If you have your Bibles, turn
back to the book of Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. The chapter was read to us a while
ago, and I do hope that You listened carefully as it was read. The older I have become, the
more sure I am about a few things, and the less
sure I am about a lot of things. I am amazed sometimes how my
heart is drawn back to Scriptures that we looked at long ago when
we were much younger and stronger, and just give them a passing
glance. And now it seems that you're
drawn back to them, and they really come alive to your soul. And there are some verses here
in this first chapter of Philippians that have been a real blessing and
a challenge to my heart and have provided a great deal of comfort.
Please do not deny me the privilege of being comforted by old tried
passages of Scripture that maybe you've heard and thought on yourself
a considerable amount, but they have been a real blessing to
me and I need to be comforted and need to be strengthened and
I'm sure you do too. But I would have you to note
here in this chapter that the Apostle Paul was in prison. He was in prison and he was chained
to two soldiers, one on one side of him and one on the other.
The Apostle Paul was a man who was persecuted, a man who was
greatly molested because of his faith
in Christ and because of the gospel that he preached. And his hope was, in verse 20,
according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing
I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always,
that with all boldness of speech, plainness of speech, He says,
as always. In other words, you didn't find
the Apostle Paul timid at any time when it came to speaking
of the Gospel and speaking of the things of the Gospel. You did not find him to be timid. He was always bold and very plain
spoken. On one occasion he said, I believe,
therefore have I spoken. The Apostle Paul believed that
we should be very clear in our presentation of the gospel and
that we should not curry favor of men. Now this generation of
professing Christians in America don't know too much about this
business of standing alone and preaching boldly and plainly
a message that causes them to receive the disfavor of the world. And somebody well said that if
Christianity is not persecuted in America, today it owes its
security to its unfaithfulness. And now that, I believe, is a
true statement. Another statement that always
meant quite a bit to me was that if we lived up to the hilt, everything
that we professed to believe, that it would be enough to put
us all in jail. And I believe that's true. I
heard a story about a man in Pennsylvania recently who read
the first chapter of the Book of Romans publicly, and he was
threatened prison for reading it. Now that's in America. And we must understand that we
are to experience the conflicts and the difficulties of the world
and be hated by the world. There are some verses that I
want us to look at carefully. Turn back with me, if you will.
Hold your finger here in Philippians. John chapter 15. The Lord Jesus speaks in verse
18. He has just told the disciples,
or He just commanded them that you love one another. God's people
are to love each other. To love one another. Let brotherly love continue.
And then in verse 18 he says, If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love its own. Mark it down. When you find somebody
loved by the world, it's because the world can tell who is its own. and the world will love
its own. It always loves its own. But
because you're not of the world, believers are not of the world.
They've been called out of the world. They've been chosen by
God and called out of the world by the Holy Spirit. And they're
not of the world. Jesus said, you're not of the
world even as I am not of the world. And you know that the
Lord Jesus Christ had no part in this world. But, he says, because you are
not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Now brethren, is it so that the
doctrine of election brings down the hatred of the world upon
God's living family? It is true. The nation of Israel
was hated because God favored that nation. And they're still
hated today. But we know that the world hates
the people of God because God has pointed them out and ordained
them to a relationship with Him to salvation and to life. He says, I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hates you. Now brethren, we cannot
go around and indicate to men and women of this world that
we are the chosen of God and not expect to receive hatred
from the world because of it. We need to expect persecution. You say, well, we really are
pretty free now to do whatever we want. Well, it may be true
for a while, but the facts of Scripture do not change. The
world hates those that are chosen of God who boldly and plainly
speak the Word of God and stand for the truth of God. The Bible
talks about us contending earnestly for the faith that was once delivered
unto the saints." Contending earnestly. Paul had some other
things to say about that in Philippians 1, but let me read to you a couple
