When the Apostle Paul described
the awesome burden of preaching the gospel, he cried, who is
sufficient for these things? He recognized what I'm convinced
every faithful man Every man faithful to the gospel recognizes
more and more as he grows in the knowledge of what it is to
preach the gospel. I am more keenly aware than ever
that I'm utterly insufficient for the task God has put in my
hands. The power of the gospel The power
of preaching does not reside in this man or in any other. I study and study diligently. I've prepared and prepared well. God gives me the grace to do
so. I won't be here otherwise. I'm not going to stand here and
mock your soul or mock the gospel pretending to preach without
preparation. That's my responsibility. I enjoy it, but it's my responsibility.
But my most zealous preparation does not make the word of the
gospel I preach effectual to anyone. I endeavor to preach
the message with passion. That which I preach to you moves
my own heart. If it didn't, I wouldn't preach
it. I'm not here to debate theological issues. I'm not here to debate
religious controversy. I'll leave that to folks who
enjoy that nonsense. But the power of the word doesn't
depend in any way on me, not on my abilities, my preparation,
or my lack of ability. It doesn't depend on me. In the
next chapter, Paul says, but our sufficiency is of God. Oh, if God will speak by his
word through these lips to your heart, you'll get the message. One of the old writers, John
Warburton, I believe it was, he used to pray, God, speak now
through this empty, worthless pipe. If he will, you'll profit
by the word. With that in mind, let's turn
to Luke chapter nine and we'll begin in verse seven. The first thing that strikes
me as I read this passage of scripture is the power, the terrifying
power of a guilty conscience. Did you ever know what it was
to be guilty of something? And the guilt so presses upon
you that you've got to constantly be trying to prove to other folks
that you're not guilty. You're just, you try to defend
yourself. Nobody else is even aware of
what's going on, just you. Because your conscience is tormenting
you. That's just a little taste of what I'm talking about. This
is what Herod experienced. Now Herod the tetrarch heard
of all that was done by the Lord Jesus, done by him, all his miracles,
his power, his fame, his doctrine, and he was perplexed, troubled,
shaken, shaken, because it was said of some that John was risen
from the dead. What the conscience will do to
a fellow? This great mighty king walked his floor at night with
his heart shaking within him because he foolishly imagined
that John the Baptist had come back from the dead and he didn't
have anything else to do except haunt him. He's terrified. He heard John might be walking
the streets again. He said it's hard to live with
a guilty conscience. The wise man tells us in Proverbs
13, the way of the transgressor is hard. Not only hard because
of what it does in this life to a man, in fact, as far as
we can tell, Herod's transgressions hadn't cost him anything in this
life. He was a mighty man. He was a
wealthy man. He had power. He had influence.
It didn't cost him anything. Oh, yes, it had. Oh, yes it had. His transgressions cost him a
peace of mind. His transgressions cost him great
trouble. The way of the transgressor is
hard. You see, nothing on earth is more persistently tormenting
to a man or a woman than a guilty conscience. And this is what
Herod discovered. Oh, he was powerful, wealthy,
and influential. But the news of our Lord's ministry
The great power of God that was demonstrated by him caused this,
can I use the word great? Men look at me and think they're
great. Look at that great man. Well, here's a great man shaking
in his boots like a scared child. His guilty conscience caused
him to imagine things that were contrary to reason and contrary
to fact, but the things he imagined terrified him. His numerous guards,
his fortified palace could no more secure him from the fears
that stirred his soul than the leaves of a tree. He was terrified. His tormenting conscience pierced
through everything. He was surrounded by everything
that the world thinks will make a man happy, make life enjoyable
and easy. But he was a miserable man. The
report of a preacher a preacher of righteousness, reminded him
of that prophet, John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of this
preacher of righteousness. And the reminder of that man,
John, filled Herod with terror. The remembrance of his sin, you
remember he murdered that prophet. Burned like fire in his soul
and he couldn't quench it. Conscience. Wonder if you can see what Herod
saw. He'd stand down on his balcony
outside his bedroom at night looking out over the city And
all he could see was John the Baptist's head on that silver
charger and the hellish laughter of his adulterous wife. He couldn't put it out of his
mind. He'd shut his eyes. All he could see was John the
Baptist. All he could hear were the words of that faithful man
whom he had murdered. Herod's sin, you see, found him
out. The prison and the sword silenced the tongue of the Baptist,
but it could not silence his voice. It kept ringing in Herod's
ears, reverberating in his soul, screaming in his heart. At this
very hour in hell, Herod still sees John the Baptist head on
a charger, and he still hears his voice. then he would gladly,
gladly give anything if he could just shut him up. But he will
suffer the terrors of his conscience forever, like fire that will
not be quenched, the worm of death that can never be satisfied
gnaws upon this man, because in his memory is fixed the word
that he heard from the prophet. In his memory is fixed the righteousness
that he despised. In his memory is fixed the message
of God delivered to his soul that he would not submit to.
