I would have him turn to 1 John,
chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. We're going to look at just one
verse tonight, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat loveth him also. that is begotten of Him. This letter is written to believers.
Over in 1 John 2.1, the apostle writing this, dictating this
letter to a particular people, and he said, My little children,
these things write I unto you. That's the church. That's me
and you. Two thousand years later, this
letter is as vital and as vibrant as it was when John wrote these
words down. My little children, these things
write I unto you. These things. These things written
here in this general epistle. Now you'll see there in 1 John
5.1, it begins with this little word, whosoever. I've skipped
over this word for 50 years. I've just read it and went right
on. Just bounced right on past it, you know. My eyes were open and I said,
wait a minute. Whosoever. Whosoever. This appears over
a hundred times in the Word of God. Listen to some of these
examples of this word. In Exodus chapter 35 and 5. Take ye from among you an offering
unto the Lord. Whosoever. Whosoever is of a
willing heart. Let him bring it. Joshua 29. There in Joshua they have that
list of cities. That list of cities that was
designated that if a man inadvertently, on accident, killed another man,
and he had a near kin who was an avenger of his blood, he would
come and slay that man. And they set up these cities
of refuge, which is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. They
set them up at convenient places, and they went around through
the communities and through the hills and the dales, and they
cleaned the rocks out of the way, and they made straightways
where people could flee in a hurry, like we flee to our Lord Jesus
Christ in a time of trouble. And Joshua right in here, he
said, These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel,
and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever, there's
that word again. Do you fit into that word? Do
you fit into that word? Whosoever, whosoever killeth
any person unawares might flee thither and not die by the hand
of the avenger of blood. Ezra 7, 26, Whosoever will not
do the law of thy God, And the law of the king, let judgment
be speedily executed upon him. And our Lord speaking in Matthew
7 verse 24, he said, Whosoever, just whosoever, heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise
man which built his house upon the rock. Isn't that something?
Aren't we thankful for this word, whosoever? One thing amazing
about this little word is this. Age doesn't disqualify you from
falling into this category. He just says whosoever, whosoever. It don't matter your age. It
don't matter your age. You know, Moses was 80 years
old. We was here at a Bible conference
two or three years ago. And we were without a pastor. Charles at Wheelersburg had stepped
away from the pulpit. Health had forced him to step
away from the pulpit. And we was in the process of
looking for a pastor. And there was a man that said,
you know, and we had considered this man. His name had come up.
And I even talked to him. And he said, no, he said, my
age. He said, my age disqualifies
me. The Lord don't put men in the ministry when they're my
age, you know. And one of the men, it's Todd, I think, Todd
and Bruce Crabtree and John and myself and Frank, I think, three
or four of us standing here, five or six of us. And somebody
said, well, what about Moses? Moses is 80 years old. Anybody
here 80 years old? Maybe one, Charles said, yeah,
maybe one 80 years old, HB maybe, 80 years old. And the Lord appeared
to him in an amazing way, in an amazing way, in a burning
bush that never was consumed. Moses looked and seen that. I'm
going to turn aside and go up there and look at that thing.
And he walked into the very presence of God in that bush that wasn't
consumed. And the Lord told him, he said,
Moses, get your shoes off. You're in the presence of God.
This is holy ground. And I've got something for you
to do. I've got something for you to do. Go down there into
the court. of the most powerful monarch on the face of the earth.
My people are captive down there. He said, you go down there and
you tell them, God said, let my people go. Don't let age disqualify
you. Don't let age disqualify you.
Abraham was 70 years old down there in the land of Ur of the
Chaldeans, worshiping idols. He wasn't seeking God. He wasn't
looking for God. He wasn't trying to educate himself
about God. He was doing what everybody else
was doing. And the Lord appeared to him. He said, Abraham, leave
this place. Get thee out of thy father's
house and go to a place I'll show you. And don't you know
that Abraham followed God? He believed God. Don't let age
disqualify you. He says here, whosoever. Samuel was just a child. He was
12 years old when the Lord spoke to him. Spoke to him and told
him what to do. Don't let age disqualify you.
