this morning and that Cody Cody and Winna Gruber are here
from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and what a blessing they've been
to this church and friend to us over the many years. Cody
is going to be bringing them the next message. We were We were in the previous
hour looking at Isaiah chapter 27. If you'd like to turn with
me there, I just want to read a couple of more verses to prepare
our hearts for this worship. In verse 2 in Isaiah chapter
27, in that day, sing ye unto her a vineyard of red wine. He's talking about the church.
It's the choicest, the choicest wine. I, the Lord, do keep it. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me. Who would set the briars and
thorns against me in battle? I would go through them. I would
burn them together. Oh, let her take hold of my strength. Let her take hold of my strength. In my weakness, I'm strong. Why? For we take hold of His
strength. Let's stand together, Brother
Tom's going to come and lead us in the hymn on the back of your
bulletin. you. Come, let us sing the song of
songs, The glory which to Christ belongs. The host of heaven began
the strain, Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain. slain to redeem us by His blood,
and makes us kings and priests to God, to cleanse from every
sinful stain. Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain. Among a thousand hearts and songs,
His sacred name fills all our tongues. All power in heaven
and earth proclaim, Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain. Long as I live and when I die,
this song of song shall be my cry. And while in heaven with
him I reign, worthy the Lamb, for he was slain. Please be seated. Good morning. Our scripture reading
this morning is found in John chapter 6, the gospel of John
chapter 6, commencing in verse 25. John 6, commencing and beginning
in verse 25. And when they have found him
on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, When
cometh thou hither, Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, you seek me not because ye saw the miracles,
but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. So they
were seeking him for temporary benefits, like many people are. Labor not for the meat which
perish, But for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him have God the
Father sealed. Then they say unto him, what
shall we do? That we might work the works
of God. This is the normal, natural question
that every man has. And that's how religion is very
popular, and it's very, throughout the whole world, it's very accepted
by man, because man is born religious. Man is born making idols. So they want to know what are
the works of God. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God. that you believe on him whom
he has sent. So the Lord Jesus tell them the
work is to believe, believe in him. They said unto him, what
sign showest thou then that we may see and believe in thee?
What doest thou work? They want evidence. They want
to be proved. They want to be convinced. We
know that the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ, there's
no convincing, there's no evidence. It is by grace that he enlightens
us. Our fathers did eat manna in
the desert. As it is written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not the bread from heaven,
but my father gave you the true bread from heaven. for the bread
of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life into
the world." So that bread that came down and they ate in the
manna, that was a picture. Of course, pictures in the Old
Testament are pointing to Christ, but pictures are limited. Pictures
are not Christ himself. Christ is always more glorious,
infinite more glorious than any picture. But the picture was
of him, and he says that this bread that comes from heaven,
this Christ, gives us life into the world. Of course, whenever
you see the word world, he's talking to Jewish people, he's
letting them know. Number one, he's talking to Jewish, and so
the Gentiles know that they include it. The world means not just
the Jewish people, but everyone, every race. Then said they unto
him, Lord, evermore give us that bread. They wanted that bread.
They thought it was that type of bread, physical bread. Then
said unto him, Lord, evermore give us that bread. And Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. So the Lord Jesus Christ is our
bread and we no longer hunger and no longer thirst. He gives
us everlasting life. But unto you, but I said unto
you that ye also have seen me and believeth not. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and to him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. He's saying all the believers
are going to come to him. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me.
And otherwise, He came to work out our righteousness. And that's
what the bread is, righteousness. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that all which hath given me I shall lose
nothing, but should raise up again in the last day. This is
the will of God. This is what gets done, that
He saves everyone He means to save. And He did it. And He accomplished
this. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life. This is everlasting life,
salvation. And I will raise him up at the
last day. The Jews then murmured at him,
because he said, I am the bread that which came down from heaven.
And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? whose father
and mother we know, how is it that he says, I came down from
heaven? Otherwise, we know who this guy
is. We know who he is. We've seen
him for a long time. We know him. He didn't come down
like an angel up here. That's what they were thinking.
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among
yourselves, no man can come to me except the Father, which hath
sent me, draw him. and I will raise him up on the
last day. Bad news for the religious, because
they don't like to hear it, that they're not in control. This
is great news for the lost sheep, who know that they can't do nothing,
that they are full of sin and they can't do nothing for themselves.
So this is great news, it's music to the ears of the believers.
