IF YOU TAKE YOUR BIBLES NOW AND
TURN WITH ME TO HEBREWS, HEBREWS CHAPTER 11, HEBREWS CHAPTER 11. I INITIALLY
WAS GOING TO TRY TO TACKLE HEBREWS CHAPTER 11, VERSE 8 AND VERSE
9, BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE I'M GOING TO TRY THAT TODAY. I THINK WE'LL
JUST STICK TO VERSE 8, BUT WE'LL READ BOTH
OF THEM TOGETHER. THE SCRIPTURE SAYS THIS, BY FAITH,
ABRAHAM, WHEN HE WAS CALLED, NOTICE HE BY FAITH ONLY AFTER
WHAT? HE WAS CALLED. ABRAHAM HAD NO
FAITH BEFORE HE WAS CALLED, BUT WHEN HE WAS CALLED BY FAITH,
ABRAHAM, WHEN HE WAS CALLED TO GO OUT INTO A PLACE WHICH HE
SHOULD AFTER RECEIVE FOR AN INHERITANCE. WHAT DID HE DO? OBEYED. THERE'S THE CALLING. THE CALLING IS TO FAITH, AND
FAITH IS ALWAYS RESULTS IN WHAT? OBEDIENCE. OBEDIENCE. HE OBEYED. AND HE WENT OUT not
knowing whither he went. And notice verse 9, and as he
went, how did he go? By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country. DWELLING IN TABERNACLES
WITH ISAAC AND JACOB, THE HEIRS WITH HIM OF THE SAME PROMISE. FOR HE LOOKED, NOW HERE'S THE
OBJECT OF HIS FAITH, HE LOOKED FOR A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS. WHO IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE
CHURCH? IS JESUS CHRIST. HE LOOKED TO
CHRIST, WHO IS THE FOUNDATION OF THIS CITY, WHICH HAS FOUNDATIONS,
WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD. NOW, THE APOSTLE IN THIS CHAPTER
LAYS OUT FOR US IN ALL THESE TYPES. HE USES ABEL AND ENOCH
AND NOAH AND NOW ABRAHAM AS A TYPE OF ALL TRUE FAITH. EVERYONE WHO
HAS TRUE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST WILL FIT INTO THESE TYPES. In other words, he takes faith
of Abel, and he looks at that faith. And then he takes the
faith of Enoch, and he turns it, and he looks at it a different
way. And he takes the faith of Noah, and he turns at it, and
he looks at it a different way. And it's like you take a gem,
and you hold a gem to the light, and you see a certain color,
and you turn the gem, and you, what, see another color, you
see another side of it. And that's exactly what the apostle
doing is showing us all the aspects of faith. Now, in this particular
instance, he is showing us the calling of faith, the calling
of faith, the obedience of faith, WHAT IT IS TO SOJOURN IN THIS
WORLD BY FAITH. BY FAITH. AND SO THAT'S WHAT
WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, I BELIEVE, NEXT COUPLE OF MESSAGES. I WANT
TO DEAL WITH THIS IN TARD. SO I'M JUST GONNA DEAL WITH THIS.
I'M GONNA TITLE THIS MESSAGE, THE CALLING AND OBEDIENCE OF
TRUE FAITH. CALLING AND OBEDIENCE OF TRUE
FAITH. NOW, THE APOSTLE LAYS OUT FOR US THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF ALL TRUE FAITH. THAT BY FAITH, ABRAHAM,
WHEN HE WAS CALLED, HE SAID HE WAS CALLED TO GO OUT INTO A PLACE
THAT HE SHOULD RECEIVE AS AN INHERITANCE. NOW, THIS CALLING
OF ABRAHAM WAS NOT ACCORDING TO THE MERITS OF ABRAHAM. The
calling of God for Abraham to go out of Ur the Chaldees into
the land of Canaan was not based on his marriage. It was not based
on his knowledge of God. In fact, Abraham was not seeking
God when God called him. Abraham was a 75-year-old pagan. He WAS A WORSHIPER OF FALSE GODS
FOR 75 YEARS. HE WORSHIPED FALSE DEITIES. UNTIL WHEN? UNTIL ONE DAY IN
GENESIS 12, GOD SPOKE TO ABRAHAM. HE SAID, GET YOU OUT FROM AMONG
YOUR KINDRED AND GO INTO A LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU AND I WILL
BLESS YOU. I will bless you. I will bless them that bless
you and curse them that curse you. God called him. And this word of God, now the
word of God is very clear concerning the calling of every true believer. Every true believer. There is
no merit in those that are called. Anyone who is called by God has
no merit, no wisdom. And I love the way the Word of
God makes this very clear. That no man will ever seek after
God by nature. That's very clear. Matter of
fact, go to Romans chapter three. Now there's a reason we use Romans
chapter three quite often. Because Romans chapter three
is a conglomeration of multiple Old Testament scriptures. Romans
chapter 3 and verse 10, Paul begins this and he says, as it
is written. He is quoting from Old Testament
sources. And instead of turning to three
or four or five different Old Testament scriptures, I'm just
going to quote this one. Saves me a little time. He condenses
it down into these. But if you were to look in Psalm
14 and Psalm 53, if you were to look in Psalm 5 and Psalm
10, then you would see all of these scriptures that he's quoting
here. And this is what the scripture
says. There is none righteous. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. In fact, that scripture right
