I want to bring the message this
morning out of the Gospel of John. John chapter 6 verse 45. It reads, It is written in the
prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Around 40 years ago, I heard
the Gospel. I heard the Gospel in power,
and I believed the Gospel. And God sat me under one of the
greatest preachers that I believe he has called to the ministry,
Brother Henry Mahan. He was my pastor for many, many
years. And I sat and I learned the gospel
under him. God taught me the gospel. And I've learned some
things. And I want to give you some of
the things that I believe the Lord has taught me over these
years. One of the first things that
I have learned is the brevity of life. It goes by fast. If you are over 40, you realize
how fast life goes by. Soon this place shall know us
no more. We will be just a memory in just
a little while. As James wrote in his epistle,
he said, life is but a vapor. Job said, it's swifter than a
post. It's but a shadow. It's what
life seems to be. Just a shadow. A brief shadow.
We're here. We are here for just a little
time and then we are gone. And I have learned the vanity
of this life without the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is
the only one who gives meaning to this life. The scripture says
all things were made by Him and for Him. And not to know Him
is to live a vain existence. If you and I do not come to know
the Lord Jesus Christ, our life on this earth is nothing but
a vain existence. That's so. It is profitable for
nothing. Not to know Christ in this life
is better off not to have been born. Because not to know Christ
is to end up in torment. I cannot express strongly enough
how important it is to know the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. Without Him, all is meaningless
and loss. That's what Paul said. Paul said
that he suffered the loss of all things. He said he counted
everything but done that he may know Christ. Because he knew,
Paul knew, he was told of God that apart from Jesus Christ,
this life is meaningless. It says in 1 John 5, 12, he that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. And then I've learned this, the
whole world lies in wickedness. That's what the scripture teaches,
and I've learned it so. From the gutter to religion,
everything outside of Jesus Christ is under the power of darkness.
Even if it appears to be good, if it's outside of Christ, it's
darkness. Now I want to give you what I
have learned about God, Christ, myself, and salvation. I have
learned that God is. There are many who believe there
is a God. I have believed that all my life. As far back as I can remember,
I have believed there is a God. I was brought up believing in
creation, that God created the world. But I did not believe
for a long time the God that is. You see, there's a difference
believing there is a God and believing God that is. God is
to be believed. God cannot lie. And God has revealed
himself in his word. In the Bible, in the word of
God, God has revealed himself. He's made himself known. There
is no excuse for ignorance of who God is. There's no excuse
because God has clearly revealed himself in the scriptures. The
Bible teaches us that God is holy. There is no imperfection
in his being. That the seraphims cry day and
night, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, he's holy. There
is no imperfection in God in any way, shape or form. The Word
of God teaches us that God is just. He is a just God. He must do right. He will do
right. The Scripture says He will by
no means clear the guilty. He will bring every thought into
judgment. God will punish every sin. Now He will either punish it
in me or He punished it in my substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know where the Scripture says He will by no means clear
the guilty? When I read that, I realize I
got a problem. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. So how
can God clear me if he will by no means clear the guilty? Here
is the solution. Christ and him crucified. God put this guilty sinner to
death in Jesus Christ. God executed me in Christ. And that new man that is created
in righteousness and true holiness in the new birth is without sin. That old man has been crucified. That old man has been put to
death in Christ. And then I've learned this, that
God delights to show mercy. God is a God of mercy. He's a
God of mercy. He's a God of grace. He's a God
of love. God is love. That's true. God
is love. But only in Christ can God's
love be experienced. Outside of Christ, you're not
gonna experience God's love. People in hell are not experiencing
the love of God. They are experiencing the wrath
and torment of God. They are experiencing the hatred
of God against sin. And then I've learned that God
is sovereign. The scripture says, none can stay his hand or say
unto him, what are you doing? The Scripture says, He will have
mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He will, He will harden.
God is a sovereign God. Jesus Christ did not, He did
not die on Calvary's cross and then leave the end results up
to us. God is sovereign. He is sovereign
in creation. He created this world just as
He willed to create it. He is sovereign in providence.
Every day we see the sovereign will of God being wrought out.
And God is sovereign in salvation. Salvation is not left up to a
bunch of ungodly rebels. Salvation, the scripture says,
is of the Lord. God's gonna save sinners. Christ
died for sinners. Christ died for the ungodly,
and He's gonna save them. Now, someone's gonna say, well,
everyone's a sinner. Well, you just find one. You
find one that says, I am guilty without an excuse. without making
an excuse or a reason for why they do what they do. A sinner,
a true bona fide sinner, is one who justifies God in their condemnation. A sinner is one who justifies
God and condemns himself. He makes no excuse for his sins. None. He justifies God. That
sinner Christ died for. Because it's evident that Christ
died for him, or he wouldn't make such a statement, because
that kind of a statement comes from a work of God. It doesn't
come from the natural man. The natural man is always making
excuses for himself. But I learned that God is sovereign,
and I also learned that no one will worship God until they worship
Him at His sovereign throne. As A.W. Pink said, everyone else
they will bargain with. And then I've learned something
about Jesus Christ. I learned that Jesus Christ is
the God of the Bible. That Jesus Christ is the God
of creation. By Him, all things were created.
