John chapter 12. John 12. Read with me the text. Verses 37 through 50. If we don't comment on all of it,
at least we have read it. John 12, 37. And though He had
done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on
Him. that the saying of Isaiah the
prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed
our report? And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because Isaiah said again, that he, God, hath blinded their eyes,
and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their
eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and
I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw his glory, Christ, and spake of him. Nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also, many believed on him. Seemed to, because notice. But because of the Pharisee,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God. Jesus cried and said, He that
believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that hath sent
me. And he that seeth me, seeth him
that sent me. I have come a light into the
world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken. The same shall judge him in the
last day. For I have not spoken of myself,
but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what
I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." What words these
are. How am I? Do you know that by
these words we'll be justified or condemned? That's what our
Lord said. There's no middle ground either. No middle ground. When he said
in verses 44 and 45, He that believeth on me, believeth not
on me, but on him that sent me. That's God. He that seeth me,
seeth him that sent me. Now, what mere man could say
that? He said, he that seeth me hath seen God. He that hears
from me hath heard from God. Pretty plain, isn't it? What
mortal man could say that? No man. No man. That means he's
not a mere man. And his words, you know, most
people Most people think that Jesus had some good things to
say and do. But really, he's like any other
man. You can take or leave anything he said. You can take it or leave
it. That's what most people think. Believe him, believe Confucius,
believe Mohammed, believe Buddha, believe these other people. That's
not what Christ said. He said the words that I say
to you will judge you. Everything, everybody's going
to be judged for what Jesus Christ said. And everything we believe
is not because the Bible said it, because we believe it, or
because our denomination said it, or because that's what my
parents believed on. It's because Jesus Christ said
it. Everything we believe. And whoever
doesn't believe the truth. Christ said, I am the truth.
Whoever doesn't believe the truth is calling Jesus Christ a liar. So I believe this, and you're
calling Jesus Christ a liar. That's how serious it is. Look at verse 37. Though he had done many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him. How many miracles
has the Lord done in your life? My whole life is a miracle. You're
looking at a miracle. My existence right now before
you is a miracle of God's mercy. It really is. How about you? That
you're sitting here this morning and not out in the world like
everybody else. That's a miracle. Some of you have been sitting
there for 40-some years. That's a miracle. You know, we're
actually kept. We're born of God, and taught
of God, and bought of God, and brought of God, and kept by God,
by the power of God. If He doesn't, we're a goner.
We're prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave
the God I love. Oh, you love God? Yeah, because
He first loved me. We're a miracle, aren't we? If
you believe God, if you believe God, is God. If you believe that Jesus Christ,
that man, is God, you're a miracle. This is not something we decided
to do. It's something God purposed before
the world began. He said, Irene Davis is going
to believe me. This woman from Grundy, Virginia,
nobody from nowhere, one day she's going to believe God. She's
going to confess Christ. She's going to leave her family
and really believe God. There aren't many. There really
aren't many. Lots of people say so. These
Pharisees said they did. No, they didn't. Though He had done so many miracles,
and God is a Savior. Scripture says He's the Savior
of all mankind. Everybody lives and moves and
have their being. Everybody's in the hands of God.
Their breath is. Your next breath, God, it's up
to God. That's a fact. Do you believe
that? That's what the scripture says. Either do or you don't. Here's what God's people believe,
or rather who, and there's no gray area. We believe God is
true and every man is a liar. You can take or leave by anything
you hear today. Isn't that so? It might be so,
it might be not, it might not be. I tell you this, no lies
of a truth, if there's a little lie in it, it ain't the truth.
It's either the whole truth or nothing but the truth. So help
me God. We believe God is true and every
man's a liar. We believe God's Word. Not man's. God's people hang their life,
their souls, their future on this book, on God's Word, on
Jesus Christ. He's that nail in a sure place.
Everything we are, we hang on Him. We hang on His Word. Is that not right? He is written. God's people, now we're ashamed
of our love for Him, but they can truly say from the heart,
like Simon Peter, when the Lord said, Lovest thou me more than
these? And they all say, Yes, Lord, I do. And they want to be with Him.
God's true people want to be with Him. That's why they come
to worship. They hope you'll meet with us, speak. They want
to be spoken to by Him. And they speak to Him. They talk
to Him. Prayer is not something they decide to do. It's the beat
of their heart. It is what it is. Christ is our
life, Scripture said. The beat of our heart. They want
to be with Him. They want to be like Him. There's
no human being that I seek to emulate or admire in the sense
that I want to be like Him. None! I want to be like Jesus Christ.