Now, there are many things to be learned here, but let me give
you three very instructive truths to be learned from this verse
of scripture. Number one, turn to 2 Corinthians 2. God's truth. can never be bound or silenced. You remember when Paul was in
prison? He said, I'm in prison, I'm in chains, I'm in bonds,
but the word of God is not bound. The word of God is not bound.
When I was pastoring at Lookout, oh, the last year, year and a
half I was there, there were about 30 Bible college students
who had heard the gospel. Some of them learned the gospel.
and started attending services at Lookout. And the last semester
that I was there, There was one church in the world, one church
in the whole world. I'm talking about liberal, modernist,
conservative, fundamentalist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian,
Catholic, Hindu. There was one church in the world
that was off limits to Bible college students from then on.
And that was where I was pastoring. And they thought they could get
the word of God to just hush this up. Oh, no. The word of
God is not bound. No, sir. It'll never happen.
And more than that, the gospel that you hear from this pulpit,
this hour, will bring forth fruit in you. It will. Either fruit unto everlasting
life or unto everlasting condemnation. You're gonna hear it. You're
gonna hear it. You may hear my voice now, but
you're going to hear God speak sooner or later. Look here at
2 Corinthians 2, verse 14. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge, the taste of his knowledge by us
in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor
of Christ. Now Paul's talking about himself
and every man who preaches the gospel of God's grace. regardless
of how men look at it, regardless of how men respond to the message,
regardless of what men think of us, we are unto God a sweet
saver of Christ. In them that are saved, that
is in them that are being saved, and in them that perish, those
who perish forever. To the one, to you who will not
believe, to you who are perishing, a savor of death unto death. In other words, the message you
hear, the message you hear, if you refuse to hear it, you'd
have been better off if you'd never heard it. God judges men
according to the light they are given. Somebody said, well, there
are no degrees of sin. I beg your pardon. There are
no degrees of righteousness. There sure are degrees of sin.
And that which God Almighty holds to be chiefest is men walking
against the light God has given them. Our Lord said, yours will
be a greater condemnation than those perverts in Sodom. Because if they had heard and
seen what you've heard and seen, they would have repented. And
they'll rise up against you in hell in judgment. A saver of
death unto death. Death, adding condemnation to
death. And to the other, to you who
believe, we are unto God. A saver of life unto life. And who's sufficient for these
things? All right, second. Your conscience,
not only is it true the word of God will never be silenced
or banned. It is also true and evident from
this passage that your conscience is the undying echo of God's
holy law inscribed in your soul. The conscience of man I know
folks mock and laugh and poke fun, this modern age of brilliant
men who have studied the psyche of men and who got everything
figured out. You know, your conscience, you have all of these taboos
because you've been raised in a strict religious environment
and your conscience is just the result of the environment in
which you were raised. You know better. You know better. Let men say what they want to,
you know better. And eventually you're going to
acknowledge it. You may not acknowledge it this side of eternity, but
you will acknowledge that your conscience is the undying echo
of God's holy law in your soul. I dare say conscience is the
most powerful part of our constitution as moral creatures. And I use
the word moral about as loosely as I can. Conscience can't save
anyone. Conscience is always perverted
in perverted men. Conscience will never bring a
sinner to Christ. Conscience is always blind, ignorant,
and misdirected in those who are blind, ignorant, and misdirected. And yet the conscience raises
a loud testimony and a loud protest in the soul against sin and unbelief
and rebellion, the enmity of our hearts against God. It makes
the guilty soul uneasy. That's what makes me an uncomfortable.
