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Elder Joe. Good morning, everybody. Oh, it's so nasty outside, but ain't it nice in here? Uh so beautiful to see everybody that's uh here this morning. And uh if you have your Bibles uh with you, turn with me, if you will, uh to Ephesians chapter 4. This morning. Uh this is a subject that I've been trying to I I uh I I preach for a Presbyterian church at 9 a.m. every Sunday morning before I go to Sulfur Springs. And uh they get nothing but what y'all get Sunday by Sunday. I actually had somebody ask me, well, how do you preach Presbyterian there? And then go to, I said, no, no, no, no. They ain't but one preaching to do, and that's that's what uh primitive Baptists believe, and I'm very thankful for that because we believe as primitive Baptists, we believe what the Bible teaches. If we didn't believe what the Bible taught, then we need to repent, okay? Uh, but that's the only thing to preach. So now for over three years, they've had nothing but uh primitive Baptist uh teaching and uh rejoice in it. Uh and uh sometimes they, you know, my wife, after we leave some morning, Sister Laura will say, Well, if they're ever going to get rid of you, it'll be after today. I mean, because every once in a while, you know, it's just stand starkly opposed to some things that they've been taught or some preconceived notions. Uh, but brothers and sisters, we all need to continually learn. Amen. None of us are full grown. And so we go to the Word of God and I've been trying to preach to Ephesians, and I'd like to focus on one part. I won't get it all done this morning, may extend over into the afternoon if y'all are good enough to call on me again. If not, I'm always willing to give way to my brethren now. But in Ephesians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul here addresses them and said, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation. That vocation just basically it's the same Greek word as calling. Walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called. Okay, God called you with the everlasting spirit. God quickened you, and now that he's given you that calling, he's called you out of death and sin to a life in Christ by his life-giving voice. Now you can go to the life-giving word and you can grow in that and learn in that and desire that. So here he says, walk worthy of the vocation of the calling wherewith you're called. But notice the context here. He says, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. I love that passage of Scripture dearly, as I love all the scripture, but some just tend to speak to you and move you more. Now, we believe, my friends, in a Lord who is God over all. He is Lord over all. He has dominion, my friends, over everything in this universe and beyond. He is the sovereign God. And here he is uh inspired the apostle to tell them about a oneness, about a distinctive. Uh there, these are distinctives. When it says one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And we know that there is, I want to focus on one faith today, Lord being my helper. Now you may be saying, well, Brother Joe, uh, what respect is he speaking of faith here? Because, you know, there's more than one usage or understanding of faith. Okay? There's a faith which God plants in the heart. We hope to be able to address that shortly. And then there also, my friends, is the faith that you exercise in believing and trusting and walking in the ways of the Lord. And there is the faith once delivered to the saints, which is an embodiment of statutes, of understanding, of scripture, of preaching, teaching, and practice that Jude said was once delivered unto the saints. And when you look in the context here, he's speaking in the congregate sense or the aggregates. He's talking about when you come together. I believe here he's talking about not just the church triumphant, which, as you know, is God having all of his people in heaven. Jesus said in John 6.39, I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all he had given me, I should lose nothing but raise it up again in the last day. Babies in the womb, Old Testament, people who lived before the flood, uh, my friends, people who are uh evangelized, unevangelized, whatever the case may be, if God determined to have them, he will have them through the intercession and blood of his son Jesus Christ. We rejoice in that triumphant church, and I can't wait to meet all of that church one day. But I think Paul here is addressing this concept of the church. Where we gather together, where we learn, where we teach one another, encourage one another, where we have interpersonal relationships, and also sometimes where we answer to one another, where we are accountable to one another. He's here speaking to them as a church body, and he says there's a oneness there. Now, this is a very unpopular sermon I'm going to preach today in the world. Truth be told, every sermon, if it's in truth, is unpopular with the world, but especially this one. Because nobody likes to think of an embodiment uh existing in the earth today that the Lord established of doctrines and of practices that still are here. People like to speak in this term. Well, this is my truth, and you got your truth. Oh, bless your peepicking heart. There ain't but one truth. There's only one truth, and God help us that we would seek to worship the Lord in what spirit and in truth? So we need to understand what this concept of the one faith is, and that's what I want to focus on today. Now, we rejoice, again, in the faith that, my friends, has been planted in the heart. What is faith? Some people think faith is just it's an idea. It's when you come to an idea or a knowledge, or when you actually, you know, start actively believing in something and commit yourself to it. That is an outworking of faith. Faith, my friends, at its elemental base manner or entity, is what God plants in your heart. That's right. Okay? When you're born again of the Spirit of God. Hebrews 11:1 said faith is a substance of things hoped for. If you look at that word substance, it means a foundation, the rudiment, that, the very beginning. Okay. So faith is that fundamental thing upon which everything has to build. You go over to the writings of Peter and he said, add to your faith. He's talking about the same thing. He didn't say go get some faith. Faith is a gift of God. Ephesians 2 and 8. We've given to every man is given the measure of faith. Okay? Romans chapter 12. You see, faith only comes, and not all people have it. Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonica and exhorted them to pray for him that they might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith. See, that's the faith under consideration is wet which is planted in the heart when the Holy Spirit comes. It is your God sense. It gives you a hunger and a longing for God. It is the very elemental thing. It's akin unto the hunger instinct in a child when it's born. Doesn't have to be taught, it's just born into that baby. Well, my friends, you don't have to be taught to have faith. Oh, I can tell you, I hope to be able to get up Sunday after Sunday and teach you how to thrive in faith, grow in faith, learn more in faith, exercise faith, live in faith. All those things are real. But you can't do any of those unless you've already been given faith. Which is a power which cannot be scanned in an MRI, it cannot be weighed in a balance, but it is something that is born in you and in every child of God. How did John the Baptist in the womb leap with joy of the Holy Ghost in his mama's womb? He did it by faith. Where'd he get it? Okay? Nobody was sitting there preaching to her belly. Uh nobody was preaching to Elizabeth's belly, but I can tell you what, the Holy Spirit did something in that baby. And faith was placed there, my friends. It's the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. You know, it's very closely tied together with the new birth, right? Because in Romans chapter 8, it says in the flesh it's impossible to please God. Okay, but you're not in the flesh if what? The Spirit of Christ be in you. As soon as that spirit comes in, you're born again, and you are pleasing unto God in a vital sense. You have the ability to hunger and thirst after righteousness. You have the ability to recognize your need of a savior. You have the ability now to realize that you are a sinner. Those laws once were only chiseled in stone outside of you, but now God has put them in you and giving you a substance called faith. But it's very intimately joined together with the Spirit, this notion of faith. Why? Because over in Hebrews 11, 6 it said, for without faith it is impossible to please God. For every one that cometh unto God must believe that he is and that he is rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So here he said it's impossible to please God without spirit. It's impossible to please God without faith. Well, you'd have to ask yourself, well, then which one are they both the same? No, they're not the same. One brings the other. One brings the other. And Galatians 5.22 makes very plain that, my friend, Spirit gives the faith. The faith is listed as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Okay? In 1 John chapter 5, let me go over there real quickly. Some very conspicuous wording over there in 1 John chapter 5. Now, Brother John likes to talk about who's born of God. It says in verse 1, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Back in 1 John chapter 3, verse 9, he said, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Okay, for his seed remaineth in him. He cannot sin because he's born of God. He's speaking of someone who's been born again in the Spirit of God can never be unborn. You can't extricate God, DNA, out of a child of God when it's been put there. Can't do it. Can't do it. Faithful always, oh my friends, your faith may grow weak. Your exercise of it may be small at times, practically non-existent. But the substance that God put there can never be removed. And you may say, Brother Joe, how is that? Well now you go back to 1 John chapter 5 and notice this wording. He said, verse 4, for whatsoever is born of God. Wait a minute. All these other instances where he talks about something being born of God, it says whosoever. Whosoever. Now it's a whatsoever. I don't think that's accidental. I think that's purposeful. For whatsoever is born of God. Here's something that's born of God that's not a who. Here's something that's born of God that's a what. And what is that what that is born of God? And obviously it has to be implanted in someone, right? Because we're living creatures, we're the sons of God. He said, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. That means this world has no power to destroy it finally and utterly out of your soul and spirit. All the powers of Satan and the wiles of the devil and his demons can't destroy what God hath determined to do in you. Okay? He said, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world. And there have been many times in my life where I can look at myself and say, I did not overcome in that at all. But you know what? There was still something in me that was born in me that overcomes the world, and the world cannot destroy it. Okay? Even our faith. Okay? Somebody may say, well, I thought faith was just belief. They're not synonymous, but again, very closely related. Right? Faith is the substance. And through that faith, you're empowered to believe. Right after he said that in 1 John chapter 4, talking about for whatsoever is born of God. Then he gets it right down to a personal level in the outworking of that faith. He said, Who is he that overcometh the world? He was talking about a whatever. Now he's talking about a he or she. Okay. Not what the world says. He, she, it. Your pronouns and my pronouns, Balder Dash and Poppy Cock. He said, I'm coming back to the ranch now. I got off on that. I'm getting back to the ranch. Okay? Now he says, He. Who is he? Individual, personal. Who is he that overcomes the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. That's the outworking of the whatsoever God has borne in you. Not a choice you made, a choice he made. Not a measure you went and got, it's a measure he put within you. It's not something, my friends, that you had to receive from without. People say, well, if it's a gift, you can reject it. Not an inborn gift you can't. Not an inborn. Barry Sanders was never offered the gift of being a running back. Okay? Chikossey was never given the offer. Would you like to become a world-famous pianist and composer? No. That was a gift given him by his creator. And our friends, when you're born again of the Spirit of God, you have been given the gift of faith. It is what God has given you to render back unto him so that you can please God in your day-to-day, breathable, working activities. I thank God for the true teaching of faith. Now we'll go over to 2 Corinthians. It's very closely related belief, but it's not the same thing because, my friends, let me tell you something. You could have faith within you and still be unbelieving. Jesus came to his apostles, who all of them were born again, except for Judas Iscariot, my friends, if you disagree with Matt, that's fine. We can agree and disagree on that. That's no problem. But he came to his apostles who were bloodphought and heaven-bound, and what did he done?

