I'm going to ask you to open
your Bibles to the book of Acts this morning. The book of Acts. Now, tonight, the Lord willing,
I'm going to bring a message regarding some great and important
questions. You know, the Queen of Sheba
came to Solomon and ask him some hard questions. And he opened
his heart to her and revealed to her the answers to these questions. And when she heard all that Solomon
said to her, she said, the half has never been told. So tonight,
if you come back at six o'clock, I'm going to deal with these
great and important questions. Now this morning, let's look
at Acts chapter eleven. Acts eleven, and I'm going to
begin reading with verse twenty-one. Acts eleven, twenty-one. And the hand of the Lord was
with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church,
which was at Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas,
that he should go as far as Antioch, who, when he came and had seen
the grace of God, he was glad. And he exhorted them all, that
with purpose and they should cleave unto the Lord God. For he was a good man, Barnabas
was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. And
much people were added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas
to Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he found him, he brought
him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole
year they assembled together. They assembled themselves with
the church and taught much people. And the disciples were called
Christians. The disciples were called Christians
first at Antioch. What were they called before
Antioch? They were called Christians first
in Antioch. What were they called before
Antioch? Well, I'll tell you. Faith in
Christ, love for Christ, and relationship with the Lord God
through Christ Jesus was called the way. It was called that way. Let me show you that. Turn to
Acts chapter nine. Here's two or three scriptures.
that tell us what they were called before Antioch, before they were
called Christians. It was called the way. Now listen
to Acts chapter 9, verse 1 and 2. And Saul, Saul of Tarsus,
yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, he went to the high priest and desired of the high
priest letters to Damascus, to the synagogues. that if he found
any of this way, of this way, whether they were women or men,
he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. If he found any down
there that believed this gospel, that believed in Christ, that
were walking in this way, I'll bind them hand and foot and bring
them to the authorities. Turn to Acts chapter 22. And when Saul of Tarsus was brought
to know Christ and the Lord saved him, he gave this account of
his conversion. Acts 22, verse 3 and 4. Acts 22, verse 3. I am verily
a man which am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus. a city
of Cilicia. I was brought up in that city
at the feet of Gamaliel. There were two great teachers
of Judaism in that time, and this one, one of the greatest,
was Gamaliel. And Saul says, I was brought
up sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. And I was taught according to
the perfect manner of the law of the fathers. And I was zealous
toward God as you are all this day. And I persecuted this way,
the way of faith, the way of... I persecuted unto the death,
binding and delivering unto prison both men and women. Now one more,
one more verse. Acts chapter 24, Acts 24 and
verse 14. This is powerful here. Listen
to this. Acts 24, verse 14. But this I confess to you, that
after the way, this way, that way, which they call heresy,
the way that the Jews and the Pharisees and the Sadducees called
heresy, after that way, so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing
all things which are written in the law and the prophets. Christians were called people
of the way. What way? The way of the truth
of the fall. What happened in the garden.
By one man, sin entered this world, and death by sin. So death
passed upon all people. The way of conviction. The way
of repentance. The way of salvation. The way. What is the way? It's the truth
of justification by faith. Not only what happened in the
garden, but what happened on the cross. When Christ was made
sin for us, we knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. That's the way. The way of the
fall. The way of what happened in the
garden. What happened on the cross. And this way. The way
of what happens in the heart of a sinner when God saves him.
