I have a question for you. What's the difference between
committing a sinful act of adultery or committing a sinful act of
unbelief? Is there any degree? of difference between those two
acts of sin? Not according to scripture. According
to the word of God, sin must be dealt with, and it must be
dealt with by the shedding of blood. There is no remission
of sin, any kind of sin, without the shedding of blood. So if
you take that into thought, into matter then, Those who don't believe God are
as much a sinner as somebody who commits adultery or a sinner
who commits anything else for that matter. I'd like to ask you to turn in
your Bibles, if you would, to John chapter 9. I recently made this statement
You'll forgive me if it's a disturbance that I make it again. But the world of religion loves
to declare this. God loves you. I've had men stop me on the street
corner. Kathy and I went to Sturgis one
time and there was a bunch of so-called Christians standing
on one of the street corners. They gather at those big meetings
like that because they think they're going to be able to convert
some souls. And they'll stand there and they'll
hand out whatever tracts they're handing out that day. And Jesus
loves you. Jesus loves you. And I've stopped
a couple times and asked them, how do you know? How do you know
Jesus loves me? Well, it's because we read in
John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." They take their stand on the words,
for God so loved the world. And they make the verse sound
as an offer, an offer to you to make a choice. In other words,
basically what they're saying is this, that God has done a
work, but now you must choose whether to accept it or not. Now they completely reject these
words that we find in Romans chapter 9 verses 13 through 16.
You don't need to turn that, I'll read it for you as it is
written. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall
we say, then, is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Now, I used to say the key to
that phrase of John 3.16 was the whosoever. Folks, I am just a man. I am
as sinful as any man who has ever walked this earth other
than Christ Jesus. I am probably the least that
you have ever met in the knowledge of our Lord's Word. I can't believe
God even has me standing here before you preaching. To me,
it's just the way pastors are. You ask any of them, Pastor Gene
used to say the same thing about himself. So I make mistakes. And saying that the key to that
phrase is the whosoever is wrong. It just came to me as I was studying
for this thing. Brother, I'm telling you, if
the folks had noticed that it was wrong before, I wish you'd
have come up and told me sometime sooner. But you didn't, and that's
God's will. But the Lord showed me that it
was wrong. It was wrong. That's not the key to that phrase.
The key to that phrase is the same key that we will see in
God's Word all the way from the first page of the Bible to the
end of the Bible, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the key. When you get in a discussion
with somebody over religion, remember that. They want to argue
with you about what does it mean that God was made sin. If they
want to argue with you about when the end of the world is
coming and what's going to happen worth afterwards, you know they're
missing the whole point. The point of God's Word is this,
to raise His Son up and give Him all the glory. You know what? Instead of just
quoting it for you, turn over there, if you would, to John
3.16. Turn over to the third chapter.
I want you to read it with me, because I want you to see the words. I want
you to picture them in your mind, which you can, because they're
probably memorized. But I want you to read them from
God's Word as they are. For God so loved the world, Now
here comes the true key. The very key to this phrase.
He gave His only begotten Son. That's the key. The world wants
to make for God to love the world. And then they go about changing
Scripture to fit whatever they think there. But the key is this,
that He, God the Father, gave His only begotten Son. Why is that important? Why is
that so important to you and I? Well, it tells me that whatever
he did, it was perfect and nothing can change it. John Reeves can't change the
grace of God being for John Reeves. Nothing can separate you and
I from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ, his son. Nothing. Not even me. You can't even change
yourself. Oh, we may think we've made some
pretty big mistakes, and we've probably stepped in some pretty
deep situations, gotten ourselves into some besetting sin or something. Lord's not going to lose us.
We may have to feel a little pain, maybe, But when it comes
right down to it, every sin that you and I have committed, every
sin. I'm going to repeat that. Every
sin. This is the meaning. This is
the meaning of what it means that He, God the Father, gave
His only begotten Son Back to John chapter 9, if you
would, please. You see, if you take that statement
to its fullest position, and you say that God loves everybody
and some still go to hell, that's the same thing as saying that
God could not save those for whom He loves. It's like saying
to a child, go ahead and run out in front of that car, I can't
help you. I ask you, is not saying that
thing, is not saying that God can't help you, is that not contrary
to this Word, God's Word? Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people. Is that not contrary to that?
That would take that very phrase, which is in Scripture, and throw
it completely out, wouldn't it? The question is, do you believe
the record God has given of His Son? Let's look a moment at this record
God has given us of His only begotten Son. Are you with me?
In John chapter 9, I want to read the first four verses. As
Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth.
