in the evenings when they would
be sniped at by the enemy on the other side. And I've read
accounts where men were wounded while they were being baptized,
and wounded while they were sitting around a campfire listening to
a preacher. And I mean 1,500 men sitting
around fires and listening to a preacher. and in the rain listening
to a preacher. Snow on the ground and some of
those men didn't have shoes listening to a preacher preach the gospel. And there seemed to be three
things involved. One was music, singing of the
old hymns. Now those men came from homes
and from churches where it was a custom in that day and time
for the men to set mute while the women would do the singing
in the church. But here's these men out here
in this army camp, and somebody would strike up a tune of an
old hymn that they were familiar with, and the men would start
coming and gathering, and they would start singing out and singing
out, and these old songs of Zion was a part of the revival. And
then there seemed to be two other things. And one of the chaplains said in the book that his whole
expectation of success hung upon two things which God had joined
together and which no man can safely put asunder. Natural means
and natural means earnestly used and God's blessing earnestly
sought. Fanaticism scorns the use of
means and presumptuously claims the blessing of God. Atheism
scoffs at the blessing of God and presumptuously depends on
mere means. The profoundest wisdom, which
is but another name for the simplest faith, fixes its humble trust
in God's promised blessing on the means that he himself has
put within our reach. And so we see that it was necessary
that they preach to these men, pass out literature. They had
coal porters, they called them, that would come with all the
tracts and Bibles that they could get a hold of And they went as
far as England in that day and time to get some Bibles. And
the families were called upon that lived around where these
battles were going on to give up their Bibles to the men in
the army so that they would have a Bible to read. And it was a
time when God used this instrumentality. And the churches were glad to
be used. Now God has chosen and blessed
his ministers, and it is pleased God to save souls by his people. He might, if he had been pleased, have called all
of his chosen to himself by a voice out of the excellent glory, just
as he called Saul the persecutor. He could have done that, and
he might have commissioned angels to fly throughout the length
and breadth of the earth and carry the message of mercy. But in His wisdom, He has been
pleased to bring men to Himself by man. He has been pleased to
do that. Now in order for this to be carried
out, the divine arrangement that is, the Lord has implanted in
all believers a passion for the salvation of souls. And in some,
it is more lively than in others. but ought to be a leading feature
in the character of every child of God, this passion to see other
people saved, desire to see others brought into the Kingdom of God.
They tried to find chaplains in this Civil War period, 1861
through 1865, that would come and live right in the army camps
and would go out to the battle with the men men who could suffer
and endure hardship and be what they ought to be to the soldiers,
be there for them and stand alongside them. And many that they found
were not suited for that. They left just as soon as they
could get away because of the hardships in the way. Well, Paul
here in this text of scripture He talks about unto the Jews. He said, I'm not in debt to any
man in verse 19. I don't owe anybody anything. Yet I made myself servant unto
all that I might gain the more. In other words, whatever I have
to do, if I have to work with my own hands, if I have to build
tents as Paul did, whatever necessary for him to do, in order that
he might gain the more. He said, I'll be a slave to all
men, that I might preach the gospel to them, that I'd be able
to get the message of salvation by grace alone, through faith
alone to their souls. Then I like what he had to say
here. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew. Now the Apostle Paul,
he knew the meaning of the law, the old ceremonial law. and the moral law, he knew the
meaning of it. And so when he found somebody
that was under the law, he just preached the gospel to them out
of the law and showed them where that they couldn't keep the law.
It was impossible. He put them in a whale of a bind
to where that he just emptied them out of all hope. Anybody
that trusts in the law for salvation is lost. You cannot be saved
by the law. The law will save no man. And
so Paul, he just fixed himself as it were under the law and
brought the man to see that he absolutely had no opportunity,
no possibility of being saved and reconciled to God by maintaining
that by the deeds of the law his flesh could be justified.
And so as we know that often times people think that They're
justified by the law, by the moral law, by what they do and
what they don't do. But Paul said, I just became
a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under
the law is under the law. I acted like I was under the
law. I showed them that the end of all of that, that I might
gain them that are under the law. And to them that are without
law is without law. Paul wasn't a renegade or a rebel.