For it is written in the prophets that they shall all be thought
of God. Every man therefore that have
heard and have learned of the Father cometh unto me. So every
believer is taught of the Father, and that's how we come to the
Lord Jesus Christ, implying that everyone else is not taught of
God. They have their own imagination. They got their own imagination.
Not that any man have seen the Father, save he which is of God
has seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me has everlasting life. And I am that bread of
life. He himself, the Lord Jesus, is
our bread. He's our life. Your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead. So this manna was
a temporary temporary picture, no? It ended, they died, they
didn't get eternal life from it, but there's a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever, and the bread that I give will give is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. His flesh,
his flesh did obey all the commandments of God, did obey the law. It
is our righteousness and that is the flesh that was crucified
and his blood was shed for us, for our sins. For the Jews therefore
strove among themselves saying, how can this man give us his
flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye eat of the flesh of the Son
of Man, and drink of his blood, ye have no life in you. Whosoever eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, have eternal life, and I will raise them up
at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. Isn't this wonderful? Isn't
this comforting? That he dwelleth in us and we
dwell in him at the same time. As the living Father hath sent
me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me, by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. This is
that bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did
eat manna and they are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever." These things he said in the synagogue and
he taught in Camp Union. Let's go to the Father in prayer.
Father God, we come before you in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, by his merits alone, and by his shed blood alone,
we thank you, Father, first of all, for the Lord Jesus Christ,
for who he is and for everything he has done for us, Father. We
thank you for him, we thank you for the great privilege of us
having a place where we could hear the gospel and have fellowship
with the brothers. Father, we now pray for your
Holy Spirit that I might be with Cody, Father, help him preach
Christ. Christ clearly, Lord, we are
in great need of your Holy Spirit to show us Christ, to show us
more of his glory, Father. We need this so much. We also
pray for all the other churches that are preaching the gospel,
Father. We pray that your Holy Spirit might be there enlightening
men both sheep and lost sheep, bringing
them to Christ. Because we need to be brought
to Christ, Father. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand together once
again. Hymn number 352. 352 from the hardback hymn, now
let's all stand. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. There our waters roll, while
the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till
the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven guide, O
receive my soul at last. ? Other refuge have I none ?
Hangs my helpless soul on thee ? Leave, O leave me not alone
? Still support and comfort me ? All my trust on thee is dead
All my help from Thee I bring, Cover my defenseless head With
the shadow of Thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy, I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. ? Plenteous grace with thee is
found ? ? Grace to cover all my sin ? ? Let the healing streams
abound ? ? Make and keep me pure within ? ? Thou of life the fountain
art ? Please be seated. Thanks. It's a privilege for me to be
with you here again this morning. And as I look out, there's some
new faces and then some that have been here for the 19 years
when the building was being erected. We give thanks to God always
for you Brevin, beloved of the Lord. God is faithful and that
which he has begun, he will perfect to the day of Jesus Christ. Uh,
we are glad to be here. I'm glad to have Wynna with me.
It's been a couple of times that I've been here and haven't brought
Wynna. You probably didn't know that she was around. Last time
I was here, we had a, we have a granddaughter now. And so she
was there with my daughter, and she's here with me now. We're
going to be here in the States for another two weeks. We have
been here for two weeks, and we're going around visiting some
churches, and it's just a real good time to get to spend some
time with the brethren here in the States. We pray for you,
and I know you pray for us. Brother Elio Chai is preaching
for me in Medi this morning, and I'm having several of the
pastors from the different villages come in and fill the pulpit.
My dad is taking over the services, preaching Sunday night and Wednesday
night. And the Lord is blessing His
Word, calling out His people. As he is here, he is all over
the world, blessing the preaching of his gospel. His word, he said,
will not return to him void, but shall accomplish that for
which he sends it. And he's not just batting the
wind. He is calling out his people.
He is comforting his people. And where the gospel is not believed,
it is a saver of death, under death, he's sovereign. He will do what he wills. He'll
have mercy on whom he'll have mercy. But we're thankful for
those who are just like you, who didn't love God at one time,
and now by the grace of God, you love him. What can we say? Bless God. Bless
God. You know, when a believer, I'm
going to, if you will, open your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians.
