I would like for you to open
your Bibles with me now to the book of I Timothy. The book of
I Timothy. I'm going to speak beginning
with verse 13. Now, this is said to be one of
the last epistles of the Apostle Paul. This is one of his prayers and
epistles. And the apostle is writing to
a young preacher, and of course what he writes to Timothy, he
writes to me and to you, to every believer. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God. by his God breathed, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness to all men, all believers, that the man of God
might be mature, perfected in the knowledge of Christ. And
man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
from the mouth of God." So this is what Paul is writing to Timothy,
he's writing to me and to you. We don't ever take any portion
of scripture and say, now, this is for the Jew, and this is for
the Kingdom Age, and this is for somebody else, and this is
for somebody else. If it's God speaking to his child,
it's speaking to me. Now, what Paul says to Timothy
here is there are a lot of things he says to him, but I want to
bring it down to this summary in verse 13. He says, now, Timothy,
till I come, until I come to visit you, until I come back
personally, face to face, to have fellowship with you. I want
you to give attendance, and I believe that word is attention, give
attention to reading. Now, my friends, and I want you
to listen carefully to me, especially for the next few minutes, I love
books. I have a library in there of
a large number of books, and I've profited greatly by them.
And I read Spurgeon, and Gill, and Matthew Henry, and Matthew
Poole, and Newton, and Watts, and Toplady, and all of these
men whom God has used in the past. I read them, and I profited
greatly by them. And I love these writings. I
love these old men. I love the things they've stood
for, and fought for, and died for. And I'm going to continue
to read them, and I urge you to read good books. Books of
grace, books glorifying God. Buy them. We have a bookstore
in there. We sell books wholesale. What we pay for them, we pass
them on to you for the same price. Don't neglect those books. Read them. God raised up these
men and used them mightily. And we're to profit by our forefathers,
what they taught us. But don't neglect this book. Give attention to reading the
Word of God. I hold this book in great awe
and reverence. Really now, it's not an idol,
and I don't worship that book. But how do you separate the incarnate
Word from the written Word? How do you separate Christ from
the written Word? Christ is in the Word. This is
the Word of God. And I have several peculiarities
about this book. Some of you have often noticed
that when I'm sitting here, I never put that psalm book on top of
this book. This book always goes on top. You say, that's superstition.
No, it's a reverence for this book. This book deserves first
place. This is the Word of God. This is a supernatural book.
Do you know that, Paul? This is the Word of God. God
has in His purpose and providence preserved this book and given
it to us. I believe this is God's Word.
I'll tell you what I believe about this book. This is the
infallible, and I don't care what some smart-aleck professor
says, this is the infallible, inerrant, verbally inspired Word
of the living God. This is not Paul's writing, this
is God's writing. God used Paul, and God used the
personalities of men. in his own mysterious way. He
used the writer, and you can almost tell who the writer is
in reading the book. But nevertheless, it's God's
Word. He inspired the words. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. And I'll tell you this, if you
let that go, you have no foundation for your faith. If you ever put
a question mark on this book, forget religion, forget God,
and forget faith, because you have no other revelation of God
that can be trusted. Now, that's so. Is that right,
Cecil? There's no other way. You can't trust a feeling. You
can't trust a man. I don't care who he is. You can't
trust him. You can put no confidence in the flesh. You can't trust
your ancestors. Well, just 200 and some odd years
ago, they bled George Washington to death thinking that his sickness
was in his blood. Now we give blood transfusion.
