As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye who have received Christ Jesus
the Lord in Christ Jesus the Lord." Now this text is not in
any way addressed to an unbeliever. There's nothing here at all for
an unbeliever. There's nothing here at all for
the ungodly. There's nothing here at all for
the man who does not know Christ. is plainly addressed to believers.
This is plainly a sermon to those who know Christ, as you have
therefore received Christ, Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. There's nothing here, there's
no word at all for the man who's a stranger to the presence of
Christ. Now one thing we need to know,
the man who has a desire to know the living God, to know the living
God, of whom David spoke when he said, My soul thirsteth, my
heart panteth after the living God. The man who desires to know
the living God is not going to make any progress in that direction
until he knows that a man knows God in Christ. No man knoweth
the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him. It's impossible with talking foolishness, if we talk about
knowing God or worshiping God or loving God or praying to God.
if we do not know Christ, if we do not know the Redeemer.
Now, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Mr. Bailey
Smith, who made the comment recently that God does not hear the Jew
when he prays, made a poor choice of words, no question about that. He stirred up a hornet's nest.
But what ought to have been said is this. God doesn't hear a Baptist
or a Methodist or a Presbyterian or a Catholic or a Jew or a Gentile
or a Protestant or whoever if he does not come to God in Christ.
Me, you, or anybody else. No man can know the Father except
through the Son. Our Savior said himself, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. No man cometh to the Father for
mercy or grace or life or forgiveness or or healing or whatever, except
through Christ. So you're going to make no progress
in your pursuit of God if you do not know, first of all, that
God is known in Christ. Secondly, the man who yearns
for the forgiveness of sin, it doesn't matter who this person
is, man or woman, boy or girl, who longs for forgiveness of
sin, may as well resign from the search, may as well resign
from the from the goal or the objective unless he seeks forgiveness
in Christ. Now the scripture says, in whom
we have forgiveness of our sins, the redemption of our souls in
his blood. That's where it is. It's cleansings
in the blood, atonements in the blood, redemptions in the blood. There's no, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission, there's no forgiveness. You see,
God being holy and being righteous, cannot forgive sin without sin
being paid for. It's got to be satisfied. God's
justice has got to be satisfied. His law has got to be honored.
So if we're seeking forgiveness, Lord, forgive me. Lord, show
mercy to me. Put away my transgressions. Well,
it's by his stripes that we're healed. There's no other way.
We just might as well give it up. We might as well throw in
the towel. We might as well call off the service. Because there's
no forgiveness except in Christ. And then the man who longs for
holiness. I know there are people who long
for sanctification and holiness and righteousness. Well, I'm
here to tell you that our righteousness is Christ. And we'll never gain
any holiness. I know Martin Luther. That's what we were reading about
a moment ago, the voluntary humility, the punishing of the body, the
abstaining from meats and drinks and the keeping of holy days
and the going about of all the fastings and prayers and washings
and ceremonies and ordinances and elements and rudiments and
so forth. We're trying to find some holiness,
some righteousness, some cleanliness of thought and cleanliness of
conversation and cleanliness of life. holiness before God and righteousness
before God. There is no such thing except
in Christ. Now you can go about all of these
doings and all of these fastings and all of these punishments
of the body, and God Almighty cannot look with favor upon you
except in Christ. Our righteousness is Christ.
Our sanctification is Christ. Martin Luther was in that monastery
so many years, and he'd punish his body. When he had desires
of the flesh, he'd take a thorn bush and he'd beat his body till
it bled all over till he forgot these thoughts he just beat himself
and he'd fast and do without food to get his mind off vanity
and off carnality and off the flesh and they'd find him sometime
lying on the floor almost dead cold and and the bleeding and
and his ribs sticking out from hunger and they nursed him back
to health only to go through this again There's no way that
you can purify a human soul through fastings and ceremonies. We're
purified by Christ's righteousness. We're accepted in the beloved.