But he said, when I met a Gentile who the law was not given to,
and who was not under the law, I just became to him, thinking like
he does, and I presented the law to him, or I presented the
truth of the gospel to him, without the law. I didn't say anything
to him about the law. I just told him about how God
hung His Son on a cross. and how he'd been crucified,
and how he died, and how that if you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, you shall be saved, and didn't even bring the law, didn't
even mention the law, or bring it into the conversation. So
he says, that I might gain them that are without law. You see,
there's an urgency about this, a need to reach those that are
in need, and those that are outside of Christ. To the weak became
I as weak, that I might gain the weak. Paul recognized that
his strength was in the Lord only. And it wasn't any problem
for him because he trembled every time he got up to preach. He
told the Corinthians, he said, I was with you in fear and much
trembling. and preaching Christ and Him
crucified to you. So he says that I might gain
the weak. I want to gain those that are
weak. I want to gain them for Christ. So I'll preach the gospel
to them. I made all things to all men
that I might by all means save some. And that's what they were
looking for in chaplains. Somebody that would go with the
men, stay with the men, fight with the men, and suffer with
the men, and preach to them day by day every time they had an
opportunity. They would have a meeting, two or three of them
a day, prayer meetings every evening, and God used it in the
salvation of many souls. Well, why is this passion for
the salvation of others implanted in the heart of the saved? Well, I think there's about three
reasons, at least three reasons, and number one is for God's glory.
Why would God use a human instrument in the salvation of souls? It is to the glory of God when
He achieves His work in the world by instruments which in themselves
would rather hinder than promote His work. Now brother, sister,
the very best instrument that God ever used, if it hadn't have
been for the wisdom of God and the power of God and the blessing
of God, there'd have been nothing accomplished. And so it's to
the glory of God when He takes a vessel like this man or this
man or one of these others over here and calls them to preach
and puts a word in their mouth to preach And then God blesses
that and saves somebody through it. That's the blessing of God. It is to God's glory. No man
among us can help God. Do you believe that statement?
We can't help God. Salvation is God's business from
the beginning to the end. It is true that He uses us, but
could He not And this has been my thought all my life, ever
since I've been in the ministry, that He could do better without
me than He could with me. I just figured He always could.
But nevertheless, He said, Go. He said, Be you steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you
know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Go on. I use instruments. I will bless
even a stray word. And how many times has God blessed
a stray word? I remember this story about Mr. Spurgeon one time. He was going
to preach in a large tabernacle that had just been recently constructed. And there was going to be, I
suppose, thousands of people that were going to be there.
And so he wanted to go in beforehand and test the acoustics because
they had no microphones in those days. And so he went up to the
pulpit and quoted John 3.16 in that huge tabernacle. And as
the story goes, there was a janitor in the back, way in the back,
that was in another room that heard that verse. Scripture and
God saved that man through hearing those as it were stray words
and all mr. Spurr he wasn't preaching at
all all he was doing was testing the acoustics and So God blesses
sometimes When you don't think he's going to bless God uses
means you may not even be even thinking about being used of
God But he's using you anyway. He could do in a moment that
which through the weakness of the instrument Now it takes months,
but he knows best how to glorify his own name. He knows best. He knows best. Why didn't he
get a polished instrument to come here? Why didn't he get
polished instruments in the day of the apostles? No, they were
old fishermen, ignorant and unlearned men. but God raised him up. It kind of reminds me of the
story of the man who painted a picture, fabulous picture,
but he didn't have any brush, he didn't have any tools to do
it with, and that made it that much worth that much more. Because
he painted a fabulous picture without any professional tools.
And when God saves people and does his work through instruments
like us, it just glorifies God more. Everybody can tell the
Lord had to do it. That guy couldn't have done it.
There'd be no way he could have done it. No, no, no. I remember down, hearing about
this, down in Lexington, Kentucky, there was an old preacher by
the name of Clarence Walker. And he had a preacher school.
And Brother Scott Richardson attended there, and J.D. Butler, and Stanley Borders,
and some of these old brethren that are just at the edge of
the grave now. And back when they were attending
there as students, they would go down to the mission like our
brethren do, Aaron and Brother Mitch, and preach down there. So one night they had preached
on a Saturday night and went out on the sidewalk. And here
come a fellow down the sidewalk and he was drunk and he was staggered
all over the place. And so one of the brothers accustomed
him and said, Have you ever had any serious thoughts about eternity? And he said, Yes. He said, Yes. And he said, Well,
have you ever considered being saved? And the fellow said, oh,
he said, I'm saved. He said, Clarence Walker saved
me. And Brother Scott said, yeah,
you look like somebody Clarence Walker would have saved. And
I tell you what, if God left the saving up to us, folks wouldn't
be saved. They'd just maybe think they
were. But they wouldn't be saved. But God has to do the work. It's
God's work. And then I think, I think this, too, that not only
is it for the glory of God, but it is for the church's good
that God puts this passion in the hearts of His people. The
church's energy is to be expended, I think, in this way. Churches
who do not care for the souls of men suffer division and strife. Something has got to happen.
