If you will, open your Bibles
to the book of 1 John, chapter 4. Down in Cherokee, North Carolina,
in the Bible Conference, Brother Scott Richardson brought
just an outstanding message. I wish all of you had the privilege
of hearing it. And it can be obtained from the
Tate ministry of the Sequoia Baptist Church in Cherokee. If
you're interested in hearing the message, you can write Brother
Tim James and have him send it to you. But he brought a message
from 1 John 4, verse 17. 1 John 4, 17. And this was his
topic and text. The latter part of verse 17,
I'll read the entire verse. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
as He is, as He, Christ, is, as Christ is, how is He? As He
is. So are we in this world. As Christ is, so am I. If I'm
one of his sheep, if I'm one of his elect, if I'm one for
whom he died, if I'm one with Christ, he's the head, I'm the
body, he's the vine, I'm the branch. Well, as he is, so am
I. Right now. Right now. Not going to be, right
now. As he is, so are we. At this present time, in this
present world. What are you, and who are you,
and what do you have? what Christ is. That's what you
are. Well, it was such a blessing
that when I was scheduled to preach the next night, all that
evening after I heard that message, and the next morning trying to
prepare something to preach, I couldn't get away from that
one verse of Scripture. As he is, so are we. Right now,
in this world, as Christ is. Well, how is Christ? And what
is Christ? Well, first of all, he is the
Son of God. He's the son of God. At his baptism,
the father spake and said, this is my beloved son. Hear ye him. My beloved son in whom I'm well
pleased. And then on the Mount of Transfiguration,
when I loved Jesus Christ was glorified and Moses and Elijah
appeared with him, the father spake again and said, this is
my son. Well, as He is, so are we. I'm a son of God, beloved.
It does not yet appear what we shall be, but right now we are
what? Now are we sons of God. Now, beloved, now. It does not
appear what we shall be, perfected by His grace and conformed to
the image of Christ, but now are we sons of God. This is my
only begotten son, but there is a sense in which we are begotten
sons of God. Of his own will, beget he us
with the word of truth. We're sons of God right now. John 1 says this, as many as
received him, to them gave he the right, the privilege, to
become sons of God, which were born. These sons of God were
born, not of blood, natural inheritance, genealogy, Not of the will of
the flesh, not of the will of man, but we're born of God. So
as He is, He's the Son of God. Would you believe it? We're sons
of God. That's remarkable, but that's
true. Sons of God. We cry, Abba, Father. And He's
the firstborn. Now listen to me. He's the firstborn
among many brethren. That's almost too much to lay
hold of, isn't it? But it's so. You daughters, whenever
we say sons of God, we mean sons and daughters of the King. We're
writing as He is. How is Christ? He's the Son of
God. Now are we sons of God. Everybody's not a son of God.
We're sons of God by His regeneration. We're sons of God by redemption. We're sons of God because we're
begotten of God. All right? Now this may just
really take you back for a moment, but if you think about it, as
he is, as Christ is, so are we in the world. How is he? Well, he's not only a son of
God, but God said, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. Turn to Hebrews 13. Now go there
with me. You have a Bible in your hand.
You have a Bible in your hand, Hebrews 13. Did you know that
in Christ, And I know we're, I said to my Sunday school class
this morning, I believe I was talking to them, that when we talk about being perfect
in Christ, the real children of God are just a little reluctant
to say, I'm perfect. But we are in Christ. Talk about
the word saints, we're saints. He hath made us kings and priests
unto God, and we're saints. And we're a little reluctant
to say that, and I understand, but brethren, we are saints,
sanctified in Christ Jesus, believe me. And do you know this? That
in Christ Jesus, by faith, that I am not only a son of God, but
I am well-pleasing in God's sight. That's right. Oh, you say, Preacher,
you know, I'm just, I'm full of so much foolishness, and I'm
full of so much flesh, and I'm full of so much of the world
and selfish pride and these things. How in the world can I be well-pleasing
in God's sight? In Christ you're well-pleasing
in God's sight, believe me. He's pleased with you. Read it,
Hebrews 13, verse 20. Now listen. Now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you, that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. I tell you this, if you weren't
well-pleasing in his sight, he'd get rid of you pretty quick.
That's exactly right. In Christ, through Christ, we're
well-pleasing in God's sight. Now that's true. Oh, what a glorious
refuge. Oh, what a blessed hiding place,
a covert from the storm. Oh my, what a foundation, what
a cornerstone upon which to build. Christ Jesus the Lord, that's
the riches of Christ. You know, that's the reason I
don't hammer on the law up here. The law is the rule of life.
