That man who could recite scripture
from cover to cover, that man who was a teacher of the scriptures,
he said, Nicodemus, until you're born again, you can't see the
kingdom of God. You don't have any understanding
of spiritual things. Nicodemus came to him and he
said, good master, we know. And our Lord said, Nicodemus,
you don't know a thing. You don't know a thing. You can't.
You're not born again. You're not born again. and men
cannot attain life from God, but by God giving it, men are
born again into the kingdom of God only by the Spirit and the
power of God's free grace. So, Paul must know his will. Now, the only way that men and
women can obtain this knowledge of gospel truth is by the preaching
of the gospel. The word of the Lord endures
forever, Peter said, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. It's not possible for
sinners to be saved without hearing the gospel, and yet in order
to know the gospel it must be revealed. It must come to you
in the power of the Holy Spirit. when God the Holy Spirit is pleased
to clothe his messenger with power, so that the word he speaks is
the word of God, so that it comes to you not as the word of man,
but as the word of God, and it pierces your heart, and it gives
your eyes to behold, ears to hear, and a heart to receive.
When God gives the revelation of the gospel and the illumination
of the Spirit, which he alone can give, then men hear the gospel
and they know his will. This knowledge of the gospel
is proof of your election. Paul said to the Thessalonians,
we know your election of God because our gospel came to you
not in word only, but in power, and in demonstration of the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance He said, when I preached to you,
you heard what I said. God spoke to you when I spoke
to you. Now thirdly, God's purpose of
grace in election, the apostle says here, is that thou shouldest
see that just one. Our Lord said, look unto me and
be saved. all the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and beside me there is none else." Salvation comes
by looking to, seeing, and knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. The word
see here is to know, to know. Oh, God has chosen us that we
might know his Son. that we might see the Son. Do
you see Him? Do you see Him? I've been praying,
and when I stand up here to preach to you tonight, God called you
to see the Son, to see Him. I don't mean see Him with your
natural eye. I don't mean have a vision of
Him or an imagination concept of Him. I mean to see Him with
the eye of your heart, to see Him with the eye of your soul,
to see Him with the eye of your understanding of your mind, to
see Him. To receive Christ's beauty, His
glory, His sufficiency, and His suitableness as Savior and Lord. To see Him is to know Him, and
to know Him is salvation and eternal life. I see him. I see him, Wes, I really do.
I see him. I see him pretty clearly. I see
who he is. I see that he is the holy God,
righteous, sovereign and free. I see that he's the perfect man,
the man of righteousness. the man who knew no sin. I see
him as the mediator between God and men, the only mediator who
makes men and God to be reconciled one with the other. I see him
as the surety of the covenant, the substitute for sinners. I
see him as our prophet to teach us. I see him as our priest to
make intercession for us. I see him as our king to rule
over us. And I see what he did. I can't explain it, but I can
see it. I know it so. He who is the incomprehensible,
everywhere present God. He never ceased to be incomprehensible,
and he never ceased to be everywhere present. But he took on himself humanity,
came into this world. That babe in Mary's womb who
was dependent upon its mother's body for life is the incomprehensible,
everywhere present God. That's right. When Mary took
that little baby in her arms and nursed him at her breast,
he couldn't live without that milk. He had to have it. He had
to have it. He's a real man. But he's God who provided the
milk. Now that's a mystery of mysteries.
I can't explain it. I don't see it. He's God. When
Jesus Christ hung on the cross and died, he died. He's God through his life, but
he's dead. I see it. I see it. I see that
he, by his death on the tree, has put away sin, and I see that
he is made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And I see why he did it. I see
why he did it all so that God in his holiness, justice, and
truth might be just and yet justify any sinner who believes on him.
And I see the result of it all. The result is that whosoever
believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And I rejoice. I rejoice in seeing
him, and I rejoice to acknowledge that I owe this knowledge of
Christ to God's elect and grace. I know full well that I see him
only because God the Father chose me and sent his Spirit to reveal
Christ in me. What our Lord said to Peter is
true of all true confessors. When Peter said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God, he said, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but my Father which is in heaven." If you see him, it's
because God revealed him to you, only because God revealed him
to you. The God of our Father has chosen thee. that thou shouldest
know his will, and see that just one." Now, here's the fourth
thing, "...and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth." I'm
not much of one for assigning chronological order and sequence
to the events of God's grace. I recognize that God in eternity
didn't Sit down and think about this and logically arrange that
he's God. He knows everything from the
beginning. And he did everything from the beginning. And I realize
that in our experience, as we perceive things, they are not
always the same. But I believe I'm perfectly safe
in saying that this is the way God always saves his elect. These three stages may come over
a long period of time for some believers, and they may come
so close together and so quickly for others that they seem simultaneous
in one. But this, I'm certain, are three
things that are always present in the conversion of God's elect.
