The Apostle begins this portion
of Scripture with a plea, a plea for unity of spirit, unity of
spirit, a plea for mutual affection. among believers. I mean genuine,
real affection. Not professed affection, but
real, genuine, mutual affection. And then the third thing, and
that which we'll deal with mostly this morning, is humility, or
a lowliness of spirit and mind, individually and personally.
We need to be brought down. The gifts of God are not on the
higher shelves, the gifts of God are on the lower shelves.
And that's what he's dealing with here. Now, first of all,
we run into a little word, I-L-I-L. You see it in verse 1, I-L-I-L. This little word stands before
us in bold letters, I-L. And in this chapter, in my Bible,
in the Bible I'm using here, there's a great big I and a great
big L. I-L-L-L. What does the word if
mean? Well, this is what the word if
means. It means just this. Assuming this is true. If this
is true. Assuming this is true. Then the
conclusion will be evident. That's how he uses the word if.
Assuming this is so. Then the conclusion will be evident.
Our Lord used this word. He said, if you love me, you
will keep my commandments. You know what he said? If you
love me. So assuming that you love me, then the evidence will
be conclusive. You will keep my command. You
will obey me if you love me. He said this, if you had known
me, you would have known my father. If, assuming that you know me,
then you know my father. Listen to this, if any man has
ears, he will hear. You see that, if? All right,
he says again, if you knew the gift of God, he said to the woman
at the well, if you knew the gift of God, you'd ask of me
and I'd give you living water, if you knew the gift of God.
Paul used it frequently, he said, if any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. And Spurgeon says, if he's a
new creature, he's in Christ. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, not ought to be, should be, he will be if
he's in Christ. Because in Christ is light and
life and love. Paul said this, if any man have
not the Spirit of God, he's none of his. You can't have Christ
and not have his Spirit. You can't have life and not have
the Spirit of Christ. You can't have a hope of life
and not have him who is our hope. And then John used it frequently.
John says if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with him.
And again, John said, if, if, if they had been of us, assuming
that this is true, that they had been of us, they no doubt
would have stayed with us, if they had been of us. All right,
now we run into this big if, and what does it say? Well, it
says if, poor thing. He says, first of all, if, assuming
this is true, If there be therefore any consolation in Christ." What
does he mean by any consolation in Christ? This is what he means.
Is there any genuine hope in Jesus Christ? Is there really
any confidence to be placed in Jesus Christ? Do we have a reason
at all to hope for righteousness in Christ alone? Do we have a
reason to hope for redemption in Christ alone? Is this true?
Do we have a reason to hope for pardon and acceptance in Jesus
Christ God? Is there confidence to be placed
in Christ Jesus? Is there comfort and consolation
to be drawn from him and him alone? Is that true? Do you believe
that? Look at the second if. If there
is any comfort of love, that is, do we rest in the love of
the Father? Does the Father love sinners? Can we draw comfort
from the fact that Almighty God, the Heavenly Father, actually
loves sinners? We see signs everywhere, God
loves you. Does he? Does he? Does he? Can we draw any comfort at all
from the love of the Son? Does Jesus Christ love me and
love you? Is there any comfort in our love
for one another? Any comfort in our love for Christ?
John seemed to think so. He said, we know that we've passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. Again,
our Lord said, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples
if you love one another. So is there comfort in love?
Is this true that there's real comfort and peace and rest and
joy in love? In the love of the Father, the
love of the Son, the love of the Spirit, and our love for
Him and for one another. Is that true? Look at the third
here. If there's any fellowship of
the Spirit, is there such a thing as one body? Ye have been baptized
by one Spirit into one body. Is there really a family? Is
there really a family of God? Is there really one faith? Is
there really, you say there is, is there a kingdom of grace and
glory? Is there a kingdom of God where
men enter in to a city of refuge? into a hiding place in this time
of storm, into a covert in time of trouble. Is there really a
place of rest or is this just a lot of, as Bill said a moment
ago, a lot of religious talk? Is this just a lot of prattle
popping off? Is there really a fellowship
of the Spirit? Is there really a place of refuge?
