Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 7. John 7. The last time we looked in John,
The Lord had just, the Scripture says, John 7.37, stood and cried,
If any man thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his belly, shall flow rivers of living
water." The Holy Spirit that would be received publicly, that's
what he's talking about, would be manifested in that person. That manifestation of God's Spirit
is seen just like we just looked at a moment ago. walking after
God, agreeing with God. Well, that glorious declaration,
you have to understand now what He said. If any man thirsts for
righteousness, if any man thirsts to be right before God, to stand
before God, Accepted. Let Him come unto me at the exclusion
of everything else. Nothing else. Nothing else. Let Him come to me. We come to
Christ by faith. Trusting, as we just read, only
in Thy merit. Only in, Lord, don't pass me
by. Lord, don't leave me to myself.
Lord, help me. As soon as He set forth that
glorious declaration of coming to Him, Him and Him only, nothing
else. I'm telling you, if there's anything
else that we put in our mouths or in our minds, in our hearts
that we come to, if it's not Christ, Christ alone had no hope. And as soon as He made that declaration,
immediately there was a discussion about it. Look at verse 40 to
42. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David out of the town of Bethlehem
where David was? Now you know the thing that I
noticed? There was a lot of truth that was being expressed. They
all said a lot of truthful things. This is the prophet. That's right. This is the Christ. That's right. But no mention is made that any
of them came to Him because they thirsted for righteousness. It wasn't what they said That
was the problem. It's what they didn't do. They quoted Scripture, but their acquaintance with the
Word failed to regulate their walk. 1 John 2.6, He that saith, he abideth in him. ought Himself
also to walk even as He walked. Now, I know that we don't walk
as He walked in His miracles. I know we don't walk as He walked
in a way of equality. But I'll tell you this, as we
said just a moment ago, all God's people walk in agreeing with
Him. Ephesians 5, 1 and 2, Be ye therefore
followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, love for Christ,
love for His Word, love for His people. Walk in love as Christ
also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a savor
to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. An offering and a sacrifice,
I'm sorry, to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. Unless our lives are
affected, they've heard what He said. They've made some truthful
statements. This is the prophet. This is
the Christ. Has Christ come out of Galilee? Scripture says that
He'd come out of Bethlehem, the city of David, Unless our lives
are affected, motivated to faithfulness. And this is what I'm talking
about when I say faithfulness. I know that so often men speak
of faithfulness, and they're always talking about outward
works. And there is no doubt about that. God Almighty is going to motivate
His people and they will act like believers. But faithfulness
in the heart. As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he. Men do what they desire to do,
what they want to do. These people made some good statements
and they quoted some Bible verses, but unless There's a change of
motivation from the heart. All the Bible quoting in the
world don't mean nothing. It's nothing. The Lord says they honor Me with
their lips, but their heart is far from Me. God looks on the
heart. Knowledge of Christ is essential. But I'll tell you, this knowledge
without a new heart is deceiving. By a new heart, we know and see
the plague of this old man. These people quoted Scripture.
They said good things, but they didn't come after Him. They didn't
seek Him. They didn't cast themselves upon
Him. Well, I think about when we read about old blind Barnabas.
Here was the Lord of Glory walking by that blind Barnabas. There had been two ways that blind
Barnabas could have handled that situation. One of them, if God
left him to himself, I don't doubt for a second. I know he
had heard something. I know because of what he said.
But if he had said, well, you know, Oh, that's Jesus, son of
David, huh? I'm glad he's coming through
town. What he said was right. That was Jesus, son of David. And he was coming through town.
Blind Bartimaeus, because of a heart that was made thirsty. Thirsty. The Scripture says he
cried out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Lord, have mercy on me. I'm a sinner. Regenerated sinners. They're
not hearers only. They're doers. They're callers. They're seekers. They're knockers. They're askers. Lord, have mercy
on me. Be ye doers of the Word. As I said before, That which
Almighty God has wrought within a man's heart. That's what he
believes. I said before, you believe this
Gospel. It's the Gospel of God unto salvation. That without the hearing of this
Gospel, man is lost. I want men to hear. I want to
hear. I believe. that there's no other
message. There's no other message but
the gospel of God's sovereign grace where God gets all the
glory and all the honor and all the praise and man gets none
of it. It's the only message that the
Spirit of God blesses to the salvation of His people. I've
got God's Word on that. Romans 1, 16, 17. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of this. I'm not ashamed of this message. There have been times in my heart,
I'll just do a little confession right here. There have been times
when I will think to myself sometimes, I know Paul the Apostle says,
I'm determined not to preach anything, anything but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And there's times that my flesh
will come to me and say, Marvin, You're repeating the same thing
over and over and over again. You're taking different Scriptures,
but you're saying the same thing. That's my flesh. And you know what? In my heart, that new heart,
I know this. My old flesh can strive against
me and tell me I've heard others say, man, I'm telling you grace
preachers, they just need to get some new material. Why don't
you ever preach about abortions? Or why don't you ever preach
about dancing, smoking, drinking, cussing and stuff? Why don't
you ever get on the real issues? There's only one real issue. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The hope of glory. God's people, when they hear
of Him, they want to hear of Him. Tell me again. Tell me one more time how God
put away my guilt. Verse 43, So there was a division
among the people because of Him. And there always is. There's
a division. Matthew 10, 34-36 says, Think
not that I am come to send peace on the earth. Boy, you read that
and you think, what? Think not that I'm come to send
peace on the earth. There's no peace on this earth.