First of all, God's going to call you to hear the gospel.
He's going to call his elect to hear the gospel. He's going
to make you know the gospel. He's going to make his elect
know how it is that God saves sinners in Christ the substitute. That comes first. It always comes
first. Second lesson, having heard the
gospel, the Lord God will reveal his son. He will reveal Christ,
creating an interest in him and creating a desire in the heart
for him. Now, this is exactly what happened
to me. I dare say that if I sat you down and talked to you one
by one, every man and woman here who's a believer, this is exactly
what happened to you. First, you heard the gospel,
and you had a mental understanding of it. That's how God saved him. But he didn't pay any attention
to it. I didn't. I heard it. I was taught it.
I had a Sunday school teacher who taught very clearly the very
things that I preach to you all the time. I heard it. I perceived
it. I understood, mentally understood
what he was saying. But then, hearing the gospel, I saw it. God revealed Christ to me. God revealed Christ to me. And
I wanted Him. I wanted Him more than anything
on this earth. I wanted Him. Oh, I wanted Him. I came and brought with it the
conviction of sin, struggle in my soul, and for me it It took
a while. It lasted a long time. I thought,
sure, I was going to go to hell. For hell was in my heart, in
my mind, in my soul. But I saw Christ and I wanted
him. I wanted him. I wanted him. But then, here's
the third thing. I heard his voice. I heard his
voice. Now, when you're called by Christ,
you'll hear his voice. His voice is a personal voice. He calleth his own sheep by name.
And it's a particular voice. He doesn't call anybody but his
sheep. And it's a powerful voice. He calleth his own sheep by name
and leadeth them out. Always, always. Now, if you hear
the shepherd's voice, you're going to hear it through the
voice of a gospel preacher. And if you hear his voice, his
voice will cause you to live. And if you hear his voice, his
voice will cause you to believe. It will cause you to come to
him and find life everlasting in him. His voice is an effectual,
irresistible voice. Now, here's the fifth point of
the message. the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest
know his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice
of his mouth." Now, every person whom God has chosen, God will
call them to know the gospel, to see the Son, and to hear the
call of the Spirit. Every one of them, every one
of them. will also be true. Every one
of those whom God has chosen, the apostle says here, thou shalt
be his witness unto all men. All who know the gospel, see
the Son, and hear the Spirit's I told the men back in the office
I was going to give you a little lesson here tonight. I don't
ever say in the Greek it says. I'll make an exception. The word
witness here could and perhaps should be translated martyr,
martyr. As a matter of fact, the Greek
word is the very word from which we get our English word, martyr. It simply is the word which means
one who lays down his life for the cause. I'm going to be very brief here,
but I want you to hear me. All of God's elect are martyrs. All of them. all of them martyrs. They all voluntarily lay down
their lives for the cause, all of them. The cause for which the believer
lays down his life is that he might make known unto all men
the things he's seen and heard. Do you see that in the text?
Thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what you have seen
and heard. I had a call from a friend in
Louisiana yesterday. This lady and her husband have
for some time been getting our tapes. They attend Brother Darwin
Pruitt's church in Alexandria. And in the course of the conversation,
she said to me, after what she'd been doing, she said that she'd
been making some tapes, mailing them out. She said, I just want
people to know the gospel. I just want people to know. That was all. They order videotapes
and call in their neighbors, their sons and daughters. Come
here, I want you to see something. You've got to see this. That's
what I'm talking about. I just want to do what I can
to make people know. To make them know the gospel. To make them know Christ Jesus. His witnesses. His martyrs. Men and women who lay down their
lives voluntarily for the cause of making him known. O God, make me such a model, such a witness. Now here's a word to you who
believe. Do what you can to make him known. See what he's done for you. God's
chosen you. He chosen you. He made you to
know His will, and He made you to see His Son.
He caused you to hear His voice. I just suspect you won't need
too much prodding. If you've seen His Son, heard
His voice, and know His will, you're going to be His witness. That's our only reason for existence
as an assembly in the name of Christ, is to make Him known. That's the reason I'm going to
leave here tonight. I'll drive all night long. I'm not complaining.