Is there really rest for the soul and peace for the mind and
joy for the heart? And then last of all, the fourth
if, he says, if there's any bowels in mercy. In other words, he
says, if there's any real depth to your affection. If there's
any, see bowels of mercy, when we talk about the bowels, we're
talking about the innermost being. That's when the scripture uses
this word bowels, it's talking about the innermost being. That
deep down part of you, you say it's clear down to the depths
of my being. Well, is there any real depth
to this affection for Christ and for one another? Or is this
pretense? Is this pretense? It's just this
sham of selfish goals and selfish glory. Is there any real depth
to your affection? Is there any real truth to your
profession? Now that's a big word, isn't
it? If, if there's any real confidence
to be placed in Christ Jesus for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
everything, is that so? If there's any comfort in love,
if God really loves sinners, and sinners really love God,
any real fellowship in the Spirit. Is there one faith, one family,
one kingdom, one body, one people, Christ the head and they're the
body, one vine that holds all the branches, that bears and
gives forth the fruit, that's the source of life, the fountain
of truth? Is there any real depth to your
affection? Okay, if there is, verse 2, then fulfill ye my joy. If you're not a phony, if you're
not an idle professor, If you're not making pretense and a hypocrite,
then you fulfill my joy." Well, Paul, what is your joy? What
is your joy? Well, let's look at a few scriptures.
I then reached up and took the concordance down and looked up
the word joy when Paul talks about his joy. And I'll give
you some scripture now. What he says is his joy. First
of all, back in Philippians 1. Philippians 1 verse 3, he says,
Now if this is not all a bunch of pretense and a bunch of shame,
if there is any real confidence to be placed in Christ, if there
is any real comfort in God's love, if there is any such thing
as one family and one body in Christ, If your affection is
really deep and truthful and comes from your innermost being,
then you'll fulfill my joy. What is my joy? Philippians 1,
first of all, verse 3 through 5. Paul says, I thank my God
upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine
for you all making requests with joy. for your fellowship in the
gospel." That's the first expression of his joy. It's, I thank God,
I rejoice for your fellowship, your continued fellowship in
the gospel. Your continued fellowship in
the gospel. All right, secondly, Philippians
2, verse 15. Verse 15, Philippians 2, he mentions
this joy again. He says, I make requests before
God for you with joy for your fellowship in the gospel. Verse
15, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God,
without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked, perverse nation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the
word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I
have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. What is his
joy here? That these people, this church
to whom he ministered, holds forth faithfully the word of
life. They're evangelical. They're missionary-minded. They
send the word to others. They preach the word. My joy,
he says, is for your fellowship in the gospel, and my joy, he
says, is that you hold forth the word of life. Thirdly, Philippians
4.1, his joy again. He says in Philippians 4, 1,
Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy
and my crown, stand fast in the Lord. In other words, he's saying
this, my joy is that you continue in the faith. Stand fast in Christ. Stand fast in Christ. John wrote
this, he said, My joy and happiness is to learn that my children
walk in truth. All right, turn to 1 Thessalonians
2, Paul mentions his joy again. 1 Thessalonians 2, chapter 2,
verse 19 and 20. What is our hope or our joy? 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 19. What is our hope or our joy,
our crown of rejoicing? in the presence of our Lord Jesus
at his coming. What's he say? I'll tell you
my joy will be when Christ comes to see you stand in his presence,
accepted of him, received into his kingdom. That'll be my joy. To see you, your glory at the
coming of Christ. The resurrection unto life. To
see you as a part of that throne of redeemed people that'll forever
praise Christ. That's my joy. All right, 2 Timothy
1. He mentions it again. It's joy.
2 Timothy 1, verse 4 and 5. 2 Timothy 1, 4 and 5. He's talking
to young Timothy here, and what he says to Timothy, he says to
us too, "...greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of
your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance
the unfeigned faith that's in thee." What's he saying here? He says, My heart is filled with
joy when I call to remembrance that your faith is genuine. Now,
feigned faith is hypocritical. Unfeigned faith is without hypocrisy,
without sham. Paul says, I'm filled with joy
when I recall to mind your genuine faith in Christ Jesus. You know
the story of Philemon. Turn over there just a moment.
