Last Lord's Day, my subject was
my right to live. I think possibly it is my legal
right to live, which is on the table. I tried to show from the
scriptures that we only have a right to live because he lives.
But those of us who know Jesus Christ as our Savior, And those
who shall come to know him as their Savior, all of those for
whom he died, because he died and we died with him, and he
lives and we live with him, we have a right to live. And I did
that with some marginal preaching in respect
to the fact of that word worthy and unworthy. That worthy meant
deserving, as we studied there together, and we are deserving
of hell, of course, in Adam. But as the children of God, the
elect of God, we are deserving to live in him who lives for
us, and we live in him. I want to continue on with that
subject this morning, and I recognize the fact, though you listen to
my preaching most of the time, there is some danger to those
who are listening to the ministry on tape of saying, well, that
does sound like We're preaching that man has some merit and some
spark of divinity in him. No, far from that. We're not
saying that. We're saying there's Christ in us, the hope of glory.
And if Christ is in us, we have a hope. And that hope is Christ
in us, so there it is. You're living. For me to live
is Christ. This has been prayed and has been said again this
morning. Now, in this second chapter of the book of Hebrews,
and in the third chapter, Brother Gerald will bring a lesson from
the third chapter, just notice some things there. studying with
you that will be fitting and proper for me to delve further
into my subject, not necessarily just the right to live, but some
of the evidences and the proofs that we are living. This thing of security, most
of what you have and what I have heard, is nothing more than just
carnal security. When you erase that A few verses
of scripture that you memorize and say, well, I'm saved now,
and I know I'm saved, but we don't have anything. And when
you ask a question, when the Spirit of God asks the question,
like we're preaching here, are you worthy to live? Well, how
can you answer that question? You say, yes, I really believe
I am. I'm living in the Lord Jesus Christ. What he has done
and what he is doing and what he shall do for me is my only
right to live, and then ask a question and bring it down to a more practical
application, am I living? Am I living, or am I just playing
the game? Now, this is serious. In this
hour, most people, if they were assembled somewhere where they
couldn't get away from the preaching of the word of God and be folk
who are actually sincere, did find out that they wouldn't go
very far until they found out, well, I don't know anything about
being safe. I'm not saved. I don't know anything about what's
being preached. That's so. The false professions abound
as never before. And for the child of God, it
doesn't belittle his experience to be faced with the Word of
God and say, Now, just like the brother's preaching, I have a
right to live, and I say I have a right to live, predicated on
the work of another who actually took my place and erased my sin
bit completely. But do I live? Those various
passages through the word of God said, now, this is living.
Are we living? This is the only way to have
assurance. And you say, well, we can't have an absolute victorious
life. We haven't attained. That's exactly
right. But the scriptures are so written that we can't have
a victorious life to the extent that we say, oh, yes, all these
things have I done from my youth up, said the rich young ruler.
And the Lord Jesus Christ immediately stopped him and said, one thing
you missed. He said, go take what you have, your barns and
your this and your that, so take what you have and go give it
to the poor. And then he said, come follow me. Now he did it
on purpose, and the challenge is clear through the word of
God, for the child of God, the true profession, the child of
God to just face that issue and say, I know, but if this is living,
what assurance do I have that I'm living? And that's what you
need. That's what we all need. For
I frankly believe there is assurance for the child of God. I firmly
believe that the Son of God came here for the express purpose
to reveal himself as sufficient for a people who he died for,
who he elected prior to that time. So these things, I think,
we'll be searching if we go further again this morning and find out
whether we're living or not. If we are, thank God for the
fact that he gives us more light on the situation. So in the second
chapter of the book of Hebrews, let's look at something just
a moment. of the 2nd chapter. Now, I frankly think that that's
Adam in the first creation. And we go just a little farther,
we find that Adam failed in that which he was created to do, and
we see the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 8, "...thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all
in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under
him. But now we see not yet all things put under him," Christ.
But we do see Jesus. who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man." And if you go further right there, you'll find out
what he's saying when he says he'd taste death for every man.
I think there are two avenues here you'd go down. The next
one tells you that he might bring many sons unto glory. Well, if
it was for everybody, it would say bring all people to glory,
so many sons unto glory. Secondly, I rather think that
he tasted death for all men to the extent that he can raise
the wicked dead, like buying the world in Matthew 13. I'm not going into that right
now, for I want to note one thing there, and that is that he is
crowned with glory and honor. Now look at the 3rd chapter,
verse 3. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than most." You just had this, this is the Lord
Jesus Christ. For this man was counted worthy, remember my subject
matter last Sunday was centered around that word worthy or deserving.
For this man was counted deserving of more glory than Moses, inasmuch
as he who hath built the house hath more honor than the house."
Now, these two things in that verse of Scripture must stand
out. You cannot lose sight of Moses having two things in the
verse of Scripture. One is that Moses had honor,
and the other is that he was worthy. Why? Because you have
a word that leads us to believe that, for this man was counted
worthy of more. GO! So glory is the word we use
right there. So Moses had some glory that
was given to him and put to his account, inasmuch as he that
buildeth the house hath more honor than the house. So we have
Moses being honored and Moses having the glory of God shining
within him and upon him to that extent that had been imputed
and put to his account. Now, when we say that he's worthy
of more glory, then it comes back to my subject matter again.
Are we worthy of honor? Are we worthy of glory? We sure
are, in Him. In Him. He set out to honor a
people. My goodness, child of God, we're
honored this morning. Now, we're not sitting out here
along the highway somewhere in the ditch drunk, or we're down
the road somewhere with no interest whatsoever. God has honored us
for everything that the person of the Lord Jesus Christ actually
shares in, we being vitally joined to him, for he that sanctifies,
and they that are sanctified are all one, the Scripture says.
