is where the Bible study that
we had for this morning's study is about the same thing that
we're going to talk about in today's message. That doesn't
mean those of you who are here can sleep, though. Bill? Just kidding. I've titled this morning's message
Does God love you? My inspiration for this is we
had a visitor this week from the Gideons. If you don't already
know, there's a group of people called the Gideons and they go
around putting Bibles in schools and hotels and wherever. They've been trying to promote
us to support their group for a long time. I can't remember
exactly when, but there was some of you who've been around for
a while know that we used to support that group. And we found
out there were some things in the back of the Bibles that they
were putting in there encouraging free willism. And some years
back, Pastor Gene finally came to the conclusion that we could
no longer support them. And the men of the church agreed
at that time. And as this man who has been trying to reach
up, meet up with me, finally met up with me, we were on the
front porch out here talking. And I just had to be honest with
him. I just flat out told him point
blank, we don't have the same gospel as you folks do. What do you mean you don't have
the same? Isn't this a Christ-centered church? Well, absolutely. Well,
we're Christ-centered people, not the Christ of Scriptures.
What do you mean by that? Well, we sat down and talked for a
bit, and this man just could not wait to start telling me
his devotion. His devotional was this. A gentleman, young
man, had come to his home to install some solar panels. And just as he was getting ready
to leave, he finally blurted out, Jesus loves you! And the
guy stopped. And he came back and he says,
what do you mean by that? And he went on to tell me that. Now,
I quickly inserted this question to him. How do you know? He goes, what do you mean, how
do I know? It says so in the Bible. John
3.16, I said, really? I said, what about Malachi 1? What's that? So it says there,
Jesus loved Jacob, but he hated Esau. Oh, no, we don't talk about
hate. That's a wrong word. We cannot
use that word. We only talk about God's love.
And I went about from that moment asking him questions, well, what
about Romans 9, where it talks about the potter,
where it talks about two children who were in their mother's womb
that God had decided one and not the other before they were
even able to commit good or evil. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth." And of course, you're familiar with
scripture at that point. It goes on and it talks about how Pharaoh
was raised up. And I asked him, I said, do you
not believe that part of God's word? Is John 3.16 the only part
that you believe? Well, I will not, I must be honest with you, I
believe I left the man sincerely confused. His wife was waiting
in the car so he couldn't stay much longer than that. So I simply
asked him, I said, you know, brother, if you don't want to
believe what I'm saying, what I'm reading to you, the scriptures,
I brought the Bible out and we looked at Romans chapter 9. I
said, if you don't want to believe what I'm telling you, that the
word of God says right here, showing you, go ask your pastor
about it. And he left thoroughly confused.
He just had no idea that these things were even in scripture,
as far as I could tell. But I got to thinking about that.
We don't talk about hate. Do you understand how much God hates
sin? Can we comprehend the depth of
hatred God has for sin? Sin has condemned the whole human
race other than those who the Lord Jesus laid down his life
for. And that's just a remnant. The path to destruction is wide. Because a whole lot of people
are going to go through that path of destruction and spend
an eternity in hell. The very path that each and every
one here today has been on at one time or another. Or at least
that was the path that we see now we were on. God Almighty perfectly hates
sin as much as He perfectly loves His children. We talk about how our Lord will
lose nothing, because He's God who can turn His hand. I hope to answer this question,
does God love me? But not with thoughts from John. I hope to answer it through Scripture. And if the Lord is pleased, I
pray He will answer it for you as well. Turn to the 45th chapter
of Isaiah if you would please. Now before I join you there,
allow me to read from Luke chapter 10. where our Lord speaking says,
all things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knoweth
who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. No man No man who has ever walked this
earth, other than Christ Jesus Himself, can know who the Lord
Jesus Christ is, or who the Father is, unless the Son revealed Him. That's what it says there in
Luke chapter 10, verse 22. So that we see in this that the
true son of the living God must be revealed. Natural man cannot
perceive the truths of Christ. Our Lord walked this earth in
broad daylight, claiming himself God in the flesh, proving it
by the wondrous works that he did, yet most could not see the
truth that it was him. Do not Scriptures tell us in
Matthew chapter 16 verse 17, and Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. You recall the question
was, who do you say that I am? Who do the disciples say that
I am? And Simon Barjona stepped up and he said, why thou art
the son of the living God. Blessed art thou, he said to
Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood. Just so we don't confuse that,
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven. Scriptures also tell us this
in Romans 8, chapter 8 verse 7, because the carnal mind, the
natural mind, the very mind that we all come into this world with,
is enmity against God. Now that word enmity, that's
as bad as the word hate. Used back in Malachi, there is
a disdain. We come into this world with
a disdain for our Lord God Almighty the Creator. We will not have
that man rule over us. For it is not subject, it goes
on to say, to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So we
see this dead in trespasses and sin statement is us in our natural
state. For one to know the true and
living God, God must first give life to that individual. That's
exactly what he did for Lazarus. Lazarus came forth, didn't he?
