Todd prayed, teach us what it
is to glory in the cross of Christ. I'd love to learn that, wouldn't
you? I tell you, if you learn that, you've got a good hope,
a certain hope and a sure hope, if you can learn what it is to
glory in the cross of Christ. If you'll note in Hebrews 3,
I'm sure some of you observed this when I was reading it, but
verses 7 through 11 are in parenthesis, verses 7 through 11. Now, that's
a direct quotation from Psalm 95, verses 7 through 11. Let me read it, beginning with
verse 6. and leave out that quotation, but Christ as a son over his
own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end, wherefore,
now you see the parenthesis, leave it out, all the way down
to verse 11, wherefore, verse 12, take heed, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. Christ is a son over his house,
whose house we are if we believe." If we believe, if we believe,
if we believe, keep on believing. So better be careful that you're
not found to be among those who do not believe. Now, this quotation
in here, I want to look at it, gives us an example of some people
who didn't persevere in faith. who didn't continue to believe.
That's what he gives us here in the parenthesis. He says,
as the Holy Ghost said, today if you'll hear his voice, harden
not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the
wilderness. This is a quotation from Psalm 95. And he's talking
about these Israelites, the Jews who came out of Egypt, who wandered
around under the leadership of Moses. Incidentally, under the
leadership of the greatest prophet God ever had, professing to be
God's people, but at the same time they were murmuring rebellious
unbelievers. Now, God spoke to them. God did
speak to these people. They weren't without a warning
voice or a teaching voice. Turn back to Hebrews 1. God spoke
to them. God spoke to them. Hebrews 1,
it says this, God who at sundry times and in divers manners,
different ways, he spake in time past our fathers. He spoke to
them by the prophets. God faithfully spoke to these
people. He spoke to them by Moses, spoke
to them by Aaron. He spoke to them by prophets.
He faithfully spoke to these people. God hath not left himself
without a witness. He spoke to them. Turn to Hebrews
4. He spoke the gospel to them.
That's right, God preached the gospel to them. In Hebrews 4,
2, it says, For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto
them. God preached it to them. How
did God preach the gospel to them? He preached the gospel
in types and sacrifices. My soul, the Passover, is a clear
presentation of the gospel. Christ is our Passover. Moses
lifting up the serpent in the wilderness is a clear presentation
of the gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ used that
himself as an illustration of the gospel. The priest going
into the holy place and putting the blood on the mercy seat,
the mercy seat covered the broken law. Right there in that little
ark was the broken law, the one which Moses brought down from
the mountain. And the mercy seat covered it,
and once a year the high priest went in there, burning the incense,
the intercession of Christ, and put the blood on that mercy seat.
It ran on the mercy seat and over it, indicating it's the
blood that maketh atonement for the soul. It's the blood that
covers the sin. It's the blood that puts away
the wrath of God. God preached it to them. Look
at verse 2. "...Unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto
them, but the word preached did not profit them." Now, look in
your margin there, you see the word preached, that the word
preached, how many of you have a little one right there, or
an I beside that? Would you raise your hand, raise
it up high so I can see. See, all right, look in your
margin reference, the word of hearing, you see that? The Greek,
the word of hearing. All right, the Gospels preached
to us as well as unto them, but the word of hearing didn't profit
them. They listened, but it didn't
profit them. Now look, because they were not
united by faith to Christ and to this word, because this word
was not mixed with faith. In other words, the word preached
doesn't profit you one iota if you don't believe it. That's
exactly what he said. So here we go now. Back to our
text in Hebrews 3. He said, if you will hear his
voice, don't be like those folks. Don't be like those folks. What
did they do? They hardened their hearts. They
hardened their hearts. Now, my friends, there's a natural
hardness of heart with which we're born. I know that and you
know that, that we're born with a love for darkness and a hatred
of light. a rebellion against truth and
a desire for the lie. Christ said, if one comes in
his own name, you believe him. If I come in my name, you won't
believe me. Men love darkness rather than light. Christ didn't
come to condemn the world. The world already was condemned.
We're born with a natural inclination to evil. That's just our nature. That's your children's nature.
That's my nature. We're born with a human nature
that has a hardened heart. hardened against God. But there's
another hardness of heart. Now, here's what we're talking
about here. He says in verse 7, look at it again, as the Holy
Ghost said today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your hearts. They did it as in the day of
provocation, in the day of temptation. Don't harden. You're born with
a hard heart, but there's an acquired hardness of heart. There's
a voluntary hardness of heart. which comes through the rejection
of truth. That's so. There's a heartness.