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He upbraided them for their unbelief. We can be unbelieving. 2 Timothy 2.13, for if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.

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Why? Because there's a whatsoever that's been born in you that can never, ever, ever be destroyed from you. Okay? And 2 Corinthians chapter 4, he says this. He says in verse 13, we having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed. Okay? What's he saying there? He's saying it takes the spirit of faith to be able to believe. Okay? They're not synonymous. Okay? Now, sometimes we use them interchangeably, but when you're getting right down to brass tacks, theologically they are not the same thing. One brings forth the other. Just like the spirit is intimately associated with faith, but yet the spirit brings the faith, that's why I count it all foolishness for someone to say that faith is what's been given you to be your hands that reach up to receive eternal salvation from God. Border dash. Romans 8 tells me that the Spirit's in you, you're his. You're his. And by the time you've got faith to reach toward God, you're already his. Quickened together with Christ. I wouldn't have that mess on a stick. Okay? The Spirit, closely associated with the faith, and the faith with the belief. But again, my friends, we must make these distinctions that the Bible makes, right? When we're talking about doctrine. Alright, so that's that triumphant faith that's born in every child of God. I can tell you, James and John, they came on the scene there that day, and one looked up to them begging. He wasn't there to worship Jesus. He was there begging, trying to get something. And they said that man had faith. That man didn't say anything that would indicate faith. He was just begging and looked unto them. He probably didn't know them. He didn't know them from Adam's house cat, but yet they declared by the inspiration of the Spirit that this man had faith. How did they know it if he wasn't exercising? How did they know it if there wasn't any out of it? I don't know, but God revealed it to them that it was there. That it was there. And so I rejoice that, my friends, little babies in the womb who are not born can have faith. And people have faith. They're given of God that substance. My job, my friends, is not to win the hearts, it's to win the mind so that the mind can learn that good doctrine that agrees with the faith that God has put in the heart. That that faith might be stirred, that it might go from a small flame to that which is incendiary, burning away the dross of your life, empowering you, moving you, giving you inspiration to go above and beyond, to overcome, not only, my friends, in concept, but to overcome in action, in word. Let me tell you something. The governments and all the negative things we see around us, don't you let that devil steal your cookie. My friends, there's a whole lot of preaching and showing how God has used wicked and evil governments to unfold. Why? Because he had victory at the end. He brought forth benefit from it. And I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, the Bible's very clear on that. So don't you look at the news and get all discouraged. Don't get all bitter. Don't let your face be long as a mule. No, be happy in Jesus Christ. He got this thing in the palm of his hand, my friends. And the more you trust him by faith, the more you will see it clearly and brilliantly. The more you trust, my friends, that more sure word of prophecy. Then the day dawn and the day star will rise in your heart one more time. And that's what we hope today, right? We didn't come here today hoping to be made children of God. We wanted to feel like children of God. We wanted to walk like children of God. We wanted to dwell in the courts of God and his people and his sons. And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart, crying of the Father. And we want to come not just in the heart crying, but we want our mouth to cry. We want it to confess Jesus Christ. We want to sing praise. We want to hear the prayers. We want to encourage one another. Ain't we got a great kingdom? We got a wonderful kingdom, my friend, of faith. Now, let's look at what Ephesians 4 is talking about. Of faith, God being my helper. Let's examine what the scriptures say. Now, somebody may say, well, yeah. The question is this how do you know what you're adding to that faith? Okay? How do you know that what you believe is faith is an authentic New Testament faith in the sense of an embodiment of learning and ways to walk. In other words, how do you know, you know the faith in your heart, you feel it, but how do you know what you're learning and how you're walking is in harmony with that faith that Christ has put in your heart, written in your heart, and that you feel like you have an authentic New Testament church experience. Because my friends, we do want to be dwelling in the New Testament church. Amen. We want to rejoice in it. It's for us. It's where God, you know, blesses preachers to get up and preach. I'm not able, I'm not worthy, but the Lord somehow wanted to give me a gift, and many times I would have thrown it away. Many times, but I can't. I can't. It's caught up in my bones like fire. So what? We get up here and preach, and when you hear it and you believe, you know what that is? That's the reading of the Lord's will and testament one more time. You see yourself included in an inheritance you never could deserve. But yet God has afforded this to us in the church experience. So I want to examine that faith. Not just the idea of the ethereal concept that's very real, but it's it's mysterious. Let's look at that which is more concrete, what can be measured, okay? Lord being our helper. Now I want to go to the passage of Scripture and see what we can glean about what our active exercise, our teaching, what we learn, how we walk, is it authentic? Is it in accord with what Jesus and the apostles established? Do we have some misconceptions about faith? I'll tell you, if you ever want to see that there are people with misconceptions about faith, being the embodiment of learning and teaching that is given to the church to walk in, you saw it very plainly in the last couple of weeks. There you have one group of people, very numerous in the world among Christianity, who's had to pass a resolution just saying that people in leadership positions in the church, okay, be monogamous.

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They don't care if they're homosexual. Okay? They don't care about that at all.

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But they're having to pass a resolution so that people they've allowed to lead their children and their families in an ecclesiastical sense are just being monogamous. Not like old dog rover, just roving all over. Okay? Isn't that terrible? Those people got a wrong idea of the faith under consideration today. You had a only a 75 essentially percent vote here recently that people in the New Testament church had to vote that, yes, we believe the Bible says about women in the ministry. That's shocking. And it's only going to get worse. But my friends, we can't control all that, right? I can tell you what I can, dude. I can follow Jesus. I can be Joe, a lively stone, and built up a spiritual house. I can be who I'm supposed to be and not worry and not fret. And not let this world see me just with a furred brow all the time and a sour stomach. Oh, this world, this world. Look, I don't care what age you've lived in. If you looked at this world, it's a sour place to be.