Therefore, we have a part in that. And when the scripture
says that he's crowned with honor and glory, he's crowned his children
with that. And we shall finally see that
consummated when we shall be like him. Now, I'm not saying
that this morning to make Pharisees out of somebody. I'm continuing
on in the subject matter to just say that child of God were somebody. For God to pick us up out yonder
in the dunghill, we don't have a thing to offer, I know that,
except it's an old guilty carcass, but he set us with princes. That's
honoring, brother. That's making a household of
people who are royal stock, who are the king's children. So when
you see that, you can say, Amen, you can praise God. And after
all is said and done, if not something that the Pharisee would
say, I'm not like this old publican, I fast twice a week and I do
this and I do that. Nowhere in the word of God was
ever told to fast twice a week, that's tradition anyhow. I fast
twice a week, and I pay tithes of this, that, and everything
else. And the old publican came up just with one thing, smote
himself on the breast and said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. And he went away justified, be
propitiated to me. That's what I'm talking about
this morning. So the child of God is somebody who definitely
believes that God's grace and God's mercy is something that
puts him in a position where God honored him because of Christ. I say, because of Christ. So
I don't think you're confused along that line as we study together. I want to go further in this
study and just study with you, for this word, worthy, can mean
so many things. I took the concordance and checked
it there to see just exactly what it could mean. It means
ability. Well, now, that's peculiar, isn't
it? Well, how much ability did you have before God came on the
scene in Christ and the Spirit of God regenerated you and enabled
you? That's what the apostle Paul
said, I thank God who enabled me. That means, Paul, you didn't
have any ability until you were enabled. That's what I'm preaching
this morning. That word can mean enabled. I'll get it for you,
and you can study behind me. If that's so, it's only sensible
it could mean something else. It means a privilege. It means
privilege. It means a privileged people.
Are we not honored this morning with a privilege beyond those
who you might well have just said, brother, who are separated
from the children of God and shall never have the privilege
that we have of coming together to some extent with an interest
in the Word of God, an interest in the person of God, beholding
the Son of God, and coming together with some peace and satisfaction?
That's not a sacrifice. That's on the grounds of a sacrifice. That's a privilege. I hate to
hear that stuff so well. I'll tell you what, and some
of us, we come from various areas around here to get together.
You ask me why you come, I say, well, I want to see what kind
of a suit of clothes somebody wore, what kind of a hat somebody
wore, something like that. I don't think that's so. If it
is so, I hope my preaching does not get in the head. Sometimes
your hat wore off your head or something of the kind. I actually believe
in the man that we're here for the purpose of recognizing the
fact that in the presence of those people who have gathered
here is one who is sufficient for us and who has been honored,
and you're honored to be there. Well, I'll get to it this morning,
but suppose a king would make a feast. Expect I'd better turn
over and talk with you better. Suppose a king would make a great
feast and invite you. Would you be honored? Oh, brother,
you say, well, I don't know whether I'm honored too much or not.
I didn't consider I'd go. Yeah, I know you didn't consider
you'd go. Suppose you just go up, brother, and say, well, I
just decided I'd go. You won't get very far, will
you? I'll tell you what, brother, it's honorable for him to send
you an invitation or send somebody out to you and say, come on up,
so that everything's ready. Well, I'll get into that just
this morning with you in a little while to show you that that kind
of people are the people that were worthy or unworthy. Some
of them were worthy and some of them weren't. Some of them
weren't worthy. The word can mean a capacity.
So often you hear me make the statement, well, I talked to
the man But I recognize immediately that he didn't have any capacity
to receive truth. That's a good word, a capacity.
You use that in the sense of greater and less, but I'm using
it in the sense of none. That a man don't have a capacity
unless God moves in and renovates and brings what we call a regeneration
to a heart. There's no capacity for a man
to receive truth. He doesn't know the truth when
he hears it. So this is a capacity. Is it
not honorable? Is it not something that you could say, well, praise
God, am I deserving of this only on the ground that somebody else
was deserving? This is it, this substitution
all the way. So you have a capacity to receive, too. Oh, wasn't that
wonderful? So that just went right down
in my heart, gizzard or something of the kind, whatever it might
be, brother, and just stayed right with me. I'm just living
with that truth. That's because somebody else
put that capacity in you to receive truth and you're honored because
he did that thing in Christ, in Christ, in Christ alone. Somebody,
I believe Brother Huckabee was praying this morning, he used
the word liberty more times than one. Brother, I'm going to tell
you something, there isn't any liberty or any freedom until
what I'm talking about takes place in the life. And when it
is, you're liberated! You're liberated! You're set
free! You're set free to do what? To live! Now the question comes,
do we live? Do I use my liberty to beat somebody
else over the head? Is my liberty judged by another
man's life? Yes, sir, to a great extent it
is. So we're wondering when we begin to study these things,
it takes months to preach like this, I guess, and pick each
one of them out. But is my liberty something that
I use at the expense of another brother? That's living. The thing that governs your life
more than anything else, you meet with a man of what you believe
to be like precious faith, and you have no reason to rule him
out. And he has some particular conviction along some particular
line that you don't have any conviction along that line. You
say, well, that don't bother me. Don't you rule that man's
conviction out. That's the body of Christ so
working together that that man is a challenge to you. And this
is what we need today. All over the country we're having
Bible conferences. schedule of a Bible conference.
And one thing in particular down at the bottom of the little brochure
was that we're not here for the purpose of grinding axes and
preaching on our pet hobby and so on and so forth. In other
words, just say, we're not here to provoke a man to anything.
