-
I'd like to have us turn in our Bibles
-
to 2 Timothy.
-
2 Timothy 4.
-
What we want to do in a few minutes
-
is have the four of our elders
-
who are present come up
-
and we are going to lay hands
-
on our brother Brandon.
-
This is not something we have invented.
-
Men were recognized
-
by the laying on of
hands in the Scriptures
-
and that's what we want do.
-
And after we do that,
-
we want to baptize a couple of folks,
-
and then we are going to recognize
-
the church in Austin in a formal manner.
-
In 2 Timothy 4,
-
there is one of the strongest charges
-
and I am not personally
aware of a stronger charge
-
in all of Scripture than this one.
-
Maybe somebody can think of one,
-
but I don't personally know of one.
-
2 Timothy 4:1,
-
"I charge you in the presence of God
-
and of Christ Jesus."
-
Now, let's just stop right there.
-
I am going to read this
-
and this is no longer
-
from Paul to Timothy.
-
This is from Timothy to Brandon.
-
But the charge stays the same
-
because the grounds of
this charge are the same.
-
The God who was present then
and Christ who was present then
-
and the Christ who is going to
come back and judge all men
-
is here now!
-
We stand is the presence of
Him just like they did then.
-
This charge stands now.
-
This through this Gospel age
-
is the charge of God's ministers.
-
So this, is a God-inspired charge.
-
I am going to speak it
now and I'm speaking it,
-
really to every man here
-
should have ears to hear,
-
who would take upon themselves
-
to preach or teach
-
in one of Christ's churches.
-
But right now, this is very personal.
-
This is aimed right at the
heart of this guy right here.
-
Brandon, "I charge you
in the presence of God
-
and of Christ Jesus
-
who is to judge the living and the dead
-
by His appearing and His Kingdom,
-
preach the Word.
-
Be ready in season and out of season.
-
Reprove, rebuke, and exhort
-
with complete patience in teaching.
-
For the time is coming..."
and I tell you this,
-
it's not just coming, it's here.
-
"The time is coming
-
when people will not
endure sound teaching,
-
but having itching ears,
-
they will accumulate for themselves
-
teachers to suit their own passions
-
and will turn away from
listening to the truth
-
and wander off into myths."
-
Father, we cry out to You right now.
-
Lord, I pray that You would help me now
-
as I open up Your Word.
-
Lord, we ask that God-given help
-
would be a reality in this place.
-
Oh Lord, we desire for
this Grace Church Austin;
-
we desire for their first officer -
-
Lord, we want these things to be
-
of Your making, of Your manufacture,
-
of Your gifting; Lord, of Your blessing,
-
built on the right foundations.
-
That's what we desire.
-
And we know this is one
of those right foundations.
-
Lord, would you please empower this,
-
especially to the heart
of our brother Brandon.
-
I pray in Christ's name.
-
Now, as I said before,
-
I am not personally aware
-
of a stronger charge
-
in all of Scriptures than this one.
-
"I charge you in the presence of God
-
and of Christ Jesus..."
-
Christ Jesus who is to judge
the living and the dead.
-
What do you think Paul's doing here?
-
He's saying:
-
Brandon, you are going to be there
-
when the Christ who is here present now
-
God the Father and God the Son,
-
present here in our midst.
-
You are going to be there, when
Jesus Christ busts open the sky
-
and comes and judges all of mankind.
-
Your ministry is going to
be laid bare on that day.
-
That's the reality we're facing.
-
I am not aware of a
stronger charge in Scripture.
-
And the thing is a
charge of this magnitude
-
is to be taken as especially binding
-
and dangerous to break or ignore.
-
Right? This is not some
casual or trivial thing here.
-
Brandon, you have an appointed time
-
with Jesus Christ.
-
He is going to come and
judge the living and the dead.
-
By "the living and the dead,"
we are not talking about:
-
Well, all of us here are living
-
and the dead are over in the cemetery.
-
When it says the living and
the dead, it means spiritually.
-
And that last day, when everybody
comes up out of those graves,
-
he's talking about those
who are alive in Christ
-
and those who are dead
and their trespasses and sins.
-
And the thing is, it's not like
-
if we've taken refuge in Christ,
-
that we are going to be
spared from the judgment.
-
We know that's not true.
-
Did not Paul teach the Corinthians
-
that we must all appear
-
before the judgment seat of Christ?
-
And oh, you know what James says:
-
"Don't be many teachers."
-
You know why?
-
Because in that day,
-
the judgment for teachers
-
is going to be much stricter.
-
And you know why.
-
Because if anybody should
know the truth, it's them.
-
If anybody should know the
standard of righteousness
-
it's those who have spent most time
-
looking at the righteous standards.