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That's right.

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Don't let the, again, don't let the devil steal your cookie. Be happy in the Lord. He's got this in the palm of his hands. All you can do is what you can do. Okay? You can't change people. Okay? But you can try to affect them through your example and the peace that you allow to dwell in you through faith. Realizing God is in control. Okay? So let's look at a few things about this concept of faith. Concrete notion of faith. Acts chapter 13. And when they had gone at verse 6, and when they had gone through the Isle of Pathos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus. Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. Now, Sergius Paulus was seeking to follow after the Lord. This wicked man didn't want him following after the Lord. So, Elamas the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. The elemental faith was already with him? I believe that. Okay, but he was seeking more knowledge in the faith. And Elamas, this sorcerer, wanted to turn him away from it. Well, how can you turn somebody away from something unless it's something, right? Okay? Turn him away from the faith. Not a faith, not one of the faiths, okay? The faith. You know, we my daughters have a lot of friends named Faith, and I gotta ask which faith. I'm telling you, when it comes to the word of God, I don't have to ask that. There's the faith, right? And it says here, then Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him and said, Oh, full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord. What is faith in this concept? The right ways of the Lord. You mean there's a right way in the Lord? You better believe there's a right way in the Lord. If you've got sense spiritually, you'll seek those right ways. And you'll put away the wrong ways. I don't like that talking very much, Brother Joe. That sounds very rigid. I don't care whether you like it or not. It's my job to tell it to you. And also, I've got a secret for you. It's your job to receive it and accept it.

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That's right.