there is mentioned in two different Psalms. Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. And now again in Romans chapter
three, three times. That's a perfect number. because
man is perfectly fallen, totally depraved. There's none that seeketh
after God. There's none that understands
anything spiritually. He is depraved. He does not understand
the holiness of God, nor the salvation of God, nor does he
seek after it. The depravity of man is so great
that if the gospel of Christ were preached ever so plainly,
That's always my desire, is that Christ be set before you so that
nobody could misunderstand what I'm saying. I want to be as simple
and plain as I possibly can, but no matter how plain we are, if the evidence is irrefutable,
the argument is so sound, if the call be so earnest and full
of zeal and love, has to plead with sinners, and we do. We plead. Do you not plead with those that
are lost? If you don't, you should. We should have a zeal for the lost. Let the world be drowned with
our tears, though, and the sound of pleading be ever so earnest,
unless God calls the sinner. Except God draws the sinner by
the power of the Holy Spirit, that sinner will never come to
Christ. Never, never, ever. This is how ruined man is. If he were to live a million
years and only hear the gospel every day, he will never come
except God draw him. Never. See the words of your Lord Jesus
Christ in John chapter 6. John chapter 6 and look at verse
44. See that this is not the word
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The same word I'm telling you
is that no man can come to Christ. No man has the ability to seek
God. No man does seek God. Christ speaks of man's ability
in verse 44. Now listen, this is the most
hated gospel in the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ fed 5,000
men, besides women and children, that day. They wanted to make
Him king, and after He preached this message, they all left.
This is the most hated message there is, because it is the most
man-abasing message, and it is the message of Christ. Listen
to what He says in verse 44. Our Lord Jesus says this, COME UNTO ME." Anybody misunderstand that? Is
it possible you don't understand what He's saying? No man can,
has the ability to come. He didn't say no man may. He
didn't say no man might. It says no man can come unto
me except, this is good, this is great, except, there is an
exception, a divine exception, except the Father which has sent
me do what? Draw him, draw him. And listen, anybody the Father
draws, this is what Christ said, I will raise him up again at
the last day. I will raise him up again the
last day, as it is written in the prophets, they shall all
be taught of God. And every man that hath heard
and hath learned of the Father cometh to me. So those that are
drawn, they are what? Taught. What are you taught? You are taught you cannot come
to Christ. That's the first thing you're
taught. That's the first thing you're taught, is that you have
no ability to save yourself. When God teaches a man, that's
the first thing he has to know. He has to know his depravity,
he has to know his nature. If you don't know your nature,
you're still going to try to earn God's favor. But when you're
taught of God, when you're drawn of God, this is what draws you,
your inability, and then you learn of something else. You
learn of Christ's victory. You learn of Christ's success
in accomplishing what you cannot accomplish yourself. How did you learn this? Well,
you heard it, didn't you? You heard it. He said, they that
have heard and have learned. You learn and hear through the
preaching of the gospel. And what do you do? you come
to Christ. Those that have been drawn, those
that have been taught, those that have learned of their inability
and learned of Christ's victory, what do we do? We come to Christ
by faith. We believe on Christ. He says, Not that any man hath
seen the Father, save he which is of God. He hath seen the Father,
speaking of himself. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. So what is
one drawn, one taught, one heard, one learned? What do we do? We
come to Christ and we believe. I like that believeth, very important
word. It is a continual, perpetual
faith. We constantly, continually believe. And those that constantly, continually
believe have what? Everlasting life. What do we
believe? I am the bread of life. That's what we believe. When
a man is taught of God, he's now speaking of the illustration
of the manna. We understand our hunger. If a man is dead, is he hungry?
