A Family Talk

Q: What does the Bible say about the importance of Christian community?

The Bible emphasizes the need for Christians to support and pray for one another as a family of believers. In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul expresses a strong desire for the Thessalonian believers to pray for him and his ministry. This illustrates the importance of the Christian community's involvement in one another’s spiritual lives. Paul recognizes his own insufficiency and understands that he needs the prayers of his brethren to fulfill his calling effectively. The mutual support and prayer within the congregation create a network of spiritual strength and encouragement that is vital in fulfilling the Great Commission. This reveals that Christian relationships are meant to encourage believers to thrive together as they seek to glorify God.

Q: How do we know God's faithfulness is true?

God's faithfulness is evident in His covenant promises and His unchanging nature. The faithfulness of God is a core tenet of sovereign grace theology. In 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Paul states, 'the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil.' God's nature is inherently faithful; He never acts contrary to His attributes or purposes. His covenant with humanity, fulfilled in Christ, is a testament to His unyielding faithfulness. Scripture throughout asserts that God will accomplish all He has promised, reinforcing the belief that He is dependable and steadfast through every circumstance. Understanding God's faithfulness provides believers with assurance, strengthening their faith in His promises.

Q: Why is prayer important for Christians?

Prayer is essential for seeking God's guidance and support in our lives and ministries. The sermon emphasizes the importance of prayer, especially in the context of Christian ministry. Paul frequently asked for prayer from the churches he served, demonstrating that prayer is vital for spiritual empowerment and effectiveness in God’s work. By praying for one another, believers participate in God’s greater purpose and plan. Prayer not only invites God’s help but also cultivates a sense of unity among the body of Christ. It reinforces the idea that no one is self-sufficient; we rely on God's grace and the prayers of our fellow believers to sustain us in our spiritual journeys.

Q: What does Paul mean by 'the word of the Lord may have free course'?

'Free course' means that the gospel is allowed to spread freely and effectively among people. In 2 Thessalonians 3:1, when Paul requests that the word of the Lord may have free course, he is asking for the unhindered movement and effective proclamation of the gospel. This reflects a desire for the message of Christ to advance without obstacles. Theologically, this underscores the importance of a faithful ministry that allows God’s truth to transform lives. Such a request is a plea for God’s sovereign intervention to make the gospel effective, leading to conversions and growth in faith among those who hear it. The idea conveys that God is sovereign over the spread of His message and that He works through the prayers and efforts of His people to accomplish His will.

Q: Why must Christians remain faithful to the gospel?

Remaining faithful to the gospel preserves the truth of Christ amid false teachings. In a world filled with varying beliefs and teachings, Christians are called to remain steadfast in the truth of the gospel. As Paul outlines in his letters, including 2 Thessalonians, there are constant threats from false teachings and philosophies that could lure believers away from the simplicity of Christ's message. By upholding the gospel, believers not only protect their own faith but also ensure that the truth is passed down to future generations. The commitment to the gospel maintains the integrity of the church and its mission to preach Christ crucified as the only means of salvation, thereby fulfilling the Great Commission effectively.

