I heard a message some time back
from a man that I had quite a bit of respect for at first, from
several messages that I had listened to him on. He had preached the
truth, and then for some reason one day he just left the truth
and went in the direction of where his heart was, and that
was all in the works of men. He brought out points on how The works of men bring merit
to our salvation. Folks, your works bring absolutely
nothing to your salvation. Absolutely nothing. That's why
we need to hear the gospel so often, isn't it? We know that what we've done
over this last week has been, if glorifying to anything, glorifying
to our Savior and Him alone. If I've done anything good, and
I began today's services by bringing out a dear brother and how much
I appreciated him, I have no doubt I have no doubt that he
gives all the glory to the Lord Jesus. I've heard him say, thank you,
Lord, for what you've given me, the talent to do what he does. You've heard me mention before
on my career as a truck driver, the Lord is the one who gave
me that career. He's the one that gave me that
talent to drive such a big rig around city of small cars and
not kill anybody. It's all in the Lord's hands.
We know that, don't we? It never comes down to our profession
of faith is this. It's all in the sovereign hands
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. That's our profession. He's our King. He's my Lord. He rules everything about me
and everything about the world that I walk in. Now, I would
not agree with that man who spoke on the points of the merits of
men, as you just now heard me say. But works do accompany us,
don't they? It's very hard, a very difficult
line. for a man to stand before the
people of God and talk about works. We brought this out in Friday
night's Bible study, the works of men. Even our belief, our
faith is a work, it's my faith. Recognizing that that faith,
just like I recognized a moment ago, the talent that God gave
me. Just like all of God's people, we recognize the talent that
God gives us is from God. Well, our faith is the same thing,
but it's still a work, isn't it? I would disagree that our works
coming to Christ is a merit of our own. Our coming to Christ
is the result of Christ coming to us first. Period. Our Lord says, there are none
that seeketh after me. I know that for a fact that John
Reeves was not seeking the Lord until the Lord came and sought
me out and brought me here to hear his truth. He sought me
out through the preaching of His Word, and that's the way
He does all of His people. I'd like to ask you this morning
if you would turn over to 1 John chapter 4. How often we speak of God's love
for His people, this everlasting love, a love that was placed
On a chosen people, before the world was, that's what we read
over in Jeremiah 31, the Lord says, I have loved you with an
everlasting love, therefore, in other words, because of that
everlasting love, because God has loved you with
an everlasting love, therefore in loving kindness, he comes
to us and draws us unto him. Coming to Christ, the result
of that love he has for you and I. Would you look with me at
verse 10 of 1st John chapter 4 and we're gonna we're gonna kind
of jump around in a little bit about through some different in your Bible so you can turn
back to it kind of quickly. 1 John chapter 4, reading in
verse 10, herein is love, not that we love God, but that He
loved us and sent His Son to be. That word to be does not
belong there. Those two words do not belong
in, notice they're in italics. Those who transferred, who...
what's that word? I'm missing the word. Those who...
Translated. Thank you. Those who translated
over into the English language thought it might help us to understand
it a little better. So they put those two words to
be there, to be. I want you to read this without
that. Go back to the beginning again,
verse 10. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us, Notice the difference in that?
He didn't send his son to be, he sent his son THE. That means
the only one. He is it. He is the propitiation,
the payment. He is the expatiation. In other words, he expatiates for our sins. substitutes himself. He takes care of the payment.
He's handled it all. It is finished. But that he loved
us first, that he loved us and sent his son the propitiation
for our sins. Now with that in mind, I ask
you this question. Am I worthy? Am I worthy of heaven? Have you ever asked yourself
that question? Pretty tough to answer when we're
looking in the mirror at what we are, isn't it? Am I worthy of heaven? Here's some good news for you
if you've been struggling with that question. Because I know,
as myself, many others do. Lord, how can I be worthy of heaven
when I do this? Or when I do that? Or when I
act like this? Or when I look at a brother or
a sister and do this or think of them as this? or think of
them as that? Have you ever looked at somebody
and said, I would never do that? What in the world? How could
they ever do something like that? We kind of divided ourselves
in this country right now with that very same thoughts, isn't
it not? Don't we look at the opposite side of politics and
see ourselves, how can those people think that way? Here's the answer, folks. Who maketh us to differ? When you look at scriptures and
you see David, the king, and you hear the story of how he
killed his best friend, he sent him to the front that he would
die! He might as well have just stepped
up and stuffed a knife in him himself. No, instead he said,
send him to the front. Make sure he goes right up to
the front and die. We look at David and we think
to ourselves, how could, I would never do that. Oh yes, you would. John Reeves knows that my heart
is desperately wicked. Who can know it? Do you? Do you know that about
you? I ask you this. Am I worthy? I ask myself this. Am I worthy
of heaven? Well, here's the good news. Scripture
says yes. good news to a sinner, to one
who's been convicted of their sin of what they are before God. You mean there are some who are
worthy of heaven? Absolutely there is. Despite
us, despite what we see in ourselves, there are some who are worthy
of heaven. Look with me if you would down
in verse 17. 1 John chapter 4 verse 17, Herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment, because as He is. Let me ask you something. Is there anything about Christ
that's not perfect? No. Is there anything about Christ
that would not deserve for Him to be in heaven with His Father
throughout eternity? No. Go on in reading then. As He is, so are we in this world. Wow! It's hard to believe. It's hard
to understand. It's hard to phantom that, knowing
what we are in this flesh. But God's Word tells us right
here. He's talking to us! He's talking
to those that we read about. Folks, I'm telling you, you're
missing out on such a great time right now in our Bible studies.