The way of holiness. The way of holiness. And when,
by the grace of God, a person hears this gospel of the way. What is that way? Christ said,
I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. And when a person When a person
hears that gospel, the gospel of the way, and believes on our
Lord Jesus Christ, that person knows who Christ is. He knows
who the way is. He knows who the truth is. He
knows who the life is. And he knows what Christ has
done for him, and what Christ has done in him. Not only for
him, but in him. And he knows where Christ is,
dwelling at the right hand of the Father who ever lived to
make intercession for us. And that man who knows that way
will walk in that way. He will walk in that way all
the days of his life. And he'll grow stronger and stronger
and stronger every day in that way. Now let me read my text,
Job chapter 17. I want you to turn to Job 17,
and I want to state my text and state it powerfully and with
as much strength as I can and pray that the Spirit of God will
give me some understanding of this scripture. In Job chapter
17, verse Talking about the way now, the
way of Christ, the way of salvation. The righteous also, people who
are made righteous by the love of God and the grace of God and
the work of the Spirit, the righteous also shall hold his way. And he that hath clean hands,
purged with hyssop, washed whiter than the snow, clean hands, he
that hath clean shall be stronger and stronger and stronger every
day that he walks with that lover. Now, he may not travel with equal
speed at all times. The Scripture doesn't say he'll
hold his pace. It says he'll hold the It doesn't
say he'll hold the same equal pace all the way in growth and
grace, but he'll hold his way. He may not travel all the time
with equal enthusiasm. The Scripture does not say that
he will hold his zeal and hold his excitement. He may be, as
Paul said, depressed, lonely, cast down. But he'll hold his
way. He'll hold his way. He may not
always travel with equal success. He may be rich, and then he may
be poor. He may be successful, and he
may totally fail. He may walk through sickness
and through days of hell, but bless God, he'll hold his way. Write it down. the righteous shall hold his
way. And he will grow in grace, he
will grow in faith, he will grow in love, for he that hath clean
hands and a sincere heart and a love for Christ will grow stronger
and stronger and stronger. And I'll give you five reasons.
You write these down. At least, not on paper, but in
your heart. I'll give you five reasons why
the righteous, those who know Christ, who love Christ, who
are saved by the grace of God, shall hold their way and grow
stronger. They'll grow in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ. Your faith groweth exceedingly,
the scripture says. Desire the sincere milk of the
word, that you may grow thereby. All right, number one, I'll tell
you. I'll tell you why the righteous will hold his way. He'll hold
his way because of the work of God. Turn with me to Romans chapter
eight. He will hold his way because
of the work of God. We didn't save ourselves, God
saved us. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. I give thanks unto you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you." God hath from the beginning chosen you through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. God has. It's the work
of God. Salvation is the work of God.
Salvation is of the Lord. All right, look at Romans 8.
He'll hold his way because of the work of the Father. Verse
28, Romans 8. And we know, we know this, that
all things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. For, whom He
did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Not He might be, could be, perhaps,
that He shall be. the firstborn of many births.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he called." Who's this we're
talking about? The Father. Them he called. And whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, them also
he glorified. The righteous shall hold his
way because that's the way the Father does his work permanently,
eternally. He that hath begun a good work
in you, he'll perfect it unto the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at the next verse. He'll hold his way because it's
the work of the Son. Verse 32, listen. He despaired
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
ye not freely also give us all things with him? With him. Who's going to lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? It's
God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather there is risen again
who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession
for us. The righteous shall hold his
way because of the work, the work of the Father, the work
of the Son. Now watch this. Who's going to
separate me from the love of God? Tell me. Tell me who's going to take me
out of His hands. Who's going to separate me from His love?
Who's going to deny to me the blessings of His cross? Who's
going to make the work of Christ and the blood of Christ ineffectual?
Who's going to do that? Listen. Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword, As it is written, for his sake we are killed all the
day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, nay, nay, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him that loveth us. For I am persuaded,
I am confident the believer shall hold his way. You know why? I
am persuaded neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
No powers, no things present, no things become, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature or anybody else shall be able
to separate us from that love of the Father, the love of the
Son, and the love of the Spirit, which is in Jesus Christ our
Lord. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a feather,
bind my wandering heart to thee. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God, he to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood." The righteous shall hold his
way because of the work of the Father, of the Son, and of And
he that hath begun a good work, he began it, shall perfect it, perform it,
until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Second reason why the righteous
shall hold his way. He'll hold his way because of
the work of the Son of Spirit and because of the words of Christ. Now turn to John chapter 10.
The words of Christ. You know, the scripture says
this about God's word. It said, God's word has greater
honor. God's word has greater honor
than His name. Greater honor than His name.
