Let's take our Bibles. Turn with
me to the Gospel according to John chapter 5. John chapter
5. I'd like to look at verse 24
this morning. Before we read, let's ask our
Lord's blessing. upon the preaching of the gospel
this morning. Our Father, we are so thankful
for the blessed privilege that we have to come together to hear. Lord, we know that this life
is but a vagabond. Lord, very soon, all men will
stand before cause us this day to realize the seriousness of
the moment. May Christ be honored, your people
comforted, and all these things we ask for Christ's sake. Amen. In the scripture that we consider
this morning, the Holy Spirit has set forth from the lips of
our blessed Savior the evidence of salvation, and the totality
of God's promise to a redeemed people in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the opening words of our
Lord in this verse ought to arrest Every man's burden. Verse 24 says this, you hear
the opening words, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Is there a greater to be heard?
Now you stop and think about this. Is there any greater to
be heard than Him? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life." Truly, truly. Amen, amen. So be it, so be it. Verily, verily,
the Lord says to a sinner, Now, the next words that come
out of his mouth are absolutely so. We know that. God Almighty cannot... His Word
is not going to return void. Heaven and earth is going to
pass away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. If there's anything heard, Let it
be this, I'm telling you, no scripture sets forth more clearly
life eternal than this verse of scripture right here. Here's what he says, He that
heareth my word, and believeth and trusts himself on him that
sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. He that heareth. And I know that
it's going to have to be with more than just a listening ear. A lot of men, a lot of women
hear and never hear. Now you know that. He that heareth
and believeth, believeth with faith from above,
has, already has. He that heareth and believes
already has life eternal. If he didn't already have life
eternal, he would not hear with a heart and believe. from above,
he wouldn't. By the grace of God, according
to his eternal, everlasting covenant of grace, those that hear and
believe have eternal life, and they shall
not come into condemnation. Their past, from death unto life,
in regenerating grace, I know that all men are going to die
physically. I know that. Save those that
are here, Paul says, when the Lord returns, we which are alive
and remain upon the earth shall not prevent them, but sleep in
Christ. If it's appointed unto man once
to die, then the judgment of this everlasting life, he that
He that believes has everlasting life. It's not life that is produced
by a man. Jeremiah 13.23. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Or the leopard his spots? If
he can't, if a man can will himself to be another color, Or if a
leopard can will himself to not look like a leopard anymore,
I'm not going to be a leopard. I'm not going to be white. I'm
not going to be black. I'm not going to be yellow. I'm
not going to be any other color. I'm going to be something else.
I have a free will. I can do that. If a leopard can change his skin,
I mean the Ethiopian can change his skin, the leopard is fine.
Then may he also do good. They're accustomed to doing evil. It's impossible. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me. Draw him internally by power. Man is totally incapable of drawing
himself. He must be made willing in the
day of God's power coming. Well, since the Lord Himself
must lovingly draw all that He's everlastingly loved to Himself,
the question is this, how does He do that? What is the means
by which He draws his people to himself. Our Lord said, barely,
barely, I say unto you, he that heareth my word. It elevates how many subjects
people are taken up with in churches. people want to talk about. He
that heareth my word. Now, to know exactly what he
meant, look at 1 Corinthians 1.18. 1 Corinthians 1.18. Many scriptures we could look
at, but here's one I looked at this morning. 1 Corinthians 1.18. But the preaching of the cross,
that does not mean that piece of wood. It doesn't even mean
that Christ actually went to the cross. Many know that he
went to the cross. No doubt about that. But what
was accomplished according to God's eternal and everlasting
purpose? That's the preaching of the cross.
That Almighty God everlastingly loved the people, saved them,
gave them to Christ, Foolishness! But unto us which are saved is
the power of God. Men count the preaching of the
cross, the preaching of the sovereign grace of God Almighty as foolishness. Foolishness! The fullness of
the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ He that heareth my word, that
word that speaks of him, that honors him, glorifies him, gives
all of salvation's merit to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his
word. His word. The gospel. He that heareth my word. The
gospel. All that is set forth. Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 9-15, For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing
to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel. And woe is to every man that
doesn't believe it. Necessity laid upon me. Men would say, Marvin, I know what you're going to say.