But he was dead. A picture of all of us spiritually.
And the Lord gave him life to hear the powerful call, Lazarus,
come forth. Let me ask you this. Does God love those who will
die in their sins and go to eternal damnation? That's what this man
was saying. That's what the world says about
the Lord Jesus Christ, that God loves everybody. And you and I both know that
that's not according to Scriptures, is it? They've taken the phrase, for
God so loved the world, and they've made it universal to all of mankind
who will ever walk this world, but they don't want to look at
that very point that comes up next that says that whosoever
Who are the whosoever? Those that must be born again. Does God love those? whom will
die in their sins and go to eternal damnation, not the true and living
God. For the God of Holy Scripture
cannot be foiled. He cannot be thwarted. He cannot
be turned. In Isaiah, you don't need to
turn here, but in chapter 14, verse 24, we read it this way.
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought,
so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall
it stand. That's the God of Scriptures
right there. One who is sovereign over everything. I told him we're a sovereign
grace church. He goes, what does that mean?
It means that our God is God. The God we worship is the God
of all creation. He who is not spoiled, his purpose
is not spoiled, it shall stand. Again, in the same chapter, chapter
14 and verse 27, we read it this way, For the Lord of hosts hath
purpose, and who shall disannul it? If God has purpose to save you,
can you turn Him from His purpose? It says then, and his hand is
stretched out, and who shall turn it back? Consider these
words in Isaiah chapter 45. Read with me verses 5 and 7 if
you would, please. 5 through 7. I am the Lord, and
there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside Me. I am the Lord, and
there is none else. I form the light, and I create
darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things." Now I want to state something
about that word evil that we just read there. That's talking
about the storms. It's talking about all the things
that you might say are evil as far as the evilness of infection
that our dear sister has in her body right now. The evilness
of cancer that spreads through our body. Our Lord is not the
author of sin. Man is the author of sin. An old preacher once said this,
and I can't remember who it was. I know Pastor Gene said it several
times. He says, if you go to hell, that was your responsibility. If you go to heaven, it's because
of Christ. Because of Christ alone. I may not say it exactly like
he did, but you get the point. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. Now let us consider three points
that can only be revealed to the heart by God. And He only
reveals these truths to those whom He loves. If you're taking
notes, we'll talk about the life He lived, the life He gave, and
the life He gives. Our first point is plainly put
in the book of Acts. The book of Acts of the Apostles.
Turn if you would over to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. We looked at this in Bible study. We've been studying the path
that the Apostle Peter is on in our Sunday morning Bible class.
And we read here in verses 36 through 41 of the book of Acts,
chapter 10. I'm in the wrong book. The word of God sent unto the
children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is
Lord of all. That word, I say, ye know, which
was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
from the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good
and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with
him. And we were witnesses of all
things, which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the
third day and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink
with Him after He rose from the dead." Now, I don't want to go
into a great detail in what we just read there. We did that
in Bible study this morning. But the life of God in the flesh
was not what natural man would think. In fact, it's just the
opposite. God in the flesh, the God-man
came as a servant. He went about doing good and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Did you know that
our Lord was not a comely man? He wasn't some handsome guy. You can pick any one of your
favorite stars. John Wayne. John Wayne's a pretty good looking
man for a man. He's a man's man. Our Lord was not a commonly man. In fact, people would not have
sought Him for His looks. I was thinking about this the
other day. I think I was talking with Pastor Gene about it. Think
about this for a minute. Here we're talking about the
Creator of everything that is. The very one who said, let it
be, or thought, let it be. And it was. The very one who
makes the dust float exactly where it should, when it should. The very one who created every
single snowflake. Walk this earth in plain clothes. He was a carpenter. He was a
man from Bethlehem. Nothing good ever came out of
Bethlehem, right? Our Lord did. You would think he would have
the grandeur of all the clothes. Oh, wait a minute. No, that's
the pope who sits over there in Rome. No. The One with true power came
as a servant. I'm talking to you. I'm talking
to you about does God love you. Our Creator got down on His knees
and washed the feet of His disciples. Do you know that He does that
for us? He does that for us as we walk through this world. Our
feet get all dirty and dusty. And our Lord gets down on His
knees for us and washes us. In Philippians 2 verse 8 we read
this, And being found in the fashion of the man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death. This very one that we
