Would you turn back to Luke,
the seventh chapter, I'm sorry, the sixth chapter. I'd like to read verses 27 through
38 of Luke, chapter six. I've entitled this message. A
higher calling. a higher calling. Let's begin reading in verse
27. But I say unto you which hear,
love your enemies. Do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you. and pray for them which despitefully
use you. And unto him that smiteth thee
on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that taketh
away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh
of thee And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not
again. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if you love them
which love you, what thank hath ye? For sinners also love those
that love them. And if you do good, To them which
do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even
the same. And if you lend to them of whom
you hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend
to sinners to receive as much as again. But love ye your enemies,
and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again. and your reward
shall be great, and you shall be the children of the highest,
for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you
shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not
be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down and
shaken together and running over, shall then be given to your bosom.
For with the same measure that you meet with all, it shall be
measured to you again. a higher calling. And did you notice in that verse
I read at the opening of this service where the Lord said,
What do ye more than others? What do ye more than others? The fact of the matter is If
I am a believer, if I have been saved by His grace, if I have
been born from above, if I have been made to differ, I ought
to do more than others. Isn't that so? To whom much has been given,
much is required. Now look at verse 32 again of
Luke chapter 6. For if you love them that love
you, what thank have ye. Now that word thank is the word
that's generally translated grace. What the Lord is saying is Because
if all you do is love those people who love you, where's their grace
in that? Lost people do that. Unbelievers
do that. The heathen do that. Grace is a higher calling. This calling, now listen to me
real carefully, this calling is to be like God. Look what he says in verse 36,
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Be like Him. Now, grace is much more than
a doctrine that we stand for. Now, don't anybody take for granted
that we don't stand for grace, because we do. Salvation is of
the Lord. And somebody that doesn't believe
grace, and I'm talking about sovereign grace. I'm talking
about that grace that exalts the electing love of the Father
and the redeeming work of the Son and the regenerating work
of the Holy Spirit. Sovereign grace, saving grace.
Somebody doesn't preach that, and I'm going to preach it clearly,
does not preach the gospel. You cannot mess around with this. We stand
for The grace of God. And I'll tell you what, sovereign
grace is the only kind of grace that saved this sinner. The only
hope I had is that God would choose me. The only hope I had
is that Christ would die for me and put away my sins. The
only hope I had is that God the Holy Spirit would indensibly,
irresistibly call me and bring me into the kingdom. The only
hope I have that I'll persevere is if He preserves me. Grace
is utterly necessary to me. So when I say that grace is more
than a doctrine, I'm not in any way taking away from the importance
of the doctrine of grace. That being said, grace is much
more than a doctrine. Let me show you that. Turn to
2 Corinthians chapter 8. You see, believing grace makes gracious
the ones who believe grace. And that the grace I believe
has not made me a gracious individual. I don't really believe the grace
I say I believe. Now, that's just so. Look in
2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1. Paul says, moreover, brethren,
we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches
of Macedonia. I want you to know about the
grace of God bestowed upon these people. They were solid as a
dollar. Not that that's very solid. I
guess I shouldn't say that. They were they were they were
strong five pointers. He doesn't say anything about
that, does he? Look what he says. I want you to know about the
grace of God bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia, how that
in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality,
their generosity. When he wants to talk about the
grace of God bestowed upon these people, he didn't talk about
their doctrinal soundness, although indeed they were doctrinally
sound. He talked about their liberality, their generosity,
what the Lord had done for them. Now, turn back to our text in
Luke chapter six. A higher calling. Verse 27. But I say unto you, Which here. And who's he speaking
to? Those who hear. Now, here's the first part of
this higher calling. It's a calling to hear. It's a calling. To hear. How many times did the Lord say
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Not everybody has ears
to hear. In John chapter 8, verse 47,
he said, He that is of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear
them not, because you are not of God. Look in Luke chapter
8, verse 8. The last phrase of verse
eight, he gives that statement. He that hath ears to hear, not
everybody does. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, what, what might
this parable be? And he said, unto you, it's given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others
in parables that seeing, they might not see and hearing, they
might not understand. You see, not everybody has these
hearing ears. Look in Luke chapter 10. Verse
17. And the 70 returned again with
joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power
to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you, notwithstanding.
In this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you.