It is the conscience that causes the transgressor to tremble.
It is the conscience of guilt and sin that causes men and women
to fear death and judgment and eternal immortality. It's conscience. Why is it that men tremble when
they start to die? How come? Say, I'm not going
to tremble. Hang on. Hang on. You might even
be brave enough in your outward constitution that you won't tremble
before anybody because you don't want anybody to see that you're
such a weak man. Tremble you will. Tremble you will. Our old cat, Shelby's old cat,
she's 14 years old now. I looked after her, I thought
she had just gone off and died, but she's still around. But when
she gets ready to, she'll just go off somewhere and die. She'll
go off and die. Your favorite dog, when he gets
old enough, time for him to die, he'll just go off somewhere,
find him a place to lay down and die. Not a man. How come? Because you got something that
dog or cat doesn't have. You've got the voice of God in
your soul. The law of God inscribed upon
your conscience. The law of God which causes you
to know your guilt. Causes you to know that you must
meet God in judgment. Causes you to know that you must
stand before the holy Lord God at last. And with that, you tremble. Now there's a third thing revealed
in the scripture about your conscience. There's only one cure for guilty
conscience. Only one. I'll show it to you in a minute
from the scriptures. Let me tell you from experience. As a young man, by the time I was 13 years old, maybe earlier, until
God saved me just before I was 17 years old, I constantly battled
with the thoughts of taking my life. I constantly did. I was a miserable creature, and
I made everybody miserable around me. And there was only one thing
that kept me from it, a guilty conscience, the fear of everlasting
damnation. And because I didn't have the
nerve to take my life, I tried every way I could to silence
my conscience. I tried satiating the lust of
my flesh. Conscience would still scream.
I tried to reform my life, and conscience said that's not enough.
I tried to start doing better. Conscience said that's not enough.
Once in a while I'd go to church and they'd have a revival meeting,
what they called it, and they'd have some tear-jerking stories
and tell some tales and plead and beg and talk folks into making
a confession of faith. And I'd walk down the church
aisle. I'd done men saved since I was seven years old. They told
me that. It wasn't a question about that. So I'd just go rededicate
up. But I couldn't do anything to rededicate. Conscience said
that wasn't enough. I'd read my Bible and pray. Conscience
said that's not enough. That's not enough. And then one
day, I heard through the lips of a
man by the power of God, of the accomplishments of the Son of
God at Calvary. And by the grace of God, I looked
on him, who died as my substitute, and my conscience met God's law
on the mercy seat and said, that's enough. That's enough. And my conscience hadn't given
me much trouble since. Hadn't given much trouble since.
Oh, preacher, doesn't your conscience bother you? Yeah, when I get
looking at me. When I start looking in me for something, but my hope
is not in me. The anchor of my soul is in Christ
Jesus, the Lord. And I quit trusting me. I quit
looking to me for anything. I look to him. Now let me show
it to you in Hebrews chapter nine. Looking on the crucified Christ,
the blood of Christ compels. I use the word deliberately.
The blood of Christ compels my conscience to declare in my soul
what the law of God declares in heaven concerning me. I'm
justified. Look here, Hebrews 9, 11. Paul's
been discussing for us the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Those ceremonies
and sacrifices that could never take away sin. But Christ being
come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, by the merit and power of his own blood,
by the efficacy of his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He entered
in by the merit of the blood he shed at Calvary. When he cried,
it's finished, and gave up the ghost, he had obtained eternal
redemption for us, and thereby entered into glory and sat down. For if the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies
to the purifying of the flesh, that is, it sanctifies ceremonially
to the purifying of the flesh outwardly, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God, look at it now, purge your conscience
from dead works. You've been trying to make up
with God. You've been trying to do something, get yourself
right with God. Look away to Christ and the blood
of Christ will purge your conscience from those dead works to serve
the living God with peace. All right, now look at verse
eight. Luke chapter nine, verse eight. Harry heard that some had said
John was raised from the dead, and of some that Elias had appeared,
and of others that one of the old prophets was risen again. Elijah and Jeremiah, Malachi,
Isaiah, the other prophets, they'd been dead for hundreds and hundreds
of years. But being dead, they continued
to speak. Their voices could not be silenced
because as I said earlier, the word of God cannot be silenced.