You know, he asked me where I've been preaching,
and I've been going through several verses in the first chapter of
Corinthians. We're in 1 Corinthians chapter
3 in Merida. And I've been told by some that
are here that they watch those broadcast after they're put up
online. But it's good to hear the same
thing over and over again. You have read this chapter many
times, perhaps, and I've read this chapter, and yet the Lord
always teaches us something new. Not that the gospel is new. The
gospel is eternal. from before the foundation is
the word of God. Not that the gospel is new, but
we're taught something new. We're affirmed. This is how we
grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is how we're cemented, or if you will, founded upon the foundation
or built upon the foundation, which is Christ. This is how
we are rooted in Christ by hearing the same thing. The Apostle Paul
said, to me, to write the same things to you, that's not a grievous
thing and for you it's sure. When you want to build a building
and you're trying to put up a supporting wall and you want that to stay
where it's at, you put a nail in it. And if you want it to
be more sure, you put two nails in it. And sometimes you come
by and you see 15 nails in it, that must be where he wants it
to be. That must be where that carpenter
wants that to be. He put 15 nails in it. Well,
we're to be in Christ. Stay in Christ. Stay firm on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be moved about. Don't be
moved about. Stay firm on the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be moved. Now, a believer,
when he, the Lord works this work of grace in his heart, he's
given a new nature. We heard about this in the first
hour. The world doesn't understand
you, brethren. Sometimes we don't even understand ourselves. But
at the same time that we say, in the Lord I have righteousness,
in the Lord I am righteous, can't be any more holy. Is that good
English? I cannot be any more holy. And at the same time say,
woe is me, I'm the chief of sinners. the same time. A believer has
a holy nature. We're created in Christ Jesus. We are, we have been given that
holy nature, but we're still walking in the, we're still in
the flesh. And we still have these things that we must be
aware of. We must be aware and recognize
that it's flesh. Walk not in the flesh, but we
must recognize where it is. And the apostle Paul writing
to the church of Corinth, he calls them saints. You see that
in verse three, excuse me, verse two. Oh, he says under the church
of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints, which are in every place call
upon, excuse me, with all that in every place call upon the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours.
So he's talking to us. He's talking to us. And the Apostle
Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes this to the church
at Corinth, and it's applicable wherever God has a church. Wherever
the Lord Jesus Christ raises up a church, they're sinners. They're sinners. I don't want to go to church
where all they have is a bunch of people that pretend that they're
not sinners, holier than thou. That's not my experience. That's
not what the Word of God says. I want to honor God. I want to
honor my Lord Jesus Christ and not be a hindrance and not be
a stumbling block and present my body a living sacrifice, which
is my reasonable service. But brethren, I confess, woe
is me. I'm miserable. Who shall deliver
me of this body of death? One day. One day. It's the graduation day. It's
the day death doesn't have esteem. We're going to wait, we're going
to run this race patiently, but one of these days we're going
to be raised with a body just like His. What a hope. What an
expectation of that glorious day. Well, let me get to the
point. The Apostle Paul says here, he
said, I hear, He said in verse 11, it hath been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are at house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you, which is divisions. Look
with me in chapter three of chapter one of Corinth. He said, for
ye are carnal, for as there is among you envy, strife, and divisions. What is that? But the fruits
of the flesh, the evidence, manifest are the fruits of the flesh or
the workings of the flesh. And these three are mentioned
specifically. So these divisions are manifestations
of our carnality. And here's what he says. There
are some, I say that some of that every one of you say, I'm
of Paul, I'm of Apollos or I'm of Cephas. And the other says,
well, I'm of Christ. One saying, well, I like to hear
Paul. I believe because I heard Paul
preach. Or the other one says, I grow
in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ because
I hear the gospel from Apollos. He's a great orator. And I grow
in the grace and knowledge of the Lord because I hear Paulus.
Others say, well, I like the simplicity of Cephas, Peter. He's a fisherman. And I like
to hear Peter. And others say, well, you know,
I'm not going to hear any preacher. I'm just going to go sit in my
house and read the Bible. There's divisions. Divisions
among you. There's divisions. And the Apostle
Paul says this, and I'm going to paraphrase and move faster.
I know you've gone through the first chapter. I told your pastor,
I said, I want to go over the same thing. He said, good, you
better. Better not hear anything different.
But the Apostle is saying this, he said, when you say that, is
Christ divided? In other words, did I preach
in my own name? When you heard the gospel that
I preached, did I promote myself? False preachers promote themselves.
