Alright. Once again, we are in this book
and we're in the third chapter. The first one was, why study doctrine? And Don took
us through the Lord's Word as he does in every chapter of why
we should look. and looked into the Lord and
why we should look at the doctrine specifically. The doctrine of
election. How are you going to know that
God chose you from before the beginning of the world if you
don't read about it in His Word? The teaching of His Word about
election. Then we talked about the Word
of God in chapter 2 as being the Word of God. And He took
us through Scriptures and showed us where it declares to be His
Word. And then here in the third chapter, he's titled the third
chapter, God Is. In other words, He is God. And
last week we spent looking at different sections of scripture
that showed us that He is God, and that man knows He is God,
and that we don't need just the things of this world, we have
His Word to tell us that. attempt to prove the existence
of God, Don brings out. And we've looked at different
places where it doesn't, it just declares him to be as he is.
For instance, in the beginning, and this is where Don takes his
thoughts from, Genesis 1-1, in the beginning, God created the
heaven and the earth. There's no dispute by almost
everyone. Almost everyone agrees to that.
Except for those who don't believe in a God at all. In the beginning,
God created heaven and the earth. The Bible begins with the announcement
of the fact that God is, and that he is sovereign, and that
he is the sovereign creator of all that is. The being or existence
of God is the foundation of everything. When we come to the study of
God, we come to the most transient theme that can never, that can
ever occupy the minds of men. The being of God is a subject
that is inexhaustible as it is incomprehensible, understanding,
in other words. A theme that is delightful, profitable,
and blessed beyond measures, as Don writes. The Bible tells
us that God's being, his existence, and certain aspects of his nature
are made known to men in several ways. For instance, the physical
universe. It proves to us that the Bible is and certain aspects of his
nature. We also saw last week the consciousness
of men. And I just want to reiterate
this. What does that tell us about there being a God? It is
in the conscience of all men that we have sinned against God.
That's why there are so many different religions. Think about
that. What is religion? Religion is
trying to appease The anger of the All-Creator. Am I wrong in
that? That's what religion is. So we
see the physical universe, we see the conscience of men. All
these things point us to the fact that God is. A couple of
other things that we can look at. The Bible, it points to us
that God is. Look with me at Psalms 19 if
you would. Psalm number 19. Look at verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord, this
is the Word of God, is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes
of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of
the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord
is clean, Enduring forever, the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant
warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward." Look
over at 2 Timothy now. Go over to the New Testament. 2 Timothy, just before Hebrews
there. And look at chapter 3. We're talking about the Bible, pointing
us to the fact that God is, that He is who He is and sovereign
over all that is. Look at verses 16 and 17 of 2
Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. Don says this, he says, blessed
beyond comprehension are those men and women who are privileged
of God to have his word If we had nothing else except
the written word of God, our blessedness would be incalculable. But there is a blessedness even
greater than this. God graciously sends his messengers
to his elect, making himself known to chosen, redeemed sinners
by the preaching of the gospel. And we know this by Romans chapter
10, if you want to turn over there, or I can read it for you
if you'd like, Romans 10, it's very familiar verses. In Romans 10, verses 9 through
17, we read these words, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Yes. The Lord Jesus, and shall
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved, How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? Don states this, he says, God
establishes gospel churches in which he meets with and speaks
to sinners and allows himself to be worshipped of men. Let
me read for you from Matthew 18. Matthew 18. verse 20. In Matthew 18, verse 20, we read
these words, For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Added
to that is this great, great boon of grace. God Almighty then
allows saved sinners to be the instruments by which he makes
himself known to other chosen sinners." No wonder Paul spoke
as he did to the church at Rome, as one who was a debtor to all
men, who owed it to all men to preach the gospel unto them.
Over in Romans chapter 1, we read these words in 14-17, Paul says, I am the debtor both
to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise,
so as much as in me as I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. We're talking about sinners preaching
to sinners. This is the word of God that
we preach. So much so as in me as I am ready
to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also, for I am not
ashamed of the gospel Verse 16, of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. What's the power
of God? The Word, the Scriptures, the
Bible that Paul is preaching from. To everyone that believeth,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Verse 17, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Every saved sinner
ought to have the same attitude. We are honor-bound in payment
of debt to carry the good news of the grace and knowledge of
God to perishing men. That's what I did this Wednesday.