No matter what your age. I'll tell you something else
that don't disqualify you. Gender don't disqualify you. It don't
matter whether you're a man or a woman. This precious Word says,
Whosoever. Whosoever. When our Lord was
taken by His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph took our Lord
when He was eight days old, I believe. Took Him into the temple to do
that thing that was prescribed under the law. To offer that
sacrifice before the Lord for that precious child. Eight days
old. Our Lord was eight days old.
And all them hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people in that
place. It was a busy place. Sacrifices going on morning,
noon, and night. And his earthly parents took
him into that temple, into that place. And we're only introduced
to two people. You know who they are. Simeon
and a woman named Anna. And this woman was over 100 years
old. Only two people. Gender don't disqualify you on
this precious promise, in this precious Word. He says, whosoever.
Nationality don't disqualify you. It don't matter where you
come from. It don't matter where you come
from. I don't know a whole lot. I've always, I've always heard
a limelight. You know that story. There was
a famine in the land of Israel and a limelight had a wife. Her
name was Naomi. And he had two boys, Julian and
Maylon. And this famine was grievous.
People was going hungry. They were starving. Hadn't had
anything to eat for days. Who do you reckon sent that famine?
And I've always heard a whole lot. Oh, Lemelech, he's roughed
up pretty good. You mean this man took his family,
took his family from the promised land of Israel, where the proper
worship of God was, where all those things took place, and
he went over into a godless place called Moab? And I thought, what
would I do? What would I do if my family
was starving? My children was going home. What would I do?
Only by grace would I have stayed in Israel. And ol' Emelech, he
left, and he went over into a godless country, a place that had had
a long history of worshiping idols. Didn't know the true God,
didn't worship the true God. And yet over there was a young
maiden. Her name was Ruth. And she was going to be back
over here and fall in love with a man named Boaz, who was the
great-grandfather of King David, who was in the line of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Don't let nationality disqualify
you. This Word says whosoever, whosoever,
whosoever. Don't let education disqualify
you. Don't let education, whether you're brilliant or whether you're
dumb as a head of lettuce, don't let it disqualify you. Solomon
was the most brilliant man in the world. And the Lord used
that man. He used that man to write some
of the most precious promises in this Word of God. He used
him for years and years and years. A brilliant, a brilliant man.
And then we come to the New Testament and we follow our Lord across
that Sea of Galilee and goes over into a place called the
Gadarenes. And here's a man that met him
over there. Here's a man, he didn't even know his name. He
ran around naked and lived in the tombs, and if anybody came
out there to try to restrain him, he'd jump on them and beat
them up. He'd whip the constable and three or four deputies, you
know. He didn't owe nothing. He was a wild, crazy man. And
the Lord went over there, and in that whole community, He saved
one man at Demoniac, put him in his right mind, and He told
him to go back home to his family and tell them what great things
I've done for you. Don't let your education disqualify
you. And listen to this. Don't let your wealth or your
poverty disqualify you. This Word says whosoever. Whosoever. Don't let your wealth or your
poverty. That prodigal son. What about
him? Where did the Lord find him? Was he living up on Gobbler's
Knob up there in a big mansion? He was on the side of a hog pen. And what the hogs didn't eat,
he'd dive in there and get. And that's what he lived off
of. And the Lord appeared to him and done something, a work
of grace in his heart. And he said, I'm going to arise
and go to my father's house, and I'm going to beg for mercy.
And I'm going to tell him I'm not fit to be a son. Just make
me like one of your servants. Put me out there in the field
like a servant. And he went home to his father.
