Would you open your Bibles to
Hebrews chapter 13? Verse 17. Obey them. that have the rule over you,
and submit yourselves. For they watch for your souls
as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Obey them that have the rule
over you. Now, I got the rule over you. I'm the pastor, and you need
to submit to what I say. When I say it, you need to do
it. No questions asked. I've got authority. I'm a pastor,
and you need to do what I submit. You bristle at that, don't you?
I'd have a hard time with that. Somebody says that to me. I don't
even want to think about what I'd probably say to them. I wouldn't
like it. Obey them that have the rule
over you. The word obey is the same word
that we just read in Romans chapter four, where Abraham was fully
persuaded. Be persuaded. Be persuaded by what they say. That's not so much hunkering
down with whatever they say, do it. No, that's not what they're
saying at all. Be persuaded by them that are your guides that
point you to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what that having a rule
means. They're your guides. Be persuaded
by what they say in pointing you to Christ, and you submit
yourselves to what they're saying. Now, this thing of submission
is not forced. The only way you'll submit is
if you want to submit. That's the only way you'll submit.
You find it in your best interests to do so. You see it's the right
thing to do. When you wives submit yourselves
to your husbands, it's not because that you're afraid what will
happen if you don't and you're afraid they'll punish you or
something. No, you do it for Christ's sake, because it's what
he tells you to do. And you do it because you want
to do it, not because you're forced to do it, but because
you want to. Now, among other things, preaching
is persuading. Preaching is persuading when
I preach, I am persuading you. Turn to Acts, Chapter 17. Verse
1, Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And
Paul, as his manner was, went in unto And three days, Sabbath
days, reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and
alleging that Christ must need to have suffered, and risen again
from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you
is Christ. And some of them, see that word
believed? It's the word persuaded. Some of them were persuaded.
They were persuaded that Jesus was the Christ from Paul's preaching. They were persuaded. They were
convinced. Look in Acts chapter 28. So you
see that a part of preaching is persuading. Verse 23. And when they had appointed him
a day, there came many to him in his lodging, Acts 28, 23,
to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God persuading
them. concerning Jesus, both out of
the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening,
and some were persuaded. That word believed is the same
word that's translated persuaded. Some were persuaded by the things
which were spoken, and some weren't persuaded. Some believed and
some did not believe. Now, when I preach, I am persuading
you to believe. I'm persuading you to rest in
the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm wanting to win you over by
the grace of God. I'm persuading you to not love this world. I'm persuading
you to be like Mary and choose that better part than Martha
did and sit at his feet and hear his word. I'm persuading you
to give yourself Lock, stock, and barrel to the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm persuading you, and I hope
I'm persuading myself, too. This is not just me speaking
down. I'm persuading myself to present
my body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable under God, which is
our reasonable service. I'm persuading you to believe.
Now, if I'm not persuading, I'm really not preaching. It's not
just a presentation of the facts and just leave it alone. And
I said, no, I want you to believe what I'm saying. I want you to
follow me as I follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That is always
involved in true preaching. Now, the basis of my appeal is
the scriptures. Turn to Luke chapter 16. What I'm persuading you of is
what God's word says. Luke chapter 16. And this is that man in hell.
He says in verse 27, then he said, I pray thee therefore,
father, that thou would send him Lazarus to my father's house.
For I have five brethren that he may testify unto them that
lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham said
unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham,
but if one went to them from the dead, they'd repent. And
he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded. The one rose from the dead. You see, the authority behind
this persuasion is the word of God. Now, he says, Submit, surrender
to what they say, because you've been persuaded. by what they
say. And then next he says regarding
the pastor, he says, they watch for your souls. Turn back to
Hebrews chapter 13. I'd like you to look at this. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls
as they that must give account. that they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. They
watch for your souls and they give an account to the one whom
they are called upon to be faithful toward. In other words, I, if
God has called me the pastor, what I do is I give an account
of you to the Lord himself when I pray for you. Now, what does
that mean? That doesn't mean you're accountable to me. It
really doesn't mean that. But it does mean this. When I
give an account of you, do I do so with joy or with grief? That's what he says. Make sure
that they give an account of you with joy and not with grief. Oh, the joy of someone who's
faithful. I can't even describe to you
What a blessing it is to me to see people who are faithful,
who are here when the gospel is preached. That is such an
encouragement to me. People who are gracious and merciful
and just you give an account with joy. You're so thankful
for these people. And that's the way you give an
account with joy. I'm looking at some people who
I give an account with joy. I thank God for you. And then
there are people who say, don't make sure you don't make it to
where they got to. be grieved in their giving an account of
this individual. And there's that can certainly
be the case where somebody's unfaithfulness, their lack, their
coldness. I'll tell you what, listen, this
gets kind of personal, but I like what Henry Mahan said. He said
truth. He said liberty is relative.
