I hope you paid attention to
the words of that. The second verse says, A sinful
soul, I come to Him. Our Lord said, Come unto Me,
O you that labor heavy laden. I'll give you rest. He said,
Him that cometh to Me, I'll never cast out. He said, I give unto
them eternal life and they shall never perish. And the next verse
says, My heart's leaning on the Word. God who cannot lie. So I hope this message will give
some comfort to some. Look at verse 13 again with me. 1 John 5, 13. These things have
I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life. And that you may
believe, or that it is more fully believed. Faith cometh by hearing
the word, doesn't it? That you may believe on the name
of the Son of God. This is written to believers. You see that? These things have
I written unto you that believe. This is written to the believers.
The whole letter is. Those who are born again, saved,
quickened, God's children. You know, I worry about and am
fearful for those who don't know the Lord. I preach to some that
don't know the Lord, but there's nothing I can do to make them
believe. I want people to hear and believe,
but I can't make people hear. I can't make people believe. I want everybody in this room
to know the Lord, but I can't do it, no matter what. I want
to see people convicted of sin. I can't do it. I want to see
people repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, confess him,
believers baptism. But I cannot make anybody do
that. But I know who can and who must
and who will. And I know how he does that.
The preaching of the Word. The Word of God. The Gospel is
the power of God unto salvation. I know that. So, this is what
I'm told to do, and so this is what I do. Preach the Word. He
told young Timothy, preach the Word, Timothy. Preach the Word.
The Word of God is his power. The Gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. The gospel is what I heard that
broke my young rebellious will and mind and heart and convicted
me of sin, convinced me of my need of Christ, and convinced
me that it gave me a desire to confess Him and walk with Him. It's the Word of God, the gospel.
You know, I want people to be convicted. There's some that
aren't convicted, and I want them to be convicted. But I want
people to be comforted. I want people to be comforted.
I've been talking to a brother and a sister lately who are struggling
with assurance. And every true child of God struggles
at times with assurance. Did you read the article in the
bulletin about assurance? And these verses should give
a true believer some assurance, if you pay attention, if the
Lord will help us. Every true child of God struggles
with assurance. Every true child of God at times
doubts their salvation for one reason. You don't doubt the Word
of God, do you? There's not a word in this book
that I have any doubt about. Can you say that? I really do believe every word
in this book. I believe it's God's word, don't
you? Do you? I want to see some response.
Do you believe that this is the word of God? Do you know it? I mean, is there anything anybody
can say to change your mind, to refute this and make you disbelieve
it? Anything. Anything happen. that
make you say, well, maybe this is not true after all. Anything? Faith comes by hearing. And faith is belief. With the heart, man, see that's
heart, that's not head. If somebody convinces you in
your head, somebody else can change your mind. God gives a
new heart. heart. But the reason we doubt and struggle
with our own salvation, worrying about whether or not we're a
child of God, is our sinfulness. Every single child of God at
times thinks, how could I possibly be a child of God, be saved,
born again, and think such things and do such things? Right? How can I still, after all these
years, older believers, older believers, after all these years,
you think, I'm done with that sin. No, you're not, are you? So that's the reason. Okay? And I'm going to show you that's
a good thing. Can you know you have eternal
life? Did you read that one? It doesn't say that, does it?
What does it say? That believes on the name of
the Son of God. That you may know. That you may
know. Can we know? Can you know you
have eternal life? Can you know you have physical
life? Well, unless you're dead or in
a coma, right? How? How can you know you have
physical life? There are five senses, right? I'd love to ask Sarah this right
now. She has struggled. She's a nurse. She taught nursing.
I bet you'd struggle coming up with those five real quick. Anyway,
I had to think about it. Sight, hearing, smell, taste,
and touch. Feel it. Okay? If you're alive,
you see. If you're dead, you don't see
anything. Right? If you're alive, you hear. Some
of us don't hear too well, but we do hear. Okay? If you're alive,
you smell. You smell things. Unless you
got the virus. And that's a good thing. I'm
telling you. Let me go on. If you're alive,
you feel. And something or someone touches
you, you feel it, don't you? If you're alive, you taste. And
the virus took that away, too. This virus called sin does that
to you. But can you know you have spiritual life? Has it come? Faith is another word for life.
