Will you open your Bibles again
to the book of Ephesians, the second chapter? Ephesians, the second chapter.
Now the title of tonight's message, I'm not trying to be clever, but I'm giving it a name that
I think is appropriate The title of the message is Orthodox Paradoxes. Orthodox Paradoxes. In Ephesians 2 verse 8, For by
grace, free grace, sovereign grace, unmerited grace are you
saved, delivered, redeemed through faith. And that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. The
grace is the gift of God. Salvation is the gift of God.
Not of works. Not of works in any way, the
before or after the conversion. Not of works at all. Not of works. Not of works. Lest any man should
brag or boast. For we are his workmanship. We're created in Christ Jesus
unto good works. It's not of works, but it's unto
good works. A man is not saved by works,
but a man who has no works is not saved. Paradox. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ,
now listen to me, our Lord Jesus Christ said in John 6, They had murmured. They had encountered
something they didn't understand and couldn't comprehend. Why, they said, this man is Jesus
of Nazareth. We know him. We know his mother.
We know his sisters and brothers. How can he say, I came down from
heaven? He's a man. How can he be God?
Paradox. And he said, murmur not among
yourselves. No man, no man can come to me,
believe in me, except my Father which sent me draw him, and I'll
raise him up at the last day, and they shall all be taught
of God. And he that hath heard and learned,
taught, heard, and learned, taught of God, heard of God, learned
of God, cometh to me, believeth on me, can understand who I am
and what I did. You get those words? He that is taught of God, he
that hath heard of God, he that hath learned of God, can believe
me. One of the evidences, face it,
one of the evidences So clear to me, I see it, hear it every
day, encounter it every day. One of the evidences that a person
has not been taught of God, has not been taught of God, he may
have been taught of the best teacher called Gamaliel or whomever,
but he hasn't been taught of God. One of the evidences that
a man has not been taught of God, has not heard that voice
from heaven in his soul, He has not learned of the Father is
when a man continually has problems with the orthodox paradoxes. Not of works, unto works. How can that be? How can these
things be? They kept saying, how can these
things be? Nicodemus said, how can this be? Man enters his mother's
womb again? Nicodemus, Nicodemus. I told
you earthly things and you can't believe them. How can you believe
I tell you heavenly things? You haven't been taught of God.
You've got to be born again. You'll never understand the kingdom
of God. You've got to hear from God. You've got to be taught
of God. Are you listening? One of the evidences that a person
has so much trouble and struggle with what we call the orthodox
paradoxes and scriptures is he hasn't been taught of God. He
hasn't heard. He hasn't learned of the Father.
You see, a natural man, just an ordinary man, unregenerate, not born of God, and he may be
a brilliant, brilliant scholar, may be an intellect, may be one
of the finest, most educated men in your midst, but a natural
man, religious or otherwise, in the pulpit, in the world,
does not and cannot, I repeat, does not and cannot understand
the word of God, nor the gospel of Christ, nor the mysteries
of grace. Listen to these scriptures. Don't
turn to them. I want to move along quickly. Matthew 13, 13,
our Lord said, and He was speaking of the Pharisees and Sadducees
and scribes and lawyers, he said, seeing they see not. Hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand. They don't understand. Here he is telling some poor
plain fishermen that these educated leaders, doctors of religion,
didn't understand what these men understood. 1 Corinthians
1.18, Paul said, the preaching of the cross is to them who are
perishing foolishness, a stumbling block. 1 Corinthians 2.14, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
but foolishness, sheer nonsense. Neither can he know them, they
are spiritually discerned. The carnal mind, he said, the
carnal mind is enmity. Indeed, enmity, it's not subject
to the law of God, the word of God. It can't be. Isaiah, Bemoaned,
who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? I'll tell you, every man taught
of God, every man who hath heard from the Father, every man that
hath learned of the Father, every man, he said, come it to me.
But you see, a natural man has not heard of the Father. He has not been taught of the
Father. He has not learned of the Father. But when a person
is taught of God, and hath learned of God, and through the wisdom
of Christ, the Spirit of God takes him into the mysteries
of the Word of God. I'll show you that in Mark chapter
4. I would like you to turn to this
one, Mark the 4th chapter. And let me read two verses from
Mark 4. Here, verse 11 and 12, our Lord
Jesus Christ says this, Mark 4, 11 and 12, He said unto them,
James, John, Peter, Nathanael, Philip, He said to them, Unto
you it is given to know the mystery. of the kingdom of God. Mystery?