In my opinion, the titles of
messages are important. I carefully select a title because
a title sets the tone and direction of a message. And as you know,
I generally tell you what the title of the message is because
I want you to know the tone and direction of the message. Now,
the title I've given to this message this morning is a family
talk. a family talk. I want to talk
to my family. As you know, tomorrow morning,
Shelby and I will be leaving for Australia, the Lord willing,
and it will be a long, long trip. I'll be gone longer than I have
ever been gone for an entire month almost, lacking just a
couple of days. We're scheduled to come home
on April the 18th. Now, I'm going to Australia for
one reason. Only one reason. Somebody asked me if I was getting
excited about the trip. I'm going so much, I get excited
about coming home. I don't get excited about going. And I'm
not a tourist, not even interested in being one. Those things don't
interest me. I'm going to Australia to preach
the gospel of Christ. That's all. God's opened the
way, and I feel that I must go. With the exception of only three
or four days, I'll be preaching every day while I'm away and
sometimes two and three times a day, frequently two and three
times a day. And when I'm not preaching, I'll
be traveling to preach. So there won't be any vacation
time. I'm just, I'm going to preach. I feel it incumbent upon
me, incumbent upon us as a body of believers to preach the gospel
as fully, as extensively, as frequently, as clearly as we
possibly can in our generation. It's my responsibility and your
responsibility in this generation to preach Christ to every creature
in as much as God gives us opportunity. Before I leave, I want to talk
to you, my family, and you are my family. My mother and dad
were here last week, and I enjoyed having them. But that earthly
relationship is soon going to end. I've got my wife and daughter
here, and I'm delighted they're here. But that relationship will
soon end. Soon, all earthly relationships
are going to be broken, all of them. And they'll be broken permanently. Mothers and fathers, sons and
daughters, brothers and sisters do not exist beyond the grave. They just don't. Folks get a
little sad when that's thought about. Don't get sad. My soul's
something better than that exists. The church of God does. Shelby
and I were talking about this a few weeks ago after we went
over and heard Tim James preach one night. He's talking about
loving one another And he made a statement, said, none of us
really love anybody. None of us do. Not really. And
he was right. He was right. Shelby and I got
talking about our love for one another as husband and wife,
and love for believers, and what things will be like when love
is made perfect. And I'm going to love Wes Roseboom
exactly like I love my wife. No more, no less, and for the
same reason. We're in Christ. That's a better
relationship. It's not that we'll lose anything,
we're going to gain a whole family in the perfection of everlasting
glory. But beyond the grave, earthly
relationships don't exist. This family shall last forever. In heaven's glory, we shall in
the perfection of unity, In the perfection of holiness, in the
perfection of love, joy, and peace, we shall serve Christ
together forever as the family of God. Our Lord, one time when
the disciples came to him, they said, your mother and your brethren
are outside. They can't get in. They want
to see you. The Lord Jesus said, look around you. This is my mother
and this is my brother. These are my family who do the
will of God. Today, I want to make a request
of you, and I want to communicate to you my confidence in the Lord
concerning you. My text is 2 Thessalonians 3,
beginning at verse 1. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 1. I take Paul's words to be my
own because they are an exact expression of the sentiments
of my heart this morning. Finally, brethren, finally, I
come now to give you this final word. Finally, brethren, you
who are born of God, you who are one with me in the kingdom
of God, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free
course and be glorified even as it is with you. and that we
may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. For all men have
not faith, but the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep
you from evil. And we have confidence in the
Lord touching you. We have confidence in the Lord
concerning you. that you both do and will do
the things which we command you and the Lord direct your hearts
into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. Now I have a request to make
of you. You see it in these first two verses. When Paul wrote to
the Thessalonian believers, though he was an apostle of Christ,
he sought an interest in their prayers. He said, finally, brethren,
pray for us. He was the chief of the apostles,
and yet this man knew that he needed the prayers of his brethren,
for he, more than anyone else perhaps, understood his insufficiency
as the minister of Christ. He knew that he could do nothing
useful and that he could serve no useful purpose, but by the
grace and blessing of God, the Holy Spirit upon him. And therefore
he frequently asked his brethren to pray for him. Look back in
chapter one, or chapter five, rather, of first Thessalonians.
First Thessalonians five and verse 25. He says, brethren,
pray for us. Pray for us. Look at Ephesians
chapter six. He's talking about believers
taking on the whole armor of God. And as soon as he mentions
praying, he says, praying always. In verse 19, he says, and pray
for me. Pray for me that utterance may
be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel. And then look at Hebrews 13 in
verse 18. understand that Paul is the writer of the epistles
to the Hebrews, and I think he was, he speaks in verse 18 in