The law is not my rule of life. Christ is my rule of life. That
brings me to the third thing, and this is phenomenal. As He
is, He's accepted, so are we. He's the Son of God, so are we.
He's perfect, so are we. He's well-pleasing in God's sight,
so are we. As He is, so are we. Come on
now, you know what it says? As He is, so are we. Where? Well,
where does one get to heaven? In this world. That's exactly
right. Now you turn to Romans 6. My
Lord one time bore my sins, bore my sins in his body. He was made
in the likeness of sinful flesh. Our sins were laid on him, that
he might bring us to God, that he might die the just for the
unjust. Are our sins still on him? No, sir, he's freed from
sin. Look at Romans 6, beginning with
verse 6, knowing this, Romans 6, 6. Knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he
that's dead is freed from sin. He that's dead is freed from
sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, are we? He didn't say
if we're going to be dead. If we be dead with Christ right
now, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Knowing that
Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath
no more dominion over him. Why? Sin's not on him. He's free
from sin. Has no more claim on him. Death
has no more claim on him, does it? Here's a man who has killed
a man in cold blood. In his fit of anger and temper,
he just shot him down in cold blood. And they come and arrest
him. They put the manacles on him. Take him off down to the
jail, and he sits there while the prosecuting attorney and
the defense lawyer plan their cases. And they bring him before
the court, select a jury. They read the bailiff, reads
the charge. This man is accused of murder
in the first degree, cold-blooded murder in the first degree in
the state, seeking his death. The law demands that he die.
They have a trial all over. The jury said we find him guilty,
recommend he die in the electric chair. They lead him out. Several
months later, bring him into the hall, down to the electric
chair, strap him in, shave his head, put that hood over his
face, attach the electrodes. He sits there. The man executioner
throws the switch, and his body shakes and trembles as electricity
surges through him, and then he dies. The doctor comes up
with a stethoscope, puts it up here. The doctor said he's dead. What claim does the law have
on him now? None at all. The law is satisfied. He's dead. He's free from sin. Is he not? He's free from guilt. He can't
be killed again. He can't be charged again. He
can't be tried again. I'm telling you this. The Lord
Jesus Christ came here to this earth, and I'm telling you this
is what the Bible says. He literally, actually, in reality,
took our place. Boy, I was seeing all of them. And he died under the judgment.
He sat in the chair. He hung on the tree at the gallows
place. And the law said he's guilty.
He wasn't guilty. I was guilty. He's guilty in
my stead. He was numbered with a transgressor.
And he satisfied the law. He satisfied God's justice on
behalf of every offense, of every elect, of every believer, of
every generation, of every moment and second and fleeting second
moment of time, paid for every one of them. And I say the law
has no claim. We're free from sin. That's what
this book teaches. That's what they say, I'm free.
He that's dead is free. They take that man out of the
electric chair and put him in a casket and take him out and
bury him. And you can just take, just tear up his records. You
tear up his records and throw them away. Don't call his name
again. He's dead. And he's free from
any claim. That court has no claim on him.
That jury has no claim on him. That judge has no claim on him.
That law has no claim on him. He's free. He that's dead is
free from sin. And my Lord Jesus Christ is pure,
perfect, and holy, and free from sin. And because He is, so am
I right now. That's right. That's good news.
That's the reason the child of God can rejoice in the Lord. He's free! Free! Death. The law has no more dominion
on Christ. Sin has no more dominion on Christ,
and death has no more dominion on Christ, and as he is, so am
I. Is that right, Ronnie? That's
what's said. He's praying. Death has no more dominion. And
I hear people talk about the judgments in heaven. There's
no judgment for the believer. There's nothing to be judged.
There's therefore now no condemnation, no judgment to them who are in
Christ Jesus. None. All right, here's the fourth
thing. He's the Son of God, so am I. He's well-pleasing in God's
sight. In Him, so am I. He's free from
sin, justified. No charge. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? So am I. And fourthly, He's a
stranger to this world. Turn to John 1. Listen to it. John 1. He's a stranger to this
world. He wasn't understood. He wasn't
received, he wasn't loved by the world. The world hated him. He's a stranger in this world.
It says in John 1, verse 11, he came to his own. Or verse
10, John 1, 10, he was in the world. The world was made by
him. He's his world. But the world
knew him not. He came into his own, and his
own received him not. And the prophet Isaiah, writing
about him in Isaiah 53, says he shall grow up as a tender
plant. He has no form, no comeliness, no beauty, but we should desire
him. Everybody that was anybody turned
thumbs down on Jesus Christ in this world. He is despised. He's rejected of men. He's a
man of sorrows. He's acquainted with grief. He
was despised and we esteemed him not. So what I'm saying is
this, what our Lord said, marvel not my brethren, don't be amazed
if the world hates you. It hated me before it hated you. Why did they hate him? They hated
him because of what he said. They hated him for his gospel.
