My sins, God says, I'll be propitious
to their unrighteousness. I'll be appeased. The blood of
my Son has put it away. I've got no reason to be angry.
I've got no reason to have anything against them. Therefore, their
sins and their iniquities, I'll remember no more. And there's
only one way that God can't remember my sins, and that's because there's
nothing there to remember. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, the
death of Christ, what a benefit, what a boon, what profit there
is in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, His death, the
death of the Son of God is so beneficial to us. Now, His life
is beneficial to us, no doubt. But what would His life be for
us if He didn't die? It wouldn't do us a bit of good. But what benefit, what profit
there is in His death? Turn to John 16. Here's the second thing that
the scripture speaks of as being beneficial. Things not the right
word, but. He says in verse six. Of John,
Chapter 16, but because I said these things unto you, sorrow
has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient, it is. of infinite importance, it is
of great benefit and profit and value for you that I go away,
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if
I depart, I'll send him unto you." Now, here's the next, I
guess, point to this, because I don't want to say the next
thing, the Holy Spirit's a person. But here is who is truly valuable
and expedient and necessary to us, the Holy Spirit. He's the
author of life. You see, the fact of the matter
is you can't believe. You can't repent, you can't love
God, you can't bear the fruit of the Spirit unless he gives
it to you. He's got to give you life. He's
the author of the new birth. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. He's the author of the new birth.
And how beneficial this is to us. I can't do anything without
the power of the Holy Spirit. All that God requires of me,
I can't come up with the goods. I can't do it. I'm unable to
do anything that He tells me to do. But when God the Holy
Spirit enables me and gives me life, I can do everything that
He calls upon me to do. Everything. I can do all things through Christ,
which strengthens me, and He strengthens me by His Spirit.
Now, how beneficial that is to me. The Holy Spirit. Where would
I be, where would you be without God, the Holy Spirit, in His
amazing, infinite mercy coming and taking residence in our hearts? Now, this is beneficial, isn't
it? This is this is what we really
need. This is what is really important.
The Holy Spirit. Look, look in this passage of
Scripture, verse eight. When he has come, speaking of
the Holy Spirit, he will reprove, he'll convince the world of sin
and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not
on me. You know, you're truly convinced of sin when you see
that you're an unbeliever. Now that's where true conviction
really begins. You find out you've not believed,
and faith is outside of your grasp. That's when you start
becoming truly convinced. You're not just saying, well,
I feel guilty about this and feel guilty about that. Well, you
can feel guilty about something and be lost as a goose. This is talking
about true conviction, Holy Spirit conviction of sin because they
believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and
you see me no more. He teaches us that His righteousness,
that's the righteousness He presents to the Father. And that's how
I'm accepted. Of judgment, because if the Prince of this world is
judged, judgment's already taken place. I have yet many things
to say to you, but you can't bear them now. How be it when
he, the Spirit of truth has come, he'll guide you into all truth. Now this is, this is such a comfort
to the preacher. Lord's going to guide you into
all truth. He's going to do it. And what a teacher he is. He's
an effectual teacher. Everybody he teaches, they're
taught. He'll guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself.
This is so important. Somebody's always talking about
the Holy Spirit, this Holy Spirit, that they don't have a Holy Spirit.