There's peace in Christ. We're not of this world. There
is no peace on this earth. Think not that I'm come to send
peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword For I am come to set a man at variance, at alienation,
against his father, his daughter, his mother, daughter-in-law,
mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household."
There was a division among the people because of him. I am telling you, and you know
this, many of you know this right now by experience. probably, more than likely you're
going to find, and it's going to be probably of your own household,
that there's a division. The Lord said, a man's foe shall
be they of his own household. Whose side would you take? If
it came between you and your family, you and your loved ones,
I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to stand with Him. The Lord asked Peter and his
disciples. He said, will you go away also? Peter said, Lord,
where are we going to go? Where would we go? Can you imagine? You can't even imagine. You that
know Him. You cannot even imagine what it would be like to walk
away And Him let you go. Lord, where am I going to go?
You've got the words of life. There is no union in this earth,
in this world, with the world. There's no union. I get emails. I get emails. I get calls all
the time. I wanted to know if I would be
interested in going down and meeting together with this, you
know, with interdenominational, you know, all this, you know,
and come together and we're all going to pray together for the
peace of Fairmont or the peace of this country. No. No. Why? Because I don't agree
with you. We're not worshiping the same
God. I am not going to come together and make a show of it. Well,
I just don't want to start anything. I don't want to start anything,
but I'm not going to go against what I know is so. There was
a division among the people because of him. 1 Corinthians 11, 19,
for there must... Now listen to this. There must
be heresies among you. Do you remember what I said last
week, what heresy is? Heresy. This is heresy. There's
a difference in heresy and error. I may miss the meaning of a word. I may miss something and be in
error. But heresy is attributing man's
salvation to what man can do. Heresy is to say that God wants
to save people, but he can't unless man gives him his heart
or unless man exercises his free will. Heresy is to state that
God Almighty desires to save all the world, that Jesus died
for all the world and has made salvation possible, and that
man must make the final decision. before God can save a sinner. That's heresy. Salvations of
the Lord. God saves His people according
to power and will and purpose. There must be heresies among
you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. God allows men to do exactly
what men want to do. Leaving men to themselves, believing
that they are the authors of their own salvation. There must
be heresies that they which are approved may manifest among you. Believers cannot. They will not
tolerate a false gospel. They can't be silent concerning
the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not. Scripture says in verse 44, John
7, verse 44, some of them would have taken Him, but no man laid
hands on Him. They desired to take Him. They
were powerless before the purpose and will of God. Men boast about
their free will. But Romans 13 says there is no
power but God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Who is running this show? Who
is in control here? They would have laid hands on
Him, but they couldn't. Jeremiah 10.23, O Lord, I know
that the way of man is not in himself. It's not in man that
walketh to direct his steps." How plain is that? How plain
is that? Men boast, make their boast,
I can do this, I can do whatever. You can't do anything unless
God Almighty permits you to do it. He's going to allow men to continue
believing what they believe in heresy to make sure that His
people are set forth and manifested. Now, can He do that? Yes, sir. He does it. He does it. He does as He will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
Verse 45, Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees,
and they said unto him, Why have you not brought him? Well, I
can tell you there's only one answer to that question because
God didn't allow it. What else do you want to say?
Why didn't you bring him? Because God said you couldn't.
His hour was not yet come. How foolish of men to think that
they have the ability to dictate. and to order things. Isaiah 14.27,
For the Lord of hosts hath purposed. Who shall disannul it? And his
hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? Who? Why didn't you bring him? The officers answered, Never
man spake like this man. We never heard anything like
we heard Him say. We never heard words like this man spoke. I remember the first time that
I ever heard, ever heard anything of sovereign
grace. The first time I ever I've never
heard anyone ever mention anything about sovereign grace. I was at Dan Mellicar's house,
Mom. Dan Mellicar. This is a buddy of mine. I say
buddy. I knew him. I went to church
with him. And an attorney. Nice guy. Nice guy. Talking. He was talking to me about things
of God's sovereignty, about God's purpose, about God's election,
about God's predestination, about God ordering, about God decreeing,
about no one being able. And I remember thinking this,
you have got to be the most deceived person I have ever listened to. But I will tell you this, I could
not shake the truth that it was in the Scriptures. I couldn't
get around. That was the only part. That
was the only part that was throwing a monkey wrench in the whole
works. It was in the Word of God. Can
you imagine? Me listening to somebody say
something, I heard it and I saw it. That can't be. That can't be.