I want to commune with Him. I want
to forsake all for Him. I really do. Do you? My dad said
these three things one time. I always stuck with it. Stuck
with it. He said, every believer longs
for total commitment to Jesus Christ. Total communion and total
conformity to Jesus Christ. Is that you? I'll never forget
when I first heard that. I jotted it down in my Bible,
Wesley, and I've never forgotten it. Why? Because that's what... Now, that's a God. That's a miracle. You know, I'm not bragging on
myself. Now, I'm bragging on Him who did this. You're looking
at a miracle, people. My friends and old cronies and
all that, even my family thought. There's no hope for Him. He's out in the world. He's a
goner. But God. I can't preach without saying,
but God. I can't tell you my story without saying, but God.
And you, who walked according to the course of this world,
prince of the power, child of wrath, even as others, but God. But God. You know, he that hath
the Son hath the life. What does that mean? I think
I know. It means you have a need for
Him. You have a desire for Him. You have a hunger and a thirst
for Him. You have belief in Him. You have
trust in Him. Dependence upon Him. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. He might just have a profession.
So how many miracles has the Lord done in your life? Are you
a miracle? Verses 38 through 40 said, Isaiah
said this, Who hath believed our report? To whom hath the
arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore, verse 39, they could
not believe. Because Isaiah said, God blinded
their eyes. That's pretty plain. God hardened their heart. that
they should not see with their eyes and they understand with
their heart and be converted and I should heal them. That's
Isaiah. And Isaiah is quoted more in
the New Testament than any other prophet other than the Psalms. Psalms are quoted more, but Isaiah
more than any other. Isaiah is the fullest account
or declaration of who God is and what man is and who Jesus
Christ is. All the prophets put together.
Perhaps with the exception of the five books of Moses. But
Isaiah, it's a long book. And from start to finish, it's
no uncertain turn. Who God is, what man is, and
who Jesus Christ is. Man's hope. And it starts in
chapter 1 with saying, man is sick. Sick. His whole head is
sick. His whole heart is sick. From
the sole of his feet, his walk, to everything he thinks in his
head is sick. That's what the Scripture says.
Look around you. Isn't it so? And that was me. I thought I was in the right
mind. I had no mind. If you don't have the mind of
Christ, you're out of your mind. You're a lunatic. Lunatic means
when the moon comes out, you act like a howling wolf. That
was me. Literally. I'm the Gadarene demoniac. sat
me down and clothed me, put me in my right mind, the mind of
Christ. Chapter 1 talks about man, what he really is. Chapter 2 talks about the pride
of man. Isaiah chapter 2 talks about
everybody's pride, the lofty looks of man, the haughtiness
of man. Everybody's got something to
say, especially religious people, bragging on what they've done
for God and so forth. It talks about in chapter 2,
they declare their sin like Sodom. They've had it not. Come on out. It's okay. God loves you. It
talks about the young women walking around, mincing as they go with
stretched out necks like these runway models. God hates that. God says, I'm bringing this down.
It's coming down. Chapter 6 is where we read here. Chapter 6, Isaiah saw the Lord. What Lord? Who did Isaiah see? It says here he saw Jesus Christ. He said, when I saw the Lord,
He was what? Not outside His heart's door.
You see what I'm saying? This is not doctrine. It's who
Jesus Christ is. It's who God is. No, Isaiah,
He wasn't outside His heart's door. He's on His throne. Isaiah
saw Him high and lifted up. Oh, that the world could hear
this message. High and lifted up. His train filled the temple.
His whole earth is full of His glory. And what did the angels
cry? One thing about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hope. Holy, holy, holy. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the one we must know. That's the one we must fear.
That's the one we must bow to. That's the only one that's going
to get us to heaven and save our soul. And it says those angels
with two wings covered their faces in what? Humility. These are the holy angels. What
does that say about man? As said, this virus that God
sent, this plague, literally forced the world to cover your
faces, cover your loud mouths, didn't it? With two they did
cover their feet. What's that mean? Meekness, modesty. They had long robes on, covering
up all their flesh. covering up their flesh, and
with two wings they wanted to cover their feet. The only thing
exposed. What does that say about this
world today? What does that say about this
world today? It's the end. And this is an urgent message
for all of us and our children. Mothers, elderly women, teachers,
daughters, modesty. Never been more immodest and
without shame than this generation, ever. Sad. This is the Lord. This is the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the one who said right
before the New Testament began, He said, I changed not. Those of you sons of Jacob whom
I've chosen, whom I love, whom I reveal myself to, you're not
consumed. I'm going to consume Egypt. I'm
coming through Egypt and I'm going to smite them. I'm going
to destroy them. God put a difference. That's
the next message. God put a difference between
His people and Egypt. Stay tuned, we'll look at that.