Has it come? Here. Faith comes by hearing. Sight. Our Lord said this is
the will of God, that he that believeth on the Son, seeth the
Son, and believeth on Him. Sees who He is. See means understand. Look down at verse 20. We know
the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding. Back
in chapter 4, it says, No man has seen God at any time. But
now, hold on. The Son of God has come. And
many actually saw Him. And like Thomas of old said,
that's God. The whole world, no it's not,
that's a man named Jesus. No, Thomas said, no, that's my
God. That's what Thomas said. Well,
they were blessed to have spent a few years with the Son of God
in the flesh. They saw Him. But then He left. And you know, they believed him
more when he left than when he was there. You know that? No
matter what he did or said, they acted like they didn't believe
him after a time. Remember? And he would say things
to them like, how is it you don't believe? After all this time,
you still don't have anything. So we walk by faith, not by sight. So they believed him more fully
when he was gone, when he was crucified, buried, rose again,
and they saw him leave, and they never saw him again after that.
And they believed him with all their heart. Why? Because we've
never seen him. Nobody in this room. For the
last 2,000 years, nobody's seen him. Before that, nobody ever
saw him. Except a few here and there,
like Gideon and Abraham and all that. And we haven't seen Him.
I haven't seen Him. But do you see Him who is invisible? That's what Peter wrote. As seeing
Him who is invisible. Whom you have not seen, you love.
And you believe on Him. So, sight. We see Him. We hear. We're touched. We feel the Word of God. We're not to trust our feelings.
Read that article. I think it's a pretty good one,
even though I wrote it. But there's no life if you don't
feel. If the Gospel doesn't move you, you don't have any life. Right? You're not moved by it. and taste. Ezekiel, the Lord said, take
this roll and eat it. This roll. I like rolls. Do you like rolls? Sister Schubert's
are about the best there is. Me and you used to make homemade
until we started eating Sister Schubert's. I hope she's not
a nun. I didn't think about that. At any rate, she makes good rolls. And I love those rolls. I love,
I could just eat a whole pan full of them. But I love this
roll better. It used to be written in scrolls,
all rolled up, you know. They said, Zeke, you'll take
this roll and eat it. He said, I did, and it was sweeter than
honey to my taste. There was a time I had no taste
for this book. Didn't you, brother? How about
now? Huh? Isn't it at times you're
hungry and you need something and you read and it just meets
it, just satiates you, satisfies you, huh? The gospel is evidence. It's obvious to me that some
people in here alive look at you. It's ice and cold and people
are looking for excuses not to go to church, not God's people. They're looking for ways to get
there. I sent out that text, you know, if you don't, if you
can't make it, I'll come get you and carry you here. Well,
you know, one of the, a sister that was born above the Mason-Dixon
line said, you can't carry us, we're too heavy, you'll have
to drag us or whatever. And I didn't mean put you on my back, I mean
put you in the car and carry you up here. See, that's what
southerners say, I'm going to carry you to the store, you know. And Cary could be many, many
times. But anyway. But, you know, here you are. Why? I mean, man. God has given you eternal life.
You have to have this Son. You've heard His voice. You see
His glory. You see your need of Him. You
feel. And the gospel moves you, it
touches your heart, your need, you taste that the Lord is gracious
and His Word. And it's the spiritual life that
we're talking about. Over in Psalm 14, I won't have
you turn too much this morning, but Psalm 14. We're going to
stay in 1 John 5. Look at Psalm 14. This thing
of smell. Look at Psalm 14. Look at it with me. You have
it? You know, we need to look, we
need to know where these scriptures are so we can give an account
and reason. Every man asks us to hope and
what we believe, who we believe. Verse 1, the fool hath said in
his heart, no God. There's no God. They're corrupt.
They've done abominable works. Unbelievers they are. There's
nothing to do with good. No. The Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men. The natural born sons of men.
