I bring a message to the children
of God this morning. If you have no need of a Savior, if your works, your free will,
your decision or anything is what you are trusting in, this
message is not for you. Thus saith the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord and
the Lord alone. He shall be called Jesus, for
he shall save his people. I'd like to begin here in the
12th chapter of Mark at verse 29. And Jesus answered him, The
first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel. Now I want to stop right there
a moment, we'll pick up the rest of that verse in just a moment,
but I want to explain what it is when we said, when Jesus answered
him. A scribe had come with the Pharisees
and the Herodians to catch him, to catch our Lord in his words.
This is what False religions do. They want to take and debate
the Word of God into a position that fits their own imagination.
They want to catch the Word of God so that they can find something
that fits them, something that makes them happy, something that
tickles their ears, something that gives them that they can
do to help out God. They want to catch Him in His
words. You can read that over here in verse 13. And they sent
unto Him, sent unto the Lord Jesus, certain of the Pharisees
and of the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. He asked this
question of our Lord, which is the first commandment of all?
You can read that in verse 28 if you'd like. Folks, our God, our great God,
is glorified in all things. This virus that is spreading
throughout the world will glorify our Lord. Now, I don't know how,
but I know it will, because everything glorifies the Lord. All glory
belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will not share it with
any other. This is a perfect example of
that. Our Lord is using this scribe at this specific time,
perfectly timed, according to God's purpose, to teach you and
I something. Now, we don't know anything other
about this scribe but that he came with the Pharisees and the
Herodians to catch our Lord in what he said in his words, to
test him, to try him, And our Lord will be glorified
in all things, and that includes the deeds of the wicked." Think
about this for just a moment, will you? Here we have this gentleman
who knows a little bit about verses. He's been writing things. He's a scribe. That's what a
scribe does. They take down the records of
what's going on, and they go in and they study the Word of
God. Do you think it's possible that this scribe might have debated
that question a few times with others? Hey, what do you think? Joe, what do you think about
this? Do you think it's this way? Do you think it's that way, the
Lord's Word? What do you think? Let's talk
about it and debate it for a bit. Do you think it's possible He
debated with others? Oh, how religious people Love
to debate the fine points of doctrine. 2 Timothy 2.14, we read these words,
strive about words to no profit. That's speaking of those when
Paul was giving instructions to Timothy about raising up ministers
of the Lord. Beware of those who are striving
about the words to no profit, who go about debating words for
useless reasons. We love to imagine that we know
much, don't we? I know all about this virus. I know all about what masks do
for you. I know it all about what shots do for you. I know
all about this. I know all about that. Whatever
subject you want to talk about, I know all about this, I know
all about that. Didn't I know all about Tahoe
a moment ago? You know why? It's the nature. It's our very
nature to express what we know before others. Oh, how we love to imagine that
we know much. Yet when it comes to heavenly
things, we know very, very, very little. We only know what our Lord sees
fit to reveal. And our debate is but the outward
display of our inward desires for recognition and praise. Oh, did you hear this guy? He knows a lot. You need to go
listen to him because he knows a lot about this and about that. The religion of the self-righteous
is all about themselves. These are things that you and
I, children of God, as I said, I'm bringing a message to God's
people. These are things that we easily fall into. I don't walk down the road thinking
to myself, I'm going to go and brag to these people over here.
But I do walk down the road and begin to brag about myself to
others. We exercise our religion only
for the strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness.
That's in Isaiah 58, 4. Folks, be warned. Nothing spiritual
is ever gained by religious debate. We love to debate because we
love to impress others with our knowledge, but it's usually nothing
more than carnal and sinful stuff that we bring out. Debating is
not witnessing. It's only debating the display
of carnal pride. It's never for the glory of God.
It's nothing more than to exercise our knowledge. That's why we are encouraged
when we read the words in Titus 3.9, avoid foolish questions,
and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law. Did you catch that? That's exactly
what that scribe was trying to do. What is the first commandment?