He talks about his joy again. I don't want to wear you with
this, but Paul uses this word frequently. And what we're talking
about is this. He's saying if your profession
is genuine, if there's any confidence in Christ, if there's any comfort
in this business of the love of God, if there's any true fellowship
in the gospel, any true family, if we're not making a pretense,
if there's any depth to your affection, then you'll fulfill
my joy. And these are the things that
bring him joy. There's no numbers mentioned.
It's not saying that your Sunday school grew from 200 to 400.
He doesn't mention that. He doesn't mention the fact that
you prosper materially. He doesn't mention this at all.
He doesn't mention that your children, one of them was elected
mayor of the town. These are the things that are
his joy, your fellowship in the gospel, your holding forth the
word of truth, your standing fast in the Lord, your glory
at the coming of Christ, your genuine faith in Christ Jesus,
and now your good works. Philemon, verse 20. Brother, let me have joy of thee
in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Let me have joy. What's he ask?
Charlie, you preached on this one time. What had he asked Philemon
to do? He'd ask him to receive that
servant back and treat him like he'd treat Paul. This man Philemon
had a servant that had run away. He had escaped, a slave is what
he was. And he had escaped and he had come down to Rome and
heard Paul preach and had been converted. Now Paul was sending
him home. And he's saying to Philemon, I want you to receive
this slave. Receive him as a brother. I want
you to receive him as you received me. If he's wronged you or robbed
you, put it on my account. But I want you to receive him
and love him and forgive him just like it was me coming in
your house. Now let me have some joy. Refresh my bowels. Do what I've said. and I'll have
joy." That's what he said. Fulfill my joy. Look back at
the text now. I must go to the text, we won't
finish. But he says, you've got the foundation, if, if, if, then
fulfill my joy. Look at verse 2, and here's the
next one. My joy is that you be like-minded, that you have
the same love being of one accord and of one mind. In other words,
that you have love and unity and accord among yourself. Now,
I'm not preaching this sermon this morning because the church
is having a fight. That's not so. If it is one,
I don't know anything about it. Or because somebody here is having
a fuss or a fight or a strife or division. If there is, I don't
know anything about it. Maybe God knows something about
it and he lays it on my heart to preach it, but that's not
why I'm preaching it. I'm preaching it because it is the word of
God, because I need it, and because you need But here's what Paul
is saying, if this is so, if your profession is genuine, if
you know Christ, then you fulfill my joy, you bring me joy, and
you live together in unity of spirit, mutual affection, you
live together in harmony and happiness and accord. And verse
3, let nothing, let nothing, no ministry, no music, no meetings,
no teaching, let nothing be done through strife. Brethren, the
glory of Christ, the work of the ministry, the good of the
Church, is never, ever, absolutely never, ever accomplished by quarreling. When quarreling comes in, the
spirit goes out. I guarantee you. It's never accomplished
by strife or contention in any shape, form, or fashion. or the seeking of personal glory
or recognition. He says, let nothing be done,
not any service, not any ministry, not any teaching, not any, let
nothing, nothing be done in the kingdom of God through strife.
Vainglory means the seeking of my own glory. Get the spotlight
on me, get recognition for myself, praise for myself, honor for
myself. He says let nothing be done that
way. The glory of God cannot be accomplished that way. It
just cannot. I know and you know and you've
been associated with religious, I hesitate to call them churches,
but religious organizations where there's bitterness among the
ladies. They quarrel and fuss. The kitchen work is a real ordeal
because they quarrel and they fuss. The nursery work is an
ordeal because they quarrel and they fuss. The office work, they
quarrel and they fuss. All the different types of work,
the custodian's work, everything that's done is done with a bitterness
of spirit. God's glory is not accomplished
this way. God's not in it. He doesn't bless
it. It is never the glory of Christ,
the work of the ministry, the good of the church. Nothing's
a cause. If you are a person of strife and contention and
vainglory and quarreling, resign from whatever you're doing. Don't
do another thing. Sit still. Keep your mouth shut
till God brings you down, gives you the right spirit, the right
compassion, the right motivation, because you are a harm to the
kingdom of God and to the church of God and to the fellowship
of Jesus Christ. Let nothing be done, nothing.