I'm just stating a fact. I don't mind doing it. I'd be
up all night anyhow. I'll drive tonight, get a couple
hours sleep somewhere along the road, get up in the morning,
drive all day. I'll preach at Jacksonville Wednesday, Thursday,
and Friday. And I'll start home, drive all
night Friday night, get a couple hours sleep, drive on in Saturday
and preach here Sunday. Why? I've got to make Him know. Got to make Him know. Got to
make Him know. What else am I here for? What
else are we here for? What's any other reason for our
being on this earth but to make Him know? Ask God, will you? As I preach the gospel, to make known His will, let me be His son and hear His
voice. Ask Him. You may just be surprised. You may just be surprised. Whenever
you come to service, Sunday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning,
Sunday evening, Sunday afternoon, ask God, Lord God, make me to know the gospel more
clearly than ever now. As a pastor-preacher, make me
to see that just one. Oh, to see Him and cause me to hear His voice. I expect, if you started asking God to
do that, And God started answering your
prayer. You'd come in here being from
ear to ear with expectation. No more with will than that. You know, last Tuesday night,
God let me see him like I'd never seen him before. I believe I'll
maybe get to see him again tonight. You know, last Sunday evening, I heard his voice. Maybe I'll hear it again tonight.
Huh? Oh, if God will speak through
me to you, you can be assured that
you were chosen of God. to know His will, and to see
His Son, and to hear His voice, and to be His witness. Amen. I believe in God. Great. We're home. A-M-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L Turn with me please to Acts chapter
2. Acts chapter 2. The Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost preached
a gospel sermon on the power of God. It was a simple gospel message,
nothing mysterious or profound about it. He simply stood and
told out the old story of redeeming grace through a substitute and
the power of God fell upon him as he preached. I long for that. He told these
men who the Lord Jesus Christ is and how that he was delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God to put away
the sins of his people. How that the Lord God had accepted
his sacrifice and on the third day he arose according to the
prophet David. And he told how that the Lord
Jesus Christ, now that God-man mediator, has ascended to the
throne of glory, and there he sits and rules and reigns as
sovereign monarch of the universe. He's the king seated on his throne. Everybody bows beneath him. He's the king seated on his throne. Everybody is under his hand. He's the king seated on his throne. You're going to meet him face
to face. And these men who had crucified this Jesus of Nazareth
were pricked in their hearts. And they cried, sirs, what must
we do? And Peter said to them, repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus
for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promises to you and to
your children and to many that are far off, even to as many
as the Lord God shall call. And then he gave them many other
words of exhortation, testifying to them of Christ Jesus. And
that brings us down to verse 41. Then they that gladly received
his word, that's what faith is in its essence. men and women
receiving the Word of God. If you have faith in Christ,
you receive God's Word. You receive the instruction of
the Word, the reproof of the Word, the admonition of the Word,
the encouragement of the Word, the promises of the Word. Faith
receives the Word of God and receives it gladly. They that
gladly received his Word were baptized. And the same day, They
were added unto them, that is the little band of believers
at Jerusalem, about 3,000 souls. What an astounding event. That
little band of believers trembling and fearful for their lives,
suddenly God added to them 3,000 new converts. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostle doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and
in prayers. One of these days I'm going to
preach a message on that 42nd verse. I hear folks all the time
ask me, what kind of activities do you have down at Grace Church?
And I get a little put out with them. Most of the time, folks
go church shopping. They want to know what kind of
activities you have. What do you have to offer? Churches
build a big gymnasium. They call it a family life center,
you know. So they build them one and have
a lot of entertainment and have a lot of junk that goes on in
the name of Christ and in the name of religion. And by those
things, they entertain folks and have their drawing cards
and they fill up their buildings. They have a special program for
the singles, you know. If you're single, if you've never
been married, or if you've been married and you're not, or if
you want to get married, come, we've got a special program for
you, got a special program for the kids, and a special program
for the teenagers, and a special program for the young married
couples, and a special program for the old married couples,
and a special program folks in the nursing home. We got something
for everybody. I do too. I do too. Only difference is I've got what
you need. We've got the gospel of God's free grace to proclaim
to men. If you're interested in your
soul, come and hear it. If you're interested in being
entertained on your road to hell, go somewhere else. But we do
have some activities. These believers continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine. They wanted to hear it. Peter,
you told us how that God foreordained Jesus to be crucified. Explain
that to us. Tell us more about that. You
told us how Jesus Christ is the ascended Lord and King. Tell
us more about that. You told us how Christ put away
our sins. Peter explained that to us. Tell
us about that. They continued steadfastly in
the apostles doctrine and fellowship. They loved it. They delighted
in the fellowship of God's people. They weren't too busy to worship
God. They weren't too busy. to meet
together in the name of Christ. They weren't too busy to come
into the house of God with the people of God and in breaking
bread." Any time you see that word, breaking bread, whenever
it describes something that went on in the assembly of the house
of God, it means they observed the Lord's table. They continued
every Lord's day steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. and
in fellowship, and in breaking bread, observing the Lord's table,
and in prayers." You know what happened? Nobody
in Jerusalem ignored him. Nobody ignored him. And fear
came upon every soul. Where do you go to church? Go
down to Grace Baptist Church in Danville. Where? Grace Baptist
Church down in Danville, out on the bypass. Never heard of
that. Oh, what's that white building
out there set up on the hill? Well, I think maybe I have seen
that place. Oh, but these folks. Where do
you go to church? I go down and listen to Peter,
the apostle of Christ, preach. And the people, oh, you're one
of them, are you? These men and women continued
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking
bread and in prayer. And everybody in town knew it. Everybody in town knew it. Nobody
ignored them. Nobody ignored them. They didn't
necessarily like it, but they knew what was going on. They
knew something was going on. They knew there were some folks
committed to somebody down there. Fear fell upon them, and many
wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that worked
together, or all that believed, were together. They were one,
one in heart. And they had all things in common. Everything they owned, they committed to the gospel.