more verses here out of John 15. Remember the word that I
said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If
they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you. Now that's plain, isn't it? If
they have kept my sayings, they will keep yours also. Now, brother,
sister, we go through this world trying to keep the world off
our backs, trying to better up the world, trying to, in some
way or another, live with the world so that the world will
not in any way, shape, or form be offended at anything we got
to say, anything that we believe. And this is ridiculous. It's
ridiculous. The Lord said, if they've persecuted
Me, they will also persecute you. And if they've kept My sayings,
they'll keep yours also. So you see, our identification
and union with the Lord Jesus Christ puts us in a position
where that if we're true to that union, and true to what He's
taught us, that we need to expect persecution and trouble out of
the world. And it's not going to be a carefree
life, brother or sister. It's not going to be a life that
you're going to be able to live as a Christian in this world
and not run up against opposition and tribulation and trouble because
of your faith. But all these things, verse 21,
will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know
not Him that sent me. They'll do it for my namesake. So when you're suffering, you
suffer for Christ's sake, for His namesake. And Jesus said
the reason that the world's going to persecute you is because they
persecuted Me, and it's because they know not Him that sent Me. They don't know the Lord. They
do not know God. And because they do not know
Him, they will persecute you for My name's sake. And then,
in the 16th chapter of John, in verse 32, Behold, the hour
cometh, yea, is now come, that you shall be scattered, every
man to his own, and shall leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken unto
you, that in Me you might have peace, In the world ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. I wanted to, if I could, to move
us away from this mindset that if we're just lovable Christians
in this world, nobody's going to get upset with us. If we're
just real nice people, real nice people and treat everybody like
they ought to be treated, nobody is ever going to get put out
with us. Brother and sister, that's an unscriptural expectation. It's unscriptural. Now when we
come back to the book of Philippians chapter 1, and I'd like for you
to turn back there with me, And notice in verse 12, I want you
to see Paul's attitude about this. He wasn't alarmed about
it. He wasn't alarmed about this persecution. He said, But I would
ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.
Here I sit in prison, chained between two guards, And he says,
I want you to understand, brethren, now there's something I want
you to understand, that there's a victory in this. I want you
to understand that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. God has designed
this, that the gospel go out and that it go forward. And he
says in the next place, and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing
confident that my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without
fear. Paul said the fact that I'm in
bonds has emboldened some of the brethren. Their tongues have
been loosed and they begin to preach Christ. Recognizing that
this is the fate of those that, or the lot of those that follow
the Lord Jesus Christ and that are faithful to His Word. And
these brethren have been emboldened by it. They've been encouraged
by it. Brethren, let us understand that
the martyrs are the seed of the church. And that the blood of
the martyrs embolden many more to wax strong in the faith of
the Gospel and be very strong in presenting of what they believe
that the Word of God teaches. Don't be afraid to suffer, because
there's going to be a victory in it. They're much more bold, Paul
said, to speak the Word without what? Without fear. So they open
their mouth and they speak the Word of God. Some indeed preach
Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. I
want you to see how thorough the victory is. Paul said, I
can't determine here why one fellow opens his mouth and why
another fellow opens his mouth. He said one fellow opens his
mouth for one reason, another fellow for another reason. The
one preached Christ of contention, he's not sincere about it at
all. He just mentions the name of
Christ to make people hate me more, Paul said. Supposing to
add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that
I'm set for the defense of the gospel. What then, notwithstanding
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And I therein do rejoice, yea,
and will rejoice." Paul said, I'm going to rejoice regardless
because Christ, the name of Christ, is set forth and it's preached
and declared. I'm not going to get into the
business of trying to figure out why one fellow speaks and
why another don't and so on. But nevertheless, Christ is preached
and I rejoice in that. Paul was all about Jesus Christ. That's what he was about. Christ