Back then, they took it out. The smartest men of their day.
bled that man to death. They put leeches on people to
bleed them when they got sick. People need blood when they're
sick. We give them transfusion. They took blood out. That's the
smartest man of their day 200 years ago. Why, just 300 years
ago, they didn't even know anything about pasteurization or sanitation. A surgeon would operate on somebody
after shining his shoes. He didn't even know enough to
wash his hands. About 400 years ago, they thought the world was
flat. That's right, the smartest men of their day, 1,400 and something,
thought the world was flat 500 years ago. This book said it
was round back 2,000 years ago. He sitteth on the circle of the
earth. Isn't that what Scripture said? The Scripture talks about
when Christ comes, there'll be people at the well in one part
of the world, there'll be people in bed at the other part of the
world, it'll be dark over there and light over here. That's a
round world with the sun shining over here. And the life of the
flesh is in the blood. That's what Scripture said 3,500
years ago. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. That's what it said. But we didn't believe that. And
this is what I'm saying. Don't pay any attention to today's
philosophers. They'll be laughed at 200 years
from now. And most of the medical practice
today will be ancient, ancient quackery, probably, 200 years
from now. We might discover the healing
out there and the herbs and the plants and things that God's
put in this world, just might, and quit cutting people to death.
But what I'm saying, I don't care what some smart-aleck philosopher,
psychologist, or college professor says, this is the Word of God.
And I'll give you some reasons. I know you can't prove this is
the Word of God to anybody, it has to be revealed. But this
book right here, It was started 3,500 years ago. They say Job
was the first book written. Well, granted Job is, then it
was before that. But Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That's 3,500 years ago. And God
used 40 men over a period of 1,500 years. The last entry into
the book was John on the Isle of Patmos, 1,900 years ago. And
here are 40 men who wrote 66 books, most of whom never saw
one another, never met one another, most of them. And yet when the
book was put together, it told one story, redemption through
Christ. Moses wrote of Christ, and so
did John, and they lived 2,000 years apart nearly. I'll tell
you this, suppose you were to take 40 men in different parts
of the world over a period of 1,500 years, almost two millenniums,
Men who never knew one another, never met one another, and hand
each one of them a stone, just a block of stone, and tell him
to chisel it and whittle it like he feels impressed to whittle
it. Just tell him to whittle it and make some kind of figure
on it, just like he wants to. Give some of them two and some
of them one, some of them three. Sixty-six pieces of stone to
forty men over a period of 1,500 years. And then bring them all
together. Do you think they'd fit? Why,
no way. Do you think they'd form a wall?
Why, no way. Do you think when they formed
the wall that you'd see a picture of a man on that wall? No way. Well, that's what here has happened
here. God brought it together, his precious word, and every
book from Genesis to Revelation, even Micah, Malachi, Jeremiah,
Isaiah, all of them preach Christ. You can find Christ, prophet,
priest, and king on every paper. This book has crossed the barriers
of time. Where are the books written by
men, 500 years old, that we read? You don't read books written
back in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. You can't even find
them, let alone read them. And then this book has crossed
the barrier of age. Now, these little 7-year-old
and 8-year-old children, they read one kind of book, I read
another kind of book. Fiction, novels, writings of
men. But everyone, if they're 80 years
old or 8 years old, loves this book. means the same thing. It
reaches the heart whether you're eight years old or 80. We don't
read books written by Chinese. I don't have any Chinese writings
in there. I don't have any Russian writings. I don't have any Indian
writings. I don't have any cannibal writings. But yet all of those
nations, this book has crossed the barrier of nationality. I
don't care if a man's a lawyer on the street of New York or
a bongo player in Africa, this book means the same thing to
every one of them. It blesses every one of them. It's crossed
the barrier of time, crossed the barrier of age, crossed the
barrier of nationality, and classes. There may be a doctor in this
service tonight who is a wealthy man or a politician or somebody
here, and there may be a man here that has a third grade education,
but both of them love this book. And you won't find men, you find
usually classes reading different types of books. You'll find your
college professors and doctors and lawyers reading one kind
of books, your blue-collar workers reading another one, and the
folks that have no education, they're all reading another kind
of book. But they all read this book. I tell you, I'm awed by
this book. I love it more, I believe, every
day. It means more to me. I read the same verse. And here's
the thing. If you read a book written by
a man one time, you might read it twice. It's doubtful, isn't
it, Ron? I know you read a book, a good
book, one time. You may read it twice. No way
you're going to read it three times, four times. Many of you
have read this 15 times, 20 times, same verse, and yet it's richer. and it's more refreshing. Now