They hated him for the things he said. Turn to John 15. John chapter 15. It's not enjoyable
to be hated. It's not enjoyable to be hated.
It's not enjoyable to be despised of men. But if it comes to the
point of compromising the honor of our Lord, then I'll just have
to put up with the hatred of men. You will too. A man's foes
shall be those and his enemies shall be those of his own household.
And some of you have told me this, that your own loved ones,
your own relatives are at odds with you over what you believe.
And they will not be reconciled. There's no peace. Look, this
is what our Lord said. Here's the whole statement. He
said, think not that I am come to send peace. I'm not come to
send peace, but a sword. And a man's foes or enemies shall
be those of his own household. But if any man loved mother,
father, husband, wife, brother, sister more than me, he's not
worthy of me. And that's the whole statement. And quite often it's those who
are closest to us and nearest to us who give us the hardest
time. I suppose the reason it hurts
worse is because they are so near. It hurts more. But in John 15, listen to this,
verse 17. These things I command you, that
you love one another. That's a commandment of our Lord,
that you love one another. If the world hate you, you know
it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, you're not of the world's religion. I told a man in the
study tonight, the old Russian or communist writer said religion
is the opium of the people. Well, it is. Religion is, but
not salvation. Salvation is life and understanding. But religion is an opium. It's
a refuge of lies. It brings people into a state
of being stunned, not with it, a coma, a religious coma. They're
just blindly following some tradition. We're not of the world's religion,
we're not of the world's philosophy, we're not of the world's fashion,
we're not of the world's understanding, we're not of the world's ambition,
we're just not of the world. You say, I used to have so many
friends and people were glad to see me and I was glad to see
them, we had a lot in common, but anymore I just don't like
to be around them. Well, you're not like them, that's
the reason you don't like to be around them. Birds of a feather
flock together. And when you get your feathers
plucked, you just got to pluck with somebody else, you know.
That's right. Read on. He said, if you robbed
the world, the world would love you. But because you're not,
I chose you out of the world. Therefore the world resents you.
It hates you. It despises you. Because every
time they see you, they see Christ. When they see you, it reminds
them of that message you preach. That's the reason they don't
like you. It's not you. It's that Christ you pray. Every time
they confront you, they're confronted with Him. And when you go around
their house and they get uneasy, you know, and they're uncomfortable.
Why? Because Christ is in that house. And He makes them uncomfortable. Because of, I'm going to show
you in a minute, His demands. All right, here's the next thing.
And this is where I want to camp for a few moments. As He is, He's Son of God, He's
well-pleasing, He's free from sin, and He's hated, as He is,
so are we in this world. And then He's the Father's servant. Turn to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42.
Now listen to this, Isaiah 42. Our Lord is literally called,
in the word of God, in several places, my servant. God calls
him my servant. In Isaiah 42, listen to this,
Behold my servant, this is Christ, whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him,
and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Paul called
himself a servant. You know, the Word says of Christ,
he took upon himself the form of a servant, a servant, a bond-servant. Now, I don't know exactly how
to preach what I feel about this business of being a servant of
the Lord, a bond-slave of the Lord. I know what I feel, and
I believe I know what God says. How to present it, I'm not sure.
But my son, Paul, told me he heard a message one time that
summed it up in this way. What will it take to be a Christian?
What will it take to be a Christian? Well, the answer comes, nothing. Nothing from me. Is that right? Nothing from me. Not a thing.
Not a thing. He paid it all, all the debt
I owe. nothing from me, but all of me." That's what our Lord said in
Luke 14. Turn over there and let's read
it, Luke 14. This is what I called your attention to this morning.
What will it take to be a Christian? Well, just believe something.