His word. My word shall not return to be
void. It shall accomplish that where
unto I have set it. The word of God. Now look at
John 10. John 10, verse 11. I'm the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He that's a hireling and not
the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, he sees the wolf coming,
and he leaves the sheep. He flees. And the wolf catches
him and scatters the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he's
a hireling. He doesn't care for the sheep,
but I'm the good shepherd. These are the words of the Lord.
I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep. I know them,
and they know me. I'm the good shepherd. I know
my sheep. I'm known of them. And as the Father knows me, even
so know I the Father. I lay down my life for my sheep. And of the sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. I shall, for all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to
me out of no wise under any circumstances cast out. This is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he giveth me I'll lose
nothing, but raise it up at the last day. Other sheep I have
which are not of this present fold, I will bring them too.
And they shall hear my voice, and they shall be one fold and
one shepherd." Now look at verse 23 of that same chapter. John
10, 23. And Jesus walked in the temple
in Solomon's porch. And then came the Jews, the Pharisees
and Sadducees round about Him. And they said to Him, Now how
long dost thou make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, if you
be the Messiah, if you be the one for whom we look, just tell
us plainly. Just tell us in simple words.
Our Lord said, I told you. I told you, and you didn't believe
me. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness
of me. But you don't believe me, because
you're not of my sheep. That's the reason you don't believe
me. You're not of my sheep. You see, my sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them what? Eternal life. Not temporary life,
not life just in this world. I give them eternal life. That means ever, forever and
ever. Everlasting. And they'll never
perish. And I'll tell you again, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And you know why? My Father gave them to me. My
Father gave them to me, and which gave them is greater than all,
and no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand, because
I and my Father are one." The righteous shall hold his
way because of the work of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,
and because of the words of our Savior. An army chaplain, I read this
years ago. An army chaplain was visiting
a hospital filled with wounded
and dying soldiers during World War I. And he came to a young
man who they said was dying, and he was going to give him
what they call the last rites. My friend, Brother Barnard, was
in World War II. And he told me he was a chaplain.
And he told me that the chaplain, when they found a person dying,
whether it was a Baptist chaplain or a Catholic chaplain or whoever,
whoever denomination it was, they had to do what that person
required. So this chaplain, the Catholic
chaplain, was going to give this boy the last rites of the Roman
church. And he said to the young man,
he said, what's your denomination? And the soldier said, Christ
Jesus. He said, I mean, son, what is
your faith? He said, that's Christ Jesus
too. But he said, what I mean, son, is this, what is your persuasion? Well, the young man said, sir,
I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded. He's able to
keep that which I've committed to Him against that day. That's
my persuasion. That's mine. Feelings come and
feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the
Word of God and nothing else is worth believing. Though all
my heart should feel condemned, for want of one sweet token.
I know one who's greater than my heart, and his word cannot
be broken. So I'll trust in Christ's unchanging
word, till soul and body separate. The words of men will pass away,
but his word is forever. That's why the righteous will
hold his way, because of the work of the Father, Son, and
Spirit, and because of the Word of God, the Word of Christ. He
promised. He promised. He promised. Oh, who was that famous black
preacher? He wrote his life story. rhapsody
in black. I'll think of his name in a minute.
It just requires a little longer. Somebody asked him, they said,
if you get to heaven, you expect to enter heaven. He said, yes,
I do. He said, if you get to heaven and they say unto you,
you cannot enter here, You don't have enough righteousness. He
said, what you going to say? He said, I'm going to say I'm
not here on my righteousness. I'm here on the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what if they turn your
way anyway? He said, well, God will lose more than I lose. And
he shot the fellow. And he said, what do you mean
by that? If they turn you away, God will
lose more than you lose. He said, well, I'll lose my soul,
but He'll lose His Word because He promised, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. And I believe. And His Word cannot
be broken. Can you take God at His Word? His Word cannot be broken. He
promised. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, he's
already passed from death unto life." Here's my third reason. The believer shall hold his way,
and he'll grow stronger and stronger. Yes, he will. You see, anything
that's alive grows. Isn't that true? This pulpit will never, never
change. It's dead. It doesn't grow. My little great-grandson, he
just, he's getting stronger every day. He's beginning to talk a
little bit. He's learning things. I expect
him to grow up. I'd be terribly disappointed
if he never grew, if he never learned anything. I'd be terribly
disappointed in anybody who professes to be a son of God that won't
grow. I'd be terribly disappointed.