the same manner. He's talking about you who believe
God obeying them that have the rule over you, who watch for
your souls as they that must give an account. And then he
says in verse 18, pray for us. Pray for us to whom God has given
the rule over you, who watch for your souls as they that must
give an account. Pray for us. For we trust we
have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly. Now I'm in constant need of your
prayers as I seek to serve God and serve you in this place,
as I seek to serve the interest of your souls and the interest
of Christ's glory and the gospel of his grace. I need you to pray
for me. I need that. The longer I'm engaged
in the work of preaching the gospel, the more I'm impressed
with its awesome greatness and responsibility. It's an immense
work. And I know, my soul I know, that
I am altogether insufficient for the work. This is too great
for me. It's too big for me. It's too
much for me to handle. I was talking to Gary Shepard
the other day, and he made this statement. He said, any man who
is anxious to become a preacher is not ready to become a preacher.
He doesn't yet know what it's all about. And Gary's right.
He's right. I was talking to a friend of
mine, rather large church that had a reputation for manipulating
and ruling a pastor. Pastor resigned and some young
fellow come up to him and he said, I understand that church
is not a pastor. Could you recommend me for it?
He said, you want me to recommend you over there? He said, I've
been pastoring for 30 years. I don't think I'd tackle it.
He said, I believe I can handle it. I believe I can handle it.
A fellow who's too anxious and not ready. He doesn't understand
what it's all about. There's more to preaching the
gospel than just preparing a sermon and standing up here and talking
for 30, 45 minutes or an hour. There's something involved in
carrying the weight of the burden of the word of the Lord to the
hearts of eternity bound men and women, and Lindsay, can't
nobody but God enable you to do that. Nobody else, nobody
else. The task is too great. I need
your prayers as I daily labor here in the gospel. I hope you'll listen to me. I'm not just talking. Rex, I
want you to hear what I'm saying. I go back there and study, and
you go to your office and you study your plans and your blueprints
and your work that you've got to do, but the two are not the
same. They're just not the same. You've
got the ability to understand what God's put before you. I
don't have the ability to understand this word unless God speaks through
me. I've read hundreds of books,
hundreds of them, read every day, every day. But I could read
them from cover to cover, every book available, and not understand
this book. Pray that God give me understanding
in the word, that God give me understanding in his truth, Pray
that God might be pleased to increase my gifts of ministry
here and elsewhere. Gifts of preaching, gifts of
communicating the gospel. I want so much, when you walk
out of here today, to understand exactly what I'm saying. I want
so much to communicate to you the truth of God, and only God
can do that. I've been preaching to you now
for 11 years, three times a week. You listen to me every week,
three times a week, most of you, and you hear the same man stand
up and preach from the same word, preaching the same gospel, and
unless God's in it, you're going to sit there. If you're not asleep,
you're going to wish you was asleep, because you're just hearing the
redundant words of a man. Pray that God will increase my
gifts to minister to you in preaching, in writing, in communicating
with me in the gospel of Christ. Pray that I might be made constantly
diligent in study, in prayer, and in preparation. It's contrary
to the flesh. It's contrary to the flesh. I
don't care who stands up and tells you otherwise. Study is
much weariness to the flesh. It's contrary to the flesh to
continue diligent in study, in prayer, and in preparation. The
way of the flesh is to just get up and kindly talk off the cuff,
and without preparation, spend your time lollygagging around,
visiting with folks, and entertaining folks, and entertaining yourself.
Pray that God will make me, as I get older, diligent in study,
diligent in prayer, diligent in preparation, and pray for
the blessings of God, the blessings of His Spirit, to be upon us
as I endeavor to preach. What takes place here in the
next hour will either be vanity or blessing to you and me, depending
on God the Holy Spirit. That's just reality. I pray that
God will graciously bless the message to your heart. Will you
pray for that? Pray that God will make this
word minister to me, minister to the woman sitting beside me
or the man sitting beside me, minister to my wife and children,
minister to your wife and children that the word of God may be blessed
of God. Pray that doors of utterance
might be constantly open to us for the gospel. God has in these
11 years, open doors just phenomenally. I can't begin to describe how
very astonished I am at the doors God opens for us for the preaching
of the gospel, literally around the world. Pray that he'll continue
to do so. Make us faithful in what he's
given us to do and that he'll give us more to do. And pray
that God will give me freedom and boldness to preach Christ
wherever I go. Neither being influenced by the
flatteries of men or the frowns of men. And it's just as easy to be influenced
by the flatteries of men as it is by their frowns. I want to
speak to you, Bob Pontzer, and to everybody to whom I preach,
Jesus Christ crucified boldly, plainly, and clearly, regardless
of how they respond to it. And pray that God might be pleased
to bless the preaching of the gospel for the edifying of his
saints and the conversion of sinners for the glory of Christ.
that God might keep and preserve me as I endeavor to minister
