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A Sinner Cannot Love
Jesus
Let us just read from the Bible what
walking in love is. According to most people, "walking in
love" would be never to raise your voice against any other
religious system whatsoever--it is "tolerance for one and
all". Just love everybody regardless of what they teach. No
matter how much it contradicts the truth, go right along with
them. Now let us see what the Bible says that walking in love
is. In Ephesians 5:1 and 2 we read, Be ye therefore
followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love… Now,
here is walking in love, and you cannot walk in love if you
are not children of God. Somebody said, Why?" You are not in
love. Someone said, "I am a sinner, but I love
Jesus."
Do not lie. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you
will keep My commandments." There is no sinner who loves Jesus
because he cannot love Jesus. He cannot love Jesus because he
does not have the ability. Brother, it takes a God-given
ability to love Jesus. Read I, II, and III John. We love Him
because He first loved us. If He did not first love us, we
could not love Him. Brother, we have to have His love shed
abroad in our hearts. I am not hurting the sinner. I am your
friend.
I know you may reach out and in a human way
say, "I love Jesus" but let us get to the Bible. The devil
will deceive you with the thought that although you are a
sinner, you still love Jesus and since you still love Jesus;
He loves you. Therefore, you go on in sin hoping everything
will be all right. Now what are you going to do with the
Scripture which says that God is angry with the wicked every
day (Psalms 7:11)? Now, I do not want to hurt you. I want to
tell you the truth. Friend, if you are a sinner, you have some
moving to do; and you need to do it today. You are in a
dangerous position.
Let us look at Ephesians 5:l again.
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And
walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given
himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweetsmelling savour Brother, when you walk in this love,
you have the same kind of love for Christ and His cause as
Christ had for you. He carried out God's will completely step
after step; and when you get that love in your heart, you will
keep His commandments. You will carry out His will in your
life.
Love Covers a Multitude of
Sins
Let us read on in verses 2 and 3, there in
Ephesians 5: 2, And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved
us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all
uncleanness… Now people want to pat Rome on the back with
the priests living with their handmaids. My friend, right out
in the religious world from the preachers on down, they are
living in fornication and committing adultery. Yet people put
their arms around them and bring them right on in under the
assumption that the love of God covers it all.
Somebody
said, "The love of God covers a multitude of sins." It will do
it when you confess it. Right there is when the love of God
covers, but the love of God does not cover a multitude of sins
and iniquities out here that are alive and being carried on
every day in the hearts and lives of men and women. You can be
loaded down with sins and have committed every sin in the
catalogue; but if you come in old-time repentance and mean
business with God, the love of God will cover it and remove
your sins as far as the east is from the west, never to be
remembered against you again.
You may ask, "How do we
walk in love?" Verses 3 and 4 of Ephesians 5 tell us, But
fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not
be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not
convenient: but rather giving of thanks. How many are
loving God and almost shed tears when they have to give Him
that ten percent? Some will say, "Man, look how much I gave
Him." Isn't that something! Then, you turn around and sing, "I
love Him. Oh, how I love Him! I love Him with my whole heart,
soul, mind and strength, but Lord do not ask for eleven
percent." Let us just preach the Gospel on what walking in
love is.
"But fornication, and all uncleanness..."
means those little off-color jokes that are told by people
claiming to be saints. There is already something wrong with
you, and something wrong with the listener, if you have to
throw a little dirt in it to make it funny. All uncleanness
includes every unclean habit. Brother, the old tobacco habit
goes, the drink habit goes, and the dope habit goes, The
Gospel still says, Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
II Corinthians 7:1. Praise the Lord! I am glad that these
unclean habits can go. I used to be bound with an old, unclean
tobacco habit.
I read an article the other day, and I
really rejoiced in it. Several years ago a tobacco company
handed out samples at a certain high school and with them a
little piece of paper which said, "Here is a sample of our
cigarettes. We hope you enjoy them; and if you will write us,
we will send you some more." One Christian youth took the
sample. This happened to be in the spring of the year; and
there were many bugs on his roses, so he put it in water,
boiled it down, and sprayed the roses. It killed every bug. He
wrote back and said, "We certainly enjoyed your tobacco; and
if there are any more bugs alive next spring, I will send for
some more." Well, the tobacco is for the worms. Somebody said,
"As sure as God puts it here, it is for us to use." Brother,
it is good. It will worm a horse. You give them a good shot of
tobacco in the spring, and it will take the worms right out of
them. However, all you need to do is misuse it as men use it
on their bodies; and it will take the lungs right out of
you.