explain that to me, Tom. How is it you can read the same
verses over and over and over again and each time it's new
and refreshing and heart-blessing? Only because God speaks. Man
cannot hold your attention that way, but God can. I could go
on and on. I'll tell you this, this book
right here, God will honor those who honor his word. He said,
My word will not return unto me void, it shall accomplish
what I pleased, and that whereunto I have sinned. He's promised
to bless his word. And that's the reason I wouldn't
support or attend a church that didn't make much of the word
of God. A chapter of God's word is read from this pulpit every
service, whether it's a prayer meeting or a Bible conference
or a Sunday morning or a Sunday night, a chapter is read in the
pastor's study before the men come out here, God's word is
a part of worship. It must be because it's important
that God speak whether anybody else speaks or not. And that's
what Paul's saying to Timothy, till I come, give attention to
the Word, to the reading, reading of God's Word. And I tell you
this, it's by the Word of God that men are regenerated. That's
exactly right. We're born again by the blood
of Christ and by the Word of God. Turn to James, if you will,
chapter 1. James chapter 1, and God didn't
call us, God didn't call us to preach politics, God didn't call
us to preach civil rights and wrongs, God called us to preach
the word. That's what Paul said to Timothy,
preach the word, preach the word. Christ said to his disciples,
go into all the world and preach the gospel. Look at James 1.18,
of his own will beget he us. And you know what that means?
That we're saved by the free will of God. That's exactly what
it says. We're not saved by our free will,
we're saved by God's free will, of His own will. You know what
the word begat is? Well, Abraham begat a son named
Isaac. I begat a son named Paul. You
see that? You begat a son, you see? They're
our sons. This God of His own will begat
us. You see? He brought us forth. We were conceived and begotten
by the power and of the will of God. Read on. And he did it
with the word of truth. See that, David? He did it with
the word. The word. The Holy Spirit is the agent
in regeneration. The Holy Spirit is the agent
in the new birth. The word of God is the seed. A sower went
forth to sow. The sower is the son of man.
The seed is the word of God. Election is not salvation. It's
to salvation. Almighty God predestinated us
to be like Christ, but the Word is the means by which He makes
us like Christ. Look at 1 Peter, right over just
two or three pages. 1 Peter 1.23, listen to this,
being born again, 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, not a corruptible
seed, but an incorruptible seed by the Word of God. We're born
again, Bob, by the Word of God. That's clear. by the Word of
God. All right, I'll tell you something
else. Not only is regeneration, God
will honor His Word. Regeneration, the new birth,
the beginnings by the Word of God. And then growth comes by
the Word of God. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you may grow thereby. I'm telling you, I love other
writings. I think they're important. I don't mean for us to neglect
them at all. But if you've got to neglect
something, neglect them and stay with this. If you only have a
limited time to read, read God's Word. Don't read the writings
of men. Because it's by the Word of God
that you grow. And I'll tell you this, you say,
well, I'll tell you, I just don't have faith like I ought to have.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. There's
your problem right there. If your faith is at a low ebb,
I'll bet you a dollar and a half to a cow and a calf you've been
neglecting the Book. That's exactly right. If you
want to grow in love, faith, joy, peace, long-suffering, whatever,
you better get with the book. Comfort comes by the Word of
God. You say, I'm just so uptight and so upset and I just can't
get my act together. Bet you hadn't been in the book
lately. That's right. Comfort one another
with these words. You know what Paul said? Comfort
one another with these words. I'll tell you this. Paul said,
Timothy, till I come. This is what he says, Cecil,
get in the book. That's exactly what he says,
get in the book, get in God's Word. And I tell you, whether
you're at home in the hospital, whether you're lonely or despairing
or depressed, or whether you're going through trials or blessings
or whatever, we need God's Word. It's the children's bread. And
regeneration's by the word, faith cometh by the word, growth cometh
by the word, comfort cometh by the word, strength cometh by
the word, it's the word of God. That's it. This is our food,
our drink, right here, God's word. Wherewithal shall a young
man cleanse his way? By taking heed to the word of
God. Thy word have I hid in my heart
that I might not sin against thee. Thy word is a lamp unto
my feet and a light unto my path. You know the reason we're stumbling
along? We don't have the light. That's the reason churches are
stumbling along. They don't have the sound doctrine
and foundation and division and all these things. They're walking
in darkness. They're walking in the darkness
of their own ignorance. If somebody from the pulpit would
just take the word out and shine the light, everybody would walk
in the light. That's right. Let's go on. I've been too long
on that. He said, give attendance attention to reading. But I wish
I could turn your attention to this book. Not what men say about
it, but this book. Give attention to exhortation.