We're already born with a natural inclination to evil and a natural
proneness. You know that song we sang, prone
to wonder, Lord, I feel it? That's so. Prone to wonder. Don't be amazed. You say, well,
I'm a believer. I'm a child of God. I believe
the Bible. I'm a Christian. But I find a proneness to the
easy way. Don't be amazed. You're born
with it. That's just so. I'm telling you
the truth. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the
God I love. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's just
as easy for you as it is for anybody else to cater to this
flesh. That's right. We're not going
to swim upstream if we can float downstream. That's human nature. But here's what you've got to
be careful about, is that hardness of heart that's acquired, that
hardness of heart that's voluntary, that comes because you reject
truth and light and warnings. Pharaoh did this. He hardened
his heart. Now, when Moses went down into
Egypt and announced to Pharaoh, God said, let my people go. He
was talking to a man who already was a rebel. He wasn't talking to a man who
loved God, loved truth, loved Moses, loved the people. He was
already a rebel, but he became more of a rebel. You say, is
that possible? Well, so it's in the Word of
God. That man, he was not only responsible for a hard heart
by nature, But he was more responsible because of a hardness of heart
that he demonstrated towards the light and the truth God gave
him. Now, that's what our Lord condemned Capernaum about, Cecil. He said, I say, woe unto you,
Capernaum! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! If the
mighty works which are done in you had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented. Well, Tyre and Sidon were fallen
sons of Adam, so was Capernaum. Tyrant Satan were wicked by birth,
by nature, by choice, so was Capernaum. But Capernaum had
been given some light, some truth, a hearing of the gospel, which
Tyrant Satan didn't have. And they were more guilty. They
were more rebellious and more responsible as a consequence
of that light, their hardness of heart. And this is a position
that you and I are in right here. God speaks. And I've got it right
here in front of me. And your minister, who has pastored
this church a long time, whether you believe it or not, my concern
is telling the truth about God's Word, reading the Scripture,
preaching the Scripture, exhorting the Scripture, setting forth
the Scripture. And we are the most responsible
people that ever lived. That's exactly right. Turn to
Proverbs 29. Let me show you something. This
is what's... This is what ought to cause us
much concern. Proverbs 29. Listen to this.
Proverbs 29.1. He that being often reproved. That's us, David. Often reproved. Often instructed. The Word of
God is given for instruction, correction, rebuke, reproof.
He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck," that's his
heart, "...shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Turn to Romans 1, let me show you something. I tell you, the
Lord God is merciful. And you know, one of the writers
of Scripture said, Because judgment against an evil
work is not executed speedily, then the hearts of men are set
in them to do wicked." In other words, if I walked in here and said,
and had some confirmation for it and credentials to prove it,
that in five minutes God's going to send everybody in here to
hell if we don't do something so-and-so. We do it just like
that because it's impending doom. But somehow because God doesn't
crack down on us now, because God in his long suffering and
forbearance and patience and grace keeps on preaching, keeps
on warning, keeps on witnessing, keeps on reproving, keeps on
rebuking, we are lulled to sleep. And because judgment against
an evil heart of unbelief is not executed right now, Then
we procrastinate until suddenly we wake up and we're facing God
in the judgment. And we had all these years. I'm
57 years old. It's about time I repented, isn't
it? You're 21 years old. It's about time you repented
too. That's long enough. One day is long enough to disbelieve
God. One day is long enough to rebel
against God. Two days is too long. That's
what I'm saying. Wherefore he says today, today. Today, if you, that's as personal
as you can get, will hear his voice, they heard it, but they
hardened their hearts. Look at Romans 1, Romans 1 beginning
with verse 18. The wrath of God is revealed,
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness, because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them. That is, to
them, God showed it to them, the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead,
so we're without excuse. And because when they knew God,
they didn't glorify him as God, and they weren't thankful, they
became vain in their imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened,
professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And they changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like the
corruptible man, beasts, four-footed birds, four-footed beasts and
creeping things. Therefore God gave them up. God gave them up. Verse 26, For this cause God
gave them up. God gave them up. Verse 28, And
even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over. Now, this is a consequence, and
this is what, turn back to our text now, Hebrews 3. Verse 11,
so God says, I swear in my wrath they shall not enter my rest.
That's the consequent. Now here's what the Apostle is
saying. Christ is the son over his house.