Don't give another dime, don't utter another prayer, don't say
another word, don't do another act of service in the kingdom
of God if the motivation is not for his glory and for the good
of the church. With a spirit of thanksgiving
that you are able and permitted to have any part in God's kingdom.
Now that's just so. And that's very clear. If, this
is true, and fulfill my joy and be like-minded. Be like-minded
in lowliness of mind. Look at this next line. I want
you to stay on verse 3 there. Let nothing be done through strife,
quarreling, contention, petty grievances. It's useless. It's harmful. God won't bless
it. Nothing is accomplished that
way. In lowliness of mind, humility, let every one of us esteem the
other." Watch this, equal with us. That's not what it says.
Let me esteem other ministers and other believers and other
brethren, not equal with me, let me esteem them better than
myself. That's what that word is, better,
better than myself. better than myself. Look at verse
4. Look not every man on his own
things. What are we talking about here?
His own happiness. It's such a temptation for us to be caught
up in ourselves. Am I comfortable? Am I happy? Am I joyful? Am I content? Are things going my way? Are
they doing things the way I want them done? Don't look on this
at all. Don't even consider it or regard
it. Are things going my way? Are
they doing it the way I want it done? He says, look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
In other words, we ought to rather seek the happiness of others,
not our happiness. Seek the comfort of others. If
they're not doing it your way, then seek to do it the other
man's way, the other person's way. Look not on your own happiness
and your own Joy in your own contentment and your own comfort. You say, Preacher, this is an
impossibility. This cannot be accomplished.
You are right as you can be. In the flesh it can't be. It
can't be. But Paul didn't start in the
flesh and he's not finishing in the flesh. He says, if there's
any confidence in Christ, if there's any comfort in his love,
if there's any fellowship in his spirit, If there's any true
depth to your profession and your affection, then you'll do
this. Then you'll fulfill my joy. Now this is the way it's
done, verse 5. Let this mind be in you. Now
keep Scripture in the context. This just flows. We're on the
subject of submission, of humility, of lowliness of mind, of coming
down. Let this mind be in you, this attitude, this spirit be
in you, which was in Christ, who thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Do you realize who Jesus Christ
is? He thought it not taking upon
himself something that didn't belong to him to be called equal
with God. He is equal with God. And skip
down to verse 9. And right now God the Father
hath exalted him and given him a name above every name. That
is, the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue
shall confess that he is Lord. In other words, Jesus Christ
right now, the Son of God, is exalted above every creature,
above every creature. His name is above every name.
In all things, he hath preeminence. He hath the crown, the crown
of glory, the crown of rejoicing, the crown of the universe. But
I'll tell you this, the weight of that crown was by way of that
cross. And that's what he's saying to
us. He's holding up, when Paul talks about giving, you know
the example he uses? He says, Christ who was rich
became poor for your sake. When he talks about forgiving,
what example does he use? He says, you forgive one another
even as God for Christ's sake forgave you. When he talks about
loving one another, what example does he use? He says, you love
one another as I loved you. See what I'm saying? When he
talks about humility, when he talks about whittling this preacher
down, when he talks about whittling this elder down, when he talks
about whittling this Sunday school teacher down, what example does
he use? Christ. He said, you come down. You come on down. If you're going
to fulfill my joy, if you're going to be a steward of the
grace of God, you're going to come down like Christ came down.
Let this mind be in you. Not looking on your own things,
your own welfare and comfort and happiness and joy and satisfaction
and peace. Look on the things of others.