Now, you'll make no progress. Now, I'm not discouraging fasting. I'm not discouraging us keeping
our bodies and bringing them into subjection. I'm not discouraging
times of devotion and meditation. I'm not discouraging of panting
after obedience and cleanliness and holiness of walk and abstaining
from evil and setting a good example and walking with God,
but not in order to be accepted of God. That's what I'm trying
to discourage. I'm trying to discourage anyone
from seeking to find in their obedience a righteousness with
which a holy God will be pleased. He cannot accept anything short
of perfection. And I don't have that, but Christ
does, and I have it in Him. So we're not going to make any
progress in that direction until we know that Christ is our righteousness,
and then last of all, we're going to die someday, and we want to
be resurrected, and we want to stand in glory, and we want to
share the riches of his glory. But now we're not going to make
any progress in that direction until we realize that Christ
is the resurrection and the life. So this scripture here, as you
have received Christ, you have received Christ as your wisdom
to know the living God. You have received Christ as your
redemption, the forgiveness of sin. You have received Christ
as your sanctification, holiness and sanctification. And you have
received Christ as your ultimate eternal glory, as you have received
Christ. This is the way that a man receives
Christ. He receives Christ as everything
or nothing, as we have received Christ. Now, there's no miracle
like the miracle of the indwelling Christ. There's no miracle like
the miracle of the indwelling Christ. What he does for a man,
what he does in a man, what he does to a man, is indescribable. There's no miracle like it. And
there's no misery like the misery of a religion without the indwelling
Christ. Misery for all who are identified
with it, misery for all who are exposed to it. The misery of
a religion without the indwelling Christ. There's no misery like
it. There's no miracle like the indwelling Christ. There's no
miracle like the gift of his grace and the gift of his love
and the joy of his presence and the peace of his indwelling spirit. But there's no misery like a
shell of religion. There's no misery like a veneer
of religion. There's no misery like a whited
sepulcher that on the outside appears beautiful unto men, but
on the inside is full of dead men's bones. Too often the men
who are involved in this sort of thing know it, they are aware
of it. So let's look at three things
tonight, see what the Spirit of God would teach us in this. I'm going to divide the message
into three parts, as you have received Christ, so walk ye in
him. And here are the three parts.
First of all, the fact, the fact. And secondly, the results of
the fact. And thirdly, the model. Now,
first of all, the fact. Paul says here, as you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord. Will you look hard at the four
words here. First of all, it says as you,
you have received Christ. We're not talking about our church
now. We're talking about you. We're not talking about your
family. We're not talking about your friends. We're not talking
about your wife or children. We're talking about you. Have
you received Christ? And let's start up here in the
pulpit. Preacher, have you received Christ? Every man shall give
an account of himself to God. There's nothing so personal as
your relationship with and your interest in the Son of God. Let
a man examine himself. Jay prayed that while ago. Let
us examine ourselves. Are these just words? Are these
just doctrines? Or do we sincerely, and is it
possible that a man could stand here in this pulpit for 29 years
and miss Christ, I don't think it's only possible. I think it's
been done too often. I think it's been done too often.
I think that the Church is suffering under the ministry of unregenerated
preachers. And when I read scripture like
this, as you have received Christ, and the title of my message is,
have you received Christ, I ask this question, have I received
Christ? It's a personal matter. I must repent. I must believe.
I must receive Christ. I must submit to Christ. I must
embrace Christ. I must close with Christ. I must
find a saving interest in Christ. Jay, have you received Christ?
We go down the line here to our deacons and elders and people
who have been here for you. Have you received Christ? Do
you have a mechanical religion? Or have you really received Christ?
This is the question. You, you as you! There's nothing
so personal as your relationship with and your interest in Jesus
Christ the Lord. Have you received Christ? I'll
tell you the folks that need to be as greatly concerned about
this as anyone are us who were brought up in religion. Now we,
I was born into a very religious family. My parents, my parents
made a profession of religion quite early, when I was quite
young, and I was brought up in the church. I was brought up
in Sunday school. I was brought up in training
union. I was brought up in Sunday morning,
Sunday night, and Wednesday night. I was brought up in revival meetings.