Men who are not sent of God and drawing crowds after their own
self, they preach themselves. And you hear people bragging
on them and talking about them as if they're some big Well,
you might as well be watching a big politician. I don't know
if I... But you see them even on their
faces plastered on billboards. They have their name, their big
campaigns and all this stuff. And if they even have the name
Jesus, by which, by the way, they preach another Jesus. But
if they even have that name, it's just like little letters
as an afterthought. But he said, Did I preach in
my name? I didn't come baptizing in my name as if to draw men
after myself. Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's testimony
of who who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what he came to do. And
he says in verse, look at the, I'm looking, jump to verse 17.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of none
effect. If a person doesn't preach Jesus
Christ and him crucified, people get the wrong idea. You don't
know what you're talking about. But people know what you're talking
about if all you talk about is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Some men made this as an accusation,
but they didn't know that was the best compliment they could
get. They said, all you do is preach Jesus Christ. That's all
you do. Someone said of Brother Henry
Mahon, you make an idol out of Jesus. Meaning, that's the only one
you ever speak of. Well, people have no misinterpretation
if that's all you do is preach Jesus Christ. There's no way
to misunderstand. Look to Him. See, for the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But to them
which are saved it is the power of God. The preaching of the
cross, that word preaching there is a translated word. The word of the cross, or that
is to say, what is God saying? What is God saying by hanging
his son on the cross? What did God say? When you look
at the Lord Jesus Christ, the separate from sinners, holy,
spotless son of God hanging on the cross, what is God saying? You see, men didn't do that.
The Lord God used man to put his son on the cross. But what
is God saying? God is saying, I'm holy. There's no other God. God is
holy. There is no other God. There's no competition. God says this, who are you gonna
compare me to? I am God and there's no other.
My will will be done. I am sovereign. I am ruler. And there's only
one. There's only one that's sitting
on the throne. God. Man thinks he's in command. Isn't that right? Satan said,
I will be like the most high. God said, no, you won't. And
cast him out, chains of darkness reserved to the day of judgment.
Satan came in the garden and deceived Eve and said go ahead
eat the fruit. God knows that when you eat that
fruit, you'll be like God And she ate the fruit she gave it
to Adam Adam knew what he was doing I'll be like God I'll do
what I want to do. Oh, yeah No, you won't and when God comes
in the gospel and testifies who the Lord Jesus Christ. He convinces
man the Lord Jesus Christ, He is Lord. And teaches His people to say
from the heart, Lord, what will you have me to do? What will
you have me to do? Not my will, not unto us, not
unto us, but unto thy name give glory. God is holy. And God is gonna
punish sin wherever sin is found. You see, when Satan said, I will
be like sin, when Adam said, no, God, sin. No, you're not
gonna tell me what's sin. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
destroy the works of the devil. God is saying, I am God. Nobody else is God. I am holy. And when sin, when the Lord Jesus
Christ was made sin for us, God killed the sin of his people
and the Lord Jesus Christ. God punished the sin of his people
in the person of his dear son. The sword of God's justice. God's
saying, I'm just. Anybody doubt that God is going
to deal with sin, look to the cross. God spared not his own
son, but delivered him up. What's he going to do with you?
What's he going to do with me if he finds me outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ? Only He was able to put away
sin and come forth from the grave victorious. If He deals with
sin in us, it's eternity separated from God. Eternity will not be
long enough to pay for our sins. The Word of the Cross. You see
the holiness of God, the justice of God. You see the love of God,
what could cause God to give his son? For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You see
the mercy of God, how God could be merciful. God is merciful,
but God must show mercy in a way that is consistent with his holiness.
God cannot violate his own law and continue to be God. When
God shows mercy, he does it in a way that his law is honored,
established, his justice is satisfied. And this is what is declared
in the message of the cross. God is just, God is merciful. And you hear the word of the
cross, God saying, look unto me, look unto me and be you saved
all ye ends of the earth. I am God and there's no other.
The Lord said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
even so the son of man must be lifted up so that whosoever shall
believe on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. The Apostle Paul said that preaching
is foolishness to them that perish, but to us that believe, it's
the power of God. God used this message to give
you life. You who are dead in trespasses
and sins, who hated God, was not looking for God, one day
God, in hearing this message, mysteriously, miraculously, without
any contribution on your part, and not that you made your decision
for Christ, God gave you life. It's the power of God. God gave
you the power to become the sons of God by the hearing of the
gospel, and it surprised you. Light came on. Where'd that come
from? I did not love him before. I had no desire for him, and
now my heart rejoices. Thank God. We thank God for you,
brother. Because what He did in you, He
did in us. It's foolishness of them that
perish. The Apostle Paul is saying, you're rejoicing in men. You're saying, I'm of Paul, and
I'm of Apollos, and I'm of Cephas, and you're rejoicing in men.
