Would you like to be used of
God? I speak to you who are believers,
to you who are the children of God. Would you like to be used
of God? Oh, what a privilege, what an
honor. My prayer for myself, my unceasing
prayer, and my prayer for this congregation, my unceasing prayer
for this congregation, is that God might be pleased in this
generation to use us in any way, in any way, for the glory of
Christ. Would you like to be used of
God? Would you like to be an instrument
in his hands by whom he performs his work in this world? Then
hear this word of exhortation. You find my text and my message
in John 2 and verse 5. John chapter 2 and verse 5. His mother saith unto the servants. Now here's my message. Whatsoever
he saith unto you, do it. Whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. You know the background. Our
Lord and his disciples, along with his mother Mary, were at
the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. In those days, it was
customary when someone was getting married to throw a big party.
This family had thrown a big party and our Lord and his disciples
were invited. We don't know anything other
than that concerning it. Apparently, they were family
friends of Mary and of the Lord Jesus and his brothers and his
disciples came along as well. After some time during the party,
They ran out of wine, and Mary came to the Lord Jesus, and she
said, they're out of wine. And the Lord said to her, what
have I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come. That
is, I'm not come here to demonstrate my glory, to show people who
I am. The time has not yet come for
that. But Mary received the rebuke. After all, her son was her Lord.
And she just turned to the servants and she said, now, whatever he
says to you, do it. Whatever he says, you do it.
And so the Lord Jesus commanded those servants to go and get
the water pots, huge barrels. Get the water pots and fill them
with water. And the servants did it. They
went and got the water pots, filled them up to the brim with
water. And then the Lord said, now take
those water pots and carry them to the governor of the feast.
That doesn't make good sense. That doesn't make good sense.
We're out of wine and now you expect us to carry these things
over here and give them to the governor of the feast and give
him water to drink? That's not reasonable. Whatever
he says, do it. Whatever he says, do it. And
they did. They carried those water pots
to the governor of the feast in the place of wine. And when
that governor reached in and got a glass of wine, it was the
best he'd ever tasted. The Lord had turned that water
into wine, and this governor of the feast commended it as
being the best wine kept until the last. He turned the water
into wine, By his own sovereign divine power, without a word,
without touching it, without putting anything into the water,
he just turned it into wine. But those servants who filled
the water pots were the instruments by whose hands the miracle was
accomplished. There would have been no wine.
if they hadn't filled the water pots. There would have been no
wine if they hadn't carried those water pots to the governor of
the feast. And the Lord Jesus giving them
the command, they obeyed his word and obeying his word, they
were instruments of divine power to accomplish divine work in
the world. Are you interested? Would you
be interested in being an instrument by which God performs his work
in this world? Or are you satisfied merely to
go along through the world, living for self, living to gratify your
flesh, living to pamper your flesh, living to satisfy your
own desires, living unto yourself, me and mine? Is that what you
want? Or are you interested, interested
in serving the cause of Christ's honor, His glory, and His kingdom? I started to say, I don't know
about you. I suspect I do know about some of you. As for me,
and I'm certain for some of you, I'm not satisfied to live for
Don Porter. I'm not satisfied to live for
my family. I'm not satisfied to live for
earthly comfort and pleasure. God never let me be satisfied
with those things, never. I want to be an instrument, an
instrument God may be pleased to use in this world for the
glory of his name. Now if that's what I'm interested
in, I've got a message for myself, and I've got one for you, Merrill.
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. That's my message. Whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. We who are the servants of God
must be obedient to the will of God in all things. Whatever our master says, we
must do. It is not for us to question
why the Lord commands us to do something, what our obedience
will cost us, or what the consequences of our obedience will be. It
is our responsibility to obey our master in all things, regardless
of cost or consequence. During the days of the Civil
War, General Stonewall Jackson gave a command to one of his
subordinate officers and the officer seemed to think the command
was not feasible. Hard to tell what it might have
been. It may not have been feasible. Knowing what I do of Jackson's
character, he gave a command and the subordinate officer began
to argue with him and he began to say to him, but General, sir,
we have limited supply. We have limited men. We have
limited artillery. We just can't do this. Jackson
turned and responded. Sir, I did not ask your opinion. I gave you my orders and I expect
them to be carried out. That's our responsibility before
our master. Whatever he says to you, do it. But it's not reasonable. I don't
have the ability. I don't have the means. Whatever
he says to you, do it. Do it. That's my message. I hope that
God will give me grace to keep on driving it home to our hearts. And I pray that God, the Holy
Spirit, will graciously make my words effectual for your good
in Christ's glory. Now, let me show you one example.