Though Pilate was a pagan, though the Jews despised the word of
the prophets and have long since ceased to pay any attention to
them, though the Gentiles and the Romans were men who bought
and belittled and derided the voice of the prophets, the voice
of the prophets was universally heard. And it was universally condemning
and universally troubling, even as it is this day. The resurrection
of the dead and everlasting immortality of the soul, eternal life and
eternal death, these are matters inscribed upon the soul. Thought
I might pretend it's all fiction. Well, you know, that's just,
that's all just a myth. flipping through the channels
one night several weeks ago. Sometimes I think I'll never
turn that thing on again. Those blasphemers who come on late
at night, they call it entertainment. George Carlin was on there with,
what's that fellow who comes on after Nightline? That's what
it was, I'd watch Nightline. He came on, whatever his name
is, Marr. And Carlin was talking about
Immortality, resurrection in God. He started poking fun and
blaspheming. Yeah, I wish he was sitting right
here. I'd look him square in the eye
and I'd say, you're a liar. And you'll be a damned liar before
long unless God does something for you. You're a liar. Your conscience says otherwise.
You know the resurrection is a fact. It's written on your
heart in such a way that you can't possibly deny it. You may
scream to the top of your lungs that it's not so, but your conscience
screams out and says it is so. You're gonna meet God in the
resurrection. Even old Herod knew it. He was terrified by
it. All right, now look at verse
nine. and learn something here about
religious curiosity. Herod said, John, I behave it,
but who is this of whom I hear such things? And he desired to
see it. He heard about the Lord Jesus,
the power of God that was established. John the Baptist had proclaimed
plainly, and Herod knew what John had proclaimed, that this
man is the Lamb of God, the prophet spoken of by Moses, the seed
promised to Abraham, the woman's seed would crush the serpent's
head. And now this man of whom John the Baptist had preached
is standing before me and proclaiming himself as God Almighty. able to raise the dead and able
to pardon sin. As God Almighty who comes to
establish his kingdom in the hearts of men, Herod heard his
doctrine, he heard of his power, he heard his fame, and he said,
I want to see him. He wasn't interested in believing
him. He wasn't interested in bowing to him. He wanted to silence
his conscience with some kind of religious exercise, with some
kind of religious experience, but he wasn't the least bit interested
in repentance. He was just curious and thought
a little religion, a little religious knowledge, a little religious
exercise, a little religious profession would be enough so
he could sleep at night. What a fool. And yet multitudes
are just like in our day. As soon as trouble comes, get enough trouble. Get enough
trouble. You've been trying to get your
sons and daughters to come to church? You let them get a good
scare. They'll be sitting there. You've
been trying to get your neighbors to come hear the gospel? You
let them get a real good shocking scare. They'll be first ones
here. I want to worship God. I need
to know God. They think that a little dose
of religion will do them some good. I got news for you. Nobody, nobody was ever forced
to Christ against their will by acts of judgment. If that
were the case, folks in hell would repent. They don't repent. God in his grace and providence
uses providence to bring men down. But anything, and my old
brother Darrell McClung used to say so often, he said, anything
built in the storm will fall in the cause. Herod was terrified. He thought a little religion
would help him. Now look at verse 10. The Lord Jesus had sent his
disciples out to preach the gospel. And they came back to give a
report. The apostles, when they were returned, told him all that
they had done. Lord, you told us to go out and
preach the gospel. We preached what you told us.