A dead man is not hungry. You can
present all the wonderful foods of the world to him. He won't
eat it. He's dead. But once he is made alive, I
bet you this, he's hungry. What do you think? He's hungry. When God makes us alive, we're
hungry. And what's the only bread we want? The bread of life. I
only want Christ. I only want to feed on Christ.
And what is it to feed on him? He said, I'm the bread of life.
Your fathers did eat man in the wilderness and are dead. This
is the bread which come down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he said, if any man, I'm sorry, came 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 will give
him is my flesh. He's speaking of his death. You
see what we believe? We believe he came down from
heaven. He is God manifest in the flesh. And we believe that
his death, his blood cleanses us from all sin. WE BELIEVE THAT
HIS BLOOD JUSTIFIES US BEFORE GOD. THAT'S WHAT WE BELIEVE.
AND WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS BELIEF? WE CONSTANTLY FEED ON IT. IT
CONSTANTLY NOURISHES US. IT CONSTANTLY REFRESHES OUR SOULS. I'M REFRESHED THIS MORNING THAT
MY SINS ARE GONE. THIS MORNING I WAS DOWN. MY SINS
SEEMED TO WEIGH DOWN MY HEART. BUT I KNOW THIS BY FAITH, THEY'RE
GONE. CHRIST HAS PAID THE DEBT OF MY
SIN. HE HAS REMOVED MY SIN FROM ME.
AND WE CONSTANTLY DO THIS. SO, WE SEE THIS THEN THAT NO
MAN HAS THE ABILITY EXCEPT GOD DRAW HIM, EXCEPT GOD TEACH HIM,
AND TEACH HIM THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, AND HE IS TAUGHT OF GOD. HE WILL
BELIEVE THAT CHRIST IS THE GOD-MAN, MEDIATOR, THE REPRESENTATIVE
OF ALL THAT THE FATHER GAVE HIM. AND ALL THAT COME TO HIM WE HAVE
EVERLASTING LIFE. HOW IS IT YOU HAVE EVERLASTING
LIFE? YOU ARE DRAWN AND TAUGHT OF GOD BY DIVINE REVELATION. PEOPLE VIEW FAITH AS SOMETHING,
NOTHING MORE THAN A MERE DECISION. WE KNOW FAITH IS MUCH MORE THAN
AN ACT OF WILL. WE KNOW THIS, FAITH COMES BY It comes by the power of God
to resurrect the spirit of a man to life, and we call upon God. Have you been called of God?
Have you been taught of God? The apostle plainly tells us
the means BY WHICH IS CHOSEN OR CALLED, AND THAT IS THROUGH
THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. IF ANY MAN IS GOING TO BE CALLED
OF GOD, IT IS THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, THROUGH THE PREACHING
OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD. GO TO ROMANS CHAPTER 10 AND SEE
THIS. STILL TALKING ABOUT THE CALLING OF GOD. WE KNOW A MAN
CANNOT COME TO GOD. HE WON'T COME TO GOD EXCEPT GOD
WHAT? CALL HIM. AND CALLING INVOLVES THIS DRAWING,
THIS REGENERATION. BUT HE ALWAYS DOES IT THROUGH
PREACHING. LOOK AT ROMANS 10 AND VERSE 13. AND THIS IS OUR
MESSAGE THIS MORNING. THIS IS MY MESSAGE TO ANYONE
WHO IS LOST. ANYONE WHO IS LOST, LISTEN TO
THIS WONDERFUL MESSAGE. FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON
THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. THAT'S BEAUTIFUL, INNIT? I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU'VE BEEN,
DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE. YOU SHALL BE SAVED. YOU SHALL
BE SAVED. BUT THEN HE BEGINS TO ASK HOW
IN THE WORLD THAT HAPPENS. HE SAYS, MAN IS DEPRAVED. HOW
IN THE WORLD ARE YOU EVER GOING TO CALL ON HIM? THAT'S IMPORTANT
TO KNOW, ISN'T IT? HOW IS A MAN GOING TO BE CALLED?
WELL, HE SAYS, WELL, HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU GOING TO CALL ON
HIM IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN HIM? YOU AIN'T GOING TO CALL ON NOBODY
YOU DON'T BELIEVE. SO YOU NEED WHAT? YOU NEED FAITH. FAITH COMES
WHERE? FOR BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED THROUGH
FAITH AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES. IT IS A GIFT OF GOD. FAITH IS
A GIFT OF GOD AND NOT OF WORKS. WHY? YOU WOULD BRAG ABOUT IT
LIKE ARMENIAN RELIGION DOES. YOU'D BRAG. YOU'D BOAST. YOU'D
SAY, WELL, MAN, I DID. WHAT ABOUT YOU? NO, YOU DIDN'T. FAITH COMES BY GRACE OF GOD.