to you, that he might keep and preserve me from temptations,
that he might keep and preserve me from the trials of this world,
that he might keep and preserve me amid all those things that
come against one who speaks for God. Pray for me, pray for me. Particularly today, I ask you
to pray for me as I go to Australia to preach the gospel. that God
might be pleased to grant Shelby and I safety as we travel, give
us strength for the journey, that the word of the Lord may
have free course. Paul says, brethren, pray for
us that the word of the Lord may have free course, that the
gospel of Christ may flow freely like a mighty river from the
throne of almighty God right down into your heart. into the
hearts of those who hear it, like a river of the water of
life flowing freely without obstruction into the hearts of men and bringing
forth fruit. Pray that the gospel of Christ
may be glorified. Look at it now, that it may be
glorified even as it is with you. Turn over to Acts 13, Acts
chapter 13. For the most part, For the most
part, I can't say it concerning all of you, for some of you do
not yet believe God, but for the most part, you who now hear
me glorify the gospel of Christ. Pastor, how do we glorify the
word of the Lord? Look here in Acts chapter 13
and verse 48. And when the Gentiles heard this,
heard what? What he preached in verses 38
and 39, how that Jesus Christ brings the forgiveness of sin
and by him we're justified through his blood. When the Gentiles
heard this, when they heard the gospel of God's free grace, they
were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. How? And as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. Pray that the word
of the Lord may be glorified, just like it is with you, by
faith. You believe the word of the Lord,
you love it, you obey it, you seek to promote it, and if God
is pleased to so honor my labors these next few weeks in Australia,
I will rejoice and be glad. If God will be pleased to cause
those who hear the word as he has you to believe it, to receive
it, to obey it, to love it, to promote it, then all is well
spent. Everything has gone for some
profitable use. And pray that I may be delivered
from the cavils of unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have
not faith. I've been traveling now. through
this country and other parts of the world, and I have yet
to go and preach anywhere. I have yet to go preach anywhere
where I did not meet with some religious man, someone who professed
faith, someone who claimed to be a child of God and a servant
of God, who just flat got mad. I have yet to go anywhere and
preach to a group of people, but there wasn't somebody who
got upset with the message, somebody who took offense at the message.
The fact is no man has faith naturally, and not all who profess
to have faith have faith in Christ Jesus. So pray that God might
be pleased to deliver me from the cavils. They don't do anything
to me. Nobody's attacked me. Nobody's
physically abused me. I've had folks stand up in the
middle of congregation and shout out things against what I was
saying. Pray that God will prevent that. Those things are disturbing.
They're frustrating. They're annoying. Pray that God
will deliver me from the cabals of wicked and unlearned and unreasonable
men. You can't reason with them. Unbelievers
have no reason. They have no logic. You can't
reason with them from the scriptures. Their intent is to promote themselves
and to destroy the truth of God. And I ask an interest in your
prayers because you have an interest in what I'm doing. You're the ones. You men and
women, you are the ones who by the grace of God make it possible
for me to go and preach the gospel of God's grace. Through your
gifts, through your services, you make it possible. While I'm
away, Lindsey and Doug are going to be spending a lot of hours
studying and preparing to preach in my absence. And Lindsey will
be teaching the men, Doug will be teaching the ladies, You other
folks, men and women who are teaching, you'll be studying
and preparing. That makes it possible, makes it possible for
me to go with comfort and confidence, knowing that the ministry here
won't suffer. Bob Pontzer, I've given him more
to do. He's retired and lives close
by and I take advantage of it. All that makes it possible for
us to go. All of it. Well, I don't want
to do that. I don't want to get the mail.
I don't want to do that. Why? Get somebody else to do
that. Get somebody else to do that. Well, OK. I will. But if somebody doesn't
do it, I've got to stay here and take care of it. If somebody
doesn't take care of the grounds, Rex and Bob, I expect in the
next few weeks we'll be pouring that sidewalk out there. If somebody
doesn't do it, I've got to stay and take care of it. If you do
it, I can go preach the gospel of God's grace. What do you want
to do? You have an interest in what's
going on, is what I'm saying. You see, my ministry, Wes, is
your ministry. It's Shirley's ministry. It's
not my ministry, it's ours. I'm going there to speak as the
voice of Christ and the voice of this congregation to God's
people elsewhere. You understand that? It's, I
hope we, I hope you understand that. And I hope we get over
the idea that the ministry of the congregation is the ministry
of the preacher. The ministry of the congregation
is the ministry of the congregation. So let's, let's labor together
in the calls of Christ, doing what God lets us and gives us
the ability to do. We're in this thing together.
We're endeavoring to make Christ known in this generation. That's what we're doing. You
have an interest in that, don't you? We're seeking the Lord sheep. I'm going to Australia because
I know God has a people whom he's chosen, whom Christ has
redeemed, whom the spirit will call by his word. And I'm seeking
