Now, if you will, just keep your
Bibles closed for the moment, and I'll have you read something
in a little bit. But Peter and John went to the
temple. The Scripture says that the hour
of prayer. And as they went into the temple
through the gate called Beautiful, There was a man sitting there
begging, asking alms of the worshippers who came into the temple, holding
up his grubby hand to Peter and John, hoping to receive something
from them. He'd been in this impotent state
for over forty years. And when Peter and John came
to him, Peter said, I don't have any silver or gold, but such
as I have, everlasting, eternal riches,
infinite riches, such as I have, give I unto thee. In the name,
in the name. the character and power and glory
of that name. In the name of Jesus Christ,
rise up and walk. And the scripture says that man
leaped and walked and ran about the temple. And all the people
marveled, the common people marveled when they saw this man whom they
knew to be laying from his mother's womb, leaping and praising God.
And they wanted to exalt the disciples. The common people
wanted to honor the apostles, and they looked upon them in
a strange way, thinking, I guess they were gods. And Peter spake
to them and said this. He answered the people, and he
said, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? And why do you look
on us as though by our own power or holiness we made this man
to walk? Be it known unto you. that his
name and through faith in his name have made this man strong
whom you see and know. It's by the faith of and in the
name of Jesus Christ that he lives and that he walks and that
he's made whole. Well, the religious Pharisees
and leaders took a different view of the situation. They had
no thought of exalting and honoring the apostles or hearing anything
about the name of Christ. But rather they laid hold of
the apostles and demanded to know by what authority they did
this miracle. By what authority and in whose
name do you work these miracles? And Peter answered them and said,
You elders of the people and you rulers of Israel, if we this
day be examined of this good deed done to this impotent man,
and by what means he's made whole, be it known unto you, and to
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ,
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by
Him, by Christ, does this man stand here before you whole.
And this is the stone which was set at naught. This is the cornerstone
which was set at naught of you builders. Building your religious
temple and building your religious organization and building your
hope for eternity, you've set aside the cornerstone. He's the
head of the corner. And neither is there salvation
in any other, for there's none other name under heaven, none
other name. I wish I could convey to you
the importance of that four-letter word, N-A-M-E, the name of Jesus
Christ. There is none other name in the
name of Jesus, rise up and walk. By whose authority and whose
name have you done this? It is through faith in his name
that this man is made whole. And there's none other name under
heaven. We've got to name the name of
Christ. And it's not this naming the
name of Christ is not verbalizing Jesus. It's with a heart of understanding
of who He is, who Christ is, what authority has been given
to Him in heaven and earth. You see that. Whosoever shall
call upon that one name which identifies that one Redeemer
with sufficient effectual power to say, And that's the only name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And
so the leaders said, no more, no more. That it spread no further
among the people. Speak no more. We say unto you
henceforth, no more are you to speak in this name. You can preach
and you can give your money and you can conduct religious services
and you can go through the motions, but this name, No more. We're
not going to hear this name any more. This authority and power
and glory of this name, that we will not hear. That we will
not hear." So Peter answered them again, and he said, now,
whether it's right in the sight of God to hearken unto you and
to conform to your wishes and to bow to your threats, you be
the judge. But we cannot but speak that
which we've seen and heard. A man can't tell what he hasn't
seen or heard any more than he can come back to where he hadn't
been. And they said, we'll continue to preach what we've seen and
heard. And these powerful, influential leaders of religion threatened
them, threatened them, and warned them. Don't preach
in this name anymore. Now, verse 23, I want you to
turn to Acts 4.23. What did the disciples do? What did they do? Well, the first
thing they did after they were let go, and being let go, Acts
4.23, and this is what caught my attention, and being let go,
being released, They went to their own company. They went
to fellowship with and talk with and be comforted by folks just
like them. These people called Christians.
They went to their own. And they reported all that the
chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they
heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord.
This is the first thing I find out about this company of people.