But it'll take nothing from me, not a thing from me. I don't
make one contribution, I don't pay one thing, nothing but all
off me. Is this not what Christ is saying
in Luke 14, 25? Now, let's look at it. I want
to know. And there went great multitudes with him, and he turned
and said to them, if any man come to me, if he comes to me,
and him that cometh to me, I'll in no wise cast out, come unto
me, I'll get labor handled, heavy laden, I'll give you rest, come
unto me, take my yoke upon And hate not, compared with his love
for me. It's like when I, what does this
word hate mean? When Walter Gruber and Betty
left Houston, Texas, they sold their home, he quit his job at
Armco, and they left Houston, Texas with five babies, five
children, going to Mexico, going to Mexico. And people stood around
and said this, don't you love your children? You can't take
those babies down there in that pagan country, in that infidel
country, they don't speak the language, they'll be miserable,
they're gonna get sick, they may die. Don't you love your
children? Yes, he loved his children, but
he loved Christ more. And his love for Christ made
those people think that he hated his children. He wasn't regarding
their welfare. He wasn't regarding what was
good for them. But he was trying to do the glory
of God, and in doing the glory of God, it appeared to people
that he didn't love his child. When I went down to see the body
of my son, when they brought him back from Vietnam, Robbie,
when he was killed in Vietnam 17 years ago, and my brother
was a colonel in the army, He insisted that I go even, no matter
how difficult it is, they said don't open the casket, but my
brother told me, no matter how difficult it is, you've got to
determine if he's in that casket. You've just got to. And you'll
always wonder if you don't go and open it and look. And he
said, I'll go with you and I'll just insist you do it. So I went
down and we did and identified him. It was Robbie's body and
we closed the casket And Bill Steen was standing there, and
he said, who's going to preach the funeral? And I said, I am.
Well, he said, you can't do that. That's exactly what he said to
me. You can't do that. But I said, Bill, I was my son's
pastor, and I was his best friend, and I was his father, and I loved
him. Who do you think ought to preach
it if I don't do it? And one man, Dr. Steel Mill,
said this. It got back to me. He must be
an awful hard man to preach his own son's funeral. Didn't he
love the boy? You see what I'm talking about?
Sure he loved him. But I love Christ more. Do you
understand that? That's what our Lord's saying
here. Compared, it appears to be a hatred. It appears to be
when God is pleased to take one of your loved ones, take him
to glory, you rejoice! You rejoice! If God were to take
one of you dear men tonight, or ladies, in whom I had a great
deal of confidence you knew Christ, I'd be honest with you, I'd rejoice.
I'd say, well, he's where I want to be. He's with whom I want
to be. And I could stand up here and
preach your funeral. Paul, I could preach your funeral,
much as I love you, but I believe you're with Christ, and I'd rejoice.
That don't mean I don't love you. You see what I'm saying? And that's what he's saying here.
Look at it. He says, if any man come to me
and hate not his father, mother, wife, children, brothers and
sisters, yea, and his own life also. What's my life? Ken and
Mary are headed for Africa. It's not easy. It's tough over
there, isn't it, Mary? It's a tough place to live. And
if they wanted to, if they loved their own lives and general welfare
and comfort, you wouldn't go now, be honest, would you? Not
if you loved your own welfare. You see what I'm saying? But
you love Christ more. I asked Walter Gruber one time,
I said, you happy down here in Mexico? He said, happiness ain't
got nothing to do with it. His own life also. And whosoever,
he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. I was watching
a television program several years ago. They were playing a benefit softball
game in Florida. This was back in when the baseball
players were down in spring training. And it was a benefit softball
game. And they had major league players on both teams. And they
were cutting up and goofing off and hitting the ball and playing
around. The money was going to charity. And Pete Rose came up
to bat, whom all of you are quite familiar with Pete Rose. Charlie
Hustle, that's what they called him. That was his trademark. Hustle. Hustle. Dedication. One
of his managers said if he had eight men like Rose, he'd never
lose a game. But he came up to bat, and he got down in that
crouch, and that pitcher threw the ball, and he clouded it in
a benefit softball game. Rounded first base charging and
slid head first into second in a cloud of dust while he threw
the ball in. And the announcer, one of them, there were two men
announcing, one of them says, Doesn't he know that this game's just
for fun? And the other announcer said,
Rose only knows one way to play the game, 100%. He only knows one way to play.
And I'm telling you now, this is what my Lord's saying. Ain't
but one way to be a disciple, 100%. See what I'm saying? That's what
I'm saying, all of me. And he says here, listen, verse
28, "...does not bear his cost," and come back to verse 28, "...for
which of you, intending to build a tower, siteth not down first
and counts the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish
it?" Thus happily, after he laid the foundation, he's not able
to finish it. He hasn't got what it takes. And all that behold
his half-finished building begin to mock him, saying, this man
began to build, was not able to finish. Or what king, going
to war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth
whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against
him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he sendeth an ambassador, and desires conditions
of peace. So likewise. This is the Master
speaking. Whosoever be of you, that is
not willing to lay down and forsake all that he hath, He cannot be
my disciple. He cannot be my disciple. Nothing
from me, but all of me. What is a servant? This is a
servant. This is a... Everything belongs
to the master. Well, I give you four or five
things, and you think these over. First of all, according to the
Lord Jesus, what is a servant, what is a disciple? First of
all, a servant, a disciple, has counted the cost. He has counted
the cost. He has sat down and considered
the cost. And he has willingly had his
ear bored. You say, now Pritchard, you're
not making sense. All right, turn to Exodus chapter 21. And I'll make sense. Exodus 21.
