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Voddie Baucham - How Can You Be A Faithful Witness? · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: And then there's the last piece. The promise and portrait
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  Speaker 1: of victory. The one who conquers will be clothed thus
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  Speaker 1: in white garments. And I will never blot his name
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  Speaker 1: out of the book of life. I will confess his
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  Speaker 1: name before my father and before his angels. What has
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  Speaker 1: Sardis done? In some ways they have failed to to
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  Speaker 1: confess the name of Christ before the powerful, wealthy Jewish
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  Speaker 1: community and the pagan Roman community. Because of that, they've
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  Speaker 1: soiled their garments. And because of that, they have individuals
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  Speaker 1: within the context and confines of their church who are unregenerate,
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  Speaker 1: but think they're Christian. You recognize that. You have some
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  Speaker 1: people in your church, a few people in your church
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  Speaker 1: who are actually saved. That's what Jesus says. That there's
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  Speaker 1: a few people in your church who are actually saved.
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  Speaker 1: But most of the people in your church are not
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  Speaker 1: even saved. You're dead. You're dead. What is his promise
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  Speaker 1: to the conquerors? You'll walk with me in white. Your
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  Speaker 1: garments will be clean. Your name will never be blotted out. Never.
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  Speaker 1: Why will your name not be blotted out? Because Jesus
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  Speaker 1: not only saves, he keeps. And finally, I'll confess your
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  Speaker 1: name before my father and his angels. There's the picture.
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  Speaker 1: of what he promises here in Sardis. I believe that
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  Speaker 1: we need to hear and to heed the warning to
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  Speaker 1: this church. And I believe it for at least several reasons.
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  Speaker 1: Here's number one. We need to hear and heed the
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  Speaker 1: warning to the church in Sardis because all of us
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  Speaker 1: have the same tendency to want to be liked by
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  Speaker 1: our culture, respected by our culture, and to have evidence
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  Speaker 1: of that by people wanting to be with us and
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  Speaker 1: be around us. Every last one of us, sort of, well,
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  Speaker 1: most of us, feel better when there's more people here. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Feel like something's happening. Something's good. There's more people here.
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  Speaker 1: We're having to put out more chairs. We, watch this,
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  Speaker 1: must be doing something right. Why? The mere fact that
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  Speaker 1: there's more people here. If we begin to think like that,
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  Speaker 1: then here's how we also begin to think. Whatever we
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  Speaker 1: do that brings more people is the right thing. That's
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  Speaker 1: the wrong answer. That's the wrong answer. Not that we're
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  Speaker 1: against people. Not that we're against people being saved. But
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  Speaker 1: that's the wrong answer. Here's the second reason that we
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  Speaker 1: need to hear and heed this. Because we live in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of a culture that is offended by many
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  Speaker 1: of the things that we hold dear. Primarily, the gospel
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. We live in a culture of people
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  Speaker 1: who are offended by the gospel. Why? Even people who
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  Speaker 1: call themselves Christians who are offended by the gospel and
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  Speaker 1: the whole counsel of God. We live in the midst
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  Speaker 1: of a culture of people who are offended definitely by
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  Speaker 1: the implications of the gospel. You start talking about what
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  Speaker 1: the gospel means as it relates to the way that
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  Speaker 1: you live your life and all of a sudden you're
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  Speaker 1: on the outside looking in. And we don't like that.
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  Speaker 1: We don't like that. Here's another reason that we need
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  Speaker 1: to hear and heed this. Because I don't believe that
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  Speaker 1: it is too great a stretch to apply this to
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  Speaker 1: the way that we raise our children. There are many
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  Speaker 1: of us who are in this very same danger because
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  Speaker 1: all we want is for our children to behave in
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  Speaker 1: a way that doesn't embarrass us. if they just behave
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  Speaker 1: in a way that doesn't embarrass us, we're great. That's enough.
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  Speaker 1: That's all that matters. If they look the right way
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  Speaker 1: and speak the right way and dress the right way
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  Speaker 1: and act the right way, if they will just do
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  Speaker 1: those things so that people will applaud us and pat
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  Speaker 1: us on the back, here's what begins to happen. I
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  Speaker 1: enjoy being applauded and patted on the back because of
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  Speaker 1: the outward behavior of my children. So my focus and
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  Speaker 1: my attention goes to the outward behavior of my children.