Peter and John out there in the battle, out there amid the enemy,
out there facing the conflict. And they were shoved about and
harassed and mocked and threatened. And when it was all over, they
came back to their little company. This company of people called
Christians. These people called Christians.
And as I read about what goes on in the next few verses, I
found out some things about these people called Christians. This
was a genuine article here. A genuine article. The first
thing I found out about these people is that these people called
Christians are people of prayer. The people of prayer. That's
the first thing. When Peter and John came to them and reported
what had happened out there, the first thing they did was
call on God. They're people of prayer. Did
you know that? It says in verse 24, And when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and they
said, Lord, thou art God. They're people who pray to the
living God. Lord thou art God, which hath
made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is."
There's nothing fancy about this prayer. There's nothing eloquent
about this prayer. This prayer simply recognizes
the power of God and the sovereignty of God and the glory of God and
recognizes the Scripture because here in this prayer they begin
to quote Scripture. who by the mouth of thy servant
David hath said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people
imagine vain things?" That's from Psalm 2. Yes, sir, these people called
Christians are people who pray. Old John Bunyan said one time,
You might as well expect a natural man to live without breathing
as to expect a believer to live without praying. I don't know how many of us spend
much time in prayer, but I do know this. Christians pray. Believers pray. They pray privately. Turn to Matthew, chapter six.
Matthew, the sixth chapter. This is what our Lord says about
this business of prayer. He says in Matthew, chapter six,
verse six, and when thou, when thou prayest, when you call on
God, Prayer is not just a religious exercise. Prayer is communion
with God. And I'll tell you, where there's
a need, there'll be a prayer to God where there's a need. As Ronnie talked in his prayer
to God about the awesomeness of this responsibility, I sat
there thinking, nobody knows the awesomeness of this responsibility.
Who's sufficient for these things? So what do I do? I have a need, I turn to where
the need's met. I turn to Him who's the fountain
of all grace. You want to know why people don't
pray? Same reason they don't come to Christ. They don't need
Him. They don't need Him. When thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, Pray to thy Father which is in
secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly." He'll minister to thee openly. But this, I know,
there's a public prayer. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
14. There's a place and there's a
time for public prayer. It's important. I thank God for
you who have the gift of prayer and who can lead us to the throne
of grace in prayer. And there's nothing more difficult
than public prayer. There's nothing we perform in
which we're in more need of the intercession and power of the
Holy Spirit than when we pray. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul's been
talking about this business of gifts. And there were some people
in the church who had the gift to preach the gospel in other
languages. We had that here last week. Brother
Milton Howard, Brother Walter Gruger were here. They speak
Spanish. Tonight, Brother John Flamming speaks German fluently.
He could stand up and really gain the awe and respect of the
fundamentalist religion by just talking the Charismatics, by
just talking in German. Nobody would know what he said.
But they'd be amazed. And some of these people had
that gift, and Paul is instructing them. He says in verse 13 of
1 Corinthians 14, Wherefore let him that speaketh in a language
Unknown, it's known to somebody, but it's not known to most everybody.
