He Cannot Deny Himself

I'd like for you to turn in your
Bibles to the portion of Scripture Brother Thornberry read a moment
ago, 2 Timothy, chapter 2. I'm speaking tonight on the subject,
He cannot deny himself. He cannot deny himself. In 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse
10, the Apostle Paul says, Therefore I endure all things
for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Now the Apostle's
life was not an easy road. In verse 9 he said, I suffer
trouble, much trouble, even being called or suspected to be an
evildoer, even under bonds, in prison, in chains. But the word
of God is not bound. I endure, I suffer, I'm willing
to suffer these things for the sake of the elect, that they
may come to the knowledge of Christ Jesus and partake of His
salvation. Now God in eternity past gave
His Son a people. Christ said, I came down from
heaven not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me,
and this is my Father's will which hath sent me, that all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up
at the last day. God has a people. God gave his
Son a people. And Christ came here to this
earth in the likeness of sinful flesh as the representative of
those people. to obey God's perfect law and
to die for their sins. And God sends His ministers to
preach the gospel of this redemption, this full and free and complete
salvation for those who believe. I want you to turn to John chapter
10. In the tenth chapter of John,
verse 22, it says, Our Lord was at Jerusalem, the feast of the
dedication. It was winter. John 10, 22. Verse
23 says, And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
And then the Jews, the religious people, gathered about him, and
they said, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be
the Christ, tell us plainly. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, I told you, I told you, and you believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But
you believe not, because you are not of my sheep. As I said
unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Our Lord has
a people. Somebody said to Charles Spurgeon
one day, if you believe in election, If you believe God has an elect,
why don't you just preach the gospel to the elect? Well, he
said, if you'll go around and put a mark on their forehead,
I will. I don't know who they are, but
I'm looking for them. So I preach the gospel to every
creature, and as Paul says, brethren, I know your election of God,
because our gospel came not to you in word only, but in power,
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. And that's what Paul
is saying here. I suffer trouble. Folks think
I'm an evildoer. They've even put me in prison.
They have bound me in chains, but the Word of God is not bound.
And I endure all these things willingly for the elect's sake. That's why I'm willing to be
called an evildoer. I'm willing to go to prison.
I'm willing to be bound. I'm willing to suffer for the
elect's sake. that they may obtain, that it
may be theirs, the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory." Now this is a promise. God has promised to his Son a
people, and our Lord Jesus Christ has come to redeem them. And
our God has promised to them in Christ eternal life. I want
you to turn just one page over to the book of Titus. And let
me show you a scripture on this subject. Eternal life is a promise. It's a promise of God that cannot
lie. It's a promise to Christ, the
people who were given him. Now look at Titus 1, verse 1.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according
to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth,
which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life which God,
who cannot lie, promised before the world began. Eternal life
is a promise. It cannot fail. It cannot be
revoked. It cannot be contradicted. And
there are some to whom God, according to His divine will and divine
purpose and divine grace, has promised eternal life. It is
a promise. And it's a promise that was made
before the world began. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. And God hath from the beginning, in that same beginning,
when it said He created the world, in that same beginning when it
says Christ existed with Him as God, was God, all things made
by Him, God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Eternal life is a promise. Eternal
life is a promise made by God. Eternal life is a promise made
by God who cannot lie. Eternal life is a promise made
by God who cannot lie before the world began. Now turn to
2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 1, and this promise was made in
Christ. That's where it all is. It's
not in you. It's not in the church. It's
not in me. It's not in the law. It's in
Christ. Look at 2 Timothy, chapter 1,
verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God, according to the promise of life which
is in Jesus Christ. Christ was not an afterthought.