those people for the glory of Christ, seeking to serve the
interest of God's kingdom, seeking the restoration of God's truth
and the commitment of his people to it. God has somehow call some
folks over there to get a hold of tapes and literature and things.
They've heard them. And it stirred up an interest.
It stirred up an interest. Alan Rowe called me last night
from Sydney. Last time he was here, I think God did something
for he and his wife. And they've been excited about it. They ain't
got over it yet. They ain't got over it. He said he called last
night at 915. It was already Sunday afternoon
there, 1215. He said, I just come back from
church. Said, I preached this morning, and he quoted something
that was in the Grace for Today book on imparted righteousness.
He said, I've been preaching these things and folks are listening.
They're anxious to hear what you've got to say. That's what we want. We want
folks to hear from God. I want a restoration of God's
truth among people who claim to believe it and commitment
to it. A few years ago when we were
over in England, there was a young man and his wife I met there.
Jeff and Margaret Peaver had been in church, and they came
up to Darlington and heard the gospel of God's grace. He wrote
me when I got home and said, I never heard anything like that.
Never heard anything like that. And he started looking around
to see if he could find somebody preaching, and he couldn't. He couldn't.
So they started meeting in their home, just two or three people.
And he and his wife decided, folks need to hear this message.
And they decided they'd start a tape ministry. And let me tell
you what they've done. They have purchased tapes from
me, from Henry. They wrote to me and asked me
if I knew of other folks. And I've sent them Todd's and
Maurice's name and Gary's name, some others. And they've taken
these tapes and purchased advertising space in a national magazine
and literally have sent them around the world. So folks, hear
the gospel. That's what we want. to have
the truth of God established in the hearts of men and see
folks committed to it so that God might save his people through
the preaching of the word. So pray for us. Now, secondly,
I want you to know and remember that the Lord is faithful. Look at verse three. Pray for me that I might be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith,
verse three, but the Lord is faithful, who shall establish
you and keep you from evil. Though men are false, Matthew
Henry wrote, God is faithful. William Gurnall said, what more
powerful consideration can be thought on to make us true to
God? than the faithfulness and truth
of God to us. The Lord's faithful. You can
depend on it. God will always act like God. He's faithful. He's faithful
to himself so that he never does anything contrary to his own
attributes or contrary to his own purpose. He's faithful to
his covenant so that he fulfills everything required by that covenant
which he made ordered in all things insure with Christ our
representative before the world began. He's faithful to his son
so that he will grant to his son every petition and desire
of his heart on the grounds of his obedience as our mediator.
He's faithful to his word so that he will do exactly what
he says he will do in this book. You can bank on it. God always
acts like God. God is always faithful, faithful
in all things, and he's faithful to you, his people. He's faithful. Because God is faithful, he will
establish you. Do you see that? He will establish
you. He will establish your souls
in grace, your hearts with faith, your minds with truth, your lives
in holiness, and your way with peace. He's faithful. Look in
chapter five of 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 16. They're one of my favorite texts of scripture.
Rejoice evermore. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing, that is, walk before God with joy and faith constantly,
constantly. In everything, give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Whatever
comes to pass, this is God's will, whatever it is, be it joyful
or painful, be it prosperous or adverse, be it in your eyes
good or evil, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Now then, he says, quench not
the spirit. How? By murmuring rather than
being thankful, by unbelief rather than faith, by sorrow rather
than joy. Quench not the spirit. Despise
not prophesies. Don't ignore the word of God.
I'm preaching to you this morning. I'm giving you this word, the
prophesies of God's word. Don't despise that. Don't ignore
it. Prove all things. Principally,
he's talking about doctrinal truth. He says, prove what you
hear. Prove all things. abstain, hold
fast to that which is good, that which is true to the word of
God, abstain from all appearance of evil. That is, anything that
detracts from the gospel of God's free grace, anything that smacks
of free will, Arminian legalism and works, abstain from it. It
has the appearance of evil. Look at the next line. and the
very God of peace sanctify you wholly, separate you wholly,
distinguish you entirely. And I pray God, your whole spirit,
soul, and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at the next line. Faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it. God is faithful. He will establish you. And then
Paul says, He will keep you from evil. He will keep you from destruction. He will keep you under life everlasting. He will keep you by his grace
in the love of Christ. Without question, you must keep
yourself. That's your responsibility. The
Lord commands us, my son, keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life. Jude says, keep yourselves
in the love of Christ. You must keep yourselves, but
your keeping of yourself is the result of God's keeping you.
We are kept by the power of God through faith, but that keeping