That, folks, is a picture of you and I. There was a time when
we came from our mother's womb speaking lies. There was a time when we had
nothing to do with the God of all glory. We were blind to the
truth of His light, the truth of who the Son of God is. Verse
2, And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus
answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but
that the works of God should be made manifest in him. And
then he says this, I must, verse 4, I must work the works of him
that sent me, while it is day. The night cometh when no man
can work. Our Savior declares that he must work the works he
was sent to do. This is the very thing that he
was talking about to those unbelieving Jews who came to the Lord at
Solomon's porch and said, how long do you make us to doubt?
And he said, I told you who I was. Not only did I tell you who I
was, the works that I do prove that I am who I am, prove that
I am sent from God, prove that I am of my father. I must work the works of Him
that sent me. He declares that He must work
the works that we sent to do, and this man who had been blind
from birth was born blind for that very purpose. Picture that
in your mind for just a moment. Wow! God created that man blind
in his mother's womb. That's what that's saying. so that God might show His power
to those who would witness it right in front of them. I witnessed that power once. What? What do you mean, John? I saw the light of my Savior shine in my wife's heart. That's exactly what happened
here, isn't it? She who was blind from birth
saw the light for the first time under the preaching of His gospel.
What a miracle to witness! What a miracle to witness! I
know for a fact that that man sitting right over here, Mike
Lesher, watched his grandson come out of that darkness and
start coming to the Lord saying, I don't know what you may be
bringing me, but I need to hear more of it. He saw it all right
before him, didn't you Mike? What a blessing that is to our
hearts, is it not? What a miracle. He's going about doing the worship
of God. that those works might be manifest
in Him. He was brought into this world
in this very condition, the blind man, that the day of the Lord
would come and the Son of God would be manifest in His healing.
Just as our Lord and Savior brought Israel and all that was theirs
into the land of Egypt. Did you know that Israel came
into the land of Egypt to get grain? And then they found out
their brother who had been sold had been sold as a slave, had
been brought down to Egypt, and now he was the ruler of all of
Egypt. Not the king, not the pharaoh, but the pharaoh had
put him in charge of everything. So for them to come down and
buy grain, they had to come before their brother who they thought
they killed. You see the picture of the blind
man? That's not the only one God gives us. All the way back
to Joseph. Joseph was sold by his brothers
so that God might be manifest, the power of God might be manifest
in the people of Israel. He could be doing that to one
of us right now. You may be witnessing to one
of your loved ones this afternoon, and for the first time, they
may hear the Word of God click, because the Spirit of God speaks
through you, or any one of you. We just never know. Lee had no
idea that when he said, you know, John, I see you're disturbed.
Church is ready to start right now. Could you come in for just
a few minutes and sit, if you want, or just wait out here in
this parking lot? Whatever you want to do. Fine, I'll come in
with you." He had no idea. Shirley was sitting next to me
and she goes, boom, hits me in the shoulder and she goes, what's
wrong with you? You're sitting on the edge of
your seat. What's going on with you? You
see the miracle of God working in one of his people's hearts?
Kathy had no idea that she was going to show up that day on
her motorcycle, because she was tired of being home alone on
Sundays, and the Gospel was going to speak to her heart. No idea! Our Lord and Savior brought Israel
and all that was theirs into the land of Egypt, where they
would eventually become the slaves of Egypt. picture of you and
I under the slavery that we once were in. The bondage of sin. And just as our Lord raised up
Pharaoh to destroy him, that the world would know his power
in delivering his chosen people from the bondage of that sin.
You can read about that in Romans 9 verse 17. Our great God brought
this man into the world blind, that the world would see the
power of the one who gives sight, the light of the world, Christ
our Lord. And once this man had been healed,
once he had been given sight, the self-righteous religionist
cast him out. And this is where I want to pick
up this morning. Would you look over at verse
35. John chapter 9, verse 35. These religious folks, they said,
these works fake his parents because they feared. That's not
the right one. They came after this man and
they kicked him out of the synagogue saying, our. Now I'm going to
miss it again, aren't I? Let me find it here just a moment. Then they reviled him and said,
thou art his disciple, speaking of a disciple of Christ, and
we are Moses' disciple. We know that God spoke to Moses,
and as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man
answered, and he said unto them, Why wherein is a marvellous thing
that ye know not from whence he is? And yet he hath opened
mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth
not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth
his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of the one that was
born blind? If this man, speaking of Christ, were not of God, he
could do nothing. Then they answered again, and
they said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and
dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Now, after
they had cast him out, our Lord comes to him in verse 35. And
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had found
him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And
he answered, and he said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe
on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou
hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. Now mark your place here in John
and turn over to Isaiah chapter 9 if you would. We'll come back
to John chapter 9. Isaiah chapter 9. There are three points that I'd
like to make, three points that one must believe about the Son
of God, Jesus Christ, the Lord. And as it says in John 4.24,
God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth. Now the first point I want to
make, The first point that one must believe is who this man
called Jesus is according to the Word of God. Let me read
for you from John chapter 1 and a couple of other verses before
we go look in Isaiah chapter 9. In John chapter 1, 1 we read
this, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. This is the Word of God. This
is the Word that God has given us, the record of Him. This is
the word that that is speaking of. It's the very word of God
that was there before anything was ever written down. God wrote about His love for
you and I before anything was ever created. And Jesus Christ
is that Word. Listen to verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. You see where
the key of that phrase, John 3.16, is coming? The Son of the
living God. The only begotten Son of God.
