Alright, John chapter 12. Do you know where you were this
time, January the 1st, 2009? We were right here. Did you know that? We were on a thirsty night right
here together. I preached out of Acts, the salvation
of heathens. The last day of the year, the
last day, that's what I want to talk about. The last day of
the year, like the first day of the year, tends to be a day
of reflection and a day of looking ahead. And like the first day
and the last day, a person's first words and their last words
tend to be carry the greatest of all weight." This text here
in John 12 is the last public sermon from the Lord Jesus Christ
to the Jews. This is the last day He would
talk to them publicly, and these are the last words He would preach
to them publicly. And as He speaks these last words
on this last day, He speaks of the word and the last day. Now imagine if this was the last
day. Right here, right now, that Christ
Jesus would speak to you. Would you hear Him? Would you
pay attention and listen? Will you pay attention and listen? He says here in John 12, verse
44, Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth
not on Me, but on him that sent Me. And he that seeth Me, seeth
him that sent Me. I am come a light unto the world,
that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.
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. 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. For I have not spoken of myself,
but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what
I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." The first thing
we see here is the manner in which Christ preached. This Word
declares the importance of believing Him and the Word He speaks. It says here in verse 44, Jesus
cried and said, The Lord Jesus Christ spoke with boldness and
with earnestness. Urgency. Boldness and urgency. The Scriptures say that, Proverbs
says, Doth not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth her
voice? Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth
her voice in the streets. Here's wisdom himself. Here's
understanding personified himself. And He's speaking one message
of the Gospel to everyone that can hear Him, no matter who they
are, what their standing is, what their status is, or who
they are. He's preaching this one message
to them, and He's urging sinners to take heed to this one Word
that's able to save from darkness and death. Now, he spoke this
word in this manner because of who sent him and what these words
meant. He's here speaking as the prophet. This is the prophet that the
Lord told Moses to tell the people. I'm going to raise up unto you
a prophet like Moses, and he's going to tell you all things.
Well, here he stands, and here he stands speaking. And the reason
he spoke like this is because there in verse 49 he says, I've
not spoken of myself. He said, the Father sent me,
He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should
speak. And I know, just like every believing pastor, every
believing preacher knows, he knows, he believes God. The Lord
Jesus Christ said, I know that His commandment, my Father's
commandment is life everlasting. These are the words of eternal
life, He said. And I know they are. Whatsoever
I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak
it." The Lord Jesus trusted His Father who sent Him. He trusted
Him. And just as His ambassadors trust
Christ who sends them. And just as He was not ashamed
of the doctrine of His Father, His ambassadors are not ashamed
of His doctrine. of Christ's doctrine. And get
this now. Be sure you get this. If I thought
God was too weak to save you, then I would present this gospel
to you in such a way that would leave it up to you. That would
leave you dependent to do something or me to do something for you
if I thought it was dependent upon me or you. That's how I'd
present it to you. but because I've seen the glory
of God in the face of Christ Jesus, because I've experienced
the power and wisdom of God in the calling of God who called
me by His grace, I've got to just say what Christ sent me
to say in the words He sent me to say on me. And that's what
He's saying. I came to tell you the words
my Father sent me to tell you. For the Lord God will help me,
therefore shall I not be confounded. The word is a shame. It won't
be. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed, because
I believe him, I know him." So that's the first thing. You know
this word's important by the way he said, the master, the
prophet said, I'm speaking what the Father sent me to speak.
So then that comes to the second point. Believing on Jesus Christ
means that you won't abide in darkness anymore. Now look here
in verse 44. He said, He that believeth on
me believeth not on me, that is, not only on me, but on him
that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him
that sent me. I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
God is light. God is light. And Christ Jesus
is sent forth A light. He's the light of the world.
And He sent forth a light. The light of God. And in God
is no darkness at all. No darkness. Jesus Christ the
man is God the Son. He's equal with the Father in
power and in glory. And He's the light of the world.
And He's sent forth to bear light. Three things these scriptures
teach us from cover to cover. This is the law of God. This
is the Word of God right here. Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of perfection that God requires of those that He gave to His
Son. He requires a perfect nature.