You know what exhortation is? It's preaching. It's teaching. Exhort one another. That's teach
one another. Not just the preaching from the
pulpit only, but it's teaching and exhorting one another with
the Word of God. Now, how important is this preaching?
Well, let's turn first to Romans 10. How important is this business
of preaching? I know people who say, I love
good singing. Well, I do, too. I do, too. I just love those
choruses, and Mike and Jonathan, the quartet, the trio, and Sonia
and all the folks at Soranis, folks that sing for us. I love
the singing. And there's a place for all these
things. But I'm telling you here, here's where the work is done,
preaching. preaching. We need to restore
preaching to its right place, and that's the place of prominence. Not preeminence, Christ has the
preeminence, but prominence. But I'll tell you this, when
you're preaching Christ, you're glorifying Christ. When you're
preaching Christ, Paul, you're giving him preeminence, when
you're preaching Christ. Now, listen to Romans 10, verse
13. It says, shall call upon the name of the
Lord." The name of the Lord, not sweet little Jesus, boy,
the name of the Lord. The Master, the Sovereign, the
King, whoso shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But now listen, how then shall they call on him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be seen? It's written, how beautiful are
the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. Oh, how
important. And brethren, let me tell you
something. Salvation is to call on the name of Him who only can
save. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saying that we look not just
to any Jesus or any God. We've got eternal life is to
know Thee, the true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom you
have sent. That's eternal life. Eternal
life is not just to know a God. It's to know the living God.
The God of creation, the God of power, the God of might, the
God of holiness, the God of justice, the God of righteousness, the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's to know God. Well,
how's a man going to know God unless somebody preaches the
Word of God to him? Eternal life is to know Jesus
Christ, whom God in His eternal covenant, in His eternal purpose
sent. Not sent down here to try to
do anything, but to accomplish a work he laid on his back to
do. He put in his heart to accomplish.
The Christ whom God sent, not just any Jesus, but the Jesus
Christ whom he sent. It's a particular Christ. It
is the sufficient Christ. It is the effectual Christ. And
that's the reason I say a man can't trust just any Jesus and
be saved. He's got to look to him who is
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said to the
Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, Son of God, Jesus, Son
of Man, Christ, the Redeemer, the Messiah. Lord, Deity, Jesus,
name of humiliation, Christ, His prophet, prophetical work,
His priestly work, His kingly work. Lord, King, Christ, Man,
Jesus, Man, Christ, Prophet. It's right there in the Word.
You've got to call on the right one. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. I hope this is... Paul said,
Timothy, till I come back, get in the book, give attention,
give attendance to the Word, to the Word you have not because
you ask not. Get into the Word and get into
this thing of preaching and teaching. 1 Corinthians 1.21, for after
that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Can you, by searching, find God?
Stand out under the clouds, and the heavens declare the glory
of God in a way, but stand out under the clouds and look at
the heavens and see if they'll tell you how man fell, and what
took place when he fell, and how Christ came, and what took
place when he died, and whether God will forgive sin. You heard
the stars speak lately? I haven't. The wind, you say,
I like to hear the wind blow through the pines. I do too,
but it doesn't preach anything to me. It doesn't give me any
information about will God punish sin, will God forgive sin, who's
the mediator, who's the redeemer. But it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, preaching, by the foolishness of preaching. Now
that's not the preaching of foolishness like we have so much out today,
entertainment. But this we say, why is it called
the foolishness of preaching? Because he said down here in
verse 23, unto the Jews it's a stumbling block, unto the Greeks.