John 12 verse 49 says they could not believe. Could not believe.
Our Lord said that. He said, how can you believe?
They received praise of me and all you care about is what people
think about you, not what God says. How can you believe God? How can you believe the truth?
You don't like it. That's what he said. Our Lord plainly, throughout,
especially the Gospel of John, declares in no uncertain terms
that man is an absolutely depraved and evil creature. He's dead
and sinned. He can't believe. He won't come.
He won't believe. He cannot. He's dead. And this just absolutely underscores
the salvations of the Lord. He saves whom He will, and nobody
worth saving. And whoever He saves, it's a
miracle of His love, mercy, and grace. If you believe the true
God, if you believe the true Christ of Scripture, God has
had infinite mercy on you. Do you? Who hath believed? I report. To whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? How many times do we quote this? Religion across the board all
believe this. Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal,
Baptist, whoever, they all believe God has no hands but your hands.
No feet but your feet. God can't do anything unless
you let Him. Let Him be Lord. Let Jesus into your heart. He
wants to be. He wants to save you. God loves you so much. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? To whom is a hand the Lord revealed? Brothers and sisters, this whole
world, everything is in His hands. To do with how? What they let
Him do? Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased and hath and doth and
brother John shall ever do whatsoever he has pleased. And none can
stay his hand or say, what are you doing? None. And if you believe, and
people, if we had the whole world in here, well, most people in
here would be gritting their teeth and the veins popping out
of their neck if they stayed here this long, if they hadn't
gotten up and left by now. I hate this message. Why? Have I said anything contrary
to God's Word? Have I said anything that God
didn't say in His Word about Himself, about man, about Jesus
Christ? Have I said one thing that I thought that Charles Spurgeon
said, John Calvin said? Have I said one thing? Not one. Christ said, you see me, you
see God. You hear from me, you hear God.
If you don't believe me, you don't believe God. And my words
won't judge you. Now let me smile. Let me, may
you smile and get comfort and peace and joy, joy in believing. Brothers and sisters, I believe
because God gave me this faith. I didn't decide to. Nobody ever
asked me to accept Jesus as my personal Savior. That never happened.
I was never in a service that had 100 verses of Just As I Am,
and it wore me out, so I had to go. That's not it. Nobody ever asked me anything.
Nobody ever said, would you accept Him? Nobody. My preacher just
stood up and preached just like this. declared God as he is,
and Christ as he is, and what man is, and it broke my heart.
Showed me I'm a rebel against God. And God in mercy said, you
will believe, son. You will believe. And now, brothers
and sisters, I can't believe anything else. You know that? I don't care what I see on TV. I don't care what anybody says.
I don't care anything I read. I don't believe it. I believe
this right here. I believe God. Do you? Do you? That's amazing, isn't it? Isn't
that amazing, Greg? That's what John Newton wrote.
You know, he was a slave trader, John Newton. Went over to Africa
and bound innocent people, took them from their family and put
them on a boat and sold them like a horse. He never got over that, Sister
Robin. He never got over that. That's why he wrote amazing grace. How sweet the sound. That saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost. That means lost. Now I'm found. Well, who found
you? Christ did. Was blind. How could somebody
do that to their fellow human being? The whole southern United States
thought, okay. Didn't they? What did God do about that? Amazing grace. This grace is
not just grace, it's amazing grace. A miracle. Turn with me
to Ruth. I've got to close. I started
to say the Gospel of Ruth. That's true. Right before Judges. No, right after Judges. Joshua,
Judges, Ruth. I'm saying that for my sake.
Okay, I found it. A little book of Ruth. You know,
our Lord said, Who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? And there were some Pharisees
that said they believed it, but they didn't. They really didn't,
because They would be put out of the synagogue. They would
be put out of their so-called church. They can't believe it's
Him. They can't believe everything
He said. They can't believe He's God. They'd lose their place
in society. They'd lose their job. They'd
lose their job, their money. And they didn't confess Him.
It says they didn't confess Him. Our Lord said, He that confesses
Me before Me, and I'll confess. He that doesn't, I'll deny it.
Didn't He? Didn't He say that? Yes, he did. It says they love
the praise of men more than the praise of God. You can't do that. You can't love God and love the
praise of men. You can't truly care about what
man thinks about you and not care what God thinks about you.