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Don't like that? You don't have to invite me back. Throw me out in the rain. Pack me some macaroni and cheese to go, though. Okay? Acts chapter 14. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again unto Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples. That's what we're doing here today, right? We're confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. And that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. This context tells me that the faith will be accompanied by tribulation. There are a lot of so-called faiths out there. The government will never persecute them because they are weaker than branch water and they ain't affecting nobody. Okay, to be individuals. That's what governments hate. Governments, when they're hijacked by Satan, hate for you to be your own person. Because they can't control you. Because you're somebody else's sheep. I like to be the sheep of my shepherd. Amen. Okay? So you're going through much tribulation. Yeah, there are going to be a lot of people give you stink eye. But let me tell you something, if that's the worst tribulation we ever faced, praise God. I'll tell you, if the world stands, we're going to face a lot harder than that in this life. And in other places, we could speak about it as we did last night. They are suffering those things. So when it comes upon us, my friends, realize the genuine faith that the Lord established and gave us is accompanied by tribulation. Philippians 1.29, he says, for it is given you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but to suffer for his sake. That tells me what? If you believe, it was given by Christ. How? Through faith. Alright? And with that faith, if you walk and talk in the right ways of faith, like we're talking about here, that concrete way, that straight and narrow way that leadeth unto life, you are not going to be real popular with a lot of folks. Okay? And we're seeing that more and more. Acts chapter 24, verse 24. Acts 24, 24. And after certain days when I know I'm going fast, y'all write it down. Acts 24, 24. And after certain days when Felix came with his wife Driscilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Saul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. I wonder what Paul told him. Oh, there's a there's a long-haired hippie Santa Claus that loves everybody, and he just, if you'll serve him, he'll give you a Mercedes-benech, and you'll never be sick, and everybody will love you, and lottie-dotdy-dottie-dot. No, concerning the faith in Christ, and he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. You know what that tells me? At least in this context, if you've got the faith, you better be preaching about righteousness and temperance and judgment to come. Righteousness, my friends, must be whole and intact for anybody to dwell in the family of God. And there's only one way that can happen by God doing everything for you. That's what primitive Baptists have always taught, and that's what we'll always teach. Lord be our helper, right? Temperance. That means you need to be disciplined. Okay? Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ do what? Depart from iniquity. Well, I love Christ, but I hate living the Christian life. Well, then you don't love Christ, by my view. God knoweth them that are his, but right now I don't have much of a high opinion of you. Again, like I said last night, my opinion don't matter in the last book of life. But I'll tell you, it means a lot who I fellowship with, who I embrace as a brother and a sister in Christ. It means a lot. So we teach of temperance, a disciplined life. A disciplined life, okay? And judgment to come. Don't you give me nobody who says I'm a believer in Christ, but I'm a no-heler. Balderdash. Borderdash. If I've got hope of an everlasting felicity in heaven that will attest unto the righteousness, the joy, the love, the peace, the grace, and the mercy of Almighty God, I should not be shocked to think that there's going to be a place forevermore that will attest to his judgment, to his wrath, and to his fierce love for that which is right. Okay? There's no good and bad attributes of the Lord. Okay? We tend to segment it that way. We need to repair our thinking when it comes to that. All the ways of God are right and judgment and worthy of praise. Okay? Alright, we go on. Romans chapter 1, verse 5. By whom we have received grace and apostleship for, oh, people don't like this word. Obedience to the faith. For obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. You know what faith is? It ought to be obeyed. Now let me ask you something. Can you know how to obey something if you don't have any idea what you're supposed to be obeying? Alright? I tell the story, you know, all my kinfolk are Russians. And there's a bunch of them in the PB churches down south of us here and different places. Well, there was a bunch of brothers there, and uh, they're a big family, a huge family. And uh some of the brothers were sitting on the front porch, and one of the brothers was mighty kind of proud about how well he disciplined and taught his boys. He'd had some boys, he was proud about how well he did, and he was gonna show off a little bit to his brother sitting on the porch with him. He said, uh, told the boy then, he said, come here, a little bit of the old laugh. He said, Come here. He said, I want you to go down there and cut the okra now. Yes, Daddy. And he was just sitting there thinking, like, look how impressive that was. I told him what to do, and he went and did it, and they're gonna come back. Well, after I mean, it wasn't five minutes later, the boy came walking back with a bush knife in his hand, and daddy said, Where's the okra? He said, Lay it out there in the field like you told me to. I cut all the okra plants. You see, he didn't know what to obey because his daddy had never taught him how to cut okra. Right? So, you know, he gave that boy a whipping for that. God forgive him. He knows better in heaven now. Let me tell you something, friends, you can't know what to obey unless there's something that you can know to obey. And that's why the faith is something knowable, something that you can follow, something you can obey. Romans chapter 10, verse 8. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. So somebody says, Well, you better go out and get you some faith. Here, Brother Paul is saying, by the time you realize that you need faith, it's already in you. How close in you? It's already in your mouth and in your heart. God's already put it there, see? So when we hear the preaching of the gospel and we rejoice in it, it's not something we're incorporating from without to within. It's something within that agrees with what you've heard from without, you see? And the word is neighbor thee. How close is close? You know, uh Groucho Marx had a movie one time and he was hugging this big fat woman, okay? And and hugging her, and she was like, closer, closer, closer. And he said, I get any closer, I'll be in the back of you. Okay? How close is that word of how how close is the Lord when we hear the gospel and we want to confess him? He's already in your heart, and he's already in your mouth. You know what you need to do? He's worked salvation in you. Now you work it out. Work it out by confessing him, as we spoke about last night. But notice what he said here. The word of faith which we preach. So the faith here is what? What the primitive church was taught, what they preached. Okay? And it should still be being preached today. Uh upon this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I believe my Lord, I believe he's true, I believe he's able, and I believe we still got a church, and I believe I'm standing before a portion of her today, and I thank God for it. Who are seeking the Lord in truth. Oh, we can have ecclesiastical, we can have discussions time to time about how far God goes and how far God will work perseverance in us. That's a valid discussion, but boy, it's one I have no definite answer to, right? Well, we can discuss, well, you know, how active is God in providence in our day-to-day? We can have that discussion. But I guarantee you, the more I learn about the Word of God, the more I believe, the more He's involved in my life and not the less. Okay? Those are things that we can't know a hundred percent in heaven. We'll know, and it'll be good. Brethren and sister, brothers and sisters, it won't have anything to do with us here on this earth, in heaven, whether I'm wrong and they're right or they're right and I'm wrong, let me tell you. Is that the same thing? You know what I mean? We're all going to be one in Christ. And we're all gonna be happy about it. We're all gonna be happy to be made right. I look forward to that day. But while we're down here, okay, we seek those things, but we have to be understandable, some of those little things. But my friends, we should still be preaching the faith once delivered to the saints. And preaching it with joy. And Lord grant us the power in the Holy Ghost. Colossians chapter 1, verse 23. If ye continue in the faith. Now, what are you talking about here? What is what is what is absolutely necessary built upon you continuing in the faith? He said it just before that. That your mind will be right. He said, You were alienated and enemies in your mind. But I'm gonna tell you what, when you hear the gospel, it don't quicken your heart. But boy, it'll sure ease your mind, won't it? But what is that built upon? It's built upon you remaining faithful in the gospel. Okay? You throw away the gospel and the truth. Were you a false professor? God knows. Okay? Or are you just bewitched? God knows. All I know is you're on the broadway that leads to destruction, and you ought not want to be there. So confess and come back to the faith once delivered to the saints. Right? And he said, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard and will preach to every creature which is under heaven. Again, what we preach is the faith. Okay? Um God loves this girl that my wife works with, and she's very concerned about her church, because they've called a new pastor. And this pastor calls preaching. He gets up and reads one verse of one scripture, and then he just kind of meanders about it for about 30 minutes, 25, 30 minutes, whatever the case may be. You see, he doesn't, he's not comparing scripture with scripture. He's not speaking, thus saith the oracles of God. He's just kind of using it as a T to kick off his own preconceived notions and his feel-good stuff. That's not preaching the faith.

