that night. And we're going to
observe the Lord's Table tonight. This is one of the two ordinances
He has given, baptism and the Lord's Table. And He said, this
do in remembrance of Me. And may God enable us to do this
in remembrance of Him. Now would you turn back to John
chapter 13. If you know these things, verse
17, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them. I've entitled this message Knowing,
Happy, and Doing. The word happy is the word usually
translated blessed. Ninety-four times in the New
Testament it's translated blessed. Five times it's translated happy. It's the word the Lord used in
the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. And I know this, the only time
I'm happy is if I'm poor. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. What the Bible means by happy
and what we mean by happy are two different things. When we
think of happiness, we think of circumstances being good. Don't have any conflict. I'm able to pay my bills. I feel
good physically. Things are great, living the
life. That's what we think of when we think of happy, but that's
really not what the Bible means by happy. This blessedness or
happiness is having the divine favor. In Luke chapter 16, we read of
a rich man. who was clothed in purple and
fine linen. And the scripture says he fared
sumptuously every day. This man was living the dream.
He had it made. And then we read of a poor beggar
named Lazarus who would have to be brought in to the gate
of the rich man's house hope for crumbs to fall his way, and
his body was covered with sores, and the dogs licked the sores. Which one was happy? Oh, the
rich man. Which man was blessed? Lazarus, brought into the very bosom of
Abraham. while the rich man was separated. If you know these things, happy
are you if you do them. If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them. You've experienced the divine
favor. If you do these things, there's
one reason. You've been blessed of God. I
love that scripture in Philippians 2.13. It's of God that worketh
in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. Now, in the context, he is speaking
of the disciples washing one another's
feet in light of the fact that Christ washed their feet. Now this is the context in which
this statement is made. Now you know how dirty your feet
get every day. And the Lord washes your feet
every day. Aren't you thankful for that? Your brother has the same experience
with his feet. He gets his feet dirty every
day. Now, rather than looking down
on him and thinking he ought to reach your level of piety,
don't think that way. He's just like you are. He needs
his feet washed like you need your feet washed. You ought to do with him what
the Lord has done for you. Wash his feet with gospel encouragement. Forgive him. Don't judge him.
Love him. Now, if you know these things,
blessed are you if you do them. If you know these things, did
you know that there's no salvation apart from knowledge? You cannot
believe what you do not know. There is no salvation apart from
knowledge. Now would you turn with me to
2 Timothy chapter one. Verse 12, for the which cause
I also suffer these things. For what cause? Because I preached
the gospel. People who are not saved have
no love for the gospel. And Paul, everywhere he went,
was thrown into prison, beaten, mistreated. For the which cause,
because I preach the gospel, I suffer these things. Now, if
the gospel I preach, men are pleased with it, and the world
likes it, I'm not preaching the gospel. For the which cause,
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know." There's that word. I know. Whom, not what. The what's determined by the
whom. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Now,
let's begin with I know whom. He's God. I love to say this,
Jesus is God. He's the creator. He's the sovereign
of the universe. You're in his hands right now.
I'm in his hands right now. Whether we realize it or not,
he is God over all, blessed forever. The only savior of sinners, the
successful savior of sinners. He can't fail. He's incapable
of failure. I know who I have believed. doesn't stop there. I'm persuaded. Literally, I've been persuaded.
You see, if you know, he gave you that knowledge. If you're
persuaded, it's because he persuaded you. I am persuaded that he is
a I am persuaded of His ability
to save me. Are you? Now, if I'm persuaded of His
ability to save me, that means I believe He does it all with
no help from me. And this is demonstrated in this word, committal. I'm persuaded that He is able. to keep that which I have committed
to Him against that day. Now, Lynn and
I enjoy watching Top Chef. I don't know if anybody else
watches that, but it's my favorite cooking show. I don't know much
about cooking, and when I say something about cooking, Lynn
looks at me and, what do you know? Well, that's true, but
I do like that show. And when they're finished cooking
whatever they're cooking, and the timer goes off, Hands off.
Hands off. And what they mean is it's finished.