Now I want you to listen carefully while I read to you here and
other places the word mystery over and over and over again.
Mystery. Mystery. Mysterious. Under you
it is given, the gift of God's grace, to know the mystery. You've got the answer. Of the
kingdom of God, but unto them which are without These things
are done in parables, that seeing they may not see, that they may
see and not perceive, hearing they may hear and not understand,
lest at any time they should be converted and their sins be
forgiven them. Turn to Colossians 1, 25 and
26. Colossians 1, 25 and 26. Listen to this. Mystery. Paul says in verse 25, I made
a minister. Colossians 1.25, I made a minister
according to the dispensation of God which is given to me to
fulfill the word of God, to fully preach the word of God, even
the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations.
Most churches, congregations, and preachers would throw up
their arms in horror You hear me talk like this tonight, saying
that people sitting in their congregations were blind to the
mysteries of the kingdom of God. But all natural men are. I'll
show you another one, 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul said he'd been made a minister
of the mysteries of God. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 7. Listen. We speak the wisdom of
God in a mystery. 1 Corinthians 2, 7, we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory. It's not a mystery
because it's a new thing. Ancient is as old as God, if
I can say that. Older than the world. Which none
of the princes of this world knew, none of the intellects,
none of the leaders of this world had to know that they wouldn't
have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, the human
eye hath not seen, the human ear hath not heard, is never
entered into the heart of man, the things God prepared for them
that love him. But, but, but, he hath revealed
these mysteries unto us by his Spirit. What mysteries you're
talking about, now don't turn to all these, it'll take us too
long, but if you want to, jot them down, read them later. Ephesians
1.9 is called the mystery of his will, which he purchased,
purposed, purposed in himself before the world began. Paul
said, I made a minister of the mystery of God. I speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery. Our Lord said to his disciples,
under you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God. The mysteries, what are you talking
about? The mystery of his will, which he purposed in himself
before the world began. Ephesians 3, 4, the mystery of
Christ. Pilate said, where did you come
from? I know. Are you a king? Who are you? I know. The mystery of Christ. Ephesians
5.32, the mystery of Christ and His church. Husband, love your
wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. I speak,
he said, of the mystery of Christ and His church. Read the Song
of Solomon, the mystery of Christ and His church. Ephesians 6.19, the mystery of
the gospel. The gospel, the dynamite, the
power of God unto salvation. The gospel, the one gospel, the
ancient gospel, the gospel of God's glory, the gospel of power,
the gospel wherein the righteousness of God's revealed, that mystery
of the gospel. You know why in the end they
aren't preaching the gospel? They haven't entered into the
mystery of the gospel. You can't preach the gospel till
you enter into the mystery of the gospel. Colossians 126, the
mystery of Christ in you, which is the hope of glory. How can this man give us his
flesh to eat? I know. How can this man give
us his blood to drink? Are we talking about cannibalism?
They don't understand. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath everlasting life. My Father and I will come and
take up our bowl within you. Christ in you, the mystery of
God. That's what he's saying, the
mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1 Timothy 3.9,
the mystery of faith. The mystery of faith. I'll tell you this. In 1 Timothy 3.16, the mystery
of godliness. Now what's there? The mystery
of godliness. The world doesn't understand.
