Let's look tonight at Luke chapter
9, verses 46 through 50. Our Lord's disciples for some
time now had preached with great authority from heaven, tremendous
power. They had supernatural gifts given
them to cast out devils. The power of heaven was with
them as they went about serving the cause of Christ. And then a case came up. While
the Lord was in the mouth of transfiguration, a man brought
his only son to the master, grievously vexed with the devil. And the
disciples tried, but they couldn't cast him out. Can you imagine how shocking
that was? These fellows who just did a command called devils out
of men. These fellows who were by the
power of God pulling down the strongholds of Satan, suddenly
couldn't do a frazzling thing to help that man or his boy.
And then somewhere along the way, they met a fella, a man
they'd never seen before. They didn't know him. He wasn't
one of their little group. And that man was preaching in
the name of Christ and casting out devils, doing what they couldn't
do. And they said, don't you do that.
Who are you? What right have you got to do
such a thing? You stop it. And it went about their way.
And as they were walking along from Capernaum, the disciples
started talking to one another. You see, these fellows believed
that the Lord Jesus had come here to establish a carnal, earthly
Jewish kingdom. and that he was about to make
them rule over the world physically. They had that silly notion that
most people these days have, that the Lord came here to be
a Jewish king. And they got to arguing about
who was going to be greatest. Got to arguing pretty good, I
expect. And the master perceived what they were arguing about,
though he was outside And he went and just picked up a child,
picked him up. And I suspect if he hadn't said
anything, when he set that child beside himself, maybe put his
arm around his shoulder, pat him on the shoulder, just sat
there so that everybody could see him, that they understood
what he was about to tell them. Now let's read the text. Luke
9, 46. Then there arose reasoning among
them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving
the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,
and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my
name receives me. And whosoever shall receive me,
receives him that sent me. For he that is least among you
all, the same shall be great. And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils
in thy name, and we forbade him, because he follows not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against
us is for us. Our Lord Jesus here gives us
two very, very important warnings. These are warnings that are needed
in every age, warnings that are needed in every congregation,
warnings that are needed for every believer. Here our master
tells us plainly that there are two things we must ever strive
to avoid. We must strive to avoid these
two terrible evils, because they're evils to which we are all, by
nature, by our sinful nature, evils to which we are every one
terribly prone. They're evils we seldom recognize
in ourselves. spot them real quick than anybody
else, but seldom recognize them as ourselves. May God the Holy
Spirit give me your attention as I show you what these passages
or these verses mean. Let me first give you an exposition
of these five verses, and then I'll come back and deal with
these two evils. Verse 46, there arose a reasoning among them
which should be the greatest. The Lord's disciples were walking
from Caesarea to Capernaum, Mark tells us, and they started arguing
about which one would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Now, understand what the argument was about. The dispute was not
about degrees in glory. It was not about which one was
the most gracious or which one possessed the most grace. It
was not about which one was the greatest apostle or preacher.
It was bad enough, but it wasn't that bad. These fellows were
arguing about something else. As I said a moment ago, they
still thought the Lord Jesus had come here to establish an
earthly kingdom, a carnal Jewish empire, a literal rather than
a spiritual kingdom, an earthly rather than a heavenly kingdom.
And their argument was about who was going to be the Messiah's
prime minister. Reckon which one he's going to
sit right next down to him. Which one is going to be chief
of staff? Which one is going to be the head honcho next to
the Messiah himself? And every one of them thought
he ought to be. Every one of them. Now, like us, they wouldn't dare
say that. But that was the indication of
the argument. As you know, at least I hope you do, Prophecy
is not and should not be a matter of great concern in the Church
of God. I know it's of great concern in the whole religious
world, and I know especially when things happen like has happened
here in this nation and around the world in the last few weeks,
I've gotten lots of comments. Folks ask me, preachers and others,
well, you reckon this is a sign of the end? I don't know. I don't really care. Don't really
care. Doesn't really matter. Aren't
you concerned about those things? No. I'm really not concerned
about those things. They are not issues. They are
irrelevant matters. They are non-issues. Well, how
can you say that? We rejoice to know that Christ
is coming again. I don't know when he's coming
and nobody else does. He made certain we wouldn't know.