Hands off. But a believer's hands off is different than that. Hands
off. I have nothing to do with this. He did it all. I've committed
my salvation to him. Hands off. He did it all. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded
that he is able because of who he is to keep that which I've
committed to him. Hands off, I had nothing to do
with this. All my eggs are in this basket
that he did it all. And salvation has nothing to
do with my doing. I know who I have believed. I'm not interested in trying
to convince you to believe the stuff that I believe, but I want
you to know who he is. I know whom I have believed,
and that's why I'm persuaded. I'm convinced he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him against that day. Now, to
trust your works is a failure to commit. To trust your experience
is a failure to commit. When you trust Him, you commit
the entire salvation of your soul to Him. How blessed are you of God to
do that? If you do that, if you commit
the salvation of your soul to Him, how blessed you are, what
favor God has extended toward you. Now, you're happy doing
that. And the reason is you're blessed,
highly favored of God. God's done something for you
that he doesn't do for everybody. You know, John speaks of doing the
truth and James speaks of being doers of the Word and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves. The Lord said, blessed is that
servant to whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find him so
doing." Somebody's thinking, uh-oh, I'm
not doing enough. Anybody thinking that? Uh-oh,
I'm not doing enough. Talks about doing. I need to
up my game. I need to do more. That naturally
comes to our mind when we read this verse of scripture, I need
to do more. I'm going to ask you to quit
thinking that way and listen to what God's word
says. I know you thought that because
I did soon as I read something like that, I need, I need to
do more of happy as he do with these things. What do I need
to do? Give me some help. How can I
do more? Stop it. Stop it. And listen, if you know. what the Bible says
about itself. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, literally God breathed. Every word inspired by God exactly
as he would have it said. If you know this, Oh, you're
so blessed of God. If you believe this, that's the
doing. If you believe this, God has
blessed you. You are a recipient of the divine
favor. If you know these things, blessed
are you. You know the Bible's God's Word,
and listen, it won't do you any good to say, I believe in the
Bible's the Word of God, not paying attention to what it says. If you believe the Bible is God's
Word, you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna listen to what
it says. This is the Word of God. Now, if you know what the Bible
says about God's character, Now the only way you're going
to know God and I'm going to know God is by what God tells
us in His Word. I can't know God's character.
I can make guesses and I can pretty much be sure that my guesses
are wrong. According to the Bible, God is
holy. You're blessed if you believe that. He's other. He's not like
anything in this created universe. He's altogether other. He's not
like me. He's not like you. He's not like
anything in this created universe. You can't say God's like this,
God's like that. No, He's not. He's other. Altogether sovereign. The first cause of everything. That's who God is. He's the cause
of causes. He's all powerful, He doesn't
like the power to do whatever it is He wills to do. He always
does exactly what He wills to do. That's who He is. Blessed
are you if you really believe that. God is absolutely just. Blessed are you if you really
believe that. You know, people think, why can't
God just forgive sin? Why does he have to have blood
sacrificed? Why does he have to? You know,
if somebody murdered your child and the judge said, well, I forgive
him, is there any justice in that? Is there any righteousness
in that? No, you'd say, that's an unjust
judge. He's more corrupt than the one who killed the kid. And
yet we'd want to attribute that to God. No, God's absolutely
just and blessed are you if you believe and rely on that. God is independent. He doesn't
need anything from you before he can act in your behalf. He's
utterly independent. He has no needs. This is who
he is. Blessed are you when you're relying on this one. God's gracious. He said, I will be gracious.
I will be merciful. All of his glorious attributes.
Blessed are you when you're relying on who he is. And you know what? When you're
relying on who he is, you're happy too, aren't you? All God requires of you, you
have. And that makes you happy. If
you know these things, Happy are you if you do them. Faith
is doing the truth. It's being a doer of the Word
of God. That's what faith is. If you know these things, happy
are you if you do them. If you know what the Bible says
about you. What's the Bible say about me?
Genesis 6, 5 said, God saw the wickedness of man. You're in
that group. I'm in that group. God saw the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. You're blessed if you really
believe that. You're blessed. You know, that's
a doing of the truth. Believing what God says about you. Do you
believe that about yourself? That every imagination of the
thoughts of your heart is only evil continually. And you think,
well, I might have some good thoughts. Believe what God's
word says. Believe what God says. If God
says this, it's so. And how blessed are you if you
believe what God says about you in Christ. Reckon yourselves
to be dead indeed to sin. Sin has no claims over you. Because of what Christ did, you're
holy. Unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight because of what Jesus Christ did. He took your
sin away. He gave you His righteousness
and you stand before God holy, unblameable, unreprovable. Blessed are you when you believe
that. God's favor is toward you. Colossians 2, 9 and 10 says,
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body and
you are complete. Lacking nothing. Perfect in Christ Jesus. Blessed
are you. when you rely on what God's Word
says that you are complete in Him. Romans 10 verse 4 says, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth Blessed
are you when you believe that Christ is the end of the law
for your righteousness. You're actually trusting His
righteousness as your own personal righteousness before God. Blessed
are you. 1 John 3, 23 says, this is His
commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus
Christ, and love one another as God gave His commandment.
Now I believe. And this is God's blessing on me. And it's God's
blessing on you if you believe. If you believe on the name of
His Son. Now His name is His attributes. It's the person behind the name.