-
It's those people
-
that God's Son shed his blood for
-
are being entrusted to him
-
as a shepherd.
-
This is serious stuff.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
Brethren, friends, God is here.
-
Jesus Christ is here.
We stand in His Presence.
-
And you know what?
-
Because we don't see Him like
we will on Judgment Day,
-
what's the tendency?
-
What is the temptation?
-
It is to take it lightly.
-
It is not to take it seriously
as we ought to take it. Why?
-
Because you can't see Him.
-
I guarantee, if you could
see what Isaiah saw,
-
you would take it seriously.
-
Even if you saw some of
the things the apostles saw -
-
you remember, they
were terrified at times,
-
they fell on their faces at times.
-
If you could see some
of the things they saw,
-
like Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration
-
or Jesus when with a word He calms storms.
-
They said "Whoa!
What kind of man is this?"
-
They saw things we don't see.
-
There's a veil here.
-
And so we see each other.
You're looking at me.
-
You see this wall behind me.
-
Oh, we don't see Him as He is.
-
It's all veiled.
-
So, what's the tendency?
-
You know what the tendency is.
-
Just look around us.
-
Look at the men and women
that take the pulpit,
-
and the things that they teach,
-
and the things that they say,
-
and the greed that drives
so much of what is said,
-
and how little they preach the Word.
-
They preach their own opinions,
-
they preach this, they
preach another thing.
-
Why? Why are they so casual?
-
Unbelief!
-
They don't really believe what's coming!
-
And what's happening is,
Paul is appealing to Timothy.
-
God the Father is present
-
and Jesus Christ is present.
-
And let me just remind you
that Jesus Christ who is present,
-
the very Son of God Himself,
-
He is going to come one day
-
in His Kingdom and in glory
-
and He is going to judge
the living and the dead
-
and that includes you Timothy
and that includes you Brandon.
-
He s coming.
-
And so, you are charged
-
in the presence of this God the Father
-
and God the Son.
-
They're present.
-
They're witness to the responsibility
-
that is being entrusted.
-
In many ways, it has
already been entrusted.
-
But we are going to lay hands
on him in a formal way.
-
We are going to recognize this today.
-
But God the Father, God the Son...
-
Paul doesn't just assure us
-
that God and Christ are present,
-
but that ultimately,
-
there is an accounting
-
when Christ ushers in this Kingdom.
-
How is Judgment Day such a powerful,
-
persuasive way to be
diligent, to be faithful,
-
unless his point in all of this is:
-
You are going to be there.
-
You are going to give an account.
-
Isn't it interesting that when Paul talks
-
about the fact that we all have to stand
-
before the judgment seat of Christ,
-
he then says, "knowing therefore..."
-
"knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord."
-
Even when you have a
righteous man like Isaiah
-
when he came into the
presence of the Lord
-
he was on his face.
-
Righteous men trembled
in the sight of this God.
-
It is a fearful thing.
-
And to come and know
-
that all your works -
-
all of us - we are going to have that.
-
Our works are going to be examined.
-
Jesus said even every careless word.
-
I'll tell you, you want
refuge in that day.
-
You want refuge from the wrath of God.
-
Look, ultimately, there
is not a perfect pastor.
-
There is not a perfect under-shepherd.
-
And oh, how we glory in the
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-
But we still have to give an account.
-
You know from the 1 Corinthian letter,
-
people, even those who are the living,
-
even those who were faithful.
-
You know, there's a lot
of people who presumed
-
to take the pulpit that
God has not called.
-
But even the ones that God has called -
-
even them - they've blundered.
-
We see in the 1 Corinthian letter
-
that stuff gets burned up.
-
There's wood, hay, and stubble.
-
Let's preach the Word. That's the gold.
-
That's the jewel. That's what's good.
-
That's the foundation that we want to lay.
-
The weight of this whole
charge lies in this very fact:
-
that the day is coming
-
when you have to give a full account.
-
Full account.
-
He is going to look at everything.
-
He is going to look at the way you dealt
-
with every single one of those sheep.
-
He is going to look at every
one of your messages.
-
He is going to look at how
you interpreted Scripture.
-
He is going to look at
the example you were;
-
how you led the people to trust Him
-
or to not trust Him;
-
how you demonstrated
unbelief before them;
-
how you demonstrated
purity before them.
-
Being an example is something
-
you're going to be examined for.
-
You are going to be tested.
-
It is going to be tested by the fire.
-
This is the day that's coming.
-
This is serious.
-
And you know what?
-
Because this is a reality,
-
the weightiness of this reality -
-
you know what it should do?
-
It should deliver this guy right here
-
from the fear of man.