Everything. We don't believe in communal
living. Lots of heretical religious groups
have their communes. Shaker Town down here is just
one example. There are many folks who live in communes like that
to isolate themselves from the world. We don't believe it. It's
heretical. It's contrary to the gospel.
God would not have us to leave this world, but at the same time
we do believe in the principle. I do, I hope you do. Whatever
I have belongs to God, and it belongs to the people of God.
My house is an inn for God's pilgrims in this world. My table
is a restaurant, a banqueting table for God's children in this
world. Whatever I possess is possessed
by me only as a steward unto God to use for his people." These
folks had all things in common. All of God's people do. All of
God's people do. You say, well, I don't know anybody
like that. If you ever meet some of God's
folks, you'll know folks like that. I'm just telling you, all
of God's people do. And they sold their possessions
and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with
one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to
house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."
They walked about day by day in their lives in this world
as the servants and the people of God, eating their bread and
doing their labors with gladness and singleness of heart. That
is, they lived, they ate, they drank, they labored for one purpose,
and that was the glory of Christ. Praising God. Not walking around and every
time they saw a bird fly by, say, well, hallelujah, praise
Jesus. Acting pious, no. Praising God. Day by day, continually in all
things with a heart of faith, with a heart of commitment, with
a heart of trust. They praise God. They praise
God as they ate their bread and drank their drinks and did their
labor and went through this world. They live to the praise of God. That's what the text is saying
about it. They live to the praise of God. No wonder God used them. No wonder God used them. and
having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be saved." Now, the title of my message
this morning is Three Gospel Ordinances. I want to talk to
you about what these people experienced in a very plain and practical
way. I pray that God the Holy Spirit will be our teacher. We recognize that the church
of God is made up of all true believers in every age. God's elect, beginning with Adam
through the end of this gospel age, I keep reemphasizing it
and reiterating it, all of God's elect make up the church of our
Lord Jesus Christ. If you're a believer, if you're
redeemed by the blood of Christ, chosen of God and called by the
Spirit, If you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are
in the church of the living God. You are a part of that church,
which is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are
lots of people who try to say, no, our little group here is
the church of Christ, or our little denomination, or our little
fellowship, we are the church of Christ. That's phooey. It's
just not so. It's just not so. All true believers,
are the body and the bride of Christ. Do you understand that?
Yet we recognize that the New Testament places great, great
emphasis upon the local assembly, upon the local church, which
is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ as a local family in a
local given congregation. The Great Commission was given
to a local church. The local churches support, maintain,
send out pastors, missionaries and evangelists around the world.
Local churches administer the ordinances of Christ. The local
church is a family, a body of believers in Christ Jesus. And the local church should be
a miniature of the church universal. Turn over to Ephesians 2. Let
me show you this before we get into the message. Ephesians chapter
2. Every now and then I'll run across
some babbler He says, well, you don't believe in a local church.
He said it to the wrong fellow. Yes, I believe in a local church.
I expect I believe in it considerably more than most preachers who
all the time babble about their local church. I've given my life
to ministering in a local church. I spend my life working through
a local assembly worshiping God in a local assembly, committed
to a local assembly. My life is tied up here. My life's tied up here. Yeah,
I believe in a local church. And I believe that local church
ought to be a miniature of the church universal. Look in Ephesians
2, verse 20. We're built upon the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets. What is that foundation? Jesus
Christ himself. That's the foundation upon which
we're built. Now, if we're built on that foundation, we're one.
If we're all built on that foundation, we're all of the same building.