Sons of Adam. See if there were any that didn't
understand. Understand what? Truth. Who God is. None. And seek God. Anybody seeking
after God? No. Why? They did. Right? They did. Now you and
I know. I mean, can you give yourself
life? Oh, come on. Can a dead person
give themselves? Come on, that's ridiculous. It's
much more ridiculous to say that someone can give themselves eternal
life by a decision or a choice or something they do. We're going
to see this is a record that God has given to us eternal life. Not offer. And read on. They're all gone aside, verse
3. They're all together become filthy. And this is why I like
this Cambridge Bible, the center reference. Do you see what it
says? Filthy. Stinking. Did you read that? That's what
that means. In the Hebrew, originally. That's
the way it was written. And maybe the translators changed
it from filthy to stinking because it's just too offensive. But that's what God says about
flesh, dead sinners. It's completely the opposite
of what false religion is saying about stinking. It stinks. Paul said this. Let me ask you
this. Have you ever got a whiff of
yourself? If God has given you eternal
life, you have these five senses. And one of them is smell. And
when He gives you this life, you get a good whiff of yourself. Paul said it this way, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of what? Death. This is what happens when God
gives life. Convicts of sin, convinces. How
do you convince? You smell yourself. And you don't
like the smell. Here's the opposite. Man is born
with pride and self-love and hates God, loves himself. He
thinks so highly of himself when he's a zero, he's a nothing.
And without God, he can do nothing. He's dead in trespass and sin. Unbelievable. But when God gives
life, you begin to realize and see
something of your own utter sinfulness. And rather than love yourself,
you loathe yourself. One of the old writers put it
this way. It's like a man carrying a dead body around on his back
all his life. He can't get rid of it. And it
just gets more and more corrupt. And we've got this old man in
us. He's not improving. He won't
go away. Is that you? God has given you life. How can
conviction of sin give you comfort? Because when he has come, the
Holy Spirit, what's the first thing he does? Convinces of sin,
righteousness, judgment. Doesn't convince you you're a
good person. He convinces you you're really bad. You're not
worth saving. There you go again, preacher.
That's right. That's where the truth begins. That's what you
first understand. False religion is telling everybody
how much God loves them and needs them, and church can't be church
without you, and we sure need you, and God is going to, if
you accept His Son, He'll congratulate you. And it's utter blasphemy. They're
much rotten, and this is words that true preachers use, rotten.
No good, filthy, vile, stinking sinners by nature but God. And then the gospel comes, and
it's a sweet-smelling savor. Do you remember when God, the
flood, He killed everything that moved on the earth? God did that. Not a loving God. angry God,
a holy God, a just God. Right? He killed everything and
everyone on planet Earth. He says he's going to do it again.
All right? The only ones that didn't die
were those in an ark. Why were they there? Did Shem,
Ham, and Japheth say, I've decided to go in there? No, sir. Did
the skunks, did the lions, did the tigers just say, Noah, I'm
coming. No, no, no, no. They were brought
in. They were called. They were brought. They were
carried into the ark. And they were shut in. And they
can't get out. And that ark bore all the wrath
and the judgment and the anger of God against this planet. And everything died except those
in the ark. Now you people here know what
it means to be in Jesus Christ. Very few people in religion today
don't know what that means. That's your hope, isn't it? When
Paul said, I want to win Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness.
How many times have we heard that, sister? She's smiling. This lady's smiling. She's heard
that thousands of times. She's just grinning and smiling.
God hath given you eternal life. If this is still sweet, If this
is a sweet-smelling savor. And this is what I was going
to say. After God killed everything, the whole world was full of dead
bodies, Noah went outside and sacrificed one out of every clean
animal. Just continue. A burnt offering
unto God. And it says, God smelled a sweet
savor. It smelled good to God. No flesh.
He couldn't smell any flesh because of those sacrifices. That's Christ. We're still sinners, but God
doesn't smell us. We're in Christ. Sweet smelling
savor, graced, taste, hearing. Why are you here? I always ask
that. It's a good question to ask yourself.