Exodus chapter 21. Now this is where the term bond-slave
came from. This is the term, you know, when
Paul says in Romans, he says Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
a servant called to be an apostle, a servant of Jesus Christ called
to be an apostle. This word servant there is bond-servant,
bond-slave, and this is where it came from. Now listen to it.
Now, these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
If you buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve. And
in the seventh year he shall go out free for nothing. In other
words, the man's a slave, he's a servant, and he shall serve
six years, and the seventh year he's free. You can't touch him,
he's free, let him go. If he came in by himself, he'll
go out by himself. If he was married, his wife will
go with him. If his son, if his master's given
him a wife, she'd mourn him sons and daughters, the wife and her
children, she'll be her master's, he'll go out by himself. Now
look at verse 5. But if the servant shall say,
I love my master, I love my master. Here's a slave, here's a slave,
a servant, who's offered his freedom to go and do what he
will, but he says, I love my master, I love my wife, I love
my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him
to the judges." And what do you suppose the judges are going
to say? The judges are going to sit down and look at him.
And they're going to say, now have you considered this? Now if you go through this, you're
not your own, you belong to your master. There's no seven years
for you. There's no jubilee for you. There's
no freedom for you. Seven years for you. There's no jubilee for you. There's
no freedom for you. You're here to stay 100%. Everything
you have and are belongs to Him. Have you counted the cost? Have
you thought this over? Where He sends you, you'll go.
What He gives you, you'll wear. What He gives you, you'll eat.
Where He puts you to live, you'll live. Where He puts you to serve,
you'll serve. You're a slave forever. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. Understand that. That's what I'm saying. All right,
the judge will say, now watch it. Then he shall bring, he shall
also bring him to the doorpost, and his master will take an oar,
and bear his ear through with an oar, and he'll serve him forever. That's a bond slave. That's a
disciple. And that's exactly what our master
was talking about there in Luke 14, when he says, sit down and
count the cost. I know the preachers are standing
in the pulpit. Don't you want to go to heaven?
Yes, everybody wants to go to heaven. Raise your hand. You
want to go to hell, do you? You want to be saved? Come on
down here and shake my hand. I don't do that. Not going to.
I say to you this. You count the cost. This thing
of discipleship and a servant of the Lord is an ear-boring
ceremony. And that's after somebody has
said, I love my master. I love his kingdom, I love his
family, and I'm staying right here forever, forever. Now recently a dear friend of
mine, pastor in a certain place, such and such an age, decided
he's never been happy. So he quits the ministry and
left his wife and children, moved off to another state, got him
a job. You say, what's your response? He never had his ear bored. He never had his ear bored. People
have been here. They have played the game a little
while. Got attracted to something else
and left. Never had the ear bored. A bond servant is forever. Forever. You say they don't have
to hear you preach. They ain't hearing nobody preach. They never had their ear bored.
They got baptized. They joined a church, they got
on a roll, they even did a little teaching, but they never had
their ear bored. When you back up to the door
and tell the master, bore my ear, now wait a minute, you know
what this means? I know what it means. Have you
counted the cost? I've counted the cost. You here
to stay? I'm here to stay. Bore their
ear. Bore their ear. That's discipleship. And then
secondly, listen to me. The servant not only has counted
the cost, And willingly, he's a willing, loving bondservant
forever. And the rest of them are playing
games. And the servant, secondly, the slave has one object, his
master's glory. It doesn't matter where he lives
or where he serves, what we do in word or deed, we do it for
the glory of God. No flesh shall glory in his presence. Paul said, God forbid, God forbid
that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ Jesus. I'll tell you if two angels,
if two angels stood tonight before the throne of God and he would
say to those two angels, I'm sending you two down to the earth,
one of you I want to govern a kingdom, the other I want to sweep the
streets to fulfill my purpose. Do you know those two angels
wouldn't care which one of them swept the streets and which one
of them governed the kingdom? They wouldn't care a bit in the
world because they came down here to do the Master's will.
Whatever his will is, it doesn't matter. We've got to tear up our blueprints
and we've got to destroy our ambitions and we've got to bow
to the will of our King. I want you to turn to Scripture.
I never did see this before. We were sitting out in the yard
down in Cherokee a few nights ago, and I was talking about
this message, and Paul gave me this scripture. Isaiah 23, 9. Listen. Isaiah 23, 9. Just put a little circle around
this. The Lord of Hosts has purposed it. The Lord of Hosts has purposed
it, Isaiah 23, 9, to stain the pride of all glory. And the word
is to pollute it. of all glory, and to bring into
contempt all the honorable of this earth. I tell you, the servant
of Christ has but one object, and that's to glorify his Lord.