Truth is eternal. And he said, I lose my liberty
the way somebody looks at me. And I thought, well, that's happening.
I don't know how many times you can just chill your spirit the
way somebody's looking at you, somebody in indifference or not
a polite listener, just they'd rather be anywhere. You know
what I'm saying? So, yo, if you're not listening,
act like you are. Make it to where the pastor gives
an account of you with joy and not with grief. That is so very
important. This is profitable for you. This
is for your benefit. And you submit to their gospel
having been persuaded. Now, I've entitled this message
Persuasion and Submission. Persuasion and submission. I
think of what Paul said, I know whom I have believed and I'm
persuaded. I'm convinced. I believe this. I'm won over. I'm persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. Are you persuaded of that? Are
you persuaded that Jesus Christ, the Lord, is able to save you? Paul said that he was persuaded
that nothing could separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Are you persuaded? Are you convinced
of that? In Romans 14, 5, Paul said with
regard to divine truth, let every man be fully persuaded in his
own mind. You'd be fully persuaded, having
been persuaded by the preaching of the word that it's true. It's
what the scripture teaches and you're fully persuaded. And if you're fully, fully persuaded,
what you're going to do is you will submit to what is said. You'll willingly submit to what
is said. You'll surrender to what is said
in spite of the opposition of the flesh. Now, this Phrase fully
persuaded is used one other time in the scriptures. And we just
read it in Romans chapter four. It was said of Abraham that he
was fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able
also to perform. Now, I want to be just like him,
don't you? I don't want to be weak in faith. I want to be strong
in faith, giving glory to God. being fully persuaded. I love that language being fully
persuaded, utterly convinced that what God has promised he
was able also to perform. So turn back to Romans chapter
four. I want to I want to persuade myself and I want to persuade
you tonight. Right now. to be just like Abraham. Wouldn't that be a blessing if
you were persuaded to be just like Abraham in the sense of
his faith, not being weak in faith, but being strong in faith,
giving glory to God. Now, in Romans chapter 4, Paul
says, What shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as
pertaining to the flesh, What about Abraham? Abraham, now listen to these
names given to Abraham. Abraham's called the father of
the faithful. That's a high title, isn't it?
He's called the friend of God. Would you like to be called the
friend of God? Where God looks at you and says, he's my friend. She's my friend. Now, every believer
is a friend of God. in the gospel, but I want to
enter into just like Abraham being this friend of God. Abraham was a very special man. Hold your finger there in Romans
chapter 4 and turn to Genesis chapter 18. I want you to see
what the Lord Jesus says of Abraham. Verse 17. Now, you'll remember that the
Lord was getting ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah at this time.
And that's where a lot was. And the Lord said in verse 17
of Genesis chapter 18, shall I hide from Abraham that thing
which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and
a mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
in him, for I know him. that he will command his children
and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the
Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which he had spoken of him. Now look how God speaks
of Abraham. Now you know that what he's talking
about When he talks about, he'll command his children to keep
the way he's talking about his spiritual children. He's not
talking about the twelve patriarchs so much because if you read what
he said about those fellows, those a lot of men, those guys,
they were bad people, weren't they? I mean, you think of the
things they did. This is talking about his spiritual
children, me and you believers. Now, what a high commendation
of this man. Well, what about Abraham? It's
my prayer that through this scripture, you and I will be fully persuaded,
just like Abraham. Turn back to Romans 4. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, is pertaining to the flesh hath found? Verse 2.
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to
glory, but not before God. Now what does this word justified
mean? If Abraham were justified by
works. Now if you're justified, what
does that mean in our language? In a court of law, if you're
justified, what does that mean? That means you're not guilty.
It means you didn't do it. It means you stand before the
law without guilt. Now if Abraham were justified
by works, What does the Bible mean by works? Works are anything
that you do that causes salvation. Take that as far as you want.
Works are anything that you do that causes salvation. You may
think you can be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. I hope
nobody in here believes that, but I suppose maybe Some do somewhere. That's works, obviously. But
if you believe that the faith you have is because of some decision
you made as an act of your free will, and that's what you, that's
how you got that faith. You believe in salvation by works
just as much as you if somebody that believes they're saved by
keeping the Ten Commandments. If salvation in any way is dependent
upon anything you do, that is works. And that's all it is.
Now, if Abraham were justified by works, he'd have something
to glory. In other words, what God was
doing for him was not a gift of grace. He could take credit.