Why are you here? How did you get here? Why did
you come here? How did you get here? Did you really decide to
come here? Well, yeah, I did. Did you now? Well, the lot is cast in the
lap, but who's the whole disposing of? The Lord. Did you of your
free will come here? Huh? I thought God worked all
things according to His will. Doesn't He? Isn't that what the
Bible says? As Brother Donnie said, read
your Bible. Brother Bruce, that's what the Bible says, that he
worketh all things after the counsel of his will. It's not
of him that willeth, or of him that runneth. It's of God that
showeth mercy. You know what the Bible says? Do you believe
that? Do you believe that you wouldn't come here unless God
made you willing in a day of his power? Do you believe that?
You know that. You not only believe it here,
you know it, that if he didn't make you willing, you would not
be here. That the old man still, that
the flesh still has a pull on him and that old man wants to,
I'm out of here. I told men yesterday, my flesh
wants to cancel services. And it starts snowing, my flesh
wants to cancel, I want to sit in my chair and hop a cup of
coffee and wait on the games to come on. But my spirit is willing. My
flesh is weak, but my spirit is willing. Where did that come
from? It was a time I didn't have that. Born of God. A new man, a new
creature, a spirit made willing in the day of His power. What?
The gospel. And now, you know, my flesh says,
just sit at home. Just call them. It'll be easy.
They'll understand. Call them. Cancel service. My
flesh says, nope. We're going to come, and whoever
comes, comes. And I'm quite sure the Lord will bless it. He said,
where two or three are gathered, I'll be there. Look here. Look here. I didn't even make
enough bulletins. I didn't think you'd show up. You must have life. If your flesh
is looking for a way out, but your spirit is looking for a
way in, Your flesh wants to run out in the world. Your spirit
wants to run to Christ. Your flesh wants to eat and drink
and be happy. Your spirit wants to eat and
drink of Christ, doesn't it? Is that you? I'm hearing some
amens. Now who did that? Was it years ago somebody made
an altar call and they sang a hundred verses of Just As I Am and you
came down and you came and made your... No! One day the gospel was preached
and one day you didn't hear it and the next day you did. One
day you didn't see your knee to cry and the next day you do.
One day the gospel had no effect on you and the next day it did
completely. It's consumed you. Look at verse 1 here in our text. 1 John 5 verse 1. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. Now everybody says that. Believe. With the heart, man,
believe it. That Jesus is the Christ. What
does that mean? You know, people use that name. Jesus. And I'm going to say this,
and not to blaspheme, but God knows. When people curse, they
say, oh, Jesus Christ. Oh, for Christ's sake. Don't they? Do it all the time.
Don't think a thing about it. Oh, God. Well, God damn. Oh, my God. How does that make
you feel? Just me saying that. And I'm
not blaspheming him. I ask God, should I say that?
Yeah, that's what men are saying. How does that make you feel? You fear his name? Where did
that come from? Most people don't. Don't give
it a thought. Religion doesn't. The way they
talk about God. God wants you. No fear of God for their eyes.
Do you? That's the beginning of salvation.
You fear His name. I prayed that. David prayed it. Unite my heart to fear. Unite it to you. Not love of
self, not love of the world, but to you that I might fear
thy name. That means have such awe and
respect and a holy reverence for them. You'd hate to hear
it used in any way, but glory and honor and praise and thanksgiving. Not flippantly and carelessly.
You love His name too much. You wouldn't dream of somebody
throwing your earthly father's name around. You'd hate that. Oh, my. They believe on the name.
Well, his name is the Christ. His title, he's the Messiah. Do you need a Messiah? The Messiah,
the Christ, the anointed one, is the second Adam. Listen to
me. You've heard all this before. But it's a good test of whether
or not you love Him, the truth. Do you need a covenant head Do
you need a surety? Do you need the Holy One of God
to come down and save you from this world, from wrath, from
sin? Do you need a prophet? I don't
mean any prophet. I mean that prophet of whom Moses
spake. A priest? I don't mean one in
Rome. I mean one at the right hand
of the Majesty on High to confess your sins to. Not to just hear
some. Put them away. Offer sacrifices
that puts away sin. One sacrifice. Do you need a
king? Will you have this man reign
over you? Rule over you? Everything. Give you whatever he gives you,
take away everything he takes from you. Give you children,
take them away. Is this your God? Is this your king? Can you say
with Job, Though he slay me, I'll trust him. Can you say with
Abraham, who thought he was going to lose his only son, his lot,
the one he loved, that judges of the earth will do right? Can
you say with Eli, whom the Lord killed both his sons, that it's
the Lord who let him do what seems good? Can you say that?