-
That's one thing it should do.
-
You know what happens?
-
I can remember different
places where I've preached.
-
I remember preaching at
my step-father's funeral.
-
Not a lot of saved people there.
-
I remember their looks on their faces.
-
I remember preaching my
next step-father's funeral
-
at an Episcopalian church.
-
Not a lot of friendly faces.
-
You know what the weight
of this charge does for you?
-
The weightiness of this causes you
-
to not be affected by
the faces of the people;
-
not to be affected by their smiles,
-
or by their frowns.
-
Brother, you're called to preach the Word.
-
No matter what men think,
-
you are called to preach the Word.
-
No matter whether they approve of it
-
or disapprove of it.
-
Because what we find is there is in season
-
and there is out of season.
-
You know what?
-
In the middle of June, July, August,
-
in Texas,
-
you don't go around wearing
your heaviest winter coat.
-
That's out of season.
-
People will say: "That's inappropriate!"
-
And they're going to
say that about doctrine.
-
That's what we are hearing here.
-
They are going to look at you and say:
"Brother, that's not appropriate!"
-
"Yeah! But it's in God's Word."
"Yeah! But it's not appropriate."
-
You preach God's Word.
-
The weightiness of this
reality should cause you
-
to keep going when it gets tough.
-
Brother, it's going to get more tough.
-
You think it's tough now, I know.
-
And it is. Legitimately, it is.
-
But the toughness that you
have experienced now
-
is only preparing you for
greater toughness tomorrow.
-
And it's going to get tough.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Brethren, there's no question about it.
-
Engineering was a lot easier.
-
The reason on a lot of days I keep going
-
is because I know God
has called me to this.
-
And I need to be faithful.
-
The weightiness of this
charge keeps you going,
-
when it's not fun to be a pastor.
-
What a cheap word that is anyways!
-
Like it is meant to be that.
-
You know what I mean.
-
The days when you get up
and everything's good.
-
I think I have mentioned this before.
-
But, not too long ago,
-
I was having a discussion
with our fifth elder
-
who is out of town right
now in the Middle East.
-
I said to him, "John, I've
just come to recognize
-
that I'm not going to experience
-
any more days in my life
-
where there's not going
to be any problems."
-
I am not going to be
where it's problem-free.
-
I wake up every day
and there is a problem.
-
And most days, there are ten.
-
Or a hundred.
-
There are a lot of times
I'm bearing problems
-
that, oh, they're difficult.
-
But what happens is you know this.
-
You know that at the end of this thing
-
there is a crown for
you if you're faithful.
-
You know at the end of this thing
-
that you're going to
have to give an account.
-
And Jesus never promised
that it'd be easy.
-
Never!
-
If any man is faithful to the souls
-
of the people that he is pastoring;
-
if any man is faithful to preach the Word,
-
it's hard, it's laborious,
-
it's going to take effort.
-
That does mean there isn't
great joy in the midst of it.
-
But it's tough!
-
And a charge like this is serious.
-
And when you want to throw in the towel,
-
a charge like this says:
-
"You have got to answer to Christ."
-
Keep going. Keep going.
-
And the thing is, He says He'll
never leave you or forsake you.
-
It is not like on the toughest days
-
His grace isn't sufficient.
-
That's what He told one of His
other servants along the way.
-
The weightiness of this reality
should cause you to strive
-
to please Christ and not yourself.
-
And there is a temptation there.
-
That'll feel good to just whatever it is -
-
not pray like you should,
stay in bed longer,
-
kick your feet up,
-
watch more TV than you ought to.
-
Whatever it is!
-
Pleasing Christ rather
than pleasing yourself.
-
Brother, preach the Word!
-
Preach the Word!
-
A charge like this, it keeps you going.
-
It keeps you preaching the truth.
-
It keeps you preaching the truth
-
when your wallet may be affected.
-
When you stand up and you say:
-
"Open your Bibles here.
This is what God's Word says,"
-
and you know that rich family over there.
-
Let me tell you something.
-
There are few rich that enter the Kingdom.
-
And I find that many people with money
-
cannot stand to stay
too long around churches
-
that are really diligent and
passionate about the truth.
-
And you do not want to preach
to keep them in the church.
-
You want to preach to be able to stand
before Christ and give a good account.
-
Even if they leave. Be faithful to Christ.
-
Be faithful.
-
Even if you know, if they leave,
-
I don't know how I am going to get paid.
-
So be it! Be faithful to Christ.
-
Preach the Word.
-
A charge like this -
-
the weightiness of this reality
-
that you're going to have to
give an account for this -
-
it should lead you
-
to really focus in on the
quality of your preaching
-
and not the quantity of the
people that you preach to.