God loved his dear son, and in covenant mercies gave his son
a people, a promise made in Christ before the world began. Now that's
what Paul is saying in verse 10. I suffer imprisonment, I
suffer trouble, I'm branded an evildoer, I'm cast into prison,
but I endure all these things for the elect's sake. There is
an elect. There's an elect out of every
tribe and kindred and nation and tongue unto heaven. And these
elect of God were given to Christ before the world began. This
promise of eternal life was made in Christ. And Paul says, I'm
looking for them, that I might preach to them, that the Holy
Spirit might quicken the word to their understanding, that
they might be brought to repentance, that they might be brought to
faith in Christ. that they might obtain that salvation
which was given to them in Christ with eternal glory. Now look
at verse 11. It is a faithful saying. Now
that is, it is a sure saying. It is a certain saying. It is
a true saying. This is a faithful saying. Now
Paul uses this statement, a fateful saying, five times in the books
of Timothy and Titus. In one passage he says, a passage
with which you are quite familiar I'm sure, 1 Timothy 1.15, this
is a fateful saying, that Jesus Christ came into this world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. And then in 1 Timothy 3.1 he
said this, if a man desire the office of pastor, or shepherd
of God's flock, he desires a good work. This is a faithful saying. And then in 1 Timothy 4, 8 through
10, he says this is the faithful saying. Bodily exercise, that
is in religion, the lifting up of the hands, the bowing of the
knee, the going through the ceremony, and the Orientals put a lot of
stock in that. Bodily exercise profiteth little. There is some profit because
many times The expression of our bodies, or the condition
of our bodies before God, is determined a lot by the condition
of our heart. But, he says, godliness is profitable
in all things. And then in Titus 3.8, he says,
this is a faithful saying. This is a sure certain saying,
that those who believe in Christ will be careful, will be anxious,
to maintain good works. And then in our text here, he
says, now this is a faithful saying. If we be dead with Christ,
we shall live with him. If we suffer with Christ, we
shall reign with him. If we deny Christ, he will deny
us. And if we believe not, yet he
about is faithful, he cannot deny himself. I want to point
out something for you. I trust the Holy Spirit will
speak to us from these four things. Now, first of all, look at the
first one. This is a faithful saying. If
we be dead with Christ, we shall live with him. What does that
mean? I believe the answer is found in two scriptures. Turn
with me to Galatians chapter 2. If we be dead with Christ,
we shall live with him. Now in Galatians chapter 2, the
Apostle Paul says in verse 20, I am crucified, I am dead. I am 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. Now one other scripture, Galatians
6.14, Paul says, I'm crucified with Christ, I'm dead with Christ,
yet I live. I'm alive, I'm dead with Christ,
but I'm living. But the life which I live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Now, Galatians
6.14, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom this world is crucified or dead unto
me, and I'm dead to this world." Now, this is what he's saying
here. This is a sure saying. This is a faithful saying. This
is a certain saying, that if we be dead with Christ, dead
to the world, we shall live with him. Now then, in Christ, first
of all, we are dead to the world's guilt. Romans 3, 19 says, Turn
there to Romans 3.19. It declares, Now we know that
what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
become guilty, guilty before God. We are dead to the world's
guilt. We are not guilty. Almighty God
charges this world with the guilt of rebellion. Almighty God charges
this world with the guilt of crucifying His Son. Almighty
God charges this world with the guilt of the broken law. But
we in Christ are not guilty. For the Scripture says that Christ
took our sins in His body on the tree and died for them, paid
for them, put them away, and God will remember them no more.
or the bliss of that glorious thought, my sins, not in part
but in whole, are nailed to the cross, I bathe in no more. It is well, it is well with my
soul. There is therefore now no condemnation,
no guilt to them who are in Christ Jesus." So first of all, if we
be dead with Christ, we are dead to the world's guilt. We are
dead to the world's guilt, not guilty, holy, unreprovable, unblameable,
and perfect in God's sight. All right? Secondly, we are dead
not only to the world's guilt, but we are dead to the opinions
of this world. Turn with me to John 15. Now,
we seek not the world's approval. We seek not the world's praise. We seek not the world's honor,
we seek that honor and approval and praise which comes from our
Father. Look at John 15 verse 17. These things I command you that
you love one another. If the world hate you, we know,
ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of
this world, the world would love his own. But because you are
not of this world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you." It hated our Lord. The Scripture
says He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted
with greed. We are dead to the opinions of
this world. We do not seek the approval of
this world. We do not seek the praise and
the honor and the glory that comes from this world. We're
dead to it. We're seeking to be accepted
of Him. Whether we live or whether we
die, we seek to be accepted of Him. May He be pleased. Turn to Matthew 5. Not only are
we, when we're dead with Christ, dead to the world's guilt, and
dead to the opinions of this world, but we're dead to the
philosophy of this world. Our philosophy is totally different
from the philosophy of this world. Look at Matthew 5, verse 38. Now this is the world's philosophy.