Who are the Greeks? The wise men, the philosophers,
the Corinthians. Unto the Greeks it's foolishness.
They called it foolishness. And I tell you a lot of people
today, here's a man standing up here, just a man, no more
than a man. Here are people sitting out here with their Bibles in
their hand, this fellow standing up talking for 45 minutes, same
fellow for 32 years, morning and night and Wednesday night,
and they still come listen to him. What's the attraction? Not
him, of course, it's the Christ he preaches. It's the Christ,
you see. And people say, that's foolishness.
That's foolishness. Go through that same rigmarole
and that same ceremony and that same preaching. Somebody asked
a friend of ours what we did at Bible conference. We had two
speakers in the morning and two in the evening. And what do you
do? Well, you go there and hear preaching.
And then we sing a little and hear some more preaching. And
then we go back and eat a bite and come back and hear some more
preaching. Sing a little bit and hear some more preaching.
Oh, my soul, you know. That would, that would, that'd
kill me. That's what some folks say. But
it, we just look forward to it. I go hear somebody preach Christ
every day, twice a day. Here's somebody paying my expenses,
you know, just so I have to eat something, you know, I have to
feed the body as well as the soul. But we never get tired
of preaching. And brethren, listen, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel, it's the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believe it. It won't mean a thing to those
that don't believe. It'll be foolishness, nonsense,
all these things, but I tell you, God blesses the preaching
of the Word. Now, He does, and He said, give
attention. All right, notice the next word now in 1 Timothy
4. He said, till I come, give attention
to reading, to preaching and teaching and exhorting one another.
You can do that in the home, in your fellowship. You know,
I love to get together and talk about different things, and we
do. I hate to think that every time
I got together with somebody, I had to try to be religious.
You know, I had to talk about religious themes. Don't talk
about anything but religion. I like to talk about football, basketball,
I like to talk about hunting, fishing, and different things,
but as the conversation flows, when believers get together,
they'll wind up talking about Christ. And don't be overly pious
and holier than thou and look down your nose and say, because
I don't talk about religious themes all the time, then I'm
not religious enough. Well, I'd rather not be religious,
I'd rather be a Christian anyway. I'm not trying to impress anybody
of anything. But be yourself. And I tell you, if you love Christ,
you'll talk about it. If you love the Word, you'll
talk about it. in your own time, and the conversation will blend
right into the things of God. All right? And you encourage
one another. You encourage one another. All
right? Notice the next thing, and give attention to doctrine.
Now, brethren, different people have different ideas about doctrine.
Some people declare, well, I'm not interested in doctrine. Don't
come to me with your doctrine, just preach Jesus. You ever heard
that? Just preach Jesus. Just preaching
the Spirit, that's all that counts. Preaching the Spirit. Well, let
me tell you this. This so-called Spirit without
truth is wildfire enthusiasm, and God's not in it. Now, you
write that down. This so-called Spirit without
truth, Spirit without doctrine, Spirit without foundation, The
Holy Spirit never speaks except according to the Word. That's
exactly right. If the Holy Spirit tells you
something that's contrary to this book, it's some other spirit,
it's not the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit, you say,
leads you to do something that's contrary to this Word, it's not
the Holy Spirit. I hear these women preachers
say that the Holy Spirit led them to preach. I know it ain't
so. I know it's not so. Because the Holy Spirit said
in the Word of God, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to
use of authority over a man. She's lying. Now, some spirit
told her to preach, but the Holy Spirit didn't tell her to preach.
See what I'm saying? No, he didn't. The Holy Spirit
told me to do this, that, and the other. Not contrary to the
Word of God. Well, the Holy Spirit could tell
me to kill somebody, and I could blame that on the Holy Spirit.
But the book says I should not kill. Huh? That's exactly right. Where you don't go confess the
Spirit there, do you? Where it says, let your women
keep silence in the church. That's what the Holy Spirit said.