We're all built on one foundation. "...in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord,
in whom ye also are built together," now look at it, "...for an habitation
of God through the Spirit." I want that for us more than
anything on this earth. That we here may be truly a habitation
of God through the Spirit. So that as we come together,
the Spirit of God falls upon us. The Lord Jesus Christ meets
with us. So that we are in this world
a habitation of God. Now, with those introductory
remarks, let me tell you this. My relationship to the Lord Jesus
Christ in great measure is evidenced by my relationship to the local
church of Christ. My relationship to the Lord Jesus
Christ is in great measure evidenced by my relationship to this assembly
of believers, and yours too, yours too. It is a great privilege
to be a part of a true gospel church. Now I can't, for the
life of me, I can't stress it enough. The greatest privilege
you have in this world is right now the privilege of hearing
a man preach the gospel to you. I rather doubt that you understand
what I'm saying. Maybe you would if it were taken
away. But if it's ever taken away,
it'll be too late. It'll be too late. The greatest
blessing God ever brings upon any people is to send them a
pastor with a message from God. Now I believe that with all my
heart. I knew it so. I knew it so. The
greatest privilege you can have on this earth is to be a part
of a local assembly where Christ is worshipped and the gospel
is preached. That's the most important, blessed
privilege there is in this world. The greatest curse that can ever
come. is for God to withdraw to remove
the light of the gospel from his place. And I'm telling you that he does
that. He does that. Men and women who neglect privileges
lose privileges. Men and women who neglect opportunity
lose opportunities. Men and women who despise God's
goodness Now just read the scriptures, just read the scriptures. There
was a church one day in Ephesus where God made himself known,
and there was a time when God stepped out of the place. There
was a church in Philadelphia where God made himself known,
but they despised God's goodness and God stepped out of the place. There was at one time a church
in Laodicea where God walked in the midst of them. But God
stepped out of the place. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Despised mercy is lost mercy. Despised goodness is lost goodness. Despised privileges are lost
privileges. And when God withdraws Himself,
He never returns. Ephraim is joined to his idols. Leave him alone. Leave him alone. Never again did God speak to
Ephraim. Never again. Jerusalem, your
house is left unto you desolate. Never again did God speak to
that nation, nor will he ever. When God withdraws himself, Merle,
he's gone. The Lord Jesus Christ still walks
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, in the midst of
those churches, and he gives warning. He gives warning, plain
warning. He says, hear me, or I'll remove
your candlestick from the lampstand. Hear me, or I'll snuff out the
light that's within you. Hear me, or I'll withdraw the
messenger that I've sent to you. And this morning, I obviously
can't deal with all of these things, but I want to talk to
you about baptism, church membership, and the Lord's Supper. We've all here, most of us, been
baptized. What's it mean? Baptism is the
confession of Christ. That's what it is. It is the
believer's public confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
over to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. Now, this is where Paul explains
the New Testament gospel ordinance of baptism. It says in Romans
6 verse 3, Know ye not that so many of us, as were baptized
into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Now, this is
what Paul is saying. He says, Bob Poncer, We were
baptized into Christ, and in doing so, in getting in the water
and being baptized, we were baptized into the death of Christ. Now, that does not mean that
baptism somehow gave us a relationship to Christ's death. What it means
is that by our baptism, we symbolically demonstrated our death, burial,
and resurrection with Christ, our death to this world, our
resurrection in Christ, and our life in this world for the glory
of Christ. And so he explains it, verse
4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. What is
baptism? It is a public confession of
faith in Christ. It is, as Peter said, a symbolic
picture of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. We bury a man or
a woman in the waters of baptism. That person stands by that going
down into the water and rising up out of the water. That person
says, I was crucified with Christ, I am buried with Christ, I am
risen with Christ, I walk in the newness of life with Christ,
and I live in hope of that day when we shall be raised up together
to live forever with the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is not
only a public confession of Christ, but it's a public identification
with the people of God. In the old days, when Jews were converted, and
they came to listen to the men preach the gospel of Christ,
and these men and women came to worship with the people of
God, they got along fine. They got along fine, until they
got in the water. Until they got in the water.
You see, Jews used to baptize. They had a Jewish proselyte baptism. And these men and women who believed
the gospel, many of them had been baptized before. A lot of
the pagan religions used to baptize. Baptism wasn't something new.