He says he shall not speak of himself. That's not his language,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. He'll show
you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. How beneficial,
how necessary is God the Holy Spirit? Now, here's what's comforting
about this. Everything God requires of you
to do. He enables you by His Spirit. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory, and He accepts what He provides. You know, really,
when we're talking this way, there's really nothing to even
stress about, is there? The Holy Spirit is necessary. Turn to Acts 20. Acts chapter 20. This is Paul speaking to the
Ephesian elders. He says in verse 18, when they
were come to him, he said unto them, you know. From the first
day that I came into Asia, after what manner I've been with you
at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, you
know, you can't serve the Lord without humility of mind. It's
not serving if you don't have humility of mind. and with many tears and temptations
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, and how
I kept back nothing that was profitable." That is the word
that is generally translated expedient. I kept back nothing
that was important, that was beneficial, that was to your
advantage. I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you
publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and
also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when Paul summarizes his
preaching, he says, I kept back nothing that was profitable or
for your benefit. Look what he says in verse 26
of the same chapter. He said, Wherefore, I take you the record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Now, what is truly beneficial
to us is hearing the word of God preached. Hearing the whole
counsel of God, that is truly beneficial, what benefit and
profit there is in doing what we're doing right now. But it's
the whole Word of God that must be preached. If I willingly omit
something, if something is willfully left out, no prophet at all will
come out of that. God won't bless it. No one is
born again through that kind of preaching. No one is birthed
into the kingdom of heaven. No one is truly converted. No
benefit comes to the children of God. When there's some kind
of preaching going on where you're holding something back and you're
not really putting all your cards on the table, when you're not
telling the truth as it is in Jesus Christ the Lord, when you're
omitting something, when you're leaving something out, no profit
comes as a matter of fact. When I mix up, and we talked
about this in Bible study this morning, The omission of something
is really the sign of a false prophet. It's not so much what
he says. It's what he leaves out. It's
what he omits. What he leaves out is that which
is critical. Now, it's profitable. It's beneficial to hear the whole
counsel of God, to hear the word of God preached. What profit
there is in this? Because faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by the word of God,
what benefit there is in hearing the word of God preached. And
you know that from your own experience, don't you? You know, hearing
the gospel. In the power of God's spirit,
when God gives you the grace to hear. There is nothing like
it on Earth. It is better than anything this
world has to offer. It surely is. It's beneficial.
It's possible to hear the gospel preached. You know, every time
we meet together, God's word is preached. It's beneficial. OK, turn first Corinthians six. Verse 12. All things are lawful unto me,
but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me,
but I will not be brought under the power of any. He says, while all things are
lawful, all things are not beneficial, all things are not important,
not all things are to my advantage. All things may be lawful, but
I'll not be brought under the power and control of any of these
things. Now, please listen carefully.
I don't know how to say this, but to say it when something
has control over me, Although there may be nothing wrong with
that thing in and of itself, it becomes sin when I am brought
under its power. Temperance, control from within,
a fruit of God the Holy Spirit, is so beneficial. You know as well as I do that
all things that are lawful, but the abuse of anything is sin. To be controlled by anything
is sin. Any kind of addiction is sin,
and in the context Some in the church at Corinth were saying,
well, fornication. They were talking about fornication.
They were saying it's a natural bodily function. Therefore, it's
not sin. And that's what Paul was confronting
them about. You know, in that culture, they
thought it was a thing of indifference. I mean, good grief, it's natural.
Everybody has those desires. And it's not sin. Paul's saying,
yes, it is. Look what he says in verse 13.
Meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy
both it and them. Now, the body is not for fornication,
but for the Lord. and the Lord for the body. We're
going to talk more about that next week. He says in verse 19,
what? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God, and you're not your own? For you're bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God's. Now, remember this about your
body. Your body is you. You're not a soul inside of a
body. You can't separate the body and the soul. That's it.
We're men. We're men. He says, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. What came to my mind when I was
thinking about this issue of being addicted or just under
the control or power or something, I thought of David's prayer.
Let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Can you pray that prayer? Order my steps in your word,
because you know as well as I do that this flesh is weak. This
flesh can so easily fall into whatever kind of anything, anything. So here is the prayer of every
child of God. Order my steps in your word and
let not any iniquity have dominion over me. First Corinthians chapter
10. Verse 23. All things are lawful
for me, he repeats this again, but all things are not expedient.
All things are not important or necessary. All things are
lawful unto me, but all things edify not. They don't actually
build me up. Now, what's he talking about? In the context, he is
talking about man's religion. Separation from man's religion
is expedient. Now, look what he says in verse
20. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that
you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the
cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You can't be partaker
of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. You can't do
both. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger
than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify
not. Now this is talking about the
religious practices of men. And he says you cannot partake
of the Lord's table and devils. If you go to religious service,
now you listen to me real carefully. I'm telling you the truth. If
you go to religious service where the gospel of God's grace is
not preached or believed, I don't care if it's Buddhist or Baptist,
it's the participation in devil worship. Now, that's a strong
statement, but it's the truth. He says not to provoke the Lord
to jealousy. There's only one gospel and any
kind of worship that is not according to the gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace, as he reveals it in this book, the Bible. It's devil worship. He says,
stay away from it. Stay away from it. It's provoking
the Lord to anger. Look in First Corinthians, Chapter
10. Let's go on reading. Verse 33. Paul says, even as
I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but
the profit of many that they might be saved, and that word
profit, it's the same thing. It's. What's important, what's
expedient? Seeking the salvation of others. Is truly profitable. Look what he says in verse 32.
Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles,
nor to the church of God, even as I please all men in all things,
not seeking my own profit or benefit, but the profit of many,
that they might be saved." Now, believer, what is your purpose
here? You know as well as I do, it's
not just to raise your kids and to have a good job and all those
kind of things, or have a career. But that's not my purpose here.
My purpose here is to be His witness. That's my purpose. That's why God left you here.
You know, He could have brought you to glory instantly, but He
left you here for this purpose, to be His witness. And every believer is called
to the ministry. Now, you might not be called
to pastor a church, but you're certainly called to be His witness
by your words, by your conduct, By your spread of the gospel,
the scripture does say, he that winneth souls is wise. That's in the Bible. We talk
about soul winners and we usually use it in a negative connotation
because there's so many soul butchers out there. You know
that as well as I do. But the Bible still says, he
that winneth souls is wise. And the Lord said to his disciples,
you follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. I want to be
a fisher of men. This is what's truly beneficial. That's why we're here, to be
his witness. Don't you want... I don't know how much vanity
is involved in it. I'm sure there's plenty of vanity. But don't you
want to be used by the Lord to bring somebody else to a knowledge
of the gospel? Sure you do. Now, I realize that there's plenty
of flesh in that motive. No doubt about it. There's plenty
of flesh. But every believer also loves
Christ, and they want to see people bow their knee to Him.
They want to see men and women come to a knowledge of Christ
and come to actually believe on Him. Don't you want to see
your loved ones believe the gospel? Now, this is what's truly expedient
and necessary to be His witness. Second Corinthians, Chapter 8.
I've got two more. Verse 10, And herein I give my advice,
for this is expedient, this is profitable, this is beneficial
for you who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be
forward or willing a year ago, now therefore perform the doing
of it. Now what are you talking about? Well, in the context,
he is talking about giving. Look what he says in verse 7.
Therefore, as you abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and
knowledge, and all diligence, and in your love to us, see that
you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but
by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity
of your love. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, Yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. And
herein I give my advice, for this is expedient for you. It's
for your good, who have begun before not only to do, but also
to be forward a year ago. Now there perform the doing of
it, that as there was a readiness to will, a willingness to give,
so there may also be a performance also out of that which you have. For if there first be a willing
mind, it's accepted according to what a man hath, and not according
to what he does not. Now, who is the one who profits
in giving? I'm not only talking about what
you put back in that box, but I'm talking about giving to your
spouse, giving to your kids, giving of yourself, the idea
of giving. Who is the one who truly benefits
in giving? Is it the person you give to?
Well, yeah, they benefit, but who's the one who really benefits?