God's given him a house. He reigns, he rules, he's the
monarch, he's the sovereign king of kings and Lord of lords, whose
house we are if we believe and keep on believing. He says, because
I'm going to give you an example, those folks over there in the
Old Testament, they heard just like you and just like me. They
heard the gospel, but it didn't profit them, not being mixed
with unbelief. They heard, but they hardened
their hearts. And they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
They would not believe God. They would not bow to God. Therefore,
the judgment of God, God says, therefore, I said in my wrath.
But God is love. Thank God he is. Thank God he
is. In Christ he is loved. In the
cross he is loved. But I'll tell you, it's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of a living God. He's wrath.
He said, I said, in my wrath they shall not enter. A whole
nation perished in the wilderness. Birds ate their carcasses. This
was a people who joyfully left Egypt. I think of folks coming down
the aisle, making professions of faith, join the church. When
they do, I see Israel, even Egypt, all two or three million. Boy,
they were dancing and singing and beating on the tambourines
and the drums, and everybody was hoop-a-doin' and praise God
and hosannas and hallelujah and Moses was the king and all these
things, you know. Boy, they joyously left Egypt,
they partook of the bread out yonder in the wilderness and
the water in the wilderness, they built the tabernacle. Can't
you just see them building that tabernacle? When I see somebody
building a church, boy, they're all about 40 men around there
building a church, I think, there they are out there in the wilderness
building a tabernacle. I wonder how many of them will
wind up in glory. That's exactly what I'm saying. These people
joyously left Egypt, they partook of the bread, they partook of
the water, they came out of the rock, they joyously supported
Moses, they built the tabernacle with their own hands, they gave,
they offered, they gave their offerings sacrificially, they
brought the gold and the silver, they played church for 40 years
and rotted in the wilderness while two men walked into the
Promised Land, two men who believed God. That's what I'm talking
about. Two men, Joshua and Caleb, who
believed God. Two men. That's something to
think about, isn't it? God says they did not enter in
because of unbelief. He says, take heed, brethren. I don't care how joyously you
left Egypt. I don't care how many times you
took the bread and the wine. I don't care how many nails you
drove in the tabernacle, I don't care how many tithes you gave
to support the ministry, I don't care how long you played church
and played religion with all your traditions and killing your
lambs and all the sacrifices and feast days, they didn't believe
God. They didn't believe God. So the
warning comes to us in verse 12, take heed, brethren, brethren,
lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief. Unbelief closes
the door to God. Whatever else I have or do or
say, unbelief closes the door. God looks on the heart. He doesn't
look on the outward countenance. He looks on the heart. And it says in Hebrews 11, 6. It's impossible to please God.
Without faith, it's impossible to please God. He that cometh
to God must believe, must believe. Unbelief makes the Word of God
unprofitable. The Word didn't profit them not
being mixed with faith. Unbelief calls God a liar. He
that believeth not the record God hath given concerning his
Son hath made God a liar. Unbelief is the greatest sin
of all. The Holy Spirit will convince us of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment, of sin, because they believe not on me. Unbelief
invites the wrath of God. He that believeth not the Son,
the wrath of God abideth on him. Unbelief sets up other gods,
such as wisdom, human wisdom, human reason, human philosophy. And Paul warns us today, right
now, are you ready to believe God? If you, that's as personal
as he can get, will hear his voice. Now, here's the question.
Whose voice? Whose voice? Well, it's the voice
of Christ that we hear in the gospel. It's not my voice, it's
his voice. Now, the Lord speaks to us in
creation. He speaks to us by conscience.
He speaks to us in providence. But in the gospel, Christ speaks
clearly and positively and plainly. It's Christ that speaks. Turn
to Luke 10, 16. This is no light matter that
we're dealing with this morning. Luke 10, verse 16. Listen to it. Luke 10, 16. Listen to this. I always hear
people say, that's your interpretation. Luke 10, 16, you interpret this. He that heareth you, heareth
me. He that despiseth you, despiseth me, and he that despiseth me,
despiseth him that sent me. Our Lord was speaking to his
preachers, his apostles, and said, you go out and preach,
and he that heareth you, heareth me. Is that what it said? And
that's not my interpretation, that's yours too. If you've got
any sense at all, you know what that's saying right there. Turn
to 1 John. Listen to this, 1 John chapter
1. 1 John chapter 1. Listen to what John says here.