You're glorying in man. But the Apostle Paul said, He
says there in verse 19, For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to
nothing the understanding of the prudent. How does that connect?
People are glorying in man, how you say it. You know, there are some people
that will not hear me. They're offended by the fact
that I didn't have, that my language is not proper all the time. Some
people are offended by the fact that he speaks with a Yucatecan
accent. Some people are offended by the
fact that I didn't go to seminary school. I can't speak Hebrew,
I can't speak Greek. And some people, that's all they
want to hear, is somebody that went to, has some kind of title,
some kind of degree, a DD. A DD. We want to hear a DD. And if he doesn't have a DD,
we don't want to hear from him. These people is saying, Men by
nature want to have their ears tickled by rhetoric, by the way
you say it. You have to say it a certain
way. That's wisdom of man. That's wisdom of man. And the
Apostle Paul is saying here, the wisdom is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. There were some wise men in Greece. as men think of them. That's
all they liked is they had the love of knowledge. They just
wanted to keep knowing things. But what it's saying here in
verse 21, in the wisdom of God, man cannot find out God by his
own wisdom. In other words, man is not going
to stumble upon Jesus Christ. Man is not going to Some people
like to say this, I didn't believe when I heard the gospel from
any preacher, I just read it. I did my investigation, I read
the Bible, and I just come to the conclusion. Christ is not
found out by coming to the conclusion. Christ is revealed. Revealed
by God. Now you could have a lot of knowledge
about Jesus Christ, But that's not saving faith. That's not
saving faith. In the wisdom of God, listen,
it pleased God. Man by wisdom knew not God. It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them believe.
It pleased God to take a simple man and declare the gospel of
the glory of Jesus Christ. And the reason is, I'm not going
to get the glory, and you listening are not going to get the glory. It's his work. He gets all the
glory. Is that not so? Wouldn't you
be mad if somebody, you had done something, and somebody else
come up and start thanking somebody else for it? It's your work.
You get indignant, don't you? Wait a minute, I did that. She said, don't you get indignant?
He said, well, that's not right. He's taking credit for something
I did. That's not right. In the wisdom of God, man by
wisdom knew not God. I need to hurry. For the Jews
require sign in Greek, seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ
crucified under the Jews stumbled back into the Greeks furnishes.
But of the them which are called both Jews and Greeks, every nation,
kindred, and tongue all over the world, those that are called,
called of God, called from eternity, called in the preaching of the
gospel, Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus is the power of
God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser
than man and the weakness of God is stronger than man. For
you see your calling, brethren, look around you, how that not
many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to
confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty. and the base
things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the things
that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now what
was the church in Corinth doing? I'm of Paul, I'm of Paulus, I'm
of Cephas, glorying in the flesh. Glorying in the flesh. You're
saying, aren't you not carnal? And remember what I said at the
beginning, a believer is a new man, but we still walk in this.
We need to recognize what it is. And God gets all the glory. Esteem pastors, esteem preachers,
esteem the man, the teachers who God enables and teaches the
gospel, esteem them highly for their work sake. But don't glory
in them. Listen to what he says, that
no flesh should glory in His presence, and here's the... It
took me all this time. Here's what he says, but of Him,
but of Him are you in Christ Jesus. You're saying, I'm of
Paul, I'm of Paulus, I'm of Cephas. You didn't believe the gospel
because you heard the gospel preached by Paul. That's not
the reason. Though he was an apostle. Many
heard the Lord Jesus Christ preach and didn't believe. Many heard the apostle Paul preach
and didn't believe. The same of Apollos. You didn't
grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ because
you heard the eloquence of Apollos. It's not of these men. The Apostle
Paul later on says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave
the increase. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus. The reason you believe is God
chose you before the foundation of the world and put you in Christ. That's why you believe. You believe
because God chose you from before the foundation of the world and
put you in Christ. And when God put you in Christ,
He made you one with Christ. We're united. We're united to
Christ. Can anything separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus? When did God love his
people? Does he start loving you when
you believe? Huh? God loved you with an everlasting
love. We're united. Can anything separate
us from the love that is in Christ Jesus? We're united. So when
he took us from the hands of the Father and became our surety. He was also given to us. We were
given to Him, He was given to us. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. is made and does wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, as it is written,
he that glorieth, glorieth in the Lord. Now, I want to end
with these things right here. Of him are you and Christ Jesus,
who of God has made into us wisdom. The wisdom of the world is foolishness. How is it that you believe and
other people hearing the same message don't believe? God has
made into you wisdom. to know the true and living God. To know the true and living God.