That's exactly what that means. He could take credit. At least
I did this. So and so didn't and I did this. Therefore, that's
why I'm saved. He would glory before God. Oh,
if salvation is 99.99% grace and 0.1% works, it's all of works,
every bit of it. Now, if Abraham were justified
by works, he'd have something that he could glory in, but not
before God. For what saith the scripture? Here is our only appeal. What
sayeth the scripture, Abraham believed God and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. And this is a quotation from
Genesis chapter 15, verse six, Abraham. He didn't have any kids. Sarah has already gone through
menopause. He is an old man. It was impossible
for him to have children. is impossible. It was humanly
impossible. Someone who's already gone through
menopause and an old man ain't gonna happen. But God said, Abraham,
you look up at the stars and you see if you can count them.
So shall thy seed be. All the nations of the earth
are going to be blessed through what I'm going to do for you.
You're going to have many descendants. Now, what did Abraham do? He
believed God. He believed what God said. That's what faith is. It's believing
what God has said. It's not believing in God. The
devil believes in God. It's believing what God has said
in his word. What says the scripture? Abraham
believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now, to him that worketh is the
reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. Now, if any part
of justification is God responding to what we do, it means that
God is indebted to us. He's paying us what he owes us. Does God owe you anything? Do you believe for a second that
God owes you anything and that He has to respond to you and
pay you something for what you've done? Now, if I believe in salvation
by works in any way, I make God my debtor. That's what I'm doing. I'm saying God owes me salvation. Now, to Him that worketh is the
reward, the heavenly inheritance, not reckoned of grace, but of
debt, verse 5, but to him that worketh not, worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." He really
believes that salvation is not by works. He doesn't look to
himself in any way to any degree as the reason for justification,
he believes on him who justifies the ungodly. Now, here's faith. I'm ungodly. That would describe me. I'm ungodly. I'm sinful. I'm unlike God. I can't save myself. I can't
do anything to save myself. I really can't. I'm ungodly. That is me. I believe on Him who justifies
the ungodly. He does that by His grace. Romans 3, 24 says, being justified
freely, without a cause in me. Being justified freely. by His grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. Now, here is everything I believe. I believe on Him who justifies
the ungodly. Now, to that one who believes
that, do you? Do you believe on Him who justifies, who clears
of all guilt, who makes the guilty not guilty? Which says that person's faith
is counted for righteousness. Now, what's that mean? Look back
in Romans chapter three, verse twenty two. Verse twenty one, but now the
righteousness of God. Not human righteousness, but
the righteousness of God without the law, without something that
I do. is manifested, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. This is what the Old Testament
scriptures have always taught. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe. That is who has this blessed
privilege. And to that person who works
not, I'll tell you what, I'm not working. And the reason I'm not working
is because I know that I can't do anything. There's no work
that I could do that could merit God's favor and acceptance. I
believe that. I am completely reliant. This is what I'm relying on right
now. I'm relying on Him who justifies the ungodly. Now, that person's
faith is counted for righteousness. And here's what all this means,
verse 6. of Romans chapter 4, even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. What a state of blessedness
to have God. Not me, this is God doing this.
God taking the righteousness of his son and charging it to
you and not charging you with your sin. Do you find that attractive? To not have your sin charged
to you. I never will forget, you have
already heard this before, but you'll hear it again, I never
will forget. laying in a hospital bed thinking I was going to die.
And I tried to figure out, am I really saved? Do I really know
the Lord? I mean, I really did believe
I was going to be standing before God in judgment within 24 hours,
but actually a couple hours. And I started looking for something
in me to give me some assurance that I'd be in heaven when I
died. And you know what? I couldn't find one thing about
me to make me think I was saved. I was a preacher at this time.
But I couldn't find one thing about me. I looked within and
all I saw was evil. And I remember at that time,
even in my hospital bed, I started shaking, crying, thinking, I'm
going to hell. I'm going to be in hell. There's
no hope for me. And the Lord brought this scripture
to my memory. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. Everything I thought about myself
was true, and even worse, but here's my hope. God didn't charge
me with it. He didn't charge me with it.
He charged it to His Son, and He took His Son's righteousness
and gave it to me. And that is my hope. of being
accepted by a holy God. Indeed, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. Blessed are they whose sins are
covered in the blood of God's dear Son. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then,
upon the circumcision only, just people who have gone through
circumcision, just the Jews, or upon the uncircumcision also? Is this for Gentiles as well?
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision?