If we could ever get hold of one basic truth, it'd make us
the happiest people on earth. It's that basic truth that's
in Christ. That it's more blessed to give than to receive. That
in giving, you do receive. In making people happy, You get
happiness. He that would have friends must
show himself friendly. That's all the way through this
book. You can read that fella's book on how to win friends and
influence people. It's nothing more than a summary,
a brief paragraph or two taken from this book right here. I
know he didn't mean it that way, but that's how he did it. He
that would have friends must show himself friendly. He that
would have love begets love. giving helps us to receive. And let this humility of Christ
be the humility that's in you. Christ cannot be our prophet
to reveal God until he becomes a man, bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, until he comes down in the flesh. He cannot
be our priest, the supreme, eternal only high priest to offer himself
as a sacrifice for our sins till he be humbled to death, the death
of the cross. He cannot be our righteousness
to cover us with true holiness until he walks in the flesh and
obeys the law. He cannot be our king to reign
over us in his eternal kingdom till he engages the enemy and
wins the battle. Watch this right here. Now you
say, well, I'd love for God to do that for me. Hold it right
there. Let's read it again. Verse 7,
he humbled him, he made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of
a servant. Verse 8, being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself. And he became obedient unto death
even. It doesn't say he was humbled.
It says he humbled himself. Let this mind be in you which
was in Christ. He humbled himself. Barney used
to preach a sermon on waiting for the lightning to strike.
He said that's where a lot of what we call grace people have
missed the boat. They've got this thing in the
hands of God. And you can't, I suppose, give
God too much glory or magnify his sovereignty too much, but
I'll tell you what you can do. You can put yourself in a starving
position by denying man's responsibility. See what I'm saying? In other
words, we don't use this in any other area of life. You boys
want to be good basketball players, what do you do? You go out and
practice and practice and practice and practice. You don't sit down and say, I
sure wish God would make me a good shooter. You men who want to
build a new house, you don't sit down and fold your arms and
say, I wish I had a new house. You get out there and roll up
your sleeves and spit on your hands and get you some plans
and save your money and start driving naked. And yet a man
says, I sure wish I had humility, I sure wish I had love, I sure
wish I had this, that, and the other. It's the same thing, it
doesn't come that way. It's a gift of God, you're right. But it
says here, our Lord humbled himself. He did something about it. He
made himself with no reputation. And I'll tell you the degree
of his humiliation. There's a little word here, a
little four-letter word. Verse 8, And being found in passion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Shameful, despicable, wretched, vile, cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree, he humbled himself. He gave himself. Wherefore, I like this next word
in verse 9, wherefore God hath highly exalted him. Now here's
what I'm saying, here's what I'm saying. He who, and we'll
say more about it tonight, but he who intends to build high,
he's got high aspirations and high goals and high objectives,
he who intends to build high starts low. He lays the foundation
deep and low. And the higher he aspires to
build, the deeper he goes. I've watched men build an outdoor
shed for the backyard shed. Well, they don't go very deep.
They go out here and they may dig a little footer, you know,
and put something down about like that and build a shed. But
this 14-story building down here, I watched Andy, we watched Andy
Stephen build it. They went down, down, down, down,
40, 50 feet, down. Why, what was it? They were hunting
a substantial footer, a rock. And our Lord gave that illustration
in Luke 6. He said the man that built his
house, the wise man, he digged deep. In other words, the fellow
that's going to build a doghouse may spend an hour doing it, but
the man that's going to build a skyscraper spends six months
on the footer and digs deep, digs deep. So what I'm saying
is that you're welcome, you're welcome, that's the whole world
welcome, you're not because I want you to be different, but the
whole world welcome to this shallow profession of religion, this
appearance of religion. But those who aspire to kingdom
glory, Those who aspire to a real relationship with God. Those
who aspire to a saving relationship with Christ. Those who aspire
to be like the Son of God. They're people who spend time
in foundation work. That's where they spend time.
They spend time in heart searching. They spend time in confession
of sin. They spend time in mourning overseeing. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. They spend time in hungering
and thirsting. I had a young man come by to see
me just a few days ago. He comes here occasionally. And he said that he was learning
some things, but he was confused. Well, I said this to him, and
I repeat it to this whole congregation. He says he means to come more
regularly, but things come up. Now, I'm going to say this frankly
and candidly. When you get interested enough
in knowing Christ to where nothing can come up to prevent you from
hearing his word, I don't care what it is. I don't care what
it is. A fellow said to me on the phone
two weeks ago, well, he meant to come to church, but his uncle
died. Well, man, he never would have come, because Mama would
have died, wouldn't he? But when you get interested,
when Christ becomes your obsession, when knowing him, and you may
think this is hard, but it's so. Whether hard or soft, it's
so. Deep or high or shallow, it's
so. He said, you'll seek me and find me when you search for me.