Why didn't you bring Him? I tell you, no man ever spoke
like this man. No one. We've never heard anything. When He spoke, He spoke of one
that was authoritative. It wasn't like the Pharisees
and scribes. No man ever spoke like this man. And though they were unconverted,
These officers were arrested at the Word of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That Word that every man, every
woman is going to hear in the day of His coming. The Lord said,
the words I speak, John 6.63, unto you, their spirit, their
life. You that know Him not, let me
ask you this. Has any man ever spoken like
this man? Little, little, little impotent
man that speaks and stands in little pulpits and trying to,
you know, beg people to do something. Sing about 45 verses of Just
As I Am trying to get somebody, or maybe we'll get somebody to,
you know, make a move, you know, put a plant out there. I used
to go to these crusades. There'd be plants, people in
that arena, whatever. And when the altar call was given,
they were supposed to get up and start moving to kind of prompt
others. You know, maybe if they see them,
well, I think I'll go too. I'll tell you how God saves a
sinner. He speaks and it is. He calls and He comes. My sheep
hear my voice. They follow me. I know them. I give them eternal life. The
words I speak to you, they're life. Why didn't you bring them?"
But no man ever spoke like this man did. You that are here today,
is His Word, has it come to you in power? Arresting, arresting
afresh, brand new. This is real. This is real. I've
heard this before and I hear it again. I've heard this before. He's given me faith to believe
it. He gives me faith to believe it again. No man ever spoke like
Him. Come unto Me, all you that labor heavy laden. I'll give
you rest." Truly, no man ever spake like this man. Thanks be
unto God He has given us a heart to hear. Verse 47-49, Then answered
them the Pharisees, Are you deceived? Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed on Him? But this people, who knoweth
not the law, they are cursed. Oh, how evident is the hatred
toward Christ by the unregenerate religionists. I want you to look
at 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26. I'm going to wrap this up. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26 to 29. For you see your calling, brethren,
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. God hath 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 that are not, to bring to naught
things that are." Why? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. Almighty God. chooses these weak,
helpless, frail-in-themselves creatures. Has any of the Pharisees
ever believed on Him? Has Dr. So-and-so? Has he? Well, if he hadn't, may
God have mercy on his soul. Are you deceived? Only the power
of God's Spirit can remove a heart of resentment from its place
of rule. Look at that thief on the cross. Verse 50-51, Nicodemus saith
unto them, he that came to Jesus by night being one of them, doth
our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he
doeth? These Pharisees had asked in
verse 48, have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed on
Him? By the grace of God, here was
one that did. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee.
Can God call a Pharisee out of darkness? God can call anybody
out of darkness. Have any of them believed on
Him? Yes. Nicodemus did. Sovereign grace had opened that
Pharisee's heart, shined in his heart to give the light of the
knowledge of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless
the Lord, He is able. Bless the Lord, He is sovereign.
Bless the Lord, He does as He will. Verse 52 and 53, Then answered
and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look for
out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went to his house. Well, as wise as they were, I'm
going to read something out of 2 Kings 14, 25. They said, any
prophet come out of Galilee? Any of them? For as we know, there's none.
2 Kings, let me just read this to you. 2 Kings 14, verse 25,
it says this. Well, I'll read 23, 24, 25. In
the 15th year of Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah,
Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in
Samaria and reigned 41 years. And he did that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord. He departed not from all the
sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He restored the coast of Israel
from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according
to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He spake by the
hand of His servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet which
was of Gath-Hephir." And I looked up Gath-Hephir. Do you know where
that was? Galilee. Has any prophet ever
come out of Galilee? They were just ignorant people,
that's all. Boasters. Proud. And the Scripture says,
And every man went to his own house. How quickly did they turn on
those that heard His Word. Nicodemus had. They went to their
own house and went away from Christ. If you hear His voice today,
I'm going to tell you something. Almighty God is able to save. If He's given you a heart to
call on Him, call on Him in heart. As I've said before, there's
no difference between you and me as far as this aisle is concerned.
Just a few feet. Coming down the aisle is not
the issue. Come to Christ. Come in your heart. Look unto
Him. Be ye saved, all ye ends of the
earth. I am God, and there is none other.
May the Lord bless these words to our heart, for Christ's sake,
Amen.