Just pat him on the back and say, this is the best preachers
across the country and we don't want anything that will cause
the slightest bit of study. I get cold feet now sitting like
this. I want somebody, when a man gets in the pulpit or talks to
me, I want a challenge to live by. I say, brother, I can't see
that. And he says, well, I actually
believe it's so. It's a challenge for me to find out whether it's
so or not. That's exactly right. And all we've ever had is a legal
claim across this country and called a church and a bunch of
bylaws. You might as well throw them in the river and burn them
or something of the kind. Nobody knows what the covenant
says, instead you turn around and read the thing. At the same
time, the body of Christ is something that so works together that one
member not only helps, but is a challenge to another. Provoke
men to study. I'll listen to that man preaching.
I either got to study or quit bucking him, one of the two.
That's it, that preaching. I'll listen to the man preaching.
I said, jealous, I didn't know what it was all about. That's
good, that's good preaching. I say, says the Apostle Paul,
that the Gentiles will provoke the Jews to jealousy. That's
what he said. Provoke them to enmity and provoke
them to study and so on and so forth. We need some provoking
truths. That's right. We're aware of
the fact that in this hour, everything, just the easygoing method of
procedure. So when I went on, all citywide
campaigns, so what if there's any issue now? You couldn't have
that, you know, in a citywide campaign. You won't touch on
that, you know, it'll cause some disturbance. The Apostle Paul's
ministry caused some disturbance. They said, don't you know, sir,
that man's got a record of turning the world upside down, and he's
come over here now to turn our little city upside down. But
the truth of the matter was, it was upside down to start with,
and he had turned it back like it ought to be. Well, we need
the truth. We need the truth. So these provoking
thoughts, I think, should come along the line of just having
what I'm talking about. Another word, by the way, that
word means is influence. How do you like that? That fellow
had a great influence on me. Not necessarily what he said,
but just walking beside him. I decided I'd stretch out beside
him, and I was provoked. I just couldn't do it. See, that's
what the child of God is, is somebody who walks because he
walks. He walks. Who lives because he
lives. who has honor and glory put to
his count because the Son of God has that. I'll tell you,
you talk about positive traction, you jump in your car, step on
the gas and swing around the curve somewhere and say, well,
if one wheel goes, I'm not worrying about the other and they've both
got to go. I'm going to tell you something, we've got positive
traction with Jesus Christ. If he moves, I've got to go with
him. That's all there is to it. If he lives, I've got to live,
for I'm positively identified with him in everything he is
and everything he does. And that's what we're talking
about. That's living. And I look at that and I say,
well now, how much living am I doing? Well, I'll tell you
what you'll do. You'll drop your head in shame.
You won't say, well, I so-and-so did like this and so-and-so did
like that, and people are not treating me just exactly right.
You'll shut up, brother, and you won't be in the rat race
called, what we call the race issue today, as I've often said.
So I'm not being treated right. I haven't got what's coming to
me like much of the blacks do and some of the whites at this
present time. When you're brought down to a place where you're
aware of the fact that you're in a position that you're in
because somebody else is vitally joined to you, you'll shut up
about the arguing and fussing around, and you'll say, well,
praise God. I don't understand it. It's too much fun. It's too
much fun. Well, that's right, isn't it?
So, other words. Maybe I'll preface the message
here with that line and preach it for you later. That word means
authority. When I speak in the pulpit, I
speak with authority. I've never been afraid of faces
or backs. I've seen both. I'm honest about
that, I appreciate people. But listen, when a man is called
by Almighty God as a testimony, not just a preacher, he's somebody
in authority. You're not supposed to say, well,
can I say this? Would it be pretty please? No,
if it's the truth, preach it anyhow, live above everything
else. I know that. And as you said this morning,
we can so out-talk our walk, we all do, but we have a desire
to live, brethren. That's the whole thing. He came
unto his own, and his own received him not, but to as many as received
him. To them gave he the authority
to become a son of God." Now, don't tell me, brother, authority,
that's what the word is, become the power, the authority to become
a son of God. Do you mean to tell me somebody
walks up to you and says, what right do you have to act like
you do? What right do you have to talk
like you do? What right do you have to drag
people off in your direction? Every now and then people tell
me, they say, he stole my converse. What right do you have to act
like that because of the fact that I have the authority of
another who should go right ahead here, respect you to what people
say about you? That's not so. I haven't stolen anything. That's it, brother. I'll tell
you what, you just keep going. I had some liberty this morning.
You're set at liberty. You're set at liberty? Paul,
you're set at liberty? Yes, I'm set at liberty. Boy, you're setting
in a dungeon in Rome. I'm in a dungeon in Rome. There's
no light in this place. She's a damp, dirty place, and
occasionally they'll bring somebody else in here. And if they let
me out of here, they'll chain me to somebody else. Are you
at liberty? I'm at liberty, brethren. I'm somebody. I'm a saint of
God. I'm an apostle of God. I'm a
servant of God. Listen to that, brethren. And
it must be that I'll leave this dungeon and go other places because
he set out to send me that way. I belong to the must family.
You tell me that isn't honorable? It sure is honorable. Okay, let's
see just when we pick up some of the words here, and at least
pick up a Bible character or something to kind of preach to
you for a little while. I don't know hardly where we could go
to actually look at the word and look at it with a little
more light on the subject. I laid that down last Sunday,
particularly so in respect to the prodigal son, I believe it
was, and Zacchaeus. Maybe for the sake of just teaching
for just a little bit, to show you that these words are interchangeable. You don't need to go to a concordant
to find the Greek, but let me give you just two or three words
here that will help us turn to Luke 15 for just a moment. Let's
see now, if what Brother Graham is preaching is so, then it would
be worthwhile for me to follow and try it and add to it, take
away from it, or what not. In the 15th chapter of the Gospel
of Luke, And verse 32 of that chapter, you wouldn't believe that this
word is the same word until you read your Bible, but it is anyhow.