And the Holy Spirit listened to them. Somebody says, the Holy
Spirit said this, that, and the other. Do you know any time that
a preacher claims that he's speaking in the power and under the authority
of the Holy Spirit, I tell you this, you know what his theme
will be? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Every time, I guarantee
you. Because the Lord Jesus said,
when he, the spirit of truth, has come, listen, he will not
speak of himself. He just won't do it. He will
not speak of himself. He shall take the things of man. What are the things of Christ?
His eternality, his deity, his Godhead, his humanity, his incarnation,
his righteousness, his obedience, his federal headship, His suffering,
his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, his exaltation,
his mediatorial work, the Holy Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit's
subject. And the Holy Spirit will take the things of Christ
and show them to you. And he shall glorify me, Christ
said. So let me tell you, and I'll
tell you frankly, say, well, you be careful, you might be
guilty of the unpardonable sin, blaspheming the Holy Ghost. Phooey! That's a cop-out. That's all
in the Word. Don't say anything about that
woman preacher. You might be blaspheming her. That's a cop-out.
I know she ain't called a preacher. I know God's not in it, because
God said he wasn't. That's just plain and simple.
I'm not afraid to say that these people in the charismatic movement
and these folks speaking in gibberish and tongues are not of God. They're
not of God. That's not the Holy Spirit, Charlie.
I've been there. I know what I'm talking about.
That's the spirit of Antichrist. That's the spirit of the devil.
The Holy Spirit never exalts himself, he never magnifies himself,
he never calls attention to himself, and he never calls attention
to the guilt. He calls attention to the giver.
Now, you can bet your bottom dollar on that. You can reach
down to the last hole in your pocket and find the last quarter
and lay it on there and win, because that's God's Word. He
will glorify me. That's what Scripture says. And
I'm not afraid to stand up and talk about the Pope's an imposter
because he is. It's contrary to the Word of
God. And the charismatic movement is an imposter because it's contrary
to God's Word. Yes, these men spoke in other
tongues, but they were discernible tongues. People heard the gospel
in their own language. It wasn't a bunch of gibberish
that some fellow went off behind the barn and practiced, and that's
what they do. I've seen them do it. I'm not
a novice. I've been like the fellow riding
a mule. I've been around. I've been in the company of these
folks. And I know what they are, and I know who they are, and
I know what they're doing. And they're phony as a three-dollar
bill. But you don't need to be with them to tell that. You can
read God's Word. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ. And let me
tell you something. Some folks say, don't want doctrine,
just want Jesus, just want the Spirit. You can't have it that
way. Our Lord said they'll worship
God in what? Spirit and what? But now let me tell you this,
some people preach doctrine only, dead, cold, dry. Brother Scott
said a fellow preaching doctrine without spirit is like a dog
walking through dry leaves. It's an awful sound. But some
people preach doctrine and they preach it in a dead letter fashion,
cold, calculated, reading letters, you know, and trying to bring
people to receive the doctrines of grace. I don't want anybody
receiving the doctrines of grace. I want them to receive the Christ
of grace. And if they come to know the
Christ of grace, they'll understand the doctrines of grace. That's
so. Spirit without truth, wildfire
enthusiasm. Truth without spirit, dead-letter
orthodoxy. But the truth anointed by the
Spirit of God will glorify God and set the captive free. That's
right. All right, he goes on down here
and says, Timothy, verse 14, "...neglect not the gift that
is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy." He didn't get the
gift by prophecy, he got it from God. The Holy Spirit gives gifts,
several as He will, but the men prophesied that He would have
it. They prophesied that he would have it, and they laid hands
on him, setting him apart. They didn't lay hands on him
and make him a preacher of the gospel. God made him a preacher
of the gospel. God gave him the gifts. God gave
him the knowledge. God gave him the talent. God
gave him the ability. These men of God prophesied that
it would be so, and when it came about, they recognized it and
sent him out. That's what God said to the early church, separate
me, Paul, and Barnabas for the work whereinto I have called
them. Who called them? God called them. Who equipped
them? God equipped them. Who gave them the gift? God gave
them the gift. Who sent them out? God sent them out. But the
church recognized them. And that's the reason I say when
a young man around here is called to preach, I think he ought to
sit tight until somebody around here recognizes that God called
him. Prophecy and the laying on of hands. Recognition by men
who know true ministers and who know the Word of God. So I said,
I'm going to preach anyway. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
do that. I wouldn't go contrary to God's
people and the wisdom of God that he's given these people.