God was manifest in human flesh. He was announced and ministered
to by the angels. He was vindicated, justified
by the Spirit. He was preached to the dogs,
Gentiles, and He was believed on in this world. There's some
folks right here in this world who actually believe Jesus Christ. They actually believe Him. And
He was received up in the glory. That's a mystery. That's what
I'm saying. Our Lord said, unto you it is
given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and who are
all who have taught of God. Christ said, every man that has
taught of God and has learned of God, he comes to me savingly,
lovingly, willingly, continually, eternally. But you see, a natural
man, a human being, this is a good book, religion's a fine way. A man, natural man, in the pulpit,
in the church, or in the world, he may have a Bible. He may respect
it. He may admire it. He may even
read it. He may memorize it. He may know
many of the facts of the Bible. He may get on one of these quiz
shows and outdo many who know Christ. because he's memorized
these peculiar, particular events and things. He may know some orthodox facts,
too. He may be able to talk to you
about the theory of atonement. Mr. Spurgeon said the atonement
he believed wasn't a theory, it was an experience. But the message of the Word and
the mystery of the Word and the wisdom of the Word he does not
know. And only ones who do know the
message of the Word and the mystery of the Word and the spiritual
wisdom of the Word are those who are born of God, taught of
God, who've heard of God, and have learned of the Father. I'll
show you something in Luke 24. Luke 24. Now, here are some men,
here are some men who've spent three and a half years three-and-a-half
years in the constant company and companionship of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Three-and-a-half years. And at
the end of that three-and-a-half years, after he'd been crucified
and risen, he sat down in Luke 24, 45, and opened their understanding. that they might understand the
scriptures. Can you think about that? He sat down with them and literally
opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And because men in the churches
and in the pulpit have not learned of the Father, nor have their
understanding opened, and have not heard, and have not been
taught. They continually have trouble with the mysteries of
the Word. They have trouble with the orthodox
paradoxes of the Word. And here's the difficulty, too.
These mysteries can never be explained. They have to be revealed. They can never be explained to
the satisfaction of a natural mind. I know some of you have
suffered such frustrations. Such frustrations. You've turned
to the word and you've seen these mysteries, this message, this
wisdom of Christ, and you've sat down with people whom you
love. Just as intelligent as you are, naturally speaking,
and just as zealous and enthusiastic as you are. You have a great
love for them, and you say, can't you see this? And they don't. They get mad. They grind their
teeth, you know, and they hit your heart. And you're so frustrated,
you say, it's so evident, it's so clear to me. It's clear to
you because God opened your eyes. You hear it because God said
it. They're hearing you, they're not hearing God. There's a difference. You're not God. They're hearing
you. You heard God. They're hearing
you. It won't work. You were taught of God. You heard
of God. You learned of the Father. They
got a sorry teacher, me and you. That's the reason they don't
understand. We speak to these ears. God speaks to the eye.
We say, look here, to these eyes. God says, look here, to spiritual
eyes. That's the difference. There's
a difference. Let me just give you a few of
these paradoxes. The Lord our God is one God.
One God. The Lord our God is one God.
And yet here He is revealing Himself as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. I don't understand that. Not
by nature, but I do by grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the Father One. They said, well, show us the
Father. He said, you're looking at Him. He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. There are three that by record
on earth, there are three that by record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And when you're taught of God,
you don't have any more struggle with that. And you hear the man of the apostolic
faith or some other faith saying, How can God be one and be three?
Natural man can't understand that. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ
is God. Yes, He's God. And yet He's the
Son of Man, born of woman, made flesh, dwelt among us. Isaiah 7.14, said a virgin. God will give you a sign, a virgin
will conceive and bring forth a son. And you'll call his name
Immanuel, God with us. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and he who made the world
was in the world, and the world didn't know him. 1 Timothy 2.5 says there's one
God, and one mediator between God
and man. The man, Jesus Christ, who's
God? Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,
and the government shall be on his shoulder. Number three, God is infinitely,
unchangeably sovereign. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of this earth.
God is sovereign over all things in creation, in providence, and
salvation. He is sovereign and does His
will even to the secret thoughts of men. And yet all men are responsible
and will be held accountable for every deed. That's right. The fact that God uses the wrath
of man to praise Him does not clear the man who showed the
wrath. That's right. Turn to Acts 2. Let me show you that. Almighty
God, though He uses the wrath of man to praise His justice
and accomplish His purpose, it does not lessen the responsibility
of the man who acted in wrath. God is sovereign, yet man is
totally, completely responsible for his evil deeds. Acts 2, listen,
verse 22. You men of Israel, you hear these
words? Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, anointed of
God, sent of God among you, and approved of God, attested by
God by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in
the midst of you, and you knew it. Him being delivered by the
determinate counsel, and foreknowledge, and foreordination of God, you
took, and you with wicked hands have crucified and slain the
Lord of glory." God's going to hold you responsible for that.
His blood drips from your hands, even though God in His majesty
and purpose turned Him over to you to do with, as you would.
He'll hold you responsible. That's right. Look at Acts 4.
See if this doesn't say the same thing. Acts 4. It says here, verse 20, Acts
4, 27. Of a truth against thy holy child
Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together.