We rejoice to know that when our Lord comes again, then he
will make all things new. He will come in flaming fire
taking vengeance on them that know not God. He will forever
destroy his enemies and fix it so they cause no more trouble
in his creation. And he will make all things new
for his people that our salvation will be complete in the resurrection
of our bodies made like unto his glorious body. We are not
told, and we ought not in the least way be concerned about
looking for signs and things that might indicate when the
end of the world is going to be. Our Lord specifically told
us not to do so. He specifically told us not to
do so. But rather we are to spend our
energies, our thoughts, our efforts, everything about our lives in
this trying time, as in all other times, serving him and one another
for the glory of God, living on the tiptoe of faith, looking
for Christ. He's coming. He's coming. And
there's not any sign given in this book. Now listen to me.
Listen to me. There's not any sign given in
this book of our Lord's second coming. Not one. He tells us
not to look for signs. And those who say this is a sign
of the end, they either misunderstand this book, they haven't read
this book, or they simply are misstating things. Our Lord tells
us plainly, you're not going to know that day or hour. You're
not going to know it. He's coming. There's nothing
to be fulfilled for He comes. He may arrive here before I get
done with my next word. He's coming. So we look to Him,
living in anticipation of His coming. And yet the notion, now
I've told you plainly, prophecy is a non-issue. But the notion
of dispensational premillennial theology is a horribly evil thing. And in case you don't know what
those words mean, you probably haven't heard me use them more
than a half a dozen times in 23 years. I'm talking about the
kind of stuff promoted by these stupid books, Satan's Alive and
Well on Planet Earth, the Great Mideast Conflict, the Schofield
Reference Bible. That's the kind of stuff I'm
talking about. It's a horribly evil thing. As it is with many
today, it was the idea of the Jews, the Pharisees in particular,
and of these poor disciples who had not yet learned better, that
Christ the Messiah would establish a carnal, earthly Jewish kingdom. And with carnal doctrine of necessity
comes carnal ideas, like we saw expressed right here in verse
46. Be sure you understand these
things. Christ is the King now. He's the King now. I don't much
care what your ideas are concerning these things, but Christ is the
King right now. Don't much care what your eschatological
views are. Christ is the King right now.
Read Acts chapter 2. When it speaks of him sitting
on the throne of David, Peter says this is what he's doing
now. He who ascended up to heaven again as a man, that one who
sat on the throne of God forever as God, now sits on the throne
of God in human flesh. He's sitting there as David's
son and David's Lord on the throne of his father, David. That's
what Peter said happened when God exalted his son. Our Lord's
kingdom is not the nation of Israel. It is not some future
kingdom. It is not some physical thing.
Our Lord's kingdom is His church, the Israel of God, Abraham's
true spiritual seed, all who believe on the Son of God. Our
Lord Jesus tells us the kingdom of God is in you. It's in you. You're looking for
the kingdom of God over there in Palestine. It's in you. You can't bob it away. It's in
you. The kingdom of God is not in
meat and drink. It's not in carnal things, but
rather it is in righteousness and in peace and in joy in the
Holy Ghost. We're born into this kingdom.
We're born into the kingdom of heaven by the new birth. That's
what our Lord taught throughout John chapter 3. He said, you
must be born again. You can't see it. You can't enter
into it. But if you're born again, you
see it and you enter into it. You see, faith in Christ is neither
more nor less. than bowing to Jesus Christ the
Lord as our rightful king. It is trusting him as our sovereign
king that means this. There is no such thing as a secret
rapture. But I always heard about that.
I know it, but where did you read it in this book? Where did
you read it in this book? There's no such thing. Folks
have the idea that Christ is not coming again the second time,
he's coming again the second time, and the third time, and
the fourth time. He's coming before the rapture, or at the
beginning of the seven-year tribulation period, coming after the seven-year
tribulation period, and then coming after the millennial kingdom.