Baptism was a religious ceremony symbolizing identification with
a people. Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded
that his people be baptized. and that they, by confessing
him, identify with his disciples. So that a man who's a Jew gets
in the water and confesses Christ, what he says by doing that, he
says, I've lived all my previous days in false religion, deceived
and being deceived by others, and now I am confessing life
in Christ. And when he says that, what he's
doing is he's telling all of his former religious companions,
the religion that you have, I once had, and it's a damning religion. I'm denouncing that. I'm confessing
Christ. The same thing was true of the
Gentiles. They got along fine until they confessed Christ in
baptism. But once they confessed him,
They were saying to their pagan religious families and friends,
your religion is a damning religion. This is the way of life, faith
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Baptism is a publicly avowed
commitment to Christ. Nearly 20 years ago, I lifted my hand to God and swore allegiance to Jesus
Christ. I can't go back. That's what
baptism is. In baptism, a man, a woman, lifts
his hand to God and swears allegiance. Because in Jesus, that's what
it's all about. That's what it's all about. He says, I'm living now in the
newness of life. I have been buried with Christ
because I'm dead to this world. And I have risen up with Christ
because I'm walking as a new man in this world. I've sworn
allegiance to him. Now listen to me. My allegiance to Christ has been and is faltering and
unsteady because I am a sinful man in
this world and nobody knows that better
than I. But my allegiance to Christ is
real. It's real. I'm not just standing
here talking to you a good talk. I'm telling you the God's honest
truth. My heart, soul, mind, and being
is committed to Christ. Committed to him has been for
20 years. more committed today than it
was in the beginning, but committed. The commitment I sometimes look
at it and wonder what on earth I'm doing even talking about
being committed to Christ, but committed to Him I am. I believe under God I'm prepared
to make whatever sacrifice I have to make to remain committed to
Him. If it meant my wife walk out
and leave me tomorrow, I'd still be committed to Him. I'm just
telling you. I'm telling you the truth. I
love that woman. You know I love her. She knows I love her. But
my soul, I've got to have Christ. I don't have to have her. If
my daughter never would again speak my name, I'm committed
to Christ. I've got to have Him, Faith.
I don't have to have you. I don't have to. I've got to
have Christ. I'm committed to Him. And that
being the case, I'm not going to allow my wife, my daughter,
you or anybody else to keep me from obeying Him, worshiping
Him, following Him. Just can't do it. Just can't
do it. Not if I'm committed to it. Not if I'm committed to it. The outward things that we do, They're easy enough to maintain.
We've got lots of reasons to maintain them. I've been in church for 20 years. I don't know how to say things
without being misunderstood, and I'll say them at the risk
of being misunderstood and hope that I'm not. In 20 years, I've
never missed an opportunity to meet with God's people, hear
the gospel preached and worship Christ. I've never missed it,
unless I was flat on my back and couldn't get up. I didn't
ever miss the opportunity, never. And if God gives me 20 more years
on this earth, I don't ever intend to. I don't ever intend to. Well,
what do you do if your great-grandmother comes in, you hadn't seen her
in 30 years, and she comes in She wants to visit with you,
but she's not interested in worshiping God. I tell her to sit on her
can and wait for me to get home. That's what I do. That's exactly
what I do. And if she doesn't like it, I
tell her to go back where she came from. Now, I'm not joking
with you. Folks. Oh, little Johnny came
in. I've got to stay at home. We
don't get to see Johnny. Where were you last week? Oh,
we went down to see Billy. You know, Billy and his wife,
they got that new baby and we wanted to go see him, spend a
little time with him. Oh, where were you waiting for that? Oh,
well, we went with Billy and his little wife and his little
baby down to the coast. Well, where were you waiting
for that? Oh, we were planning to get ready to go down to the coast
with Billy and his little wife and his little baby. I believe I'd
take Billy and his little wife and his little baby and just
go on and put a sticker on my back and say, on our road to
hell, and you go with them. You mean things that serious,
preacher? I mean, either you're committed
to Christ or you're committed to your own pleasure. One of
the two. One of the two. People ask me,
why don't I go chase folks down, don't come to church. I usually
ask once or twice. Somebody says, well, I, you know,
Johnny came in. You'll never hear me ask again
where you were. No, I have to bite my tongue
to say anything then. and probably should say what
I think about saying. In my baptism, I swore allegiance
to Christ. What did you do? What did you
do? Now, either act accordingly or
renounce it. One of the two. Don't play games
with God. Don't play games with God. Don't
play games with your soul. Don't play games with Christ.
Don't do it. Don't do it. I had a lady sitting
in my office a while back. She and her husband had some
difficulties. She'd come knocking on my door and wanted to talk
to me. Said she realized she was lost and she needed Christ.