Something will happen. if you don't care, if churches
do not care. Men's minds are sure to work
and their tongues to move. Lives unused are sure to rust
and this kind of rust is a deadly poison to peace and an irritant
that eats away at the heart of the church. In other words, there
is energy that God puts in his people and if that energy is
not used in the right direction Then, you see, that's when trouble
generally comes. And so it draws out the strength
of the church to have this passion working in the membership of
the body, desiring to see others brought in to the fold. It knits the heart of the brethren
together, wells the hearts of the brethren together, Fellowship
in service and success welds the saints together and is one
of the best securities for mutual love to continue, for this passion
to be in our midst. And I think that when we see
God using the efforts and the preaching of the Word and the
witness that we give, it does weld us together. And it does
stir up our hearts to mutual love and affection to see what
the Lord is doing. And I want to commend, I know that this is the truth.
I know that this passion exists in the hearts of God's people
and I know it exists here. I want to commend the brothers and sisters in Christ
here for their efforts. The brethren who go down to the
mission, I commend them. This is good, this is great. For those who give and maintain
this building as a place where the gospel is preached, I commend
you for what you do. And our brother Aaron who preaches
now and then here, clearest gospel message probably
that you're going to hear in the city of Great Falls. And
you're to be commended. And then we have those who keep
the building clean. They're to be commended. All
of you do that. desire to see people brought
into the Kingdom of God, to be saved, to keep the doors open,
to be used in the Lord's service. You desire that. The passion
is here and those of you brethren that meet faithfully on Wednesday
night for prayer and for the study of the Word and to keep
the Spirit of the Lord, as it were, moving in our hearts You're to be commended. And those
who buy books and literature, those who gave to put the books
in the prison in Indiana, you're to be commended. God bless you.
Brother Hank and his brother Barney who work in the mission
up in Choteau, they're to be commended. because they are getting
out the gospel. This is that passion that men
want to be used, and they desire to be used, and they want to
spread the message of grace, saving grace, to the sheep. They want to send out the word
that God will draw in those that are lost unto himself. Well,
how does this passion work in us, just like we've explained? Just like we've just now explained,
God uses the brethren in these various and
sundry ways. Well, how does this passion work?
Well, I think it's because of the tender anxiety that's put
into our hearts when God saves us. We're anxious. We desire
to present all of God's elect. Paul said, I endure all things
for the elect's sake, that they might obtain eternal salvation
with eternal glory. And there's a tenderness in the
hearts of people, joy when people are saved. I think this passion,
it comes out whenever somebody professes Christ and says, I
believe on the Lord Jesus. I think all of us are made to
enjoy in our hearts saying hallelujah, praise God, amen, that God has
brought in another of the lost sheep into the fold. And then
we've mentioned private efforts, sacrifices we've mentioned, prayers,
agonies for the spread of the gospel. Prayer needs to be more
of that here, brother, sister. Needs to be more of that. We
need to be praying earnestly. I remember back in 1975, some
of the prayer meetings that I had here in this city, begging God
to raise up His work here and to work, bring together a people. And I was moved this week to
think about this young man, Aaron, and how he needs to be crying
to God that the Lord would raise up his sheep and that he would
be able to come in contact with them and preach to them. And
you need to be praying that God will bless and open the hearts
of men and women and bring them into this place to hear the Word,
to hear the message. That we might gain some, we might
gain them more. And the Lord is the author of
salvation, and He can do that. So public service when we're
able. When you're able. Brother, preach when you're able.
He was at his grandfather's funeral the other day. He preached the
gospel. That's what he did. So when you're
able, preach. Anytime you have opportunity,
preach the gospel. Ken, if you get an opportunity,
preach the gospel. Any of you brethren that have
opportunity, spread the word. Get you a track or two and stick
it in your pocket. Pass it out. God may use it to
his glory. So in adapting ourselves to the
condition and capacity of others for their good, Paul, as we've
read, became all things to all men. So there may come a time
when you have to, you know, come down off your high horse a little
bit and be willing to deal with people where they are
go where they are and deal with them in their situations well I wondered and I'll close
right away here why this passion is not more largely developed
among God's people I wondered why. Well, it is maybe because
we have such a little of the grace of God. We are drawfish
Christians with little faith, little love, little care for
the glory of God, and therefore with little concern for prayers
and sinners. We need more grace in our souls.
More grace. More grace. And you notice what
Scripture says in the book of James, it says, He giveth more
grace. He giveth more grace. We need to be reminded again
that the Scripture says that He that wins souls is wise. Proverbs
11 20. And we need also to be reminded
that James said, James 4 20. He said, Let him know that he
that converteth a sinner from his way, that he saves a soul
from death, and hides a multitude of sin. Let him know. Let him know these things. And
then I think sometimes that we fall into a lopsided view of
gospel doctrines. And somebody said it like this,
we sit down on the fist of election and lean back on the thumb of
predestination and say God will save his own, and he will, but
by his by teaching and preaching the gospel. He'll save his own.