Jesus Christ is that one. He's the righteousness of the
perfection that God requires. Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of the perfect fidelity, the faithfulness that God requires
of all those he put in Christ. He's the perfect faithful one. And you got to be perfectly faithful
to come into God's presence. And Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of the law. The righteousness of the law
is the righteousness of mercy, and love, and longsuffering,
and compassion, and all in perfect harmony with God's justice. That's
why you and me can't do it. That's the righteousness of the
law. And Christ Jesus not only fulfilled that righteousness
by laying down his life out of love for God and love for his
brethren, and at the same while, while he's doing it, perfectly
fulfilling the righteousness of the law, perfect love for
God, perfect love for his brethren, perfect self-denial of himself
before God and perfect self-denial of himself before his brethren.
with no respect of perfectly desiring for two opposing parties
to be made one even if it cost him his life. You can't do that. That's the righteousness of the
law. That's perfect love. That's perfect faith. That's
perfect long-suffering. Perfect patience. Perfect trust. Perfect mercy. Perfect long-suffering. Perfect justice. All done and
perfectly holy. That's him. And that's what you
got to have to enter into God's presence. And this perfection
and this fidelity, this holy righteousness is the very glory
of who God is. And when God makes you to see
Christ, when you're made by the Spirit to see Christ, the glory
of God in the face of Christ Jesus, it's like looking into
the sun in the middle of high noon. You're going to see light
when you see Him. Because in Him there's no darkness.
No darkness. He's the brightness of God's
glory. The express image of His purpose. Upholding all things by the word
of His power. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Father. And when
you see Him, you're going to have light. You'll have light. And when you're given faith to
believe on Christ, to see Christ with the eye of faith, it's impossible
not to have this light. Many saw Him. Many saw Him with
the natural eye and claimed to believe on Him. Many heard Him,
many believed Him with the natural mind, but they manifest they
didn't have the light. You know how? They wouldn't speak
of Him. plainly in public. They wouldn't do it. Look up
at verse 42. Among the chief rulers, also
many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess, lest they should be put out of the synagogue,
for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. They didn't have the light. They
professed they did, but they really didn't. Why? How do you
know that, Clay? How do you know that for sure?
Because he says, whosoever believeth on me shall not abide in darkness. You're not going to hide away
in a corner. You're not going to hide it away in darkness if
you know this one. You're going to say you know
him and you trust him and you believe him. Why? Because you
know him, you trust him, and you believe him. That's why. You know, if I was to walk out
here tonight, just walk out the doors out here, and I start to
walk along, and I said, man, look at how that sun's shining.
And I described the sun to you, and I described everything it
looked like and everything about it just the way it is. Just the
way it is. You'd still know. He's blind
as a bat. It's dark all around us. It would
be absurd for me to say I'm walking in light when I'm in darkness.
It would be absurd for somebody to say that we walk in darkness
when we're in the light of the sun. We can't walk in darkness
and be in Christ. We can't be in darkness, abide
in darkness, live in darkness, stay in darkness when we're in
Him. When God gives faith, there's
not a remote possibility that you're going to do anything other
than bow and confess Christ. Not a possibility. You're not
going to debate anymore about who He is. You're not going to
compromise anymore about who He is. You're going to proclaim
Look, I might not know all the ins and outs that you know, but
I know this, Christ is the eternal righteousness that I have to
have to enter into glory, into God's presence, and I trust Him
completely. I'm not adding, God won't accept
anything but Christ Jesus, anything more, and He certainly won't
accept anything less than His Son, and He's the only one I'm
trusting in. And everyone who's ever seen
this light of God in the face of Christ Jesus, that's what
they've done. They've bowed to Him. Go through
scriptures and search. Everyone that's seen this glory
in the face of Christ Jesus, bow to Him and worship Him. Every
one of them. What a comfort for the believer.
Isn't that an assurance for you who trust him? You won't abide
in darkness. He says in another place, he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. That's more sure than thinking
that the sun, the S-U-N, is going to come up tomorrow. That's a
more sure word than if I stood here and said, tomorrow you'll
have the light of the S-U-N. You might not. You might not. But this one, when he says you
shall have the light, you shall have the light of life. Now,
he said this word with boldness and with urgency because these
words are eternal life. And then secondly, he said that
faith in him means no darkness. Believing on Christ, we believe
God. We see Christ. We see God. We'll have perpetual
light. You have God in Christ. Now,
here's the third thing. Christ is not the reason some
of you are sitting here under condemnation. Not at all. 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. He's saying,
I don't condemn him. I'm not going to condemn him.