Turn over to Galatians 1. Let me show you one example of
a man who did what the Lord told him to do, who performed the
will of his master without question, without hesitancy, with a willing
heart. Galatians chapter 1. Here the
Apostle Paul is giving us the story of his own conversion,
his experience of God's grace. He's telling us what God had
done for him. He's giving us his testimony.
In verse 15 he says, When it pleased God, who separated me
from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, to reveal his
son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood." Now in these two verses,
Paul gives us a great many things that could be preached on for
a long time. Let me just give you five statements that are
clearly set forth in these verses. First, The apostle tells us plainly
that salvation is determined and accomplished by the will
and the pleasure of God. I can't stress this too much.
Paul was saved when it pleased God. Salvation is not accomplished
by the will of man. Salvation is not accomplished
at the whim and pleasure of man. Salvation is not determined by
man, not in any way, at any time, or in any measure. And my friends,
I tell you again, you are in the hands of the sovereign almighty
God. If God is pleased to have mercy
upon you, he will have mercy upon you. If he is not, you will
perish forever. I tell you, young people, you
young men and women, you children, you're in the hands of the God
of heaven. And God alone can show you mercy. You'll be wise to seek Him. You'll
be wise to call upon Him. You'll be wise to plead for His
mercy. You'll be wise to seek His grace. But I'm telling you that unless
God is pleased to show you mercy, there will be no mercy. Unless
God is pleased to turn you to Himself, you will not turn to
Him. Unless God is pleased to call
you, you will not run after Him. Unless God is pleased to give
you life, faith and eternal life, you cannot be saved. The Apostle
Paul says, I was saved when it pleased God to reveal his Son
in me. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
Secondly, the Apostle shows us here that all people who are
saved are saved by the grace of God in the time that God has
appointed, but they were saved according to the purpose of God
in eternity. In other words, those who are
saved in time were chosen by God in sovereign, eternal, electing
love. He says, when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb. That is, God chose me. God separated me while I was
still in my mama's womb and God sanctified me like he did the
prophet Jeremiah of old before ever I was born. God appointed
me like he did those of old before ever I drew my first infant breath. That's God's election. The Lord
God chooses whom he will save. Salvation is something that God
determined for his people in the covenant of grace before
the world began. So, Pastor, what's so important
about the doctrine of election that we keep stressing it and
we keep pressing it all the time? The important thing is that we're
declaring to men salvation is not by chance. It's not by accident,
it's not by some falling out of circumstances, it's not by
the will of man, it's not something that's dependent upon things
and time, but salvation is God's eternal purpose for His people.
We're declaring the salvations of the Lord. That's what we're
saying. That's the reason we insist upon God's electing grace.
To deny election is to deny the salvations of the Lord. To deny
God's sovereign election is to deny that God has purposed whom
he will save and to declare rather that men themselves determine
who's saved. Thirdly, Paul shows us that all
who were chosen by God in eternal election are called from death
to life. by the power of his irresistible
grace in regeneration. Paul says, God called me by his
grace. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and calls us to approach him to thee. Has God called you
to approach him? By the sweet, irresistible constraint
of his sovereign power, he conquers the heart. God puts his finger
on the rebel's heart and melts it like wax before the sun. God
puts his finger on the rebel's heart and causes that heart to
bow willingly in subjection to Christ. God puts his finger on
the rebel's heart and causes the rebel to want Christ more
than anything else in the world. Has he done that for you? That's
what Paul says God did for him. And he was a pattern for all
them that believed. That's what he's done for me.