through faith is by the power of God. And it is God's sure
work. He will keep you. No, he will
not keep you from sin. He won't do that. He's going to let you struggle
with sin to the day you leave this world. He may keep you in
his goodness and mercy from some of the outward gross acts of
sin by which his name is dishonored, by which his name is blasphemed
by others, but you're going to have to live with sin. You're
just going to have to live with it so that you can live trusting
Christ and not live looking to yourself. He will not keep you
from sin, but I'll tell you what he'll do. Rex, he'll keep you
from the dominion of it. He'll keep you from being the
servant of sin. No, he will not keep you from temptation. He
won't do it. He won't do it. That is from
trials, trials. But I'll tell you what he'll
do. He'll keep you from the power of the tempter, and that's good
enough. He'll keep you from the, he'll
keep you from being hurt by the trials. There is no temptation
taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful,
who will with the temptation make a way to escape that you
may be able to bear it. You see that? He'll keep you.
No, he will not keep you from trouble. He won't do it. Some of you dear men and women, I see people who look like their
lives are going to be wrecked by a featherweight of difficulty,
and some of you carry a burden like a millstone around your
heart constantly. God won't keep you from trouble.
He won't do it. He never promised he would. You're
going to pass through the deep waters, and you're going to pass
through the fires. You're going to go through the
furnace. He's chosen you in the furnace of affliction. Buddy,
he won't keep you from trouble. But I'll tell you what he'll
do. He'll keep you from harm. from falling. He won't do it. He won't keep you from many falls,
I should say, but he'll keep you from falling. He won't keep
you from falling into this error, falling into this difficulty.
He will keep you from falling away from Christ. He will keep
you by his grace, faithful to his son. He'll do it. God is
faithful. He will both establish you and
keep you if you're his. That's it, if you're his. If
you're his, you have no cause for fear ever. Listen to the
word of God. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Listen to the word of God. Faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Listen to the word
of God. I am confident that he which
hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. That's God's word. He'll keep
you. He will establish you and he
will keep you if you're his. Thirdly, I want to show you and
make you to know my confidence in the Lord concerning you. Look
at verse four. And we have confidence in the
Lord touching you that you both do and will do the things which
we command you. If in God's wise, good, unerring,
adorable providence, I should never see your faces
on this earth again, that'd be all right. That's okay. Not just
all right. That'd be great. That'd be great. If that should happen, I'm confident
of God's grace in Christ and God's grace in you. And therefore
I'm confident of you. Confident of you. I speak of
this congregation as a whole. I'm confident of you. I have,
to the best of my ability, proclaimed to you the whole counsel of God,
and I have kept nothing from you that was profitable for your
souls. Nothing. There's not a man, woman,
boy, or girl here who has not heard from these lips the truth
of God, which is able, if blessed of God, to make you wise into
salvation. You've heard it. You've heard
it. I take you to record. If I should meet you, any of
you, in the day of judgment, and you know not Christ, it's
because you would not hear what I preached to you. Is that true,
Vincent? That's just fact. That's just fact. I've told you
the truth to the best of my ability. I've taught you the doctrine
of Christ. I've shown you plainly from the scriptures, ruined by
the fall, redemption by the blood, and regeneration by the Holy
Spirit. We were ruined in our father, Adam, and therefore we
could not and would not help ourselves. Jesus Christ alone
is our redeemer. Only God, the Holy Spirit, calls
me into life in faith in Christ, salvations of the Lord. I've
taught you the doctrine of Christ. I've been a miserable failure in a lot of ways. and I failed
to do a lot of things I'd like to do as a pastor. But one thing
I've been to you, I have been a studying pastor who preaches
to you the word of God. You don't come here and not hear
the gospel of God's grace ever, ever. I study and prepare to
teach the ladies and study and prepare to preach to you Sunday
morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night, and I do so constantly
so that you might know the truth of God. I do so For your sake
and for my sake, I am free of your blood, free of it. And you have been obedient to
the gospel. By the grace of God, you've been obedient to the word
of God. God's given you faith in himself, faith in his son,
faith in his word. God be praised. Your obedience
is the result of his grace. but you've been obedient. Now
you have. You've heard the word and you
believed it. You believed it. You've embraced
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. Nobody
has to be bashful about preaching grace in this pulpit. You've
embraced it. Not only have you embraced it,
but you've submitted to the ordinances of the gospel. as they're set
forth in the scriptures, baptism, the Lord's table, the breaking
of bread and wine, the observance of the ordinances regularly for
the glory of Christ. And you have molded and patterned
the work of this ministry, the work of this congregation by
the word of God. We got a ways to go, but I don't
know of anything required in this book that's not practiced
in this building. I don't. I don't know of anything