Because I didn't come here at this time to condemn man, I came
here to save man. But now here's, listen. He that
rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth
him. The word that I've spoken. the
same shall judge him in the last day." The Word of God doesn't
allow any neutral ground. None. None at all. Either you
believe on Christ, that He is the very person and righteousness
that God requires of you, that God will take nothing less than
perfect nature, perfect faithfulness, and the righteousness of His
Son. Or, you reject Christ and you will not receive His words.
There's no middle ground. No middle ground. You don't receive His words to
be true, you're yet attempting to come another way. To come
some other way to God. Or, you're attempting to come
with Christ plus something of your own holiness. Only the Word of Truth, only
the Word of Truth can sanctify us. Listen to me, only the Word
of Truth can sanctify a believer from adding his own holiness
to the holiness of Christ. That's what we gotta be sanctified
from, from adding our own holiness to Him who is perfectly holy.
We gotta be sanctified from that. But, now, he says here, but you
who don't believe, everyone who does not believe, Christ is not
the reason you're under condemnation. He said, I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. Look at John chapter 3. John
chapter 3, verse 17. God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world. That's not why He sent. That's
the same word, judge. He said, I didn't come to condemn
the world. He didn't send His Son to condemn
the world, but that the world And anytime you see this word,
world, you got to remember the Jews only thought the Jews were
the elect of God. They only thought they were the
chosen children of God. When the Lord Jesus is speaking
to Nicodemus, a master in Israel, a teacher in Israel, who thought
the elect were just in the nation of Israel, period. And the Lord
Jesus is saying, no, I have an elect people. Salvation is by
grace, no doubt about that, but it is among Jew and Gentile. And so he uses this word, world. That's what the Jews considered
the world to be outside of their realm, the Gentiles. And he said,
I came to save and elect chosen people among Jew and Gentile.
But now, let's stick with the thing we're looking at. But he
says, he that believeth on Christ is not condemned. But he that
believeth not, he's condemned already. He's condemned already
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. Every sinner was condemned when
Christ came. We were condemned when Christ
came. You were condemned before you ever began to hear the word
of truth. And the proof of it is, is when Christ the truth
came in person, we wouldn't receive Him, we wouldn't hear Him, we
wouldn't believe Him. It's proof of the condemnation. Now look
here in John 3.19. Listen to the Lord Jesus Christ
define the condemnation. Here's the condemnation. Here
it is. Here's the evil. Now listen to this. This is the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking. This is the evil you are doing
right now who don't trust Christ. And here's how you do it. Verse
19. This is the condemnation. Here it is. That light is coming
to the world. And men loved darkness rather
than light. Because their deeds were evil.
For everyone that doeth evil, here's how he does it now. Everyone
that doeth evil, here's how it's done. He hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light. Why not? Lest his deeds should
be reproved. Hold your place here. Get this
now, be sure you get this. All men do what their nature
determines they will do. That's what Christ is teaching
in the context of John chapter 3. Nicodemus was a master. If you saw him walk around in
all his masterly garb that he wore, you would say, now that's
got to be a holy man right there. And the Lord is meeting him and
saying, you've got all the outward evidence of somebody that knows
God, but you don't know anything. This is evil. Everything you're
doing is evil. You don't know God. You can't
see God until God gives you a new nature. You got to be born of
God. You can't see him till then. And so the natural man is conceived
with an evil nature. We saw this last time. And so
therefore he does evil. That's what he does is evil.
This is the evil. He hates Christ alike. That's the evil. He hates Christ
alike. He won't come to Christ alike.
That's the evil. Because he doesn't want his deeds,
his very being, he doesn't want what he is to be revealed. Because what our deeds are, it
comes from what we are in the heart, in nature, in conception,
evil. He don't want his deeds to be
reproved as being evil. And the reason he doesn't want
that, the confusion and the shame of sin won't allow him to admit
he's a sinner. The confusion and the shame of
sin convinces him he's made himself something God will receive. And deep down, deep down, the
self-made, self-righteous man knows his refuge is all a refuge
of lies. He knows it because he doesn't
have peace. He's always having to do something
else to try to patch it up. He's always having to work and
toilsome and tiresome trying to do something to keep up the
facade of righteousness to fool himself, to soothe his own conscience,
to make up for last night and the day before and the day before.