The Lord God has called me by his grace. I don't mean simply
that he beckons and waits for us to respond. I don't mean simply,
or the book of God does not mean simply that he strives and tries
to get folks to believe the gospel and to trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
No, when God calls, sinners come. O Spirit of God,
be pleased today to speak by this voice of flesh. Speak to the heart, the heart,
the heart of the chosen here. And if he calls and speaks to
your heart, you're going to come. You're going to come to Christ.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach
unto thee. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And then Paul shows us that salvation
comes only by the special supernatural revelation of Christ. Notice
it, in me. The supernatural revelation of
Christ in my heart. Paul was saved. when God was
pleased to reveal Jesus Christ in him. I know Christ must be
revealed to us, but it takes more than that to subdue the
heart. Bobby's got to be revealed in me and in you, in us, in us. That is Christ Jesus being implanted
in us, his very nature implanted in us, his holy seed implanted
in us in regeneration. When he is in us, then we see
and know him as he is. All men are saved just that way. When God by his word by the power of his spirit through
the preaching of this word causes the light, the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ to shine in your heart so that you see
who Christ is. His beauty, His majesty, His
glory, His infinite grace, His redemptive work. You see that
He, by His blood, has atoned for sin, and He, by His righteousness,
makes sinners righteous. And seeing Him, very God of very
God, very man of very man, and one glorious person, you've got
to have it. You've got to have it. You trust
Him. You embrace Him. You call upon
Him. But now this is the thing I want
you to see this morning. When God reveals his will to
us, it's our responsibility to obey his will. Refusing, deliberately
refusing the counsel of flesh and blood. Once Paul knew what
the will of God was, notice what it says in verse 16. Immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood." As soon as Paul was converted,
he was baptized. And having received a commission
directly from God himself to preach the gospel to the Gentiles,
he began to do so immediately. He says in Acts 9, straightway
he preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is the Son of God. He
says, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, and
he was wise not to do so. Had he conferred with flesh and
blood, he would not have obeyed God. The apostle says, I conferred
not with flesh and blood. What does he mean? Number one,
he did not consult with other believers or even with those
who were the apostles of Christ before him. Why should he? Why should he? He knew what God
had him to do. He knew what the Lord had told
him to do. Why should he consult with anyone else? Why should
he ask any man to countersign his commission when he had received
it directly from God himself? Why should he ask men to approve
his work when he knew that God had told him to do the work?
If at this time, just suppose, suppose he had asked Peter, James,
and John, suppose he'd gone up to Jerusalem and he said, now
fellas, the Lord Jesus appeared to me in heaven and he told me
to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles. You know what would
have happened? They'd have talked him out of it. They said, Paul,
nobody's ever preached to the Gentiles before. God never told
anybody to do that before. God doesn't want the gospel to
go to the Gentiles. You must have misunderstood things.
You didn't hear him correctly. Paul, we've been at this thing
a while now. Don't take things upon yourself that are too high
and too mighty for you. But listen to us. Pay attention
to us. God doesn't send men to the Gentiles. How do you know
preachers? When God himself spoke to Peter
and told him to go to Cornelius, Peter said, I've never touched
anything common or unclean. He said, I'm not going to go
preach that Gentile dog. And that was before or after Paul's
conversion, rather. So Paul says, I conferred not
with flesh and blood. He means I didn't confer with
any believers. I didn't even confer with the
apostles of Christ before me. I conferred not with flesh and
blood. Because you see, nobody knows
the will of God for you, but you. Wes Roseboom called me,
it's been two years, three years now. Talked to me about making
a move where he could get his family into the sound of the
gospel. Wanted to come to Danville. And things didn't look as promising
here as other places. And other folks kind of encouraging
to come other places. I never said a thing to him.
That's where you want to go, go. That's what you want to do,
do it. He got down here and he asked
me, I'm telling this straight anyways. He said, why didn't
you say this or tell me that? I said, I can't tell you what
God wants you to do. I can't do it. If God puts you
here, you're here. If Don puts you here, it's just
temporary. You see what I'm saying? Nobody
can tell you what God's will is for you. Nobody can do that
but you. Nobody. Secondly, Paul didn't
consult with his own relatives because he knew what they would
say. Now you listen carefully to your pastor. Listen to me.
Usually in spiritual matters, your nearest relatives will be
your soul's greatest enemies. Usually. You see, Usually, mom
and dad, brother and sister, will not tell you the truth when
it comes to you doing the will of God. They can't bring themselves
to deal honestly with your soul. Most of the time, our relatives
and friends are at best only nominal professors of Christianity,
lukewarm and half-hearted. They're fearful of spiritual
dedication, devotion, and consecration to God. And you'll be wise not
to consult with them about spiritual matters. I have never done anything that
I just felt definitely God had me to do it. I was just confident
God had me to do it. But what I didn't have either
friend or relative try to talk me out of it. Never. It's not reasonable. You can't
do it. I recall when I first made up my mind to go to Springfield,
Missouri, go to Bible college. I don't know why God had me go
out there. I don't have any idea. I was
just a young kid. I didn't have much learning about
anything, but somehow I was convinced this is where God wanted me to
go. How you gonna make a living? I don't know. Who do you know
out there? Nobody. What you gonna do out there? I'm gonna go to
school. Wouldn't it be smart to stay here? No, it wouldn't. No, it wouldn't. This is what
God has for me. This is what God has for me.