There's not anybody here who speaks German but John Fleming,
not another soul. So that's an unknown tongue to
me. Not many of you speak Spanish. It's an unknown tongue. But if
a brother speaks in another tongue, pray that he may interpret. If
you've got something to say to God's people in a language they
don't understand, have an interpreter hand you. That's what I do in
Mexico. I preach to those people, and they don't know a thing I'm
saying. Walter interprets. For if I pray in another language,
my spirit prays, I do pray and I talk to God and there's communication
with God, but my understanding as far as other people is concerned
is unfruitful. That doesn't mean that I pray
and I don't know what I'm praying. It means you don't know what
I'm praying. What is it then? I'll pray with the spirit and
I'll pray with the understanding. Now watch it. I'll sing with
the spirit, I'll sing with the understanding. When thou shalt
bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of
the unlearned say, Amen, at the giving of thanks, if he doesn't
understand what you say?" Verse 17, "...thou givest thanks
well, but the others not edify." I want you to look at verse,
if you will, let me show you something here. Verse 27, let's
go over. Or verse 26. Verse 26, same chapter,
1 Corinthians 14. How is it then, brethren, when
you come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine,
hath a tongue, another language, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation? Let all things be done unto edifying. This church where I preached
last week, everybody prayed at the same time. Be 45, 50 people
and everybody praying at the same time. So I read this to
them. I tried to show them where that's
confusion. That's not edification, that's confusion. And God's not
in that. If I pray, I pray with the Spirit,
but with the understanding. If I sing, I sing with the Spirit,
but with the understanding. Else, if a man's sitting there,
how's he going to say amen to what I'm saying, seeing he doesn't
understand what I'm saying? And if there's enough voices,
I don't understand what I'm saying. There's no way you can pray with
understanding with 45 voices in your ear, or 50, or 60. It's
impossible. And this is what he's talking
about here, verse 27, "'If any man speak in another language,
let it be by two, or at most by three, and that by course,
one at a time. And let one interpret. If there
be no interpreter, let him keep silence. Let him speak to himself
and to God. Let the prophet speak two or
three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another
that sitteth by, let the first one hold his peace. If a man's
got something to say, let the first man hush till he get through.
one at a time, read on. For you may all prophesy one
by one, pray one by one, sing one by one, that all may learn,
and all may be comforted. And the spirit of the prophets
is subject to the prophets. For God's not the author of confusion,
all this confusion. God's not the author of that
sort of thing, that's tumult, unquietness and confusion. God's
the author of peace, and all the churches And let your women
be sure they keep silent, not permitted for them to teach,
or to preach, or to speak. They're commanded to be under
obedience, and also say to the Lord, if they're going to learn
anything, if they've got a question to ask, let them ask their husbands
at home. It's a shame for a woman to speak
without church. Brethren, he said, pray for us.
Pray for us. Pray without ceasing. Men are
always to pray and not to think. but pray in the Spirit of God
and with the understanding, praying privately and praying publicly. These people called Christians
are praying people. They're people of peace, they're
people of worship, they're people who adore God. And then secondly,
let's go back to Acts 4 and see something else about these people.
They're praying people. They're praying people, but they're
not There are a lot of people given to confusion and emotionalism. Their worship is a solemn worship.
God is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent.
Be still and know that I'm God. Oh, there's excitement in the
Word. There's an Amen. That's what I read a while ago. The man is sitting there listening,
and he understands what you're saying. He's edified, and he
says, Amen. So be it. I agree. But he doesn't jump up while
you're preaching and carry on a lot of foolishness, holler
and preach it, brother, and now you've got it and carry it on
one at a time. Not calling attention to ourselves,
we're trying to magnify the name of God. I'm worried about emotionalism
being carried to the extreme so that the edification of the
people is neglected. Rejoicing. We can rejoice in
the Lord and we can rejoice in heart and mind and soul. without
disturbing the worship of the Lord. It's just so. All right,
notice this. These people, called Christians,
are a bold people. Look at verse 29 of Acts 4. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings. Here they've been threatened,
they've been harassed. The people out yonder have turned
against them, and they're saying, Lord, behold their threatenings.
And you know, they didn't ask God to destroy these enemies.
That prayer was not lifted up in the household of faith, asking
God to destroy those people out there. We know that if it weren't
for God's grace, we'd be with them out there in opposition
to the gospel. And they didn't ask the Lord to deliver them
from the battle. They didn't ask the Lord to deliver
them from the offense of the cross or suffering for Christ's
sake. They didn't ask that. They only ask for the grace of
God to more boldly preach the gospel. Listen to verse 29. And,
Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy service that
with all boldness we may preach thy word. I think most of you know, and
I told a few this morning, that I was invited over to Indiana
last week to preach. I'd never met the pastor of the
church, I'd never been in the the building, but a man who's
a member there recommended that I come and preach for four nights. And I went over, and I preached
Tuesday night and Wednesday night, and I preached what I preached
to you. I preached boldly to them the gospel of God's grace.