And his father seen him coming away off, and he ran out there
and threw his arms around him and kissed him and said, my son,
which is dead, he's alive. He's back. He's back. Don't let
wealth or poverty, don't let it discourage you. This word
says, do so ever. Whosoever. And it goes on. What's
following this word there in 1 John 5? Whosoever believeth.
Whosoever believeth. This is not just a mental assent
to some historical facts. Do you believe that there was
somebody named Jesus of Nazareth? Well, the calendar proves that. The calendar that we have is
B.C. before the Lord Jesus Christ. A.D. Anno Domino in the year
of our Lord. The calendar says that. This
is more than just an acceptance of some mental facts. This is
a work of grace that's done in the heart. This is something
that's a living union with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's believing
that He's God Almighty in human flesh. It's believing that God
gave Him a people before the foundation of the world, a particular
people, a people known to God, a people elected. Don't back
up from that word, a people chosen. by God and given to Christ. And
the Lord Jesus Christ came at the exact time, in the exact
fashion, in the exact manner, in the exact place. And He came
to save those people, given to Him by the Father. And all those
people were redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in time, through what the world calls foolishness of preaching,
the Holy Spirit of God crosses the path of those people. It
does a work of grace in their heart and they fall in love with
Christ. And they flee to the Savior. They believe. They believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look over here in Isaiah. You're
all familiar with this. Look over here in Isaiah chapter
6. This is what takes place. It's
something supernatural. It's not just a head work. It's
not just a memorizing some facts and some dates and figures and
places and moments in time. This is a work God does. It's
a work that's done in the heart. It's a regeneration. It's life.
Listen to this. Isaiah 6, verse 1. In the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet,
and with two he did fly. And one cried unto another, saying,
Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His
glory. And the post of the door moved that the voice of Him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And then said I,
here we are, here we are when we really see God, when we really
see what we are in the presence of pure holiness, pure perfection. Then said I, woe is me, woe is
me for I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean
lips. Anybody here with unclean lips?
Do you know something about this? I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. But mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. Then, listen to this. This is what I'm talking about.
Whosoever believeth. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal, having that Word of God, having
that sharp two-edged sword that pierces into the bone in the
marrow. having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he laid
it upon my mouth. And he said, Lo, this has touched
thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is
purged. You'll never be the same again.
You'll never be the same again. And I heard the voice of the
Lord say, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And then
said I, Here am I. Send me. Send me. Mental agreements
are some facts. This is a work of grace that
God does in the heart. Whosoever, don't let anything
disqualify you. Don't let age, don't let your
nationality, don't let your gender, don't let your education, don't
let your wealth or your poverty, don't let anything. Whosoever
believeth, lays hold of Christ, clings to Him and believes Him
to be God Almighty in human flesh, believes Him to be the only sacrifice
for sin that God offers. Whosoever believeth, here it
is, here's what we believe, that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is
the Christ. Think about it. Think about it.
You're telling me, Frank, you're telling me that this child that
was born in a barn over there in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago,
you're telling me God's Christ? That's what I'm saying. You're
telling me that this One who created the heavens and the earth,
there was a time when there was nothing but just the majesty
of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. And there was a time when God
created everything. Created everything. And He created
this earth. And He divided the seas and formed the dry land
like we read there earlier. He put the forest where they
would be. He put the ice caps where they would be. He tilted
this thing so that there would be seasons. And we're just the
exact distance from the sun so that it would warm us and we'd
not get so far away that we'd freeze. And this thing's tilted
on its axis and it takes one year to go around and one day
to rotate on its axis. We've got day and night for rest
and for vitality and strength. And you're telling me that that
God that did that, He humbled Himself and came down here in a body that was prepared for
Him in the womb of that virgin? You're telling me that that's
the Christ? That's exactly what we're saying. I believe that. I believe it
with all my heart. His Word says that's true. Whosoever,
whosoever, believing that Jesus is the Christ, you're saying
that that one, when He was born, Immediately thereafter, that
king wanted to do him in because he knew those prophecies. He
knew those things that were said about this Christ that would
come, the king of Israel. And he sought out to kill that
child. And they flew into a godless country down there in Egypt and
was down there to let the king die. You're telling me that's
the Christ? You're telling me that that little
boy was the Christ? You're telling me that he was raised in pure
poverty, didn't have nothing, didn't have two nickels to rub
together at one time? You're telling me that's the
Christ? Jesus of Nazareth is Christ. I believe that. I believe
with all my heart. I believe that He was hunted
and hounded when He went into the public ministry everywhere
He went. And all He did was say good things and all He did was
heal sick people and gave sight to the blind and raised the dead.