You understand what I'm saying? Consult not with flesh and blood.
Your relatives, your friends, mom and dad, brothers and sisters,
husbands and wives cannot determine what God would have you to do.
You've got to determine it. You've got to. Thirdly, Paul
didn't even consult with himself. You see, his personal interest,
his worldly advantage, his comforts and his pleasures, and even his
safety and well-being in life were not to be considered in
this thing. That's a mouthful, Lindsay. That's
a mouthful. You mean, pastor, we are not
to give consideration to our pleasure? I can understand that. to our worldly advantages. I
can even understand that. But you mean we're not to even
give consideration to the daily necessities of life and to our
own well-being in the world? That's what I mean. No, that's
what our Lord means. Read Matthew chapter 6. Our Lord
says, take no thought for these things. Your Father knows all
that you need. You don't have to fret about
that. Some years ago, Brother Walter Gruber, he was either
here or Henry was down there. I forgot which it was now. Anyway,
they were visiting, and Henry asked him a question. Walter
had been on the field in Mexico quite some time. And Henry said to him, Walter,
you're happy down here, aren't you? You know what Walter's response
was? He said, that hadn't got anything
to do with it. That hadn't got anything to do with it. What
do you mean? I'm here doing what I know God
had me to do. It doesn't matter whether I'm
happy or not. Doesn't matter whether I'm happy or not. Just
so happens I am. But it doesn't matter whether
I'm happy or not. You understand what I'm saying? From a purely
carnal point of view, Paul had everything to lose and nothing
to gain by following Christ. but he willingly paid the price.
He was a respected rabbi, a student of Gamaliel, a leader of the
Sanhedrin, and he willingly gave those things up to earn his living
as a tent maker. Why? So that he could be an impoverished
itinerant preacher of the gospel. He deliberately gave up a life
of ease and luxury for a life of poverty and toil. He gave
up a life of peace and prosperity for a life of bitter persecution,
imprisonment, and finally certain death. knowing that he could
never be the gainer of any earthly temporal advantage by doing so,
Paul calmly, willfully, deliberately gave himself up to be the bond
slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had revealed himself as his
only Lord and Savior and called him by his grace. And in all
of this, Paul is an example we must follow if we would be obedient
to Christ. Now God, give me your attention.
Give me your attention. Lord God, give me the attention
of every heart. I want to make four statements
and I want to show them to you from the book. First statement is this. Faith needs no warrant for its
actions, but the word of God, that's all. Whatsoever he saith
to you, do it. Now listen to me. God does not
speak today by an audible voice. Anybody who says God spoke to
me in a dream or in a vision or God spoke to me while I was
walking in the fields and God said this, God said that, he's
a liar. He's a liar. I don't care who
he is. I don't care if it's the Holy
Papa in Rome or whether it's Jimmy Swaggart in Baton Rouge
or Don Fortner in Danville. Oscar Bailey, anybody says they
heard God speak is a liar. He didn't hear God speak. He's
either a liar or he's a deceived fellow. One, maybe he was just
drunk or hallucinating, but he didn't hear God speak. Didn't
hear God. God speaks by his word, only
by his word, only by his word. Don, how is it then that God
speaks to us in daily affairs of life? He speaks to us by this
book in our hearts by his Spirit. Do you understand what I'm talking
about? I know this. David, if you hear me speak,
you understand what I'm talking about. And if you don't, I can't
explain it. The Lord Christ speaks to us by the inner witness of
His Spirit through the Word, always consistent with the Word,
always arising from the Word, but He speaks to us by His Spirit
through the Word, and He speaks to us by His providence as well. Now, when the Lord God speaks,
it's our responsibility to obey. When He says, this is the way,
walk ye in it. His children know the way in
which he would have them to go, and we're required of our own
allegiance. We're required by our faith,
by our profession, by honesty, we're required to walk in the
way which he directs. Faith does not seek the approval
of flesh and blood. Faith simply asks one thing,
is this the will of God? Is this the will of God? Believers have no need to consult
anything else. If I know something is God's
will, there's no need for me to ask my wife or my daughter
or my father or you whether or not I ought to do it. No reason. Let me give you some examples.
