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Good morning. I love this auditorium. I really
do. I want to share a couple of things
with you. First of all, I want to thank you for the Hume family for putting
up with us, okay? Brother David had to make two
pots of coffee this morning. And the girls lost their room and
we ate veggies, okay? I guess you guys all understand
that, right? But it's been a blessing, amen?
And we're excited about that. I'm already in trouble. I haven't
been here two minutes yet, amen? Let me share another thing with
you, okay? And this is missions related
because I am one. But I want to tell you in this
church that you have one of the greatest missionaries that I
have ever encountered in Thailand right now. Now, I got to visit
with Odell and his family in Thailand two years ago. And I
want to tell you, there are missionaries who are not effective, but Odell
Summers is not one of them. And I am so excited about what
he's doing. In fact, I have taken on the
role of being a prayer partner with Odell. And I keep in touch
with him, and I love he and Beth and the family. And I just want
to tell you that you have a great missionary. And what an amazing
privilege and responsibility that is, okay, as a church. The
other thing I want to tell you is you have an amazing pastor. You already knew that, right? in a time when pastors come and
go so quickly, to have a man of God here who has been a man
of God as long as Brother Bill has. And I had the privilege
of serving with him as an associate. And I can only tell you That
time in my life has been priceless as I have been a pastor. So many
times when I would be confronted with this situation, I would
go back to something Brother Bell said or how he handled something
or how he did something. And many times I've called him.
You know, I get stuck. I think I know who to call. OK,
who are you going to call? Brother Bill. OK. And just you
just you are blessed. OK. And I am blessed to have
been here and to have worked with him. It's a great privilege
to be back here. And it's an amazing privilege
to be in this pulpit, because I also know that not only is
he a man of God, he's a man of the Word. And it's a little intimidating. There are some places where I'm
intimidated, and this is one of them. Amen. So I just want
to thank you so much. I want to introduce you to my
wife, Linda. Linda, stand up, be embarrassed, turn around, look. Okay. This
is my wife, Linda. This is my better half. I expected no less. Okay. Those
who give it should be prepared to receive it. Amen. Okay. But I guess my former pastor
said it best. Somebody called him about us
in the ministry and he said, he said, take Tom if you have
to. He said, but get Linda. Okay. And so we are, I am blessed
to have had her now as a Life partner for... You were supposed
to let me figure it out, right? 41 years. My goodness, she's getting old. Amen. 41 years. More trouble, right? Well, I'm
going to get in more trouble yet, okay? Bradley, Brother Young,
what a blessing, what a blessing. The choir, and I'm going to sing
again if that's okay, if I can. I wasn't there by the shores
of Galilee when Jesus touched those blinded eyes and made them
see. And though I did not see the
empty tomb that day, I still believe. Yes, I know what Jesus
did for me. And I believe there is power
in the blood of the Lamb. And I believe there is healing
in the touch of His hand. But the greatest of all miracles
was when my Jesus saved me. Yes, I know what Jesus did for
me. I love this auditorium. Praise
the Lord. It's good to be here. Open your
Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. Chapter number 15. You know, I look out at a church
body, and the Lord has blessed Linda and I at Grace. We have
a group of people who are willing to serve. And I know that's the
case here. I mean, you look at the labor
that's being invested. You know, the Sunday School ministry,
the Sunday School ministry in this church as well as any other
church that I know of is probably the largest ministry out in the
church. And the number of people that
are involved. To do a Sunday school right takes a lot of work,
a lot of effort, a lot of hours. Amen? It just has to be that
way. Children's ministries. You know,
we have an Awana ministry. You guys still doing Awana? No?
OK. But those of you who are involved in it, any children's
ministry, that's an investment, folks. That's an investment.
You know why it's an investment? Because, first of all, it's pretty
thankless sometimes. Who are the most selfish people
on earth? Well, they're about this tall. OK? Right? Amen? Am I wrong? Okay, that's the
way life is. You know, it doesn't matter where you're laboring,
whether it's with children, whether it's in education, whether it's
in Sunday school, whether it's in music ministry. And what a
blessing, what a blessing this music is. Thank you so much.
But folks, there's a lot of work that needs to be done. And there's
a lot of work that's ongoing. And you know, if it wasn't enough
that we had to labor in the ministry, we are laboring in a time and
in a culture when simply being a Christian will wear you out.