And you believe that His name, who He is, is all that is needed
for you to enter heaven. Salvation for His name's sake. Now if you believe that, blessed
are you. And if you love the brethren,
everybody that loves Christ, you love. You might, they might
even get on your nerves. There might be things about their
personality you don't like. They may have even offended you
and hurt your feelings. But if they love Jesus Christ,
you love them. You can't help it. And if you
do, blessed, highly favored of God are you. You know you ought to come to
Christ. You've been favored of God when
you do. when you come to Him. Out of
my bondage, sorrow, and night, Jesus I come, Jesus I come. It's something done in the heart.
It's something you do right now. But blessed are you by God if
you come to Him. You know you ought to rest, don't
you? There remaineth a rest for the people of God, for he that's
entered into his rest hath ceased from his own works, as God did
from his. Aren't you blessed of God when
you cease from your own works and trust his only? You know you ought to forgive.
And you know you ought not hold a grudge. You're blessed when
you do forgive. And you don't hold that grudge. You know you ought to forgive
these things that are behind or forget the things that are
behind and reach forth to the things that are before. You're
blessed when you do it. That means God's favor is upon
you. You know you ought to take the
lowest seat. You're blessed when you take the lowest seat. That's
God's blessing on you. If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them. I know I ought to esteem my brother
as better than myself. Paul says, esteem the others
better than yourself. I know I ought to do it. Oh,
how blessed of God I am when I do do that. And I do esteem
you as better than me. What a blessing of His grace. I know I should endeavor to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I know I ought
to do that. Blessed am I when I do it. I know I should repent of dead
works. Scripture says to do that. Every work that comes from me
before God saved me is nothing but a dead work. I can't, and
I'm to repent. I'm to change my mind and not
look to my dead works. Oh, how blessed of God I am when
I do that. If you know these things, blessed
are you when you do them. Think of this, Romans 8, 28 says,
all things work together for good to them that know, love
God, to them that are called according to his purpose. Now,
you and I'm blessed. When I hear that, I don't worry. I'm not worried. Now, I like
to put that in a bottle and keep it in there all the time, but
the fact of the matter is when I really believe, that all things
are working together for my good and His glory. Whatever it is,
there's nothing to worry about. And I'm blessed when God gives
me the grace to believe that. Now that's what the Lord is saying.
If you know these things, blessed are you, highly blessed of God,
highly favored of God, if you do them. Like I said, the word
blessed is the word that's used with regard to the Beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Do you know if you have nothing
and you're poor, you're blessed of God. I'm talking about spiritually,
you know that. If you have nothing to recommend
you but Jesus Christ Himself, you're blessed of God. If you
mourn You're blessed of God. If you're
meek before God, whatever He does is right. You're blessed
of God. If you hunger and thirst after
righteousness because you know you don't have any, you're blessed
of God. If you're merciful, that's God's
blessing on you. If you're pure in heart, you
have that new heart. You're blessed of God. If you're
a peacemaker, you're blessed of God. If you're persecuted
for righteousness sake, you're blessed of God. Now this is the
emphasis. Because if you know these things,
happy are you if you do them. And we're thinking, well, here's
what I need to do. Quit thinking that way. If you know these things,
blessed are you. Blessed by God. Now I want us to turn to Matthew
chapter seven. This is a very familiar parable
that I think is a glorious commentary on this. Matthew chapter seven, verse 13. Here's a commandment, enter ye in at the straight gate. Wide is the gate, broad is the
way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in
there at because straight is the gate. And narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Here's a command. Enter. Don't stand outside. Don't think
this is probably something I ought to do. This is his command right
now. Enter this straight gate. And you know, there is an entrance
requirement. What is that? The only way you
can get through this narrow gate and walk on this narrow road
is if all you have is Jesus Christ. If you have anything else, you
can't get in. Now here's the command. Is all
you have Jesus Christ? Do you have anything else to
plead but Him? You can't get in. that if all
you have is Jesus Christ, here's God's command to you. Enter in. Don't wait for something to happen.
Don't wait to get better. Don't wait till you understand
more. Don't wait till your experience is better. Enter in right now. If all you have is Christ, come
and welcome. Enter in. at the straight gate. Don't wait. Don't wait. Enter in right now. Trust Jesus Christ to save you
personally. If he's all you got, you're called
upon to enter in. Now, if you've got something
else, You can't come in. You can't get through. But if
he's all you have, enter in right now, come and welcome to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he says in verse 14, straight
is the gate, narrow is the way which leads to life, and few
there be that find it. You know, not many enter in because
everybody that doesn't enter in has more than Jesus Christ.
only those who have nothing but Christ enter in. Now he says,
beware of false prophets, verse 15. First thing he says, beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now, I think it's very interesting
that the first thing he says is beware of false prophets.