The Lord God came to a man nearly 6,000 years ago who had never seen a drop of
rain. He had never seen a drop of rain. It never rained. It
had never rained upon the earth. And he said, Noah, I'm going
to send a flood upon the earth and I'm going to destroy all
flesh except for you. You and your family. I'm going
to destroy everybody else in the world but you. Now, Noah,
I've got some blueprints and I want you to build an ark by
this pattern. And how could you picture old
Noah? If he was like us, he'd say, Lord, what did you say? Build an ark. What's that? Well, it's a boat. What for? It's going to rain. You must
mean something else. What's rain? He'd call in, Mrs. Noah, honey,
you know, While I was worshiping at the altar today, worshiping
God, the Lord came down to me and he told me he was going to
send a flood and told me to build an ark. And it's a big boat. It's a big boat. He said, build
the ark because everybody's going to die except us. And Mrs. Noah said, honey, you can't afford
to do that. It costs too much. Are you sure the Lord's in this?
We got these boys to educate, you know We got these grandsons
coming along got to help them along all we can No, Noah believed
God and he went out and bought some lumber and started building
an ark Abraham was called of God leave
earth a cow to eat And when he knew it was God's
will that he leave, he left. He was called of God to sacrifice
his son, Isaac, on an altar. Presently, what would have happened
if he had asked Sarah about it? Huh? If Moses had consulted with flesh
and blood, he'd never have left Egypt. If David had consulted
with flesh and blood, he would never have slain Goliath. When
he did consult with flesh and blood about bringing the ark
of God up out of the house of Obed-Edom, he brought judgment
upon his actions. If Daniel had consulted with
flesh and blood, he would not have offered the prayers that
he offered unto his God. If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
had consulted with flesh and blood, they would have worshipped
the idol of the king. If Martin Luther had consulted
with flesh and blood, he would have never nailed his 99 thesis
to the church door at Wittenberg. If John Bunyan had consulted
with flesh and blood, he would not have suffered 12 years of
imprisonment. If the martyrs had consulted
flesh and blood, not one of them would have ever shed his blood.
Throughout the ages, faith has been ruled by the revelation
of God's will. Faith consults not with flesh
and blood. Faith cannot walk by sight. Faith
depends upon nothing but the Word of God Himself. Faith always
acts upon the Word of God alone. Our Lord came to Peter and said
to his apostles, let them out fishing. He said, have you caught
anything? No. I don't have been fishing
all night. He said, let them net down over
there. And Peter was kind of like us.
He said, Lord, we've already had it over there for eight hours.
Hadn't got a thing, we're just now putting it up. Nevertheless,
at thy word. And he let down the net. He took
in more fish than he could take home with him. On another occasion, I believe
it was Peter who came and asked him how we were going to pay
our taxes. And the Lord said, go down to
the river or down to the sea and the first fish you pull up,
He'll have some money in it to pay your taxes with. Now, that's,
uh, that's testing. That's testing. You know what Peter did? He went down there, caught a
fish, and he opened his mouth. Got the money out. He believed
God. He just believed God. When I know what God's will is
in a matter, and yet seek the counsel of flesh and blood, I'm
in rebellion to God. The very fact that I seek the
counsel of flesh and blood demonstrates that I have more regard for the
opinions of men or for my own fleshly interest than I do for
the command of God. To hesitate to do what I know
God would have me to do for any reason is simply to rebel against
God. The advice of men, no matter
how spiritual, is not to be sought or followed. I know there's danger here. God
has given us pastors and teachers whose doctrine is to be believed,
whose faith is to be followed, and we must not neglect hearing
their doctrine and understanding their doctrine and following
their faith. But when the Spirit of God plainly reveals his will
to me by his word, I must immediately obey him and not other men. Personal gain or personal loss
is of no consideration. I recall, I hope you don't mind
me using personal illustration. When I was in college, Faith
was just a baby. She was just an infant, not more
than just a month or two old. Things got a little tight, so
I decided I was going to have to get another job. I had been
working selling shoes and couldn't get enough hours to make the
bills. So I went and applied for a job
in the plane trucking company, working casual help, and all
of their part-time help always worked on Sunday. So I went and
talked to the fellow, and he said, well, you can start to
work tomorrow. I said, well, there's one thing.