And on Tuesday night, after the service was over, and the pastor
went home, his phone began to ring. And the people began to
say that they didn't want me to preach anymore. They didn't
want that priest in their church. And so the next morning, the
pastor notified me through one of the men that the meeting was
over, that I couldn't preach in that church anymore. And the
man said to the pastor, said, well, pastor, he's preaching
the truth. And the pastor replied, and this
is a classic statement. Even if he were preaching the
truth, he couldn't preach it here. Not here. Well, I'll tell you this. True
Christians are bold people. And they're bold in preaching
the truth. That's what they prayed here, that God would, with all
boldness, enable them to speak His Word. With all boldness. I like that story of Hugh Latimer.
Hugh Latimer lived in the days of Henry VIII. Henry VIII was
a lascivious, wicked king, but religious, most religious. He
was most religious. In fact, he was the founder of
the Church of England. He established it when they kicked
him out of the Roman Catholic Church. And he established the
establishment. And he was the head of the Church.
Did you know that? King Henry VIII was the head of the Church
of England. And Hugh Latimer was one of his
preachers, one of the chaplains. about the castle, about the court,
the royal courtyard. And they had, of course, services
every Sunday. And Hugh Latimer was assigned
to preach before Henry VIII, and I don't know which wife he
had then, but number three, four, five, and all of the court, the
royal court. And Hugh Latimer chose as his
subject Hebrews 13.4. And he stood up before the King,
Henry VIII, and all of his court, and he said, Marriage is honorable,
and the bed is undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers gotta
judge. And he preached his message.
And he went back to his humble dwelling, and he wasn't there
but a little while, till a messenger came to Hugh Latimer from King
Henry VIII. And the messenger had this to
say. I can't quote it verbatim, of course, because I don't have
it written down, but the messenger said this to Bishop Latimer. King Henry sends his greetings, and asking that you try to remember
before whom you stand. You stand before His Sovereign
Majesty, King Henry VIII, who has the power to destroy you
and the power to take your life. And remembering that, next Lord's
Day, you will be asked to preach one more time before King Henry
VIII, keeping in mind before whom you stand. That's pretty
good warning, isn't it? And that's almost what he said.
You read this story. That's pretty close to what he
said. Well, of course, everybody looked forward to the service
the next Sunday. I would. I'd be sure to be there. And Hugh Latimer, they had the
singing or whatever they did, and so forth. And this great
old man who died a martyr, didn't he? This great old man stood
up, and these were his words, if I can remember them. He said, I have been reminded
before whom I stand on this large day, His Majesty and Royal Highness
sovereign ruler of England, who holds my life in his hand. I've
been reminded before whom I stand, King Henry VIII. But I'm also
reminded before whom I stand, the King of kings and the Lord
of lords, the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth, my Lord
Jesus Christ. And so my text will be this morning,
Marriage is holy unto the Lord, and the bed is undefiled, and
whoremongers and adulterers God will still judge." That happened,
and they killed him. Do we have that kind of boldness? You see, these people called
Christians do. They do. They don't look for
a fight, but they don't run from one. That's what I believe. I believe they don't look for
a fight. They don't stir up a fight. But they don't run from one.
And that's what they're praying, Lord, just give me the boldness
and the courage that I need to do what? Preach your word. That's it, Don. Preach his word.
Is that it, Charlie? That's what these people call
Christians. All right, thirdly, look at verse 32. Just finding
some things about these people called Christians. And of course,
God blessed that prayer. He said, verse 31, that when
they prayed, the place was shaken, and they were filled with the
Holy Spirit. And they did just that. They preached the word
of God with boldness. Here's the third thing about them. And
the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul. In other words, these people
called Christians are not only people who pray and people who
preach with boldness, but they're people who are united. They are
united. They're united heart and soul. I'll tell you, I wrote this down.