Neglect not the gift. Read on. Neglect not the gift
that's in thee which was given thee according to the prophecy. You see that? According to the
prophecy. And then with the laying on of hands of the presbytery,
these men who recognized God called him, who recognized God
had empowered him, and God had given him the gift. They saw
the gift. The call to preach, listen, let
me just shoot this in for the young men here who are thinking
about preaching. If you're called to preach, there's
several folks going to know it. God's going to know it first.
And I believe I believe the people will know it even before you
really know it. Now, does that make sense what
I'm saying? A man who is truly called to
preach, God will know it, but the man who is truly called does
not push himself, he does not force himself, he does not aspire
himself to high office, but he holds back reluctantly, and God
knows it, and then the people begin to become aware of it.
People want to hear him. They come to hear him. They love
to hear him. And some of them may say, I believe
God laid his hand on you. Oh, I don't, you know, I'm not
worthy of this. I'm not, I'm not fit to be an apostle. I'm
least, that's the least of all the saints. But, and then a door
will open and God will send the man through the door and he'll
know it last of all. For sure, I mean, he may not suspect it,
but he'll know it for sure when those people of the church say,
we want to hear you. We want to hear you. All right,
now take a look at the next thing, verse 15. Meditate on these things. Rather than this, as old Paul
is saying to him, sincerity and seriousness. Give yourself wholly
to them. Huh? Give yourself wholly. Become obsessed with the gospel. Become obsessed reading the Word,
teaching, preaching. Become obsessed with the teachings
of Christ. You can't separate the teacher
from his teachings, doctrine. Give yourself wholly to Him.
Till I come, meditate on these things. Give yourself sincerely
and completely to Him. This is a dedication to Christ,
to His church, to His gospel, to His people, to the things.
I know men have to make a living, I know women have to take care
of their children and their homes, and I'm not asking you to neglect
these things. I believe people ought to take
care of their businesses and do it in a way that will glorify
God. I believe men ought to work on
the job in a way that will glorify God as if they were working for
Jesus Christ. I believe a woman that neglects
her home and neglects her children and her husband to go down to
the church all the time is not in the will of God. I used to
live across the street, my dear lady, it was high muckety-muck
in the WMU, in the state, in the association, in the church,
and she's gone all the time. Her husband would come in from
work and there'd be no supper, and her children would come in
and play out in the yard until mama got home. She's doing God's
business. Well, I'll tell you this. When
God's business and this church business interferes with your
being a good mother, God's not in it. That's exactly right. You give yourself to your home
and your children. You men do your job. Don't stand
out there on the job and read your Bible. Read your Bible at
home. That man's not paying you to
read the Bible, he's paying you to put steel out. That's exactly
right. You say, preacher, you don't
sound religious. I'm hoping I'm not. I'm putting forth every
effort, maybe I'm getting the job done. But I don't believe
this soldier, you know, that was court-martialed for reading
the Bible on guard duty, he ought to have been court-martialed.
I was in the Navy, I know what guard duty is, and I know guard
duty is supposed to be guard duty, not religious duty. Well,
he thought because he's reading the Bible, he could get away
with anything. And men think because they're reading the Bible,
and they're sitting there reading the Bible, the boss got no claim
on them. Well, I'm being religious. I'm discussing religion on company
time. Why don't you discuss it on your
time? Tell you what to do. When you
schedule for a 7 to 3 shift, go out there and work 7 to 3.