We're talking about faith. We're talking about the great
cloud of witnesses that are listed in Hebrews chapter 11. The only
thing great about them is that they believe God. Do you believe His word? He says,
as He is right now, so are we in this world. Oh, it doesn't
get any better than that for a sinner. I ask you this question,
is Christ worthy of heaven? As He is, so are we in this world. God the Father looks upon us
as we are as perfect as His Son. Is that not getting better to
hear? Does that not help you get through the week that we've
been through with walking around in this flesh, in this mind,
thinking the things that we think, doing the things we've done?
We've come out of the world. We've put the world behind us
for a moment. We need to hear about our Savior. Does that not
brush your heart that we are as He is right now in this world? Oh, I got out of bed this morning
and I needed to hear that. Hebrews 10 verse 14, we read
these words. For by one offering. Now I want to stop with that
for just a moment because folks, that's all it took. It didn't
take His offering and something that you have done Many would
like you to believe that in this world, but it didn't take anything
that you have done at all to help Him. He's perfect. He did
it all. He accomplished what He had purposed
to do. It says next, He had perfected. That was His purpose. He had
a purpose to send His Son to this world to be our propitiation
as we read a moment ago. He loved us. and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. He hath perfected forever. them
that are sanctified. When the covenant between the
great three and one was made, before a star twinkled in the
sky, God the Father looked upon that, which God the Son would
do, and He said, it'll be done. Folks, what God says will come
to pass. We'll come to pass, or He's not
God, and you and I are wasting our time. We might as well be
out doing whatever it was we did before the Lord called us. But He is God. He's my God. Is He yours? Well,
if He's your God, then He says to you, as I am, not me, John Rhys, but
Him, as I am, So are you in this world. In Jeremiah 24, 7, the Lord tells
us this. He says, I will give them a heart
to know me, that I am the Lord. And they shall be my people. And I will be their God. Luke chapter 1, we read these
words starting in verse 68, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for
He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up
an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.
And He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets which have
been sent, so the world began that we should be saved from
our enemies. and from the hand of all that
hate us. To perform the mercy promised
to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which
he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that
we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve
him without fear. That's talking about the fear
and the consequences of our sins. There's a lot of people who fear
the consequences of their sin, don't they? That's what religion is all about,
isn't it? Isn't that what everybody goes
to their churches or their imaginary gods for, is to relieve them
of the guilt of their sin? Our Lord goes on in verse 73
of Luke 1, the oath which we swear to our father Abraham that
he would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand
of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and
righteousness before him all the days of our life. Look at
verse 18 of our text. There is no fear in love. But perfect love casteth out
fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love." If you're fearing the consequences of your sin, then you've not been perfected
yet. We fear a reverential fear, a fear of His Majesty. He's more than anything you and
I can picture with this mind and this eye. He's majestic. He's holy. We can't even comprehend
how holy our God is. We look upon Him with a reverential
fear as a majestic person, as the sovereign Lord of all things,
but we don't fear We don't fear His wrath anymore. Why? Because Christ Jesus took the
wrath of God the Father upon Himself for all of His people. That's what the cross is all
about. We come to you, the men of God
who are sent into the world to preach, we come to you with the
message of this Christ. Well, who is the Christ? He's
Jesus, the Son of God. He's the third person in the
Trinity, of one mind, of one purpose. I and my Father are one. Christ, we come to you with the
message of who He is and what He has done. Christ and Him crucified,
as Paul puts it. What has He done? He came in the person of Jesus Christ
in the flesh to lay down a life, to suffer the consequences, not
for any sin that He had done, because He knew no sin. Is that
correct? Isn't that what Scriptures teach us? That He was made sin. Well, what sin was He made? He
was made our sin. How do you explain that? I can't!