He is God incarnate. He is, as the old writers would
say, He is God, very God. He's the God of creation, He's
the God of providence, He's the God of salvation. Jesus Christ
is God manifest in the flesh. But He's also a real man. As
the old writers would say, He's man as if He were not God, He's
God as if He were not a man. But He is a very real man. Listen to scriptures. The scripture
says that unto us a son is given, unto us a child is born. The
son of God is eternal. He is the God, very God. He's
given, God has given us his son. He came into this world to die
for a multitude of sinners. But the child born is the manhood
of Christ and it was created. The man, Christ Jesus, was created
of God. The Son is not created. He's
eternal. But the man is created. Christ said, A body hast thou
created me. A body to suffer in, a body to
live in, a body to work out righteousness in, is created of God. And He
is a very real man. That's why He can identify with
His people. That's why the scripture says
we have a high priest which can be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities. He can be touched because he's a real man. He suffered,
he hungered, he thirsted, he was weary. He was tempted in
all points as we are, yet without sin. He's a real man. And I know
this, Jesus Christ is my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification,
my redemption. I don't need any more than I
have in Jesus Christ. God has provided for everyone
whom He saves in Christ all that they need. As it says in Colossians,
in Him you are complete. And I've learned through the
Word of God that Jesus Christ, He is that prophet, priest, and
king that the Old Testament said is coming. He's that prophet
Moses said should come. He said, a prophet shall the
Lord raise up like unto him, him shall you hear. He is the
priest like Melchizedek, who has no beginning of days nor
end of life. He's the Lamb of God. He's the
resurrection. You know, Martha and Mary were
weeping over their brother Lazarus. And the Lord said that he would
rise again. And I believe it was Martha said,
I know he'll rise again in the resurrection. And he looked at
her and said, I am the resurrection and the life. The resurrection
is not an event. The resurrection is a person.
We look for a person. We're not looking for an event.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. He's the
way to God. There is no other way to God
but by Jesus Christ. He's the truth. He's the embodiment
of truth. He didn't just tell the truth. He is the truth. And
He is the life. He's the life of God. John said,
we have seen life in 1 John 1. He said, we have spoken and seen
and touched and handled life. And life has a name. And that
name is Jesus Christ. And then I've learned some things
about myself. I'm a lot worse than I ever could conceive that
I am. Listen to this. However bad you
may feel about yourself, however bad you may think you are, you
are a lot worse. We cannot dive into that depth
of iniquity and sin and evil that we really are by nature.
No, we can't do that. If God would take away his constraining
power, we would find out what devils we really are. I'm a lot
worse than I think. And I've learned that I deserve
God's wrath. I deserve, if God sent me to hell, I deserve it.
I understand that. You know, I think a thief, a
murderer, They know deep down that if they ever get caught,
that they deserve to go to jail. They know that. They deserve
punishment. Because they would punish someone
who commits the same crime they commit. A thief would have someone
sent to jail that steals from them. They understand that. And
I understand that I deserve the wrath of God. And I understand
that I can't save myself. I can't save myself from sin.
It's too much for me to put away. I was born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. And I can't put that away. The
evil of sin, the iniquity of sin, I can't put it away. Only
God can put that away. And I have learned that I need
Christ now more than ever. I need him to save me now as
much as I did 40 years ago. I need him to keep me now as
much as ever. And I have learned that without
the Lord Jesus Christ, I can do nothing. I can't even take
the next breath without the Lord Jesus Christ. And I have learned
that my greatest need is Jesus Christ himself. If I have Christ,
I have enough. If I have Christ, I have all
that God can demand. God can demand of me no more
than what I have in Jesus Christ. I've learned that His blood and
His sacrifice is sufficient. I need nothing else. And I've
learned this about salvation. As Jonah said, salvation is of
the Lord. If I'm going to be saved, God's
going to have to do it. If I'm going to be saved, God Almighty
will have to save me. I cannot save myself. But I've
also learned that God can save me. He's able in the Lord Jesus
Christ to save. He can justify me in Christ.
God can justify me in Christ. All charges are dropped in Christ. You know that in Christ there's
not one thing against me. Not one. The books are clean.
Now everyone who hears the voice of the Father learns who God
is, who Christ is, who they are, and they come to Christ for all
they need for time and eternity. Has God taught you this? Has
God taught you your need of Christ? Has God given you some understanding
of who He is, who Christ is, and your need of Him? If He has,
rejoice. Rejoice, because not everyone
knows that. To be taught of God is not to
learn what we call Christianity. It's to learn Christ. is to learn
Christ and Him crucified. Christ is both teacher and lesson.
He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. This is a lifelong
lesson. We don't graduate from this till
we die. Always coming to know Christ,
who is the wisdom of God, and He's my greatest need. And I
pray, I pray God have mercy and show you your need of Christ
as He did me 40 years ago. All right, till the next time,
may the Lord bless you.