Luke 15, the return of the prodigal son, if you remember, and in
verse 32 of that chapter, listen to what it says. It was me that
we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother was dead,
and is alive again, and was lost, and is found." Now, you know
who said that, don't you? The Father said that. See, the
prodigal came home, and the fatted calf was killed for him, the
ring on his finger, and the other brother was hot about that thing,
so he had something to say, and this was the answer that he got.
Well, he said, verse 31, he addresses him, "...it was meet that we
should make merry again, and be glad, for this our brother
was dead, and is alive again, and was lost in sin." I want
you to look at the word, meet. It was meet. Now, can I interchange
that word, that this was the right thing? This was right.
It was deserving in the case that this be the case of the
man who called the prodigal son coming home. While we're in the gospel, just
turn to Matthew 15, verse 26. In Matthew 15, verse 26 of that
chapter, we have this word again. And this time he's using it as
the children's bread being given to the dog. Verse 24, This is
a Syrophoenician woman who came. But he answered and said, I'm
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Watch
that again now. I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. Not the house of Israel, but
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and
worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and
said, it is not me. to take the children's bread
and to cast it to the dog." That word, again, not only is it not
necessary, but it's not only fitting and proper, it's not
right to do that. Well, that word, meat, right
there, I'm going to interchange that word with the word worthy
or unworthy here for just a moment. So turn, if you will, to Acts
26.20. will look together with you for
just a moment as we lay this down. 2620, the Apostle Paul there, this is it, verse 20. But he said, speaking to King
Agrippa, Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the
heavenly but showed first unto them at Damascus, and at Jerusalem,
and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles,
that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for
repentance." Now, along with that passage, it is one of the
gospel writers, I'm not sure this morning, I believe it's
Luke who actually uses the word unworthy. Hold just a moment
there until I turn and see if I can locate that for you. In
the gospel of Luke, I believe it is the very beginning of the
gospel here, so in the 3rd chapter of the gospel of Luke and the
8th verse of that chapter. Now, we have all three times
we've used the word, meet. And we're saying that it's fitting
and proper. Or it's not fitting and proper.
It's an unworthy act to give the children's bread to the dog.
The children are worthy of the children's bread. You see what
I'm talking about? Because they are children. See, the Son of
God never practiced anything that he didn't preach. It is
he who said, now don't you give that which is holy unto the dogs.
And he said, you feed the swine pearls that they'll turn again
and rend you. Not one time through his earthly ministry will you
ever find where he ever did that. Brother, I'm going to tell you
something. When it came down to a real feed, he picked out
one of those folk like Zacchaeus or the Samaritan woman. He didn't
feed the children's bread to the dog. That wouldn't have been
the characteristic of the Son of God. And such it is for us.
But it also is fitting and proper that we have the children's bread
to eat. That's why you're eating it this
morning. You said, am I worthy of eating? Why, the Lord's Supper
occasion there we read of in the 11th chapter of 1 Corinthians
plainly tells you, as you partake of the Son of God, partake with
the thought in mind that you are worthy because of the fact
that somebody else has paid the debt for you and set you up where
you can eat and where you can live. So in this 3rd chapter
and the 8th verse, listen to this. Bring forth therefore fruits
meet." I don't know what you have in a center column reference
right there, but you no doubt would have that word there. Bring
forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. Now, this is what
I'm talking about. You say, well, now listen, God
has brought me to repentance, and I know what it is to repent.
All right, then, if we know what it is to repent, how about the
fruits of repentance? What are those fruits of repentance?
The character there called John the Baptist said, I'm going to
go baptize you. He said, you're not bringing forth any fruits
of repentance. So that's worthy, those things
that are worthy of the child of God to produce, because of
the fact that he's the child of God. And he's the child of
God not because of no merit on his own, but because somebody
else made him such. That's the whole thing. You're
just digging deeper and deeper as you study along this line.
Now, I want to use a passage. I brought several of the occasions
in the word of God where this word worthy was mentioned Sunday, to your attention, and
many of them I left off. The book of Revelation has several
there, if you've studied the last portion of the book, I think
it's the 17th chapter, where he'll make mention of the fact
that who's worthy to open the book? Nobody but the Lamb. But
we're walking as children of God, clothed in white raiment,
because of the fact that we're worthy. And we're worthy because
he's worthy, you say. So that's just it. But in the
22nd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, let's settle down
here just a little bit and see if we can get ahold of something
that will be helpful along this line. Now, may I say again, I'm trying
to take my time this morning, which is hard to think for me
to do. I think fast, I speak fast, and if my mind is functioning
at all, it's ahead of me a little ways. I try to catch up out there.
I'm really not apologizing for it, it's just the best I can
do. In the 22nd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew,
We have an occasion that I alluded to just a few moments ago of
a king making a great feast and providing everything. Now, as
we look at that, keep in mind what I do not believe that that
passage or any other passage in the word of God or out of
the word of God or anywhere else teaches. And you don't either.
And that is that, well, you had a chance to make heaven your
home, but you missed it. Now, we don't believe that salvation
is not by chance, it's by grace. Now, God doesn't give every man
a chance, but listen to this now, the Word of God teaches
that God Almighty leaves every human being without excuse. That's a little different. Well,
I had a chance to make heaven my home. Somebody said the law
of God, and I think it does. I think God just drops it out
sometimes, as I've often said. The naked law of God said you
hit the 100 mark, you bring forth perfection, and I'll accept you.
He does not do that on the ground of you being a person who can
attain and actually do that. He does it on the ground, meeting
you on the level of your condition to show you you can't do it.