What is the most important commandment? Striving about the law, for they
are unprofitable and vain is what God says. Inspiring the
apostle to write that. Unprofitable in vain. You want
to witness? Here's how you witness. Here's
how the Lord tells us to witness. Go and tell others what great
things Jesus Christ has done for you. How can I witness best
to my son? I had the opportunity to do that
this week. This is why I told my son that
I come to my Lord all the time because I need him. I need a
great God who has the power to forgive me for what I am. You
want a witness? Go to your loved ones and tell
them how great things Christ has done for you. Let's consider these words that
we just read. Hear, O Israel. And the first question that must
come to our minds is, how can dead men hear? How can one who
is spiritually dead hear the spiritual word of the Lord? Now
I want to ask you to mark your spots here, Mark, and turn over
to Ezekiel chapter 37. Our Lord gives us a wonderful
example of how dead people hear. Just as he gave us an example
with the story of Lazarus, How did Lazarus come forth? Well,
he had to be given life before he could hear the words of God
when the Lord Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. Here in Ezekiel 37,
and many of you know this story quite well, maybe even well enough
to quote it without reading it. But oh, how wonderful and good
it is for us to read these things occasionally Sometimes, week
to week, maybe even day by day, to remind us of our state before
God and His grace in coming to us when we were dead in trespasses
and sin and giving us life. Are you with me in the book of
Ezekiel? Look with me, if you would, at
verses 1-14. Ezekiel 37, verses 1-14, The hand of the Lord was
upon me, And He carried me out in the
Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of a valley
which was full of bones." Here we go, the picture of every unregenerate
soul. The picture of every one of God's
people at one time. For we used to walk even as others,
didn't we not? Isn't that what Scripture says
in Ephesians chapter 2? We used to walk exactly as others
did. It was the Lord who had to come to us and quicken us,
give us life. A valley full of bones. and caused
me, writes Ezekiel, to pass by them, in verse 2, and round about. And behold, there were very many
in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry." Now I heard a
man who knows the old words, the original writings, and he
can decipher them as well as anyone, and he was saying that
the word that is interpreted here, very dry, is actually something
even more than that. It's so dry that there's not
even any marrow left in the bone. That's inside the middle of the
bone where there's that little bit of DNA that people can still
bring out even at an age of 100 years or so. It's so dry. It's
so parched. It's so cooked by the sun that
there's not even any marrow left in the middle. And he said unto
me in verse 3, son of man, can these bones live? Well, now,
if you were looking out over a valley of bones and somebody
asked you, is there any chance these bones could live in your
natural state, wouldn't you say, come on. Be serious. Nothing can come back from that
state. That's as dead as dead can be. That's so dead that it's
even past the point of stinking. Can these bones live? And I answered,
O Lord God, Thou knowest, You know, Lord. Only You know that
if they could live or not. And again He said unto me, Prophesy,
preach, speak unto these ones upon these bones, and say unto
them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. O ye Israel, hear the word of the
Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto
these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and
ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you,
and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin,
and put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know
that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded,
and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold, a shaking,
and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I
beheld, lo, the chenus of the flesh came upon them, and the
skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.
Then said He unto me, now this is a picture of our flesh being
brought to life, but then here's the soul. There was no breath
in them, the soul. There, and He said unto me, prophesy
unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and to say to the wind,
thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied
as he commanded me. And the breath came unto them,
and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great
army. Then he said unto me, Son of
man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they
say, our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are cut
off from our parts. Therefore, prophesy and say unto
them, thus saith the Lord God, behold, O my people, I will open
your graves. and cause you to come up out
of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And
ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves,
O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall
put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live. And I shall place
you in your own land, then shall you know that I the Lord have
spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." Now we come
into this world Nothing but dry bones. Dead, dry bones. And through the preaching of
God's sovereign grace, the Spirit of life comes to His elect in
the day of His love. It's called born again. We must
be born again. The old nature fights against
God. The old heart is a stony heart
that says, I will not have this one to rule over me. And by the
grace of God, He comes to us when we were dead, in trespass
and sin, and He quickens us. He gives us life, as He said
right there in His Word, giving life to these bones, breathing
the Spirit of God into their bodies. And He moves upon the souls of
His people, giving life to as many as the Father hath given
Him. That's in John 17. This is why we declare that the
free will religions along with any works religion to be false.
To exercise your so-called will, you must first be given life
to do anything. And dead men can't do anything. Once we were blind, but now we
see how dead we really were. We see ourselves as these bones.
We see ourselves as Lazarus in the tomb, smelling everything
up with our sin. Stinking everything around us
with the sin that's in us. And we see the truth of how it's
God's power that must speak to us and give us life. It's by
His grace that He comes to us when we're dead and gives us
the life. You must first be given life
to do anything, to hear the truths of God. One must be given spiritual
ears. Ears of the heart. You know,
every single miracle our Lord performed on this earth is a
picture of Him curing. Him miraculously curing anything
that is wrong with those people. Those are all things that are
wrong with us. We couldn't walk according to God. We couldn't
hear the words of God. We couldn't speak any truths. We must be given faith where
faith did not exist. Hear ye chosen of God, hear ye
loved of Him, hear ye, O spiritual Israel. Back in our text, if
you would. Chapter 12, verse 29. Once again,
hear ye, O Israel. The Lord our God is one Lord. We serve a triune God, yes. The
God of all creation is three, yet one. 1 John 5, verse 6, we
read these words. This is He that came by water
and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water
and blood, and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because
the Spirit is truth. Verse 7, For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, and the Word, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one. That's God's Word. The triune
God, three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, yet one God. Then he says again in verse
8, And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit,
and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one.
