Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John 12. I'm going to be looking at verses
44 through verse 50. The final verses of this chapter,
chapter 12, those verses that I just mentioned, 44 to 50, they
set forth two truths that we would be well to consider often. Here they are. Number one, that
the Lord Jesus Christ is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. All of God is in Him. The second thing that we must
remember is this. We're all going to stand before
Him in the day of judgment. Two things. The Lord Jesus Christ
is God. Now, we're going to stand before
God in judgment. Now, here's the first thing.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God. Verse 44 of John 12 says this,
Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not
on Me, but on Him that sent Me. Now, in that verse, what he's
saying is that the one that entrusts his eternal soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
him only, actually entrusts his soul to
God only. He that believeth on me believeth
not on me as merely man." Your trust in God. God Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ in John
10.30 says, I and the Father are one. One in purpose, one
in will, one in essence. One in power. He that is persuaded
that I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd that lays down
His life for the sheep, also is persuaded that the Father, who Christ and the Father are
one, You know, you can try to explain
the tri-unity of God, and you're not going to do it. So just don't. These things we believe by faith. You take that passage of Scripture
when the Lord Jesus Christ, when John said in the first part of
this book, we're Him. Behold, the Lamb of God. And
he said, there was the Lamb of God, and he said, I was instructed
by the Holy Spirit, the One to whom you see the Spirit descend
in the form of a dove. That's He. And he heard a voice
out of heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased. You hear Him. One God. And the
Scripture sets forth that He is in three Persons. One God,
three Persons. Now, I'm telling you, He that
believeth on me believeth not on me merely as man. Let me explain what he is saying.
But he believes on God, the One that has sent me. He that believes
on the Lord Jesus Christ believes the gospel of God's grace because
there is no believing on the Lord Jesus Christ except you
receive the report that God has given of Him. Now, I'm telling
you, I do know and I always, you know, I'm always going to
set forth this. There is a little J, Jesus. that men are proclaiming, that's
trying. That's not the Lord Jesus of
this book. The Lord Jesus Christ of this
book is God. He believes on me. believes that He is truly God,
believes what the Scriptures reveal concerning Him and salvation
by God's sovereign grace. There is no life except you believe
that gospel. No other gospel. Paul said in
Galatians 1, If a man, if we, are an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel unto you than that which you perceive, let
him be accursed. There's one gospel, it's the
gospel of God's grace. The gospel, the little g gospel,
had been set forth as being the gospel by which they say God
is offering something. That's not the gospel of this
book. He that believeth on me believeth
not on me, but on him that sent me. And here's the second verse
concerning that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. And he that seeth
me seeth him that sent me. He that looks Through the new
eyes of faith, there are some new eyes that are given, new
ears that are given. Those that see by faith and discern
and perceives me as God, sees not only me, but sees the
same toward the Father, toward the Spirit. I'm the way, the
truth, the life. No man comes unto God. No man comes unto the Father.
But by me, I'm the essence of Almighty God who is the invisible
God that must be declared. All you will ever see, all you
will ever see of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all we'll ever see. The
miracle of God's grace that God would reveal Himself. To believe
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to see Him by faith as God is to
believe and have faith that God dwells in you. That God Himself
dwells in you. I was talking to Gabe yesterday.
We were talking about the Scriptures. And I said, Isn't it amazing? The only thing that a believer
ever sees, truly sees, and I can prove this, I can make good on
this. The only thing that a believer ever sees is the old man. You know how I can prove that?
Paul says, I see in me. That is in my flesh. There dwells
no good thing. I'm telling you, The only way
that I would know that there is a new man there is that Almighty
God has told me that I will look upon Him as all of my hope, that
I'll see no confidence in myself. I can see reasons that there's
no confidence in myself. I see that. I see in me there
dwells no good thing but that Almighty God would tell me that
there's a man A new man, a new creation that doesn't sin? Lord, as You say, as You say,
I am come, verse 46, a light into the world that whosoever
believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. Now here we have
proof. that the Lord Jesus Christ existed. Christ existed before His incarnation. He did not come into being when
He was made flesh. The Scripture says, I am come
a light. I am come to make manifest. I am come to show, in the beginning
was the Word. And the Word was with God and
the Word was God. And verse 14 says, and the Word
was made flesh. But in the beginning was the
Word. He's always been. He's always been the Savior. He's always been the surety.