No! Circumcision didn't come around
the dunes of chapter 17. When faith was reckoned to him
for righteousness was when he believed God. It had nothing
to do with a religious ritual. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal, that's all it was, a sign and a seal of the righteousness
of the faith. which he had been yet uncircumcised. And what faith was that? He believed
on him that justifies the ungodly. That's his faith. He believed
on him that justifies the ungodly. I do too. I'm right with him. That's exactly what I believe. That's exactly who I'm relying
on. and what I'm relying on, the
fact that he justifies the ungodly. Verse 11, he received the sign
of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith, believing
that God justified the ungodly, which he had yet being uncircumcised,
that he might be the father of all them that believe, though
they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
to them also. and to father a circumcision
to them who are not of the circumcision only, but also who walk in the
steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet
uncircumcised for the promise that he should be heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law. God
didn't say, I'm going to make you the heir of the world if
you obey me and if you obey my laws. He just said, I'm going
to do it. And Abraham believed what God
said. Abraham believed God. For the promise that he should
be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through
the law, but through the righteousness of faith. You see, Abraham was
just like Noah. God said regarding Noah, thee
have I seen as righteous before me. That's exactly how Abraham
was seen. He was righteous before God. And if you're a believer, if
Christ died for you, if you believe the gospel right now, you are
righteous before God. When God looks at you, he can't
see anything but that which he is pleased with. That's the gospel. righteous
before God. Verse 14. For they which are
of the law will be heirs. If you're given this inheritance
because of your personal obedience, faith is meaningless and the
promises of God are meaningless because the law, verse 15, works
wrath. That's all it does. It exposes
sin and brings the wrath of God, for where no law is, there's
no transgression. Therefore, it is a faith, this
salvation, this acceptance with God, it is a faith that it might
be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure. Now, the
only way the promise is sure is if it's all of grace. Now,
if anything is dependent upon your works, it's not sure. As
a matter of fact, it's doomed for failure. You can just write
it down. If any part of salvation is dependent upon you, you will
be in hell. I will be in hell. You just write
that down. It's a faith that it might be by grace, the unmerited
favor of God wherein he justifies the ungodly. Therefore, it's
a faith that it might be grace to the end of the promise by
be sure to all the seed. Not to that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. As it's written, verse 17, as
it's written, I have made thee a father of many nations. Now, when God said, I have made
thee a father of many nations, Isaac had not yet been born. But yet God said, I have made
thee, not I will make you. He said, I have made thee a father
of many nations. And he's the father of all who
believe, whether Jew or Gentile, he believed in God and he believed
that he was a father even before it took place because God said
it. He believed in the supremacy of what God said. As it's written,
I've made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed,
even God, who quickens the dead, and calleth those things which
be not as though they were. Now, Sarah's womb was dead, and
Abraham was an old man, and he didn't have any children, yet
God says to him, I've made you a father. of many nations. And Abraham believed what God
said, verse 18, who against hope believed in hope that he might
become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken,
so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body. Now dead, when he was about 100
years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. Now, I can see
him thinking that, can't you? If you think of a 100-year-old
person, you're going to have a baby. Really? He didn't think about
that. He didn't think about the fact
that Sarah had already gone through menopause, and there was no way
she could bring life. He simply believed what God said. That's faith. He staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised, he was able also to perform. Are you fully persuaded? Are you fully persuaded that
God, the God of glory, is able to make you holy before Him? Are you persuaded that God is
able to make you righteous before Him, so that you have no sin? Are you persuaded of that? Abraham
was being fully persuaded that what God had promised he was
able also to perform, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now, it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also. On June the 12th, 2011. This is written for us also. To whom it shall be imputed if
we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification. I believe. That's what I believe. You want to know what I believe?
I believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Do you believe that God raised Him from the dead? Do you believe
that Jesus Christ actually died and was raised from the dead?
And do you understand why He died? He was delivered for our
offenses. Our sin, my sin became His sin. He was delivered for our offenses.
But He was raised again for our justification because He accomplished
what it was the Father gave Him to do. He actually saved everybody
He died for. He justified them. When He was
raised from the dead, all of God's elect were justified. I'm not waiting for justification.
I was justified when Christ was raised from the dead. Isn't that
wonderful? Do you believe that? Have you been persuaded? Then submit to this, though your
flesh objects. Right now, I have no sin. Submit to this. Romans, chapter
six, verse 11, says, likewise, wrecking you also yourselves
to be dead, indeed, unto sin. Reckon that about yourself right
now. Sin has nothing to say to you. You're dead to sin. You're
justified before God. You have. Submit yourself. Believe this. I know your flesh
objects. Forget your flesh. Believe this. This is the truth. You stand before God right now
without guilt. And what a wonderful effect that
has on people if they really believe it. Let's go on reading. Chapter five. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that the tribulation works patience
and patience, experience and experience, hope and hope maketh
not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Now, you can know positively
whether or not Jesus Christ died for you. You interested in knowing
whether or not he actually died for you? He didn't die for everybody.
And a man is a wicked man who would say he died for everybody,
and they're going to end up in hell anyway. That just totally
negates what his death means. Now, you can know, though, he
didn't die for everybody, but he did die for some. You can
know whether or not he died for you. Do you fit this description? Without strength and ungodly. Do you fit that description?
Beloved, if you fit that description, Jesus Christ died for you. Are you persuaded? Are you persuaded of the gospel?
Then submit to what the gospel says and believe
that you are without fault before the throne of God. Let's pray.