He's got to do something new today and tomorrow and the next
day to keep. And it's just a never-ending
treadmill and tiresome, heavy, burdensome, evil, binding burden
on him constantly. But the confusion of shame and
sin makes it so. He loves that burden and he hates
Christ. With just a look, that whole burden would be gone. But he will not, he cannot say,
I need some help. I need a savior. He's too proud,
he's too arrogant, he can't do it. And that's the condemnation. And the reason that this word
is going to be the judge is because the word went forth clearly,
simply, truthfully, plainly, and you would not receive it.
And it shows the proof. You're condemned. You're condemned. But now look at this. Listen
to what it is to do truth, verse 21. What do you think? Before we read this, what comes
to mind when you hear doing truth? Is it a wide, broad spectrum
of things that you think of and your mind kind of runs through
the fields of all things religious and all things that you've heard
and seen and been taught that sounds real good to you? Let's narrow it down. Let's narrow
it down to what God says it is. Okay? Let's narrow it. And this
is Christ Jesus speaking. This is Him talking. Let's narrow
it down to what He says it is. Verse 21. He that doeth truth
cometh to light. Why? Who's the light? He said,
I'm the light. That's what our text says. He
said, I'm the light. He that does truth, how does he do it?
He comes to the light. He that does evil, how does he
do it? He won't come to the light. He that does truth comes to the
light. Why? That his deeds may be made known. He that does evil won't come
to the light because he don't want his deeds reproved. This
one that does truth comes, he wants his deeds to be made known.
What is that? That they're worked in God. The evil man won't come because
he don't want to find out that all the works that he's worked
in himself are evil. The man that does truth comes
to Christ the light because he wants God in everybody. to know that he's trusting that
all his works have been worked in God, in Christ Jesus the righteous. He's regenerated, he's got a
new nature, he's been born of incorruptible seed now, not corrupted
seed of his earthly father. but of God the Father, of the
everlasting Father, Christ Jesus the second Adam. He'd been born
of the incorruptible Word, the incorruptible seed, and he's
one with Christ the truth. And because he's one with Christ
the truth, he does the truth. Every man does what his nature
is. You ever seen a chicken? You
ever seen a deer go out and eat roadkill? You ever seen a buzzard
go out and graze grass like a deer? They do what their nature is.
And until God puts a new nature in you, you're going to do what
your nature is. But once he's put this nature
in, the conscience is purged and the sinner is freed in liberty. He's given faith, he's given
repentance, he's made a rejoice in Christ and he's ashamed now
of those fig leaves that he thought was righteousness and that God
would accept. He's ashamed of it and now he
rejoices in Christ Jesus the Lord. And now he can say to everybody,
I want everybody to know My works are wrought in God. What do you
mean by that? I mean God was in Christ reconciling
me to God. Not imputing my trespasses unto
me. He's made Him sin for me who
knew no sin that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Not me. I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. I've been born
of him, he abides in me, and I abide in him, we're one. In
the life that I now live, I live by his fidelity. I live because
He was the holiness and the righteousness and the perfection that God demands
because of who He is. I've seen who He is and I saw
Him in Christ. And I live by His faith, by His
faith, by His faith. The faith of Him who loved me
and gave Himself for me. That's where my works are wrought,
in Him. and I don't frustrate the grace
of God anymore. I used to. When I wouldn't come
to the light, when I loved that binding bondage and tormenting
hell that I was in, I wouldn't come to Him because I didn't
want those things that I hated myself and hated in religion
and hated in all men religious. I hated myself in them. I didn't
like to be around religious people. They're just a bunch of haughty,
stuck-up, arrogant, holier-than-thou people, and I hated it in them,
but I was just like them. I was just like them because
I didn't want to have a thing in the world to do with Christ.
I didn't want to say my deeds were evil. I didn't want anybody
knowing my deeds were evil. I was just like them, and I hated
them, and be honest, they hated me too. All we said, arm in arm
in the pew and buttered, rubbed shoulders and acted like we loved
one another and walked off saying, I can't stand that old crotchety.