Let us stay right here a little bit, even if I do
not get any farther than this thought of walking in love. The
book of Revelation tells you that the voice of the beast and
the voice of the false prophet are sounding out, "Love, love,
love--God loves everything." Well, He loves the world. He
loves you as a sinner so much that He gave His Son to deliver
you. The love of God will cover a multitude of sins, thank
God, and break every sinful habit and defeat every Satanic
power.
Let us go a little farther in Ephesians, chapter
5. Verses 3 and 4 tell us, But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among
you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather
giving of thanks. It is surprising how much foolish
talking people can do, and they cannot say anything for the
Lord. Do you know that you are justified or condemned by your
words? Then we pick up with verses 5 and 6: For this ye
know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words:
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the
children of disobedience. Vain words are anything contrary
to the Bible.
Brother, this thing of the grace of God
covering your sinful condition after you confess Christ is a
perversion of the Gospel. It is a work of Satan. God paid a
big enough price to clean you up and to keep you clean. Thank
God, His Church is without spot or blemish or wrinkle or any
such thing. The Church is not a building somewhere. It is a
people who have been saved by God's grace and who have been
made new creatures in Christ Jesus.
Goodness, Righteousness, and
Truth
Verses 6-10 tell us,
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of
these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of
disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye
were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:
walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is
acceptable unto the Lord.
Now, there are some
things that I may have to do that you will never have to do to
be a Christian, and there are some things that you may do that
I may never have to do. Some things are individual matters.
Some things are conscience matters. However, when it comes
down to what I am dealing with here, salvation works the same
in every person. When you have been born of the Spirit of God,
the fruit of the Spirit of God will produce in you goodness,
righteousness, and truth. That is what the Spirit of God will
produce in every one. Verse 11 says, And have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them. The unfruitful are those who are not bearing the
fruit of the Spirit: goodness, righteousness, and
truth.
Now let us just read the record as it is. Verse
11 goes on to say, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Somebody said,
"That's strong stuff!" Well, the Gospel is strong! God's
people like it strong. Friend, if you have been born of the
Spirit of God, you will be producing the fruit of the Spirit:
righteousness, goodness, and truth. The Bible says that anyone
who is not producing that is unfruitful. The reason why they
are unfruitful is that they are still in darkness. They are
doing the works of darkness. Anyone who is a Bible student
knows that the works of darkness are sin.
John made it
plain in I John 1:5 and 6: This then is the message which
we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all. f we say that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not
the truth. Praise the Lord!
What Fellowship Hath Righteousness With
Unrighteousness?
Let us read another familiar Scripture,
II Corinthians 6:14-17: Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the
temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living
God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you.
Now this spirit that I have talked about
perverted the Gospel. The only thing that many of those
teachers can see in that Scripture is the marriage
relationship. However, I want to tell you as one who loves
your soul that the basic principles of truth found in that
Scripture are not dealing with the marriage relationship.
Nowhere in the Bible are you told to leave an unbelieving
companion. Paul would not cross himself up. Paul said that if
a brother has an unbelieving wife and if she be pleased to
dwell with him, stay with her. Likewise, if a woman hath an
unbelieving husband, and if he be pleased to dwell with her,
stay with him, because by your living for God and living the
Christian life, you will win the husband (or wife as the case
may be). Therefore, Paul is not talking about the marriage
relationship in II Corinthians 6:14.
The second reason
that I know Paul is not talking about the marriage
relationship is because he said, Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate… How many wives do you
have? How many husbands do you have? The Scripture says,
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate…
Now who is he talking about? My friend,
go right back to verse 14: Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers…Then he gives the reason for
that warning: …for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? Do not be yoked together with
unbelievers. My friend, you get yoked together with
unbelievers when you join lodges, man-made churches where man
opens the door, and human organizations of any kind where
believers and unbelievers are yoked together. Well, how are
they yoked together? Let me explain.