Amen? I mean, there's so many of you
who... I mean, all of us have to deal
with that, right? We're reaching a point where
we're being pushed further and further and further off of the
mainstream. You know, we've become the friend. If you're a Bible-believing Christian
today, you're out on the margin of society. Say, no, yes. Yes, you are. You know, I love
1 Corinthians chapter 15. And you know, when it was read,
I want to get up and shout, because I think that's what Paul did
here when he recorded it. You know, he starts in verses... chapter 15, first of all, is
about the resurrection. And he's pretty excited about that, okay?
Jesus is alive. Jesus is risen. Jesus is in heaven
with the Father. Jesus is on our side. And he's
pretty excited about that. He says, don't you make a mistake.
He said, not only is Jesus up there, but you're going one day
too. And it reaches the climax of
the chapter in verses 51 to 58. By the way, did y'all notice
the nursery verse? Nursery verse is verse 51. Behold,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. Oh, come on now. All right. You guys knew
that. But he keeps going and he gets
into verses 54. So when this corruptible shall
I put on incorruption, and this mortal shall I put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory. Can you see him? You know, I
think Paul was quoting this and it was being recorded by someone
else. And I think we got this place, he jumped up out of his
chair, you know, he starts shouting, oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God. Verse 57, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then in verse 58, Paul, Paul
was a preacher, okay? And he gets excited. You read
through this, he gets excited. But Paul was a teacher too. And
as soon as he got through verse 57, as soon as he got through
with the shouting, then he said, wait a minute, wait a minute,
there's something here you need to grab hold of. And in verse 58 he says simply,
therefore, therefore, understanding all of these things, that Christ
is a victory, that we're going to rise from the dead, that mortality
will put on immortality, corruptible will put on incorruptible, with
all these things in mind, therefore, my brethren, be ye steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding. in the work of the Lord, forasmuch
as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." Now
I'm going to stop right there today. I want to focus on that
verse. Now there's a lot here. There's a lot of places you could
go, okay? But today I want to work on verse 58 for a little
while, all right? Verse 58, where the Bible simply
says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Let's pray. Father,
we again bow before you. Father, it's a worship service.
We have worshipped in song. We have lifted our hearts in
prayer. We have worshipped in our giving, in our offerings. And Father, we come now to worship
at the proclamation of your precious word. Heavenly Father, I pray,
Lord, that you would forgive us our sins, our failures, that
you would cleanse our hearts, and that, Father, you would allow
the Holy Spirit to do the work that he desires to do in each
and every one of us. Father, bless the speaker. Father,
bless the hearers. And, Lord, may we leave here
today confident that we are different from the way we came in. because
of you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Your labor is not in vain. You know, the chapter is about
the truth and doctrine of the resurrection. Christ rose from
the dead. You will also rise from the dead.
And because you know that you will rise and that you're destined
for eternal life, you should also know that the things that
you do here, your service for God, is not in vain. It doesn't
end with this life. I was given my testimony in the
youth department. By the way, what a blessing.
I enjoy that so much. You couldn't have done better,
okay? You know, God just keeps throwing me in with kids, okay?
You know, I told them I love kids, baked, boiled, or fried,
it doesn't matter. My spiritual gift is annoying
teenagers. OK. Aggravating teenagers. That's
what God put me on earth to do. Some of you were teenagers when
I was here and you understand that. Amen. You do. Yeah. Yes. Amen. But I was given my testimony
in the youth department and I was telling them that the way God
brought me to himself was by showing me the vanity of life
apart from him. He used a testimony of a man
that I worked with to show me that, I say, God used Ecclesiastes
to bring me to Himself. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. And He let me see that beyond,
in this life, there is only this life. And if what is in this
life is all that there is, folks, it's not much. And that's what Paul is teaching
us here. He said, listen, it doesn't stop here. The things
that are valuable are things that go on for eternity. And
he's saying, listen, you're going to rise. You're going to live
forever with Jesus. And you need to understand that
the things you do here are going to transfer there. Your labor
is not in vain. And because you know that, there's
some things you need to know. And he says, first of all, he says,
brethren, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. Steadfast. Now, the Bible appears
here to say the same thing twice. It says, steadfast, unmovable.