That's exactly what we thought in our heart. Until God opened
our eyes and made us to see Christ Jesus the righteous. And then
we said now, I don't frustrate to His grace anymore because
if righteousness come by the law, that is, if righteousness,
acceptance total completely from beginning to end, acceptance
with God comes by anything I've done, Christ Jesus the Lord God
Almighty died in vain. You ready to meet God and for
His Word to say, It's not my son's fault. It's
not the preacher's fault. I sent my messenger. I sent my
son. I sent my prophets. I gave my
word. He declared it. His ambassadors
declared it. It's set forth plainly. The reason
you wouldn't believe is because you counted the blood of my son
to be vanity. That's what we say when we won't
believe Him and receive His words. Vanity. Vanity. That's what we're saying to God.
But those that have been born of Him and have come into this
liberty, look at Romans 8. Look at Romans 8 with me. Oh, this shows you. This shows
you just how thoroughly, completely, Upside down and ignorant we are
in sin until God makes Christ our light right here because
we hear all this and we're going to hang on to Something that
we did that's holiness that we can add to what Christ did and
that's gonna keep us out of God's presence And it's going to keep
us toiling and running and striving and doing and never having enough
because we just won't trust Christ. And here's how insane it is that
we'll hang on to that little shred of something and never
have this peace. Because when you just let go
of everything else and just cast all your care A to Z, beginning
to end, thought, word, deed, nature, perfection, everything
God requires into the hands of Christ and say, I am totally
and thoroughly trusting you alone. All the burden, all the burden
is off you. All the rest is off you. And
here's the insanity that we're in. This is what Christ is telling
us is the commandment of God. And we won't do it. But those
who have, by His grace, look, verse 1, there is therefore now
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. That's not something
you strive to do. That's what you're going to do
if the Spirit enters into you. He says later, you're not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Christ
dwells in you. You're going to walk after the
Spirit. Why? Because the law of the Spirit,
this is the law of life, the law of liberty, the perfection
of holiness. This is the law. This is the
new birth. The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
It freed me. For what the law couldn't do,
nothing wrong with it, but it was weak through the flesh, through
me, I couldn't do it. So God sent His own Son in the
likeness of my sinful flesh, and for my sin, He condemned
sin in the flesh, in His flesh, that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. No condemnation. It's gone. Scott and I were talking about
this the other day. You know, in the garden, when
God gave Adam one law, and you know what's amazing? I looked
at the notes that I preached January the 1st, 2009, and I
said this very thing that me and you were talking about just
the other night in those notes. But it's basically this. Before
Adam fell in the garden, When God gave that one law, not to
take of the fruit, Adam wasn't under that law. That law wasn't
Adam's rule of life. That law had nothing to do with
Adam. Because Adam was made upright, he was made in righteousness.
Adam's rule was his law. Adam's ruler was God. He walked
with God and he talked with God in the garden. When he came under
the law is when he disobeyed God because beforehand the law
had nothing to say to him because the law wasn't made for a righteous
man. But then when he broke it, he went under the law. And then
when God gave 615 some odd laws to Moses, it was to show the
great, great offense to God in the breaking of that one law
in the garden. So that you won't dare think
there's any possibility that you can make amends, atonement,
satisfaction, bring yourself back into God by anything of
that law. And when Christ comes and He
gives you liberty, you know what He does? He brings you right
back to where Adam was before he ever sinned in the garden.
Now that law has nothing whatsoever to say to you. because you're
walking with God and you're talking with Christ who is your rule
of life, but you got something even better than what Adam had
because he's eternal God who came and wrought this work on
your behalf. You can't ever fall now. You
shall have the light and you shall have it forever. Isn't
that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Now we
learn from that law. We can look at it and learn what
we are by nature. We can look at it and see, on
the flip side of how horrible we are, we can look at it and
see how righteous our God is. That He fulfilled it in every
dot, every dash, every comma, period, and punctuation mark.