Let us suppose
that my buddy and I are both sinners and we go to a revival
effort. My buddy hears the Gospel, gets under conviction, goes
down to an altar of prayer, and prays through. The minute that
he prays through, his name is written down in the Lamb's Book
of Life. He is a member of God's Church by one Spirit. He has
been baptized into one body, the body of Christ. He is in
Christ. He knows the love of God. Thank God, old things have
passed away; all things become new. He is a new creature. The
things he used to want to do, he does not want to do anymore.
He has new desires.
Well, they finally pulled at me and
got me down to the altar; but I did not get saved. They asked
me if I was satisfied, and I was satisfied just to stay like I
was. So we go right along. My buddy was born into the family
of God, and he is a righteous individual; but I am still
unrighteous. Now, my buddy is not yoked with me in any
way.
However, one Sunday morning they decide to open
the church doors and to take in all the converts who had been
to the altar. When they opened the church doors and took us
in, my buddy became yoked with an unbeliever. Now, what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? My buddy
and I have been friends for years, but Wednesday night comes;
and he says, "I'll pick you up. We are going to prayer
meeting. I say, "Prayer meeting! You have holes in your head.
I'm going to the bowling alley!"
What fellowship has
righteousness with unrighteousness? This is the thing that
is wrecking every human organization on the face of the globe.
It is the thing that is putting the pressure on the saints who
are in those human organizations until they either have to
come out, or they have died in the struggle to
survive.
What fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? The righteous people in those places will
rise up and say, "I make a motion that we have Wednesday night
prayer meeting like we used to. Let us have a testimony
meeting. Thank God, I feel like shouting." About that time an
elder will rise up and say, "Look, boy, we don't need prayer
meetings. We need another soup supper. Let us have Friday
night ice cream socials. We aren't going to win the world with
prayer meetings. Let's have a hamburger fry."
What
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What
concord hath Christ with Belial? When God saved you, you
became the temple of the living God; and here is a fellow over
here who is just worshipping an idol. How can you get along
with an idol worshipper? II Corinthians 6:17 and 18 says,
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my
sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty.
Somebody said, "Is that what the Gospel
says?" That is what the Gospel says. You are listening to a
preacher who has vain words when he tells you to go right back
down and dabble around and hook up in a united effort with old
Babylon. Babylon fell and her fallen condition is worse today
than it ever was. You will never help her by joining ranks
with her when the Gospel says, "Come out of her. Be ye
separate. Touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you
unto myself." Thank God, I especially love that last
part.
Somebody said, "Brother Wilson, the ministry
won't receive it when you preach that." Well, God will receive
it because He said, "I will receive you unto myself, and I
will be your Father; and you will be my sons and
daughters."
The Saints Shall Judge the
World
Paul speaks of "another gospel." Another
of the "other gospels" tell us that God is love, and God does
not judge anyone. Can't you see the devil in these statements?
Man, the devil wants a free hand. That is exactly what he
wants. He is doing all his dirty work, and he wants a free
hand. The devil knows that he could not walk up to holiness
people and say, "Now look, don't you put any more judgment on
me!" Why? They would blister him worse than ever; so the devil
slips around in a sly manner and says, "Look, here is the love
of God; and if you really have the love of God, you will never
judge anyone."Isn't that something!
What are you going
to do about I Corinthians 6:2? Do ye not know that the
saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged
by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Also, what are you going to do about I Corinthians, Chapter 2
which says that you have received the mind of Christ through
the Spirit and you judge all things, yet you are not judged of
any man. Why? No man can judge spiritual things unless he has
been regenerated. When you go to laying truth down, people get
stirred. They bring up the Scripture, "Judge not that ye be
not judged." which we want to read in its context. This is
exactly what the devil wants--no judgment put on anything. It
is in the spirit of the age. This is the very move our nation
is making--no judgment put on any thing.
Let us face
it. A big percentage of the people do not want the law
enforced today. Let a man carry on all he wants to, let him
walk up and talk back to a police officer, let him even slap
the officer on the face and black his eye, but that policeman
must not raise a club or do anything. Well, I say that the law
needs to be enforced; if I break it or you break it. The law
needs to be enforced. Away with this lawless
business!