-
When you preach the truth,
-
sometimes God will build a church
-
and He'll add even sometimes thousands.
-
Because we have the Internet today
-
and everybody sees John MacArthur
-
and John Piper,
-
but you know that's the rare exception.
-
You just be faithful.
-
You know, John MacArthur said it.
-
He said back in the
beginning of his ministry,
-
he said he made it his concern
-
to focus on being faithful to that Word.
-
He'd let God take care
of expanding the ministry.
-
The reality here is one of standing up
-
and proclaiming God's Word
-
even when it's out of season.
-
We are coming into a day, folks,
-
we're coming into a day
-
when Christianity is not being tolerated.
-
If you are watching what
is going on in this world,
-
if you are watching what is
going on on our college campuses;
-
if you are watching what
is going on in this country...
-
Do you know at Duke University,
-
they are now going to allow
-
Islamic prayers - no Christian -
-
to be announced from the bell tower.
-
No Christians can do that.
-
Christian organizations are being
thrown off the campuses.
-
You probably heard about
-
the chief fireman in Atlanta.
-
The thing about this, is it's coming at us
-
at a tremendous speed - the changes.
-
You be faithful to preach the Word.
-
You be faithful when it's out of season.
-
We have some good preachers,
-
good commentaries, good things to study,
-
good things to help you to
discover what the Word says.
-
But ultimately, it is not going to be
-
you preaching John MacArthur
-
or concerned about what John Calvin says.
-
In the end, you have to answer
-
to what this book says.
-
And those guys not only can be,
-
they are wrong in some places.
-
As good as they are,
-
every good man as good
as he is, is wrong somewhere.
-
And so, if we make it our
duty to follow a man,
-
he is going to lead us wrong.
-
And typically, the disciples of somebody
-
tend to emphasize the
errors of their teacher
-
more than the teacher themselves.
-
Be true to the Word. Be true to Christ.
-
Know your Bible, in season, out of season.
-
Preach that.
-
He calls you to preach the Word.
-
You need to know a book,
-
if you are going to preach.
-
You need to be a student.
-
And the church that is going to be
-
meeting there and behind this man,
-
you give him ample time,
-
you give him ample sustenance,
-
so that he can be free
-
to do what those early church leaders did.
-
Not to be serving tables,
-
but to be giving himself
to the Word and to prayer.
-
That's what he needs to give himself to.
-
He needs to be faithful
to preach this Word.
-
Brother, preach the
terrible holiness of God.
-
In our land today,
we have got preachers
-
that want to water down
the doctrine of God.
-
They want this little god.
-
Non-threatening,
-
one that doesn't scare us.
-
You tell them about the God
that throws men into hell.
-
You tell them about the God
-
who did so love the world.
-
Oh, what glorious love!
-
But I'll tell you this,
we've got a world around us
-
that thinks that they can
go on in rebellion to Jesus Christ
-
and somehow they're going
to be recipients of that love.
-
That is not true.
-
Christ is the way,
the truth, and the life.
-
And you will not be finding
-
any access to the Father
except through Him
-
through surrender to Him,
-
faith in Him, clinging to Him.
-
He has to be your all,
He has to be your trust.
-
He has to be your hope.
-
And if you will not surrender,
-
you tell them about the Christ who says:
-
"Bring those enemies before Me,
-
who would not submit and bow the knee
-
and slaughter them before Me."
-
You say: "What? What?"
Yeah, that's in the Bible.
-
You show them pictures of Isaiah
-
quivering before this God;
-
Habakkuk shaken to the bones;
-
Job repenting in dust and ashes.
-
We need a great God.
-
We need a God that men fear.
-
Preach that God to them - a big God.
-
Mighty!
-
Mighty to create and mighty to save.
-
Mighty to bind the strong man
-
and cast him down and pluck from him.
-
Mighty!
-
Salvation is of the Lord,
-
and He is mighty to save.
-
Preach that God!
-
Mighty to conquer the power of sin
-
in a sinner's life and break its dominion.
-
Mighty!
-
To put down - with one
little word He fells him.
-
He can say to the demons:
"Go!" and they are gone.
-
Preach that God!
-
Preach that God that with a word
-
can call galaxies into existence.
-
Preach that God who can go face to face
-
with the greatest army on
the face of this earth in Egypt
-
and just lay them waste.
-
Preach that God.
-
Preach that God who even
when His people Israel
-
will go on in their sin
and rebel against Him,
-
who are not allowed to enter His rest.
-
God doesn't toy. He doesn't play.
-
We want to preach that God.
You preach that God.
-
That is the God found in Scripture.
-
Yes, He loved and He so loved.