And I said, is that what it is? Are you trying to use Christ
to get your husband back? You can't do it. You can't do
it. Pastor, should you talk to folks
that way? Maybe if somebody would start speaking as God's messenger
to men and quit coddling folks and playing games with them,
somebody would pay attention to what we're saying. Secondly, church membership. What is it? It's communion and fellowship
with Christ in his body. I was preparing this message Friday. I had a lot of things to say
I'm not going to say this morning. When I joined this church six
years ago, I publicly identified myself
with this congregation. I was saying to you, your people
are my people. Your God is my God. I was saying
to this world, your people are my people. Your God is my God. I am one with these people, one
with them. That church membership basically
involves three things. commitment to Christ and to his
Church. It is an avowed commitment to
the Church of Christ. The Church of Christ is my family,
and I'm committed to my family. I'm a family man. I prefer my
family to myself. I seek the welfare of my family
above my own welfare. I seek the happiness of my family
above my own happiness. I seek the comfort of my family
above my own comfort. Now I do. I see very little commitment
today from many women who profess to be believers. From most of you. I see very
little commitment. Commitment is dependability. It's faithfulness. It's loyalty. It's loyalty. It requires a measure
of self-denial and self-sacrifice. It always requires some effort,
but most people today don't know anything about commitment. The Church of God is my family. I'm committed to my family. Church
membership gives me the privilege of communion and fellowship with
the body of Christ. The psalmist said, Oh, behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. I love the fellowship of God's
people. If I had the physical strength
to do it, if I had the mental ability to do it, you would find
me every day somewhere in fellowship with God's people preaching the
gospel to them every day, every day. I almost have enough strength
that I have to stop once in a while and rest, but I prefer this to
anything on this earth. I would rather be right here
than be with my wife and daughter in the privacy of our home at
any time. I'd rather be right here preaching
the gospel to God's people than be with my mother, my dad, my
sister, my brother-in-law, and my dear friends. I'd rather be
right here in the fellowship of God's people than anywhere
on this earth at any time. I prefer it to anything else. The Lord Jesus promises that he will meet together
where there are two or three people who come to worship in
his name. That's one thing that makes it
precious to me. Every now and then, he meets
us here. Every now and then. He still walks in the midst of
the seven golden candles. Now, our Lord has greatly blessed
our assembly in so many ways. Sweet fellowship and unity. I
pray that he will cause us to zealously guard and promote that
blessed fellowship. But I'm afraid we too much take
things for granted. and neglect both our privileges
and our responsibilities. The unity of the Spirit, what
we covet. Now that unity necessarily involves
a doctrinal unity. I don't like to use the term,
but you'll understand what I'm saying if I do. I'm a Calvinist. I'm a Calvinist. is a Calvinistic
church. We believe in the total depravity
of man, unconditional election by grace, limited atonement,
effectual, irresistible saving grace, and the perseverance of
God's saints. We proclaim God's total sovereignty
and man's total corruption. Now, everybody who's part of
this assembly believes those things. Everybody. You say, you
mean Arminian free willers aren't welcome? No, certainly not. Arminian free willers can go
where they worship an Arminian free will God. We don't worship
that pagan around here. We worship the living God. There
is necessarily a doctrinal unity, but there must be also an agreement
of heart, a dedication to one purpose. God give us commitment of heart,
truly commitment of heart to the glory of Christ, to the glory
of Christ, to the welfare of his church, to the furtherance
of his gospel. If we have this commitment of
heart to Christ, we'll have that commitment of heart to one another. You see, that church membership
also involves care for the body of Christ. The people of God
care for one another and take care of one another for Christ's
sake. And then the other gospel ordinance
is the Lord's Supper. It is the celebration of redemption.
It's the remembrance of Christ. I have trouble in my own mind because
we observe the Lord's table only once a month. There's no command
that we should observe it more often, but it certainly is to
be observed often, for it is a celebration of redemption.
The Lord's Table, one of the most blessed privileges we have
in this world. Coming together at the Lord's
Table, we celebrate what Christ has done for us. Now that ordinance oughtn't to
be shrouded in mystery. It's a very simple, but very
precious picture of redemption by Christ Jesus. Here's the brief. that unleavened bread. We don't use soda crackers. We
don't use light bread. We don't use sweet rolls. Unleavened
bread. There's a reason for that. It
represents the body of Christ. His holy, immaculate, sinless,
pure body that was offered to God as a sacrifice for sin. That's
the reason we use unleavened bread. because it's a picture
of Christ. The bread is broken just as Christ's
body was crushed beneath the rod of God's wrath unto death
for us. And then we have the cup, the
wine. Why do you use wine? Come back
to Genesis 14, I'll show you. Genesis chapter 14. We use wine and unleavened bread
because that's what the disciples used when our Lord had the first
Lord's table with them. We use bread and unleavened wine
because these things symbolize the body of Christ. That wine
being fermented, all of the impurities are taken from it, and so it
represents the pure, holy blood of Christ. And here in Genesis
chapter 14, Abraham returns from the slaughter of the kings, and
in verse 18, Melchizedek, you know who that is, don't you?