I was brought up in the congregation, like some of you were. And now
this is a serious thing. Have I consciously, sincerely,
lovingly, intelligently, climactically received Jesus Christ? Have I
committed myself to Christ? And this thing needs to be thought
over and studied. Have I just grown up in religion,
accepted the doctrines, or have I received Christ? I don't want
to miss Christ. Here's the second word. Receiving
Christ. Christ. We're not talking about
his doctrine. I think a man can be a Calvinist
and go to hell. I think a man can be orthodox and miss Christ. I believe a man can believe the
fundamental facts of the Bible and perish. Have I received Christ? Here's the question. Have you
received Christ? Not just his doctrine, not just
his book, not just his ordinances, but him. I'll tell you, being
associated with religion as long as I have and traveling as much
as I've traveled and meeting as many people associated with
religion as I have, this is the thing that troubles me. is that
so many folks are exacting their doctrines and so weak in the
knowledge of the person. This is disturbing. They know
the facts, they know the doctrines, but their spirit and attitude
just reveals that they do not know the person, Christ Jesus.
So we're asking this, have you received Christ? Not his doctrine,
not his book, not his ordinances, but him, his person. His Godhead,
Jesus Christ Himself. My little children, Paul said,
I travail till Christ be formed in you. Till Christ be formed
in you. Not the rules of Christ, but
the person of Christ. Not the doctrines of Christ,
but the person of Christ. Not the ordinances of Christ
or the fundamental facts of Christ's life. I hear people say, I'm
trusting His finished work. Well, I know what they mean.
I don't like what they're saying. I don't like what they're saying. I think you can trust a work
and miss the person who performed the work. His work has no validity
at all without him. He's the one I'm trusting. He's
the one in whom I'm resting. He's the one that sits on the
throne. He's the one who is my rock and foundation. It's not
trusting his finished work. It's trusting him who did the
work. Have you received Christ? Christ,
the living person, the glorious person, the enthroned person,
the interceding person, the reigning person. That's the question.
As you have therefore received Christ. Now a man can't get motivated
for very long by a rule. Now he can be motivated a long
time by a person. A man can live by rules just
so long. You can lay down regulations
and rules and laws and statutes, and he may get real enthusiastic
about it for a little while, but after a while it loses its
zest and zeal and enthusiasm. But if he's got a person walking
by his side, a person who motivates him, a person whom he loves,
a person whom he trusts, a person with whom he fellowships, a person
with whom he's in communion, a person! Now, he can go on and
on and on. And this is why I think a lot
of people, be honest with you, I think a lot of people's religion
wears out. It wears out. It wears thin.
It gets tiresome. The burden gets heavy. They start
out and they have a little fellowship with some people and they're
anxious to go to church. They like the way they sing.
They like the way they do things and they've got friends, kind
of a social organization. They've got certain rules and
regulations and they go along with a little zip and zeal and
determination and enthusiasm, but after a while it just gets
old. It gets old. Because it's dead. It has no
life. But when you receive Christ, it doesn't matter, it's like
John Newton said, when Christ is with me and in me, A prison
would be a palace and a palace would be a toy. Winter is summertime
and it's summertime all the year when Christ is there because
he's a person. And he never grows old because
he's always fresh and new and living and powerful and gracious
and merciful and comforting and these things. That's the difference.
And I don't know how to explain that. It's that as you have received
Christ. It's not facts about him, it's
not however right they are. It's not his laws, no matter
how holy they are. It's not his doctrines, no matter
how intriguing they are. It's not even his church, no
matter how fascinating it is. Have you received Christ? And
I tell you, he grows sweeter every day, Cecil. He grows sweeter
every day. We're never tired of fellowshipping
with him. We're never tired of worshiping him. We're never tired
of walking with him, because he's the living Lord. He's maligned.
He's maligned. You can get weary of looking
at a picture, but you never get weary of embracing a person.