No, he's coming again. There's no such thing as a secret
rapture of the church. There's no such thing as a seven-year
tribulation period out yonder in the future. There's no such
thing as a future literal thousand-year millennial reign on this earth.
When our Lord comes again, he's coming to reign forever, to reign
on this earth forever when he makes all things new. Now, I
stress this because I want you to understand and not be deluded
by the basis nonsense that's promoted in the religious world
about prophetic matters. The reason these things concern
me is not only that they are without foundation in scripture,
but they promote pride, divisiveness, carnal lust after material things
in the name of Christianity. Carnal religion promotes carnal
hope, and carnal hope promotes carnal desires. I'm going to
take a big shot. Some of you fellows Women, too,
come out of religious backgrounds. You've heard preachers talk about
in the millennial kingdom, I'm going to be mayor of this city.
I'm going to, boy, I want to do love with that. I want to,
I'm looking forward to having this. That's just what our Lord's
talking about right here. These disciples arguing about
he's going to be great. All right, look at verses 47.
And Jesus perceiving, what a word. Not hearing, perceiving the thought
of their hearts. took a child and set him dying. Here's another almost casual
declaration of our Lord's deity. He who is the omniscient God
perceives the thoughts of a man's heart. Only one who is God perceives
the thoughts of your heart. You look at somebody, especially
if you're having a little bit of a spat, I know what you're
thinking. No, you don't. Be glad you don't.
No, you don't. No, you don't. Only God knows
what you're thinking. Really. Only God. In reality,
we don't ourselves know what's going on inside us. But he who
is God Almighty is that one before whom all things are naked and
He sees through the darkness, he sees through the disguise,
and he hears the thoughts of your heart. When our master perceived
the thoughts of these disciples in their hearts, when he would
reprove them for their carnal strife, he picked up a child
and set the child beside himself, Matthew tells us, in the midst
of them all. In other words, he just picked him up, set him
beside him, put his arm around him, so that everybody could
see. Everybody could see. And this is what he said, verse
48, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receives me,
and whosoever shall receive me receives him that sent me. For
he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. Now
let's be careful not to make anything more of this than is
intended, or less. There is nothing If you take
your notes, write it in big letters and underline it. Nothing. There
is nothing taught, implied, or in any way indicated here about
children. This is not what the passage
is talking about. Nothing here about the baptism of children,
be it true immersion or be it sloshing a little water on their
face. Nothing here about the conversion of children. Nothing.
Certainly there is nothing here to indicate that children are
somehow innocent and without seeing before God until they
reach some imaginary age of accountability. Nothing. The lesson is all about
Christianity. Real Christianity. Our Lord is
here teaching us that as a child is simple, humble, dependent,
trusting, unconcerned about worldly fame, worldly power, and worldly
wealth, so we must be before God. As a child, knowing its
weakness, depends upon its father, so we, as men and women conscious
of our weakness, are to depend upon our God. As a child realizes
that he's ignorant and helpless, There are areas where these kids,
the little ones, you start talking to them, they will act like they're
master of everything. Man, there's nothing I can't
do. Our little granddaughter, she's just sure she can do anything
until it gets beyond her, she gets in trouble. Then she starts
looking for somebody, because she knows she's it. She knows
she's helpless. And she turns around to her dad,
if he's close, if he's not, mama, If she's not, then Nana and the
last one on the totem pole will top it. But she turns and looks
for help, looks for someone to teach her, to guide her, to hold
her hand, to protect her. So we ought to look to Christ
for everything. As children are quickly pacified
when injured by another, So we ought to be quick in forgiving
those who injure and offend us. As children are just naturally
inclined to embrace other children. You ever notice that? You go
out to the shopping mall and just sit down and watch your
kids, and other kids come by. It doesn't matter whether they're
dirty. It doesn't matter whether their face is filthy. It doesn't
matter whether they're black, white, yellow, or something else.