And the person who he set out to make like himself, continually
putting up his hands, said, I'll try this, I'll try that, we'll
try this, I'll try that, we'll try something else, I'll try
it all! and could not avail, and you're
brought to a place where you see that somebody else was on
trial for you, and that he made the gold, brother. And that's
where we come in, as a lost soul unworthy of everything until
we recognize, well, I am worthy of living because of him. Now,
that's just it through the word of God. So in this, I want it
clear that though I'm preaching close to the line of what you
might call borderline preaching, if you weren't aware of the fact
of what we believe and know what you believe. A man come along,
he said, well, It looks like that the destiny of the soul
is determined by the weights of the gospel. No. The destiny
of the soul is determined by the eternal counsel of God. You
go on one way or go on the other, God settled that before time
ever dawned. But listen to me, brother. I'm
going to tell you one thing. The shaping up of that person,
the shaping up of that person, the shaping up of that person
to that destiny where he is destined, comes by listening to God's voice.
It's not apart from that, brother. After he makes you alive, he
says what? He says they shall all be taught of God. I'm not
going to tell you that somebody's got to take a Bible and go teach
somebody. I'm just going to tell you that
though that destiny is settled for every human being before
it comes into this world, it's not settled apart from the fact
that God shaped your destiny as it was. In this time world,
by coming in contact with one whose voice you know is His,
they shall know my voice. They shall hear me. They shall
follow me. They shall all be taught of God." That's not everybody.
It's all those for whom he set out to make like himself. Now,
that's glorious. That is the glory of God. You
say, well, what is the glory of God? Brother, that's glorious.
Somebody says, well, it'll be glorious, I tonder, in the future. And
somebody else says it's glorious now. And that's right, too, brother.
That's the glory of God. Well, you know, Moses said, show
me thy glory. over in the book of Exodus, and
the Son of God, most of the time you just hear, well, he passed
by in theophany and just saw the hindered parts of him and
really never saw the glory of God. Well, he did see the glory
of God. There's more to that than just
saying the Son of God passed by and seeing the hindered parts
of him. He said to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy
and whom I will harden. That's the capstone of God's
eternal purpose, and I'm going to tell you Moses saw his glory.
I'll tell you where he saw his glory. Moses said, Now you spoke
to me as a friend with friends. You said, he just asked me if
you'll pardon this expression, took God to task as being vitally
joined with him, brother, and this is it. He said, Now I have
a right to certain claims on you because you said I'm your
friend, that you call me a friend. And then you commissioned me,"
and this just keeps going, brethren, you just keep preaching it, preaching
it. He said, now you commissioned me to walk down into a land where
I don't stand a chance, if you want to speak of chance, with
all those enemies. And he said, I'm just not going
unless you go with me. That's it. That's it. That's
it. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go
anywhere. Somebody said, well, he might
go to hell. I'll be fine. Where he goes, brother, if he goes
with me, I'll go anywhere. I know you'll go if he goes with
you." Well, you found out that you joined a family that you
didn't join up, but just writing your name on a register somewhere
and said, yes, I have this kind of obligation, that kind of obligation,
but you came in contact with being adopted into the must family.
And he said, I must go through Samaria. And how about you? You'll
go through Samaria too, brother, if he goes that way. You'll have
some of those Samaritan expressions in your life, and you'll know
something about Zacchaeus, and you'll know something about those
hard characters called Nicodemus. You must go that way because
you're joined to him. Ah, brother, that's worthwhile.
This life is a struggle. This pilgrimage is a fight, but
a good one. I guess I've always wanted to
fight, but I didn't know much about this fight until I came
in contact with the people of God, and then we're all fighting
for a good cause at the same time. The battle rages, brother. The enemy has come up with great
strength and great wrath, because his time is shortening. Him a
carrot up in the corner, he'll do anything. He'll make a good
fighter then. He'll run over half a dozen people.
So we got the struggle than ever before. I'm never in my lifetime. Never in my lifetime. Seen as
many avenues as people even to this corporation. Well, this
is a problem. And that's a problem all the
while. I don't get out. I don't talk to anybody. I can't
for just a little while. Everybody's got a problem. We've
got a problem. But it's worthwhile if the Son of God happens to
order that problem. He orders that problem. He orders
it for a purpose. He does nothing apart from purpose,
and he has a good purpose in everything he does. And if you
ever find out that you're part of that purpose, I'll tell you
what you'll do. You'll say, well, I'm going to
quit lamenting until you do it again. And when you lament, you'll
repent. Well, let's go. In this 22nd chapter of the book
of Matthew, I said all that to say that we're getting on dangerous
ground if we do not believe that there's no second chance. But
here's a case where a man made a great feast and he bade many
to come. You know that. He bade many to
come and some of them made excuses. Now, let me say this before I
read it. God never strikes without warning. Every man is without excuse that
you didn't warn me. No, sir, you can't make God your
debtor. God never strikes without warning,
and he never warns without striking. Now, you listen to that. We're
glad to see in people, this group of people right here this morning
that I'm speaking to, and your pastor, are living in a deadly
atmosphere today. We're living in a satanic atmosphere. There has never been anything
yet that'll tug at your coattail and pull you as far and lure
you and entice you and entangle you as the outfit that you're
associating with, and in many times they're religious folk.
the places where you work out there. And you think for just
a moment that you can breathe that kind of atmosphere and work
and stand there without ever seeing you. Your lines are slack
for one moment and you don't let the bars down. You better
keep in mind that Satan is alive today and he's got a determination
and a zeal to keep on moving. He don't let up. And the child
of God said, well, I'll take just a little recess. I will.
You'll take one just like King David did. I'll just stay at
home. I'll stay in the palace while I sit and enjoy back there
to do the job. But it was there that David went
down as never before. Well, there are no plateaus in
this life. There are no furloughs in this life. We're in for a
death struggle. Thank God we're going to win.