You see the difference? A person. Watch this next word. We're talking about receiving
him. As you have therefore received him. Christ Jesus the Lord. We're
talking about receiving him. Now we're not talking about admiring
him. We're not talking about admiring him. Nicodemus did that. We're not talking about hearing
about him. Festus and Agrippa and Felix
did that. But we're talking, we're not
even talking about believing facts about him. We're talking
about actually receiving Christ. Receiving Christ. I believe you
know what the word receive means. Don't you receive food into your
mouth? You receive a gift into your hand, you receive a shot
into your body, it's something that you receive, and it's a
humbling word. Charles Spurgeon said it's a
stripping word to receive. What is there to glory in if
I am a receiver? The vessel that receives the
water cannot boast. The beggar that receives the
food cannot brag. The child that receives the gift
cannot boast. And the sinner who receives mercy
cannot boast. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4, verse
7, and let's look at this. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7. Who maketh thee to differ? Who
maketh thee to differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Receive. Now if thou dost receive
it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? We're
not talking about working, we're not talking about earning, we're
talking about receiving Christ, receiving him within, actually
receiving him. We receive him into our hearts,
we receive him into our persons, we receive Christ. And when you
receive Christ, you receive all that he is. What's this? Listen
back at the text again now. As you have therefore received,
what's this now? Christ, Jesus, the Lord. And you can't receive part of
Christ, you receive Christ as he is. You receive Christ as
he is. Christ, first of all, we have
received Christ, the anointed, the Father's anointed. The Father
is anointed. The Christ is the Messiah. The
Christ is that prophet. That prophet God promised. The
Christ is that Redeemer God promised. The Christ is that fulfillment
of every promise and prophecy and picture in the Old Testament.
The Christ. We have received the Christ. The Messiah. The
Redeemer. You see that? Under us a child
is born. Under us a son is given. And
the government shall be upon his shoulders, his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. We have received Christ. And
ours have seen the Christ, thy salvation. It is not just the
Christ. We believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of the
Living God. I receive him as the fulfillment of all Scripture.
That's how I receive. Secondly, I receive Jesus. Christ, the Father's anointed.
Jesus the Savior. The angel said to Mary, that
baby, that holy thing conceived in your womb, is the Son of God. And he said to Joseph, thou shalt
call his name Jesus, Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. I received the Christ, the anointed,
the Father sent one, the Redeemer, the Messiah, who came in the
form of a man. as a baby in human flesh who
came into this world and as a man for 33 years he perfectly obeyed
God's law, he knew no sin, he walked this earth in the fulfillment
of every jot and tittle of God's holy law. I received Christ Jesus,
Jesus who was despised and rejected and ridiculed, a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief who went to a cruel Roman cross and
died shed his blood and was buried in the flesh as a man, I received
Christ Jesus." What's the next word? The Lord. King of kings and Lord of lords. I received him as the supreme
dictator and Lord of my life. He's my Lord. And that's how
I received him. And I can't receive him as the
Messiah. Now this is what Some folks want
to say, well, he's the Messiah, but they reject his humanity.
He's God, and they reject his humanity. Some accept his humanity
and reject his deity. And some want to accept him as
the coming millennial king, and things like this, and reject
his lordship. And some want to accept him as
savior and priest and reject his kingship. You've got to receive
him as Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, that's it. Prophet, priest,
and king. prophet, priest, and king. You
cannot divide Christ. There's no argument about it.
There's no questioning. There's no quarreling about it.
How much does a man have to know to be saved? He has to know he's
lost, and Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus the
Christ is his Lord. It's like when Saul of Tarsus,
with all of his religion and with all of his whatever he had,
was brought down to his knees on the road to Damascus, and
in helplessness, as a little child, in submission, as a broken
vessel, he said, Lord, what will you have me do? Now that's what
it boils down to. Lord, what will you have me do?