Jesus Christ is that wisdom. Seeing Him, we see God. We know
that He is God. There's no other God. But this
wisdom is in a believer as a tuning fork. Do y'all know what a tuning
fork is? Is there someone that's looking
at me like, what is a tuning fork? I don't mind explaining
it, I love this illustration. A tuning fork is that thing that's
used, that instrument that's used to tune a guitar, for instance. And you have different keys. You can have a C, you can have
a D, and it's just like a tongue. And you strike it. You strike
it on your knee and it starts vibrating, a frequency. And then
you put that on the guitar and that makes a sound. Well, that's
like a G, for instance. And now you know what the G is
supposed to sound like on your string. And you make that match
up. That's a tuning fork. But did
you know that if you have two tuning forks that are at the
same frequency, and you strike this tuning fork on this side,
the other tuning fork that's over there that you haven't even
touched starts vibrating? You know what that's called?
Resonance. We use that in everyday language.
That resonates with me. That resonates with me. The Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies with
our spirit. That's the word. That's the truth. We're given the Holy Spirit.
You don't believe to receive the Holy Spirit. Now I know there's
a lot of people, you believe and that makes your work the reason for which
God gives you life, God gives you the Holy Spirit. The reason
you believe is because God already made a new creature. Because
God has already put His Spirit in your spirit and testifies,
that's the truth. Another one's voice they will
not hear, the Lord said. Another man's voice they will
not hear. Why is that? Because they have the ears to
hear the shepherd's voice. Why is it that not everybody
comes when the gospel is being preached? Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I give you rest. You have
come, you that believe, you've come and you've experienced and
you say... Sometimes you think, well, what took me so long? Oh,
that I could have believed long ago in God's time. You weren't born in this flesh
any sooner than God had appointed you to be born. You surely didn't
decide the time you were going to be born or of whose parents.
You didn't decide any of this, but here you are. It's of God. Of God are you in Christ Jesus? Of God are you in Christ Jesus
of election? Of God are you in Christ Jesus
through faith? He gave you the faith to receive
the Lord Jesus Christ. Of God are you in Christ Jesus?
God has made it to us wisdom to know the true and living God. There's only one God. Man, natural
man in his natural mind is a God factory, a God manufacturing, He devises idols, and then he
goes and worships them. Here's what it sounds like. I
think God is like this. You know, the most honest thing
a person could say is, there is a God. Well, he's not being
stupid. A person would just say, there is a God, and then would
say, I don't know who he is. That's the most honest thing
a person could say. But listen, he says, I believe
there's a God, and I think, woom, he went off to left field, following
his own imagination. I think he's created a God. We
cannot think anything of God that God has not revealed of
himself in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ here
in this world. Wisdom to know the true and living
God. Wisdom to know Jesus Christ. He is God manifesting the flesh. I have no other God. I don't expect to see anybody
else but Jesus Christ sitting on the throne. God has given
us understanding. God has given us light. And that's
the light that shines out of darkness and gives us a knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The face of
Jesus Christ. Well, wisdom to know the way. Jesus Christ is the only way.