as I can't work on Sunday. Not because of any religious
conviction about working on Sunday. You know better than that. But
I had this conviction. I couldn't allow anything to
keep me away from the house of God and the worship of God. And I wasn't going to do it,
no matter what the cost. I was not going to do it. The
man responded to me and said, you can't work here part-time
if you don't work on Sunday. I said, listen to me. I need
the job. And I'm willing to work any hours
you want me to work. Anytime I'm not in school or in church,
I'll be happy to work for you. I'll work daylight to dark. I'll
work dark to daylight, any hours you want me to work, but I can't
work on Sunday." He said, you'll work any hours I want you to
work. I said, yeah. And he gave me the job. If he
hadn't, I still wouldn't have worked on Sunday. But what about
providing for your wife and baby? I still wouldn't have worked
on Sunday. This flat's not going to do it. It's not going to allow
anything to keep me away from the house of God and the worship
of God. That was my determined principle. You understand what I'm talking
about? Nothing else is more important. Any consultation with flesh and
blood is diametrically opposed to the character of our Savior.
His life was a life of consecration, dedication, self-sacrifice, self-denial. When he came into the virgin's
womb and from the virgin's womb into the world, he said, Lo,
I come to do thy will, O my God. When he walked in this world
in the garden, he said, Not my will, but thine be done. And
when his life on earth was finished, he said, It is finished. I finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. Faith takes up the cross
and follows Christ willingly. Now, it is not taking up your
cross to endure an affliction that you can't avoid. You get sick, you say, well,
I've got to bear my cross. No, that's not it. You've got
a rebel son, you say, I've got to bear my cross. No, that's
not it. Now, bear those things patiently, but that's not what
it is to take up your cross and follow Christ. To take up your
cross and follow Christ is to look at what he would have you
to do. And knowing that your obedience
to Christ is going to cost you. You know it's going to cost you.
You willfully, deliberately, walk in that path of obedience.
That's what it is. Take up your cross and follow
him. Faith makes not provision for the flesh. Faith's only concern
is the will of God and the glory of God in this world. To consult
with flesh and blood will almost always mean we disobey rather
than obey. and almost always results in
disobedience. Usually we seek the counsel of
the flesh and blood only in order to find an excuse for avoiding
an unpleasant duty. I'm pretty well persuaded that
usually our problem, Mark, is not knowing what the will of
God is. Our problem is willing to do
God's will. That's usually the case. It's
not whether or not we know what God wants us to do, what God
would have us do. It's a problem of being willing
to do what God would have us to do. Our master's command has
got to be our only rule. It matters not how contrary our
actions may seem to human wisdom, prudence, or worldly advantage.
Faith obeys God. It needs no warrant for its actions
but the word of God. And you can mark this down. Mark
it down. If you truly seek God's will
in a matter, any matter, God will reveal His will to you.
When God reveals His will to you, you'll know it. You'll know
it. You who walked in the way of
faith for a while, have you ever, ever, ever failed to know what
God had you to do when you wanted to know what He had you to do?
Ever? No. No. I always know. I always know. God forgive me. I don't always
obey. Every time I ever consulted with
flesh and blood, every time, every time, Somebody somewhere along the
way Talked me out of doing what I was convinced God would have
me to do Whether it was me or another person Consulting with
flesh and blood always leads to disobedience always Whatsoever he saith to you do
it Perhaps you're thinking Don how far am I to follow this line
of instruction? My answer is this. This is my
second statement. We must be obedient to the will
of God in all things. There are no exceptions. Whatsoever
he saith to you, do it. I know that every one of us can
easily think of a hundred excuses for not doing what we know God
would have us to do if we consult with our own flesh. The will
of God is always opposed to flesh and blood, and flesh and blood
are always opposed to the will of God. If you're interested
in doing the will of God, you don't consult the flesh and blood.
But perhaps some of you here are right now under the conviction
of God's Spirit. And the Spirit of God says to
you by the Word, Come to Christ. Trust Christ. believe on Christ. If he does, you've got to obey
him and don't consult with flesh and blood. You who are here yet
under the curse of God, yet under the wrath of God, whose hearts
are yet condemned, you're yet guilty of the law of God and
all of its terror constantly threatens you and terrorizes
you. If you would have life in Christ, if you would believe
on Christ, you've got to go to God yourself. You've got to do
business with God yourself through the mediator whom God's appointed.