They were feeling real good about this. Look at the way the Lord
is using us. But rather rejoice, because your names are written
in heaven. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that you hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
has revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knows who the Son is but the Father,
and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whomsoever the
Son will reveal him. And he turned unto his disciples
and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. For I tell you that many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and
have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear,
and have not heard them." Now, I'm not sure, beginning right
here, I'm not sure that any of us realize how privileged we
are to hear the gospel. Do you realize the great majority
of the population of this world has never heard the things that
you've heard. God's passed them by, and you
and I have been given the privilege of hearing the gospel. And what about the privilege
of having a desire to hear the gospel? Their people have heard
the gospel, but they can take it or leave it. They might show
up every now and then, but it's not life to them. It's not bread
to them. It's not food to them. They can
take it or leave it. If you have a desire to hear
the gospel, do you desire to hear God's Word? Where did that
desire come from? How blessed you are. And what
a blessing to have some measure of understanding what we hear.
What a high calling it is simply to hear, to be a Hearer of the
Word. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. To hear the Gospel has good news. Not just news, but good news. Listen to this Scripture. Paul
said, We preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, the religious
fellows. This is a stumbling block. To
the Greeks, the intellectual fellows. It's foolishness. But
unto them which are called. Not everybody's called. But unto
them which are thee called, Christ, the power of God, and Christ,
the wisdom of God." Isn't it a high calling to be allowed
to hear the gospel? To have the desire to hear the
gospel and to have some understanding of what you're hearing. That's
all the gift of God's grace. I want to be a hearer, don't
you? Let every man be swift. to hear and slow to speak. Now look at what we're called
upon to do. Now we're called upon to hear. Now look what he
says in Luke chapter 6. Verse 27, I say unto you which
hear, love your enemies. Do good. to them which hate you,
bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you. And unto him that smiteth thee
on the one cheek, offer also the other. And unto him that
taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give
to every man that asked of thee, and of him that takes away thy
goods, ask them not again. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Now, is this literal?
Yes. Yes. Now, this is a high calling,
isn't it? This is what our Lord calls every
one of us to do and to be. Now, I mean, it's a high calling. You think, how in the world can
I go about doing this? Well, here's the first thing
I want to think about when I look at this passage of scripture. The Lord's not
calling us to do anything that he hasn't already done himself. He exemplified this with me. He loves his enemies. We were by
nature enemies, enemies of the Lord. And He loved us anyway. Do good to them which hate you.
This is such a sad commentary on us, but by nature, I've actually
been guilty of hating the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that sad?
And He did good to me. Oh, He did good to me. He's so merciful to me. I cursed
Him, and He blessed me. He blessed me with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He gave me all
spiritual blessings and all temporal blessings. He prayed for me. He prays for me. He said regarding
those who were crucifying him and everybody he prayed for,
the Lord heard him. He said, Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. He said in John 17, 9, I pray for them.
He's talking about all of his people. I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which you have given me. He turned
his other cheek instead of smiting me in return. And he gave me
his coat. He gave me his righteousness
and clothed me in it. I asked and he gave. I asked
him for mercy. He didn't turn me away. I asked
him for grace. He gave. I asked for acceptance. He gave
it to me. Everything I've asked for, he's
given me. He fulfilled all this. He didn't
treat others according to how they treated him. But he did
this, and this is our rule of life when he says do unto others
as you would have them to do unto you. And he calls us to
do as he did. Now, when our Lord did these
things, for instance, this is a wonderful thing to think about.
When the Lord took his garments off and girded himself with that
towel and got down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples,
we look at it and think, what an act of condescension. that
the Lord would wash my feet. What an act of condescension.
But do you know when he did it? He didn't consider it an act
of condescension. He didn't. He did it because
he loved these people. It wasn't a stoop for him. Now, when we look at it, he sings
as a stoop, but he didn't think of it that way. Now, when I'm
called upon to do these things, I'm to do it without seeing it
as grievous. It's a blessing, it's a privilege
to not only am I called upon to do what he did, I'm called
upon to do it as he did it. Now, here's another thing to
remember, he's talking about how we treat people who mistreat
us, how we're to treat them. That's what all this passage
is about. Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,
pray for them that despitefully use you and abuse you. Love your
enemies. Remember this, all these enemies
he's speaking of, who's the first cause behind them? Every single thing. I love to
think of when Shemai was cursing David. He was saying, you're
a bloody man. He was cursing him and cursing
him. And David was coming back and Joab said, you want me to
go take his head off? And David said, no. The Lord said to him,
curse David. That's why he's doing it. These
enemies, these difficult situations you have, the Lord's placed them
there. And they're for your good and
for his glory. Somebody thinks, well, what if
I need that coat I'm called upon to give? What if it's the only
coat I got? I mean, if somebody asked for me for my coat, I'm
going to give them my cloak also. What if I need that stuff? Can you lose by obeying Christ? Is there any way you can be the
loser by obeying Christ? I guarantee you, if you give
everything you have, you'll be a whole lot better off for it.