-
You want to preach that He was willing
-
to send His Son to this world
-
and make the greatest sacrifice.
-
You want to show them
the heart of this great God.
-
That He was willing to crush
His own Son on that cross
-
in order to expend His wrath
-
so that sinners might
be justified in His courtroom
-
and found absolutely innocent.
-
Oh brother, is that not
going to be your hope
-
when you size up your own ministry,
-
that on that day -
-
What faithful preacher, pastor, shepherd -
-
every one of us -
-
I think our tendency will
be to go before Him,
-
and it's just: my only hope is
the blood of Jesus Christ.
-
And then to hear:
"Well done! Good and faithful servant!"
-
Can you imagine? Those disciples.
-
Here is Jesus praying in John 17.
-
"They have kept your Word."
-
Can you imagine? All their heads turned.
-
They looked at each other. "We have?"
-
That's the glory!
-
The blood of Jesus Christ
-
cleanses away all the dirt,
-
all the contamination.
-
Brother, I'll tell you one
thing you need to preach.
-
If you are going to preach this Word,
-
be faithful.
-
Be faithful.
-
Preach that God does not promise
-
health and wealth and prosperity.
-
Not if you're reading your Bible right.
-
The God I read about in this Bible
-
promises much tribulation.
-
He promises that even some
of us will be put to death.
-
He promises that if you are determined
-
to live godly,
-
you will be persecuted.
-
He teaches that in fact
those who do get wealthy,
-
not many of them make it,
-
because they depend on their money
-
and you cannot serve God and money.
-
He does not promise you health.
-
You know what He promises?
-
He promises it's appointed
to every one of us to die.
-
And He's promised that if
you are truly going to be
-
a fellow heir with Jesus Christ,
-
then you are going to
suffer like Christ suffered.
-
That's what we need
to tell men and women.
-
You know what Jesus said? Count the cost!
-
Tell men to count the cost.
You preach this.
-
Count the cost.
-
You come to Christ.
-
He expects total allegiance.
-
You preach to them:
hate mother and father.
-
Really? Yeah, Luke 14 says that.
-
I recognize what our Lord's doing there.
-
But we need to be honest.
-
We need to be faithful to men's souls.
-
There is too much cheap
Christianity around today.
-
You can chase your wealth
-
and you can chase your health
-
and you can just love
these things in the world,
-
but because you said this little prayer
-
be sure at the end, it is
going to be okay with you.
-
That is not the Christianity
taught in this Bible.
-
You need to teach men that.
-
Is it by faith in Jesus Christ?
You better believe it is.
-
But if you tell me:
I believe Jesus Christ is the Savior.
-
I believe Jesus Christ is the Lord.
-
I believe Jesus Christ teaches truth.
-
And then you don't live
according to that truth,
-
what are you telling me?
-
You are telling me
you don't believe in Him.
-
You don't believe Him.
-
Unless you are willing to
forsake all that you have,
-
He says, "you can't be My disciple."
-
Why?
-
Because He allows of no contenders.
-
He is jealous for your love.
-
And if you believe in Him,
if you really believe in Him
-
and see Him for what He is,
-
you will not want to give your love
-
to something else more than to Him.
-
And for you to go on loving
all the sins of this world
-
and all the sins that
men like to relish in
-
and satisfy their own lusts with,
-
and you are going to tell me
you're just going to run in all that
-
but in the end it is going
to turn out okay with you?
-
That's not what the Bible says!
-
The Bible says: "Don't be deceived!"
-
(incomplete thought)
-
You need to teach that.
You need to be faithful to that.
-
When you've got people in the
church that are toying with sin,
-
we need to be honest with them.
-
Preach the all-out commitment
-
of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
-
You need to be faithful to that.
-
Brother, preach against sin.
-
Especially those that are fashionable
-
and "politically correct."
-
You preach against racism. It is wrong.
-
That's wicked. That's sin.
-
We're called to love our neighbor.
-
Brother, you preach against abortion.
-
It's murder. Those are children.
-
3,500 a day in the United States
-
are being butchered.
-
It's murder. Those mothers are murderers.
-
And those doctors are murderers
and you preach that.
-
Brother, you preach
homosexuality is an abomination.
-
Now, it's in a group of other sins.
-
It is not like we are going
to let the fornicators
-
and those have casual sex all the time go.
-
Don't let any of them be deceived.
-
But this homosexual agenda
and this transgender agenda,
-
it's going to press in
on us more and more.
-
You preach against it.
You preach the truth.
-
Even when the day comes where
we might have to go to jail for it.
-
You preach the truth.
-
The days are coming.
-
The days are coming.
It is going to be financial first.