You see, if you follow a false prophet, you will have the end
of that false prophet. If you believe the message that
that false prophet brings, you will be with him eternally in
hell. And the Lord gives this warning. Beware of false prophets. Verse 16 says, you should know
them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore,
by their fruit you shall know them." Does that mean I'm going
to expect your life or you're going to expect mine and see
how much fruit I'm bearing? How holy am I? How good am I? How righteous am I? How much
am I living up to what the Bible says? Is that what that means?
Well, I want to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I'm not discounting
that, but the fact of the matter is what the Lord means when he
talks about by their fruits, you shall know them, these false
prophets, by their converts, you shall know them. What do
you mean by that? Ask the people that listen to
what they believe. You'll find out what they preached. That's what that means. By their
fruits you shall know. What's Todd believe? Ask the
folks that listen to him preach. That's the only way that can
be accurately answered. You remember when they came up
to the Lord and asked him of his doctrine and said, why are
you asking me? Ask him that heard me. By their fruits you shall
know then. If the people listening to me
believe a false gospel, it's because that's the, that's what
I preached. If the people listening to what I'm saying, believe the
true gospel. That's because that's what I
preached by the fruit. You should know that now let's
go and read verse 21. Not, not everyone that sayeth
unto me, Lord, Lord, you notice the repetition of the word, Lord,
Lord. Speaking of familiarity, you know me. You know me, Lord,
Lord. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Now here
we have the same principle, doing. Not everyone that says, Lord,
Lord, is going to enter in, but he that doeth the will of my
Father, which is in heaven. Verse 22, many. You know, the
Lord has a lot to say about few and many, doesn't he? Few enter
in the straight gate. Many go the broad way. Many. There's a whole lot of people. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name? And in your name,
have we not cast out demons? And in your name, have we not
done many wonderful works? Now, we thought we did your will. Why? We preached in your name,
not in our own name. We cast out demons in your name.
There was much power behind what we said, much results. Why? In your name. Look at their estimation
of their works. Many and wonderful. You know the one thing they never
did? They never believed the gospel. That's the doing of his will. Believing the gospel. This is
the work of God that you believe. on him whom he hath sent. Do you know trusting Christ alone
is the hardest thing you're ever called on to do? To trust Christ
alone and nothing else? And you can't do it unless he
gives you the grace to. You're blessed if you do it. Oh, how
blessed you are. These people thought they had
the works, but they've never believed on Christ. That's the
doing of his will. believing on Christ. Verse 23, And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you, I never knew you. Depart from
me ye that work iniquity. Those wonderful works were nothing
but works of iniquity. Now here's what I wanted to get
to, and this is what we're going to close with. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I liken him unto a wise
man, which built his house on a rock, and the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house. And it fell not for it was founded
upon a rock and everyone that heareth these things of mine
and doeth them not shall be like unto a foolish man whose house
was built upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods
came and the winds blew and beat upon the house and it fell and
great was the fall of it. Now the Lord speaks of hearing
and doing Hearing and doing not. Now I hope it's clear that this
thing of hearing and doing is hearing the gospel and believing
the gospel. Hearing and doing not is hearing
the gospel and not believing the gospel. Now that man who
hears and does is likened to a man who built his house on
the foundation. Now that's the foundation God
laid, not the foundation he laid, the foundation God laid. The
other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which
is Christ Jesus the Lord. That's my foundation. It's something
he laid. I tell you what, if I laid it,
a crack will get in it. It'll have to be ripped up and
it won't do me any good. This is the foundation he laid.
This man dug deep. He got rid of a bunch of junk,
all of his works, his thoughts and wrong, everything else. And
he put his house, he built his house on the rock. Now the other
man, he built his house on the sand. He didn't build his house
on the rock God provided. And if you would have looked
at these two homes, it could be that the man who built his house on
the sand had a better looking house. You might have looked
at it and thought, that's more impressive looking. It's prettier.
He's put more time into it. And I guess that this guy did
look good. But we know the outcomes when
the rain came, when the storms came. When the flood came, the
one who heard and did, his house stood. What did he do? My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name, on Christ. The solid rock
I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. That's the man
who heard these things and did them. He looked to Christ only. Now that other fella, he heard
that, but it was not that important. As long as I got a good looking
house, my house looks as good as his, maybe better. What happened
when the floods came and the rain came down and the storms
came to him? His house was destroyed and great
was the fall of it. Now the difference is in the
word do. He that heareth these sayings
of mine and doeth them, blessed of God is he. He that heareth
these sayings of mine and does them not, under God's curse. May God give everyone in this
room the grace to hear and to do, to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. What must I do? He asked that question, didn't
he? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that we might be of that number of whom know these
things and are blessed of God to do them. Lord, don't let us
have an empty, dead faith. But Lord, enable each one of
us to personally rely upon Jesus Christ as our all, our only foundation. Lord, give us the grace to see
that he is all we have and give us the grace to glory in that.
Bless this message for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.