That God did this? This God I'm talking about is
Jesus. He's God. He's the One. He's the One. Prophet, Priest,
King, Messiah, Holy One of God, Second Adam, Covenant Head. Do
you need Him? Do you believe Him? Most don't.
Look at verse 1. And everyone that loves Him,
that begat, loves God. Do you love God that God is God? All things work together for
good to them that love God. Everybody says they do. Would
you let a man stand up and declare God as He is from the Bible?
That man don't love that God. They'll even say things like,
that's not my God. Oh yes it is. God's people, His
children love God. The God of the Bible, the living
and true God. Not the God who wants to be God
if you let Him. The God who is God whether you
let Him or not. And it's completely up to Him
to let you know Him. To give you faith in Him. Is
that your God? That God worketh all things after His will. It's
God's work. It's God's will. It's God's choice.
It's God's decision. Everything is completely up to
God. Is that your God? That's the
God of the Bible. It loves God. Let me go on down
and wrap this up. Down in verse 10 it says, He
that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth on the Son
of God. Now, and it says back in chapter 4, every preacher
that says Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is born of God,
Son of God. Everybody says He's the Son of
God. Everybody says they believe that. But by the Son of God,
it doesn't mean He's less than God. By the Son of God, it doesn't
mean that He's not God the Father in every sense of the word. The name of the Son of God. He
had a name before His name was Jesus. Didn't He? What was His
name before He told, before the angel told Mary, You call Him
Jesus. Here's what God called Him. All
the way back in Isaiah 7, God says, call his name Immanuel. God-written. Then chapter 9,
it says a child is born, but the Son, the eternal Son is with
the Father in the beginning. The Son is given. Call His name
Wonderful. I've got to holler this. Counselor. The mighty God. Oh no, God says,
this is God. Under the sun he saith, thy throne,
O God. He never ceased to be God and
became a man. The mighty God, the everlasting
Father. You're not God. Have you seen
God? They said, You're not even 50 years old. Have you seen our
father Abraham? He said, Before Abraham was,
I am. He called himself God. He said, Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it. He was glad. Do you
know who Moses talked to on that mountain? Our Lord said to those
people, Me. I am that I am. You believe that? People don't
believe that. They just call Him Jesus. Don't they? You know what's up.
Who do you call Him? Lord. My Lord and my God. You say you call me Lord and
Master. You say, well, for so I am. Who calls Him that? His children. I never called
my dad Henry. Hey Henry, did you ever call
your, what was your dad's name, Ron? Did you ever call him that
first name? Did you? John, did you? John, did you ever call your
dad by his first name? You ever call him the old man? You refer
to him as the old man. Oh no. And those that have life, those
that have the fear of God, those that know God, that love God,
His glory and His honor, and know His name and fear His name,
those whom He has revealed Himself to, they refer to Him as He is. They know Him. They know Him. Verse 10 says, He that believeth
on the Son of God hath to witness in himself He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record. Here
it is. This is what's written. In the volume of the book, it
is recorded. That's what the record is. It's
been recorded by God. That God hath given to us. Who's He talking to? His people. His elect. The children of God. God hath given to us. Where did
you get this eternal life? God gave it to you. Not offer. Say offer, Todd. Don't say that. Given. Bestowed. Here. I give you this life. Don't give yourself life. God
didn't offer life and you take it. No, He gave you life. Just
like righteousness and everything. God hath given to us eternal
life. And where is this life? It's in His Son. It's not in
you. It's not what you do, what you don't do, what you believe.