-
They are going to take
away the tax benefits.
-
They are going to take away our ability
-
to be freed up from property taxes.
-
They're going to take
us off the Internet.
-
Those will be the first steps.
-
We are going to see them.
-
This is going to start happening
in the next several years,
-
if it is not already happening.
-
But you preach the truth,
-
no matter the financial
ramifications of preaching it.
-
Brother, preach against
the fashionable sins.
-
You preach against divorce.
-
It's rampant.
-
Just because the world out
there counts it normal,
-
you preach against it.
-
God hates it!
-
God does not approve of it.
-
We are specifically told
-
that we're not to be separating
what God has joined together.
-
You preach against that. It's wrong.
-
And if we've got people in the church
-
that are being casual about that,
-
you discipline those folks.
-
You preach to the church
-
about the proper place
of church discipline.
-
And I am dealing with
the hard things here.
-
These are the things that are hard.
-
Obviously, we need to take them
to the cross over and over.
-
We need to show them the love of God.
-
Absolutely we do.
-
We need to show them a salvation
-
that hinges on the merits of Jesus Christ.
-
Absolutely! We need to take them
there again and again and again.
-
But you preach against these things
-
that are being allowed in our society.
-
Preach against this egalitarianism.
-
Brother, you preach that women
-
are to submit to their husbands.
-
You preach that women
are not supposed to take
-
leadership and preaching places
-
in the church of Jesus Christ -
-
preaching and teaching and leading men.
-
It's wrong!
-
This very apostle to this very
man Timothy says such things.
-
You preach that!
-
You preach that men should be men.
-
Oh, we've got men who are
unwilling to take responsibility
-
and love their wives
and love their children
-
and play the man; to be responsible.
-
We have got a generation of
women trying to take charge
-
and men that are just
willing to let it happen.
-
Brother, deal with that!
-
I tell you! You preach the Word.
-
And if you preach the Word, you
know what you're going to do?
-
You are going to often remind
men they're going to die.
-
They don't want to hear that.
-
But you remind men all the time.
-
Your life is short. It is a vapor.
-
And it's gone!
-
You remind men of that.
That's what Scriptures says.
-
It's appointed to men once to die.
-
It says life is a vapor. It says that.
-
You remind men of that.
-
You don't have long and you
don't know if you have tomorrow.
-
Live while it is day.
-
The night is coming and that night comes -
-
that night probably comes upon
everybody before they think it is coming.
-
Brother, preach hell.
-
It's no fiction.
-
That's no myth.
-
Hell is real.
-
And hell is eternal.
-
You know what we find in Scripture?
-
You preach this too.
-
Few there be that find eternal life.
-
That means most that are on the broad way.
-
It ends in a bad way.
-
It is a way of destruction.
-
The truth is most people in San Antonio
-
are not going to be in Heaven
-
in a hundred years from now.
-
The truth is that most of them
are going to be damned.
-
You preach that. Be faithful.
-
Be faithful. Preach holiness.
-
Oh, we need holiness in our churches,
-
without which no one will see the Lord.
-
You preach that. You preach holiness.
-
You preach uprightness.
-
You preach, point people
to the perfect example
-
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-
And that just brings me to this.
-
Brother, if you are going
to preach the Word,
-
what is the thing he needs to preach most?
-
What is the thing he needs to consider?
-
He needs to be involved with most,
-
he needs to give himself to most,
-
he needs to have implanted
on his mind most,
-
he needs to preach Christ.
Brother, you need to preach Christ.
-
You have to preach Christ as the example.
-
You have to preach Christ crucified.
-
You need to take them, show
them Christ in every aspect,
-
in all of His character
and all of His attributes.
-
You need to take people to Christ.
-
You need to show Him working
out the salvation for sinners.
-
Show them the cross.
-
Oh, how that cross,
the offense of the cross,
-
what does it proclaim?
-
It proclaims I am that bad
-
that I needed God Himself
to come to this earth
-
and become man and bear the wrath of God.
-
My sin is that bad.
-
You preach that. Preach that Cross.
-
Bring the brethren to the Cross.
-
Every time, every time,
-
we've got to be coming back to the cross.
-
Brother, you got to be faithful there.
-
If you are going to preach the Word,
-
Jesus said:
"Those Scriptures speak of Me."
-
And when He was on that road to Emmaus,
-
He was able to bring
these guys in and say,
-
"Hey guys, all the way from the beginning,
-
all the way through that Old Testament,
-
I'm there."
-
He is obvious in the New Testament,
-
but He is saying in all
those types and shadows,
-
all that's back there,
it all points to Me.
-
We've got to preach Christ.
-
You preach Him in all of His glory.