I don't care what the odds are against us, it don't discourage
me in the least, for I know that my Savior is alive, and because
He lives, I live. And I shall live when His foot
is on all the enemy's necks, and I shall be like Him. And
the stars have fallen from their sockets, and the old brooks have
gone dry. I'll be drinking from a fountain
that never shall run dry. I'll be in a city where there
is no need of the light. Because he is the light of that
city, and we are little lights, believe it or not. That doesn't
make anybody shout. It may not just say, praise God,
hallelujah, and jump a bench or two and get turned around
and never come back again. I'm not talking about that. But down
deep in you, brother, it will make you sob and just thank God
for the fact you got him on, all because of him. That's preaching
Christ. They say, I don't do it. But
I do. The old tencent, Jesus can't
save anybody. You can't preach about him. If
you do, then give you trouble. Now, whoever heard tell of such
a thing? They say, well, Jesus is a, he's just a gentle kind
of a Jesus. Well, but if you preach exactly
like he preached, he'll just tear up everything. Now, that
don't make sense. The dumbest man on earth, you know. That
rationalism goes down there, you see. So inconsistent. Well,
preach him and see what kind of sense it makes. Who cares?
I know what I'll do, just upset the city and tear down every
playhouse that's built on sinking sand and let her go the quicker
the better. Ours or anybody else? Mine had to go, still going. Brother, I'm telling you, just
preach like the Lord Jesus Christ did, I wish I could. I dare try. I sure would, brother, I'm telling
you. I wish I could do it. But no
man ever spake like that man. He never warns without striking,
and never strikes without warning, and he leaves no man with an
excuse. I don't care. You talk about
the heathen in Africa, they never heard tell this, that, and so
on and so forth. Well, you don't have to go to Africa. Go down
on the streets of Asheboro. They never heard any more either.
Go down to the churches in the city. They never heard anything
about the true God. I'm honest about that thing.
If the people today called preachers are preaching the truth about
Jesus Christ, I don't know him. There is no such a God who waits
for you to get ready to come to Him. There is no such a God
that waits for you to make a sacrifice for you to make Heaven your home.
There isn't any such a God who's begging somebody to do something. He's a God who's all-wise, who's
all-powerful, omnipotent, omnipresent, everything living up to bow at
His shrine sooner or later. Now isn't it wonderful that you
can kind of get on your knees now? Isn't it wonderful that
he brought you to a place where you said, well, I'm down. I'm
down. He said, the load's awful heavy.
I know, but brother, I'm going to tell you something. It's his
yoke that you're yoked with. That's it. That's being vitally
joined to him. That won't gauge your neck. He
said so. He said, my yoke's easy, and
my burden is light. Take it up on you, brother. He
said, come on to me, all you that are weary and heavy laden.
I'm not weary. He's not talking to you then.
I'm not heavy laden, nobody talking to you, but if there's somebody
who's weary and heavy laden, they'll come, brother. They'll
come. That's a ground you came on,
all because of the fact that he fixed it up you could come
that round. I love to preach. And brother, I'm telling you,
even greater than that, I love to know him. And still greater
than that, I'm glad he knows me. Well, here we go then. Enough said, I guess, to deal
with this 22nd chapter of the book of Matthew. And Jesus answered and spake
unto them by parables, and said, You can't bank too much on a
parable. You can't make a parable walk on all fours. I think G. Cameron Morgan said that. Well,
read Matthew 13, you'll see that the Son of God made it walk on
all fours. There never was a more detailed exegesis than Matthew
13. I can't make it walk on all fours, but he's making things
that have come to pass that I don't know anything about. So after
all is said and done, a parable is never contrary to truth. I
get that. A parable is never contrary to
truth. Though it's a parable, it is setting forth the truth.
Okay, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a certain king which
made a marriage for his son. Well, wonderful. That's wonderful. That's what the Son of God is
today. He's a son, and he's the son,
the only son, the only begotten son. And by the way, if the king
ever makes a marriage for him, there would be one way we'd get
in on that thing, and that would be the king invite us. We'll
never get in on it unless he does. And furthermore, he doesn't
want to just say, y'all come, like an expression in North Carolina.
He sees to it that you do come. Somebody said, well, he won't
take you to the nap of the neck and the seat of the britches
and bring you. Well, your pops won't have any nap of the neck
or seat of the britches either, and he gets done with it. And he sent forth his servants
to call them that were bidding to the wedding, and they would
not come. He would not come. Is that right?
Well, poor fellow. That's a bad shape to be in,
brother. Now, we'll go have a wedding, and we've got a son, and it's
a king's son, and he's sent out here for some folk to come, and
they're not going to come. That's going to be an empty house.
It won't work. We've got to have somebody now.
We have to cook up something. Well, you watch it cook up, but
it'll be real when it's cooked, brother. This ain't cooking up
your own mess and meal, you know, that's what you call eating your
own dung in the scripture. When God cooks a thing and you
eat it, it's worthwhile eating. Again, he sent forth other servants
saying, Tell them which are bidden. Behold, now take a look, now
consider this thing. This is what you call reason
right here, brethren. And there's absolutely no reasonable way
to approach a sinner. in the house, showing you how
it cannot be approached. Again, he sent forth other servants,
saying, Tell them which were bidden, Behold, I have prepared
my dinner, my oxen, and my fatlings are killed, and all things are
ready. Come to the marriage." Those people were bidding to
come. A blind man could feel that with his walking cane. He
has to interpret that correctly, that they were bidding to come.
Now, I'll tell you why they were bidding to come. To show them
that they would not come and could not come. And I'll tell
you right quick, as I've told you before, why they didn't come.