Over in Hebrews chapter 7, Paul says that's Christ Jesus, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought
forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High
God. And he blessed him and said,
Blessed be Abram. of the Most High God, possessor
of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High
God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand, and he
gave him tithes of all." Now Melchizedek comes, he brings
the bread and the wine, and he blessed Abraham, and he told
Abraham that God has delivered your enemies into your That's
what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He came and he brought his bread
and wine, his holy body, a sacrifice for sin. And God, by the sacrifice
of his Son, has delivered our enemies into our hands and made
us kings and priests unto God. We observe the Lord's table with
bread and wine because that's the way it was done in the New
Testament. Our Lord in Matthew or in John
chapter 2 turned water into wine at the marriage feast. Somebody said, well, I always
thought that was grape juice. I wonder what on earth got you
thinking that? I'll tell you what got you thinking
that. It's a silly temperance movement of self-righteous women
Started in the middle 1800s. That's what got you thinking
that. Anything started by women, beware of it. Well, I don't like
you to talk that way. Well, that's the way I'm going
to talk. Anything started by women, beware
of it. It started of the devil, I'll
guarantee you. I don't care what it is. Most
especially when it has to do with religion. The number one
reason why men and women object to using wine at the Lord's table.
It's because of their self-righteous notion that evil is out there. Out there. That's all the reason
there is. There can't be any other reason
for it. My friend, evil is not out there. Bobby, it's in here. It's in here. Now, I am not suggesting
you might want to write this down because somebody will get
hold of this tape and they'll start shooting At Fortner again,
that's all right. I've been shot at before, but
I'm not suggesting that you go out and buy you a bottle of wine
and start having wine with every meal at home. I am saying if
you want to, it's all right. It's all right. There's nothing
evil about it. Merlin, there can't be anything
wrong with that. Our Lord did it. There's nothing
wrong with that. Now, there's something wrong
with drunkenness. There's something wrong with a lack of moderation.
But there's not anything at all wrong out here in this world. The problem's in here. It's in
here. We break the bread and we drink
the wine to celebrate the accomplishment of redemption by the death of
Christ. And we do so in anticipation
of that day when our Savior shall come again to receive us unto
himself. Our Lord Jesus Christ poured
out his life's blood unto death, to make an atonement for sin,
to satisfy divine justice, to bring in an everlasting righteousness,
and by his one finished work we are redeemed and have hope
of life everlasting. Now, the basis of our faith and
the basis of our practice is the Word of God. We dare not add anything to this.
We dare not. You find me something, some practice,
something that we do in the house of God here, that's not plainly
taught in this word, and we'll cease to do it. We'll cease to
do it. And we dare not take anything
away from this book. Nothing. Whatever the precepts
of the book are, We will obey them, God giving us grace. Whatever the precedent of God's
church is in this book, we will follow it, God giving us grace.
We will observe every ordinance and reverence them as the ordinances
of Christ. We will obey Christ and keep
his ordinances. We don't need to fear doing what
he's commanded us to do. Now, I hope this will help you
to understand your responsibilities. I know I've been playing this
morning. I hope I'll not become your enemy
by telling you the truth. by their baptism, confess Christ
and their allegiance to Christ. And by their church membership,
they enjoy the communion of Christ in his body. They profess commitment
to the cause of Christ and care for the people of God. And by
the Lord's Supper, we who have been redeemed Celebrate redemption. Amen. Lindsay, you come lead
us in the name. 186. The strength of the strong foundation
is in the Christ the Lord. He is with me. With his own bloody foes, and
for their lives he died. Let's pray together. Our Father, graciously apply
your word as you see fit for the glory of your Son. Make us to live according to
our profession and to hold fast the profession of our faith firm
unto the end for the glory of Christ. Search me, O God, and know my
heart. Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be in me a way of wickedness, and lead me in the way everlasting. What I have just asked for myself,
I ask for these whom you have gathered here, that you might
be gracious to us. Lord God, leave us not to ourselves. Leave us not to ourselves. For
Christ's sake. Amen. Now the Lord willing this
evening, I'll be preaching to you from Revelation 3 in verse
20. On the subject, behold, I stand
at the door and knock. And also after the service this
evening, Shelby and I'd like you to come to the house. We'll
have time of fellowship together. Sweet Spirit, sweep over my soul. Sweet
Spirit, sweep over my soul. Joy is complete when I sit at
His feet. Sweet Spirit, sweep over my soul. I know it's a dream, when I'm
near you, dear.