BUT HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CALL ON SOMEBODY YOU DON'T BELIEVE
IN? HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE ON HIM Is that possible? Believe on
somebody you don't know? Man by nature don't know God.
How in the world are you going to call on a God he doesn't know?
I was thinking this this week,
J.D. Farmer, He's now with the Lord. And he came into our building
that one Wednesday night. He was 66 years old. And at the
end of that message, I preached the message, Christ Our Shepherd,
I Am the Good Shepherd. And you know at the end of that
message he came to me and he said, you know what, I heard
my shepherd's voice. He said, I know I didn't hear him audibly,
but you were preaching. I didn't listen to you. I heard
him. THAT NIGHT THAT MAN'S LIFE COULD
CHANGE DRAMATICALLY. BUT OVER A PERIOD OF WEEKS AND
MONTHS, HE KEPT COMING AND LISTENING. AND HE CAME TO MY OFFICE ONE
DAY AND HE SAID, PREACHER, I'M UPSET. HE WAS VERY ANGRY WITH
ME. HE SAID, I DON'T...IF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS TRUE, THEN BEFORE
I CAME INTO THIS CHURCH, BEFORE I HEARD YOU PREACH, I WAS LOST. And I said, well, JD, I didn't
say you were lost. I don't know. I couldn't look
at your heart right now and tell you you're saved. But I know
this, did you hear the gospel before you came into this place? Well, how in the world are you
going to believe on a Christ you never heard? You can't. Impossible. How shall you believe
on them if you have not heard? And listen, how are you going
to hear without a preacher? Well, who are these preachers? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Preachers are sent of God with one purpose, to preach
Christ. Only, always, TO PREACH THE GOSPEL THAT ABASES
YOU AND EXALTS HIM. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE CALLED TO DO. AND IT SAYS THIS, AS IT IS WRITTEN,
HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEAT OF THEM THAT PREACH THE GOSPEL OF
PEACE AND BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS. BUT WHAT'S THE RESULT OF OUR
PREACHING, PAUL? WE SEE THE NECESSITY OF IT, SEE
IT'S THE MEANS GOD CHOSE, LOOK AT THE RESULT. THEY HAVE NOT
ALL OBEYED THE GOSPEL. FOR ISAIAH SAID, LORD, WHO HATH
BELIEVED, I REPORT. HERE'S THE CONCLUSION. SO THEN
FAITH COMETH BY WHAT? HEARING. AND HEARING NOT BY JUST
ANYTHING, BUT WHAT? THE WORD OF GOD. I DON'T CARE
WHAT MEN SAY. I JUST DON'T. I got a lot of
good books by a lot of good men, and some of the things they say
are horrible. I don't care who they are. If it doesn't fit with
God's Word, it's gone. I don't need it. I don't want
it. And if I say anything that doesn't fit with God's Word,
you don't need it. You shouldn't want it. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by what? The Word of God. But I say, have they not heard?
Listen, have you not all heard? Anybody that's listening to me,
have you missed this? Have you not all heard? Everybody
hears this. Hopefully everybody understands
what I'm saying. Well, yeah, they heard. Their
sound went throughout all the earth, and their words to the
ends of the world. THIS GOSPEL SOUND HAS AND DOES
GO OUT THROUGH ALL THE EARTH. OUR WORDS GO TO THE END OF THE
WORLD. AND THEY HEAR OUR GOSPEL. WHOSOEVER
SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. AND OUR WORD IS NOT JUST ANY
NAME. WHEN I SAY WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL
UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD, IT'S NOT JUST ANY NAME. It's not anyone
who takes the name of Jesus and calls themselves Christ. But
if you call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, it must be the Christ
that is revealed in this book. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. What is the sum of this book?
What's the sum of it? What's the whole of it? Is it
just here to tell you how to live? No. It's all about Christ. It's all about Him. Search the
scriptures, Jesus said, in them you think you have eternal life.
They are they that testify of me. It's all about Him. So when we preach the word, we
say this, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Now,
who is he? I said a blind man. Remember
the blind man? He said, if you should believe on the son. And he said, Lord, who is he
that I might believe? He said, you're looking at him.