forbidden in this book that is practiced in this building. If
I discover it, we'll do away with it. Now, you're to be commended
for that. You've molded the pattern of
ministry of this congregation by the word of God. Our goals
have been clear. We're not here to pamper the
flesh. We're not here to honor men. We're not here to please
men. We're here seeking the glory of God, the worship of God, and
the furtherance of the gospel. And Mark, God set our hearts
in that direction. Those three things, the glory
of God, the worship of God, the furtherance of the gospel. That's
our purpose. That's our purpose. It has been
our purpose from the onset of our ministry together. And we
have, by the grace of God, on the authority of the scriptures,
thrown out the customs, traditions, and practices of men. Thrown
them out. I told the ladies this morning
I was going to address this a little bit. It's not that we don't have an interest in
young people, or old folks, or singles, or this group or that
group. That's not the case at all. People
say, why don't you have a program for this group of people and
a ministry for this group of people and a ministry for that
group of people? Because once you start directing a ministry
to a specific group of people, you're going to compromise the
gospel to make it palatable to that group of people. You understand
that? Folks have a ministry to single
folks, folks have a ministry to married folks, and they have
a ministry to young folks, and a ministry to old folks, and
a ministry to this, and a ministry... What it amounts to is no ministry
at all. It amounts to entertaining folks
on the way to hell and making them feel good about it. Now,
everybody here, doesn't matter whether you're blind, deaf, lame,
hot, young, old, married, single, divorced, remarried, it doesn't
matter what you are, you need the gospel of God's grace. And
we have thrown out the practices of men. Just throw them out.
We've thrown out the traditions, the customs, the rudiments, and
the philosophies of the world. Next Sunday, all over the country,
folks are going to be observing a holy day, a great holy day
in religion. And preachers are going to be
leading folks in idolatry, going to be observing Easter Sunday.
observing the rituals and the ceremonies, going to have sunrise
services and Easter egg hunts, and going to have this, going
to have that. We've thrown it out. Why? Because it's just idolatry,
and we're not going to have it. We don't have stained glass windows
and crosses and steeples. I tell you, I won't talk to you
about what it all represents, but if you study the history
of those things, it would embarrass you to find out what you've got
sitting on top of your church building. It'd embarrass you
to understand what those things represent. It's absurd that men
gather things to please the flesh, just traditions, and they go
back to the Old Testament law and bring in the rudiments of
legalism and they go out and find the philosophies of the
world and bring them in the house of God and push out the worship
of God. We've pushed out the traditions
of men. Don't ever let them come in.
Don't ever allow it. Now, I'm confident. that you
will continue to do as you've done. When the time comes that
God is pleased to take me home to glory and you seek a pastor
to fill this pulpit, make certain, make dead certain, make certain
that you call a man who believes who faithfully preaches and who
lives by the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. Merle, bless your heart. Quiet
man, and I appreciate it. No fuss with Merle. I've seen
fellows, he'd been a carpenter all his life. I've seen fellows
who don't know a thing about carpentry work suggesting him how to do
something. He's, well, okay. No fuss about Merle. I appreciate
that. It's good attitude. But brother, deacon in this congregation,
here, stand up and speak plain. When you seek a pastor, you find
one I've just described, who believes, preaches, and lives
by the gospel of God's free grace. I mean it. That's number one
priority. Don't matter whether he's fat,
skinny, bald, or hairy. It doesn't matter a bit what
he is. Otherwise, that's the issue. And secondly, Give no
place for Armenian freewill works religion. Don't tolerate it. Be tolerant of everything else,
but don't you tolerate that. Don't tolerate it. Give no place to legalism. Somebody
comes along and wants to put you back under the law, Won't
start teaching tithing and Sabbath day observance and keeping the
commandments and living by the law. Don't tolerate it. It is
nothing to return to legalism is to go back to nothing but
idolatry. God has set us free from it.
Don't you do it. Give no ground whatever on the
ordinances of Christ. So pastor, how important are
they? Every time somebody confesses Christ in the watery grave of
baptism, they symbolize the gospel of Christ. When you just sprinkle
a little water on their face, you send no need for regeneration.
Sprinkle a little water on their face, you're sending no need
for the work of God's Spirit. Sprinkle a little water on their
face, you're denying the whole gospel of Christ in practice.
Don't give an inch. We observe the Lord's table.
We break bread, unleavened bread, and we drink wine, fermented
wine. Well, that can't be too important.
We'll have soda crackers and grape juice, not here. Not here. To do so is to, by picture, by
picture, whether the person understands the implication or not, by picture,
it is to deny the gospel of Christ. That wine represents the pure,
undefiled blood of God's Son. That bread represents the holy,
immaculate humanity of God's dear Son. No one will back up. And I say to you, don't do it. Maintain the simplicity of worship. Never seeking to please the flesh,
but always seeking to honor Christ. Walk together in the unity and
fellowship of the gospel. Serving Christ and one another