Before I ever get here, I pray I never deviate from that. I
pray I never deviate from this. I realize that unless he keeps
me, I will. I will. Something else will become
more important. Something else, in my mind, if
he doesn't keep me, I'll think of something that I think will
tickle your fancy. Oh, the glorious gospel of God's
grace, the message of sovereign saving grace. He that heareth
my word, the gospel. When the gospel was preached,
everybody and their brother, he'd ask them, I told you this
before, he'd ask them, stop somebody in the street. Do you believe
the gospel? Yes, I do. Tell me what it is. Tell me, tell me, tell me what
the gospel is. Now you know the amazing thing
about that? How many years have we sat and listened to the gospel
of God's grace preached? I remember so distinctly Brother
Henry saying one time, he said, people will ask believers, what
do you believe? And he'll say, they'll struggle
and they'll try. And I've said it there for years. I ought to be able to just, right
now. They'll struggle. But when they
hear somebody stand up and take God's Word and just Lay it out,
just line by line, precept on precept. They'll say that's what
I believe right there. That's what I believe. When the
gospel is preached, let me tell you what men hear. Number one,
men hear about who God is. When the gospel is preached,
men hear about who God Almighty is. He's not the man upstairs. I'll tell you who he is. When
Moses was told by God that he was going to go to Egypt and
tell Pharaoh to let his people go, Moses asked, When I come
to the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God
of your fathers hath sent me, and they say unto me, What is
his name? Who is he? What shall I say unto
them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I am a sinner. I am the absolute, unchanging,
eternal sovereign. God Almighty, who does as He
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, And no man stays the same. No man changes Him. Prayer changes things I hear. No it doesn't. No it does not. God Almighty does as He will. And we bow to Him. We preach Him who is sovereign
in creation and in providence. salvation of God Almighty. Any little g God that is set
forth as being one who is trying to do or wants to do and cannot
do because of man, he only has, the only arms he's got is your
arms. The only mouth he's got is your
mouth. Was it my mouth that said forth,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased? You hear him.
Whose mouth was that? Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Who are you? No, you don't contribute
anything when the gospel is preached.
the truth of who God is. I'm talking about who God Almighty. Secondly, the truth is set forth
about who man is. Now we've gone from the uttermost,
and now we'll talk about the goodermost. Who is man? Romans 3. Here's man now. When
the gospel is preached, God Almighty is set forth to guide it. Romans 3.10, as it is written,
there's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understand
it. There's none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre. With their tongues they abuse
deceit. The poison of ask is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace have they
not known. of peace before God. The way
of the establishment of peace before God Almighty, they have
not known, and there is no fear or respect of God before their
eyes. When the gospel is preached,
God Almighty has set forth who He is, and man has set forth
who he is. Thirdly, when the gospel is preached,
the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth. The gospel does not proclaim
him to be one that makes salvation possible. The possibility has nothing to
do with the preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the
gospel is sure. The preaching of the gospel is
established in Christ. The preaching of the gospel is
yea and amen. The preaching of the gospel is
absolutely secure in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
preaching of Christ sets forth that God Almighty has made himself visible to mankind. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son has declared
Him. To see Him is to see God's salvation. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their Show me a scripture that disputes
the certainty of salvation by grace, and I'll believe you,
there's not one. Salvation is all of God's merit,
God's surety, God's promise, God's counsel. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God's Lamb. absolutely laid down his life
for the sheep. He's the surety for God's elect,
the redeemer of his people, the great high priest who ever lived
to make intercession right now, proclaiming his marriage. And
God Almighty is satisfied. That which he did, he did for
those that the Father gave him. To preach the gospel. You hear
who God is, who man is, Christ is. To preach the gospel is to
tell the truth about salvation. Salvation. Boy, gentlemen, 2.9 summed it
up. The Lord summed it up. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Not man exercising a free will. and accepting God's offering.
God Almighty chose who He was going to show mercy to. Men say
that's foolishness. To those that believe, that's
the power of God. God Almighty chose these people
and gave them to Christ that they should be holy and without
blame before Him in love and their salvation would be absolute. That's not fair. You know what the Spirit of God
said through the Apostle Paul? Who art thou, old man, that replies
against God? May I give you a word of advice? Lest you perish arguing against
God, kiss the And if the Spirit of God gives you the heart to
do that, you will. Kiss the Son. I'm not going to
have this man to reign over me. Yes, you will. Every knee's going
to bow. Every tongue's going to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God Almighty. Well,
I'll just hang on to my little profession of faith. I'll hang
on to my baptism. I'll hang on to my church membership.