You're looking at Him. We preach Christ, the one revealed
and testified by the prophets and the apostles who received
their word from God, the Holy Spirit, and were eyewitnesses
of His person, His work as He fulfilled all the scriptures.
We don't listen to popes or historians. That's not how faith comes. How
many millions of dollars are being spent by so-called Christians
trying to prove God created the world? Men already know that. Don't
waste your time on that. That's a foolish errand. So what
if they say, okay, God created the world? Are they saved? Devils know God created the world.
WHAT MUST THEY BELIEVE? THEY MUST BELIEVE ON JESUS CHRIST
AS HE IS REVEALED IN THIS BOOK. NOT AS HOW MEN THINK HE IS, NOT
AS HOW MEN FEEL HE IS, BUT AS HE IS. WE MUST BELIEVE ON HIM. WHEN YOU ARE CALLED TO FAITH,
IT MUST BE FAITH IN CHRIST. SO MANY ARE CALLED, SO MANY PEOPLE
HAVE CALLED ON THE NAME OF JESUS WHO KNOW, WHO IS NOTHING LIKE
THE MAN These call on a Jesus of their
own imagination. They call on the Jesus of mommy
and daddy, of grandma and grandpa. They call on the Jesus of their
own opinion and feelings. Listen, those aren't saved. You
call on a Christ that's not the Christ of this book, you're not
calling on Christ. You might as well call on Jesus
the gardener, Jesus. The only Jesus that can save
sinners is the one revealed in this book. And who is revealed? Who is Christ? What is the object
of faith? When one is called of God, what
is the object of his faith? It is Jesus Christ as He is manifest. We believe this, that He is God
manifest in the flesh. If you've called on a Jesus who
is not God manifest in the flesh, you've not called on Him. I LIKE
PAUL WHEN HE SAYS IN 1 TIMOTHY 3 16 WITHOUT CONTROVERSY. I WON'T
EVEN DEBATE THIS WITH YOU. THIS IS WITHOUT CONTROVERSY,
WITHOUT ARGUMENT. GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS.
GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH. He was manifest in the flesh.
Christ was sent of God to save and redeem, to sanctify, to obtain
everlasting righteousness for all those the Father gave Him.
He became a man so as to represent a people. This is Christ. This is the one we call on. God,
manifest in the flesh. He was sent to save His people. angels came and proclaimed His
coming, He said, Thou shalt call His name Jesus. You know what that means? Jehovah
saves. That's what it means. You shall
call Him Jehovah saves. Now, why are you going to call
Him Jehovah saves? For He shall save. You know, we call him Jehovah
makes salvation possible. No, Jehovah saves. And he shall
save who? His people from what? Their sins. That's very plain
language. We believe that Christ came to
save his people from their sins. And what do we believe about
this salvation? We believe it was successful. When God calls a man to faith
in Christ, he has taught his need, and he has taught this,
that the Son of God has come to save his people, and upon
Calvary's tree, he actually redeemed all of his people. He actually
paid for all the sins of his people. I know that the world
believes this, and they just wholeheartedly, because they're
dead, they believe this, that Jesus somehow died for all men
without exception. Now, you mark this down. If that
is true, there is no hell. Why? Because He saved His people
from their sins. All He died for are redeemed. And if He died for all men, and
some go to hell, what in the world does the blood of Christ
have to do with salvation? Nothing. If He died for them in hell,
and them for in heaven, what made the difference? The only
conclusion you can come up with is they made the difference. I don't know a Christ like that.