In John chapter 10 verse 30 we read these words. Our Lord says
for Himself, I and my Father are one. He didn't say we were
one, we are as one. He says we are one. And if that's not good enough to
point this truth out to you, listen to the words of Genesis
chapter 1 verse 26. And God said, let us. Let us make man in our image. Our Lord declares Himself as
three before man was ever even created. Let us make man in our image.
Now again, I'm going to ask you to hold your place and turn over
to John chapter 14 for just a moment. For the Father to accept your
worship, for you to be truly a worshiper of God, you must worship the Son. If
you don't worship the Son, you're not worshiping the Father. For
in Him, in the Son, in Christ Jesus the Lord, all the fullness
of the Godhead dwelleth. Are you with me in John chapter
14? Look at verses 1-11. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in Me. Folks, this is our peace. This
is the peace that we can walk through this valley of shadow
of death through. This is the peace that we can
have when we look in the mirror and see our sin and turn away
from that and see our Lord and Savior. We know that Jesus Christ
went to the cross and laid down His life and shed His own blood
and that that blood was efficient because it's the blood of God. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself.
That where I am, there ye may be also. And whether I go, ye
know not, or whether I go, ye know, and the way ye know." And
then Thomas, Thomas speaks up, and he says, now this is Doubting
Thomas, he says, he saith unto him, Lord, we know not whether
thou goest, and how can we know the way? And Jesus says, I am
the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You must worship the Son in order
to worship the Father. Verse 7, And if ye have known
me, Ye should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye
know Him, and have seen Him." Now they were looking at Jesus
Christ speaking right to them. Can you get any more clear than
that? That God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
are one? When you look at Jesus Christ, when you worship Jesus
Christ, you are worshipping the Spirit. You are worshipping the
Father. We can't see the Father. Not in this flesh. For this flesh
is sin. We can't see the Spirit, because
the Spirit is Spirit. But we can see Jesus Christ right
here in His Word. From cover to cover. We see His
face. Everything about Him. His character.
Who He is. He's God Almighty in the flesh.
What He's done. We see His works in His Word.
And when we see Him, we see the Father. Philip said unto him
again in verse 8, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth
us. And Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long a time with
you, and ye hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father which dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's
sake." Folks, this is again our God showing us that He is one.
Now go back to our text once again, and may God give us ears
and understanding to finish these verses. Back again, once again, in the
book of Mark chapter 12. We've read the first verse 29,
and Jesus answered it and said, the first of all the commandments
is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou
shalt, this is verse 30, and thou shalt love the Lord thy
God. This is the first commandment. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This
is the first commandment. is like namely this, thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment
greater than these." Did you come up short? Did you miss the mark? I can't even. I can't even see
the mark, let alone reach it. I want to love my Lord with all
my heart. I want to love Him with all my
soul. I want to love Him with all my
mind and all my strength. With all how I come up short
every second of every day. Not just when I walk out that
door, but when I walk in it and come in here. When I stand here
before you, a sinner, deserving nothing of my Lord,
but yet He is gracious to us, gracious through His love to
us, giving us His Son. What a commandment! What a commandment
God tells you and I. Hear, O Israel! You must love God with all your
mind, all your strength, all your heart. Because of His love for me, He
has revealed to me that in this flesh there is no good thing.
And by His revelation, I have no confidence in what I think
my love for Him is. I have no confidence in my feelings. I have no confidence in my thoughts.
How can I fulfill this or any commandment for that matter from
the highest above all? How can I love the Lord in perfection? Because that's what it requires.
Perfection. We must be perfect to be in the
presence of our God. For Him to even think upon us,
we must be perfected. We must be perfect, holy, unblameable. How can I love the Lord in perfection
with all my heart, all my soul, all my might and all my strength?
I can't. Just as I cannot redeem myself
of my own sin. That's what works religion is.