The One who has all power in heaven and earth and under the
earth. In Matthew 16, 15, and 16, we
read these words, and He saith unto him, But whom say ye that
I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now look
here with me in Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given. That's the only begotten Son.
This is the key to that phrase. And the government shall be upon
his shoulder. That means he rules over everything.
We talk about sovereign grace. That's what that word sovereign
means. Everything that happens is under the complete and full
control and works of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. The
very one who was born and manifested in the flesh for his people.
And his name shall be called Wonderful. Counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and of the
increase of his government and the peace, there shall be no
end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order
it, to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even forever. The zeal, the desire of the Lord
of hosts will perform this. Can there be any Scripture more
clear? Can there be any Scripture more clear about who the Lord
Jesus is? He's not some wannabe. He's God with all power. And
anyone who paints a picture of Jesus Christ and anything left
is painting a lie. And God does not save under the
paintings of lies, under the preachings of lies. He says under
the preaching of truth. That's what we read a moment
ago. In spirit and truth. I ask you, does your God have
all power? Is there anything that can turn
your God's hand? Listen to what God expresses
in His own Son, right here in Matthew 28, 18. And Jesus came
and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Philippians 2, verse 10, we read
it this way, that at that name of Jesus, every knee should bow. But it doesn't stop there. It
continues on. Of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth. And if that's not good
enough, how about this? From John chapter 10, verse 30,
I and my Father are one. Oh, my Savior. I just love talking about Him. Does your God have all power?
Is there anything that can turn your God's hand? Turn over to
Isaiah 53 for just a moment. Isaiah 53, who hath believed
our report? Who hath believed, Lord? Scriptures talk about treasures
that pastors get. Pastors receive certain treasures
that others may not. What are those treasures, I asked
my pastor one time. And he said, it's not things
of this world, John. It's seeing the Lord work through
the preaching of his word and saving. The treasure of watching Kathy
being brought by the Spirit of God unto our Lord. was a blessing that I can't even,
well, I wasn't the one who was receiving that blessing at that
time, but I've seen other ones since. That's a blessing that
only the person being blessed can explain. A treasure. Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he, the Lord
Jesus Christ, shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as
a root out of dry ground. He hath no form. No comeliness. Stop right there for just a moment
and think about that. Have you ever seen one of those
long-haired pictures that Catholics love to present as Jesus, where
you go into some religious person's house and have a picture of some
long-haired hippie guy that's got a really nice, good-looking
beard? That word comeliness right there
means that nobody would desire to look upon him. You might as well go down here
and look at a bum that's been living in a dumpster for three
days and has food stuck all over his face. Continuing on. And when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows. and acquainted with grief. And
we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and
we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we, like a sheep, have gone
astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers, his dumb, so he
opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death. Because he had done no violence,
neither was there any deceit in his mouth, yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hands. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion of the great,
and shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath
poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the
transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors." We worship one God, and all the fullness
of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily. He who honoreth not the
Son honoreth not the Father. Now, the second point I want
to bring is that one must believe of Christ is why he humbled himself
and left his glory and was born of a woman for. In Mark 8, verse
31, we read these words. And he began to teach them that
the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the
elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed after
three days, rise again. In John 6 verse 38 through 40
we read these words, For I came down from heaven not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
will, the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
on the last day. What is the Father's will? That
He, Christ Jesus the Lord, should lose nothing. That's what we
just read in Isaiah 53. And He made His grave with the
wicked and the rich in His death, because He had done no violence,
neither was there any deceit, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. He hath put him to grief, when
he shall make the soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
That's why our Lord had to be born of a woman. He had to be
born of a virgin because the seed of man could have nothing
to do with it. Our Lord was born of the seed
of the Spirit. The Spirit of God impregnated
that virgin. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ
had absolutely no sin in Him. Christ never sinned, folks. There
was never a wrong thought in the Lord Jesus' mind. In fact,
His thoughts were always, always to the point of what my Father
has for me to do. He must go through Samaria. God
the Father was sending Him there, and He went willingly. He must
go to Jerusalem. and be rejected of the elders,
and of the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed."