This book doesn't reveal a Christ like that. I didn't call on a
Christ like that. Faith doesn't look to a Christ
like that. Faith looks to a Christ who actually redeemed. And how
do I know He actually redeemed? What's in the tomb? Nothing. My sins are totally, completely
done away with. God raised Him from the dead
and testified that He accepted His offering forever. Hebrews chapter 10 is one of
my favorite passages. Jesus said, Lo, I come, and the
volume of the book is written of I LIKE HOW I GOT... I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO TIE THAT
TOGETHER. I JUST TOLD YOU THE WHOLE BOOK'S
ABOUT HIM. AND LOOK, WHAT DID HE SAY? HE SAID, LO, I COME IN
THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN TO ME. TO DO WHAT? TO
DO THY WILL, O GOD. WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD? IT IS
TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE. TO DO THY WILL. BY THE WITCH
WILL YOU ARE SANCTIFIED, MADE HOLY. through the offering of
the body of Christ. How many times was he killed? Once. Once for all. Once forever. THOSE PRIESTS STAND
DAILY MINISTERING, OFFERING THE SAME SACRIFICE. THEY NEVER TAKE
AWAY SIN. BUT THIS MAN, AFTER HE HAD OFFERED ONE SACRIFICE
FOR SIN, SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, FROM HENCEFORTH
EXPECTING TILL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE HIS FOOTSTOOL. FOR BY HIS
ONE OFFERING HE HATH PERFECTED FOREVER THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED. HE'S VICTORIOUS. SUCCESSFUL. That's who I call on. When God
calls a man to faith, that's who he believes in. That's who
he comes to. He comes to Christ. And I know this, because he was
successful, all those he died for will come to him. When God
calls a man, he's not asking. Lazarus is such a beautiful picture
of that, isn't it? Lazarus is dead. He's been dead
for four days. And they said, don't even roll
away. It stinks. His flesh is starting to rot. He said, roll
away this dough. Lazarus, come here. It was not an option. It was
not a question. Lazarus, would you please come
out here, if you would? ACCEPT ME AS LORD. NO. LAZARUS, COME FORTH. AND WITH
WORD, HIS WORD, COMES POWER. AND POWER RAISES A MAN FROM THE
DEAD. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT CHRIST SAID.
GO BACK TO JOHN 6. AGAIN, THE MOST HATED MESSAGE,
I THINK, IN THE HISTORY OF MESSAGES, JOHN 6. YOU GO BACK TO JOHN 6,
JESUS SAYS THIS IN THAT TEXT AGAIN. HE SAYS IN JOHN 6 AND
VERSE 37, HE SAID, ALL THAT THE FATHER
GIVETH ME. WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO? THEY SHALL COME TO ME. AND WHEN THEY ARE TAUGHT OF GOD,
AND DRAWN OF GOD, AND CALLED OF GOD, WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO
DO? HOW IS HE GOING TO RECEIVE THEM WHEN THEY COME? AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME, I
WILL KNOW WHY IS CAST OUT. Well, of course, He's not going
to cast them out. He chose them. He redeemed them. He called them. How in the world would He cast?
Why in the world would He cast them out? He won't cast them
out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
Which is what? To save His people. And this
is the will of Him that sent me, that of all He has given
me, I should lose how many? I'm just telling you, these Scriptures
easily destroy any false freewill works religion. Just totally
evaporate. That's why it's the most hated text. This and Romans
9 is probably the most hated text in all religion. It's so
clear. It's so plain. I'm not going to lose one of
them. So how many did he lose? One. But I'm going to raise Him up
again the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent
me, that everyone that seeth the Son... Well, how in the world
are you going to see the Son? Except the Father give you sight. You've
seen the Son? This one I'm describing is...
I was telling Scott this the other day, just... Preaching
is simply rehearsing what believers know. Everything I've said to
you today, you know. And what is it to believe it?
When Christ is presented, you say, yeah, that's Him. Yeah,
that's what He did. Yeah, that's right, that's what
He did. That's Him. And when somebody
says to Christ, you don't know, you go, that ain't Him. I don't
know who that guy's talking about. But see, you know Him. Everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on him. There's that word again, that
constant perpetual faith. He that believeth on him may
have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day. Go to John 10. Go to John 10. He said, I'm the good shepherd. YOU KNOW WHAT HE IS? HE'S THE
GOOD SHEPHERD. I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. I SAY, YEP, YES SIR.
YOU BET, LORD. YOU ARE THE GOOD SHEPHERD. AND
WHAT DOES HE DO? I KNOW MY SHEEP. I DO KNOW THEM. AND LISTEN, I'M KNOWN OF MINE.
MY SHEEP KNOW WHO I AM. AS THE FATHER HATH KNOWETH ME,
EVEN SO I KNOW THE FATHER. AND WHAT DOES I DO? I LAY DOWN
MY LIFE FOR WHO? THE SHEEP. NO GOATS INCLUDED. JUST SHEEP. AND NOT JUST ANY
SHEEP, MY SHEEP. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR MY SHEEP. AND OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH
ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD, THEM I ALSO MUST BRING. WHEN GOD SAYS HE MUST DO SOMETHING,
THAT'S IMPORTANT TO TAKE NOTE OF, ISN'T IT? GOD SAYS, YOU KNOW
WHY YOU'RE HERE? HE MUST HAVE BROUGHT YOU. FOR HIM NOT TO BRING YOU WOULD
DIMINISH THE GLORY OF GOD. HE MUST DO IT. WHY? HE DETERMINED
TO DO IT FOR HIS OWN GLORY. HE MUST DO IT. THEN I ALSO MUST
PRAY. AND WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO? THEY'RE GOING TO BE CALLED.
THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE AND THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD AND ONE
SHEPHERD. THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED FOR THIS
PURPOSE THAT GOD SHOULD CALL HIS PEOPLE HIS SHEEP. BUT I JUST
READ A MINUTE AGO, THEY'VE NOT ALL HEARD. HAVEN'T THEY NOT ALL
HEARD? YEAH. YOU'VE HEARD THIS GOSPEL. BUT
ONLY THOSE WHO ARE CALLED BELIEVE. ONLY THOSE WHO ARE CALLED BELIEVE.
ABRAHAM BY FAITH WHEN HE WAS CALLED. HE WAS CALLED IS THE TIME HE
BELIEVED. NOW LOOK AT JOHN 10 VERSE 25.
THESE PHARISEES, HE'S BEEN TELLING THIS WHOLE TIME, I'M THE CHRIST,
I'M THE GOOD SHEPHERD. WHEN HE SAID, I'M THE GOOD SHEPHERD,
EVERY JEW UNDERSTOOD HE WAS CLAIMING TO BE CHRIST. O echo sword and
smite, who? The shepherd and the sheep shall
be scattered. You see, they know that the shepherd
is the Christ. He's told them plainly, I'm the
Christ. And they said, if you be the
Christ, tell us plainly. I'll tell you what, the patience
of the Lord Jesus Christ is immense. He said, I told you in verse
25. I told you. But listen, you believe
not. The works that I do in my Father's
name bear witness to me. I raise the dead. I heal the
sick. I give sight to the blind. The
lepers are cleansed. My works testify of who I am. And you believe not. But you
believe not. Now he's going to tell them why
they don't believe. because you are not of my sheep."
Now, religion wants to put that reversed. They wanted to say,
you are not my sheep because you believe not. See, the contingency then is
your faith makes you a sheep. That's what they want to believe.
You that are the sheep of Christ, Were you ever a goat? No, you were always a sheep. You were lost, a lost sheep,
but you were still a sheep. YOU SEE, THEY ARE NOT OF MY SHEEP,
THEREFORE, THEY DO NOT BELIEVE, AND THEY WILL NOT BELIEVE, BECAUSE
YOU ARE NOT OF MY SHEEP. AS I SAID UNTO YOU, MY SHEEP,
WHAT DO THEY DO? THEY HEAR MY VOICE, AND I KNOW
THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME. AND I LIKE THIS. NOTICE THIS
WORD, THEM AND THEY. HE SAID, I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL
LIFE, AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My father, which gave them me,
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. I and my father are one." Are you called? Are you taught
of God? Abraham was. By faith, Abraham,
when he was called, He was called to a place he'd never seen, something
he had never experienced. You know what? I'm called to
faith and love and joy and peace, meekness and temperance, things
I never knew. Never had any experience in those
things. Until when? I was called. And notice this
last thing. See, I told you I wasn't going
to get to verse nine. Notice this last thing, all true faith
obeys. Go back to your text and read
this again. Abraham was called, what was he called to do? He
was called to believe on Christ. He said, In thee and thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Abraham believed
in Christ. Jesus said this, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day and saw it and was glad. He believed on Christ
and his faith resulted in this obedience. If you're Christ and
Christ is your shepherd, if you're called to know Christ, we don't know Him mentally, we
don't just know Him academically, we know Him intimately. Isn't
that right? You that know Christ, you know
Him intimately. You know Him. And listen, we won't be duped
by another. YOU THAT HAVE BEEN CALLED, YOU WON'T BE DUPED BY
ANOTHER CHRIST. YOU FOLLOW CHRIST, AND LIKE ABRAHAM
HERE IN THIS TEXT, YOU ARE CALLED TO FAITH, AND YOU OBEY THE GOSPEL. HERE IS WHAT SEPARATES PROFESSORS
FROM POSSESSORS. WE OBEY THE GOSPEL. I'LL HAVE TO GO REAL QUICK. 1
Peter 1. Look at what Peter says of the
elect. He says, elect, this is who he's
writing to, the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father through sanctification of the Spirit. This is the regeneration
of the Holy Spirit, creation of a new nature. unto
what? Obedience and the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. What is it to obey the gospel? What is it to obey the gospel?