It doesn't matter whether they're well-dressed or poorly-dressed.
You put two small children in a room together, they just kind
of go to each other. They kind of go to each other.
Because all those things that mama and daddy fuss about just
don't matter. They just don't matter. Just
don't matter. So, we ought to be, as men and
women in this world, embracing each other. Avoiding and putting
aside those things that divide people from people. Now, let's
read our Master's words again. Whosoever shall receive this
child, Obviously he's speaking parabolically. He's telling us,
he's giving us a lesson. He's not talking about this child. It's amazing what commentators
will do. Some fellows argue pages after pages after pages, this
is talking about Ignatius. Whosoever receives Ignatius,
that's not what he's talking about. He's not talking about
that child or any other child. He's saying this, whosoever shall
receive one like this child. Not in age, but in meekness and
humility. One that's not proud and haughty,
one that's not ambitious after worldly honor and envious of
others. Whoever receives such a one into
his house and heart, he's talking about a believer. Whoever receives one of my children,
one of my children, into his house, into his heart, into his
home, into his life. Specifically, in the context,
he's talking about preachers. These apostles and those men
who are sent forth to preach the gospel of his grace. He says,
whoever receives such a one in my name, in my name. For why
on this earth, when Cody and Winogrew would come up here,
should we go to so much trouble? Or who are they? Why on this
earth, when a preacher comes down and says, I want to have
anything to do special in here? How come? Why on earth was it
inspected that I should go out of my way to help somebody else?
In my name. Man, Don Fortner is nothing.
And I, you know, my esteem for our brethren, Makota Gruber is
nothing. Walter Gruber is nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Not in ourselves. What's
he saying? Because he belongs to me. Because
he's sent by me. Because he represents me. Because
he delivers my message. Our Lord is saying, let us receive
one another as Christ himself, in his name. Extended to God's
family everywhere. And preachers While we are given
specific responsibilities, pastors, missionaries, evangelists, by
nothing on this earth but brothers and sisters in the kingdom of
God, and sooner preachers learn that the better. I get a little
bent out of shape when I run across preachers, and it happens
especially with young fellows, especially with fellows who seem
to assume they have something that they don't. Everybody will
wait on me, and everybody will take care of me, and everybody
will give to me. Bobby Estes, you and I are sinners saved by
God's free grace. That's all. I happen to be one
gifted of God to preach to you. That's all. That's all. Nothing
else. So let's take this thing to God's
people, all of them. Receive one another because
your brother, your sister belongs to Christ. In my name. They bear my image. They're loved
and chosen of God. They're redeemed by me. They're
called my brothers. They are heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ, heirs of God and joint heirs with us in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Cause we're one. We're one. You know, nobody, nobody As a
matter of fact, I'm insulted. I would be highly insulted if
somebody came to me and said, Don, you know Doug and Faith
are down the road down there, and I wonder if you'd be willing
to help them a little. What? Wouldn't you be insulted? That's
my family. Your sister and her family coming
through town, wondering if it'd be all right if they stopped.
I'd be upset if they called mask. It's exactly right. And it would
be for you too as well. How come? We're brethren. We're
brethren. We're in the same family. Children
of God. Our Lord says now, you receive
one like this in my name. Such is his great regard for
his people that our Lord takes everything done to or for his
people. has done to and for him. David, we need to learn that.
Whatever I say or do, be it good or bad, with regard to David
Burge, is said and done to your redeemment. Lord, bite on my toe. He receives
me. his Lord, his Master, his Savior,
and his King. And whosoever shall receive me,
receive my Father, receives him that sent me. In exactly the
same way as all who receive Christ receive the Father, so all who
receive Christ's people receive him. Now then, for he that is
least among you, among you all, Now, again, people get strange
ideas. You ought to take the fellow
that nobody thinks has any sense. You ought to take the fellow
that doesn't have anything, the fellow that doesn't have any
learning, and ask his opinion about things. That's not what
he's talking about, not literally least. He's already taught us
not to look at one another. by what we possess, what we've
experienced, what we've attained or haven't. Isn't that right?