God the Father sent him exactly to do that. And he didn't complain about
it one bit. 2 Corinthians 5.21, we read these
words, "...for He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Folks, the Lord left His glory to be born of a woman that He
would suffer many things. Suffer the spitting and the beating
of the chief priests and the scribes. that he would be killed. But that's not where it stopped.
It stopped with being raised again the third day. Death could
not hold our Lord because He's the Son of God. This is why that
verse in John 3.16 is so important. He sent His only begotten Son
because He's the only One who could do it. He's the only One
who could die and then be raised Himself up. No man who's ever
walked this world could do it. If it was left to me to make
a decision, I'd still be going my way to hell. And so would
each and every one of us. But for the grace of God, there
go we. Is that not true about you? That's
what magnifies my Lord's grace to me. What about you folks? His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people. Turn over to the 10th chapter
of Hebrews, please. Hebrews chapter 10. My third point is this, one must
believe of Christ It is that He accomplished what He set out
to do, He accomplished what the Father sent Him to do, and believe
where He is right now. You know, there's a lot of people
who talk about the Lord Jesus being crucified on a cross. Did
you know that it's even spoken of in the Bible? I think it's Corinne. The book
of whatever they call scriptures, it's spoken of in there about
Jesus Christ who was crucified. Not as God Almighty, but he's
there as some kind of a prophet of some kind. And I admit, I
take that word from somebody who knows how to interpret that
language, so it's not something I would stand on and dogmatically.
But many talk about a Jesus. Few know who the Lord Jesus that
rose from the grave is. The very one who conquered death
that you and I could live. The very one who shed his own
blood, the blood of God, on that cross. I ask you, could anything
separate God from those for whom he is loved before the world
was? Absolutely not. That's why this
religion of preaching about Jesus who loves everybody is a false
religion and needs to be declared as such. What a weak God they think they
have. If so, if God could lose one
of His blood-bought children, then His blood is worthless.
But thank God it is not worthless. Thank God that it was only begotten
Son that shed His blood for us. Is it not a wondrous, precious
thing to us? Oh, how precious the blood of
God is. Paul wrote it this way, he says, for whom He did foreknow,
speaking of God's children, He also did predestinate. For whom
He did foreknow, that means He knew before the world ever began.
He determined who His elect would be before the world began. He
chose us in His grace. to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, it's not only that, but here's some more. Whom he
did predestinate, them he also called. He came to us when we
were blind, like that man we read about. And he says, let
there be light in the heart of a dark man. I'm getting excited. Calm down,
Johnny. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified."
I know, folks, I know. We battle this flesh, but my
Lord's already won that battle for me. Oh, I won it. My spirit says,
John, go forth and be holy. For my Lord is holy. Not so I
can be saved, not so that I can be a better person, but because
my Lord is holy. In the blood of Christ, the only
begotten Son of God Almighty, is the one who justified me,
just as if I'd never sinned. Then he goes on and says, then
he also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He who laid down his life that many would live
for him cannot lose any. If he could, then he wouldn't
be God. So right now, Where is my Lord
right now? He's interceding on my behalf.
He's interceding on the behalf of all of His chosen people. This one is mine, He says. I
paid the price for that sin. Folks, we are perfect. We are
complete in our Lord and Savior. Are you in Hebrews chapter 10? Will you join me in reading verses
12-14? But this man. We're talking about
the third point. We've seen who Jesus is. We've seen why He became flesh. And now we're going to see Him,
where He is this moment. But this man. After he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enmities be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified." Now, if you would go back to our text
in John chapter 9, and I'll bring this to a close. What peace. You see, when you see the point
in scripture, and this is where I was wrong, where I had once
before said the whosoever is the point of that verse, that
took the glory away from my Lord and put it into the hands of
a man who might believe. And I put it now in the hands
where it's supposed to be. In the power of God. In the power
of who His Son is. In the power of what He's done
for us. And in the power of where He
is right now interceding for us. What peace we have knowing
that our Lord has done it all. What peace we can have in knowing
that on that cross our Savior said, it is finished. What peace we can have. The Spirit
of God inspiring Paul to write these words, nothing can separate
us from the love that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. We have this
peace because Christ Himself reveals who He is, what He has
done, and what He's doing right now. Look at verses 35-38 again
if you would. Jesus heard that they had came
out, that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he
said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And he answered
and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Folks,
here comes the gospel. This is what the Lord's talking
about when he said, How are you going to know who it is you believe
in if you've never heard of him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou
hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. I ask you, dost thou believe? For God so loved the world, that He, God, gave His only begotten
Son, Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of the living God, the Messiah,
the Savior, the Redeemer, my High Priest, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I ask
you, dost thou believe? It is by the gift of God that
you do. It is by the gift of God that we can say there, if
not for God, there would go I. Stand with me if you would.