had possessed this man. And his object in life and in
death was the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what he says here in verse 20. But that with all boldness
as always, So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death. I want that Jesus Christ would
be magnified in this body as I live. That's Paul's wish. That's his desire. And if it
be by my living, then praise the Lord. And if it be by death,
then praise the Lord. Don't worry about being persecuted,
brethren. All they can do is to kill the
body. They cannot kill the soul. Be
strong in the faith and in the power of Christ and go forth
to speak in the name of the Lord, fearing nothing. For Paul said
in verse 21, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For me to live is for Jesus Christ
to be preached. For me, if I'm alive and get
into the pulpit, Christ will be preached. If I'm allowed to
speak from the prison, Christ will be preached. If I'm able
to get loose and get out among sinners, wherever it is, even
if it's in heathen temples, Christ will be preached. He will be
exalted. For me to live is Christ. Paul
said on one occasion in Galatians, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I. I've been crucified. The old me is crucified. I don't
have any agenda in the flesh anymore. My agenda in the Spirit
is that Christ will be set forth either in my life or in my death. I'm sold out to Jesus Christ,
completely lock, stock, and barrel. That's my whole life, is Christ
and the gospel. But, he says, if I die, that's
gain. That's gain for me. If I die,
it's gain. And we'll find out in just a
minute how it's going to be gain for this apostle. But I've got
a couple of other things I need to show you first. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Christ will be preached. Christ
will be set forth. And the power of God is connected
with the preaching of the name of Christ and the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. To all that believe, Jew first
and also the Greek, God has fixed his power to the message of the
gospel. and never tire of preaching it,
because that's what God will use to save His people from their
sins. He says, this will be the fruit
of my labor. Yet, what I shall choose, I'm
in prison. Nero could put me to death at
any time. My departure is at hand. I could
leave this world at any time. But He said, yet what I shall
choose, I want not, for I am in a strait betwixt two. I'm
caught between two things here. Having a desire to depart, having
a desire to leave this world, having a desire to finish my
course, and to keep the faith to the end. I have a desire to
depart, to leave this old world, and to be with Christ. which
he says is far better. I'll come back to that in a moment.
But I want you to look at verse 27. Only let your behavior be as
it becometh the gospel. Let's continue on with our train
of thought here about persecution. Only let your behavior be as
it becometh the gospel of Christ, and brethren, Right there is
one of the points that we need to give consideration to in regards
to the power that's in the church and the power that's in our lives
and the influence that we have as the people of God in this
world. And that is our behavior. Our
behavior. Do we behave like people who
belong to Jesus Christ, who've been baptized into Christ, who
put off the old man and put on the new man. Are we representing
Jesus Christ or what are we doing? Are we going back to our old
ways? Are we living in sin and rebellion? Are we living like
men of the world? Are we living like men who have
no faith? Who have no gospel? Are we saying
with the rest of the world, we will not have this man to rule
over us. I really believe this is one
of the reasons why that we're so weak in the face of the world. It's because our lives are so
contaminated and so given over to the ways of the flesh and
to the ways of the world. We're minding the things of the
flesh and not the things of the spirit. We're feeding on the
things of the world and the things of the flesh. and are not feeding
on the things of God like we ought to. Let your behavior be
as it becometh the Gospel. Does your behavior become the
Gospel? Does it adorn the Gospel? Does
it speak well of the Gospel? A changed life. Some of you brethren
can quote II Corinthians 5.17. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things become new. And a new life, a life changed
by the power of God and the grace of God. And the Spirit of God
is the life that is becoming to the Gospel. A changed life. A life that honors God. A life
that is lived pleasing to the Lord. walking in the ways of
Christ. As we have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, let us abide in Him and walk with Him. And if a man
says that he knows the Lord, then let him walk even as he
walked. This is the life of coming to
the Gospel. In the Gospel we see that men
and women come to union with Christ. Christ comes to live
in them. And they are in union with Him,
and His power, like in John 15, it talks about the
vine and the branches, and how that the branches receive strength