Okay? Now, if you want to make that
distinction, do it this way. Steadfast has to do with internal
influence. Unmovable has to do with external. So if we work with it that way,
you think of Proverbs 20, 25. It says, it is a snare to the
man who devoureth that which is holy and after vows to make
inquiry. That phrase, after vows to make
inquiry, I have this written in my Bible as a translation,
an interpretation. It says simply, don't dig up
in doubt what you buried in faith. Don't dig up in doubt. what you
buried in faith. Say, Brother Tom, what are you
talking about? Listen, Jesus rose. And because you too will
also rise one day, you are able, you should be able, you should
be willing, you should be steadfast, you can stand fast in the doctrines
that you have been taught. Why should I change? I'm going
to heaven when it all is unveiled. Listen, Jesus is the only way
to heaven. Boy, that was good. Let's practice
that, okay? All right? On three, say, Amen. One, two,
three. Amen. Oh, that was marvelous. Okay. All right? Jesus is the
only way to heaven. John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am
the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father.
but by me." Folks, there isn't any other way. You know what? I get to witness to folks frequently,
and I always get to this point, somebody says, listen, there
is one way to heaven, and it's Jesus. And I say, how do I know
that it's Jesus? I say, because God's not stupid.
Then I usually get, you know, how do you know that? I say,
because if there was any other way, that we could get to heaven
with God and put his son on a cross and let him die in our place?
No. God's not stupid. Jesus is. The only way to heaven. Second, God did create the heavens
and the earth in six literal days. I can stand fast on that. I don't have to guess about it.
I don't have to wonder about it. I don't have to reinterpret it. I don't have to do anything
with it. All I have to do is read it, believe it, and stand fast. The Bible is the very Word of
God given to us direct from heaven. There is a real heaven to be
the eternal home of the saved. There is a real hell and a real
lake of fire that are destined to be the eternal home of all
who reject Jesus Christ. We are called to share the good
news with the lost all over the world and we can live holy, separated
lives that stand in opposition and contrast to what's out there.
Stand proud! The end is coming. You are going. It's all going
to happen. And Jesus rose, and you're going to rise, so you
be steadfast. You hold the doctrines that you
have. 2 Thessalonians 2.15, therefore,
brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you've been
taught, whether by word or our epistle. Paul encouraged them
many times. Stand fast. Folks, don't we need
that occasionally? Have you ever experienced that
the world is a little overwhelming sometimes? Huh? Amen? Yeah. Yeah. Folks, they're trying to bury
us. You know, we have an enemy. We
have a real enemy and he has a real world system and he wants
to destroy everything that's godly. And I'm looking at a lot
of godly right now. Folks, you can stand steadfast
in spite of a world that's trying to bury you. What's it say second? Well, that's the internal thing,
right? It says, be unmovable. Steadfast was internal faithfulness,
and unmovable is the external pressure. We live in a world
that, for all intents and purposes, has rejected the God of the Bible.
They've simply rejected it. And as such, because of this,
and this just follows along, They bring unbelievable pressure
on us to conform to their way of thinking. Romans 12 says,
be not conformed to this world. What's the idea? Pressure. And by the way, if you don't
conform, you get a pretty bad rep. I mean, immediately you
are narrow-minded, intolerant, bigoted, ignorant. Folks, if you have an experience
that you haven't read anything lately. Am I being unfair? OK. This is the way the world
deals with us now. And folks, we're being pushed
further and further out. Listen, if you can't see what's coming,
you're not looking. By the way, I want to ask you
this. How much longer do you suppose they're going to allow
us, ignorant, intolerant, and narrow-minded, to indoctrinate
our children in the doctrines of faith? They are taking it away now. Can I tell you that every society
that's tried to banish Christianity from its borders at one point
has made it illegal to teach young people the doctrines of
the faith. It is still illegal in many countries. When we served
in Ukraine, one of the things we learned about the communist
government there was that no one under the age of 30 could
be baptized. So what do they do? They're trying
to steal our children. Anybody familiar with the 414
window? We all know about the 1040 window, right? You know
about the 414 window? What? Huh? Oh, 414 window says 90%
of the people who will be saved will be saved between the ages
of 4 and 14. See why children's ministry is important? Why? Because between the ages
of 4 and 14 you can still talk to them. They're still available. They're still open. They're still
managed. They're still pliable. They still
have a room for God. They haven't been talked out
of it. Communists knew that. Muslims
know it. And folks, so do the folks who
would ban Christian education, home education. Folks, it's all pressure. Reformers Unanimous, we had a
chapter there for several years, describes all this external pressure
as persecution. They said, this is what persecution
is. And persecution is simply outside pressure to cause the
soul to yield to the influence of the flesh instead of the Spirit. Persecution is based on fear.