Whether I sing, or preach, or pray, or witness, or clean the
building, or cut the grass, or sweep the floor, or minister
to the sick, or rejoice in the gospel, or give, or whatever
I do, God be glorified. God be glorified. Use me or don't
use me. Put me where you please. Let
me do what you will, that God may be glorified. Here's the
third thing. The disciple, the servant, the bond slave, he has
but one message. That's his master's message.
Turn over to 2 John chapter 7. That's his master's message.
We don't have any other message to deliver. We're not trying
to please men. We're not trying to... to get
along. We're not trying to build anything
here. We're just trying to preach the
gospel. You know, our Lord said, other
sheep I have, them I must breed. My sheep will hear my voice.
And this servant's willing to go wherever and preach to whomever
and serve whenever that one of those sheep may hear the gospel.
And he won't take but one message. Here in 2 John. Now listen to
it. Now listen to this. And we're just determined. Now
let me show you something here. What is this message? I preached
it this morning. His eternality, His deity, His
being the fulfillment of all the Old Testament scriptures,
His incarnation, His perfect righteousness and obedience,
His submission to the Father's will, His covenant headship,
His suretorship, His death on the cross in our place, His satisfaction,
His substitution, His burial, His resurrection as our justifier,
His ascension, His exaltation, His mediatorial work, His intercession,
His coming again. This is Christ. This is the doctrine
of Christ, the substitutionary work of Christ, the satisfaction
of Christ. That's the servant's message.
You know when you preached a sermon one time on looking for a bride
for Isaac, and that sermon came and they said, now sit down and
eat. He said, I'm not going to eat until I tell you why I'm
here. I'm not going to eat until I
tell you why I'm here. I'm representing my master. My
master sent me and I've come to tell you about my master.
Well, tell us about yourself. I'm nobody. He's the one. And
I'm not going to eat. Till I tell you, and when he'd
tell them, they said, now let's see. He said, I'm not going to
eat till Rebecca tells me something. Now, we're going to, we're going
to, my mouth is going to be honored and glorified here, or I'm not
going to fellowship here. That's exactly right. Now you
listen to this. Now listen. 2 John, verse 7. Many deceivers
entered into this world. who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh, God in human flesh, God-man, what I
preached this morning. No less, no more, God-man, only
mediator, huh? He's come in the flesh, but he
don't. And this is a deceiver and an antichrist. Now you look
to yourselves that you lose not those things which we have wrought,
but that we receive a full reward And now, whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in this doctrine of Christ, he hath not God. He hath not God. And he that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. This doctrine of Christ is all that he is, all that he
did, why he did it, where he is. That's this gospel of Christ,
Paul. That's this abiding in it. I
don't mean just touches it. every year to let everybody know
he's a Calvinist, but he abides in it. He continues in it, abides
in it, waters in it. I'll wake you up with a little
story. Just before Charlie Payne went down to have serious heart
surgery, we had him over to our house for a big supper, and my
wife baked a banana pudding, which is his favorite dish. And
she baked one in a great big I'm not exaggerating. It's that
long and that wide and about two and a half, three inches
deep. That banana pudding. And I looked over at Charlie
and he's sitting in the middle of the table. He said, you know
what? I said, what? He said, I could dive in that
and roll over and just go. You remember that? That's this
gospel. I could dive in it, roll over
and devour it. That's abiding in this gospel,
looking for nothing new. Let's just camp right here, huh? All right, read on. Now verse
10, if any, if there come unto you, any unto you and bring not
this doctrine of Christ, receive him not into your house.
Now, please listen. I've got loved ones, very close,
who do not know Christ, and they're welcome in my home. and I'm welcome
in there. We'll keep that door open, that
door of communication. But if they come into my house
denying this gospel, denying this gospel, trying to turn my
heart and the heart of others in my home away from this gospel,
there's the door. That's what he's talking about.
If some preacher comes into your home, you know, a friend, a neighbor,
our homes are We entertain anybody strangers what we share what
we have but don't you come bring in another gospel in my home
See what I'm talking about. Don't you come bring in another
gospel another God? And that's what he's saying here
Don't bring another God another gospel Because they're not gonna
permit it. All right, read on Don't you
receive him into your house? Don't you beat him God speed.
Don't you buy him a tank of gas? Don't you say God bless you?
Let me tell you something. My dear wife was in the hospital
down here some time ago, and one of these, oh, these hall-walking
preachers, they're up and down the hospital. They'll worry you
to death when you get in the hospital. They all got to come in and win
you to the Lord and have a prayer, you know. And one of them came
in with all these smiles and sweet nothings, you know, and
Doris is lying there. And he said, well, sister, let's
have a word of prayer. She said, I'd rather you wouldn't.