Let us go a little further. Somebody said,
"The Bible said not to judge." It certainly did, but let us
see who the Scripture is speaking to. Praise the Lord for His
goodness! Man, I love this truth. No man anywhere can preach
it too straight for me to enjoy it because I have something
down inside of me that just reaches out for the truth of God's
eternal Word.
Let us see what the Gospel says about not
judging. In Matthew 7:1 we start reading, Judge not, that
ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine
own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out
the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own
eye? Thou hypocrite…
Now that may mean you, but it
does not mean me. I am no hypocrite. God does not want
hypocrites judging. God was speaking to a people who were
hypocrites. They were trying to get a mote out of the
Gentile's eye when they had a beam in their own eye. They were
blind as bats and trying to show the Gentiles
light.
Someone said, "Jesus said not to judge because
the judgment you put out will be meted right back. Well, I do
not mind that. I want you to put right back on me what I
preach. Only crooked people do not want judgment put right
back on them. Therefore, they do not judge because it will
come right back on them; but if you are living right, you can
lay judgment to the line. Isn't that what the prophet said?
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to
the plummet… Isaiah 28:17.
Someone said, "I think
you are wrong when you judge." Well, I am only judging by the
Gospel. John 12:48 says, He that rejecteth me, and
receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word
that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last
day. It is the Word of God that is doing the judging, not
me. However, we realize that when you preach the Word of God,
you become a prey. Brother, if they cannot find anything in
your life, they will lie about you; but that does not make any
difference, they lied about Jesus. Matthew 10:25 tells us that
Jesus said, It is enough for the disciple that he be as his
master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the
master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call
them of his household? Also, Jesus said in Luke 23:31,
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be
done in the dry? Well, brother, it is plenty dry now; so
there is no telling what will happen. Therefore, do not be
fearful.
Somebody said, "Well, you just live for God
and leave your brother alone." That is not what Jesus said in
these verses. He said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged for
whatever judgment you measure out, it will be meted to you
again." Also Jesus said, "Why beholdest thou the mote in thy
brother's eye when you have a beam in your own eye?" The
Gospel said to get the beam out of your own eye and make sure
your life is clear. Then, go to work on the mote in your
brother's eye. Then, you can both see
good.
Set for the Defense of the
Gospel
These "other gospels" tell us that God is love,
and God does not judge anyone. "Other gospels" do not censor
any other system, nor condemn, nor make any sincere person (no
matter how much of a sinner) feel left out. That is the reason
we do not get anyone in. You have to make them feel left out
first. As long as they think they are in, you will never get
them in. "Another gospel" does not exclude any religious
person from doing his thing as long as he allows us to do our
thing. This is the love that lets you go ahead and believe
like you want as long as you let us believe like we want. They
say, "We will let you do your thing." Well, do you know what
the thing is that they are doing? You can read it in verse 7
of our text. They are perverting the Gospel of
Christ.
Every true child of God is set for the defense
of the Gospel, just as Paul said in Philippians 1:17. You
cannot go along with this spirit that says, "You do your
thing, and I'll do my thing." No, it is needful to cry out
judgment. Let us read it again right from our text in
Galatians 1:6-8: I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble
you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed.
Now why did not Paul use that kind of
love that you are talking about? Why did not he say, "Let
those with 'another gospel' do their thing and I'll do mine?"
No, Paul stood in defense of the Gospel. He said that if
anyone came preaching or even an angel come down from heaven
(there is not any man who has that high a calling.) and preach
any other gospel, let him be accursed.
Now I want to
ask again, "Why wasn't Paul more loving?" Well, the reason for
it was that he loved, he esteemed, the things of God more than
he loved the things of man. He was dedicated to THE truth of
The Gospel, not "a" gospel, not "another" gospel. The Gospel
that was being preached/taught was perverted. What a task we
have on our hands. I speak to the Church from a heart that is
stirred deeply. I do not know about you, but I cannot play
Church. I cannot work at this thing unless I work at it in an
effective manner. |