Verse 5. This then is the message which
we've heard of him. We heard it from him, and we
declare it unto you. This is the message we got from
him. I'd be a fool to preach my own message. Turn to 1 Thessalonians. Let me show you this scripture
here. Todd, here's something that's worthy of being preached
right here in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Listen to this. Paul is talking
about this church of Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
and he says, Also thank we God without ceasing,
because when you receive the word of God, which you heard
of us, you got to hear it from a man, you received it not as the word
of men, but as it is in truth the word of God. This is the
word of God we're preaching, which effectually worketh also
in you that believe. Whose voice we hear? His voice,
he that speaketh through his word. I'm talking about the Sovereign
King. the almighty, eternal King of
kings and Lord of lords, who has all authority in heaven and
earth, all power over all flesh, who is higher than the heavens,
who holds all things in his hand, who considers the nations as
dust in the balance." Dust in the balance? I got to thinking
about that. I guess they used to weigh gold
like that, with the balance scales. And the nations of this earth
are not the gold, they're just the dust in the palace that's
left. And the inhabitants thereof is
grasshoppers. Who is a god like unto thee?
That's who speaks. He's answerable to no one. Listen
how independent he is. Let me show you a scripture in
Psalm 50. Psalm 50. I hear men try to picture
God, you know, as being so dependent on me and has no hands but your
hands and no tongue but your tongue, so forth. Look at Psalm
50, verse 9. I'll take no bullock out of thy
house, nor he goats out of thy foes. Every beast of the forest
is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of
the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were
hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The world is mine in the fullness
thereof." I tell you, verse 21, look at this, "...these things
hast thou done." And I kept silence. That's one thing that fools us. We think because the fellow stands
on the soapbox and shakes his fist and says, if there's a God
in heaven, let him strike me dead. And the fact that the heavens
are silent encourages the fool. And God says, you've done these
things and I've kept silent. And that deceives men, gives
them courage in their little old frail shacks. Thou thoughtest I was altogether
such a one as thyself. But I'll take care of you. I'll
set things in order before every eye. I'll handle this when I
get good and ready. Yeah, he'll step on that ant
when he gets tired of listening to him. He's so free, so absolute,
so sovereign, so complete that nothing can obligate him. Nothing
can lay any requirement on God. He said, can I not do with my
own what I will? God stands in need of nothing,
no one, to make him holy, happy, or glorious. He said, I'm God,
there's none else, there's none beside me. That's who speaks. And I thank God he's the merciful
one. You comprehend what's declared
here. God speaks. His voice. He said, today if
you will hear His voice. He condemns sins to speak to
us. What mercy. God speaking. Now,
not to angels. Look back at verse 16 of Hebrews
2. He took not only in the nature
of angels, but the nature of the seed of Abraham. He speaks
to us. He speaks to us. So that's the
voice I want you to hear. Not mine. God speaks to men. Merciful, sovereign God dares
to speak to the loathsome. He said, I walked by you, and
I saw you polluted in your blood, cast out into the open field,
loathsome. And I said, it's a time of love,
and I spoke to you. I spoke to you. Can you imagine
that? God speaks to men. Well, here's the second thing
that I thought about. With what voice does he speak?
What does he say? Well, he might have spoken to
us with a commanding voice, do this and live. God might have
spoken that way. Adam heard him that way, do this
and live. Or God might have spoken to us
with a condemning voice, you've sown the wind, now reap the whirlwind. He might have. He might have
spoken to us with a voice of judgment, bind him hand and foot
and cast him into outer darkness. I never knew you. I never knew
you. Depart from me. But he speaks
here with a voice of grace. That's the voice right now. And
no use me going down here to preach to people whose faculties
are dim and dead and they're all but gone. There's no use
me going out here and talking to people who are in the shuffle
and covetousness and greed and popularity and applause of the
world. There's no use me going down here to the hospital, to
the nursery, and talking to those little babies that don't know
anything. I'm talking to responsible, accountable people with intelligence
and wisdom. I'm talking to people who have
their faculties. I'm talking to people who can
think. And I'm saying today, if you will, hear His voice.
Hear His voice. That's what I'm saying. Not mine,
not the Baptist church. Fool you on the Baptist church.