from the vines. And there's a union there, that
the fruit might be produced. And brethren, we desperately
need that we would have a life that is the coming to the gospel,
that we would live a life the coming to the gospel. And oh,
I trust that you will be rebuked if your life is unbecoming to
the gospel. You cannot live and walk in the
ways of flesh and expect to have any power in your life. Expect
that your testimony is going to mean anything. And oh, may
we remember to whom we belong, and how we came to belong to
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we were baptized into Him. Okay,
and then we go on here and look at another verse. Or in the rest
of this verse, he says, that whether I come and see you or
else be absent, whether I'm with you, whether I come down to pay
you a visit, or whether I'm absent and I hear other people talking
about you. He says that I may hear of your
affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, that you stand fast
in the Spirit of God, in one spirit, with one mind, with one
mind. Not always divisions and all
of these schisms in the body, but there is a steadfastness
of mind and heart in the things of God. Striving together, striving
together. Now you see brethren, that's
a lost concept in our day and time. This striving together. We are one body in Jesus Christ. And you know, if your body, you
went out to dig a ditch, you'd have to get your whole body involved
in it. I mean, you've got to get down
in there with that pick and that shovel, and you've got to put
some muscle into that grass, especially if you dig one in
this country. You've got to get in there and
get with it. And so in this concept of striving
together, for the faith of the gospel. We all need to put our
shoulders to it. The idea that there isn't anything
for anybody to do except the preacher, and that you're paying
the preacher to serve God for you, that concept won't work. That's contrary to the Word of
God. Everybody needs to get their shoulder to the business, and
anyone running around asking for something to do is not on
their knees very much. Get on your knees and then ask
God to open your eyes, and you'll see some things to do. You'll
see a whole lot to do. You'll see a lot of people that
you could visit, and that the knowledge that God has imparted
to your soul, that you could give it to them. You could encourage
them. And a believer that's stumbling,
or a believer that's having difficulty, you could be there to give them
a word of encouragement. There is plenty to do, plenty
to do, and we need the whole army. I was reading this week
out of the book of Joshua, and where the children of Israel
after the battle of Jericho, oh, they had a tremendous victory. gave them such a marvelous manifestation
of His goodness and His presence and His power in the victory
there at Jericho. And then afterwards, they sent out some spies up to
Ai, Joshua did. So they sent some men up there
to check out this little city three miles up the road. Now
you know the children of Israel have just come across Jordan,
and the Lord has given them Jericho, and He has promised to give them
the land that flowed with milk and honey. They go up there to
Ai, a city of 12,000 men, and they look it over and they come
back and they say, they had no need to send the whole army up
there, just send two or three thousand men. And it would be
a piece of cake towards that effect. All we got to do is just
go up there and take it. So, they didn't know and realize
what had happened that one of the members of the tribe of Judah
had at Jericho stolen some things that had been offered to an idol.
And some wedges of silver and a goodly Babylonian garment and
a wedge of gold, and he had hid that in his tent, and it was
the accursed thing. And so the army of Israel, 3,000
men, went up to little old Ai, and the men of Ai turned them
back, and Israel turned their back in the day of war, in the
day of that battle, and came running back with their, just
as quick as they could, back to the camp of Israel. Defeated, 36 men killed. And they, of course, put a man
on trial by the name of Achan, a man of the tribe of Judah. And God said, you get him and
you put him on trial. They put him on trial. And he
confessed. confessed that he stole this
accursed thing, and brought judgment on all Israel. Israel was guilty
of it. The whole sin was imputed to
all Israel. And so they took him out into
the valley of Achor, and they stoned him to death. And they
burned him with fire, and piled rocks on him. In the 8th chapter, the first
verse of Joshua, in the 8th chapter, the whole army of Israel went
up. God said, you send the whole
army up. I'm going to land directly. I'm circling the airport. I'm
going to land. You're going to know what I'm
talking about in a few minutes. But anyway, He said, you send
the whole army up. Now, somebody said, would it
make any difference if they sent the whole army up first? I don't
know. All I know is Israel was in a weakened condition because
of the accursed thing that had been stolen by one of their members. But when that was over, the whole