But we've got today so much struggling against God, and struggling against
it. I'll be saved, but I won't do
this. I'll be a Christian, but I won't do that. I'll join the
church, but they'll never get me to do this, and I'll do that,
and I'll do that." If you ever receive Christ Jesus the Lord,
you'll receive him as a broken vessel like Saul of Tarsus who
said, Lord, just name me. That's what I do. I'm just putty
and clay in the potter's hand. I'm just nothing. Just do with
me what you will. where I'm to live, tell me what
I'm to do, tell me where I'm to go, tell me with whom I'm
to associate, tell me how I'm to live. You are now Christ Jesus
the Lord. That's it. You have received
Christ Jesus the Lord. Now here is another word I want
you to look at. You have received Him. This is a certainty. This is
something that's been done. I have received Christ Jesus
the Lord. It's just as sure As I'm standing
before you tonight, it either is or it isn't. I have received
them. I either have received them or
I have not received them. I've either come to that place
of submission or I haven't. And religion's got nothing to
do with it. There are people in religion that do not know
God and there are people in atheism who do not know God. It has nothing
to do with it. It has to do with a person, my
relationship with a person. Have I received Christ? And brethren,
you can go through all the motions of religion, you can go through
all the doctrines and all of the ordinances and all of the
facts and fundamentals and all of the motions and still not
receive Christ Jesus the Lord. This is where it is. Have I received
Christ Jesus the Lord? All right? That's the fact. And
I haven't exhausted that by any means or even touched it, but
that's what we're dealing with. As you, in the personal, as you
receive Christ Jesus, the Lord, have you received him? In a conscious,
intelligent fashion, have you received him? He's meat and drink,
he's water and bread, he's life itself, he's life and truth,
he's everything. I've received Christ Jesus, and
I have received him. Sink or swim, I go to Him. I
rest in Him. There's no question about it.
I have, God knows my heart, received Christ Jesus the Lord. It's not
just a heaven, hell proposition. It's a situation involving my
relationship with a person. A person. Alright, the results. Look at this quickly. As you
have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. What does the word walk mean?
Well, this is all I could find on it and I think it's sufficient.
A man's walk is several things. It's several things. But mainly,
when we talk about the word walk, we're talking about a man's general
conduct and conversation and attitude and spirit. That's what
we're talking about. What is a man's walk? His walk
is And when we're talking about walk, we're talking about something
that continues, we're talking about something that's progressive,
we're talking about some activity, we're talking about something
that's alive, that's his walk, that's him, that's his walk. A man's walk can mean several
things, but it means mainly his general conduct, her general
conduct, his or her, conversation, attitude and spirit. All right? As I have received Christ, how
did I receive Christ? I received Christ gratefully,
having no claim whatever on his mercy or grace. Do I have any
claim on his mercy? How did I receive Christ? I received
Christ as a beggar. I received Christ as a person
who had no claim on him whatsoever. He didn't owe me. He wasn't obligated
to me. I received Christ as a gift.
He gave me all I had. It was pure mercy and pure grace. All right, Jay, how should I
walk in reference to others? See, that's it. with the grace
and mercy that God showed me, I showed them. Let's turn over
here to the book of Ephesians a minute. Let's look at Ephesians
chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. It says in verse 32, now if you'll
watch the scriptures, if you'll watch the scriptures, everything
we're commanded to do in reference to others, just about everything,
I won't say it, but just about everything, He compares it with
what God did for us. He says that you love one another
as I loved you. Remember what you read tonight?
Love one another as I loved you. All right, watch this. Be ye
kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, forgave you. How did I receive Christ?
I received Christ gratefully, mercifully, graciously without
any claims on him. And I'll tell you, that should
be the way I walk in Christ. I walk just that way in the Lord
Jesus Christ, where others are concerned. Why do we hold grudges? I just don't understand. I hear people walk up to me and
say, my brother or sister is a believer, a Christian, but
their attitude toward me or my mother or father is a believer,
but their attitude towards me is anything but the way a Christian
ought to behave. That's hard to understand when
God, Bob, is so good to us. He's so merciful. How did I receive
him? How did I receive him? It was totally a gift. It was
totally his grace. I didn't deserve him. He wasn't
obligated. He just forgave me. Now, it looks
like to me that if I have received Christ and he dwells within me,
And I ought to graciously and kindly and mercifully forgive
others. And I wrote a little article
in the Bulletin about that, and this is what it said. And from
this verse right here in Ephesians 4.32, kind, tenderhearted, forgiving. These are not just words. These
are characteristics. These are attributes. These are
the daily experience of redeemed people. Please don't burden us
with your doctrine and your piety and your religious zeal if you're