He's always been the Creator. All things were made by Him. Before He was ever made flesh,
He made everything. He's always been the husband
of the sheep. But in time, He was made flesh
and manifested God. Declared God. and walk before
God and men in absolute obedience and humility. He was possessed, the Scripture
says in Proverbs 8.22, in the beginning of Jehovah's way, before
God's works of old. Before He ever made anything. Before He made everything. He
said, I was before Him. I came up as one with Him. Our delights were with the sons
of men. Can you imagine? I can't. I don't
even know why I said that. I can't imagine it. I'm coming. And when He came, He came with
a purpose. That, or in order that, whosoever
believeth on Me should not abide in darkness." Those that He came
to save. Those who were born in the bondage
and darkness of sin and unbelief, that He purposed wasn't going
to stay there. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever
believeth on Me should not abide in darkness." He came with a
reason. He came with a purpose. He came
that His people, whosoever they are, should by Him, the light,
see the glory and grace of Almighty God. See that which is by nature. Invisible. Unperceivable. The Lord Jesus
is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and nothing can be added
to fullness. That's it. Here's the second
point. We must all stand before God,
before Him, in the day of judgment. This is verse 47. If any man
hear my words, Which words? These scriptures. These scriptures. If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him
not, for I came not to judge the world this time, the first time, but
to save the world. Here our Lord declares the purpose
of His first coming. Not to judge the world, but to
save the world. All of the world? Did He come
to save all of the world? Take your Bible and turn and
look at these verses. John 17.2. John 17.2. As thou," he's praying to his
Father, has given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou has given him. Now, let men say what they will
about God having a people that he's going to save. Let men refute. Let them refute election. Let
them refute God's choice. Let them refuse God's selection.
And I'm telling you, in the day of judgment, they're going to
stand before God in every idle word they're going to give account
for. But I'm telling you, Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ says,
you have given Him power over all flesh as the Son of Man.
As the Son of God, He is omnipotent. But here is the humbled Son of
Man. He who made Himself of no reputation. And the Scripture says that God
gave His Son the Word joined with flesh. Gave Him power over
all flesh. Do you want to know who's running?
Brother Scott said, who's running this show anyway? I'll tell you
who's running this show. He is. And I'm telling you that
right now, my friend, when you got up this morning and had a
heart, a mind, a thought to show up today, he gave you that thought. He moved you. Why'd you come
here? Because I wanted to. Why'd you
want to? Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh for one reason, in the bringing of honor to Himself
that He should give. They're not going to earn it. They're not going to vote for
it. They're not going to exercise
their free will. If any man has found himself
in the portals of heaven, in glory, this is the reason right
here. God gave him eternal life. That
He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. Look at 1712. While I was with
them in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou
gavest Me. I have kept. And none of them is lost but
the son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Scripture is going to be fulfilled
and Judas is going to perish for the fulfilling of God's Word.
But I'll tell you this, all that thou hast given me, I've kept. What about those that are yet
to be called out of darkness yet? I've kept them. I've kept
them. The eternal God. is always the
eternal God. He is the I am. He's not the
I will be or I have been. He's the I am. Look at John 18.9,
that the saying might be fulfilled which He spake, of them which
thou gavest Me, I have lost none. None. None. Back in John 12. Verse 47, If any man hear my
words, and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. Which world? The world of his
people. Those that God gave him. Those
that Almighty God elected and chose in him. He came to this
world not to judge it the first time. It was already condemned.
It's already condemned. He came the first time to suffer
and die for all those that had been given him in electing grace. I want you to look at Luke 19.
This is the story of Zacchaeus. Luke 19. Luke 19, verses 1-10. Luke 19 warning, Jesus entered
and passed through Jericho, and behold there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and could not for
the press, because he was little in stature. And he ran before
and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to
pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place,
he looked up, saw him, said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, come
down, for today I must abide at thy house. Boy, I tell you,
you talk about preach, just read it. Just read it. I must. Why? How did he know his name? He's always known his name. I
knew you before I formed you in the belly. I knew you. Your
name is written in heaven. I know you. I must go to your
house today. Must abide at your house. He
made haste and came down and received him joyfully. When they
saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was going to be guest
with a man that was a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said
unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to
the poor. If I have taken anything from
any man by false accusation, I will restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This
day is salvation. This day, he said, I have come.