army went up. And the message is, we've got
to get our shoulder behind. The whole group, the whole kit
and caboodle has got to get their shoulder behind this work. That's
what it's all about. It's not just the work of the
preacher. You don't just hire somebody to come and do the work
of God for you. This town belongs to you and
it's the field that you need to be addressing and speaking
to and saying something to about the gospel. Striving together. Striving together. Putting your
back into it. Together for the faith of the
gospel. Don't depart from the gospel and the message of the
gospel and the truth of God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus
Christ and how God saves sinners. Don't depart. Stay steadfast
in your mind and heart and expect persecution to come. Now, listen
to what he said in verse 28, and in nothing terrified by your
adversaries. Now remember, that we're talking of here this
morning about Paul's attitude about persecution in nothing
terrified by your adversaries. Don't be terrified by them. Just
don't be afraid to open your mouth and to speak the truth. And if they tell you that you
can't any longer say anything in your church about the sin
of the homosexuals or the lesbians, you just tell them as long as
God lives, in the name of God, you will preach here what you
believe the book teaches. And that you are not going to
be scared off by their little threats. Whatever they want to
threaten, whatever they want to say, You say, well, now you
know we can't anymore preach the gospel. Just preach the gospel. You can't anymore do that. Number
one, you can't preach the gospel anymore without a projector and
a screen. Everybody knows that. There may
not be another church. May not be. Now I'm not saying
because I don't know positively another church in this whole
city that don't have a projector and a screen. And God knows we're
antique enough. that one of these days you're
going to be hearing something more about it. Well, you people
are so foreign and so backwoodsy that you're just not ever going
to come up to it. Just don't be terrified by your
adversaries. God has His people, and He's
going to direct you to them, and He's going to bless you to
witness to them, and to give them the word of the gospel that
will bring them out of their sins, and bring them into a right
relationship with God. Don't be terrified by your adversaries. Now this is a man speaking who's
already in prison. He's in jail. Chained up. And he said, don't be terrified. Which is to them an evident token
of perdition, just because they opened their mouth, vent their
venom, ungodly, godless venom on you, is an evident token God's
going to send them to hell. God's going to judge this world.
Now there again, somebody said, well, you know, in our day and
time, it's debatable as to whether there's any such thing as hell
or not. Well, it's not debatable in my
circle. It's not debatable with me. I
believe that this world, when it vents its venom on the people
of God, are just testifying beforehand that they're worthy of the judgment
of God, and the judgment of God is most surely going to fall
upon them, much so as if it had already fallen. God's going to
send them to hell. That's what he's going to do
with this world. The Bible says that all the nations that forget
God are going to hell. He's sending them away into the
bottomless pit. So let these people run their
mouth, but don't you be afraid of them. As long as you're in
a body, don't be afraid of them. But it's a token to you of salvation
and that of God. In other words, there wouldn't
be any difference between you and them if God hadn't saved
you. And the fact that they're ranting
and raving and railing on you is evidence of the fact that
God has made a difference in your life. That you're a child
of God. You're a saved person. That God
has put His Spirit in you and His Word lives in you and abides
in you. And therefore, you're different.
You're different. He chose you. I mean, give them
a message on Ephesians 1, 4. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
behold him without blame before him in love. Tell them, yes,
it's true, God has chosen me and I am different and I do not
count my life to be of such worth that I would shut my mouth just
to keep it another hour. I'll tell you the truth, and
if you do what you have to do, I'll do what I have to do. And
that I've got to stand fast for the gospel, and be steadfast
and unmovable, unmovable in the gospel. Well, it's evident that
a man's not going to do this on his own, but that of God. but that of God. God started
this thing. Now brother, sister, I didn't
start out 50 some years ago just to cause trouble. I just didn't
start out in the world just to create all the problems I could
create. I didn't do that. God started
this thing with me. But of God, and that of God,
and that of God, and that of God, and that of God. Don't ever
lose sight of the fact that what made you different is God. And
that He made you different so that there would be a difference.