How, Mike? With all your heart. He said, seek ye the kingdom
of God. No, he said, seek first the kingdom of God. You know
what he said? F-I-R-S-T. First. If your girlfriend is
between you and God, you can have her. If your wife or husband
is between you and God, you can have them. If your job is between
you and God, you can have it. And anything else, seek ye first. Isn't that it, Woody? That's
what Scripture says. When a man gets a hunger and a thirst and
an obsession, I've got to have Christ, I've got to know Christ,
I will not let him go till he blesses me, I'm going to camp
on his doorstep, I'm going to hang on to him and cling to him,
I'm going to knock till somebody comes to the door. Somebody will
come to the door. That's just so. But this thing
of flirting around with the kingdom of God, this thing of flirting
around with the grace of God, this thing of flirting around
and playing and making a hobby of the kingdom of Christ, God
isn't. That's unworthy of Him. That's
unworthy of God. It's just unworthy of Him. My part-time hobby as far as
Christ is unworthy of God. And that's what I'm saying, is
that our Lord Jesus Christ had high objectives, the redemption
of his people, he had to come low, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath exalted him. And if we can ever find this
mind of Christ, this mind of grace and sacrifice and humility
and submission and sincerity in our dealings with him, in
our dealings with one another, And if we're going to aspire
to lofty, glorious kingdom goals, we're going to have to find this
truth out. And here are four things I want to give you in
closing. Here are four things that I think are worthy of consideration.
The glory of grace, the glory of his grace, free grace, is
only experienced by those who are acquainted with human guilt. That's just so. Some people talk
of grace, some people rejoice in it. Some people preach grace,
some practice it. Some people declare their belief
in grace, and some people are gracious. Grace is operative
in their hearts. And I'll tell you this, those
who understand something of the glory of his grace are those
who have done business in the deep waters of personal guilt.
One of our young ladies told us in the Sunday school class
this morning how that she had been brought in the last two
or three months. She's been a member of this church
several years. She's been a mother of two children. She's been brought
in the last two or three months to an understanding of what she
is by nature. And now she understands something
of the grace of God and the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. You don't
understand it unless, till God brings, till God strips you,
you're not going to rejoice in the righteousness of His Son.
Till God slays you, you're not going to rejoice in the gift
of life. Till God Almighty humbles you and me and brings us down
in the dust. Brother Scott said that we make
our headquarters in the dust and we don't even raise or wiggle
our little finger, we're in the dust. Recipients of mercy, recipients
of grace, guilty, guilty, guilty. Boy, I'll tell you this, if the judge, if you've got a
little traffic ticket, It's going to cost you at $19.95," and the
judge said, well, just tie it up, you know, and throw it away,
son. I'll do better next time. It's all right. You'll go out
feeling good. But brother, that fellow that's
on death row, he's condemned to die. Now you think, when they walk
in there and tell him, you're free, you can go out. Do you know the difference in
the fellow that got forgiven with a traffic ticket and this
man? guilt, the weight, the load of guilt. Which one's happiest?
Well, there's no comparison. No comparison. All right, secondly,
the joys of love, L-O-V-E, love, and this word is so abused and
misused and misapplied and it's full of such phony, useless,
well, it's not even worthy of comment, but the joys of true
love. are only discovered by those
to whom much is forgiven." I've got the word of my Lord on that.
There was a woman who bathed his feet with tears. You know
the story. And there was a Pharisee. And our Lord gave this lesson
to both of them. He said, to whom much is forgiven,
he'll love much. To whom much is forgiven, he'll
love much. So that's more of this down.