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  Speaker 1: And I continue to neglect the fact that their greatest
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  Speaker 1: need is on the inside and not on the outside.
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  Speaker 1: How many times do we hear, I got this child
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  Speaker 1: who's a problem. But this one who's a really good kid.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know what it means to be a really
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  Speaker 1: good kid? That you're not outwardly rebellious. Do you know
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  Speaker 1: there are parents who say that about children who are
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  Speaker 1: unregenerate and don't know God? Good kid. Why? Doesn't embarrass me.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't cause me problems. And that's all that matters in life.
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  Speaker 1: And so there are scores of children who were not
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  Speaker 1: rebellious when they were young, who are absolutely lost and
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  Speaker 1: utterly bankrupt on the inside because they got very little
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  Speaker 1: time and attention of gospel-based, gospel-centered, earnest parenting because they
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  Speaker 1: already had everything their parents wanted. Shut up. Don't cause
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  Speaker 1: me problems. Don't embarrass me. You act like that, I'm
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  Speaker 1: not worried about you going to heaven because that is heaven.
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  Speaker 1: God help us. God help us. Here's the other side.
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  Speaker 1: The danger on the other side is this. Well, here
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  Speaker 1: they were in Sardis and they compromised Because the Jews
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  Speaker 1: weren't persecuting them and the pagans weren't persecuting them. So
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  Speaker 1: how do we know when we're doing it right? When
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  Speaker 1: everybody hates us. And so we end up being loud
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  Speaker 1: and obnoxious and defensive and unkind and not Christ-like. And
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  Speaker 1: then we pat ourselves on the back because people hate us.
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  Speaker 1: Because by God, that means we're doing it right. You
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  Speaker 1: understand there's a ditch on both sides of the road? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: we should be wary when all men speak well of us. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: But we ought also to be a little bit worried
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  Speaker 1: when all men speak evil of us. If everybody says
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  Speaker 1: you're obnoxious, then you're not a faithful witness. You're just obnoxious. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: If nobody wants to be around you to hear the
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  Speaker 1: gospel that you're so committed to preaching to everybody, then
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  Speaker 1: you're not a faithful witness. You're just obnoxious. If you
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  Speaker 1: have to constantly make excuses for the way that you
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  Speaker 1: put people off and turn people off when you talk
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  Speaker 1: to them, You're not holding down the truth. You're just obnoxious.
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  Speaker 1: And that does not commend the gospel well. So what
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  Speaker 1: do we do? We preach the whole counsel of God.
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  Speaker 1: We preach it faithfully and pray that God, by the
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  Speaker 1: power and presence of His Spirit, not by might nor
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  Speaker 1: by power, but by my Spirit. Amen? Amen. It's not
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  Speaker 1: our techniques. It's not our marketing. It's not those things.
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  Speaker 1: It's the power of God and the spirit of God.
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  Speaker 1: We faithfully and winsomely preach the gospel. When you preach
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  Speaker 1: the gospel in a faithful and winsome way, what will
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  Speaker 1: you find? You'll find the same thing that Paul found
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  Speaker 1: in Acts chapter 17. When he was in the synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: some people believed and followed him. Amen. Other people got
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  Speaker 1: a mob together to go after him. What happened when
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  Speaker 1: he preached on Mars Hill? Some people believed him and
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  Speaker 1: followed him. Other people mocked him and called him names.
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  Speaker 1: What does a faithful, vibrant, spirit-filled church look like? in
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  Speaker 1: this regard? It preaches the gospel faithfully. Some people are
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  Speaker 1: shaken from their slumber and the Spirit of God brings
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  Speaker 1: them to repentance and they're saved. Other people hear it
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  Speaker 1: and run away. We never back down on the gospel. Never, ever, ever.
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  Speaker 1: But we also never make ourselves the rock of offense.
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  Speaker 1: Because the gospel does that more than adequately all on
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  Speaker 1: its own. Amen. Amen.