This is the way I observe it. My faith, my faith is not a family
or a national tradition. I'm not a believer in the sovereign
grace of God because that's what Americans believe. I'm not a
believer in the free grace of God and the and the atoning blood
of Christ because my family, the Mahans, were Baptists by
tradition. That's not my faith. It's a heart
faith, I trust. They're united in heart and spirit
and soul. That's where these people are
united. Our faith is not an emotional religious experience. Is yours?
Everybody wants to say, when will you say? When is not important. When is not important. Who is
important? I know whom I have believed.
I doubt seriously that I could take you to the time and the
place when some kind of commitment or contract was signed in which
I agreed with the terms of God and bowed to Him. I doubt seriously
I could do that. I doubt you could. I do know this, by God's grace
I have believed, by His grace I am believing, and by His grace
I hope to continue in the faith. and grow in that grace and faith.
Our faith is not an emotional religious experience, our faith
is not an empty profession, a decision made under some evangelical pressure
by someone brought into town to carry on a revival, nor is
our faith that old, cold, dry, dead doctrine. But it says here,
these people believed, and they were of one heart and one soul.
I tell you, in my soul tonight, in my heart, I believe God is
absolutely, infinitely, unchangeably sovereign in all things. Not
only in the creation of worlds and not only in the conduct of
providence, but He's sovereign in salvation one hundred percent.
You believe that? Where do you believe it? I believe
it in here. My soul believes it. My heart
believes it. My spirit responds to it. And my soul rejoices in God,
my Savior. And I believe Jesus Christ is
God incarnate, God in human flesh. And by His substitutionary obedience,
and by His substitutionary blood, and by the sin offering of His
cross, I am justified wholly before God, freely and wholly
by Christ, plus nothing, minus nothing, and made righteous before
the King, accepted in the Beloved. And He is my great High Priest.
having a priesthood forever, like Melchizedek. He is my mediator
and my reigning king, and I can say I'm broken and I'm bowed,
I'm converted and I'm conquered, I'm called and I'm constantly
coming, I'm redeemed and yet I'm resting, I'm tried but I'm
trusting in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. Are you with me?
Are you with me? You are if you've ever beheld
Him, because I tell you to look on Christ in His redemptive glory
is to take away any awe, fear, or attraction in any other direction. There's nothing else. That's
it. There's nothing else. Fourthly,
these people called Christians, they've seen the Lord. They're
united in heart and soul, and they'll never leave. But fourthly,
these people called Christians are a family. They're a family. One family. Now, some of you understand what
I'm saying here, and some of you won't. But Acts 4, 32, it
says, And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart
and one soul, and neither said any of them, that all of the
things which he possessed were his own. The things we possess
are not our own. The things we possess are not
our own. They belong to our Father. That's
who they belong to, first of all. They're not ours, they belong
to Him. You say, this is my house and my car and my land and my
savings and my... No, it's not either. It belongs
to God. Belongs to God. And belonging
to the Father, it belongs to the whole family. Is that not
correct? That's the way it is over at 2222 Stephen Street.
What's mine belongs to Dice. What God's given me belongs to
Paul and Mindy, Bob and Becky, Danny and Kathy, six and a half
grandchildren. That's right. It's theirs. If
it's the daddy's, it's theirs. And that's the way we look, that's
the way believers look on this family. What we have belongs
to our Heavenly Father, therefore it doesn't belong to us, it belongs
to the family. That's what they said here, they
had all things common. And my friends, this is not communism
at all. This is Christian love. We don't
have a communism over at our house, we don't have a communism
in the family of God. This is Christian love. Look
at the next thing, verse 34. Neither was there any of them
that lacked. Nobody was in need among them.
Now, we can't feed and clothe the whole world, but we can sure
take care of our family. We can take care of our family,
that's right. First thing, they said, nothing that we possess
is our own. It belongs to our father. Consequently,
it belongs to the family, and they had all things common. In
verse 34, didn't anybody in the family laugh? Nobody in the family
went hungry, nobody in the family went naked, nobody in the family
had a need that wasn't provided by the other members of the family.