-
You preach Him as fully man.
-
Every whit man;
-
every respect, save sin.
-
He was fully, and is fully,
-
and will be fully forever and ever,
-
He will be fully man.
-
Glorified though He may be,
and He is fully God.
-
Oh, we've got so much of this
-
non-Trinitarian garbage today.
-
Jesus Christ is not the Father.
Preach that!
-
Jesus came from the Father.
-
Jesus returned to the Father.
-
Jesus prayed to the Father.
-
Jesus could say as the servant He was
-
while He was here,
-
My Father is greater than I.
-
He could also say and claim
-
to be equal with the Father.
-
And Scripture declares Him to be God.
-
Preach Him that way.
-
Preach Him the Mighty God
that you find in Isaiah 9.
-
Preach that.
-
Altogether glorious. Altogether lovely,
-
the Song of Solomon says.
-
Preach that.
-
And altogether lovely -
show His loveliness.
-
He is God.
-
He is God and when He set Himself forth
-
as the Son of God,
-
even His enemies recognize
-
He was making Himself equal to God.
-
And He says through the apostle,
-
he says that equality,
-
He did not grasp hold of
-
to prevent Him from coming down here,
-
humbling Himself,
-
becoming obedient to the Father
-
as a man, as a servant -
-
obedient all the way to the Cross.
-
And I'll tell you, you preach,
-
there's a day coming
-
that He is going to have
every single individual
-
on the face of this earth bend that knee,
-
and every tongue is going to confess
-
that He is Lord to
the glory of the Father.
-
You preach every kingdom of this world
-
is becoming the kingdom of our God
-
and of His Christ.
-
And He will reign forever and ever.
-
You preach that!
-
You preach Christ is putting
all of these enemies down.
-
They are all being made
a footstool for His feet.
-
And when that enemy is conquered - death -
-
He is going to turn this whole
thing over to the Father,
-
and it's all going to be
beautiful and perfect.
-
And out into eternity,
we're all going to go with Him
-
that have trusted Him;
-
that are one with Him.
-
You preach His humility.
-
Meek - He said, "Learn of Me."
-
Show them, oh, that is the example.
-
Is that not the pattern
of the New Testament?
-
It isn't dragging us to the
Ten Commandments over and over.
-
It is saying, "Behold Christ."
-
When you want an example of sacrifice:
-
"He who was rich became poor."
-
When you want an example of humility:
-
"Let this mind be in you
-
which was also in Christ Jesus."
-
When you want examples of comfort:
-
"Comfort one another even as Christ..."
-
He's the example.
He washes feet.
-
He says, "I've given you an example."
-
He says to these folks, "Learn of Me,
-
for I am meek and lowly in spirit,
-
and I will give rest to your souls."
-
Brother, preach Christ.
Preach Him all the time.
-
Every single message.
-
It doesn't matter what
you're preaching on,
-
it's got to come back to the cross.
-
It's got to come to Christ.
-
You've got to bring Christ out.
-
People have to be seeing Christ.
-
Because remember this:
-
from one degree of glory
they are being transformed
-
into that image.
-
But it's as they behold
the glory of the Lord.
-
The Spirit of God does it.
-
It's not in your hands
to transform the people.
-
But if they're not beholding
the glory of Christ -
-
so says 2 Corinthians 3:18 -
-
if you're not beholding
the glory of Christ,
-
you're not being transformed
-
into His likeness by the Spirit.
-
The Spirit does it, but the Spirit
is going to do it in a way
-
where the eyes of the
people in your church
-
are beholding Jesus Christ.
-
Preach the Word and if you preach the Word
-
you're going to preach the living Word,
-
the incarnate Word.
-
Because He makes up this book.
-
Be faithful.
-
Brother, whatever you're preaching about;
-
you preach a message on church discipline,
-
or you preach a
message on marital fidelity,
-
or you preach a message
on spanking children,
-
or you preach a message
on our duty to government -
-
all of it should come back to Christ.
-
You ought to be able to
pull Christ out in all of that.
-
Preach Christ.
-
Oh, we live in this ecumenical time.
-
Preach Christ as the only way.
-
You know what Jesus said?
-
He said that, "if you dishonor Me,
you dishonor the Father."
-
He said that.
-
Jesus Christ said that if you don't
-
honor the Son,
-
you do not honor the Father.
-
In this ecumenical age, you preach that.
-
You preach:
-
Catholicism is a damnable doctrine.
-
You preach that.
-
They diminish the glory of Christ.
-
They exalt Mary.
-
You preach: if somebody is
adhering to Islamic doctrine,
-
they are damned. They are undone.
-
They are hell-bound.
-
Why? You cannot have the
Father if you deny the Son.