I've come. This day salvation, this salvation
come to this house for as much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost." Now let me tell you a
blessing in that last verse right there. A blessing to me and I
know it will be to you. You that know Him, I know it
will be. I've come to seek. This is what it means. Seek that
which is hidden. Hidden from the eyes of men.
Hidden from the object of God's mercy Himself. That which is
hidden. I've come to seek and save. That is to deliver, to preserve,
to protect, and to heal that which was lost. Now listen to
this. That which was destroyed fully. that which was destroyed fully.
I've come to seek, save that which was lost. Now, only those
made to see that they are totally destroyed and need a Savior to
deliver them are going to be saved. Those who see themselves
as merely hindered maybe a little bit, not much, slightly, but
not fully destroyed. I've come to seek and to save
that which was fully destroyed. I've come to seek and to save
those that are depraved and made to see it. Only those that are
made to see their need. I, Lord, in Mark 2, if you want
to turn there, you can. Mark 2, 16 and 17. Listen to
this. Here's the Lord speaking to a
group that questioned Him like they always did. Mark 2, 16. Mark 2, 16. When the scribes
and Pharisees saw Him eat with publicans and sinners. They said
of His disciples, how is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans
and sinners? When Jesus heard it, He saith
unto them, they that are whole have no need of the position. But they that are sick, I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Those that are whole. Those that
have force, those that have ability, are those that are strengthened. Those that are whole, or see
themselves as being that way. Those that see themselves as
having ability, having force, having strength. He said, I didn't come. Those
that are whole, they don't need a position. But those that are
sick, This is His. Worthless and depraved. Those that are worthless and
depraved, I'm telling you by the grace of God, Almighty God,
God shows His people what they are in themselves. You're worthless
in self, but not in His sight. Back in John 12, look at verse
48. He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. He that rejects, he that casts
off me. that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, he that refuses to receive my words, hath one that is going to judge
him." Listen to how you cannot separate the Lord of glory and
His Word. Let me ask you this. Is He the judge? Yes, He is.
Yes, He is. All men are going to stand before
Him. He said, you're going to stand before My Word. My Word
is going to judge you. When I think about refuting what
He has to say, men just so arrogantly, just so flippantly, they hear
the gospel of God's free grace and they just say, what is that? I'm telling you, in that day,
I think about when He says there's going to be weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth. How many times did He say that
in His Word? I cannot enter into the horror
of it, but I can tell you this, the shriek, the shrill, the cries,
the anguish, the despair, And to think there is no reprieve. There is no hope. There's no
going back. It's over! It's over! In that day, everyone that heard
the Word, and he that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my word."
What is it to reject Christ? It's not to receive His Word.
That's what it is. He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my words hath one that judges him. One that decides. One that
distinguishes. The Word that I've spoken, the
same shall judge him in the last day. Let me ask you this, is
there anything more clear? Anything more clear? Everyone
that dies rejecting Christ by rejecting the gospel of God's
free grace, the gospel, the gospel, sovereign grace, is not going
to go unpunished. My hands are clean, clear, let
me say it like that, concerning being truthful. That's what Paul
the Apostle says. He said, I've declared unto you
the gospel. I've declared unto you the gospel. In the day of judgment, every
word that has been preached from this or any other pulpit that
is according to the gospel of God, every word is going to rise
up in judgment and shall be a witness against all that heard, that
should have heard, that could have heard, You say, well, what about those
that never heard? Nature declares the handiwork
of God. And they're without excuse. I'm telling you, It is by the
grace of God that we're sitting here this morning, hearing this
Gospel. I'm telling you, I'm telling
you, there are places in this world, you just go anywhere,
start driving anywhere. Go to Cottageville. Ready? Go
down to Charleston. Drive, you know. What's between
here and there? As far as I know, nothing. As far as I know. I don't know.