with one accord for the glory of God. Children of God, Cherish the bond of peace. Cherish it. If Satan can, he'll destroy it.
And if he destroys it, he's destroyed the ministry of this church. Cherish it. Don't let anybody
disrupt it. And don't you have any hand in
disrupting it. See to it that you knit together in the faith
of Christ. And anything that would divide,
man, push it aside. Push it aside. And when God gives you another
pastor, you treat him just exactly like
you've treated me. And you'll go all right. It'll
go all right. When I'm dead and gone, I hope
God'll give my wife another husband. And if he does, I hope she'll
treat him just exactly like she's treated me. My soul, he will
be a blessed man. And when I'm dead and gone, I
hope God'll give you another pastor. faithful to the cause
of Christ and faithful to your souls. And if he does, you treat
him just like you treated me and you will have a blessed relationship. Give him your esteem, give him
your love, give him your prayers, give him your obedience and give
him your support. Now, fourthly, I leave you with
the prayer that God will ever direct your hearts. Look at verse
five. And the Lord direct your hearts. He's the only one who can. I
can't. The Lord is the ruler, the governor,
the director of the heart, your hearts in his hands. The Lord
direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting
for Christ. Since the day that God brought
us together, I have not ceased to pray for you.
Not one of you. I call your names before God
regularly. Your sons and daughters, some
of you, your parents and relatives that I've met, seen, I call your
names before God regularly. And now I call on you in God's
name and I seek the peace of God and the grace of God and
the mercy of God on your behalf. Oh, may God ever direct your
hearts into the knowledge and wonder of his love for you. His electing love, his redeeming
love, his saving love, his keeping love, his everlasting love, his
immutable and changeable love, the Lord direct your hearts into
his love. If he does, all is well for your
soul. All is well. And may the Lord, as he directs
your hearts into his love for you, ever direct your hearts
in love to him. Love him. Love him. Love for God is the fruit of
the spirit. Every person who is born of God loves God. And
I know that you who believe God love him. But our love for God
often grows cold. It needs to be stirred and flamed
by the Spirit of God. May the Lord direct your hearts.
And I pray that the Lord may direct your hearts into the patience
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The patient waiting for Christ
is translated in the margin of your Bible, the patience of Christ. The patience with which he bore
all things for your sakes. He patiently endured the sorrows
of life as a man and patiently endured the agonies of the cross
as a man and patiently endured the wrath of God as a man on
our behalf. May the Lord direct your heart
into that so that you constantly, constantly set your heart on
the sufferings of Christ on your behalf. May the Lord direct your
heart in the patience that he gives to his saints on this earth,
so that looking to Christ, you might gladly endure all things
for Christ's sake. May the Lord direct your heart
into the patience of hope in his glorious second advent. The
hearts of God's saints are never more in the exercise of patience
than when directed into the love of God and into the work of Christ. Turn over to Romans 5, Romans
chapter 5. Listen to what Paul says. Therefore being justified, we
have been justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. Now being justified, By faith,
by faith in Christ, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing
that tribulation work of patience and patience experience and experience
hope and hope maketh not ashamed. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Now I have one more word. How can I address you who do not yet know our God? who are yet without faith in
Jesus Christ our Lord. How can I reason and persuade
your hearts to believe Christ? I've called upon God for you
that he might have grace upon you. Now I call on you to come
to Christ. Come to him. Come to him. Jesus Christ, the son of God,
has for the love of guilty sinners, sacrificed himself and made the
full satisfaction of divine justice for all who believe. You believe
him and you live forever. Look unto me and be you saved. All the ends of the earth for
I'm God. And beside me there is none else. Believe him and
live forever. Pastor, it can't be that simple.
Yeah, it is. It's that simple and it's that
profound. You can't do it unless God gives
you grace. Hardest thing on this earth for
a man to do is trust Christ. Oh, but will you now trust him?
If you do, it's because God's given you grace and he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. Bow to Christ, your sovereign
Lord. Trust Christ, your sovereign Savior. Confess Christ, your
sovereign Master, and do it without delay. Hal, I would like to leave you in Christ, and I commit you to Him. and
to the word of his grace. Amen.

A Family Talk

What does the Bible say about the importance of Christian community?

How do we know God's faithfulness is true?

Why is prayer important for Christians?

What does Paul mean by 'the word of the Lord may have free course'?

Why must Christians remain faithful to the gospel?

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A Family Talk

What does the Bible say about the importance of Christian community?

How do we know God's faithfulness is true?

Why is prayer important for Christians?

What does Paul mean by 'the word of the Lord may have free course'?

Why must Christians remain faithful to the gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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