Matthew 5, 38. You've heard it said by them
of old times. An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. That's the world's philosophy.
Do to men what they do to you. But I say unto you, that ye resist
not evil, whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn
to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee
at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him too. Give to him that asketh thee,
and from him that would borrow thee, turn not away." Read on. Here's the world's philosophy.
You've heard it said, that it hath been said, Thou shalt love
thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you, that you may be children of your Father, which is in heaven."
We're dead to the philosophy of this world. This world says
the preaching of the cross is foolishness. And what the world
calls foolishness, we call wisdom. And what the world calls wisdom,
we call foolishness. If we be dead with Christ. If
we be dead with Christ. We are dead to the guilt of this
world. We are dead to the approval and
opinions of this world. We are dead to the philosophy
of this world. Our philosophy is totally opposite
from the philosophy of this world. And then turn to Matthew 6. We
are also dead to the goals of this world. What are the goals
of this world? Well, look at Matthew 6, verse
31. Our Lord gives them here. He
says in Matthew 6, verse 31, Therefore take no thought, saying,
that is, no anxious thought, what shall we eat, or what shall
we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed, after all these
things do the Gentiles seek." That's the goal of the Gentile
or heathen mind. It's the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Your Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things, but seek ye first. Here is our goal. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not my righteousness, His righteousness. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you. If we have the faith of God's
elect, if we have the faith of God's chosen ones, if we have
the faith of those to whom eternal life has been promised, then
we'll say we're dead with Christ. We're dead with Christ. Dead
to the world's guilt. Dead to the world's opinion and
approval. We're dead to the world's praise. We're dead to the world's philosophy. And we're dead to the goals of
this world. We have a new life. We have a
new family. We have a new love. We have a
new goal. And that is to be like Christ.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant,
and became obedient unto death." Even, even the humiliating, agonizing
death of the cross, death of the cross. See Him hanging there
naked. See Him hanging there suffering.
See Him hanging there with their spittle dripping from His face.
See Him hanging there despised and rejected. See Him hanging
there suffering, agonizing. See Him hanging there, yea, even
separated from the Father. Let this mind be in you. Well, look back at the text.
Paul says, I'm looking for God's elect. And I suffer trouble,
affliction, imprisonment. But I endure these things that
somewhere I might be God's instrument to tell His people, given Him
in Christ, represented by Christ, redeemed by Christ, that I might
tell them the good that they might obtain salvation which
is in Christ. And this is a faithful saying.
It's sure and as certain as the throne of God. If those people
are dead with Christ, if they're dead with Christ, if they can
say, Yea, Lord, I'm dead to the world's guilt by thy blood. I'm
dead to the world's opinions and the world's acceptance and
the world's approval. I seek thine approval. I'm dead
to this world's philosophy. And to the goals of this world,
it can be said, they shall live. All right, secondly, this is
a faithful saying. If we suffer with him, we'll
reign with him. That's a sure statement. If we
suffer with him. Now, if you want to understand
this statement better, you turn with me to 2 Corinthians. Now
brethren, they who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer. That's what Scripture says. The
Scripture says it's given unto us not only to believe on Him,
but suffer for Him. The Word of God says if we be
without trial, if we be without chastisement, if we be without
tribulation, we're not God's children. That's plainly what
it says. And here it says if we endure
these things, if we suffer with Him, if we take up our cross and bear it after Him, We'll
reign with it, if we do. All right, look at 2 Corinthians
4. Now look at verse 7. 2 Corinthians 4, 7. Now we have
this treasure. What are we talking about? Divine
life. Divine life. We have this treasure,
a knowledge of God. We have this treasure, hunger
and thirst for righteousness. We have this treasure, a desire
to be like Christ. We have this treasure, faith.
imperfect though it is, we have this treasure in an earthen vessel. It's an unbreakable treasure.