And them religious folks was trying to put Him out of business,
trying to kill Him, push Him off a cliff, do Him in. You're telling me that that's
the Christ? That's what I'm saying. He's the Christ. You're telling
me that He was tried by that unruly mob, and he was turned
over to the high priest, and they beat him and slapped him. The Christ of God, He who would
come and take away the sin of His people, He would have His
beard plucked out and spit in His face. And they pressed that
crown of thorns down on Him. He's the Christ. He's the one
that left the glory of heaven, left the bosom of the Father,
and He come down here to save sinners like me and you. Whosoever
believeth that, whosoever believeth that, that Jesus is the Christ,
it just keeps getting better. He's born of God. What? You mean
we can't educate people into this? Can't educate people into
this. Can't reform them into this? Can't reform them into
this. You can't give them welfare and raise their standard of living
and they'll become better people and more qualified for this?
Ain't going to happen. Whosoever believeth this, Whosoever
believeth that this is the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.
That man, that woman, rich, poor, old or young, male or female,
black or white, whoever, whosoever, he, she, is, is born of God. Is born of God. That's just fact. That's just fact. And the church
loves it. The little children love it.
They love it. You know that story over there?
We won't turn to it for time's sake, but you're all familiar
with that story over there in Ezekiel chapter 16. It's one
of my favorite, if we're supposed to say that, it's one of my favorite
portions of God's Word. Over there in Ezekiel chapter
16, there's a birth of a little girl. Brand new baby girl. And that for whatever reason,
that brand new baby girl, she's not swaddled. She's not washed
and bathed. She's not diapered. She's not
done any of that. They pull that little old girl
away from her mother. And they throw that little old
girl out there in an open field. And there she lay. She's still
covered in blood. Her cord hadn't been cut. She's
laying there. And she's dying. And there's
nobody that can help. And she surely can't help herself.
And the Lord said, I pass by. I pass by. And it was a time
of love. This little girl didn't love
the Lord. There was a time of love for Him, for one of His
chosen people. He said, I passed by in love,
and He said, I spread my skirt over you. And I said to you when
you was in blood, when you was laying there polluted in your
blood, I said to you, what did He say? Live! Live! Whosoever believes that Jesus
is the Christ, is the Lord God. The Lord has found us polluted
in our awfulness and ugliness and our sin and iniquity. And
we love it. And He crossed our path. And
He found us in that condition. And He spread His Spirit over
us. And He said, Live. Live. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Is born of God. And every one that loveth Him
that begat Everyone that loves Him that begat. Do we love the Lord? Do we love
Him like we should? We do not. Do we love Him like
we want to? We do not. I'll just be honest
with you. I used to have a... A long time
I didn't buy these glasses that I need. And what I do is buy
a large print Bible. It had words that big. And I'd
go back there in the room in the evening and I'd sit down
and I was going to read God's Word. And this Bible, of course,
it had them great big words in it. It weighed 7 or 8 pounds.
It was a buster. And I'd sit there, you know,
and pretty soon I'd doze off. And that Bible would just fall
down on my legs, you know. And I'd lay there for 20 or 30
minutes of sleep. And you know what? I'd wake up
with that precious word laying there in my lap, and my legs
would be asleep from the weight of that Bible, and I'd be so
ashamed. I'd be so ashamed. The Lord asked Peter one day,
he said, Peter, do you love me? He said, yeah, Lord, I love you.