Praise the Lord. Glad you did it. And that's what
you ought to do. Now, he doesn't talk to your
God, does he? Would you let somebody come in
your hospital room, burn incense to Baal? Now, come on, would
you? Well, that's the same thing. I stand in one hospital room,
a preacher came in, and, well, he said, your pastor's here,
I won't have prayer, but as he went out, he said, luck with
you. You want him praying for you?
Make up your mind, old boy, whether you're going to depend on God
or not. Tell him to get out. You're paying for that room about
$500 a day. That's right. You say it's harsh. Is it? Might wake him up. Tell them you don't worship the
same God, you don't worship the same Christ, you don't believe
the same gospel, and you'd rather they wouldn't pray in your presence. That's what this says right here.
Verse 11, He that biddeth him Godspeed is a partaker of his
evil deeds. Let me show you one stronger
than that on this one message. His servant. You turn to Deuteronomy
13. Now this, if you don't have a
good, strong confidence and faith In the glory of God, this will
rock you. Now Moses said this in Deuteronomy
13. Now listen to me. Deuteronomy
13. I'm going to begin reading with
verse 6. Deuteronomy 13, 6. Now listen
to this. And God is jealous of his glory
and his deity and his gospel. I'm telling you, you touch the
Lord God anywhere but here. That's right, he's jealous of
his glory. All right, Deuteronomy 13, 6. If your brother, the son
of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife
of thy bosom, your own wife, or your friend, which is as your
own soul, entice you secretly, say, let's go serve another God. This sovereign God, this almighty
God. You don't want to be tied up
with this anymore. You don't want to go. You come
on and go down to where we go, you know. Come on now. Come on
now. Get away from where you are.
This worshipping the almighty God. Let's go serve other gods
which you have not known. You know your fathers, namely
of the gods of the people round about you. Huh? People of your
own community. They worshiping other gods. That's
right. And they say, you come go to
church with me. Let's go serve other God. Read on. Now unto
thee, or far off from thee, from one end of the earth into the
other end of the earth, thou shalt not consent unto him, nor
hearken unto him, neither shalt thou pity him, neither shalt
thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely
kill him. Thy hand shall be the first upon
him to put him to death. and afterwards the hand of all
the people, and thou shalt stone him with stones that he die,
because he has sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt and from the house
of bondage." This man committed the most serious error in the
eyes of Almighty God to try to wean the heart of one of his
children away from the Lord God, kill him. Now you can't do that,
but I'm saying that in the Old Testament is what they did. But you can do what John did,
you can say, for me and my house, we'll serve
the Lord. All right, the book of Acts,
I'm going to wind this down, a couple more points. The servant,
this bond slave, bond slave, he's counted the cost and he
bore it his ear. He has one object, his master's
glory. He has one message, his master's
gospel, one message. And fourthly, he calls nothing
he has his own. It's not his, it belongs to the
master. In Acts chapter 4, verse 32,
it says this, And the multitude of them that believed were of
one heart, the kingdom of God, the family of God, of one soul.
Neither said any of them that all of the things he possessed
were his own. They're not mine. They're his. Now I'm going to tell this story.
A man preached it here years ago. I don't think I've told
it since he left here years ago, but our Lord gave a parable. He said that there was a collector
of pearls who found one pearl of great price and he went and
sold all that he had to buy that pearl. Everything he had, he
wanted that pearl. So he sold all that he had and
bought the pearl. When some preacher got a stow,
he said, this is a parable. A man comes by a jewelry store
and stops and looks in the window and there's the most beautiful,
gorgeous, perfect pearl he's ever seen. Just perfect. He goes
charging into the store, and he says to the proprietor,
he says, is that pearl for sale? The man said, yes, it's for sale.
I've got to have it. Got to have it. What'll it cost? And the man behind the counter
said, well, it'll cost everything you have. Everything you have. Well, he took out his billfold,
you know, and he opened it up, and he said, there, there's everything
I have. And he took it out, laid it on
the counter, This man pulled back about $10 and said, well,
I'll need this to buy gas for my car to go home. And the fellow
said, oh, you got a car? Well, yes. He said, it'll cost
you your car. Get the title deed out. Well, he got it out, you
know, and laid it there on the counter. He said, now, he said,
how am I going to drive to drive home? Oh, he said, you got a
home. I didn't know you had a home.