not a gentle, kind person in your attitude, words, and actions
toward other people. This may seem harsh to you, but
this is the way I see it. You, my friend, are a genuine
hypocrite. You're a Pharisee. And the Church
of the Lord Jesus has been too long burdened with this kind
of spirit. And the whole world is weary of lifeless, loveless
words. Being right in doctrine and outward
morality is of little value if one is not gracious in spirit
and attitude. As you have received Christ,
how did you receive him? You received him as a free gift,
mercifully. Then let's walk that way. Let's
walk that way. How did I receive Christ? I received
him humbly. I received him not only graciously
and gratefully, but I received him humbly, sitting at his feet. That's where I received Christ,
and that's where I ought to stay, at the feet of Christ. Let's
turn to a few scriptures. Turn with me to Luke 6. Luke
6, verses 35 and 36. Luke 6, verses 35 and 36. You say, Preacher, why are you
preaching this way? I'm preaching this way because I need it and
you need it. We need it because we need to examine ourselves
and examine our experiences and examine our professions and examine
our claims. And if they are not according
to scripture, we need to do something about it. If we haven't been
changed in our spirit and in our attitude, then we do not
know the changer. If we have not been regenerated,
we do not know the regenerator. And if we have not become new
creatures, we don't know the creator. Because he makes all
things new. And if we're not growing in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we certainly
have no life. And if we're not producing the
fruit of God's Spirit, we do not know the Spirit. In Luke
6, verse 35. Now listen, what I'm saying is
in all these scriptures it says, Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
you. This is my commandment, that you love one another as
I have loved you." Now watch this, Luke 6, verse 34 and 35. And if you lend to them of whom
you hope to receive, what thank have you? Sinners also lend to
sinners to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good,
and lend, hoping for nothing again. And your reward shall
be great, and you shall be the children of the highest, for
he is kind to the unthankful. and to the evil, be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful." To whom? To you.
Do you? Peter said, How many times shall
I forgive my brother? The Lord said seven times. The
Lord said seventy times seven. But the Lord also could have
said, As often as God forgives you. Every time God forgives
you, you forgive somebody else. One day our Lord gave this parable.
He said, owed a fellow a great sum of money. He just owed him
so much. It was just talent upon talent
upon talent. It was a debt that could not
be met in any way. And he came before the king and
he said, ìGive me time to pay it.î And the king said, ìI forgive
you of the whole debt. Youíre free. Go in peace.î The
same man went outside and some friends saw him as he put his
hands around the neck of another man who owed him ten dollars. And he said, ìYou pay me what
you owe me or Iíll put you in jail.î And they came in and told
the king, they said, didn't you just forgive that fellow of an
enormous sum of money? And he said, yes, I did. Well,
he's out there choking a friend, trying to get out of him ten
dollars. He said, bring him back in here. And they brought him
back in. He said, I forgave you, and you
went out and didn't show the same mercy to a man who owed
you a lot less, buying him hand and foot and cast him into prison
until he pays every debt. He said, if you forgive not me
and their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses. But here's the thing I'm saying. If we have received
Christ, if we have, and if we receive him, not his doctrines,
I say a man can follow his doctrines and walk contrary. I say a man
can believe certain ordinances and walk contrary, a man can
believe facts and walk contrary, but if Christ is his motivator
and Christ is his energizer and Christ is his King enthroned
in his heart, then Christ is going to dictate his actions
and his attitude and his spirit. This is Christ's will. And forgiveness
won't be nearly as hard. Turn to 2 Corinthians 8. Because
he's not doing it on his own. If Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me. If you can receive Christ, then the Christ in you will be
the forgiver. The Christ in you will be the
lover. The Christ in you. Christ in you so occupies your
mind that you don't dwell on these other things. Your mind
doesn't dwell on vengeance. Your mind doesn't dwell on getting
even. Your mind doesn't dwell on the
things of this world, the ambitions. Your mind dwells on Him, and
somehow you're able to forget those things. You're able to put them out of
your mind. Don't you remember what so-and-so did? No, I really
don't remember that. My mind is so occupied with the
great person and the great glory. He so controls and occupies your
mind, you're really able to discount those things. And you're really
able to forgive. It's not discharging a debt.
In other words, you don't have to sit down and say, now my religion
requires me to forgive this person. My religion and my relationship
with Christ requires me to be merciful. My religion requires
me, so I'm going to grit my teeth and do it. That's not it at all. The Christ in you, the Christ
in you gives you a pity for that person. Gives you a love and
gives you an understanding that were it not for the grace of
God, you'd be just like him. You'd do the same thing. That's
the difference, you see. It's not a rule, you follow.