unknown 35:42

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Preaching the faith is preaching that which can be defended in the Word of God. If it was delivered to us and we still have it, then we ought to be defending it. If it was delivered to us and we lost it, we need to repent, shut the doors, and go find the people who do have it because it's on this earth somewhere. And we ought to be seeking for it. I thank God, I believe I've found it. The more I read and the more I see, the more I feel like I'm standing on good, firm, solid, primitive Baptist ground, and I thank God for it. Somebody may say, You sound proud. I'm not proud of it. I'm humbled by it. Why would God give such a one as me, such a precious gift? Why, my friends, would he give me the power of great price? Why would he give me the treasure in the field? I don't know. But I love it so much. And I want to see it progress and abound. I want to see people well fed and encouraged. I don't want people with hands hanging down and feeble knees. No! I want to lift up those hands and hang down to firm those feeble knees. I'll tell you, you got every reason in the world to rejoice. If you're walking in the faith. Walking in the faith. Don't be moved off from it. Don't throw it away. The power and the assurance and blessings you can have in this life is based upon knowing it and knowing more about it. Notice I didn't say insurance, I said assurance. Assurance assures you of something that you possess. Okay? Now, Romans chapter 10, verse 16. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Asiah saith, Lord, who have believed our report? So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. I'll tell you what I believe this to mean. I used to think something different about it, but I'll tell you what I believe he's meaning. I believe he's talking about hearing the preaching of the gospel. He says, faith cometh by hearing. Okay? That cometh, my friends, means it's been declared. Alright? It's like a coming, an emerging onto the scene. Faith cometh by hearing. Well, my friends, again, we've talked about faith that the Lord puts in the heart. So what is the faith that cometh by hearing? And what are you supposed to hear? You're supposed to hear the word of God. That's what's supposed to be preached. That should be first and foremost, the star of every preaching stage should be the infallible word of Christ. One of my brothers said it well. He said, I read a lot in that passage, but that's the only time I know when my preaching's perfect is when I'm reading from the Word of God. Because it's infallible and it's perfect. It's the Word of God. And when you hear it, my friends, faith comes by it. I'm not saying faith is formed in your heart by it, but my friends, like you said in Romans chapter 10, that which is in your heart can come forward in a powerful and a manifest way and can make a difference in your lives. I don't know about y'all, but I want my life to be different than what it used to be. It is way different than it used to be. I mean, I used to be the Duke Earl, baby. I thought I was all that, a bag of chips. I was good looking, had a job, had a car. Oh, I'm telling you, I was a party boy. Had me, a group of fellas, we ran around, hung out with bands, and did things we ought not to do, and I won't go any further than that. My mama's cringing somewhere right now. But let me tell you something. God changed me, and I've been living happier than a hog in the sunshine ever since. Those things that used to make me happy are now a curse to me. What made the difference? God's Spirit came in and changed me and gave me faith. And now, my friends, I hunger and thirst after a completely different entity of joys. It's the things of God. It's my God's sense. It's the receiver I need to look after the Lord and to follow Him. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. That's why it's so important for us to preach the gospel, to pray, Lord, lead me in a place where I can preach the gospel. Brother Joe, who do you know you're preaching? I don't know. That ain't my job. My job's to preach. Preach. Well, I'm enabled and guided by the Spirit of God. Preach, my friends, whether it's on a barstool or whether it's in a ditch or whether it's on a mountaintop or in a pulpit. Preach the word of God. Charles Spurgeons, a lot of things he said I didn't agree with, but one thing he said, he said, let me tell you something. If the elect family of God were born with a yellow stripe down their back, I'd spend all my days pulling up cocktails, looking who got that yellow stripe. But guess what? They don't. They don't. I'll tell you, nobody would have looked at that thief on the cross and thought that was a child of God, would they? Nobody would have looked at Samson and said, Whew, there's a good old boy. We're going to introduce services next Sunday. Nobody would have done that. But you know what you do? You bring out the word and you preach it. And just like in the days of Solomon, what brought out the truth when those two harlots stood before him? He said, Bring me the sword. You know what that sword is indicative of? The word of God. And when you bring out that word of God, my friends, it'll bring manifest a lot of hatred in a lot of people's hearts. But when the Lord's in the matter, it will also bring tears to the eyes of someone who's been living in rebellion. Someone who's been consumed by this world. Somebody who's been living in ignorance or false teaching or preconceived notions or prejudices. It can change lives. And I want my life to be changed. Therefore, I walk in the faith once delivered to the saints. And I search for it and I read the Word of God. And every year when I finish reading through the Word of God, I say one more time, thank you to God. I didn't have to read through the Bible and feel like I wonder if I'm in the right place. I thank God for the Word of God. And I thank God for the faith that He's given me, not only in my heart, but this embodiment of faith has been taught from generation to generation to generation to generation from the infallible, unchangeable Word of God that is still present here with us today. Romans chapter 14. I didn't know if I needed to come and try to preach on this this morning, but I'm having a good time trying to preach. Thank y'all. It may have been the energy drink and the Alani I chased it with on the way here. I doubt very seriously. It may give me more energy, but boy, it don't make me happy in Christ. But preaching makes me happy in Christ. Being with God's people makes me happy in Christ. And you may be saying, that's a wild, loud man. I know I am. I'm sorry, but I am who I am. I am who I am. I know. I know I keep on doing it. So, you know, so Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14 tells about people that the blood of Christ was shed for, but in some sense they can be destroyed. You better get that right. Right? If the blood of Christ, what does the blood of Christ equate? Ephesians chapter 1, Colossians chapter 1, Romans chapter 3, the blood of Christ equals the forgiveness of sins. If that blood was shed for you, then your sins have been forgiven. If that blood was shed for you, the love of Christ constraineth us, for we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. That means you've already died for your sins. You did it in Christ. He said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. That's what he was talking about. If Jesus died for you, lived for you, was risen for you, you are his and you will be in heaven. Okay? So here's what he's saying: don't eat meat. If it makes your brother too offend, you can destroy your brother for whom Christ died. That tells me right then that destruction is a temporal destruction, a day-by-day destruction. Have y'all ever seen anybody who used to find so much joy in the church and then they got jealous, or they got a little vain, or they got a little discouraged, and before you know it, they've gone off on their own, and now they're living a pitiful, negative life. I've seen that. Their life gets destroyed. But nothing, if Christ died for them, could ever be taken from the Lamb's book of life. Not one of his bones was broken. Psalm 34. He keepeth all of his bones. Not one of them is broken. But my friends, we can become broken in this life. Paul didn't want to become a castaway, right? Paul warned some children of God that don't let your life become shipwreck. That's what he's talking about. And I think people do a great disservice when