And so will I. I mean, we can't lose by obeying
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the call we're called
to. Look what it says in verse 31. And as you would that men
should do to you, do you also to them likewise. Turn to Matthew
chapter 7 for a moment when our Lord said this at another time.
Matthew chapter 7. Verse 12. Therefore, all things whatsoever
you would that men should do to you, how you want them to
treat you, do he even so to them, even if they don't treat you
that way? Do he so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. That's the emphasis our Lord
puts on this. He says this is the law and the prophets. Now back to our text, let's look
at the reward of this higher calling. Verse 32. For if you love them
which love you. What thing have you? Where's
their grace in that? For sinners also love those that
love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you,
I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine. What thing have
you? Where's their grace in that?
For sinners also do even the same. And if you lend them of
whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? Where's their
grace in that? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as
much again. But love your enemies. And do good. And lend hoping
for nothing again. And your reward shall be great
And you should be the children of the highest, for he is kind
unto the unthankful and to the evil. Oh, great shall be your
reward. Now, the Lord said, I am thy shield and thy exceeding
great reward. That's your reward. And the glorious
thing about this reward He said, great shall be your reward in
heaven. It's a reward of grace. It's a reward of free grace.
It's not paying you back for services rendered. It's the reward
of free and sovereign grace. That's why it can't be enhanced,
this reward. It can't get any better than
it is. This reward is being saved by His grace. This reward is
being clothed in His righteousness. This reward is being perfectly
conformed to the image of His Son. And you can't earn a higher
reward than that. I hate that doctrine that says
you can do something that will make you a higher place in heaven.
That's blasphemous. Would you add what you did to
what He's done and somehow that improves it? Why, that's ridiculous,
isn't it? Great, great shall be your reward
in heaven. What can you add to being justified
sanctified and glorified and conformed to the image of his
Son. Great shall be your reward in
heaven. You'll be children of the highest.
You see, this is how God's people are. He said you'll be children of
the highest. This isn't something to strive to attain. This is
how God's children are. Now, look what he says in verse
36. Be ye therefore merciful, be ye therefore merciful, even
as your Father also is merciful. Now I love the first time that
this word merciful is used in the scripture. If you want to
understand what the Bible means by being merciful, how God's
merciful, how we're to be merciful, turn to Genesis chapter 9 and
10. And this is where the angels
have told Lot to flee out of Sodom. Verse 15. Genesis 19, verse 15, And when
the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise,
take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here, lest thou be
consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, God said, Get out of here. The
fire's going to come down, and there's something in Lot that
made him want to stay. He looked at the things of Sodom,
and he didn't want to leave. He lingered. He was troubled
at the thought of leaving this city. He lingered. And while
he lingered, The men laid hold upon his hand, upon the hand
of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord
being merciful unto him. Now, that's the mercy of God.
I mean, you can see where those fellows would have said, all
right, stay here. Stay here. If that's what you want, stay
here. But, oh, the mercy of the Lord. He grabbed him by the hand
and he yanked him out, the Lord being merciful. Now, that's what
God's mercy is. God's mercy is what He's done for you in spite
of you. You know that so, don't you? Now, you be merciful likewise. How can you not be merciful toward
somebody when you see the mercy of God toward you? Be ye merciful
therefore, even as your Father which is in heaven is merciful. Verse 37. Here is the law of
this higher calling. Now, this higher calling is It's
to be like the Lord, it's to be merciful, it's to love your
enemies, it's to do good, to lend, hoping for nothing in return,
all these things. Is he saying for us to do this
literally? Yes, he is. Yes, he is. This is a higher
calling, isn't it? It's far above anything this
world can understand. It's far above anything this
world can lay hold of. But this is the higher calling
that every believer is called to. And here are the laws of
this higher calling. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not
be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto you.
Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over,
shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that
you meet, with all it shall be measured to you again." Now that
passage of scripture tells me that the Lord is going to measure
out my blessings in the basket I bring. If I bring a small basket,
I'm going to get small blessing. If I bring a big basket, I'm
going to get big blessing. With the same measure you measure
out, it will be measured to you again. And the first thing he
talks about is judge not. Judge not. Now, you and I know
that there are some things we have to judge in. You got to
judge and see if what I'm saying is according to scripture. Why
do you listen to me? You're not just supposed to swallow it hook,
line and sinker. You're to be like the noble Bereans
to search the scriptures daily whether these things be so. You're
to judge what you hear. Try the spirits, whether they're
of God. You're supposed to test the spirits
in that sense, the preacher. You're not just to swallow everything.
You've got to judge. You know, when the Lord said
in Matthew 7, judge not, the next thing he said is, cast not
your pearl before swine. You have to make a judgment concerning
swine, who you're to not cast your pearls to. I mean, there's
some things we have to judge it. You know, the Lord said judge
righteous judgment. Now, you all know that this is
not saying don't judge at all, because, you know, if somebody
preaches a false gospel and you say that's a false gospel, so
it says judge not, blow me. You're supposed to judge that.
That's wrong. That's evil. If somebody's preaching a false
gospel, you're supposed to judge that. And you're being, you're
not being faithful to the Lord if you don't. What's he saying, judge not? You do something, and I say,
I wouldn't have done that. Even if what you did was wrong,
and you do something that is wrong, I know it's wrong. It's
forbidden in the scriptures. And I look at you and I think, I
wouldn't have done that. What's wrong with him? What's wrong with him? That's
judging. Judging is looking down your
nose in moral superiority at somebody else. It's a critical
and a harsh spirit. Judge not. You see, there's some
judgments we'd better not make. Look what the Lord says down
in verse 41 of this same passage of scripture. He said, why beholdest thou the
moat, the little speck that's in thy brother's eye, but you
perceive not the beam, the log that's in thine own eye? Either
how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the
mote that's in thine eye, when thou thyself, behold, is not
the beam that's in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out
first the beam of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly
pull out the mote in thy brother's eye. Judge not. And you won't be judged. I don't
want to be judged, do you? I don't want to be judged. Well,
then judge not. If you judge not, you won't be judged. Let
me tell you some things about judging. Anytime I judge you,
I'm being a remarkable hypocrite. Romans 2, 1 says, Thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou that judges, for you that judge do the same
things. So anything I judge you for,
I do the same things and worse. And I'm being such a hypocrite
when I do that. Now, this is the law of this
kingdom. Judge not and you shall not be judged. When I judge,
I'm making a judgment when I don't even know the facts. I'm not
able to judge. I don't know what you're going through. I don't
know what precipitated that. I don't know what's behind it.
I don't know the facts. And when I render judgment on
you, all of a sudden, I pretend to know what I don't really know.
You and I aren't even capable of making a judgment. That's
why Paul said, Judge nothing before the time till with the
Lord will come who will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness. Then shall every man have the praise of God. But until
then, I don't know the facts. I'm incapable of making a judge.
Here's the third problem with judging. If I judge, I'm taking
the position that only belongs to God. There's one lawgiver. There's one judge. I'm not. I'm
arrogating to myself a position that belongs to God only. And
if I judge you, I'm sticking my nose in business, I don't
have any business doing. You see, who art thou to judge
as another man's servant to his own mastery stands or falls?
I do. I'm sticking my nose in a place
I shouldn't be doing. So judge not, and you won't be
judged. Enter not into judgment with
thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
Now the next thing he says is, condemn not, and you won't be condemned. Now
this has to do with law, bringing others to law. If you bring somebody
to the law, you're going to be brought to the law. Now that's
a promise from God. Condemn not, and you won't be
condemned. I don't want to be brought to
the law, do you? I want to be found in Christ. I want to be
in grace. I don't want to be brought to
the law. He says, now, condemn not, and you won't be condemned. And thirdly, he says in verse
37, forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Do you want to have
your sins forgiven? My soul, I do. I want them all
to be washed away. I want them to be blotted out.
I want all my sins to be forgiven. He says, now, you forgive, And
you'll be forgiven. Now, you know as well as I do.