You're going to perish. You're going to die. You're going
to die. I'm telling you. Salvation is not by the deeds
of the law. It's not by our self-righteous
works. This is God's Word. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, What did God Almighty have to
say? That's what we just sat for. That's what He said. He who by
the grace of God believes in God Almighty who sent Christ
Himself. God Almighty. He that believes
God who sent God. True faith believes God's report
to His Son. A believer has no problem believing that God Almighty elected
a people. He believes that. To say that
a believer has no problem, I don't believe, I don't insinuate that
we have no problem believing. I read someone this week, one
of the old writers, he says, he that says that he has no problem
ever believing, has never believed. We struggle. Lord, I believe,
help me. I do believe, but we struggle. He that knows nothing
of the strugglings of this flesh, of this life in this flesh, knows
nothing of what it is to struggle. It amazes me when I hear people,
they're always on the mountaintop. I mean, they're always, I mean,
they're up there. They're always just foolishly,
saying things and making themselves appear as though, you know. Every
believer I know struggles. The Lord Jesus Christ said forth,
He that heareth my word, and that's more than just a listening. You can listen to what I'm saying
right now. You can listen to me. But I'm talking about hearing
it and the Spirit of God taking that Word in power and convicting
you. And you hear it and you believe
it. You believe it and you trust
yourself. And trusting He that hears my
Word and believes on Him that has sent me heaven, everlasting
life. The only difference between a
believer right now and glory is this body of flesh. This is
it. This is the difference. O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this dead?
The difference between a believer right now and the eternal presence
of God is this body right here. And very soon it's going to be
put off. And we're going to see Him. will seem as he is. Those that God has regenerated
by grace, he keeps. That's what the gospel says.
He shall not come into condemnation. Why? Christ was made sin for
us. He who knew no sin. God Almighty
forsook him. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me?" Because I wouldn't forsake you. Oh, the wonder of substitution. He that hears, believes, has
eternal life. He's not going to come into condemnation. Christ put away his guilt. in
the eternal purpose of God Almighty before the foundation of the
world, but is passed from death unto life. He that hears and
believes is regenerated. That's what it means. All for whom the Son died stand
in Him uncondemned. Romans 8, verse 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. I hear that, and I believe it. The Lord increased my faith.
Increased my faith. Helped me. I think about old brother Scott.
He said since I heard the good news, it never hurt me bad. What
is this life? Faith. I was reading one of the old writers
the other day. He was talking about death. And it was, I read about that
and I thought, I see that. He said when it comes
time for a believer to leave this world, he said we're struggling,
he's struggling with it right now, we think about leaving.
And we do, we do. Because God said one time we
were all necessary. We were created to live forever
in this body. We want to stay here. We want
to stay here. That's just the way it is. You
know that. But he said, for a believer, in that day, the Lord has promised,
he said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. He said,
in that day, he said, when it comes our time, and Almighty
God is going to call us home, he said, the dying grace that
God gives his people He said, they'll look at that moment and
they'll say, concerning death, this is what I fear. This is what gave me struggle
all these years. This is it. He said, they will
look at that moment and they'll realize Almighty God gives infinite
mercy and grace. Even in the dying, all things
that work together for good, he said, this is my friend. This
is my friend. Ushered me right out of his place.
No more tears, no more suffering, no more heartaches, eternal joy,
peace, comfort. All men are going to stand before
God Almighty at the judgment seat. That's what Paul the Apostle
said in Romans 14.10. We shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. Believers and unbelievers will
all stand. That's what Paul the Apostle
said. We, or we, shall all stand. Revelation 20.12 says in that
day the books are going to be opened. And all men, the day of it, the
scripture says, will be judged out of the things written in
the books of God's omniscient power and knowledge. Every type
of word. For those outside of Christ,
a book of remembrance. God Almighty said there's a book
of books. All of those things that men
fought, established a righteousness before God for them by their
own works, they're all going to stand up in judgment. Even
the very dust. The scripture says, you go into
a place, told his disciples, men, won't hear what you've got
to say. He said, just knock the dust
off your shoes. It was your witness against him. The dust set us down. Can you
imagine? God said, now, the dust, he said, I was there when they
refused to hear. But those found written in the
book of life himself, acquitted of all things, all stand before
the judgment seat. The books will be opened Those
without the substitute himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll
be judged out of those things written in the books. But those
found written in Christ, he who has eternally stood as the surety
of God's elect, his blood will answer. But those scars, he said, Thomas,
look at my hands. Look at this right here. He was
raised with those scars on his hands. Look at this right here
inside. Put your hand right here. He
came out of the grave with those scars and those scars are there
right now. He's going to answer. Those that stand in him in that
day shall be shown before heaven Hell, that in regenerating grace
by the grace of God, they that in this life passed from spiritual
death to spiritual life, God regenerated them in time. He
kept them by grace and power. And they shall all stand in Him,
standing in Him. The scripture says they shall
not come into condemnation. What's the evidence of life eternal? Here's the evidence of it. He
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, shall not come into condemnation. He passed from death unto life. God has regenerated him in power. May God Almighty bless these
words to the comfort of His people and to the calling out of His
elect. For Christ's sake, amen.