Down. To whom much is forgiven, that's
the one that'll love him. And then the preciousness of
Christ, thirdly, the preciousness of Christ, the preciousness of
his word. The Bible talks about precious
blood, the precious promises, and to you that believe he's
precious, how precious is Christ to you? I'll tell you how precious
Christ is to you. The preciousness of Christ to
you is in direct proportion to your need of him. Is that so? Now, what makes this water precious? Well, it's just, really and truly,
this is not really precious to me. If I spill ever a bit of
it, I just take it and pour, just, that's nothing. And I'll tell
you the fellow that won't do that is a fellow down there in
that mine, been down there for two weeks, and he doesn't have
any hope of rescue right now. And he don't have a drop of water
except what he's got in his plate. You talk about precious. You
see what I mean? You hold to it, just sip on it. It doesn't mean anything to me.
There's water everywhere. There's water. I'd go turn that
faucet on over there. There's water everywhere around
here. It's not precious. It's really not precious at all.
What makes a commodity precious is the need, the need, the need. And I'll tell you, Lord, to whom
shall we go? I must have Christ. I must have Christ. I must not
let him go. He must not leave me. I must have Christ. Now that's what he means to me,
I think to some of you. That's what makes him precious.
He's valued by those who have nowhere to go. And then fourthly,
mercy. Mercy is shown. Now you talk
about this thing of showing love and showing mercy and showing
grace. Mercy is shown always in proportion to mercy received.
That's just so. Mercy is shown in proportion
to mercy received. The kindest man on earth, the
kindest man on earth is the man who has been brought to an understanding
that God's been kind to him. The person who says, I can't
forgive, has never been forgiven. Is that so? That's what the Bible
said. Christ said, if you forgive not
me and their trespasses, neither will you be forgiven. In fact,
he's taught us to pray. He said, you pray this way, Father,
forgive me of my debts as I forgive those who are indebted to me.
You're sitting here this morning, you're holding grudges, and you
can't forgive, and you can't forget, and you can't love a
certain person. You are expressing openly and publicly before God
that you have never been forgiven. Well, that's just so. The Word
is strict on that. It is strict on that, as clear
on that as any other. And here's why. And I examine
myself in this matter while you examine yourself. Here's why.
The only reason in the world why I would come down hard on
a person is because that I don't understand
how gracious God's been to me. Can you imagine how many times
he's forgiven me, how much mercy I've received? Now, I know today's
religion wants to skip this sort of thing. And I know these boys
here, they listen to preachers and they say, you want to go
to heaven, you don't want to go to hell, do you? Well, sure,
I don't want to go to hell. I want to go to heaven. Well, come down
now and shake my hand and join the church and get baptized,
see you in the promised land, you know. That's as loose and light as
the fellow that's putting it out. He's a phony and a huckster
and a merchandiser of souls. But you can't preach repentance
if you've never repented. But I'm telling you this. You
miss foundation work, your house is coming down. And it'll be
at a sad time when it comes down to it. It'll be in the day of
judgment. You miss Holy Spirit conviction,
you're going to miss faith. You miss faith, you'll miss Christ.
You miss Christ, you'll miss God's grace. And God's grace
goes right back to this foundation work. And I don't care how long
it takes to do it, but seek the Lord. Let's dig deep. Let's ask God to do this foundation
work in my heart and make me like Christ. He who aspires to
build high does a lot of work underground. He lays the foundation
deep, and the higher his aspirations, the deeper his work in preparation. Our Father, we thank you for
your Word. We're not making idle professions.
We thank you for your Word. Your Word judges us and convicts
us and strips us and reveals what we are by nature, but we
don't want to continue. to be what we are by nature.
We want to be like Christ. We'll be satisfied when we're
awake with his likeness in his presence. And we want now to
have this spirit of unity and compassion and mutual love and
affection. We want to glorify our Master
here on this earth as well as in heaven. We want to be like
Christ now in conversation and conduct and spirit and attitude.
Enable us by Thy grace to walk in paths of righteousness and
submission and humility. Lord, bring me down. Bring me
down that You might use me for Your glory. We pray it in Christ's
name and for His sake. Amen.