You do. Our Lord says it is more blessed
to give than to receive. It's more blessed. You're the
one who benefits from this. You know, some look at giving
as loss, but it's a gain in every sense of the word. Turn with
me for a moment to Malachi chapter 3. I want you to see this. That's
the last book in the Old Testament. The book of Malachi. Beginning in verse 8 of Malachi
chapter 3. Malachi asks this question. Well, a man robbed God. Seems
like it'd be impossible to rob God. Yet you have robbed me. But you say, well, wherein have
we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. You're
cursed with a curse. For you have robbed me, even
this whole nation. Now bring ye all the tithes into
the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house. And prove
me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open
the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to receive it. And the Lord is so plain in this
language. He says, you've robbed me. However,
we robbed you with tithes and offerings. Now somebody's thinking,
well, does the Bible teach tithing? Giving ten percent? You know,
I can't help but wonder if Abraham asked that question when he came
to Melchizedek. You know, it says it gave him
a tenth of all. Did he say, well, do I need to
give ten percent? Or when Jacob, when the Lord appeared to him. You know, regarding tithing,
I mean, you give as you feel led. You feel good as you're
impressed, as the Lord prospers you. That's how you give, as
the Lord prospers you. But I couldn't help but think
about Henry Mahan made this statement regarding tithing. He said, if
you tithe, you're under law. And if you don't tithe, you're
an outlaw. Therefore, the only safe course
is to give more than a tithe. I like that. I like that. But
who is the one who is blessed in giving? I know this, we cannot
out give the Lord. You know, giving is a faith issue. If you gave every dime you got,
you reckon the Lord would continue to take care of you? You know,
it's easy to give when you really believe it's all His. When you really believe it's
all His, it's easy. Who's the one who benefits in
this? It's more blessed to give than to receive. The Lord says,
prove me, test me. Give and see that I'm not going
to open the windows of heaven in a blessing toward you. Now,
that doesn't mean you give in order to make more money. If
that was the case, it may be that you give and you suffer
some kind of hardship out of it. But it'd be for your good,
won't it? It'll be what's best for you.
Now, giving, we're the ones who benefit and profit in giving. Hebrews chapter 12. Here's the
last one. Verse 9. Furthermore, we have
had fathers of our flesh which corrected us. And we gave them
reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they barely
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he for
our profit, and that's the same word for our expediency, for
our benefit, for our advantage. This is what is important to
us. He for our profit. that we might be partakers of
His holiness. And look up in verse 5 of Hebrews
chapter 12. And you forgot the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not
thou the chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. Now, how many times have you and I despised the chasing
of the Lord? I guess about every time it's
happened. I mean, it's not pleasant. And when I was involved in his
chasing hand, I had a whole lot of things. But I know more than
anything else, it's a removal of the sense of his favor. When
he chases you, it's assurance. It's a horrible thing. It's not
him making your car wreck. Making you lose something. If
you don't give, he'll take it out in the coffin. I've heard
preachers say that. Well, that's just foolishness. That's not
the way to do it. But the Lord does chase it. He
does chase it. Now, let's go on reading about
this chasing. You've forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him for whom the Lord loveth. He chaseth. And He scourges every
son whom He receives. Now you that have kids, what kids do you correct? Your own. You don't correct other
people's children. Don't ever. Don't be correcting
other people's children. Just don't do it. But I'll tell
you who you correct. You correct your own. You love
them. And you want what is best for
them. If you don't correct your children,
you're just demonstrating you don't love them. Now, whom the
Lord loveth, he chastens. Now, am I looking for a weapon?
No. But I tell you what, I don't
want to be without it because I want to be somebody the Lord
loves, don't you? I want His... I'm not asking to be chastened,
but I'm asking, I want to be one of His children. And whom
the Lord loves, he chastens, and he scourges every son that
he receives. If you, verse 7, if you endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as sons. For what son is
he of whom the Father chastens not? But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much more rather
be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they
barely for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure,
but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Now, that's a that's an awesome statement. Partakers, sharers
of his holiness. That's that's the heritage of
only the believer. And he chastens us and corrects
us because he loves us. All things are lawful unto me,
but all things are not truly expedient or profitable or beneficial. What is truly profitable? The death of Christ? God, the Holy Spirit? The preaching
of the word? temperance in this body, separation
from man's religion, seeking the salvation of others, giving
and chastening. Now, this is what is truly beneficial
and truly profitable. We don't make investments in
that which is not profitable, do we? We don't want to, at any
rate. We want to have profit in our
investments, of course. Well, may we truly seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, knowing that all these other
things shall be added to us. This is what's truly beneficial.
This is what is truly profitable. Martha, Martha, you're careful,
anxious, stressed out about many things. I put myself in Martha's place.
If I saw Mary sitting there contemplating her navel, I would have got mad
too. Lord, correct her. She's not doing anything. Martha,
Martha, you're careful, They're troubled about many things, but
only one thing is needful. Can you believe that? One thing
is needful. And Mary hath chosen that good
part, and it shall not be taken from her. Let's pray together.