You told us to provide nothing for ourselves, enter into whatever
house would receive us, and there proclaim your grace. We did it
the way you said, do it. And you told us we were going
forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, and we've had wolves
on our tails. And you told us some folks would
receive the word, and receiving the word would receive you. And
so it's happened. So it shall be with me and with
you. We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. I'm going to give an account. I'm going to give an account
to God almighty in the day of judgment concerning every soul to whom
I have preached the gospel these many years. Oh yeah. Receive them Lord, they've
heard, they believe. They've heard, they believe.
I remember when your word came in power, they believed. No. He would not bow. She would not
bow. Hell shall be their portion.
And that's right. And he took them, verse 10, went
aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called
Bethsaida. Here we see something of the
necessity of personal communion with Christ. Laziness is a horrible, abominable
thing. We live in a generation of men
who have been taught from their youth up, the only reason to
work is so you can have a good time. That's horrible, horrible. With preachers, especially so. I have nothing but contempt for
lazy preachers, preachers who just will not work. But it's necessary for men to
take the time to make the time to get alone with Christ. I urge
you, my brothers and sisters, don't let the care or the pleasures
of this world rob you of that which is vital to your soul's
health. Worshiping Christ, hearing his
word, spending time in communion with him, I find it necessary
several times in the day. I sit at my desk, I'll be writing,
reading, studying, preparing a message and I just push back
from the desk, put down my pen. Sometimes I put my glasses up
on my head or lay them on the desk and just close my eyes and
I speak to my heart. What are you doing? Where are you? Why? We need to examine ourselves
and we need to put ourselves in position where that we seek
communion and instruction from God our Savior. Now then, look
at verse 11 and see something of the freeness of God's grace. And the people, when they knew
it, followed him. And he received them and spoke
unto them of the kingdom of God. Now let me just pass by that
and get to this last line. And healed them that had need
of healing. What a word. The Son of God is gracious to
everybody who needs grace. He's merciful to everybody who
needs mercy. He saves everybody who needs
his salvation. He heals everybody who needs
his healing, everybody. Preacher, I thought you folks
believed in effectual, limited or total, believed in particular,
distinguishing grace. Yeah, that's what I've been preaching
to you. He heals everybody who needs healing. He saves everybody
who needs saving. He's gracious to everybody who
needs grace. He's merciful to everybody who
needs mercy. There is healing for all who
need it. in Jesus Christ the Lord. Do
you need it? Oh, no preacher, I don't need
him. I wasn't talking to you. Do you need his healing? I wonder
if there's a sinner who hears the voice of this preacher who
needs healing. If you need his forgiveness,
he gives it. When you need his grace, you
get it. When you need his pardon, you'll
give it. When you need his power, you'll
give it. When you need his mercy, you'll
give it. In fact, if you need it, he already
gave it. But I don't need it. Well, no
need to fuss with me telling you he won't give it to you then.
I don't want it. No need to fuss with me because
I tell you he's not going to give it to you. He'll give it to everybody
who needs it. What about you, my brother, my
sister? Is there a lameness in your soul? We try to walk with God and walk
with God, we do. But we hobble along on these
broken legs. He heals all who need it. Is there a dropsy in your heart? a languishing in you. He heals
all who need it. Do you find in your soul a terrible
fever burning? He heals all who need it. Do you find yourself with blindness
of eyes so that you can't see as you ought? Dumbness of soul
so that you can't pray as you would? consumption eating away
at your heart. A deadness, a stone cold hardness
of heart you can't do anything about. He still heals all who need it. There's never been in the history
of this world, a need brought to him that wasn't man. But I can't believe. Quit looking
to yourself to believe. But I can't feel. Quit looking
to yourself to feel anything. But I'm dead. Quit looking to
yourself to give you life. He gives life and faith and healing
and pardon and salvation to everybody who needs it. And if you walk
out of here without it, it's cause you just flat don't need
it. Just don't need it. what rich grace this is. Because of Christ's atoning work
at Calvary, God Almighty, now listen to me,
this will give you something to shout about in your soul.
God Almighty, Bobby, no longer looks upon our sins as crimes
of his enemies to be punished, but as the sicknesses and diseases
of his darling children who need his healing hand. Oh, thank God. He healed them that had need
of healing. And before he gets done with
us, he's going to heal us completely. Amen.