What they gathered together to do? Do what your hand and counsel
determined before to be done. That wasn't in their mind. They gathered together to kill
Jesus Christ. That's what's on their mind.
They gathered together to put Him out of business. They gathered
together to shut His mouth. They gathered together to get
Him off their back. They gathered together to put
an end to His ministry. That's what they gathered around
to do. But when they gathered around to do what their wicked
hearts willed to do and wanted to do and determined to do, they
did what God Almighty predetermined before the world began to be
done by them. God's sovereign. And yet they're
foolish. wholly, totally responsible. That's right. That's right. His mercy will be glorified in
redemption, and His justice will be glorified in condemnation. There's a psalm over here you
ought to have marked, Psalm 76.10. Psalm 76.10. You ought to have
this marked in your Bible. It says in Psalm 76, 10, Surely
the wrath of man will praise God. Let them foam at the mouth. Let them rant and rave. Let their
veins stand out. Let them shake their fists. Let
them scream and holler. Let them spit and fuse. The wrath
of man will praise the Lord. Watch it now, and the remainder
of wrath, he'll restrain. He won't let it get out of hand.
The Communists are going to take over, not without him willing
it, they're not. You know, I get so tired of hearing
believers talk that way. I got a dear preacher friend.
He's, he's afraid of the Zionist movement. He's afraid of the
black movement. He's afraid of the Democrats. He's afraid of this. He's always,
the banks are going to take over. The farmers are going to be put
out of business. He just told, he's just always like a, like
a worm on a hot skillet. Something's fixing to take over.
Let me tell you something. the wrath of man who prays to
the Lord. Accomplish his will. And the
rest of it, you put a fence around it. And none of it going to get
out of hand. None of it. Now you just write
that down. God's sovereign. Hey, but man's wicked, wicked,
wicked. He always has been, always will
be. But this thing is like that old
Number 20 freight train used to come through my hometown.
He's always on time. And God's on time at every station. 1987, he's on time. 1988, he'll be on time. If we're
still around in 1989, he'll be on time that year, too. That's
right. Now, you can rest on that. You can believe that. You can't
rest on anything else, but you can rest on that. He's doing
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of this earth. And ain't none can stay his hand
or say unto him, what are you doing? Won't you quit asking
God what he's doing? And if you ever taught of God
and heard of God and learned of God, you'll quit asking him
what he's doing. That's right. You'll just say, thy will be
done. All right, now watch this fourth
thing. God did elect a people in Christ from the beginning
of this From the beginning. That's what he said, in the beginning.
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. No question
about that. No question about that. There's
no use, if people deny that, just turn and walk off. There's
no use arguing about that. That's a settled fact. There's
too many scriptures that, you didn't choose me, Christ said,
I chose you. We're chosen in Him before the foundation of
the world. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.
There's no doubt about that. That's just so. Barney, you say,
that ain't deep. That's just so. No use arguing. No question about it. Yes! Wait
a minute. Wait a minute. This is true,
too. All who want to come to Christ,
all who will come to Christ, all who do come to Christ by
faith will be saved. There's no problem there. You see, a saved man looks back
to election as the basic cause of his salvation. That's right. He looks back at election and
he knows that's the cause, because he chose it. But the unsaved
man cannot look back to God's election as the reason why he's
not saved. I look back to the elective grace
of God and I say, that's the reason I believe. But the unsaved
man will have to look back and say this, I don't believe because
I'm not willing to believe. That's the reason I don't believe.
He can't blame God's election. He got to blame himself. You
understand what I'm saying? Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. Why don't you come to me? Because
God didn't choose you. Oh, no, because you will not. You see, is that clear? It's
clear if you're taught of God. See, that's a paradox. That's
an orthodox paradox. Now, that's orthodox. When something's
said, it's orthodox. And God chose a people, that's
right. And anybody who wants to come can come. He said, are
you thirsty? Come. Are you weary and heavy
laden? Come. I'll give you rest. He'll never turn you away. There's
too many of them. The Canaanite woman, Blind Bartimaeus, the
leper, the thief on the cross. Our Lord didn't turn anybody
away. Never turns anybody away. But nobody can blame Him for
not coming. They have to blame themselves.