It's a person who motivates. I'm telling you the truth. It's
the fruit of the Spirit. It's not your fruit which he
promotes and produces. It's his fruit. It's his fruit. It's his fruit. And it comes
natural for you to pity and to have compassion. I know you grow
in this. I know this is not fruit that
you save one year and the next year it's fruit just hanging
all over the tree. This is fruit that starts out in the bud and
in the bloom and in the revelation and as the years go by it becomes
more manifest. And you just, there's a gentleness.
Honey, you still fly off the handle, you still get upset,
you still have flesh to deal with, you still have flesh to
conquer, but you can see the budding of this fruit of the
Spirit of God who within you produces it. But it's a production
of himself. It's a reproduction of himself.
It's himself living through you. Look, if you will, at 2 Corinthians
8. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 7 and
8. Now, he's talking about giving.
And this seems to be a problem with so many religious people. But it's no problem with believers
because, listen, on what foundation it's based. Therefore, verse
7, 2 Corinthians 8. Therefore, as you're bound in
everything, as you're bound in faith, in utterance, in knowledge,
in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you're bound
in this grace also. Talking about the grace of giving.
I speak not by commandment. You can't command people to do
things in this regard. If you understand what I'm saying,
you can't command a person to give a certain amount, because
that way he loses his joy, he loses his blessing. I speak this
not by commandment, but by the occasion of the forwardness of
others and to prove the sincerity of your love. For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your
sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might be
rich." In other words, Paul says, I'm not going to tell you how
much to give. Because that's just, we give as God blesses
us. This is what's wrong with forced
tithing. I know one preacher, a young
man, had a problem. He became convinced that tithing
was legalism. And so he went to his church
and preached against tithing, and they all quit giving. They
did so much good, I'm glad to know you don't have to give anymore.
And so they quit. But brother, let me tell you
something. Tithing is legalism, just like Sabbath-keeping. And Brother Muse used to say,
if you tithe, you're under law, if you don't, you're not law.
Either way, you're in a mess. But now giving, and this is what
Paul is saying here, I'm not telling you how much to give. The way Paul instructed us in
giving, he said, upon the first day of the week, let every one
of you lay by and stow it as God has prospered it. Now here's
the problem with tithing. Say 10% is what a man's required
to give. And the Bible talks about giving
in proportion as God's blessed you, giving by equality, not
that one be or under pressure, another free, equality, proportion. Here's a man that makes $100,000
a year. What does tithing require? $10,000. How much has she got
left to live on? $90,000. Here's a widow that
makes $5,000. How much does she tithe? $500. What has she got left to
live on, Bill? $4,500. Is that equality? There ain't no equality there.
There ain't no proportion there. Here's a widow living on $4,500.
Here's a man living on $90,000 a year. Both got children. No
equality there. No equality at all. The tithe
for her is sacrifice. The tithe for him is tipping.
He gets half of it back on his income tax anyway. So he hasn't given anything.
Not like her. She's given, she's given sacrificially. She's given and deprived herself,
and deprived himself of anything. So I'm again tithing. It's not
New Testament. It's not Christian. It's not
equality. It's not sacrificially. I say
this. You give as God has blessed you. You give as the Spirit of God
leads you. And here's the final thing. Here's the basis Paul
put it on. You give as Christ gave to you. What did he give? himself. Though he was rich,
for your sake he became poor. For your sake he took spit in
his face, he plucked out his beard, he took a crown of thorns
on his head, and a whip on his back, and nails in his hand.