It's not in your faith. It's in His Son. And he says in verse 12, So he
that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. He that hath the Son. What does
that mean? Very quickly. He that hath the Son. What does
that mean? It means have an understanding
of who He is. He's not just a man. He's God.
It's to have an understanding of why He came. The Son of God
has come to give us an understanding. Why He came. Who He is and why
He came. What He did. Did He do it? Sure,
that's faith. He's a surety. And we might know
Him that is true. Who is He? He's the true God
in eternal life. That's verse 20. It's to have
an understanding. It's to have faith. It's to have
hope. It's to have love. These three things. Your faith
is not in you, your faith is not in what you've done, what
you haven't done, your confession, your profession. It's faith in
Christ. All you believe is Him. It's
totally up to Him. Your hope, your absolute hope
of eternal life, of heaven, of acceptance with God, of peace
with God, that God's not going to cast you out, that God's not
angry with you, that God's not going to say, no, I don't, I
won't take Him. Your hope is in Jesus Christ
completely. If God accepts Him, God says
He accepts you. Hope and love. Faith, hope, and
love. Do you love what you're hearing?
Do you love His salvation, the salvation of the Lord? Do you
love Him? People don't love that. They hate that. They hate all
talk of God choosing a people and predestinating them and giving
them the Christ. It's all up to Christ. It's not
you keeping the law. It's Christ keeping the law and
giving this righteousness to them. It's a passive righteousness. It's nothing they do. They don't
decide. People hate that. What about
you? I love it. I love it. It's not an it. It's a person. I love that my salvation is completely
dependent on a person, not me. He's called the surety of everlasting
good. So he says, and this faith, hope,
and love is joy. He rejoiced and cried. Need to have the Son is to have
a need of Him. It's a union, a relationship.
Do you call on Him? Do you? Do you need a shepherd? Do you need a father? Do you
need a husband? Do you know that if God has given
you eternal life, you'll never take it back? The gifts and calling of God
without repentance means you take it back. You won't take
it back. If He's chosen you, you know He'll never reject you.
And you know what? You won't reject Him either. If God has called you, those
that are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. If God
has called you by the Gospel, truly called you, He'll never
quit calling you. He's gone. Nope. I'm going to
call him back. You keep getting called by this
gospel. Called where? To come to Christ. In spite of
your sin. Where are you from? Those he
calls, he keeps calling. And they keep calling on him.
Do you keep calling on Christ in spite of your sin? I know
most of you pretty well by now, and I know when I see you at
times that you're down about something, I'm pretty much sure
it's sin. Because that's me. But you keep
calling in spite of how low you get. You keep calling. What do
you call for? Mercy. If He called you, He's going
to keep calling you. And you're going to keep calling, and He's
going to hear you. If you believe Him, you know you're never going
to quit believing Him with your heart. And you'll die in the faith.
You'll die believing Him. You'll die trusting Christ. Yes,
you will. Because what God does is forever. Do you hear me? I haven't left
anything up to you. Not one thing. It's totally up
to Him. When He says, He that trusts
Him, He'll never perish. He that believeth on the Son
will never perish. Oh, my. And these things are written
unto you that believe. Do you believe? That you may
know. See, it's not about you. Here's what you know about yourself.
That you're just a rotten sinner. But do you know who Christ is? and why He came, and what He did on Calvary's
tree, and who He did for. Shall I tell you one more time
what the Scripture says about why Christ came? This is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save good people. Who doesn't say that? Sinners. So what really brings me down
and often causes me anxious thought is really the goodness of God
to convict you of sin. Brother Scott used to say, it's
your only claim to the Lord Jesus Christ, your sin. He loved God's people. He's a
bunch of nobody. That's what it says. He loved
God's people. He goes on and on. A bunch of nobody. A bunch
of Galileans. A bunch of Franklin Countians. People come from all
over to sit with a bunch of nobodies from nowhere. No place you'd rather be, no
body you'd rather be with, nothing you'd rather hear and do than
hear the gospel of Christ. God's given you life, and He'll
never take it back. Okay, let's sing a closing hymn.