they get up calling themselves primitive Baptists and teach the gospel in such a way that makes you believe that, well, I believe I'm a child of God, which means I can't help but persevere. I mean, I can't help but do better. You know, I just can't help it. Oh, yeah, you can. You can make a shipwreck out of your life, your discipleship, and your testimony of Christ. That's why we're told so many times, be aware. Be careful. If there was ever a time you needed to not be living by autopilot, but living in the Word of God diligently, your daily habit and joy. It's now, my friends. You may be saying, Brother Joe, today's not any different than any other day. Oh, I'm telling you, sin is just the same today as it always has been. But social media is a lot more than it was in 1850. Wouldn't you agree? That's a whole different entity. Okay? Having 5,800 channels on the TV to choose from, I don't think they had that many in 1776. Do y'all think that? There are things we face today that have not been faced in the world. Which means what? We need to be more careful and don't let them get a foothold in our lives. Okay? But what did he say down here about these people? He said, and he verse 23, and he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. What does that tell me? That if I'm going to be walking in the faith, I don't need to be overcome by superstitions, old wives' tales, and preconceived notions. Now I don't mind if you build your house and you paint your ceiling blue and your porch. Have y'all ever heard that? Because the evil spirits can't go over water. So they would paint the ceiling of their porches blue so that the evil spirits wouldn't come in the house because they thought that was blue. That was water up there. Blessed heart. Look, that don't bother me. I like the color blue. And, you know, if you just wanted to use it as an interesting piece, that's fine. But brothers and sisters, I've been to China. I spent two weeks in China one time. And you know what those people are consumed by? Superstitions. Superstitions. They feel like the entire world is just unlucky spirits just waiting to destroy them, and they've got to have the right number of bolts on the door, the right number of dragons on the roof, and they're constantly in agony, wondering, am I going to be blessed or am I going to be cursed? You know the most cursed job to have in China? What do you think is the most cursed job to have in the United States of America? Your mind would come to a lot of things. Would it ever come to being an adoption worker? Would that ever come to your mind? No, it wouldn't. In China, that is the most cursed job you can have is working with fatherless children because they worship their ancestors. And if you are seen as having no ancestors that you know to worship, then you are seen as the unluckiest of the unlucky. They esteem sewer workers higher than adoption workers. Do you see what Christ has saved you from? Do you see how happy you ought to be? To live in Christ, to rest in Christ, to not be consumed by superstitions. To not be dragging things from the Old Testament law forward to the New Testament as if they belong. No, my friends, that is putting a new piece of material on an old garment, and it'll just make the rent worse. No, my friends, if you got new wine, you put it in new bottles. Amen. And we got something that is full of life and peace and joy. Praise be unto God for it. And so we need to keep our vessels right and walk in the faith. And I've got to hurry up and close here. Romans chapter 16, verse 25. Now to him that is of power to establish you, according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. But now is made manifest. And by the scriptures of the prophets, according to all, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. Now we've already talked about faith should be obeyed, but I want you to look in this context. He's pointing at what the prophets left us. You know what we ought to obey? What we ought to study, what we ought to incorporate, what we ought to harmonize with the New Testament is the Old Testament scriptures. And you may be saying, Brother Joe, that's a gimme. Why are you spending time in this? It's almost lunchtime. Why are you saying that? Because you would be absolutely shocked at how many people out there who have Christ on the billboard that will not esteem the Old Testament scriptures because they've been told by some confused person in the past those don't pertain anymore. If you don't know, okay, the types and shadows, what Christ fulfilled, how much edification you're losing from your life. Romans 15, 4 says, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning. And what happens when they learn? That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. When people don't go to Leviticus and see that the high priest and him alone went into the holiest of holies, then they'll never fully grasp the idea that Jesus alone is our atoning high priest. If they don't look in the Old Testament and see that that garment that had the bells and the pomegranates representing the declaration of the truth and the fruit of your works, if they don't realize that he took that garment off before he entered into the holiest of holies, you might be led to thinking, well, it's my good works and my hearing the gospel and spreading the word of God that somehow is going to get me into heaven wrong. He put those out, my friends, and he went in and cleaned linen garments himself into the holiest of holies, the only one with the authority, the only one with the right. And he made atonement before all the people. If you don't look at the Old Testament and see how that high priest represented Israel as a whole, you might be certainly led and emboldened into thinking, well, you know, Jesus doesn't have the people of every kindred nation, people and tongue. I know what it says there, but that's just fancy language in Revelation 5, 9. No, my friends, when you come to realize that he died for the whole of his people without needing them to come and accept that intervention, that representation, then my friends, you can have a lot of comfort at night saying, look, wherever they are, of every kindred nation, people and tongue, they are the Israel of God. And Jesus died for them. So much power in the Old Testament when we see it unfolded in the New. And let's not forget that, because that is a vital part of the faith. You see, my friends, all of these things I've mentioned, they are things that are knowable, followable, confessable. I wonder about people who have a nondescript, non-denominational church. Okay? If you've come to the year 2026 and you have not been able to find one group of people in 2,000 years who has come to a knowledge and an acceptance and a walk of the faith once delivered to the saints, then you haven't looked hard enough or you've got the wrong preconceived notions about it. Okay? I don't think there's any need for a non-denominational church. Be what you're gonna be, or don't be nothing at all. Okay? I love being a primitive Baptist. I love being a primitive Baptist. I heard somebody down below say, well, we need to join Primitive Baptist all that. You go right back, Sparky, if you want to, but I'm thankful to be a primitive Baptist. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not in the name. You can call me old Baptist. I know some people call regular Baptists, have full fellowship with them. Why? Because their doctrines and practices are identical to the Primitive Baptist Church. But they don't go by that, they go by old regulars. Does that name matter? No, my friend, but the doctrine does. And when you find somebody who's ashamed of a name, a name, might I add, that encourages a lot of question asking by people, alright? You better be looking at what their doctrines are and what practices they're having. Because, brothers and sisters, it's easy to get off the mark unless we're walking in the faith once delivered to the saints. Let's remember all of these things. And thank God, thank the Lord for such a hope and joy that we have, that we can enjoy day by day. Pass on to our children. I don't know if they'll avail themselves of it, but again, when they get to be full-grown hairy adults, you can't control them. So you do the best you can, encourage them, love them, but my friends, we can pass this on to our children, and we should. These things that we're talking about today. I thank y'all for your good order intentions I've stood before you. God bless you.