Well, what's he talking about then? He who in his own opinion of
himself truly considers himself the least among you all. That's
the greatest man in the group. That's the greatest man in the
group. He shall be great, highly honored, greatly used of God. You want to know who God's going
to use? You want to know who God's going to honor? You want
to know who God's going to bless? You want to know who will be
useful in the hands of God? The fellow who thinks he's not
worth anything, he can't do anything, literally. Verse 49. Be sure you get this in its context.
John is not suddenly here seeking to change the subject, as we
do when we have a subject come up we really don't want to hear
anymore about. Just the opposite, the Master's words pricked his
heart. The Word of God brought to light
the evil of his actions and of his brethren. John, tender-hearted
John, now broken-hearted, answered and said, Master, I've got something
I need to tell you. We haven't been acting like that. We had to bend like this little
child. Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name. Not
one trying, not one pretending. We saw one casting out devils
in your name and we forbade him because he follows not with us.
He's not in our little group. In essence, John was saying,
oh, how terribly proud, how haughty we've been. In verse 50, the Lord Jesus said
unto him, forbid him not, for he that is not against us is
for us. Now here our master rebuked that
censerous spirit that John had just described. And this is what
he said. Now take it to heart, Don Fortner. Take it to heart, my brothers
and sisters. Take it to heart, you who follow
after Christ. Don't ever take it upon yourself. Don't ever take it upon yourself
to rebuke to cut yourself off from, or
to condemn, or even to speak evil of any man, be it in public
or in private, who is doing the same work God has put in our
hands to do. Preaching the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace in Christ, laboring in Christ's name against
the prince of darkness and for the souls of men, just because
he's not one of our little I get upset. I really do. I get
upset. I travel and people say, you
know, so-and-so is in your group. In my group? Man, I ain't got
a group. So-and-so ain't in your fellowship. If he's in the kingdom of God,
he's in my fellowship. Isn't that correct? That's the
meaning of those five verses. Now, let me give you our master's
warnings. and endeavor by God's Spirit to drive them home to
our hearts. Here are the two things he warns us against. Number
one, pride. Pride. Oh, that monster pride. We must ever guard against and
strive to avoid that sinful, shameful pride that causes us
to seek to promote, elevate, and exalt ourselves. Here's a little band of insignificant
nobodies. This ragtag mob kind of reminds
me of us. Nobodies. Fishermen and tax collectors. Called by God's free grace. made
to be his disciples. Sinners forgiven, rebels conquered,
particles recovered. Arguing with each other about
which one was going to be graced. Arguing about which one was going
to be the head honcho. Each one thought he was more
deserving of high honor than any of the others. such as the depravity of our
hearts. These were brethren, David, who were believers. You see, there is no sin, no
evil, which we are more naturally and wickedly inclined to than
pride. May God give me grace ever to
realize this. I don't know when I prepared
a sermon that more pointedly cut my own heart. God make me ever aware of this
monster in me and teach me to watch and pray against it. No
sin is more deeply rooted in our depraved hearts. It clings
to us like glue. It's as much a part of our nature
as darkness is part of light. It never dies, not until this
body dies. It doesn't even get any less
evil, but only seems to grow enormously. There's no evil of
the heart so hypocritical and deceitful as pride. Because pride
loves to look humble, loves to wear the garb of humility,
loves religion, loves to pretend modesty. Pride is found in the
ignorant and the brilliant, the poor and the rich, the most useless
and the most used. Horrible. Because there's absolutely
nothing about us, any of us, that should make us proud or
even allow us to be proud. Now, what have you got to be
proud of? Don Fortner, what on earth have
you got to cause you to walk tall and hold your shoulders
back and put your chin up and stick your chest out and strut
before men? What have you got? What could be more absurd than
a proud man? Of all creatures under heaven,
none have less reason for pride than the fallen sons and daughters
of Adam and Eve. Of all men who are Those who
are made the recipients of God's free grace. Those who are made
to be the objects of God's mercy. Those who are redeemed by the
blood of Christ, rubbed in His righteousness, forgiven of sin,
rescued from the very brink of hell. Of all men, none like us,
saved by free grace, ought to be proud. Of all believers, Those
sinners who are called and gifted of God to preach the gospel of
Christ have the least reason to be proud. And I'll be honest with you now. Let my brethren forgive me if
I speak evil unintentionally. Preaching ought not be professional.