I went down to the Dear Brothers in San Diego. That's what I went
down there to speak to them about. I brought last week's message
to them. What's the difference? We're gonna have, what's the
difference part two today? They got both part A and part
one and part two together Wednesday night. Yet in the purpose, writes Don,
and pleasure of God, there is a necessity for more knowledge
still. It is not enough merely to have
the light of creation and of God consciousness and even the
light of the written word of God, the knowledge of God by
which sinners are saved and have eternal life comes from, comes
by the revelation and knowledge of God in Christ. That's the key to everything.
That's what we're going to talk about in the next message. being
in Christ. We brought it out a little bit
last week, but we're going to bring it out a little deeper today.
Well, we know what John 1, 1 through 3 is, is in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Everything
was created. We go on to verse 14, where it
declares, and the Word was manifest in the flesh. But I want you
to look over Hebrews with me. Hebrews chapter 1. Without this, Without this knowledge
of God in Christ, even though we have the Bible, even though
we have the world, even though we have all of creation, even
though we have God's Word, without this, without the knowledge of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot know Him. Look at verses
1 through 3 of Hebrews chapter 1. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past under the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness and the glory of his express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at
the right hand of the majesty on high. So we see where the
Bible clearly declares that the Lord Jesus is God Almighty in
the flesh as well. Now we have the incarnate word
as well. And we'll close with that. I think that's the last
point that's being brought out on this. Nope, the experience
of faith is, there's one more. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
incarnate word by whom the written word speaks. That's what we read
back there in verse, what I quoted from John chapter 1 verse 1.
It is utterly impossible, writes Don, for sinners to know God
apart from God's revelation of himself. That's what we just
talked about a moment ago. Without the revelation of God,
you cannot know him. and the revelation of Himself
in the person and the work of Jesus Christ, His dear Son. It
is in, by, and through Christ that we have a complete revelation
of God. He is the sum of all God's purposes,
the fulfillment of all the types and pictures of Holy Scripture,
And the message of all the prophets, as we read in Luke chapter 24,
what was it he expounded on to those two men on the road to
Emmaus? He expounded from the Old Testament
the things pertaining unto himself. Isn't that what it said? And the message of all the prophets.
In Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead resides. In Him,
the expression of the revelation of God's, His beings, If we want
to know who God is, what God is, what God has done, and what
God requires of men, we want to know the way to God, we must
look to and study the words, works, ways, and person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look over at John 14. Turn over
to John 14. We'll read verses 9-12, but before
we do that, I want to read for you verse 6. The Lord says, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by Me. Now look at 9-12. Jesus saith,
Have I not been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known
Me to Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's
sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me,
the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works then
these shall he do, because I go unto my Father." So we see the
works very clearly declare that Christ is God Almighty. Herein
lies the necessity of preaching of the Gospel. The Scriptures
cannot be known and Christ cannot be known except through the preaching
of the Gospel. That's what we read a moment
ago in Romans chapter 10. How are you going to call on
somebody you've never heard? Yet the mere preaching of the
gospel will never communicate a saving knowledge of God to
lost sinners. The only way sinners can know
God is by the gift and operation of God the Holy Spirit and the
new birth by the gift of faith. You know the words. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse
8 through 9 we are saved by grace through faith. Look over at Hebrews
11 verse 1. Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, By it the
elders, and that's speaking about all of those that was spoken
of just a moment, or that is about to speak of, Abraham, he
sojourned, Sarah herself as well, Enoch, by faith and without faith
it is impossible to please him. What are some of the other ones
here? Oh, it's over, he was 12, that's
what it is, a cloud of witnesses. Let me go back to that. Okay.
For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith
we understand that the world were framed by the word of God,
so that things which are seen were not made of things which
do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testified of his gifts, and he being dead
yet speaketh. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death, and was not found, because God
had translated him before his translation, he had this testimony,
that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. So we see here that preaching
the gospel is not all, it must come by the gift of faith that
we saw, that we read about in Ephesians 2. Now I'm gonna bring
this to a close with experienced faith. The experience of faith. My own part to this is that when
I look back, and I see the John Reeves that was before, I can
tell you this, that once I was blind, but now I see his truth. I believe all of God's children
are the same. I believe he saves us all by
this very same thing, and that is shining the light of truth
in our hearts, and the light of truth is Jesus Christ, his
son. Period. So when we look back
and we see the different people or the different religions or
ourselves. In my case, I didn't have another
religion. It was John Reeves. I worshiped John, meaning I did
what John thought was right. So when I'm talking about experiencing
faith, it's experiencing the fact that God has given me that
faith to believe in Him. I know that there was no way
I would believe it still. I'd still be walking in darkness
if it hadn't been for His gift, if it hadn't been for His love
in bringing me to this place and hearing His Gospel preached. Don writes this, he says, the
only way we can know God is to believe Him. And the only way
we can believe Him is for God himself to give us the faith
in Christ. Faith in Christ is the gift in
the operation of God in us. Or, in other words, Christ in
us, the hope of glory. See how this is blowing me away,
how this goes right into what we're going to look at next.