But I know it's so. The message of Christ and Him
crucified is the love of God that we just read about there
in 1 John chapter 4. Love. Herein is love, not that
we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son. That's Christ and Him crucified
on that cross, that you and I would be made perfect in Him. And when He was raised from the
grave, raised from death, He sat down at the right hand of
God, all power belongs unto Him. Can we not quote the same thing
that Paul quotes over there in Romans chapter 8? What does he
say there? You know these words. I say them
all the time. Romans 8 verse 31. What shall
we say then to these things? This is you and I speaking. This
is Paul speaking. This is the people of God. We
can say this. We can say this with confidence.
Why? Because our sins were put away. We have no fear of that death
anymore, the second death in hell. Christ died our death for
us. What shall we say to these things
if God be for us? If Christ was crucified for me,
what have I got to say about anything else? If God gave His
only begotten Son for me, how shall He not give me everything
else? We can say that, can't we? Who shall lay anything, it says
in verse 33, to the charge of God's elect? Where is your accuser? He can't accuse you! Christ took
your accusations upon Himself. Is Christ worthy of heaven? Is
the Son of God worthy of heaven? As He is, so are we in this world. The Lord of glory pleased God
the Father in all that He did. Isn't that what it says over
in Luke 3, verse 22? And the Holy Ghost ascended into
a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and the voice came from
heaven and said, Thou art my beloved Son, and Thee am I well
pleased. Is Christ worthy of heaven? As he is, so
are we in this world. Was not he the one who knew no
sin? Was he not made to be sin? Has
he not the Lord of glory put away the sins of his people?
When he said it is finished, was it not finished? Has He not
taken those sins and left them in the grave that He went into,
that deep burial grave that He went into of darkness for three
days, not to ever be seen again as far as the east is from the
west? Does not God the Father look upon us as though we have
never sinned now? What does He see? He sees the
righteousness of God and His Son in us. Our Lord Jesus was raised for
our justification and we are now seen just as though we had
never sinned. Romans 4 verse 25, who was delivered,
speaking of the Lord Jesus, for our offenses and was raised again
for our justification. Folks, this is good news to one
who is a sinner. We see this sin in our flesh,
but our spirit is free from it, free from the bondage of it,
free from the wrath of God for it. He looks upon us as He would
His own Son. When the angel of death comes
to each and every one of us, as He will, He will pass by the
people of God, for the blood of Christ is on the door of each
of our hearts. Look over at Revelation. Mark
your spot there in 1 John. We're going to come back to it.
Turn to the right, if you would, over to Revelation 1. Just a couple pages in my Bible. Look at verse 3, Blessed is he
that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. John, the writer of this book,
the one who God inspired to write it, he says, To the seven churches
which are in Asia, grace be unto you, and peace from him which
is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven
spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of kings of the earth, unto him that loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him, to Christ,
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Folks, I ask
you, as he is, so are we in this world. Worthy is the lamb is the cry
from heaven. And in Christ the Lord, I too
am worthy. And you as well, if Christ is
in you. There is no worthiness of this
flesh. There is nothing I can do or
think that would make me worthy of this. My worthiness is in
Christ and Christ alone. And because my worthiness is
in Him, nothing I can do can take that away, take that worthiness
away. Once again, I must declare it
to you We are not what some call antinomian,
which means lawless, that we don't care about the law of God.
We do. But we know that that law is
fulfilled perfectly in our Savior, not in us. Not in this flesh. We have no confidence in this
flesh that we walk in. Our only confidence is in what
He has done. In Christ, if I'm in Him, I am
worthy as He is. As He is, so are we in this world. Now go back to 1 John, if you
would, our text there, and look with me, if you would, at verses
1-4 of 1 John 4. 1 John 4, verse 1, Beloved, believe
not every spirit. There's a whole lot of people
out there talking about a Jesus. One who's waiting for you to
do something. This is not the Jesus of Scripture. The Jesus of Scripture says,
I shall and it will. He says, I have purposed it,
shall it not come to pass? Believe not every spirit, it
says, but try the spirits. Are the spirits they're talking
about, do they match the ones in Scriptures here? Brother Michael,
forgive me for using you as an example again, but he told me
why he left that religion he went to before. Because what
he was reading in this book did not match what they were saying!