It won't do you any good to come talk to God for it. I'm telling
you, it won't do you any good. So aren't you willing? I'm willing.
I'm just as happy as I can be to be of counsel to men and women.
But I can't give you life, and I can't give you peace, and I
can't give you pardon, and I can't give you assurance. I cannot
do it. You got to deal with that man in glory yourself, the Lord
Jesus Christ who loved his own and redeemed his own and gives
life to his own, even to as many as call upon him. If the Spirit
of God speaks to you, You don't need to consult with mom or dad.
You don't need to consult with Don or with any of the men here
or any of the women here or with any slick soul winner. Certainly
not there. All you need to do is consult
with the living God. Call upon him. He'll answer you.
Seek him, you'll find him. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. I promise it's so. The book says
so. The book says so. This exhortation
extends to all areas of doctrine. I say, let everyone here read
the text like this. Whatsoever he saith unto you,
believe it. And let every preacher in the
world read the text like this. Whatsoever he saith unto you,
preach it. Do not consult with flesh and
blood regarding what you believe or what you preach. Our doctrine
is not built upon what men think or what men feel or what men
imagine or what men want. Our doctrine must be built upon
the plain statements of Holy Scripture and that alone. This
admonition, whatsoever saith unto you, do it, extends to all
matters of duty. I don't like that. word duty,
it implies a work done from a sense of obligation rather than from
a sense of love and gratitude. And yet there are some things
I'm obliged to do if for no other reason because I profess to be
a child of God. I'm a believer, a follower of
Christ. And if I love Christ, I'll endeavor
to do that which he commands. I don't like duty. I don't like
duty. I do try to do things because
I want to do them, I feel like doing them, and I feel like doing
them. But there are things that I do simply because it's my duty
to do them for people whom I love. Let me illustrate it. My wife
does not always enjoy ironing. When she's up ironing at one
or two o'clock in the morning, She doesn't really enjoy ironing. That's just not what she'd prefer
to be doing. But it's her duty, her responsibility
to care for her family. And so out of love for her family,
she performs her duty. She doesn't really always enjoy
fixing big supper for me. She doesn't really always enjoy
doing it. There are other pressures. There
are other things that come into play. There are other things
that are involved. You've got a sick child. You've
got a problem with a neighbor. You've got a problem at the job.
You've got a problem here, a problem there, and you've got company
coming. Just all kinds of other pressures, and you just don't
always feel like doing it. But with a willing heart, Because
of love for me, she does her duty, her responsibility. Does
that make sense, Merle? That's the way it is with following
Christ and obeying Christ. There are times when I don't feel like doing
everything that I do. There are times I come here and
preach. I'd like to sit down and quit. There are times I come
here to preach My body doesn't feel like it.
Either weariness of the flesh or sickness or infirmity of one
kind or another. But I have a responsibility and
I'm delighted to perform the responsibility because I love
my Savior and his people. And this is what I'm saying.
Love for Christ involves obedience to Christ in all matters of duty
and responsibility. It does not matter how much my
duty may conflict with my flesh and blood, how much my duty may
conflict with my relationship with other people, I must obey
my God and Savior in all matters, whatever they are. When it comes
to the matter of confessing Him in baptism, it's not an optional
thing. Just confess Him. Public worship? I'm going to be here. I'm going
to be here. You can bank on it, I'm going
to be here. It doesn't matter who's preaching, it doesn't matter
where we meet. If the gospel's preached and Christ is worshipped,
I'm going to be here. You can just bank on it, I'm
going to be here. And you ought to be. You ought to be. It comes
to the matter of our walk in this world, dealing with men
with honesty and integrity. My soul. I don't see why there should
be any question about those things. Boy, it should be convenient
to kind of cheat a little. Pudge a little bit here. Trim
a little bit there. Boy, cost a lot less, make a lot more
money. It's called stealing. It's called
stealing. God's people are honest people.