They weren't hungry. It wasn't because a man had a
yoke oxen, it wasn't because somebody had a wife, it wasn't
that. At the basis of the whole thing, bud, they were not hungry. If there'd have been a hungry
hobo, something more like the prodigal son, what would he have
done? Well, he would have eaten the husk that the swine did eat,
but nobody gave to him. By the way, it wasn't an offer
to him, it was a gift that he missed. Somebody offered him
to him, he'd ate them. But nobody gave to him, that's
a little different. Again sent forth other servants, saying,
Tell them what you have bid, and behold, I have prepared my
dinner, my oxen, my fatlings are killed, and all things are
ready, come to the marriage." But they made light of it. I
jotted a few things down what that means right there. They
scoffed at it. They scoffed at it. It's one
of the words that's used right there. They made light of it. And they
spoke lightheartedly about it. But they made light of it and
went their ways. You know what's wrong with people?
Every human being has come forth from the loins of Adam. I don't
need to say, well, I've got to write my life story and tell
what a drunk I was and what a homewrecker I was and what a liar I was and
so on and so forth. Just one thing wrong with every
one of Adam's fallen race. They have gone their way. Those of us who have experienced
going your way will finally lead you to what pays off in counterfeit
money. There's absolutely nothing there worthwhile. It's his way
again. It's his way. This is the way.
This is the way. His way. He is the way. All right,
but they made light of it, went their ways, one to his farm and
another to his merchandise. Now you listen to me this morning.
There's nothing wrong with having a farm, and there's nothing wrong
with having merchandise, but anything under heaven that we
have in this life, I don't care whether it's big or little, is
not a friend to us to get to heaven. I don't care what it
is, I don't care what you have in your possession, the more
you have, the more problem you have. Is that right? You folk who are in business.
The more you have, the more men you have on a payroll, the more
problem you have. The more work you've got to lay
out and so on and so forth. And you've just got more problems.
I'm not saying that a person should go through this life as
just a pauper. I'm just saying that you've got to recognize
problems in life. Life is nothing but problems.
You asked a question there this morning. I asked myself last
night studying and talking with my wife. I said, now just name
one thing that the Lord has allowed us to participate in today that
we have said, Lord God, I did that just exactly like you said
to it. And you should put a bouquet
of roses on me. Everything you do, everything you say, you miss
that goal to some extent. Missing the mark is sin. We know
that. We need somebody. That's why
every man needs Christ. I can stand here this morning
and tell you the greatest need of every human being is Jesus
Christ. They don't know that, but they
need somebody, brother. They'll find out someday. I was
right along that line. So here we are. What a predicament
we're in. We've got everything, it looks
like, at our hands today, and we don't have time for anything.
Some of us are aware of that fact. So, what's happened to
my time? What happened to it last year?
And I say, well, it'll be less time next year. And that's exactly
right. As you grow older and various
things come to bear, you'll have less time. And here we are, just
treed, and they had their merchandise, and this man had a wife, and
they had the oxen and so on and so forth. Let's see just a moment.
And they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm
and the other to his merchandise. And the remnant took his servants
and treated them spitefully and slew them, the folk who were
left. Now, you know who does that,
don't you? Who always does the persecuting? The religious crowd.
They stuck around. And the remnant took his servants
and treated them spitefully and slew them. And when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth. And he sent forth his armies
and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Then
saith he to his servants," somebody left, I must have been right,
"'The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.'" Were not worthy. Were not deserving
of coming. Why were they not worthy? Come
on now. Why were they not worthy? Why
were they not worthy to come to the king's son's wedding?
because they had no partner lot in it. They were not vitally
joined to that king's son as being adopted into that household,
and that's what the scripture teaches you, that we're one with
him. Now, let's see. Now, he did tell them to come.
He told them to come on one ground that they wouldn't come, and
then turned right straight around and said, shall not taste of
my supper. I bid them to show them they
couldn't come, and they didn't come because they were not worthy
to come, and the reason they're not worthy to come is because
they're not part of me and my son." The house has got to be filled.
It's his house. It's his house. Let's go just a little farther. When the king heard thereof,
he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those
murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants,
The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy."
We're not deserving. That means that there's some
union somewhere that you've got to tie in here. You just believe
that man's got a spark of divinity in him and he's worthy of attaining
heaven without the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know
that's not so. Go ye therefore into the highways, as many as
you shall find, bid to the Mary. Now, most people interpret this
from a dispensational view, that he's emerging here from the Jewish
economy into the Gentile economy. I wouldn't argue about that.
That's in here and all through the Bible. But at the same time,
you can't take a national episode and rob the individual of anything.
If it's true to a nation, it's true to an individual. So here
we are as we see these people who were bid. Go ye therefore
into the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage.
So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together
as many as they found, both bad and good. You always get the
bad first. both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished
with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he
saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment," and this
is allusion to, of course, a man being in the presence of the
king without a wedding garment. And when the king came in to
see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou?" I think
this is simply fitting that he spoke to him as a friend because
of the sarcastic language that would usually cast him out. And
he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having
a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants,
Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness, that shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many
are called, but few are chosen." Now brethren, the scripture is
teaching us here, if it ever taught us, that though he called
The grounds for acceptance is that they're chosen in Him. And
until you're chosen in Him and become one with Him by divine
decree, it doesn't make any difference what kind of moves we make, how
far we seem to progress. We don't get anywhere because
of the fact that we're not vitally joined to Him. We're not deserving
of His mercy. Isn't that something? And this
generation today just fight this truth of the law and say, I don't
believe in election. I don't believe that there's
a person living that actually can't come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, how could a blind man look
at the Scriptures and interpret the Scriptures that way when
we know that they multiplied millions of people, billions
of people, who were lost in eternity's darkness today who didn't come?