I'm talking about the voice of God. I'm talking about the voice
of the Holy One. His is the voice of grace. This
for you and me is a day of grace. This what I'm preaching is a
gospel of grace. Will you hear His voice? That's what I'm saying. Well,
what is it to hear his voice? And then I close. What is it
to hear his voice, if you will? Well, I'll tell you this, it's
not to listen to a religious oration. A religious oration,
like, and I'm going to be honest with you, a religious oration
and a bunch of words and all this stuff like
you hear Jimmy Swagger, that's just a religious oration. That's
all that foolishness is. It's not just to hear intellectual
nonsense and do-goodism and entertaining sermons. It's not just to hear
dead-letter doctrine, rehearsing of church creeds. That's not
what it is. It's not to listen to these fellows talk about abortion
and putting the lid on all crime and all sin and so forth. I wish
they could. It's not just to hear the traditions
of the fathers like they rehearse in some of these churches. Well,
we hold to the Philadelphia, we hold to the London, we hold
to the Westminster, we hold to the Heidelberg. We keep the customs
of our fathers, fully on the customs of our fathers. I would say there are three or
four things intended in this scripture concerning hearing
his voice, hearing his voice. Number one is this. Number one,
I'll give you five or six. Number one is this, it's to hear
His Word. I'm talking about the naked,
bare, truthful Word of God. That's what, it's to hear the
Word of God. Not what somebody says about
the Word, not man's interpretation of the Word, not the connotations
they put on this or that scripture, it's to hear the Word. Would
you please go home today and get out your Bible and bury yourself
in it? That's what I'm asking you to
do. Somewhere between the covers of this book is salvation to
be found. Somewhere between the covers
of this book, salvation is to be found. It's not to be found down here
in a beach or a pool of water or a ceremony or in the hand
of a preacher or a decision. It's to be found in a person.
Our Lord said, you search the scriptures. They testify of me. That's what he said. To you is
this word of salvation sent. This book, God said, will judge
you. Would you please, for the glory of God and the welfare
of your eternal soul, forget what Grandma said about the Bible
and read it for yourself. Find out what God says. Find
out what God says. The naked, bare, truthful, powerful,
inherent, verbally inspired Word of God. And I'll tell you this,
you approach this Word looking not for a position, but a person.
A person. Don't you go looking for exactness
of doctrine. You look for a person. He'll
straighten out your doctrine. Don't you look for the argument
about this, that, and the other. You look for Christ. You can
go to hell arguing, Bible. And I'll tell you secondly, what
is it to hear his voice? It's to hear it with attention.
It's to hear it with interest. Not with argument and debate. It's to hear it with an open
soul and heart. I'll tell you this, when God
spoke to Saul and Tarsus, he got his attention, buddy. He
got his attention. That's my problem. I can't get
anybody's attention. I can't get their attention.
Does God have your attention? You'll never hear from God until
he gets your attention. That's exactly right. You've
got to get your attention. It's to hear with interest. Speak,
Lord, thy servant heareth. Saul of Tarsus said, who is it,
Lord? Well, what would you have me do? That is attention. And then thirdly is to hear with
personal application. personal application. God speaks
to me. God's not speaking to America.
He's speaking to people in America. I hear these preachers, God's
speaking to America! No, God ain't speaking to America.
America's not any more in God's sight than Soviet Russia. Is
that too mean? But that's so. Whoever said that
democracy was synonymous with Christianity, The children of
Israel never lived under democracy, they lived under a king. A king,
a sovereign king who did what God said, not what the people
said. Majority rules, that's not Bible. God rules. God's the majority that rules.
That's exactly right. Democracy is not synonymous with
Christianity, I'm sorry. America wasn't found in a prayer
meeting, it was found in an economics meeting, wasn't it, Ron? Ron
knows that, he teaches history. Our forefathers, some of them
came over here looking for a place to worship, but most of them
came over here looking for gold. And that's what this nation was
founded on, with all of its ill-treatment, stealing lands from the Indians
and bringing slaves over here to work their lands so they could
ride around in carriages and drink moonshine. That's what
our forefathers did. This nation wasn't born to pray
and eat, it was born on the basis of economics. That's exactly
right. I'm glad it was born. Don't misunderstand
me, but I'm just saying it don't count that much with God. Almighty
God speaks personally to individuals, to people, people. And the man
living in democracy who doesn't believe Christ is just as lost
as the man who lives behind the Iron Curtain who doesn't believe
Christ. God bless America. God's going
to bless Christ and everybody in him. That's exactly right. Everybody out of Christ under
the wrath of God. no matter how democratic they are. That's just
so. To hear with application. Fourthly,
is to hear with conviction. I want you to turn to Psalm 51.
I thought when I got to that point, well, what point am I
going to make there? Well, I'm going to make this
point right here. I'm going to read some scripture. What is it to hear his voice?