They're honest people. Honest, willingly, doing what
their master bids them do. This matter of absolute obedience
to Christ in doing his will applies to all needful sacrifices. You can write this one down too. It'll always cost you to obey
Christ. Always. You can't follow Christ
without paying the price. You can't do it. You can't do
it. I always thought following Christ
would bring blessing. Oh, it does. But it'll cost you. It'll cost you. You cannot follow
Christ without it being costly to flesh and blood. You just
can't do it. You just can't do it. I remember Not a matter of remembering,
I see it. I know two men, both of them
started preaching at the same time. One of them still preaching the
gospel of God's grace today. If I called his name, you'd know
it. Another one, a classmate in school,
preached for a while, and then he quit. Couldn't feed his family on that
little dribble that was coming in. Had to have more, had to have
more, had to have more. So he gave it all up. And he went and made his million. And his old classmates still
plugging away. Still plugging away. One of them about to go
insane. And the other one still got just as little as he had
long time ago. Perfectly happy, peaceful, serving
his God and Savior. Guess which one's about to go
insane? This exhortation. extends to
all service for Christ. Whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. When God calls you to do something
for Christ, for the honor of his name, for the furtherance
of the gospel, for the good of his church and kingdom, you must
not consult with flesh and blood. You must not allow anything or
anyone to keep you from doing what you know God would have
you to do. Say, well, I don't have the ability.
If God puts the work in your hand, he'll give you the ability.
Well, I don't have any means of getting this thing done. If
God gives it to you to do, he'll provide the means. Well, other
men wouldn't understand. Fool you on other men. They must not even consult with
our brethren. No one knows the will of God
for you but you. Reluctance to give up the world,
a secret clinging to the world, will be the ruin of your soul.
Whatsoever saith unto you, do it. I say to you, children of
God, find out what God's will is and do it, without consideration
of cost or consequence. And you can be sure of this,
whatever God calls you to do, He believed that way. I believe
that way. Here's Moses and the children
of Israel. Pharaoh and his army chasing behind them. The Red
Sea in front of them. Moses got a rod in his hand.
I wonder if God's gonna divide the sea. Not as long as he holds
that rod in his hand, it won't. Not as long as he's standing
there looking at that rod, it won't. Not as long as he's looking
at the sea, it won't. Not as long as he's looking back
there at the armies of Pharaoh, nothing's going to happen. I've
said, stretch forth your rod. And you know when the sea parted?
You know what happened? When the tip of that rod touched
the shore of that sea, God rolled back the waters. Well, that doesn't
make sense, does it, David? Divide the Red Sea with a stick
in your hand? That doesn't make good sense.
It does if God says do it. Do you follow what I'm saying?
It does. Well, that's impossible. It is with you, not with God. The Lord told Joshua to go take
Jericho. Well, how are you going to have
us to do that, Lord? Have all the children of Israel
get together every morning and get the ark of the covenant and
have the priest go before you, march around the city. What you
want us to do? March around the city. Huh? Lord, you know, they've
got a mighty army in Jericho. Lord, you know, they've got a
huge wall around that city. Now, how is it that you said
for us to take the city? March around the city. How many times are we supposed
to march? Every day for seven days, march around the city.
On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. I believe
those figures actually. And on the last day, the last
out was a rainstorm. There goes Israel marching around
Jericho, marching around Israel. looking at those walls. Not even cracking the walls.
They've been around them seven times now. Everybody in Jericho's
up on the walls looking down at them, laughing at them, poking
fun at them. What are you fools doing? We're
going to take your city. They're marching around the city. Now on the seventh day, Seven
times. Watch now. Now they've marched
around those whole seven times. And the wall still hadn't cracked.
Everybody in Jericho standing up on top of the walls, looking
down at Israel, laughing, poking fun, shouting down at them, mocking
them. Your God is going to destroy
our city while you march around it? You folks are crazier than
we thought you were. Joshua says now, And when they blasted on those
buildings, the walls fell flat. That doesn't
make sense. That's no way to conquer a city.
It is if God says do it. It is if God says do it. And
I tell you that God will never call you to do what he won't
enable you to do. He'll never call this assembly
to do what he won't enable us to do. He'll never call this
preacher to do what he won't enable me to do. Never. Whatsoever he saith to you, do
it. Do it. Now that's such a feeble
effort, such a tremendous subject. But if you'd be used for the
glory of Christ, I bid you Seek His will. Whatever He says
to you, do it. Do it right now. Don't wait to
get everything lined up. Do it when He bid you do it.
Right now. Amen.