But those who do come, they look back and say, I came because
He called me. I came to Him because He came
to me. We love Him because He first loved us. Isn't that right? We know that. Now here's the next one. God
is love. God is love. And yet, His love
is a holy love. Therefore God, who is love, is
angry. The Bible says He's angry with
the wicked. I don't understand how God can
be loved and how God can be angry. God hated the workers of iniquity.
I don't understand how God can be loved and God can hate. I
know God is perfect love. He is. Perfect love. Holy love. You see, if He loved workers
of iniquity outside of Christ, He wouldn't be a perfect love.
He would be a holy love. He would be a compromising love.
The wrath of God abideth on the unbeliever. And yet God is love. The world
doesn't understand that, and I'll tell you the reason they
don't. They haven't been taught of God. They haven't heard of the Father.
They haven't learned of the Father. When you learn of the Father,
you learn this. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's where the love of God
is. His love is a holy love. His love is a divine love. His
love is a perfect love. It's in Christ. Orthodox paradox. Here's another
one, salvation by Christ is totally without works. If any man bring
any works, it's an insult to God and an insult to Christ.
One hymn writer said, sinner, nothing do, either great or small. Jesus Christ did it all long,
long ago. And yet our text that I read
a while ago said this, that we're created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. Unto good works. No man is saved
because he prays, but no man is saved who doesn't pray. No
man is saved because he calls on God, but how can a man be
saved who never calls on God? No man is saved because he works,
but no man is saved who does not work. James says, a faith
that does not produce works is not a saving faith, it's a dead
faith. This is the reason that so many
folks are having trouble. Now let me tell you, so many
people are having trouble with what we call law and grace. There's
no conflict between law and grace. Law is law and grace is grace.
You made this clear Sunday night a week ago. Law is law. There's
no grace in the law. There's no mercy in the law. You who have lived by the law,
don't you hear the law? There's no grace, there's no
mercy, there's no hope, there's no forgiveness, there's no leniency. God's law is as strict and as
cold as steel and as sharp as a sword. In God's grace, there's no law
in it. There's no works in it. There's
no deeds in it. There's no contribution in it.
Either before or after conversion. It's grace now. It's grace. It's grace from start to finish.
It's pure grace. It's unmixed grace. It's no,
you men down at Steel Mill got a bunch of alloys. You mix this,
that, and the other. It's your steel. God doesn't mix anything
with His grace. Anything about you, in you, or
of you. It's grace. It's the grace that can save
a thief on the very brink of hell. And he didn't do a blessed
thing. Not one thing. Now you think about it. And it's the reason these preachers
are having trouble, and I'll tell you the reason. They haven't
been taught of God. See, you can't handle a paradox
unless you're taught of God. You can't handle it. It's too
much for you. You can handle a millennium.
You can handle a tribulation. You can handle verbal or literal
inspiration. You can argue about all those
things, you see. You can have a real fistfight, but you can't
handle a paradox. You can't handle it. You've got
to be taught of God. You can't handle a mystery. And the mystery is this now.
It's a mystery. It's just as mysterious as that
little girl that was born. Some of you explain that to me.
What happened at that hospital? Now you explain that to me. There's
a little microscopic seed planted in the womb of that young
lady nine months ago. You couldn't even see it with
a microscope. And now after all this time,
nine months, she's even got fingernails, dimples, hair. She's got everything she'll ever
have. Sufficient to be a full grown woman. Explain that to
me. God did that. And I'll tell you
this, this thing of salvation is the same thing. There's nothing in that womb
to deceive the planet. And there's nothing in these
centers, natural centers, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. All
of them in them are balanced. to the seed of the Word by the
Holy Ghost, who gives life to sinners by the will of God, is
plenty. And that seed is plenty in the
beginning. Got everything in it to make
you just like Christ in eternity. Full, mature, complete Son of
God. You don't contribute nothing
to it. Nothing. That baby who came out of that
mother's afternoon lives. That baby breathes. And a child
of God breathes. He prays. And that baby, if you
don't hear that baby breathing, you're going to say one thing,
that baby's dead. If I don't hear you praying, I'm going to
say, that baby's dead. And that baby's going to walk.