Works religion is thinking that you can do something to redeem
yourself of sin. And it's absolutely false. Only by the grace of God are
we taught that salvation is of the Lord. I need a Savior. And God requires perfect holiness,
nothing less. I need a substitute. Abraham. A man of God, who believed God,
just in the same way you and I do. By faith, we are given
the gift of faith to believe our Lord and Savior, to believe
that this is His Word. You believe it? It's because
God has given you the gift to do so. Abraham, who believed God, he
took his son up to a mountain to sacrifice him per the instructions
of God. And when they got to the mountain,
the son said, we've got the fire. We've got the altar all set up. Everything's here, the wood,
the fire. We don't have a sacrifice. And Abraham told his son, God
will provide himself a sacrifice. God will provide Himself. In
Matthew 1, verse 23, we read these words, Behold, a virgin
shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call His name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, God with
us. His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His
people. John the Baptist called Him this,
Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Our Lord became flesh, so that He could sacrifice Himself, lay
down His life for you and I, because He's loved us from before
the world ever was. I just love this idea, this very
thought, that God has created everything, so you and I will
be exactly where we are, along with all of His people, more
than any, you can count on any sand of any beach, so that they
will be exactly where they are in time for him to come to them
and shine his love upon them in grace, giving them life. Everything. 9-11, when those buildings fell,
was exactly so that one of God's children might be called that
day. This virus going around is exactly the way it should
be. Who knows? God may be calling one of his
children out of that darkness this day. I know this. I know this. Experiencing what it is to have
that virus in me. That it brought me to my knees
before my Lord, and I cried out, my God, my God, have mercy on
me. And that's a good thing for me. Turn over to Colossians chapter
2, and I'll bring this to a close. Hear, O Israel, it said. Be aware of those who say to
you, you must do this or you must do that. Or anything in regards to salvation. Salvation is by grace alone,
through Christ alone, Beware of those who belittle the power
of God by saying, God loves everyone, and you must do this or you must
do that to receive that love. Do not even associate with their
religious philosophies, blasphemies, religious traditions, rudiments
of this world, for they deny the power of Christ. Are you
with me? In Colossians chapter 2, look at verses 6 through 8. As ye therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up
in Him, established in faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware. You know, I've been told,
why do you always have to beat up on these other religions?
Why is it the ministers of grace are always putting before the
people free will religion, works religion, why are you always
warning them about it? Let me ask you this, why is God
warning us about it right here in verse 8? Isn't that the warning
of God? Beware. Pay attention to this. Avoid
it. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy, in vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. There's another Jesus being preached
in churches all around the world, one who is weak. It's not the
Jesus of Scripture, because the Jesus of Scripture has all power
in heaven and earth and in under the earth. Stand on solid ground is what
we're being told. In Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9,
for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
It is a gift of God, not of worthless man, lest any man should boast.
And then in Romans 9, verses 13-16, we read these words, 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 that it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
Hear, O Israel! If you are in Him, all His perfection
is in you. Now put that in context with
what we've read on the commandment. Love God with all your heart,
all your mind, all your strength, all your soul. If you are in
Christ, His love for the Father is in you, and it's perfect. There's nothing in this flesh
to look at but look to Him, who is our perfection. We are perfected
forever in Him, and that love that He has for His Father is
complete. It's perfect love. Just as His
sacrifice was a perfect sacrifice, therefore it was accepted by
the Father, so is His love. To be in Christ is to be perfected
forever. Yes, our flesh is still a body
of death. But we live in the Spirit. Isn't that what Romans 8-1 is
telling us when it says, there is therefore now no condemnation? There's no charge that can be
laid against you? Who can lay any charge to God's
elect? They can't because we're in Christ.
It's been paid for perfectly. By grace we are saved. By His
grace. By His works. In my heart, a new heart that
God has given me, I love God the Father perfectly, with all
my mind, all my soul, all my might. Now if you look at this
body that's standing before you, you're not going to see that.
But I'm thankful that God looks upon my soul, upon my heart.
A heart that the Jesus Christ dwells in. Familiar words. Romans 8 verse
31 through 34, what shall we say then to these things? If
God be for us, who can be against us? And just to emphasize that
as deep as you can think of it, He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now look at verse 9.
of chapter 2 in Colossians. Colossians chapter 2. For in
Him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye, now catch, folks, catch
this. This is how we love God the Father
with all our heart and all our soul. Ye are complete in Him,
in Christ, which is the head of all principality and power,
in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen in him through faith of the operation of God,
who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in
your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened."
There's that word, given life. together with Him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances
that was against us, which are contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to His cross." Now go over to chapter
3 if you would. If ye then be risen with Christ,
Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections on the things above, not on the
things of the earth." Folks, what an affection I have for
my Lord who loves me. Do you have that love in you?
It's because He first loved us. Go and witness to your loved
ones what great things He hath done for us. Verse 3, for ye
are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. Oh hear, oh Israel. Israel is not talking about that
little land over there on the other side of the big ocean.
Israel is talking about spiritual Israel, God's people. Those that
He has set apart from the world to hear His Gospel. We are complete in Him. Now with
that in mind, go back to your text one more time. Mark chapter
12. Knowing that we are complete
in Him. A moment ago, we were brought to the point of, can
I do that? Can I do that? Not in my flesh.
But I'm complete in Him. Knowing now what I know, I'm
complete in Him. Read these words once again.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.
This is the first commandment. And the second is like namely
this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these. With man. This is as impossible
as a camel going through the eye of a needle. But God. Don't you love that? I love the
parts of the scripture where it says, but God. But with God,
all things are possible. Thus saith the Lord, folks, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And then in another
verse he says these words, for I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Jacob's name was changed to Israel,
the people of God. Here ye owe Israel. We love the Lord God because
He first loved us. And we're complete in Him. Amen. Will you stand with me, please?