It ought not be a profession. It's a calling, a gift of God.
But I don't know of any realm, any work in the world where there's
more jealousy, envy, and hidden undercurrents of pride than among
preachers competing for attention, competing for name recognition. What a shame. What a shame. Who make the thief to differ
from another? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? And if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? We have
this treasure, the gospel of God's grace, in earthen vessels
that God has chosen, deliberately chosen, purposefully chosen. Intentionally, he's designed
it this way. those who are the least likely
to be teachers and instructors of others, those who naturally
have the least ability, those who naturally have the least
talent, those who naturally are the most insignificant, to be
the man in whom he puts the trust of the gospel. And then we think we're something
because we preach a little something. And get upset because somebody
doesn't recognize us. Nothing in the world is more
contrary to the example of our Lord that he set for us to follow. Nothing more contrary to the
character of our Savior than pride. Just before he's leaving
this world to show his love to his disciples whom he loved to
the end. The master sat down with him with Judas in the room. With Judas in the room. Read
it for yourself, John 13. He knew who the devil was, but
he professed to be one of the master's disciples and he treated
him on the basis of what he professed. Did you get that? He knew he
was. He knew he was a devil. But Judas
professed to be one of the master's disciples. And the Lord Jesus
took a bowl of water and wrapped a towel around his waist and
went from one to the other and started to wash their feet. How
come? Because the feet were dirty. How come? Because the feet were
hot, tired, Oh, how refreshing. Have you ever come in from a
hard day's work, pull your boots off when you've been out in the
field and your feet are hot, hot? And I'm going to get in
trouble, I know, but your wife, you know, she comes and gets
a tub of cold water. Sit down, honey. And she just
takes a wet, cold rag, starts to wipe your feet off. Oh, I'd
rather have it with biscuits and gravy and a glass of tea.
That's it. How come? Because that's what's
needed now. Now. And our master said, you
go do what I've done. What? Serve one another in whatever
way you can. If it means stooping down as
somebody else's feet, go serve one another. Turn to Philippians
2. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit,
any bowels and mercies, is there? Is there that here in you? Is
there that here in me? Is there in this house right
now among us who claim the name of Christ consolation? comforting love, fellowship in
the Spirit, bowels of mercy and compassion. Then fulfill ye my
joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory. Don't do anything because you
want to have your way. Don't do anything because you
want folks to look at you and honor you. Don't do anything
because you think you deserve something. But in lowliness of
mind, with a bowl of water and a towel, get down at your brother's
feet. I ain't going to do that. Oh, I'd love to. Oh, God, give
me grace to. Let each esteem other better
than themselves. I'm looking at a whole room full
of men and women, indescribably better than me. I mean it. How can that be? Surely you don't mean that. Oh,
yes, I do. I'm looking at a whole room full of men and women who
are washed in the blood of Christ, robed in his righteousness, given
his spirit. made to be holy and beloved before
God. And that's what I know about
you. That's what I know about you.