Hold that place there and turn to 1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy
chapter 5. I know we hear this all the time
referring to the natural family, but My soul, if it applies to
the natural family, wouldn't it much more apply to the spiritual
family? 1 Timothy 5, 8, listen to this. But if any provide not for his
own, and especially those of his own house, his own kindred,
his own family, he's denied the faith, he's worse than an infidel.
A person who won't take care of his own, Well, John, does
that only apply to the natural blood? I believe it applies to
the family of God. Look at verse 35. And they sold
their goods, and laid them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution
was made unto every man according to his need. Not according to
his wants. Not according to his wants. But
his needs are met. That's what God's promised to
supply our needs. Not our want. That doesn't mean
everybody has to live in the same size house, and drive the
same size car, and eat the same size steak. That doesn't mean
that at all. It means needs are met. A person's needs are met.
How are the needs met? They're met by God through his
children. His children look after one another. Brothers look after one another.
Sisters look after one another. Especially in a family of four.
God, my God, shall supply all your needs, not your wants, not
your desires, but all your needs according to His riches and glory
through Christ Jesus. And that's what these people
did right here. They met the need of one another. And God
supplied it, and God supplied it through His children. These
people are called Christians. People are called Christians.
They're family. They're truly brothers and sisters.
Look out after one another, and care for one another, and provide
for one another, and see that there needs a man. There needs
a man. All right, let's look back at
verse 33. And these people are called Christians.
They have preachers and pastors who preach the truth to them
in power. Where you find believers, you'll
find preachers and a pastor that tells the truth. That's right.
God's not going to put His sheep under a false shepherd. won't
do it. And these people called Christians
have preachers and pastors who preach the truth of God, holy
and in power, and they support them, and they care for them,
and they hold them up in prayer and encourage them. Look at verse
33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus. Great power. But not only was
God's power and grace upon the apostles, upon the leaders, upon
the pastors, but look at the next line, and great grace was
upon them all. Great grace was upon them all.
I tell you, if we believe, it's by grace. If we persevere and
continue in the faith, it's by grace. If we love each other,
it's only by grace of God. If we give and forgive and comfort
and console, if we bear the fruit of the Spirit, it's by the grace
of God. Great grace was upon them all. Great grace. Oh, to grace, how
great a debtor daily I am constrained to be. Let thy goodness like
a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. I want you to hold that
place there and turn to Romans 12. Open your Bibles to Romans
12. I'm a great believer, a very
strong believer, and the longer I live and the more I preach
and study the Word of God, the more I'm committed to this belief,
this faith, that the ministry of the gospel in a certain place
is not a one-man ministry. It's the ministry of God conducted
through all His people there. Everybody's a part of the ministry.
everybody. The pastor just is the one who
leads and who preaches normally, but others preach and teach and
pray and give and witness and comfort and supply. The ministry
is in a certain location and place, is the ministry of God
through all his people. Great grace was upon all. Look
at Romans 12, see if that's not what this is saying, verse 3.
I say through the grace given unto me, Romans 12, 3, to every
man that's among you. Don't think of yourself more
highly than you ought to think. Think solemnly with sobriety,
soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure
of faith. Who gave you faith? God. For as we have many members
in one body, and all members have not the same office, so
we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone members
one of another. We are family. We are a body
of Christ. Having the end gives, differing according to the grace
that's given to us. Who made us differ? God did. And whether prophecy, let's prophesy
according to the proportion of faith. Or ministry, let's wait
on our ministry. Or he that teacheth, on teaching.