It's to hear, number one, his word. It's to hear it with interest. is to hear it with personal application,
is to hear it with conviction. His Word speaks to me. Psalm
51, David said, boy, I'm telling you, he got the message. Old
Nathan said, the man, he got the message. He said, have mercy
upon me, O God, have mercy upon me according to your lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of your tender mercies. God, blot
out my transgressions. You better come down off your
high horse. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me
from my sin. I acknowledge my transgression.
My sin is ever before me against thee, and thee only have I sinned,
and none this evil in their sight, that thou mightest be justified
when you speak, and cleared when you judge." Oh, God, I was shaping
an iniquity. I was born in sin. You desire
truth in the inward part, in the hidden part, thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. O God, purge me with hyssop,
and I'll be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than
the snow." That's what I'm talking about, conviction. Hear it with
conviction. And then fifthly, hear it with
persuasion. The Apostle Paul said, I am persuaded
he's able to keep that which I've committed to him. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded beyond a glimmer
of a doubt that this is the Word of God. I'm confident and persuaded,
I'm persuaded more every day that God is holy, high, almighty,
sovereign, just and righteous and in Christ's love. I'm persuaded
more than ever before that I'm a sinner in need of God's sovereign
mercy, that he'll be gracious to whom he will, and I want him
to be gracious to me in Christ. But I have no hope of any graciousness
or mercy outside of that person, Jesus Christ. I'm persuaded of
that, and I've committed it to him. That's the fifth thing.
Hear it with faith. Hear it with faith. What does
faith do? Faith believes God. Faith trusts God. Faith worships
God. Yes, sir. Turn to Romans chapter
4 a minute, and I'll close with this. Romans chapter 4. That
faith believes God. And it's no hocus-pocus. It's
no... You know, I was talking to somebody
the other day. The Bible says we are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people. And that
peculiar people doesn't mean a bunch of oddballs. I don't
know what that means. The child of God, the Christian,
goes out and cuts wood just like the man who's not a Christian
cuts wood. Christian loves his wife and children, he's a father,
he's a neighbor, he's a husband, he's a worker, just like anybody
else. He's a man among men, he's a soldier, a sailor, a marine,
he's an airman, he's a man like anybody else. But that peculiarity
is this, that they love God, they love the Word of God. They
love his law, they love his holiness, they love his truth, they long
to please him. They believe his gospel. They
worship him. They're different. That's wherein
they're different. They're different. They're not
of the world even as Christ was not of the world. They eat food
and drink. beverages and walk on the street,
wear clothes like everybody else. Wouldn't it be silly this morning
if I stood up here with a black suit and a black vest and a little
silly white collar around here, parted my hair in the middle
and held my hands like this and acted like something way out
somewhere, you know, some peculiar character. Wouldn't it be silly
if you were sitting out there and all you women tried to demonstrate
to you as a Christian by letting your hair grow down to your knees
and pulling it back and wadding it in a big ball back here and
didn't wear any makeup and no jewelry, you know, and sat there
with a sour look on your face with your sleeves hanging down,
you know, and this sort of aprons on and bonnets, you know, and
all little girls with black stockings, and that's, that kind of peculiarity
is oddball, that's what that is. And that's not what that
means. That's exactly right. Just call it like it is. That's
oddball. But we're peculiar in the sense
that we know there's an eternal, sovereign, omnipotent, reigning
God who sits on his throne, whose word is truth. who loves men
in Christ, who is holy and righteous and just, and he will by no means
clear the guilty. But he in his mercy and grace
has given us a righteousness provided by the obedience of
his Son. He has given us an atonement, a blood sacrifice, a sin offering
that pacifies and reconciles his justice and lets men approach
him, and we are full enough to believe him. That's why I'm peculiar.
That's why I'm peculiar. And I'll tell you, that's the
most peculiar you can be. That's peculiar to this world.
That's peculiar. But don't think you're saved,
you're a child of God, just because you don't do something or do
do something. I'll tell you what makes you
a child of God. Believe in God. Believe in God. I believe God. And that's what it says here
about Abraham. In Romans 4, verse 20, he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief. He was strong in faith, and he
gave glory to God, glory to God. And he was fully persuaded what
God promised God would do. God would do. And all his promises
in Christ are yea and amen, and he'll do it. He'll do it. It was imputed to him for righteousness,
and that was written not for his sake alone, that it was imputed
to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe
on him who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, who was delivered
from our offenses and crucified and slain for our sins. Like Brother Scott said, there
it is, that's the gospel.