And so that somebody would know there's a difference. Somebody
would know it. and say that person, God, they
say God did it. I think they're just obnoxious
to hell. That's what the world will say.
But you and I can say this signifies salvation and that of God. God's touched us. To be touched
of God, think of it. Between the years of 1932 and
2005, touched of God, but of God. Are you in Christ Jesus? God still touching men on earth,
still touching men, but of God, but of God. Don't ever lose sight
of that. Brethren, that will turn the world against you quicker
than anything in the world when you go around spouting off that
it's of God. Oh, you mean to tell me that
God distinguishes between men? Yes, I do. I do. I tell you that God distinguishes
between men. You say, well, you mean to tell
me that God favors some men and don't favor others? Exactly,
I tell you that. Because He favored me. And I
know some others that I'm afraid. close kin that have died and
went to hell, but of God, of God, of God, and that of God. Ha! You think I'm making too
much of that? You'll find out one of these
days. It's going to rejoice your heart when you think about it
down the road when somebody's knocking on your door and saying,
I heard that you said so and so. I heard that you indicated
before a public assembly that this particular way of life is
sin. And in America, it's looked upon
as being an alternative lifestyle. And you said it's sin. You just remember in that of
God. You'd be right there with them thinking just like they
did. Conrad was telling me on Wednesday night about, I think
it was about six, Real intelligent young people that was debating
the issue. One of them had to get on one
side and one on the other of this business of gay marriage and so on. And that
every last one of them before it was over with said that's
what they believed. That it was all right. Intelligent. I'm talking about people who
got it up here but don't know nothing down here. And people
that don't respect the Word of God as being the authority. Brethren, that's where the issue
is. That's the issue. Who's going to be God in this
world? Well, God's going to have His people to line up and not be afraid and terrified
to live in this world and speak their peace God is going to have
His people to line up and say, this is an indication of my salvation.
You just got in my face, but it just tells me that God put
a difference between me and you, and this means that I am the
Lord's and you are not. You are not. Because this is
an indication of your perdition, your judgment. Now look at verse
29, we are going to hurry on here. For unto you it is given
in the behalf of Christ. For unto you it is given. And that word given there just
simply means, for unto you it is grace. It is grace because
anything given is grace. I mean, if it's given, you didn't
buy it, you didn't earn it. Given. in the behalf of Christ. Now, God has purposed a purpose in His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. An eternal purpose, my brother
and my sister. And He's given everything that's
necessary to the accomplishment of that purpose. He gave Christ. Christ was full
of the Spirit. And then He's given to the church
gifts. He's given to His people. Given
it. Given it. And here's what He's
given. First of all, He's given it to
believe on Him. We believe on Him because He's
given us the gift of faith. It's been given to us. Now that's
elementary, isn't it, around here. Theologically speaking,
we all are sound on that point. Faith is a gift of God, and it's
been given to us to believe. And that nobody believes except
those to whom it is given. Now that's just plain. Scripture
teaches it. Woven throughout the Word of
God is this silver thread that faith is given by God to those
to whom He has chosen. It is given. So we rejoice in
a gift given. We believe. We believe. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We believe. We believe
in the grace and power of God. We believe in the Son of God.
And we believe in the promises of God. We believe it. We believe
it! Oh, you can break around in the
muck of this earth and go here and go there, to the east and
to the west, the north and the south, and just here and there
you find somebody who believes, believes. And I'll tell you what, when
you find them, you know where they got it. It is given on our
behalf. Not only to believe on Him, that's
been given. But brethren, there's something
else that's been given also. But also to suffer for His sake.
That's been given. Don't, don't, don't turn away
from suffering for His sake. Don't turn away from it. Now
you don't go out and just make a nuisance out of yourself. No,
no, no, no. Just live for Christ. Just honor
Christ in your daily life. Read the scriptures. Attempt
to live like you believe God to have you live in this world.