Well, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. The Scripture
plainly teaches that. But all that the Father giveth
to me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out." Well, that simply means that we're
deserving of coming. We don't know that until we come
to know the Lord Jesus Christ in his abundant mercy to us,
and then we say, certainly I see that now. I'm a child of the
King. I sure am. I'm somebody. I'm
in the household of the saints, and I'm here by adoption as I
see the Word of God. I know you come in by believing
the Lord Jesus Christ and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
by grace through faith you come in. But the Son of God only has
one Son. One's begotten son is his son. You keep hearing about
this son and this son. And we get in on that because
of the fact, here it says, your guest, friend, or whatnot. But
you get in on that because of the fact you're adopted in the
household by that son and his work in our behalf. So you see
what you have. You're deserving of this thing.
And just in a few moments, you're deserving of it because of somebody
else's labor in your behalf. These questions are asked through
the Word of God, as to the behavior of a child of God, when they're
hemmed up lots of times there. Over there in the 4th chapter
of Acts, I believe it was Peter and one of the other brethren,
when they were hemmed up, he said, Well, you settle it, whether
it's right for us in the eyes of men to do certain things,
but in the sight of God, this is it, and we're going to obey
God. That's just it. Now, turn to the 9th chapter
of the book of Acts just a moment. Look at the Apostle Paul there.
I have just a few moments with you. And let's close by looking
at him. This is the experience of the Apostle Paul in Acts 9.
And again, it's in the 26th chapter, and possibly one more occasion
there, that he relates that experience. But in Acts 9, there are two
or three things that possibly stay with you as we separate
this morning. In the ninth chapter of that
book, and Paul relating his experience right here, Paul having an experience
right here. In verse 5, these are three things
at least that must come to pass in the life of a person who says,
well, I know that I'm vitally joined to Jesus Christ and I
have a right to live and I'm going to ask Him how to live.
I want to know how to walk. I want to know how to talk. I
want to know all these things that are related to this because
of my relationship to Him. These are the things, when he
says live, As I used that text in Ezekiel 16, 6 last sentence,
when he says, live, or when you hear that voice, live, how shall
I live? You begin to ask those questions.
He says, walk. Take up thy bed and walk, is
the fifth chapter of John again. How can I walk? Teach me how
to walk. See, this is the reason given
for all of your conversation with the Spirit of God, God the
Father, God the Son, however it might be, as to your walk
of life. It's because of the fact you have reason to believe
that. So the Apostle Paul, the first thing he did in verse 5
of the 9th chapter of Acts, listen to what he said. And he said,
You've heard me say so many times, if you ever get that settled,
at one time who, the what's and the when's and the where's and
the how's, will come in their rightful place. You've got to
know who. That's a vertical relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. You've
got to know Him, that's all there is to it. He knows you, and you
know Him. And then as that relation is
established, until that's established, there is no horizontal relation.
You don't come in contact with somebody else, except somebody
else is vitally joined to Him, and that's the way the body is
made up. And it works like that. So he says, as he journeyed,
And verse 5, and he said, Who art thou, Lord? I think he was
taken by surprise. I think the Son of God always
takes us by surprise. He took me by surprise to ever
hand me up. And he said, Who art thou, Lord?
Could this be the Lord? And the Lord said, Must have
been the Lord. And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou have persecuted, it is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. Kind of having a struggle, aren't you? Okay, we're going
to settle that then. It was who? Go to verse 6. This will prove what I'm preaching.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, I know who you are. I know now who you are. Not who
this time, but what wilt thou have me to do? See how it fits
together like a puzzle. Now, I know this is the Lord.
Is this the Lord? And the Lord said, yes, this
I'm He. I'm Jesus whom thou persecuted. It's hard for me to kick against
the press. He immediately said, well, I'm not sure that, oh,
He didn't say that. He said, I know you're the Lord.
I've met the Lord. And now, He says, He trembling
and astonished, said, Lord, What wilt thou have me to do?" And
the Lord said unto him, Arise, he's down. Remember when the
prodigal son started home, he said, I will arise, he's down.
When the fellow called Zacchaeus came down out of the tree, he
wasn't up in the tree no longer, he's down. The scripture said
he stood. Every time, and when the man at the Pool of Bethesda
I referred to in John 5, He said, I have nobody to put me in the
pool. And when the Lord Jesus Christ healed a man, He said,
rise, stand on thy feet, take up thy bed and walk. This is
our commission and all grounded on the fact that God is an absolute
sovereign and He puts us one with Him in eternity. I can't
explain that. And that's my ground for preaching.
That's my ground for walking. That's my ground for living.
And I'm living this morning. I'm happy about it. Thank God
I haven't attained, I'm a long ways from it. And for goodness
sakes, don't measure yourself by the preacher or somebody else.
He's the measuring rule, the Son of God's the only one. But
I'll tell you what, because he lives, and because he's absolutely
perfect, there'll come a time someday when you'll be like him.
Now isn't that something? Say, that'll almost make a man
boast. No, it'll make him rejoice. That's
a good word in the Word of God. Rejoice, rejoice. Well, let's
see if there's anything else in that verse. We'll pick a few
more feathers out of it. And he trembling and astonished
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, go into the city. Now, Paul, I'd like for you to
do this. Of course, your background's
against you, and the situation out there is desperate, and I'm
not dead sure, but what, you and I both will get in trouble
over this, and you think it over and call me back. That's the kind of God you've
got today. He said, now you go over there. He said, you're going
to get in trouble. Who gives a hoot? I'm already in trouble. A man born
for trouble is a sparked fly, but that's not some isolated
occasion out there. Listen to this, brethren. And
the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it
shall be told thee what I would like for you to do, if it's fitting
and proper when you get there. Oh, no. He soon knew that on
a shadow of a doubt, he had been indelibly joined to the must
family. You must go. That's why he took
that position later on. He said, well, I must go. I must
go to Rome. I must be brought to Rome. You
see, he knew that, must. One more thing, and I'll let
you go. In the 16th verse, you can just keep on picking them
out right here.