He said, feed my sheep. He asked him again, and I'd ask
you tonight, and I'd ask myself, Peter, do you love me? Yeah,
Lord, I love you. I'll feed my lambs. And he asked him the third time.
And it grieved Peter that the Lord would ask him the third
time. Peter said, Yeah, Lord. You know all things. That's who
we're dealing with here. If you wake up sometime during
the night, if you wake up and everything's quiet, ask yourself. You're not saying it to anybody
else. You're saying it to Him who knows everything. He knows
your heart. Lord, You know. You know all
things. I don't love You like I should.
I don't love You like I want to or like I ought to. Lord,
You know. In here, I love You. I love you
for what you've done, for your mercy and your grace. You're
going to the cross in my room instead. You're crossing my path
with the gospel, giving me a desire to follow after the Lord Jesus
Christ and to love this book, to love those that preach the
gospel, that gives God all the glory and salvation. Lord, you
know I love you. You know I love you. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ, he's born of God. And whosoever
loveth him, it be God. Loveth him that's begotten. Do we love one another? We've got
four children. The Lord blessed us with four
children. And there is opposite in their personalities, in their
likes and their dislikes, and in their endeavors, and in their
desires and what it is they want to achieve and what it is they
want their children to achieve and all these things. Where they
like to go and all these things. All contrary to one another's
personality. But they have this one thing
in common. They have this one thing in common. They're brothers
and sisters. And they may fuss among themselves. And they may
find fault with what one another do. But don't you dare step in
and find fault with what they did. Don't you dare pick at one
of them. They'll be on you like a duck
on a June bud. They take up for one another. Why is that? Because
they're family. And because they love one another.
I had an older sister. The Lord's removed her and taken
her to be with Himself. Fifteen years ago, Patty was
The oldest of the family. Patty was brilliant. She was
just an outstanding, top of the class student. She was hard working. Everything I wasn't. And me and
her was the opposite as night and day. I grieved her. I grieved
her her whole life. I didn't do anything that she
thought was what I should be doing. About anything. But she got real sick. And the
thing that was evident those last weeks and months of her
life, she loved me. She loved her little brother.
And I loved her. And I miss her. And I have a
living sister in Texas. We see each other just once occasionally. We love one another. We love
one another. These are natural ties. This
is blood-bought ties. believeth that Jesus is Christ.
He's born of God. She's born of God. This is something
supernatural that's taking place. He's had to raise us from the
dead and give us life. And we love Him. We follow Him. We cling to Him and trust Him
and rely on Him. And we love those that are forgotten.
We love His children. We better. We better. If an ill
spirit and a hatred toward one who the Lord Jesus Christ has
died for, if that is in our heart, we've got big trouble. We've
got big trouble. I tell you what, whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whosoever loveth
Him. Do we love Him? Why do we love
Him? Because He gave us life. He died for us, ransomed our
wickedness, and put His robe of righteousness on us, and we
stand before the Father, holy and unblameable in the sight
of God Almighty because of that man. We love Him, and we love those for whom He died. There used to be a commercial.
I don't know how appropriate this is, but I'm going to say
it. There used to be a commercial when I was a kid, and there was
a time when I smoked a pipe. And I smoked that Prince Albert.
pipe tobacco. And there was a commercial when
I was a kid. You young people, oh, some of us, Gary will remember
this, Carla and Bob, Cecil and Jim, some of us, Charles back
there. There was a commercial about
Prince Albert tobacco. The proof is in the puffin'.
In the puffin', in the puffin'. The PA has the flavor. The flavor,
the flavor. The proof is in the puffin'.
The PA has the flavor. Oh, it's the most favored in
the whole USA. the proof of whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ and that he is born of God, he loves
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we love one another. The
proof is in the puffin. Enough said.