Pray for me if you would. We get ready for the next service.
I'm feeling very insufficient. I'm coming to the pulpit with
no notes again. I just pray the Lord will give
me the ability to speak when the time comes. But it's this
very thing, it's this very thing that Christ in us This gift,
this operation of God is created in and bestowed upon chosen people,
writes Don, redeemed sinners in regeneration by the irresistible
power and grace of the Holy Spirit. This gift of faith, Don writes,
is communicated to and wrought or brought in God's elect through
the instrumentality of the preaching of the gospel Turn over to 1
Corinthians, if you would, chapter 1. Just a couple of pages to
the right from Romans. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look at verse 18. For the preaching
of the cross, this is 1 Corinthians chapter
1, beginning at verse 18, For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where
is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that and the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. To save them that believe. For
the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both
Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Christ in Him crucified. With
this gift of faith, believing in Him, every believer is given
the abiding unction of the Spirit by which we are given grace through
the Word of God to know all things spiritual. It's a sad, sad proof
of human depravity that men everywhere deny or disregard the existence
of God and truth. We read in the book of God of
the fool who cries, there is no God, of nations that forget
God, and of individuals who do not have God in all their thoughts.
Such people, while they cannot convince themselves that there
is no God, so despise him that they want nothing to do with
him. They say, depart from us. We desire not the knowledge of
your ways. There's only one cure for this
sad, cursed condition. The effectual cure for men's
souls is the new birth that we speak of, that John speaks of
in chapter 3, verses 3-7. What does he speak of? He says,
thou must be born again. And when Nicodemus comes back
to him and says, how can one be born again? The Lord says
this, he says, don't fret over that. The wind bloweth where
it listeth. So does the Spirit of God. It's
the Spirit of God that brings us to that very point. Don closes
with these thoughts in chapter 3. He says, Yet even the thoughts
of a regenerate man and woman, even among those who are true
believers, sometimes horribly, sinful questions and doubts arise
concerning the existence of God. These are things, he says, which
Satan harasses and seeks to destroy God's elect with. Foolish questions. Did the flood
really happen? You know, folks, so much of God's
Word is simply trusting what he says, whether we see proof
of it or not. I know, I enjoy seeing things in the world
that we can say, oh, look there. You've all heard me tell the
story at 35,000 feet over the Grand Canyon going to Dallas-Fort
Worth. You can see the flood, the results
of something. And you think to your mind, only
a flood could cause that. And you say, oh, isn't that cool?
Yeah, it is. But that's not where our faith
lies, is it? We never want to put our faith
in what we see before us in this world. We never want to take
our faith and base it on something that we have seen that looks
like it proves God's Word. I'm going to tell you right now,
if we do, we will fall short of the truth. And the truth is
this, we believe God. That's the truth. I don't understand
how Christ was made sin. It doesn't matter for me to understand. I believe that He was made sin.
There are men today who are scrambling to describe what it means, and
I really don't care to hear it, to be honest with you. I love
them. They're men that I love. They're
men that I carry very much. I respect them very much. I believe
they're men of God, but we should not be trying to prove the things
of God. We're just going to find ourselves
disappointed. There's only one thing we need
to know, and that is God says it in His Word. You call that
blind faith? I call it God's Word. Carefully
mark the hand of God's providence in everything. Prayerfully and
confidently acknowledge God in all ways. Walk humbly with God,
seeking to and bowing to His will in all things. Walk with God, we shall not doubt
His existence. A man by the name of John L.
Dagg wrote this. He said, let us remember our
God and walk before Him and with Him in the humility of faith. Listen to these words from Proverbs
3, 5 through 10. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all the ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from
evil. It shall be healthy to thy navel,
and morrow to thy bones." That's the life That's the life force in your
bones tomorrow. Honor the Lord with thy substance,
and with thy firstfruits and all thine increase, so shall
thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine. Amen.