And in order for persecution to be effective, we have to fear
those who can kill the body more than we fear God. Amen? Now, Jesus warned us about that,
right? Matthew 10, 28. Fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him
able to destroy both soul and body in hell. When we succumb
to external pressure, it's usually out of fear. It may be fear of
physical persecution, but that's not usually our problem here,
is it? Ours is emotional. What do we fear? Embarrassment,
humiliation, rejection. Okay, now I'm going to meddle
just a little bit, okay? You know, there are Christian
parents who really don't want their children to be different. You know, I want them to get
the label. I want them to understand. I
want them to go to church, but I don't want them to stick out.
I don't want them to be different. I don't want them to draw attention
to themselves, to draw trouble for themselves. Folks, Jesus
promised us one thing, trouble. How's that? Singing. I should
never sing. OK. Grandparents who are afraid their
grandchildren will grow up ignorant. Afraid they'll never get into
a good college. Folks, these are just symptoms. These are
signs that we're really more concerned about the world than
we are about God. We may succumb to external pressure
out of fear. We may succumb to external pressure
out of lust. One of the characteristics of
love is a desire to be with the one I love. Right? Right? You tell me you love him, but
you don't want to be with him. There's a problem. Okay? Fairly. That's fair. If
I love the world more than I love God, then I'm not going to want
to be separated from the world. I'm going to spend my time there.
But God tells us that to spend my time with the world is to
be separated from God. You cannot do both. 1 John 2,
15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, no man can
serve two masters. For he that hateth the one and
loveth the other, else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and family. A Christian who is unwilling
to separate himself or herself from the world is not a friend
of God. They have simply succumbed to the pressure that the world
has brought to bear. And God tell you this morning,
they are practical unbelievers. No matter what they call themselves,
if I am unwilling to separate myself from the world, if I am
so immersed in the world that it's obvious that's where my
love is, then why do I carry a name otherwise? records something completely
different. He says, be ye unmovable, be ye steadfast. He said, because
Jesus rose and because you too will one day rise, you can resist
the world's pressure to conform. What's the next thing? Go back
there. He says, always abounding in the work of the Lord. You
like word study? I can't, makes me go to sleep.
I hate it, you know. I do it because, you know, you
have to sometimes. And these are good words, like always.
Always means every when. Right? You like that? Every when is
always. At all times. Okay? Always. Works pretty good,
yeah. Always. Abounding. Abounding. Abounding. To super abound, to
be in excess. Oh, let me give you a good Louisiana
word, right? Lanyap. Anybody know what lanyap is?
How do you know what lanyap is? Praise the Lord, okay. All right. Lanyap is a good Louisiana word
and this means extra. It means that there's something
that's added on top. It's like, you know, you do what
you're supposed to and then you do a little more just because
it's good. And it's lanyard, you know? It's
like when the IRS sends your tax return and they add $100
on it just because they love you. It's lanyard. Right? Huh? Well, if they did it, it
would be lanyab. But you understand, right, what
I'm talking about? Okay, so lanyab. And that's abounding. Abounding
is lanyab. And then there's work. Okay,
boy. Millennials? Millennials, raise your hand.
Millennials. Okay, work is foreign to you
guys. I know that, all right? Now I'm in more trouble, okay?
You know, I think I've gotten every group in the room at this
point, all right? Sorry, millennials, I can't help
it, you know. I have two living in my house. Work. It means labor. It means
search. You better quit. You better quit. And so what this Bible says is
that all times go above and beyond what anyone would reasonably
expect in your service to the Lord. at all times go above and beyond
what anyone would reasonably expect in your service. Go to
Matthew chapter 5. One of the most hateful passages
in all of scripture. Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. I'm going
to get a reading of verse 39. Just follow along. By the way, this
is the Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus in verse 39 is speaking. He says, But I say unto you,
that you resist not evil. But whosoever shall smite thee
on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man
will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee.
from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. You
have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute
you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
For he maketh his Son to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye
love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the
publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren
only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect." You know what Jesus is teaching here? But more than that, He's teaching
what is really unnatural, is it not? That's why it says the
most hateful passage in all of Scripture. You look at this and
say, nobody can do this. And you know what, I agree, apart
from the grace of God. But folks, I don't have to do
it apart from the grace of God. Because I'm a child of God and I have
God living inside me and I have the Holy Spirit working through
me. And He says, simply, you be like your Father, which is
in heaven. There's another way, he put it in Luke 17. Luke 17, it says this in verse
number 7, but which of you having a servant plowing or feeding
cattle will say unto him by and by when he is come from the field,
go and sit down to me. And will not rather say unto
him, Make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thyself, and serve
me till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat
and drink. Doth he thank that servant because
he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise
ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded
you, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which
was our duty to do." Always abounding in the work of the Lord. going
above, going beyond what anybody would reasonably expect. Paul
repeated that time and time again. 2 Corinthians 9, 8, God is able
to make all grace abound toward you that ye always having all
sufficiency in all things may abound, same word, to every good
work. Titus 3.1, put them in mind to
be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates,
to be ready to every good work. What does it say? It says we
are saved to serve, not saved to sit. Right? Okay, let's try it again.