He fulfilled the whole thing. But if we think that we're going
to use that to somehow make ourselves better than what Christ makes
his people, that one thought or act or deed of righteousness
that we're holding on to and putting confidence in, that one
little thing is too wide and too broad for you to get in the
narrow way and the straight gate. You can't get in with that righteousness. That's what you're going to have
to be saved from, is that righteousness. Now, he says, the word I've spoken
to you. Back in John 12. John 12. He
said, the word I've spoken, this is the word that's going to judge
you in the last day. And here's why. If you meet God
in that last day, not believing on Christ alone, Your refusal
to receive His Word will be the clarion proof in that last day
that you are the reason for your own condemnation. You love light
and you hate it. You love darkness and you hated
light. That's how His Word will judge
you. Here was light and you loved
darkness and hated light. That's what it's going to say.
And here's just as when you believe Christ, and you seek Christ,
and you trust Christ, and it's all the more great because when
you see Him, you see the Father. When you believe on Him, you
believe the Father. Well, just on the flip side of
that, it's going to be all the more greater condemnation because
when you rejected Him, you rejected the Father. When you rejected
His Word, you rejected the Father's Word. Read verse 49. That's what
he says. For I have not spoken of myself,
but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what
I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. That's why it's
going to be all the more condemning. That's why it's all the more
glorious when we believe Him, but it's why it's all the more
condemning when we don't. Now let me apply this. We're here
in the last few hours. The last day of 2009. This is where we were, January
1st, 2009. Same time we were right here.
Now here we are the last day, December 31st, 2009. We started
this year here and we're ending it here. Now all year, you've
had Christ's words readily available to you. We've met here two times a week,
somewhere around 104 times that we've met here. The Scriptures
have been read by these men for your hearing. The Scriptures,
the Word of God, multiple times every time we meet. Around 155
sermons have gone forth from this pulpit right here. And there's been time for you
to search His Word at home, wherever you are, to seek His face. between that first day and this
last day. Have you used it wisely? From
the first day of this year until this one, have you heard the
Lord Jesus Christ speak? Have you believed on Him? Have
you received His words? Or have you rejected Christ and
not received His words? For you who don't believe, Christ
has suffered long with your rejection of Him for 364 days and about
20 hours this year. Today is Thursday, December 31,
2009, the last day. Now, what if this was the last
day? And I'm not trying to scare you,
but what I am doing is this. I want you to realize we don't
have any guarantee in this life of when the last day will be. For us personally, we don't have
any guarantee of when our last day will be, the last day of
our lives. I was speaking with the kids this week, and I mentioned
to them about how that we need to go down and take a walk in
the cemetery, just to open up your eyes to this, just to see
this, to get in touch with your own mortality and see. You'll
see a lot of graves there that are five feet to six feet long. But you'll also find plenty of
graves there that are a foot long, two foot long, three foot
long, four feet long, five feet long, all different sizes. I know that His commandment is
life everlasting. I know that His commandment is
life everlasting. I know that His commandment is
life everlasting. This is the record. This is the
commandment. This is the word. This is the
word from cover to cover. This is the word. This is the
record. God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. Give yourselves to the words
which Christ speaks. These are the words of eternal
life. These are the words that will
point you to Christ. These are the words whereby the
Father teaches you of Christ, draws you to Christ, makes you
alive in Christ through the Holy Spirit. These are the words. I would look into these words
because if you want to meet God in the law, you're going to have
to be a mighty good lawyer. And you need to search long and
hard to at least find your loophole. To at least, because this is
the word that's going to judge you right here. This is the word. If I knew the play that my opponent
was running, I'd study that play, wouldn't you? Well, this is going to be the
play that your opponent is going to use when you come into his
presence outside of his son. I'd study it and learn it inside
and out. Maybe, as you do so, God will
give you grace to see the light. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look
full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. We're all looking forward to
tomorrow. And if tomorrow comes, it'll be a new day, a new year, all new things. as far as this
life is concerned. But, if he doesn't come, if tomorrow
doesn't come, everything's gonna be new tomorrow. All things are
gonna be new tomorrow. Everything. Study this word. Give yourself
to this word. as if this is the last day and
the last time Christ will speak to you. This was the last day
and the last time that Christ spoke to them in John 12, in
our text. Give yourself to it like this
is the last day, the last words that He'll speak. Can you? Can you? Make yourself. Make yourself
at least look into it, look into it and see what he said.