It's an irrevocable treasure. It's an undefiled treasure, but
it's wrapped up in a very, very weak package. That's right, it's
wrapped up in a very, it's an earthen vessel. We have this
treasure in earthen vessels. Now listen to me. We have eyes
that look for a city, like Abraham, whose builder and maker is God.
We have eyes that look not on things that are seen, but things
that are unseen. We have eyes that behold the
beauty of Christ and the glory of Christ. But unfortunately,
we also have eyes of flesh that look upon this world, and that
constitutes a struggle. That constitutes a conflict. That constitutes an opportunity
for suffering. For suffering. It's not an easy
road. God never said it would. It wasn't
for Christ. Our Lord cried out in Gethsemane's
garden. so much that his blood reversed
its flow and came out of the pores of his skin, agonizing. He said, Father, I'm going to
die right here if you don't do something. My soul is exceeding
sorrowful even under death. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. He had that treasure in an earthen
vessel, too. And it wasn't that life of God
in him that was cried out, it was that earthen vessel. That's
right. And we have a nature that loves
the fellowship and honor of God. We have a nature that loves the
approval and acceptance of God. We have a nature, a nature that
delights itself in the communion of God. But unfortunately, we
have a nature also that recalls from disapproval. We have a nature
that recoils from loneliness. We have a nature that does not
enjoy being disliked. Now Paul sat there in prison,
chained to a soldier on either side and beaten with rods and
stoned and shipwrecked and all these things. He wasn't enjoying
himself. There's no man that enjoys being
disliked. There's no man that enjoys the
disapproval of people. There's no man that enjoys his
name being spat out as an evildoer. That's what constitutes the conflict. But if we suffer with him, it's
not going to be easy. Who said it was? The path to
Calvary wasn't easy either. Oh, my burden's so heavy. It's
not as heavy as the Lord's burden. My trial is too great for me
to bear." You better bear it, God gave it to you, and he'll
not suffer you if you're one of his children to be tempted
or to be tried in a greater manner than you're able to bear it by
his grace. He said, my grace is sufficient.
And I'll tell you this, it all depends on how big your God is,
how heavy a load you're able to carry. It depends on how bright
the light from his throne shines, as to how dark a valley through
which you can walk. If you've got a little God, you
can't take much. If you've got little faith, you
can't bear much. God sends great ships through
deep waters, but if he's got a little old bitty flat bottom
boat, he'll put it out here at Tug River somewhere. But if he's
got a big ship that's able to withstand the storms and the
battering, he'll put it in a deep sea. It'll cross over too with
his good news, for his glory. We have a soul that rests in
Christ and finds real comfort and satisfaction in his presence. But we have a body, unfortunately,
that loves fleshly comfort. We love pretty things. We love
good things to eat. We love luxury. We love contentment. We have a body that loves this
world, unfortunately. Now that's what constitutes the
conflict. That's what brings about the
suffering. That's what it says here. We have this treasure in
an earthen vessel. Is the earthen vessel, is it
more important than the treasure? Greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. We have a mind that wishes to
be buried for Christ's glory. As one great old Puritan says,
let me be crumbled with all of the grains of dust of this earth
to fill up the great canyon over which our Lord can triumphantly
ride to His glory. But I'll tell you, it's no fun
to be down at the bottom of the stack. That's what constitutes
the conflict. We have a mind that wishes to
be buried in Christ, and forgotten in Christ, and lowly in Christ,
that he might have all the praise and all the glory. But unfortunately,
we have human ambition and human pride that wishes to be recognized,
that wishes to be praised, that wishes to leave some monument
to our success. That's what constitutes the conflict. But thank God, he says, verse
7, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, and I tell you why God
put it there, that he might get all the glory, that the excellence
and the power may be of God and not of us. Oh brother, so many
times he says we're troubled on every side, but we're not
distressed. We're not distressed. We are
perplexed, we don't understand why God brings this to bear,
why he brings it about. We are perplexed, we don't understand
why God permits it to be this way, but we're not in despair.
No way. We're persecuted, but thank God
we're not forsaken. We're cast down, but we're not
destroyed. And I want to read you a scripture
over here, don't you turn to it, just let me read it to you.