-
They deny the Son.
-
Look, the Jesus they talk about,
-
you preach the Word,
-
and if you preach the Word, you can say,
-
does that Christ that
I just preached to you
-
from the Word
-
sound like your Islamic Jesus?
-
And they're going to
have to say, no, it doesn't.
-
Our Islamic Jesus is not God.
-
Our Islamic Jesus did not die on a cross.
-
Our Islamic Jesus did
not make propitiation
-
for the sins of God's people.
-
Yep, case closed.
-
I'm preaching the Word.
-
Your "Christ" is a different
person than our Christ.
-
And, what Jesus Himself said
-
is if you deny Him, you deny the Father.
-
You preach that.
-
This ecumenical age -
-
this is not all about holding hands
-
with everybody out there
-
just because they claim to be a Christian.
-
We can't hold hands with Mormons.
-
We can't hold hands
with most charismatics.
-
We can't hold hands with Catholics.
-
We can't hold hands
with Jehovah's Witnesses.
-
We can't hold hands with Muslims.
-
Why?
-
Because if he's going to preach this Word,
-
they don't hold to this Word.
-
And you've got an
accountability in the end.
-
You've got an
accountability to Jesus Christ.
-
You need to be faithful.
-
Brother, preach the Word.
-
Preach the Gospel.
-
Bring people face to face
-
with Jesus Christ satisfying
-
every requirement that the Father has.
-
The Law demanded our perfection
-
and Jesus perfectly,
oh, with such beauty...
-
The Father - can you imagine it
-
on that Mount of Transfiguration?
-
I mean, what was welling
up in the Father?
-
"This is My Son, in
whom I'm well pleased.
-
Hear Him."
-
Just the Father admiring...
-
Do you recognize?
-
It's just the Father
-
in all of His comprehension of the Son.
-
Every, I mean, every aspect of His life,
-
and the Father can look at that and say,
-
"Perfect."
-
That is the righteousness
that He has earned.
-
Obedience taken, even when
-
He stared that cross in the face.
-
As Scripture says,
-
"He learned obedience
through what He suffered."
-
Never incomplete.
-
Never imperfect.
-
But always being tested
-
to greater degrees of suffering
-
until even the cross -
-
and not just what man
could inflict on that cross -
-
but Scripture says His
soul was poured out.
-
The Father crushed Him.
-
Oh, preach that.
-
Preach that as man's only hope.
-
Men are so determined.
-
You can preach to them: "Not by works."
-
Not by works which we have done.
-
Not by works of the law.
-
Oh yeah, yeah, we know that.
We know that. We know that.
-
They don't know it.
-
They don't know it.
-
Because as soon as you say it,
-
they're trying to make faith happen.
-
They're trying to construct
their own repentance.
-
Men are always trying to do.
-
You preach to bring men
to the end of themselves
-
where they have no hope but Christ.
-
Christ our only hope.
-
Christ. Christ. Christ.
-
Preach the Word, brother.
-
Your ministry is starting
-
and yet it's going to be over
-
like that.
-
Why? Because life is a vapor.
-
We only get one shot.
-
The thing is we can't undo mistakes.
-
Thankfully, we have a very kind
-
and compassionate God.
-
But His compassions and His kindness
-
only flow to us through Jesus Christ.
-
In Him, all these treasures are to be had.
-
Only in Him.
-
There is salvation in none other.
-
In no one else.
-
There is no other name
-
given among men under heaven
-
whereby we must be saved.
-
There is one name.
-
There is one hope.
-
We need to point men to that.
-
We need to be faithful.
-
You get one shot at this.
-
Do what the apostle says.
-
Build on the foundation
which is Jesus Christ.
-
Build on that foundation.
-
And the building materials are the same.
-
It's got to be Christ.
-
Pointing people to Christ.
-
Beware of the wood, hay, and stubble.
-
That which is done in unbelief;
that which is done pointing people
-
away from Christ.
-
That which just becomes
an obsession with morality
-
or with some pet peeve doctrine.
-
Brother, bring people to Christ.
-
Don't get so hung up on
-
some of these doctrines
-
that you just lose yourself in them.
-
Obviously, there's a place,
-
especially for men who are
going to be preaching the Word
-
to be studying the Word,
to know the Word,
-
to know what they believe
about all these different things,
-
but you've got to come back
again and again and again
-
to this reality.
-
If you're going to preach the Word,
-
you're going to preach Christ.
-
Preach Christ all the time.
-
Preach the Word.
-
That means get to know in this book
-
the balance of things.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
Preach in proportion to how things
-
are set forth in this Word.
-
Be faithful, brother.
-
Be faithful.