just read about, this very one that we read these words, I am
the Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside thee. This is the very one who humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Does God love you? Our Lord came to do His Father's
will, and that will, that purpose, that desire, was to lose none. Isn't that what we read in John
chapter 6 verse 39? And this is 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
the last day." Does God love everybody who goes through that
doormarked death? And some go on to be in hell
and damnation? Does God love everybody? No. I point this out because we are
so blessed that God would love us. Do we not have much to praise
our Savior for? That because of His love, He
gave Himself for us? The Creator of everything laid
down His life, went to the cross willingly? We're talking about a holy Creator. Walking this earth perfectly. Walking in perfection. The perfection
that He is. Holy, righteous, fulfilling every
aspect, every jot, every I has been dotted, every T has been
crossed of His holy law in Him perfectly. And this He did for
those whom He loves. It says that Christ came to save
sinners. I've heard this before. Yes,
I'm a sinner. Absolutely. You'll never see
anything better than that standing in this pulpit. But I'm God's
sinner. I belong to Him. His chosen people always have
been His. The people of God, all of those
from every kindred, every tongue, every tribe throughout all of
what God would call or what you and I would call time, have been loved by our Savior
before the world began. That's what it says in Ephesians
1. Predestinated. All this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that all which He has given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. I belong
to Him. He has a people spread throughout
all time, throughout all the world, and God the Spirit is
going about calling them unto Himself at the time of His love. Aren't you thankful there was
a time of His love for you? Do we not praise our Lord and
Savior because there was a time of love for us when He came to
us, when we did not know Him, when we didn't want to know Him,
and He brought us to our knees that we sought Him? The life our Lord lived was a
life of love for you and I. For His people. He didn't have
to come here. He's the creator of everything.
He could have done it somewhere differently, but this is what
God did. He created man and gave them a free will, and that man
who had the free will took it and used it the way he was meant
to use it, and that was to go against God. And we've all done
the same thing since. And because He loved us from
before the world was, He manifest Himself in the flesh. Great is
the mystery of God. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. Now, let's consider the life
He gave. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter chapter 1. And before I join you there,
allow me to say from Mark 8, chapter 8, verse 31, it says,
and he, speaking of our Lord, began to teach them, his disciples,
his apostles, 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. And after three days, rise again. The death and the resurrection
of our great God was a necessary thing. Our Lord, our God, the
Creator of all that is, cannot look upon sin, for He is a holy
God. Holiness and sin can no longer
be in the same, just as grace and works can no
longer mix, cannot mix. The Bible is clear that these
cannot mix. It's like darkness and light.
You can't mix those either. When the light comes on, darkness
goes away. Does it not? Grace is unmerited favor. You
can't earn it with works. Is it not? God is holy. And we are but sin. The sheep of God have all gone
astray in our own way and followed the same path to destruction
as all of mankind has. Yet God was manifest in the flesh
to save his sheep, and he accomplished this salvation by shedding his
own blood in their stead. He set himself to be our spotless
sacrifice, our scapegoat, our redeemer. When He went to the cross and
He died, all of His elect died in Him. The perfect, holy, righteous
blood of Christ cleanseth His people from all their sin. When the Lord looks down upon
us now, He sees the blood of His Son just as the angel of
death saw the blood on the doorpost of the Israelites while they
were in Egypt. The angel of death would pass
those by because he saw the blood, a picture of the blood of Christ. We are washed in His redeeming
blood. Look with me, if you would, verses
18 through 21 of 1 Peter chapter 1. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of the Lamb without
blemish and without spot. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us." He was perfect, righteous in every way. that we might be
made righteous in Him, as the Lamb without blemish and
without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, who by Him do believe in God." that raised
him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and
hope might be in God. The life he gave was to die in
our stead, to receive our damnation, to redeem us unto the Father,
to pay the price that we had earned. And it was accomplished,
that very thing. Turn now, if you will, over to
the 10th chapter of John. And let's consider my last point,
the life He gives. Once again, I ask for you to
allow me to read some verses while you're turning over to
John chapter 10. Colossians 1 verses 12 through
14, we read this, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. who have delivered us from the power of darkness and
have translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sin."