If you hear it, that's what I know about you. Don't have any question
about it. Perfect before God. And I know what I am. I know what goes on in here. I know. Better than me. Well, shouldn't be any trouble
for me to get a bowl of water and the towels will get down
to your feet, should it? Shouldn't be. If it wasn't for stinking
pride. Look, not every man on his own
things. But if I don't look after me,
who's going to? My master will. My brethren will. Don't be concerned about your
reputation. Don't be concerned about your name. Don't be concerned
about lifting yourself up. Don't be concerned about getting
attention to you. Don't be concerned about folks
doing for you. Oh, look, not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others. Oh,
preachers. How on earth How on earth do
you expect folks to do that? Husbands and wives do it all
the time. If they didn't, they wouldn't get along. And when you don't get along,
it's because you started looking after yourself. That's exactly
right. You don't get along because you
started taking care of me instead of taking care of her. If you want to treat me better,
that's when you don't get along. Am I telling the truth? That's
exactly right. Verse 5, let this mind be in
you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God taught him not robbery to be equal with God. Now he's
somebody. but made deliberately, purposefully, made himself of
no reputation, took on him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men, and being found in a fashion as a man,
he kept on snooping down. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And then our Lord warns us about
censorship. Now let me tell you what I mean
by this. We must constantly guard ourselves. Guard against and
avoid that arrogant, proud tendency of our flesh of censoring our
brethren. Studiously avoid sitting in judgment
over, criticizing, condemning, or in any way seeking to undermine
the ministry, service, and usefulness of one who serves Christ. just because he doesn't align
himself with us. Now give me a few minutes. This is just as important as
the previous lesson. Jesus said unto them, verse 50,
Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. I can't
think of anything more shameful, God dishonoring, gospel crippling
in church than the fact that throughout the history of God's
church there have been many who equate serving Christ and defending
the faith with dividing brethren. And this evil has never been
more pervasive than it is today. Our Lord is not here telling
us, be sure you understand this, He is not here telling us that
we are to be indifferent to sound doctrine. or that we're to compromise
the gospel in any way in order to get along with folks who differ
with us with regard to the gospel of God's grace. Heresy is, must
be, shall be exposed, identified, and condemned. I've done it many
times. I've done it since the day you
met me and long before you met me. Arminian free will works
religion. It doesn't matter whether it's
Islam or Baptist. That religion that teaches salvation
by something you do is utter damning heresy, and it is to
be exposed as such. But what our Lord is teaching
us here is that there are many who serve the cause of Christ,
who preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ,
who are not part of this little group. Let others, if they must, speak
ill of us. Let them separate themselves
from us. Let them censure and condemn us. We must not engage
in such foolishness. For Christ's sake, let us rather
do what we can to promote the unity of God's kingdom. Fellowship
in God's people. and promote those who preach
the gospel of his grace. Well, I've said this. I'll use me for an example. Somebody
comes along and says, here's somebody who preaches the gospel
of God's grace, and I kind of, I've been at this thing for a
while, and I've been doing it a while. If he was in this country
preaching free grace, I'd know him. You arrogant fool. And I'm talking to me now. Elijah
said, I alone am left. Oh God, there's nobody but me.
Poor me. And God said, I've got 7,000
prophets. You don't know a one of them
who haven't bowed the knee to Baal. And it's still true. It's still true. We all have a tendency to think
like those whom Job spoke of in Job 12, we are the men, and
wisdom shall die with us. Well, if others choose not to
identify themselves with Don Fortner, if they choose to think
and speak evil of Don Fortner, that's no big deal. If they preach
the gospel of God's free, saving grace in Christ, if God's using
them, if God's honoring If God's pulling down the strongholds
of Satan by them, I rejoice and thank God for them. It's exactly
right. I'll give you an illustration.
It's been a good while ago now. When Paul Mayhem went to Rocky
Mount, Virginia, that's down real close to where I was raised,
and a lot of preachers around there who say they believe free
grace. And if they say they believe
free grace, if they turn out to be Judas himself, I'm for
And they don't have much use for me. And I said to Paul, I
called him one day. I said, listen, I was raised
around there. I know all those fellows around
there, every one of them. Don't go down there and fight
battles in my name. Anybody who's willing to embrace
you, embrace them. But don't go down there and have
controversy over me. That's irrelevant. Let's turn
to two passages. Turn to Numbers chapter 11. Numbers
11. Verse 27. I'll give you an example
of what I'm saying. One from the Old Testament, one
from the New. Verse 27. There ran a young man and told
Moses and said, now you know who Moses was. He was showing
us somebody. And there were some fellows who
didn't like him being there. Lots of them. Some of them were devils. Some of them were sons of Korah. They were sure enough vile, wicked
men. Some of them withstood the gospel
Moses preached. But then there were some who
obviously were serving God, who still didn't like Moses much.