I just don't see how such a thing is possible. We grow, we grow. And I'll tell you why. Because
of the nature that He put within us. We have a new nature. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. Old things pass away and old
things are becoming new. Brethren, Paul said, I prevail
till Christ be formed in you. Salvation is not just believing
a theology or a doctrine or some preacher's words. Salvation is
Christ in you. I prevail till Christ be formed
in you. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live, yet not I. Christ liveth in me, and the
life which I now live in this flesh, I live by the person,
by the faith of Christ who lives within." We don't just have a profession
of religion, we've got a person within. of his sufferings, and by being
partaker of his suffering, you're partaker of his nature. We have a divine nature, Christ
in you. I know we have this old flesh
and nature to contend with until God puts it in the grave. He's
going to put this nature in the grave, but that new nature, that
Christ in you, That new principle, that new nature that He gave
you by new birth, it goes to glory. It doesn't go to the grave.
The flesh goes to the grave and it rots. It goes back to the
dust from which it came. But I didn't come from the dust.
I came from God. My new nature came from God.
It didn't come from the dust. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of God is spirit. Being born again. That's what
the scripture said. Born again. Not a corruptible
seed. That's why I was born the first
time. Corruptible seed. The seed of my father. And it's gone back to the dust.
I was born the second time of incorruptible seed. Eternal seed. The seed of God. The life of
God. I was born of incorruptible seed. The Word of God. which liveth
and abideth forever." New nature. And this life is a righteous
spiritual life that never sins. What did you say? I said, just
what you heard me say. Exactly. But whosoever is born
of God doth not commit For his seed, that incorruptible
seed, remains in him. It's put within him. He's born
of that incorruptible seed. It remains in him. And he cannot
sin because he's born of God. That's the nature's going to
glory. All things of God. And that old
nature's going to the dirt, going to the dust. But that new nature
in us, I read one time about one of those old timers that
the Lord saved. He was a rounder. What is a rounder? I hear people say, boy, he's
been a rounder all his life. Goes in circles or something.
He's a rounder. He was a rounder. But the Lord saved him under
the ministry of Mr. Whitfield. This man was well saved. That's
what Martin used to call him, well saved. And he left his old
crowd and his old vocation, his old way and all things became
new. And several months and weeks
passed and he was walking down the street one day and he saw
some of his old companies. Some of his old friends he used
to loaf with and run with and sin with. And he tried to avoid
them. You know, he tried to duck his
head. They said, hey, that's Fred. And he turned and said,
it's not me. And he turned and started running.
He said, it's not me. I'm a new friend. It's not me. It's really not. Sometimes we
act like it, but we're really not. We're new creatures. Let
not the sun go down on your wrath. It's a new life. It's a life
of love and not hate. It's a victorious life. It's
an overcoming life. It's a life that grows stronger
and stronger. You know, the Apostle Peter,
in the early days, he succumbed to fear. He was sitting around
that fire warming his hands when they took our Lord to crucify
Him. And a little old girl came up
and said, you're one of them. He said, no, I'm not. He's scared. When she said, you're one of
them, I bet every one of those old rough fellows looked at him,
glared at him. And he said, no, I'm not. And
she said, I know your speech betrays you. Well, if my speech
betrays me, I'll just cuss a little. So he did. And he said, I'm not
one of them. But when he did, he looked up,
and there was a monster walking down the pilot's runway. And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
And he never did do that again. He once denied his Lord. He once
chickened out. He once gave up. He didn't do
that again. He grew and grew. And that's
what our Lord said to him. He said, when you're converted,
you're going to be a strong leader among your people. You'll strengthen
you by that. And we take, we need salvation,
we need conversion. We need to grow in grace. We
need to be sanctified. That's right. Everybody's scared
of the word progressive sanctification. Well, call it what you want to.