Get the deed to the home out and put it here. I told you it
cost you all you had. Yeah, but he said, where's my
wife and children gonna live? Oh, you got a family. Didn't
know you had a family. Lay their birth certificates
down. They belonged to me too. Everything you've got. Everything
you've got. You still want the pearl? Yes,
so he said, I want it. I'll take it. So he takes the
pearl. And he starts out. And the man
behind the counter said, wait for him. So he came back. Now he says, here's your money.
Now you remember, that's my money. That's not yours. That belongs
to me. And when I want it, you'll bring
it to me, won't you? He said, here's the deed to your
car. But that's not your car, it's my car. That is not your
car. That's my car. That's the Lord's
car. And if I want somebody to drive it, it'll be like you want
it. And here's the deed to your house, but that is not your house.
That's my house. And those children, when I take
one of them, they're mine, aren't they? Then you give them to me,
then don't you complain. I'm going to let you use them. I'm going to let you enjoy them.
But when I want it, it's mine. Is that what I'm saying? That's
a disciple, that's a servant. You know, back there when I read
it, he said if he's come in and his master's giving him wife
and children, and he goes out, he leaves the wife and children.
They're not his, they belong to the master. Didn't I read
that over there? So the fellow that wanted to stay and had his
ear bored, he said, I love my master, I love my wife and children. I want to be here. I won't leave."
Okay, boy, there. Boy, there. I told the people down in Cherokee,
North Carolina, I said, one man, one man can build a house, one
man and his wife can build a house practically alone, finance it
and pay for it for a home. And 15 men can't build a little
house of worship preach the gospel. Something wrong, isn't it? I
believe you give me 15 disciples, I'll be one. I bet you could,
with 15 bond slaves. One man, I told the fellas in
the study a while ago, one man can send three children to college. Some of you sitting right here
have sent one or two or three children to college, and you
know what it costs to send them to college. And you can do it.
You and your wife did it. But 20 or 30 people can't send
a missionary to Africa or somewhere else to preach the gospel? Give
me 15 disciples and I'll send one. That's what I'm saying. Give me 15 disciples. 15 folks
that have bought the pearl. And I'll send him. I'll send him. And I've told
these preachers, the young preachers, that everybody wants a 13th Street
in two years. It don't come that way. It don't
come that way. It comes through 25, 30, 35 years
of faithfulness out there and up here. And there was a man in a city
I read about years ago. that started a watermelon stand.
He was a poor man, but he put up a watermelon stand. He bought
some watermelon and peaches and apples and some things and sat
there. And year after year he sat there
and he sat there and he sat there. And he sat there faithfully and
he kept enlarging and enlarging. And he sat there until 30 years
later he had two grocery stores. He sat there. And that's what
a servant will do. If a man's committed, if he's
committed to Christ, if he's committed, he's had his ear bored,
if he ain't going nowhere, I'm here to stay. I'm here to stay. And last of all, I'll close,
and you're so patient and so kind, but we're trying to learn.
That's why I'm trying to learn. I want to know what this thing
is to know God. I want to know what it is to
be a disciple. Christ said some people couldn't
be his disciple. I want to be. I want you to be.
But I believe the disciple, the servant, wants nothing more than
to hear a well done from his heavenly Father. Nothing more. The praises of men, we're not
interested in them. I think we learn from stories. I preached out at North Carolina,
a little boy, his daddy asked him, he said, how come you like
to hear Mahan preach? He said, well, he'll preach a while, and then
he'll tell you something. And then he'll preach a while. I'm
going to tell you something now. This preacher got on an airplane,
and he didn't have a Bible with him. He just had his briefcase
and newspaper. He got on an airplane, he sat
down, put his briefcase under the seat and took out his newspaper,
and he was sitting there and a fellow came up and sat him
aside. He nodded and went back to his paper. He got up there
and the fellow sitting beside him trying to make conversation
turned and he said, he said, I'm in business with my father. And the preacher thought a minute
and he said, well, he said, I am too. I'm in business with my
father. And the plane flew a little while longer, and the fellow
next to him said, we're in the jewelry business. We deal in
jewels. And the preacher thought, jewels?
When he makes up his jewels. Yeah, he said, my father and
I are in the same business. We're in the jewelry business.
And the fellow a little while later said to him, said, well,
sir, we only deal in the best jewels. And this preacher said,
we do too. the very best. Nothing was said for a while.
After a while, the man sitting next to him turned to the preacher
and said, incidentally, he said, I'm on my way to meet my father
now and give an account. And the preacher said, I am too.
I don't know when, but I'm going to meet him and I'm going to
give an account. And after a while, a fellow looked
over at him and he said, I sure hope he's pleased with what I've
done. And the preacher looked at him
and said, friend, I sure hope he's pleased with what I've done. Don't you? Bond servant. I want to be a bond servant.
I'm not here temporarily. and He is.