But that doesn't mean you'll be forgiven because you forgave.
If you're forgiven, it's because Christ died for your sins. That's
why you're forgiven. You're not forgiven because you
asked for it. You're not forgiven because you cried for it and
begged for it. You're not forgiven because you forgive somebody
else. You're forgiven because Christ died for your sins. That's
so. It's also so that if you don't
forgive, God won't forgive you. He said that. He said, if you
forgive not your brother their trespasses, neither will your
heavenly father forgive you your trespasses. Forgive if you forgive
the way he forgives. I know it's impossible for us
to completely forgive the way he forgives because he forgives
in such a way as when he forgives, he forgets. And the reason he forgets is
because there's nothing there to remember. That's what the blood of Christ
did. It made it to where there's nothing there to remember. He forgives
and forgets. But you forgive, and as the Lord
enables you to forget, don't hold people off. What the Lord
did you that way? That'd be bad, wouldn't it? Forgive,
and you'll be forgiven. And then he says in verse 38,
give. Here's the fourth law of this
kingdom. Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure,
pressed down and shaken together, and running over shall men give
into your bosom. For with the same measure that you meet, it
shall be measured to you again." Now this gift, this giving, it
means so many things. Yes, give your money. It's all
the Lord's anyway. It's to be used for His glory.
Give. Give of yourself. Give of your
time. Give of your substance. Give
of your soul. Give of your heart. Give yourself. It's better to
give than to receive, isn't it? It's more blessed to give than
to receive. You know, he says if you give,
You're going to have all kinds of... I don't know whether that
means you'll have more material blessings. You don't give in
order to get material blessings. But I tell you this, when people
are in a bad state, materially, generally speaking, if you find
out the reason, it's because they're not generous. People
who are generous, you cannot give God. You just can't do it. It's not going to happen. He
says, give and it shall be given to you good measure. Press down
and so on. The basket you bring, The Lord
is going to measure out your blessings in that basket. Now
that is the rule of this kingdom. I mean, it's a higher calling,
isn't it? This is so far above the world. To love your enemies. To turn the other cheek. To give
your coat to the person who takes your cloak. All these things
the Lord says. And we're called upon to do these
things. And don't you want to do them? I want to be like the
Lord in that sense. Well, here's the rule to this.
If I follow these rules, I'll do these things. Judge not, you
won't be judged. I love the first rule. Because we'll be asking people,
is so-and-so doing that? Judge not, and you'll not be
judged. Condemn not, and you'll not be
condemned. Forgiven, you'll be forgiven. Given, it shall be
given to you. Now, I want to close with a couple
of scriptures. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Verse 13, Brethren, I cannot myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do. Forget those things which are
behind, the good things and the bad things. The blessings and
yesterday's over. I don't mean to forget God's
blessings. You know, you always remember God's blessings, but
just the bad stuff. Forget it. Forget it. But it's
not worth thinking about forgetting those things which are behind.
Well, there's a lot I want to forget, don't you? I mean, I
just want to forget what a blessing and reaching forth. And to those
things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus. What a high and
heavenly and holy calling. Now we turn to Ephesians chapter
4, back a few pages. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation,
or the calling, that's the word, wherewith you are called. Now
this high, heavenly, holy calling, this higher calling that every
believer is called to, how do we walk worthy? Verse 2, with all lowliness, humility,
and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. Now, this is my job. This is
my vocation. This is my calling. To walk in
all lowliness. Meekness. Believing that whatever
God sends my way, it's right. He's on the throne. Long-suffering. Patience. God's in control. Forbearing
one another. You know what that means? That
means putting up with one another. Putting up with one another. If you're
going to have a relationship with me, you've got to put up
with me. I'm going to have a relationship with you. I'm going to put up
with you. But it's, I'm to view you as God views you, as Christ
views you. Not as you are in yourself, but
as you are in Christ. That's the real you. The real
you is the holy you. It's the gracious you. It's the
merciful you. That's every believer. We're to view each other as God
views us. How does God view me? Without
sin. View me that way. It's real.
I'm to view you that way. It's easy to put up with each
other like that, isn't it? Forbearing. one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of
peace. It's a higher calling, isn't
it? But don't you love being called in this higher calling? I'm so thankful. Let's begin
where we begin being a hearer. To hear the Gospel. What a high
calling it is to hear the Gospel. Let's pray.