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation. Or he that giveth, let him do
it with liberality. He that ruleth, let him do it
with diligence. He that showeth mercy, let him
do it with cheerfulness. And let love be without dissimilation, without conflict, trouble, abhor
that which is evil, and cling to that which is good, and be
kindly affection one to another, with brotherly love, in honor
preferring one another. That's a ministry of a family. All right, one other thing I
want to show you. And what I've said so far is these people,
these people of God, are praying people. They're bold people in
the gospel. They're united in faith, in heart
and soul. They're family. And they're people among whom
God has raised up people to preach and teach. They have a ministry.
God's given them a ministry. The whole congregation is united
in one ministry, to make Christ known. That's their desire, to
make Christ known. And then, in the sixth place,
these people called Christians, will be so blessed of God, and
out of their assembly, God will raise up men to go out preaching
the gospel. Look at verse 36, and there was
a man in the congregation named Joseph. whom the angels called
Barnabas, son of consolation, a Levite of the country of Cyprus.
He was a part of that group. Well, he had land, and he sold
it, brought the money, and laid it at the Apostles' feet. Who
is this man called Barnabas? You know. He wound up, out of
this little church here, out of this group, he wound up as
the comrade and right-hand man of the Apostle Paul. God raised
him up out of that group. Yes, he did. God called this
son of consolation to preach the gospel alongside the apostle
Paul. So let's take care of the business
at hand. These people are called Christians. Unique, unusual. God calls them peculiar. He calls
them a royal priesthood. He calls them a holy nation.
He calls them a different and peculiar people. Unusual. Unusual. Believe the Savior,
love the brethren, preach the gospel, and God will bless. Brother Barnard died in 1969, but I was with him for a number
of years, knew, I guess, more about him than anybody but his
wife and daughter. Most unusual gifted preacher
of the gospel. He was born in Alabama and lived
there as a small boy, and when he was about nine, ten, or eleven,
they moved to Texas. He lived in Texas and went to
school there and pastored there. Then he went on the road as an
evangelist, and he traveled for many years. And one time after
he had been gone so awful long, he was back in Alabama. preaching
a meeting somewhere near to the town, the country where he lived
as a small boy. And so one day, having nothing
to do, he got in his car and he drove over to the country
where he lived as a small boy. And the place had changed. He said, drastically changed,
just a lot of change. The roads were paved and all
these different things. He said he was looking for his
old house and he couldn't find it. Looking for the old farm
and he just somehow couldn't find it. It had been so long.
And he drove down a lane and he saw a man standing, mending
a fence. An old gentleman mending a fence
beside the road. And he said he pulled over and
stopped his car. And he walked over to the old gentleman and
he said, uh, howdy. And the man pushed his hat back
and said, howdy. And Barnard said, uh, do you
happen to know where Jim Barnard's old place was? The fellow looked
at him and said, uh, who are you? And Roth said, I'm Jim Barnard's
boy. And he said the old man reached
out and took him by the hand, clasped it tightly in his, looked
him in the eye and with a twinkle said, well, I don't know you,
but I know your dad. If you're Jim Barnard's boy,
you've got to be alright. You've got to be. And that's
what I'm saying. I don't know you, but I know
your father. And if you're his son, really and truly, you've
got to be alright. Isn't that right? You've got
to be. You've got to bear some resemblance to the father. And
that'll bear true no matter where you find him. If you don't know
him, but you know the father, you've got to be alright. Our Father, help us to know something
about this miracle. By nature, by birth, sons of
Adam, children of wrath even as others, walking in the lust
of this flesh, in the pride of life, in the lust of the eyes,
following the God of this world and the things of this world.
Oh, that we may be like those of old, bowed and broken, conquered
and called, Resting in Christ, believing, trusting in Him, finding
in Him all we need, all we need. Bring us together in Christ,
in one heart, in one soul, in one faith, one Lord, one body,
one God and Father of all. Give us that faith in Christ
and love for Christ that passeth understanding, and we'll enjoy
that fellowship and unity of spirit and heart in the body
of our Lord Jesus Christ. O pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry, while on others thou art calling, do not
pass me by. I pray in the wonderful name
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Amen.