Wisdom. Wisdom to know ourselves. Wisdom
to know ourselves, that in me there is, I'm a dead man. I'm
a dead man. If God doesn't do something for
me, I'm going to eternally be separated from him. But this
wisdom that God has made Jesus Christ our Lord to be in us,
this wisdom, it says, wisdom and righteousness. This wisdom
that God has made the Lord Jesus Christ to be unto us is wisdom
to understand that the only righteousness that exists is the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God. Men
are going about to establish their own righteousness, the
Apostle Paul said. I testify that they have a zeal
for God. They're trying to establish their
own righteousness, but they've not submitted to the only righteousness
that exists. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. There's only one
righteousness. God can only accept that which
God provides. Only God could satisfy God. And the Lord Jesus Christ as
a man, He came into the world to fulfill, to feel, to accomplish
the holy law of God. And that's not just the letter
of the law. Men like to think of the letter
of the law, but the law goes beyond your actions and examines
your motives, your thoughts, the intents of the heart. That's
where the evil proceeds. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He
fulfilled. He always did that which pleased
the Father. He established righteousness
on the earth as man. That's what God requires. If
a man's gonna be in His presence, man's gotta keep that law. And
brethren, bless God, He's given us wisdom to understand that
that righteousness is my righteousness. In Christ, I have righteousness. He is the Lord, our righteousness. We sang the song, Jehovah Sidkenu. righteousness and sanctification. In Christ Jesus, what the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplished at the cross, he put away the sins
of his people and made me holy, sanctified. This letter is written
to the saints, the Ephesian letter. It's talking about the saints
of God. It's not talking about something
that people get together and decide you're a saint if you
have three miracles and things like that. No, it's talking about
those who Christ Jesus made saints. Holy, that's what it means, holy. Christ Jesus is to every believer
that holiness without no man is gonna see God. Christ in you
is the hope of glory. But that sanctification by one
offering, the Lord Jesus Christ has made perfect forever, Hebrews
10, has perfected forever them that are sanctified. By one offering, he made holy
all of God's people. Well, I don't even know if I
can find it in my notes now. By one offering. And this is
wisdom to know that in Christ Jesus I'm complete. Wisdom. You see, if you raise
one little finger to contribute, you've fallen. You're a debtor
to keep the whole law. You're a debtor to keep the whole
law. You've fallen from grace. Christ will profit you nothing. Wisdom to know that He is my
sanctification. I'm complete in Him. There's
nothing lacking. And wisdom to know that He is
my redemption. When He died, He paid the price
for my sins. You pay the price for your sin.
So that you're not trying to do penance and try to put away
some sins. Our hope God, the hope of God's
people, and it's the sure hope and the only hope, is that when
Christ Jesus died, He put away all our sins. And when He paid
the price for this person, He paid the price not only for my
soul, my eternal soul, the spirit, and this body. This body that
is so weak, this body that is subjects, infirmities, sickness,
disease, and one day is going to go to the grave. I know God
has given me this wisdom. This matter of resurrection is
real. Yes, the messenger, Brother Greg,
said at the beginning, you know, if this thing of believing in
the Lord Jesus Christ is just a matter of us, you know, here
on this earth, if Christ didn't raise from the grave, let's eat,
drink, and be married because, you know, it's going to be over.
That's not our hope. We look forward to the day when
we look for a better place, a better heaven where dwells righteousness. What would it be like to have
a moment where no sin interrupted? What would it be like? Well,
Christ is my redemption. And I know that as sure as he
is risen from the grave, Christ is the wisdom. I'm risen with
him. Now I'm sitting right now and
you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're sitting right
now with him in the heavenly places. One day, one day you'll
be there. You'll see him with your own
eyes, with your own eyes, that according as it is written, he
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Don't glory in man. Apostle Paul saying, you're doing
this. You're acting like little children.
I prefer to hear the message from this. What we are to be
hearing is verse 18, the word of the cross, the word of the
cross, the message. This is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Pray that God, you know, if,
if the Lord, gives us a stutterer, we need to pray for grace to
listen to a stutterer. Have you ever listened to a stutterer?
It's hard, isn't it? It's hard to listen to a person
and you think, oh, I can't understand what he's saying. But if God
sends you that man, you better pray for grace to listen to that
man because that's who God sent. And not glory in men. But glory
in the Lord Jesus Christ. God made him to be wisdom to
us. Righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. May the Lord bless his word.
I appreciate this congregation, your faithfulness over all these
years. Thank you. Thank you, Cody. Only God can
satisfy God. That's, uh, well, we've heard
the gospel this morning. We've been blessed to be able
to worship. So very thankful for the work
that, uh, the Lord's doing, uh, in Mexico with, uh, churches
down there, ministry and your prayers and support for, for
Cody and Walter and Betty and when, uh, um, Tom, can we sing? My hope is built on nothing less.
In Jesus' blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Let's stand together. What number
is it? 272. 272. 272. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness fails His lovely
face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Supports me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When he shall come with trumpet
sound, Bold may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. Okay.