That's what he gave. That's what he gave. So it's
not asking too much if you and I do without something for his
glory, huh? That's the basis of it. How did
you receive Christ? How do you receive Christ? Sacrificially,
with everything he had. His very soul was laid on the
altar as a sin offering for your salvation. Now, that's the way
you give back. That's the way you give. Let's
turn, if you will, to Philippians 2, and see what this verse, see
where it takes us. Gonna take us till midnight it
looks like, doesn't it? But this, you see where it takes,
it just takes us right on, doesn't it? It just, it's so rich. As
you have received Christ, you receive here, free, a person,
Christ. You have received him. So walk
in him. So walk in him. And brother, I tell you, if you've
received him, it'll leak out on you. Oh boy, I tell you, it'll
leak out on you. He's, he can't be hid. Boy, that's
like hiding That'd be like hiding the Astrodome, you know. That'd
be like hiding the Grand Canyon. That'd be like hiding a tornado
with winds up to 200 miles an hour. You can't hide him. He
just controls. He's a controlling force. And
what motivates this thing is when some dear wife comes to
me and says, my husband, he says he's a Christian, but he mistreats
me. He mistreats me. He's not kind
to the children. That disturbs me. I don't like that. I don't like
that. As you have received Christ,
so walk in Him. I don't like that. And somebody
comes and says, like a preacher told me a few weeks ago, a member
of our church, he's one of the leading members, he's been here
for years, he doesn't support the work. Something wrong with
that, isn't it? He does the praying, and the scripture reading, and
the talking, and the teaching, but he doesn't give anything.
That bothers me. That bothers me. And somebody
else comes and says that this person, a member of our church,
and he's got a chip on his shoulder, he hasn't spoken to his son in
a year, or hasn't done this, that, the other, something lovely,
something wrong with that. That bothers me. That bothers
me, boy. I'm troubled over that. I don't
know. I don't know whether that man
or woman, boy or girl, knows Christ or not. Because the Christ
in you just won't let you walk this way. You may fall, you may
stumble, but you don't walk, walk, walk, walk, walk that way. It just can't be done. Philippians
2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you. Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ. Being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant
who was made in the likeness of men, and being found in passion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. That's the Leviticus mind being
used. Christ in his glory, infinite glory, immutable glory, Made
himself of no reputation. Walked about in a peasant's garb. Now listen, we want to be somebody. We want folks to know we're somebody. We want folks to recognize us.
We want them to know who we are, you know. Well, we're nothing.
We're nothing. We're dust under his feet. We're
nothing. We're all one in Christ. And
the man that would be greatest among you, let him be what? Your
servant. The one who would reign, let
him be your servant, let him come down. Come on down. I want
here in this congregation the rich and the poor to be warned,
the educated and the unlearned, the old mountain boy The old
farmer, you know, with no education, sit down beside the college graduate
and them sing, Oh, how I love Jesus, with one, one voice. Isn't that something? And the
old is here talking about, you've neglected the young people. You
don't have a name for the old people. In Christ there are no
age groups. We're one. Whether you're ten
years old or a hundred years old, just one. Singing with one
voice, the praises of Christ. There's something to that, walking
in Him. And like I say, now, I hope you don't misunderstand
me. I'm not preaching sinless perfection. I'd be the last one
to preach it. I'm totally unqualified to preach
anything like that. I'm not preaching that we don't
have our struggles and conflicts and warfares and trials. I'd
be the last one to even take a shot at that. But I'm saying
this, remember how to walk. That's a man's general conduct,
and conversation, and attitude, and spirit. And as you have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, let's walk that way. Oh, down there
at 2706 Division Street, let's walk that way. Down there at
RMCO, let's walk that way. And at Ashton Hall and C&O Railroad,
and in the classroom, the store, wherever we are, let's walk that
way as we receive Christ. Our Father in heaven, we're thankful
for the word, how it judges our hearts. What a powerful sword. Thy word, not the word of a man,
but thy word just pierces way on down there where we think
and where we live. And Lord, don't let us be rebels.
Don't let us find fault with your word. Don't let us fall
out with your word. Where the Word singles us out,
and where the Word deals with us, and where the Word searches
us, and where the Word exposes us, and where the Word finds
us guilty, Lord, deal with us right there. Deal with us right
there. Don't let us turn away from the
word. It's Christ's word. And I don't believe, Lord, we
can turn away from his word if we have him, if we love him,
if we long to glorify him, if we can say with Paul that I may
know him. and the power of his resurrected life being made conformable
to Christ. Judge us, Lord. Let the mind
of Christ and the spirit of Christ and the attitude of Christ and
the love and mercy and grace of our Lord be manifested at
least in a measure in us day by day. Bless this church. Fall upon this church by thy
power and thy spirit. For Christ's sake we pray. Amen.