Predestination is not a legitimate reason for a church's idleness. It is not. Characteristically,
back through the years, those who believed these doctrines
that we believe in this church, they were among some of the most
active and most useful men. Some of the greatest missionaries
that ever lived were Calvinists, strong Calvinists. You know, we don't consider predestination
and other matters like sometimes we do in the use
of means in the salvation of sinners. You know, the farmer,
he doesn't say, well, if I'm to have a crop, I'll have one.
No, he plows, he plants, and he cultivates. He fertilizes. That's what he does. Now, he
can believe in predestination all he wants to, but it ain't
going to do no good if he don't plow, plant, fertilize, and cultivate. Got to do that. And that's the
natural means. And then, it's like a fellow
said, he said, you pray for your corn crop, but you amen it with
a hole. And so you pray for the Lord's blessing, but then you
preach, and you teach, and you talk, and you visit, and you
give witness when you can. The businessman trying to sell
his wares, he gets out there on the road and he peddles them,
doesn't he? He tries to sell them. The common
laborer with his labor, he goes every day, Because he knows if
he doesn't work five days a week or six days a week, he ain't
going to have nothing at the end of the week. God's people
need to labor. And then the trucker, he keeps
the wheels rolling, and he keeps the load on his back. He's always
got to have a load on his back. And that means he does that because
he's got a truck payment to pay, got family to raise, got to have
a load on his back. You don't sit back and say, well,
if God means for me to have something here at the end of the month,
I'll have it. My truck's sitting idle. No, it's got to be rolling.
Them wheels got to be rolling. So, let's not be fatalistic about
this business of spiritual things. Let's preach when we have opportunity.
spread the Word. And I think for the one of faith,
I think faith would say, pray for that sinner. I think faith would say, go speak
a word to that sinner. I think the Holy Spirit in us,
if we pray, will say to us, that man over there, that lady over
there, speak a word to them, say something to their soul.
Faith. We need faith to believe that
God is going to bless the promises of His Word. And then out of sympathy with
God. I think sometimes we are out of sympathy with what the
Lord is in sympathy with. God has an eternal purpose which
He purposed in His Son. His Son, the Lord Jesus, He died
on the cross to save His people from their sins. Are you in sympathy
with that? Well, then be about the Master's
business. Preach and testify and give and
spread the word. Spread the word. Well, how can we arouse this
passion? We hadn't when the Lord saved
us, how can we arouse this passion? Well, I think a firm belief of
the misery and degradation of sinners, the awful fix people are in,
will arouse us, I think, if we can get a picture of it again.
And everybody, and Aaron said this the other day at the funeral,
everybody outside of Christ is lost. The only people that are
saved are people that are in union with Christ. Everybody
that dies unsaved is going to hell. Do you believe that? Does
this church still believe that? The degradation, the lost condition
of men and women, the awful shape. Do you know that two people out
of every ten that walks the streets in Great Falls, Montana is on
meth? It's got something to do with
meth. Either using it, manufacturing it, or peddling it. That's what
I've been told. Awful shape that people are in.
The need, the need, the need. And so I think it might stir
us up a little bit if we could just get another view again of
what the Word of God teaches about hell. And then to close,
I think a sense of our solemn obligation to the God of grace.
If for what we profess to be, save men and women redeemed by
the heart's blood of the Son of God, do we not owe something
back to God for this? Somebody said words are leaves,
actions are fruit. Has God saved you? Did He invest
His Son in you? Was it for you that he died?
Was it for you that he shed his blood? Do you owe him anything? Do you
owe the Lord anything? Well, we don't owe the justice
of God one cent. It has all been paid by the Lord
Jesus Christ. But oh, what a debt we owe. Paul
said he was a debtor to all men. He was a debtor. He owed the
gospel. For Christ's sake, He owed the
gospel to men. And so, think about it. Think about these things this
morning and meditate on them in the coming week. Passion. That passion in you may be stirred
up that God may use every one of us to our dying day for His
honor and glory and praise. Well, let's have a word of prayer.
Father, thank You for these dear ones that have gathered here
this morning in the Savior's name. And Father, we pray that
You'll bless the message and use it for Thy glory. Stumbling
remarks they were. But our Father, I pray that You
might own them and use them, and I pray that we'll see fruit
come there will be more prayer, more walking in faith, more desires
toward having the Spirit of God to lead us out and to direct
us, open doors of usefulness for this church. We pray in Jesus'
name for His sake. Amen.