Folks, we are the children of light. The love of God dwells in our
hearts. In Ephesians 5, verse 8, we read
this, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light, and the
Lord walk as children of light. The life He gives. Before, we
used to walk around thinking, oh, wasn't I lucky? The new life that the Lord has
given us now is, oh, praise the Lord for that blessing. Or, oh,
praise the Lord for that lesson I had to learn. Or, praise the
Lord for that trouble that He brought my way, because look
at the glory that was given to Him in what happened. walk as children of light. 1
John chapter 4 verse 9, we read this, In this was manifested
the love of God towards us, because the God sent His only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through Him. The life He gives. The life He gives
His people. I ask you again, does God love
you? Has He manifested Himself to
your heart? Has He revealed the truths of
His Word to your spirit? Listen to these words very carefully
in John chapter 3. We'll be to John chapter 10 in
just a moment. These are familiar. This is the
words that the Gideon man quoted to me. How do you know God loved
that man? Because it says in John 3.16.
Really? Listen to the whole thing. 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. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are
wrought in God." The life He gives to His people Shine of
who our Lord is. Sometimes our faith is small
and we're not as boisterous or loud about claiming who our Lord
is that we would like to be, but He's still our Lord in our
hearts. Because He dwells in our hearts. This is talking about those who
believe the Word of Truth. This is the work of God. To believe
the Word of Truth is His work. Not believe what man thinks,
but believe what God says. That's what I did. I took that
poor man to the Word of God and showed him. Don't listen to what
John says. Here it is in the book of Romans
chapter 9. Right there, plain as can be. God loves the people
for Himself. Aren't you thankful that He does?
I am! The Word of God says in Ephesians
2 verses 8-9, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
man should boast. Look with me here in John chapter
10, beginning at verse 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the Lord says, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber,
but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Now look over at verse 14. I
am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and have known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. Does God love you? Did He lay
down His life for you? We love Him because He first
loved us. He's loved us from before the
world ever was. and other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it again." I ask you again, does God love
you? If God has given you the gift
of faith, The gift to believe His Word. The revelation of who
Christ is. God Almighty in the flesh. The
creator of everything that is. He who has all power in heaven
and earth and under the earth. If He has given you a revelation
of what He has done, He laid down His life for us. If He is giving you the revelation
of where He is right now, He's sitting on His throne saying,
don't touch that one. He's mine. I paid for him. She's
mine. I paid for her. They'll spend
eternity with Me in heaven. That's what He says to all of
His children, to those that He loves, to those that belong to
Him, to them that He has loved from before the world was. You
shall spend an eternity with Me. I paid for you, He says. If the Lord reveals His truths
to those He loves. Listen to these words of truth.
Luke chapter 9 verse 45, but they understood not this saying,
and it was hid from them that they perceived it not. Now pause me because I want you
to think about that. We're trying to understand a little bitty
drop of the depth of God's love for His people. Does God love
you? It says here that He hides things,
but they understood not this saying and it was hid from them
that they perceived it not. Again in Luke chapter 18 we read
this, And they understood none of these things, and this saying
was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. Now this is talking about the
Lord's disciples, His apostles. They understood not. But it was
still the Lord hiding it from them. He had just not revealed
to them the truth of it yet. Colossians chapter 1 verse 26,
we read this, "...even the mystery which hath been hid from ages
and from generations, but is now made manifest to his saints." Well, what about these words?
The words of our Savior. In Luke chapter 10 verse 21,
"...in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and
said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast
revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for it seemed good
in Thy sight. The Lord have mercy on whom He
will have mercy." Do you believe that? Can you apply that to you? The Lord has mercy on whom He
will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardeneth. Does the
word of truth offend you? Not if God loves you. Does God love you? I thank my
Lord for the Word of Truth showing me what I deserve and what He
has taken for me. Showing me the darkness that
I once walked in, but now I walk in the light. And that light
is who the Lord Jesus Christ is, my Savior. What about yours? I ask you one last time, does
God love you? I can't answer that question
for you. I haven't the slightest idea what is going on in your
heart. And any man who says he can, run from him as fast as
you can. It's a personal thing, salvation. Only you can answer that question. I guarantee you, if He loves
you, He'll bring joy to your heart and that love. Will you
stand with