They're talking about a different Jesus! I have folks who hate me for
doing this, for pointing out this other Christ. I'm just telling
you what the Lord's Word says here. Believe not every spirit, it
says, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. Know ye the Spirit
of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that
Spirit of the Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should
come, and even now already is in the world. Ye are of God,
little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that
is in you." That's it, right there. There it is! He that's in you! Than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore
speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are
of God, he that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know ye the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Hold your spot for just a moment
there at verse 6. And we're going to turn to the
left, if you would, back to chapter 2. It's only one page over. And
look at one verse with me, a couple of verses over there with me,
starting at verse 15. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the
world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever. Little children, it is the last
time. And as ye have heard, the Antichrist
shall come even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know
that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us, but they have turned,
went out, that they might be made manifest, that they are
not all of us. But ye have an unction, an anointing
from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written
unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know
it, and that no lie is of the truth." Now go back to where
we held our finger there, and pick up again. Beloved, let us
love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth
is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love." Once again, hold your place here
in John and turn over to Matthew chapter 22. We won't be but more
than another minute or two. Over in Matthew chapter 22, I
want to look at just four verses. Matthew chapter 22, beginning at verse 36. Master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Jesus said unto them, verse 37.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the
great commandment. And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. Go back to our text one more
time. And look at 8 and 9 together. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. In this was manifest the love
of God towards us, because that God sent His only begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through Him. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Son of the Living God? Our Lord says in Matthew 16,
17, And Jesus answered and said unto them, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. So it is not from
this flesh that you believe, but from God that you believe. That's what it says over in John
10, verse 26, that you believe not because you are not My sheep.
Speaking to some unbelieving Jews. Turn to one more set of
Scriptures if you would of John chapter 17. John chapter 17. Are you worthy of heaven? Well, I can tell you this, according
to God's Word, if you're in Christ, if Christ is in you, our Lord
says these words over in 1 John 4, 17, He says, Herein is love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as He is, so are we in this world. Look at John chapter
17. beginning at verse 13. Our Lord
says in His priestly prayer, and this is the Lord's prayer,
this is the Lord praying to the Father on the behalf of all of
those that the Father hath given Him, He says, And now come I
to thee, and these things I speak in the world, to verse 13, John
17, verse 13, these things I speak in the world that they might
have My joy fulfilled in themselves. Well, there's nothing joyful
about John Reeves in the flesh. If Christ dwells in me, there
is. We sing that song, Standing on the Promises. You know how
that goes? Standing on the promises of God. Amen. My Savior. There is joy. Yes, we are that publican over
in the side of the church building crying out, Lord, have mercy
on me. Yes. But here's the deal. He has mercy on us. He's promised
us everlasting life, folks. As he is, we are right now in
this world. Isn't that wonderful? Yes, I'm that man crying out,
Lord have mercy on me. I'm full of sin. I need You every
moment. But He is merciful. And He speaks
to us and He says, I will be merciful to you. In fact, you
are exactly how I am right now. Why? Because He, by one offering,
as it says over... No, you don't need to turn there. We know these words. It's over
in Hebrews chapter 10. By one offering, by the one offering
that He did on the cross, we have been perfected forever. Take this home, John. Grab a hold of this, John. This is what I come to church
for, to hear about what He's done for me. I don't hear that
in the world. Oh, thank You, Lord, that there's
a place for us to go to hear His truth. Thank You, Lord, that
You have men who've gone out into the world where You've sent
them to preach the truth of who You are. I have given them thy word, he
says in verse 14, and the world hath hated them because they
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. As he is, we are right now in
this world. Are you worthy of heaven? If
in Christ, if Christ is in you, yes, you are worthy of heaven. Revelation chapter 5, verse 11,
we read these words, and I beheld, and I heard the voice of many
angels round about the throne, and the beast, and the elders,
and the numbers of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of
thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that
was slain. Are you worthy? If we're in Christ,
we are as He is right now in this world. Folks, our Lord and
Savior laid down His life. He shed His own blood. He gave
His own body. Have you ever thought about that? The very One who created you
and put you in the womb of your mother. Let the very same ones
who He put in their mother's wombs kill Him. Crucify Him. Beat Him. Minuscule picture is
what that is of what you and I deserve as sinners before a
holy God. God has loved His people. Could He let anything happen
to them? I've used this example before. You've got a small child
and you live in your house, you're out in your front yard and the
small child goes to run out into the busy street below. Are you
just going to, well, if it's your will to go do it, go do
it. No, you're going to run down there with everything you've
got. Is that not true? You're going to grab that child
and keep them from the harm. Well, what do you think the love
of God is? Could it be anything left? He sent His only begotten
Son for it. How shall He not give us everything
else? He took the beatings on His flesh. How shall He not give us everything
else? He shed every drop of blood for
you and I. How shall He not give us everything
else?