And then stay out there till 5 and read your Bible. That's
the thing to do. And that'll really prove you
love it. You stay out there till five o'clock and get all the
boys around you to have a good service. I don't believe they'd
stay. I just don't believe they'd stay. Would they? Hypocrites. That's exactly what it is, hypocrisy
of the worst form. But religionists today think
that they go around waving their Bibles and witnessing for Jesus,
everybody's supposed to fall down. Oh, but I'm saying this. If Christ is in your heart and
life, you'll get this thing in a proper perspective, and you'll
give yourself to the Word, you'll give yourself to preaching, and
you'll give yourself to exhortation, and give yourself to the things
of our God and meditate on them. Now, verse 16, take heed to yourself. Take heed to yourself. Let me
tell you something. Morality is a false refuge. The Pharisees found that out.
The law is a false refuge. Saul of Tarsus found that out.
High office is a false refuge. Judas found that out. Baptism
is a false refuge. Simon Magus found that out. The
church is a false refuge. Alexander found that out. The ministry is a false refuge. Demas found that out. Good works
is a false refuge. The folks in Matthew 7 who said,
Lord, we prophesied in your name, cast out devils, did many wonderful
works, is a false refuge. They found that out. Well, brethren,
preachers, take heed ourselves. In what way? Learn the gospel
of Christ. Lay hold on the gospel of Christ.
Turn to Romans 3, and let me just show you something briefly,
and then I'll close. Romans chapter 3. Take heed to
yourself and to your doctrine. In so doing, you'll save yourself.
That's deliver yourself and them that hear you. I want to preach
Christ in reality, not Christ in play-like, like children play-like,
Christ of imagination, Christ of a myth. I want to see real
men come to bow to a real Christ and love him and worship him
and adore him. I want to see real women come to bow to a real
Christ, and to know Him and love Him in a real honest fashion.
They're dedicated to Christ, they're separated to Christ,
they live in honesty and integrity for the glory of Christ, they
walk with Christ, they're identified with the people of Christ. They're
not putting on a show. When they pray, they pray in
the same language that they use talking to you. I don't know
why the preachers, when they're talking out on the street, they
talk just like I'm talking now. When they get in the pulpit,
it's Lord God Almighty, you know. Why do we change our voices?
Why do we get that pious look? I watch these entertainers singing
songs, and then when they start religious, they all get real,
you could turn their eyes straight up in the air like this, you
know. It's put on. It's put on. It's separating
real life from what they call their religion. That's exactly
right. And I tell you this, Christ is
not a part of my life, he is my life. And he's my life at
the breakfast table, dinner table, supper table, he's my life out
on the street, in this pulpit, in that pier, in that office.
It's Christ. And anything other than that
is phony. It's not salvation. Now look
at Romans chapter 3 verse 19. Now we know that what things
for ever the law saith, it saith to them that under the law that
every mount may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. I know this, we're guilty. All right, verse 20, therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. We're not going to be saved by
our works or by our deeds or by the law. That's clear, isn't
it? I understand that. Verse 21, but now, right now,
the righteousness, the holiness of God, without the law, without
my obedience to it, is manifested and is witnessed by the word
of God and by the prophets. It's the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ. That's how it comes. God's holiness,
God's righteousness, God's sanctification, God's justification comes through
Christ by his faithfulness, by his obedience. And it's unto
all and upon all them that believe there's no difference. For every
man's sin comes short of the glory of God, but I'm freely
justified by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ
Jesus. That's my hope. That's my doctrine. That's a summary of my doctrine.
Man's ruin, God's redemption in Christ, and our regeneration
by the Holy Spirit. That's my three R's. That's my
doctrine. And I'm going to take heed to
myself. And I'm going to take heed to this
doctrine. For in so doing, I'll be saved and maybe you'll be
saved. That's right. That's what he said. Our Father,
we thank you for your word. for your presence and power in
this service. Lord, we're so thankful that
you've been pleased to reveal Christ to us, not just religion,
but you reveal Christ to our hearts. We can look to him and
trust in him and believe in him and find rest and peace in our
Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank thee. And Lord,
I pray that you'd bless this message to other hearts, bring
others to rest in Christ, to look to Christ. Lord, deliver
us from this religious generation of put on and play like and play
in church and bring us to the reality of Christ, to trust him,
to receive him, to know that thou art God and to serve thee
and worship thee and love thee as you are worthy to be loved.
For Christ's sake we pray, amen.