One, two, three. That was half-hearted, okay. Not only are we to serve, but
we are to serve as though the kingdom of God and the gospel
of Jesus Christ were the most important things in our lives. Why wouldn't they be? What in this world can supplant
or replace the gospel in our lives? was telling the young people
about an illustration. In fact, God just, it's one of
those things, you know, the best illustrations come from within
our lives. And in this case, I was performing a funeral service
in Pineville, okay? And I happened to be walking
around the cemetery prior to the service. I was waiting on
the hearse to get there. And I found myself standing over
this huge stone And the card on the stone was the man's name
and the date of his birth and his death. And then it listed
underneath there, it said, President, Chief Executive Officer, Standard
Oil Company. It listed the dates. And I was looking at that, and
I began to think, Standard Oil, Standard Oil, Standard Oil. That's
Exxon. That guy, or at least that dust, was the president and chief executive
officer of Exxon when he left. Wow. Boy, he's really dead. I wonder where he is today. See, folks, we don't understand
it. That's the offer the world makes. That's the temptation that Satan
came to Jesus with. You see all these kingdoms? He
says, I'll give all of them to you if you'll bow down and worship
me. He's still making the same offer. And you know what? There are
going to be so many. who make that choice. They'll make a bad
choice. And they'll follow hard after what the world has to give.
And they will miss the kingdom of God. They will miss the opportunity
to serve Christ. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me." Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 4. Begin reading in verse 1, for
as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live
the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the
will of God. For the time past of our life
may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when
we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, revelings,
banquetings, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange
that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking
evil of you. who shall give account to him
that is ready to judge the quick and the dead." Verse 4, when
you do live for Jesus, when you say, you know what? Standard
Oil is nice, Exxon is nice, but it's not better than the gospel.
It's not better than God. It's not better than the love
of God. And when you choose that, when
you choose to serve Him abundantly, when you hold steadfast, when
you are unmovable, you will confound this world. They will not understand. In fact, He says, they speak
evil of you. But verse 5 tells you, you know
the difference. you know that one day you will
give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. First Corinthians 15, Jesus,
the whole chapter tells us that Jesus most assuredly rose from
the dead and that one day just as certainly you and I will do
the same. And then it goes on, he says,
he finishes up, he says, because you know this, He said, first
of all, he says, don't talk yourself out of it. Be steadfast. Second,
don't let anyone else talk you out of it. Be unmovable. And finally, he says, work like
a madman to further the kingdom of God. See, we don't have that
long. We don't have that long. And
what's he say? Your labor is not in vain. You know, it's interesting here.
Our perseverance is not based on visible results. It's not
based on worldly definitions of success. Our labor is based
on the faith that one day we will be with Jesus and that we
will be rewarded for faithful service. Amen. Father, we do thank you for this
time. Thank you for the precious Word
of God. Father, I pray that you have encouraged everyone here
today to be steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work. And Father,
I pray today that if there is one here who has not yet bowed
their head and their hearts to Jesus, that Father, this would
be the day when they realize that to gain everything in the
world and lose their own soul would be tragic. Father, I trust
that you will work in their hearts, that you will draw them, that
you will open the Scriptures, and, Father, that they might
come to faith in Jesus Christ. Lord, there are many of us here
who are Christians, and, Father, for some of us, it's been a great
week. For some of us, it's been a lousy week. We've been beaten
and battered and pushed. We've surrendered. We quit. We
whined and sniveled and griped and moaned. Father, we haven't shown up very
well for you. And Father, we ask your forgiveness.
And Father, we ask your grace to stand back up and get it right
and go forward. Father, I pray that whatever
the need is, whatever, in each heart, Father, whatever it is
you've spoken to us about, that you would find us listening, submissive,
and obedient to the Spirit of God. Lord, I ask you to work
in this time in Jesus' name.
Stedfast, Unmoveable and Abounding
| Sermon ID | 79172044173 |
| Duration | 39:37 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | 1 Corinthians 15:58 |
| Language | English |
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