In the book of James, chapter 1, verse 12, Blessed is that
man that endureth trial, for when he's tried, when he's
tried, he'll receive the crown of life. The what? The crown. We'll reign with him. If we suffer with it, thank God
our Lord didn't recall from the trial and the agony of Calvary,
but voluntarily went there, that I might be redeemed. Now then,
I don't know much about suffering. I've never had to do without
very many things. Must I be carried to the skies
on flowery beds of ease? while others fought to win that
prize and sail literally through bloody seas. No, I must fight
if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord. I'll
bear the toil, endure the strain, supported by thy Word." Have
you got it? Have you got that kind of faith? All right, turn back to the text.
I don't think we have any right to call ourselves children of
God if we are not sons of God in suffering. I don't. I really don't. I don't think
we've got any right to say that we'll reign with him if we don't
fight with him. I don't think we've got the right
to claim the crown if we shun the cross. There can be no crown
if there's no cross. And he that taketh not up his
cross taketh it up, he says, voluntarily. God's not going
to shove it on you, you're going to take it up. And followeth
after me, cannot be my disciple. If we, it's a faithful saying,
if we suffer, we'll reign with him. We'll reign with him. All right,
look at the next line. But if we deny him, he'll deny
us. How do men deny Christ? Well,
first of all, they deny Christ when they do not publicly confess
Him. We've limited it to this. This is true, but it's not limited
to this alone. But men do deny Christ when they
publicly refuse to confess Him in faith and baptism. Now, you
go throughout this Bible, and you'll find where the gospel
is preached, And where men receive it and believe it and are saved
by it, they confess it. They confess it. They follow
their Lord in believer's baptism, picturing their death to the
world and their resurrection, their death and burial and resurrection,
to walk with Christ in newness of life. In baptism they identify
themselves with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection.
They confess him. They're not ashamed to own the
Lord. He that believeth shall not be ashamed, Paul said. I'm
not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation. Maybe you can't preach, but you
can confess Christ. But secondly, men deny Christ
when they do not identify themselves with God's people in worship
and praise. In Hebrews chapter 10, now listen
to this, Hebrews 10 verse 21, Hebrews 10 verse 21, we have
a high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with
a true heart. If we have a high priest, let's
draw near, near to the Father with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our
bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for he's faithful that promised.
Let's consider one another, to encourage one another, to provoke
unto love and to good works. Not to provoke one another to
anger, not to provoke one another to sin, but to love. Not forsaking
the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some
is, but exhorting one another. You need me and I need you just
as much. We need the fellowship of God's
people. We need to be identified with
God's people. We need to meet together and
edify and exhort and encourage one another. We need to meet
together and provoke unto love and to good works. We need to
share. The responsibilities of representing Christ in this community. And when a man does not identify
himself with God's people, with God's program, with God's purpose,
he's denying God. That's so. And then men deny
Christ when they do not proclaim the gospel of His grace, His
glory, and His substitution. Listen to Paul over in Acts chapter
20. Apostle Paul is about to leave
these brethren. He's going to his death. He knows
it and they know it. He's going to be killed. It's
the end of the line for Paul. Last time he's going to see them.
They wept when they kissed him goodbye. But he said this to
them. He said down here in Acts chapter
20, Acts chapter 20 verse 20, he says, I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you. Nothing. And then he said in
Acts 20, verse 26, "...wherefore I take you to record this day,
that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned
out of fear or for favor to declare unto you all the counsel of God."
I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of it. Men deny
Christ when they will not preach, proclaim, Stanfar, the gospel
of His grace, His glory, and His substitution. And then turn
to Jude 4, the fourth verse of the book of Jude. Men deny Christ
when they do not walk in holiness, honesty, and righteousness. Watch this. There are certain
men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." A
man can deny Christ by his life, not only with his lips, not only
by his silence, but by his life. Paul said in another scripture
that these men have become the enemies of the cross of Jesus
Christ. David said, because of my sin,
I have caused the enemies of God to laugh, to laugh. And then 1 Corinthians 3, men
deny Christ when they fret, and divide the fellowship of
God's people. Paul called them carnal men.