And if you don't walk, I'm going to say, you're a lame baby. You're
not one of God's. And that baby's gonna love his
mama, her mama. That's right. Gonna love her
mama. And if that baby don't love her
mama, we say, I'm wrong with that baby. Must not be the right
baby and mama. Babies love mama. And that baby's
gonna be hungry. And gonna nourish. And gonna
take life from that mama. And every baby God gives birth
to is hungry. And gets life from God. pants
after the bread and the wine. That's right. Can't live without
it. So you don't walk down there
and make babies. That's right. And some preacher
don't come to you back there and say, have a baby. No, you
can't do it that way. Some soul wedding. God gives
And that's the reason I stand up here and I wait on God to
beget some babies. I put the Word out there, put
the Word out there, put the Word out there, put the Word out there.
And if He takes that Word and puts it in your old dead heart,
your old dead soul, now you can be religious without God, but
you can't be born without God. And there's no use in me going
back there and pulling you down the aisle now, no use in me talking
you into You believe this? You believe that? They don't
make you live. God gives life. Supernatural. You hear me? And the only people in here that
understand that are those that have been born of God. An ever-blessed
one of them nearly made a profession back yonder under some high-pressure
preacher before they ever lived. Before they ever lived. They
got religion, then they got saved. God saved them. That's right.
That's right. I'll tell you this next. Paradox. Orthodox paradox. One of the
evidences that men have not taught of God or learned of God or heard
of God, they don't understand these things. Preachers included. Every believer has a new nature
which does not sin. Never sins. It can't sin. Did you know that? Can't sin. Bible says he that is born of
God sinned not. You see, there is in regeneration
a new creation in Christ Jesus. And the object of that new creation
is holiness under the Lord. Holiness, pure, undefiled holiness. And that new creation, sin if
not because it's born of God. Your own nature can't do anything
but sin because it's born of the flesh. But that nature born
of God can't sin because it's born of God. It's the seed of
God. It's the son of God. And the
new man is a living incorruptible seed when it was planted that
had no sin in it. You know the reason little Jessica
is a sinner? Because she was born of a sinful
father. You know the reason that my new
nature will never sin? Because she was born of a holy
father. That's right. You see, that old
fleshly nature sins and always will sin. But the new life is
of God, and it can't sin. And that new life, which is of
God, strives daily against that old nature. And that new nature
perseveres. Because greater is he that's
in you than he that's in the world. And that new nature seeks
after God. That old nature doesn't care
to pray. But the new nature prays as readily
as we breathe. That make sense? The old nature
does not like to pray. The new nature doesn't like not
to pray. The old nature murmurs, and the
new nature rejoices. The old nature complains, and
the new nature sings praises to God. The old nature's selfish,
and the new nature's generous. The old nature goes after the
flesh, and the new nature pants after holiness, like a thirsty
deer after the water book. The old nature doubts and fears,
and the new nature just rests confidently and comfortably in
Christ. Somebody says, well, I don't
understand that. I bet you some of you do, because you've been
taught of God. And you're not afraid of that
kind of talk. Because you understand it. You're
not afraid. You're not afraid for me to stand
up. Maurice Montgomery stood up here one time and said, love
Christ and do what you will. And some people got all shook
up. Not you all. Some folks on the
outskirts. Oh, you can't say anything like
that. Why not? You can't if you've
been taught of God. A man's been taught of God's
ears with a discerning ear. He knows how to eat hay and spit
briars out. Now that's a smart donkey. And there's so many other areas
which time prevents me from discussing, but listen to this. In Christ
we're perfectly holy, yet we cry daily, O wretched man that
I am. In Christ we're happy and we rejoice, we rejoice evermore,
and yet we have continual sorrow over our sins and the unbelief
of our friends. We know beyond a shadow of a
doubt that His sheep shall hear His voice and they will come,
and yet we won't rest till we've told everybody the story of Christ. We long to go and be with Christ,
which is far better. And yet, we're content to live
here where He has been pleased to put us. Fulfill our responsibilities. And we're aware of some growth
in grace. If you've grown, you know it.
And yet we feel we're less than the least of all the saints.
We know Him, but we long to know Him. We love Him, but you never brag
about it. And in Christ we have all things,
and yet we say with Paul, I'm nothing. Oh, my distrustful heart, how
small my faith appears, but greater, Lord, art thou than all my doubts
and failures. Did Jesus once upon me shine? Then he is forever mine. Unchangeable
his will, whatever be my frame, His loving heart is still and
will eternally be the same. My soul through many changes
goes. His love no change knows.