Because that's what he's talking about, obedience to the gospel,
the sprinkling of blood, faith in the blood of Christ. What
is it to obey the gospel? In Mark chapter 16, verse 15,
it says, Go you into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. So what is it, the result of
preaching this gospel? He that believeth. Faith is the
result, the obedience of the gospel. Paul said, when this word in
1 Thessalonians 1, he said, when the word came, he said, knowing
brethren, your election of God. How does anybody know their election
of God? Were you there? No one was there. Knowing your
election of God. How? For our gospel came and
not only in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and
in much assurance. TRUE FAITH ALWAYS MOVES THE SINNER
TO BELIEVE ON CHRIST, NOT AS AN OPTION, BUT WE COME TO CHRIST
BY DIVINE COMMAND, HAVING NO OTHER PLACE TO GO. YOU KNOW,
I LIKE THAT ABOUT PETER WHEN HE SAID THAT. HE, HE, THEY WERE
ALL CONFUSED AS TO WHY EVERYBODY LEFT. I MEAN, THEY, THE LORD
JUST SAID IT PLAINLY AND THEY HAD 5,000 PEOPLE ONE MINUTE AND
THERE WERE ONLY 12 LEFT AFTER THAT. And He said, Well, you
go away also. Shall we go? Do you hear the words of eternal
life? Salvation is not an option for us. Christ is not an option. It is a command. We have no other
place to go. So what do we do? What does faith
do? Is faith only a consent? Is faith
only an acknowledgment? No, faith moves us. Faith moves us to come to Christ. How many times have you come
to Christ? Religion says you only got to come once. People
say, well, I came to Jesus when I was seven. If you only came
once, you've not obeyed the gospel. Here's the command of the gospel.
He that believeth. You can't get away from that
word. It's a present perfect tense. It is constant perpetual
faith. That is obedience to the gospel.
It is constantly looking always to Christ. Constantly pleading
always to Christ. Constantly trusting always on
Christ. Resting your soul on Christ. Finding your joy in Christ. Finding
your peace in Christ. Finding your all in Christ. When? Always. That's obedience to the
gospel. True faith always obeys the gospel. And the gospel is to believe
on the Son of God. To believe on the Son of God.
And all who believe on the Son of God. We have the blessing of Abraham. God called Abraham to an inheritance. Go to Galatians. I'll close with
this. Go to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. And when
we'll deal with the sojourning part of this, we're going to
see this. We have to come back here to Galatians 3 next time. But Galatians 3 and verse 6,
it says, Even as Abraham believed God. He believed God because
he was called of God. HE BELIEVED GOD, AND WHAT? IT
WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. KNOW YOU THEREFORE THAT THEY
WHICH ARE OF FAITH, THE SAME ARE THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM. WHO'S GOD GOING TO SAVE? HE'S
ONLY GOING TO SAVE ISRAEL, ISN'T HE? HE'S ONLY GOING TO SAVE THE
SEED OF ABRAHAM. ARE YOU A CHILD OF ABRAHAM? WELL,
IF YOU BELIEVE, YOU ARE. HE IS A PRIME EXAMPLE. AND THE
SCRIPTURE FORESEEING GOD WOULD JUSTIFY THE HEALING, HOW? THROUGH
FAITH PREACHED BEFORE THE GOSPEL UNTO ABRAHAM, SAYING, IN THEE
SHALL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED. SO THEN, THEY
WHICH BE OF FAITH ARE BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL ABRAHAM. WHAT WAS HIS BLESSING? HE HAD
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD imputed to him." What do you have? You that believe. You have the
righteousness of God, just like faithful Abraham. And how long did Abraham believe? Well, guess what? That's how
long you'll believe. Why? You were called. not by merit, but by grace. You were saved by the work of
Christ alone. You were called of the Spirit
of God to faith and obedience, which is what? Constant, perpetual
faith. That is obedience. That's obeying
the gospel. CONSTANTLY LOOKING TO CHRIST.
I PRAY GOD WILL BLESS THIS TO YOUR HEARTS. LET'S STAND, BE
DISMISSED, AND WE'LL BE DISMISSED IN PRAYER. Our gracious Father, we thank
you for your word. We thank you for your gospel.
I'm so thankful for these types and pictures you've placed there.
Thank you, Father, for calling Abraham and showing him as an
example of all those you have chosen, all those you have redeemed,
and all those you shall call. Father, I pray for grace that
you would continually, perpetually give us the faith that we need,
the obedience of our hearts to always look to Christ considering
that it is the love of Christ that constraineth us from sin.
I pray that you would always set his love before our eyes
and our hearts. Forgive us and lead us this day.
I pray that even now you might call the lost to yourself. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.