I've never heard of it. Let me say it like this. Somebody
says, you mean to tell me that you think that this is the only
message that God blesses to the salvation of sinners? I have
God's Word on that. I mean it and I mean it. I mean
it. I believe it. I believe it. The only message That God blesses
to the salvation of a sinner is the message that gives God
all glory, all power, all grace, all honor, and gives man none. Well, what's the consequences
then of me hearing and then walking away? He that rejecteth me, and
receiveth not my words, hath one that judges him. The word
that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day, and
it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah." You mean
those that are in hell, suffering? Yes. It's going to be more tolerable
for them. Those that are suffering under
the indescribable justice and judgment and wrath of Almighty
God, it's going to be more tolerable for them than it will be for
those that heard and walked away. As God's ministers prepare to
preach, may the Spirit of God remind us of the grave responsibility
of what we prepare for and what we preach. Verse 49, I have not
spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment,
what I should say, what I should speak. Now, here's the obedient
Son of Man, the Servant of Jehovah. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
that humbled Himself. When He speaks like this, He's
setting forth Himself as the man, Christ Jesus. I have not
spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, He gave me commandment. What I should say, what I should
speak. Here's the one that obeyed God, earning the righteousness
that He enrobes His people with. Here He is. Intimately joined
to the Father in purpose, essence, He declares what He gave me commandment
to do, that's what I've done. And this is what God's preachers
are commanded to do. This is why God's preachers are
despised. Not by God's people. God's people
agree with Him. God's people will own up to it.
God's people will say, I am that worthless, depraved one. Thanks
be unto God that He came to save me. Showed mercy to me. Thanks
be unto God that He didn't leave me to myself to reject Him. He
left me to reject Him. I'd have done the same thing
that everyone that He leaves to themselves does. They'd say
this, I just don't care. I just don't care. I hear what
you're saying, I don't care. I despise your Word. I reject your Word. I reject
your salvation. Lord, have mercy. He that is
not with me is against me. He that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad. He that is not with me, one with
me in heart, one with me in purpose according to regeneration and
grace, is against me. And he that gathereth not, he
that is not in union and assembles with me, He that gathereth not
with me scattereth abroad." You look up the word scattereth,
and this is what it means. It means to penetrate as a scorpion. There's one purpose. I'm going
to get you. He that's not with me hates Christ. He that's not with me has one
purpose. to destroy Him. That's what the
evil, wicked hands of men desired to do. You've taken, you've killed
the King of glory. But God raised Him up. God Almighty
raised Him up. Verse 50, And I know that His
commandment is life everlasting. And whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. And here our
Lord is declaring, this is truth. This is life. This is the message
that I declare. I know that His commandment,
this gospel, I know that His commandment, not an invitation
as I said before. You know, I've heard that. I
grew up in false religion. And we always talk about the
invitation. We'd always have an invitation.
And what that means is we're going to sing a bunch of verses
and we're going to invite people if they want to come down the
aisle and shake the preacher's hand and repeat after him. He's going to lead them in a
sinner's prayer and tell them what to say. I'm telling you,
when Almighty God comes in power, I tell you what, you don't have
to tell a regenerated sinner what to say. This is what he's
going to say. Lord, have mercy on me, sinner. Lord, forgive
me. You know why he says that? Because
the Lord's already had mercy on him. He says this commandment,
this commandment, The Scripture says, "...for the times of this
ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent, to think differently, because He hath appointed a day
in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto
all men that He hath raised Him from the dead." This is a commandment. Well, what's going to happen?
I'll tell you what's going to happen. All men are commanded
to repent. And those that the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world to seek and to save, He's going
to give them a heart. And they're going to obey it.
They're going to obey. They're going to repent. Why?
Because He's going to give them a new heart. He's going to give
them life. He's going to make them willing
in the day of God's power. Now, is this not Scripture? Am
I quoting Scripture here? You know I am. I'm not turning
to every one of them. But you know exactly. Thy people,
Psalm 110.3, shall be willing in the day of thy power. We just
read it. Psalm 17, verse 2, has given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. God Almighty is going to give
His people a heart to obey. And they're going to agree with
Him. And they're going to come to Him. Does a man have to come
to Christ? Absolutely. Absolutely. He that
cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. What does coming to
Christ mean? You believe Him. You believe
Him. The Lord bless these words to our heart, for Christ's sake.
Amen.