Call it growth in grace or whatever you want to, but it's growing.
It's growing up. It's maturing. It's acting like
a believer ought to act. That's growing. He'll feel stronger,
stronger, stronger. Here's the fourth reason. He's
going to hold his way because Christ intercedes for him. He's not left alone. Our Lord's
praying for you. Let me show you that. Turn to
Luke 22. Luke 22, verse 31. Luke 22, verse
31. Let's see if I can find it. Luke 22, verse 31. The apostle Peter, he was so aggressive, he was
so outspoken. But the Lord said to him in Luke
22 verse 31, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Put you on that
sifter, you know. Sift you. Find out what you're
really made of. But look at verse 32, But I prayed
for you, The Lord Jesus said, Simon, I've prayed for you that
your faith fail not, and when you're converted, strengthen
your brethren. And listen, here he comes again.
And he said unto the Lord, Lord, I'm ready to go with Thee both
into prison and death. He wasn't quiet, was he? No. Well, is he not saved? Oh, he
knows the Lord. He knows the Lord. He certainly
does. He's the one that said, the Lord
said, whom do you say that I am? He said, you're the Christ. You're
the son of God. He said, blessed are you, Peter.
My father, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. My father
revealed that to you. And if my father revealed it
to you, you'd know it. And he's going to grow. But I've prayed
for you. I'm ready to go to the prison of death. And he said,
Peter, I'm going to tell you. The cock shall not crow this
day before you shall three times deny that you know me. But I
pray for you. And my Father, I always do those
things that please my Father. And He always prays according
to the will of the Father. And He said to Peter, I pray
for you. And you'll never be lost. I pray
for you. Turn to John 17. See if this
is not exactly what we're saying here. The righteous shall hold
his way because the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for him. He's
praying for me. I'd hate to be standing up here
trying to preach without him praying for me, wouldn't you? What a miserable failure. What
a miserable failure. John 17, listen. Verse 9, I pray for them. I don't pray for the world. I
pray for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine,
and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I'm glorified in
them. The Lord Jesus is praying for
us. The Holy Spirit is praying for us. That's right. Turn, if you will, to the book
of Romans, chapter 8. The Holy Spirit prays for us.
The Holy Spirit prays for us. Romans 8, listen. Verse 24. Listen to this. Romans 8, 24.
We're saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. What
a man seeth, what does he yet hope for? But if we hope for
that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise, the Spirit also Himself
helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. I wish I could. But I tell you
this, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit Himself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered, and He that searcheth
the heart knoweth what is the mind and the spirit, because
he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will
of God." And our Lord Jesus Christ says, Christ died. For Christ died, verse thirty-four,
who is he that committeth? It's Christ the God. Yea, rather
it is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. making
intercession for us. Now, did I tell you the truth
this morning? The righteous shall hold his
way because of the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
The righteous shall hold his way and be stronger and stronger
because of the words of Christ. I give them eternal life. They'll
never perish. Because also that new nature,
It's not an old nature, it's a new nature. It's spiritual
nature. It's Christ in us. Christ in
us. And because he's praying for
us. And here's the last one. The righteous shall hold his
way and grow stronger and stronger because of the everlasting covenant. everlasting
covenant. The word covenant is in the Bible
over 300 times. God is a covenant God. And David,
he said the sweet psalmist of Israel and the Lord's King and
David the shepherd came to die. He was about 75 years old and
David's life was over and the Lord was going to take him away.
And he was lying on this bed, about to leave the earth, about
to leave and go to the glory, and he made a statement. And
these be the last words of David, the very last words. Although
it be not so with my house, God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. is all my salvation
and all my desire. Although he make it not to grow.
Doesn't look like that now. I'm dying and everybody else
is dying. Doesn't look like he's making
it to grow. But he's making it to grow. He's making it to grow. The everlasting covenant. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, thank you for this
word.