And open your mouth when God gives you an opportunity. Ask
Him to give you an opportunity to speak. Ask Him in what way
you could serve Him. In what way you could help this
church strive for the faith of the gospel. In what way could
you do it? In what way could you do it?
And God will open your mind and your heart, and He'll show you
what to do. But don't turn away. You say,
well, if I make that decision to say this or do that to Grandpa
so-and-so or Aunt Lily or whoever it might be, if I say something,
I mean they're going to cut me off at the pass. Brethren, brethren,
brethren, it has been given to you to suffer for Christ's sake. Open your mouth and don't hesitate
to say what you believe and what you believe to be the truth.
Set out the promises of God and make something of them. Tell
men and women that you believe these things. Now look at verse
30. Now this is the clincher. having
the same conflict which he saw in me." Brethren, I'm chained
up. Having the same conflict. In
other words, expect that you're locked. Could very well be. Expect it. I mean, don't be terrified
and afraid. And don't back off from this.
Having the same conflict. It'd help us all for one of us
to get thrown in jail. It'd help us all. We'd all be
a whole lot better off for it. Somebody get putting pressure
on us, trying to run us out of here and say we got no place
in this town, what we believe. Got no place in this city. It'd
do us good. It'd do us good. That's the kind
of conflict we ought to be expecting as the Lord's people. Which He
said, the same conflict which He saw in me, and now here to
be in me. You heard the story, didn't you?
Oh, Paul's down there in prison. Well, Paul said, you ought to
be having the same thing. The story ought to be going around.
Oh, Chris is in prison. Or Aaron, he didn't know when
to shut his mouth. And so he run his mouth, and
first thing you know, here he is now, see? If he hadn't said
nothing, if he just hadn't said anything, if he just hadn't wrote
that letter, If he just kept it right in that little building,
it would have been alright. Brethren, Paul said, the same
conflict which you saw in me and are now here to be in me,
that's the normal state for a New Testament church. They that have
turned the world upside down have come hither also. Turn it
upside down if you have to. Let's strive together for the
faith of the gospel. Now when I set out here, This
morning my intention was to preach on Paul's assurance. But I knew
sitting right there in that seat that I was going to have to talk
about Paul's attitude toward persecution. And brethren, I
believe it's a timely message. Now let me just tell you what
I think. I'm just going to tell you what I believe. I love America. I will die for this country.
This country has given me freedom. I have had it all my years. It
is a wonderful country. And I pray for the leaders of
our nation. But there is an enemy across the way in Red China that
is not going to sit back for very many more years without
go into war with the United States. We're in for a whale of a battle. And whether the United States
of America can survive it is in the hands of God Almighty.
They're already threatening that if we try to line up and defend
Taiwan, that one of the generals said this last week, that nuclear
weapons are going to be sent toward the United States. Now,
you get what you want to, but out of it. But I say it's a time
to be sober. I say it's a time to pray. I
say it's a time to be diligent. I say it's a time to develop
the attitude that you're going to have whatever happens. And
brethren, there's a verse in the Old Testament that says that
if we can't run with the men, what are we going to do when
we have to run with the horses? What are we going to do? You
need to develop in your heart the strategy right now. I know
where I stand. This is what I believe, and I'm
going to stand right there. If it costs me my life, it costs
my life. You don't know anything about tomorrow. I don't know
anything about tomorrow. But I know down the road, some
of you, maybe we that are older will not see it. But down the
road, you young people may very likely see it. You may very likely
see persecution in this country and the shutting down of your
churches. You may very well see it. It's in the Lord's hands. But you've got to get sober and
be diligent and to get your system in line with the teachings of
the Word of God so you know how to defend the faith and how to
stand earnestly and contend for the faith and bind together as
a family and be steadfast in the things of God. Well, may
the Lord give you out of this what He would have you to receive.
And anything in it that's not profitable to anybody, leave
it here. Brother and sister Dahlman will sweep it out when they take
care of the cleanup here at first of the week. Well, let's stand
to our feet.