SPEAKER_00 53:47

Brother Job, he said he was going to continue with Ephesians this afternoon, and I don't want to I don't want to preach. Ephesians 4.15 says, But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ. That's in the context of the ministry, what the ministry is supposed to do. Oh. I love Brother Joe's illustration about the okra. That uh we can tell our children to go out there, I need you to go cut the okra. And he cut every stalk down. Um Brother Joe, what you did today was tell us a little bit about how we're actually supposed to cut the okra. What is the purpose of the ministry? But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him and all things. We know that God gives us the faith, but how are you and I supposed to exercise that faith? That's what us preachers are called to do. I can't make a child of God, Brother Mike. You can't either. But we are called to teach God's children how to pick the okra, right? Like we, you know, and and brothers and sisters, the um I was also reminded of the fact that uh you and I are sons and daughters of the king. You know, uh, Brother Joe, you're kind of a very positive guy. Uh he he smiles a lot. Uh have y'all ever run into Christians that that life is just terrible, life is just bad, life is just half full. I I want to tell you this that um you and I are blessed by Almighty God that He has implanted within us the faith of Jesus Christ, that He made us children of God, and so you and I have been given an inheritance in heaven that you and I could not earn and do not deserve. So we've been made sons and daughters of the King, no matter if we're born in deepest, darkest Africa or America, or if we have cancer or whatever our lot is. You and I are blessed, even in the midst of that situation, and then on top of that, you and I today are exposed to the preaching of the word of God to help us better understand and walk in that. How do we pick the okra, Lord? How do I follow you better? You and I already are in the palace.

unknown 56:34

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 56:34

And now we've been told a little bit more about how to act as a son or daughter of the king. I want to give you one more verse. In uh Psalm 118 24. Anybody know what that is? Psalm 118 24 says, This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Did y'all know that's a choice that we make? That we as children of God have been blessed. We've been made sons and daughters of the king. You and I have a reason to rejoice. But it says here, we will rejoice. In other words, it's pouring down rain outside. Why are y'all in church on a Saturday? Why did y'all drive way away from your homes to hear a man to me and yell at y'all this morning? Why did you do that? It's because the Lord planted faith in you. And then you came to be stirred up, to be spurred on in that faith to know a little bit better how to walk in the garden, a little bit better how to walk with him. Well, now that you have that faith by his grace, and then you've been stirred up by this brother in Christ. Now, may and what are you and I supposed to do with that?

unknown 58:03

Oh, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 58:05

This is the day which the Lord has made. We will leave this place and rejoice and be glad in it. Now may you and I go actually walk in the things that you and I have been taught to God's glory. You know that Ephesians 4:15 says speaking the truth in love. You know, we don't get up here and preach that, oh, you better, you better live right or you're gonna die and burn in the devil's hell. Um, we know what the truth of the Bible is, that true love casts out all fear. We know that God's children who love him have the capacity to do that. Brothers and sisters, if you and I are sons and daughters of the King, may you and I go and do better. May you and I change and may we just try to walk with Brothers and sisters. I can't stay where I am and go with God. Because I'm a sinful man. I better constantly be changing to be more like him and letting him burn the dross out of my life. Lord help me to walk with him better. I want to ask Brother Don if he would come and help us close in a word of song. The church doors are always open if you desire to unite with the membership of our church. After the first verse, we'll ask Brother Joe to come up and uh extend to him the right hand of Christian fellowship. Brother Don.