Look here, verse 27. There ran a young man and told
Moses and said, ill dad, mead dad, do prophesy in the camp.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his
young men, answered and said, My Lord Moses, you go stop them. What are they doing preaching?
That's your job. What are they doing telling me?
That's your job. Go stop them. And Moses said
to Joshua, Envious thou for my sake? For me? Would God that all the Lord's
people were prophets. and that the Lord would put his
spirit upon them. No wonder he's called the meekest
man who lived. Alright, look at Philippians
chapter 1. Philippians 1. Here's an even more glaring example.
Paul's in prison. In verse 12 he says, I would
you should understand brethren that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.
Here I am, put in prison, put in prison by the Jews, put in
prison by the Romans, and put in prison by some men who say
they at least are happy I'm here, who are doing the same thing
I'm doing. But you don't. What is that?
They're following up for the fragrance of the gospel. So that
my bonds, verse 13, in Christ, are manifest in all the palace
and in all other places. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, now mark that, this is who he's talking about. Many
of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds,
are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some, some
of the brethren in the Lord, preach Christ of envy and strife. What's he talking about? Some
of them who just as soon not mention my name. Some of them
who just as soon not be associated with me. Some of them who they've
heard things about Paul. Paul? Yeah, I heard about him. Had nothing to do with it. Envy
and strife. Shameful on their part. But he
said, some of them preach Christ of envy and strife. And some
also of goodwill. Some, hey, I've been walking
in a long time. We're companions, we dwell together
in peace and harmony, and they have goodwill. The one which
Christ of contention. He thinks really we're enemies. The poor soul, he's deluded.
He thinks we're serving two different causes of contention. The other
of love. Now listen, he's not saying some
of them preach free will, some of them preach free grace. He's
not saying some of them preach that Christ is a failure and some
of them preach He's a success. No, no, no. These are fellows
preaching Christ. Preaching the gospel of Christ.
But for some reason, because of the flesh, there was contention
with them over Paul and his ministry. They wouldn't have anything to
do with him. Look what he says. They preach Christ of contention.
Not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the
other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.
You see how he clarifies himself? What then? What's happening? Notwithstanding, every way, whether
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. Bless God. Therein do I rejoice. Yea, and will rejoice. May God
then give us grace to cease from strife and contention. May God,
the Holy Spirit, teach us to rejoice in the labors, usefulness,
and success of others who serve his cause by the gospel, pulling
down the strongholds of Satan, building the kingdom of God.
Forbid them not, for he that is not against us, he whose message
is not opposed to the message of God's free grace, We're what? We're what? Well, preacher, what
would you have us do? Learn to keep your mouth shut
about things you don't know what you're talking about. Learn to bridle your tongue,
especially when it comes to your brethren and those who profess
to be. Well, don't you think we're suspicious
we ought to tell somebody? No. If you're suspicious, you
ought to confess it to God and that's going to take away the
suspicion. It's exactly right. Or don't you think? No, no. With
regard to men and women who profess faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord,
speak well of them. Seek to get other folks to love
them and speak well of them. Promote them, honor them, lift
them up. And God just might be pleased
to use us. He just might. Christ is not divided. So let
us all speak the same thing. We're God's husbandry. We're
God's building. Let us live as such. We're one in Christ. Let us live
as one in him and seek in all things the glory of Christ. God,
give me grace. God, give me grace to fight and
mortify the lust of my flesh, which promotes my pride. That
pride that causes me to think somehow I'm something better
than Larry Criss. And that pride that would cause me to look at
a man who preaches the gospel of God's free grace because he
does things different than I do or he doesn't like me or whatever,
and start to try to undermine, either publicly or privately,
his work for the glory of God. God forgive our pride, for Christ's
sake.