In 1 Corinthians 3, he says this in verse 3, you're carnal. You
behave like carnal. You know what carnal is? Fleshly,
natural people. That's how you behave then. There's
among you envy. There's among you strife. There's
among you division. Are you not carnal? Are you not
behaving like the world? Are you behaving like the world?
Are you acting like the world? Are you forgiving and loving
and showing the grace and mercy of Christ? Or are you acting
like one of these folks out here in the gutter? That's what he
says here. There is among you envy, strife,
division, and you are carnal. And if you're carnal, you're
denying spiritual life. You're denying Christ. You're
denying that Christ has done anything for you, made any difference
in you, and made you a new creature. You're denying the Son of God. You're denying the Son of God.
Our God says this. He says, I hate seven things,
a proud look, tongues that lie, and so forth, and then he that
soweth discord among brethren. I hate him, God says. So there
are more ways to deny Christ than not confessing Him. Men
deny Christ when they don't confess Him. They deny Him when they
don't worship Him. They deny Him when they don't
preach His gospel. They deny Him when they walk
in dishonesty and immorality and deceit and hypocrisy. And
they deny Christ when they fret and argue and act like men, carnal
men, and don't act like spiritual men. Paul says, I'm looking for God's
sheep. I'm looking for that peculiar
flock, a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal people. I'm looking
for them. They're out there somewhere.
And I'm suffering and I'm enduring all these things. I suffer trouble. They spit my name out as an evildoer. I've been cast into prison, but
I'm looking for God's Under them I have a promise. Under them
I have a message. Under them I have glad tidings.
If they are dead with Christ, they'll live with Christ. If
they have the grace and the faith to suffer with Christ, they'll
reign with Christ. If they deny Christ, He'll deny
them. Verse 13, if we believe not,
if we believe not, Remember this. He about is faithful. He can't
deny himself. If we believe not, he cannot
deny himself. Now this is a solemn word here.
The whole world is religious. The whole world lays a claim
to a refuge, to a relationship with God. The whole world lays
claim to being saved. But now listen to me. Let me
point out some things here. The rulers believe not. They
said in John, Have any of the rulers believed on him? The philosophers
believed not. Paul said, Not many wise men
act of the flesh, not many mightier call. Our Lord said, Thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, but thou hast revealed
them unto babes. The religious leaders believed
not. They said, Have the Pharisees believed on him? No. Even one
of his disciples believed not, Judas. Israel believed not. They could not enter in because
of unbelief. He came to his own, and his own
received him not. All these believed not, and Paul
closes with this. You may not believe, but Paul says, I'll tell you
this, whether you believe or not, he remains faithful, and
he will not deny himself. These principles I've preached,"
he says, are still true. His covenant of mercy is still
true. It cannot change. His covenant
remains unchanged. The gifts and calling of God
are without change. God said, I am the Lord, I change
not. His word remains the same. All
flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of the field.
The grass withers and the flower faded, but the word of God will
not change. It endures forever, whether you
believe or not. His atonement remains the same,
dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power
till all the ransomed Church of God, call them what you will,
the Body of Christ, the Sheep of Christ, the Church of God,
or the elect, be saved to sin no more. His priesthood, his
mercy seat remains the same. That's blood that cannot be refused. His prayers are always answered
and his promises remain the same. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's a faithful saying. Now verse 14, "'Of these things,
Timothy, put the brethren in remembrance, charging them before
the Lord, that they strive not about words to no profit, but
to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved
unto God a workman that needeth not be ashamed rightly dividing
the word of truth. It's a faithful saying. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Oh, that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection. I do not want to be among the
religious but the damned, do you? I don't want to be among
religious leaders, religious teachers, hear Christ say to
me at that great day, I never knew you. But Lord, I preached,
and I cast out devil, and I did many wonderful works. I never
knew you. I never knew you. Lord, give
me the grace to be dead to this world. Give me the grace to bear
whatever trial I'm called upon to bear courageously that Christ might be glorified,
that I might show forth the praise of Him who hath called me, give
me the grace never to deny my Lord. And Lord, increase my faith. Increase my faith. Lead me to
seek Thee, and seeking Thee to find Thee, and finding Thee to
love Thee, and loving Thee to serve Thee. Let us pray.

He Cannot Deny Himself

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He Cannot Deny Himself

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