Who do you care about more? Who thinks about you? No gray area here. You know,
there are many trials of faith, trial of your faith. Faith is
more precious than gold. The trial is not the thing precious,
but faith is. It's going to be tried like gold
by fire. And many trials of faith, some
of them are fiery, some of them are heavy, some of them are pain
and suffering and sorrow and affliction. Some of them are
prosperity. Some of them are the praise of
men. Some of them are, if you believe
this and you stay with those people, you're not my friend. You're
going to lose your job. You're going to lose your family. Some of these trials are you
either lose your place in society or lose your place in a pew.
Which would you rather have? A place in society or a place
in a pew? You know, back when the Lord
first sent this plague, we tried to comply a little bit with the
quota that they mandated. I wouldn't do that again. I would
not do that again. Try to tell us who can meet and
who can't. No, sir. We tried to comply. We'd meet in groups of ten. Remember
that? And I remember choosing who could
come and win, and you all were acting like, oh, I hope it's
me. Seriously, some of you talked
to me like you'd won the lottery. I get a seat. I get a place in
the pew. It's not the same at home. It's
just not. You cannot. Would you rather have a place
in society or a place in a pew? Would you rather sit with the
scorners or sit with the believers? Tell me. Oh, my. Millions of people care
more about what Men think about them than God. Would you rather have people
and friends of this world or a few of these nobodies? A few
of these poor from Grundy, Boyd County, Carter County. Who are
your friends? There's no middle ground. There's
no fit straddling here. Who would you rather be with? And it's going to show. It's
going to happen. This is the lion drawn in the
sand. This is what separates the sheep
from the goat. It really is. Who's your family? Would you rather keep your family
and your job and your home, your house you live in, or would you
rather be in the family of God and rather this house stand than
your own house that you used to live in. Which is more important
to you? Can you say that from the heart?
There ain't no middle ground here. No, there's not. And I didn't
say that. Christ said it. Ruth chapter 1. You know the
story of Ruth. And this woman, this young woman,
was the future bride of Boaz. And God had chosen her and brought
her through so much, but he brought her to this point where there
was a line drawn in the sand. Where there was a decision to
be made, like Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh.
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. To wander
in the wilderness with a bunch of nobody. Choosing rather the
reproach of Christ. Greater treasures in the riches
of Egypt. That's a miracle. Choose poverty
and persecution over riches. Who would do that? Like John,
where's John? Oh, he's downstairs. Matthew
the Publican. Rich. The boy Christ came and
called his name, he dropped every dime. I never thought another
thing about it. Ruth. This young lady is a picture
of all of God's true people. She really is. This young woman,
she's the future bride of Jesus Christ, and so are you. Not future,
but present. Read with me first verses 8 and
following. Naomi sat under two daughters-in-law,
two of them. They both claimed to love her.
Go, return to your mother's house. Go back to your family. And the Lord deal kindly with
you, you've been kind to me. Verse 9, the Lord grant you may
find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband, that the
Lord may give you another husband. Hope you find a man, hope you
have a good marriage. Ladies, who do you want to be
married to? One woman tried it five times,
and she found out that a man on this earth is truly faithful.
I'm not faithful, she thought. She said, who I want as my husband
is Jesus Christ. He'll never forsake me. He'll
never leave me. And he said, I won't leave him.
That's a fact. Who do you want to be married
to? And they said unto her, surely we will return with thee and
that people. That's what all professors said.
Yeah, I'm here. I'll be here. Will you? Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters.
Will you go with me? Are there any more sons in my
womb that may be your husband? Verse 12, Turn again, my daughter.
You know, if the Lord doesn't turn us, we'll turn back. We'll
turn back. This is why Psalm 80 and so many
psalms say, Turn us again, O Lord. Turn us again and again and again. If He doesn't, we'll turn back.
Children of Israel weren't out in the desert for three days.
They said, We want to go back. Why didn't they? God turned them around. Verse 13, Would
you tarry for them? Verse 14, And they lifted up
their voice, and they wept again at Orpah, one of the two. Now what's the difference? They're both the same. Both grew up there in Moab, and
both of them had parents, and they both married a son of Naomi,
and they both heard the truth, I'm sure, from Naomi. You know
they did. Both of them. This is why Ruth,
the Lord did to her. She heard the truth. Maybe through
El Cain, I heard. Probably a man. But anyway, both
of them had husbands. They both died. They both claimed
love to Naomi. But one of them, Orpah, said,
I think I will go back. Yeah, I love you, but I love my family. I love my mother.
And my mother's a good Christian woman. And I'm going to go back to my
mother. And she goes to church. You know, her God, she doesn't
believe like we do, but I believe she believes God. She went back
to her gods and her family. That's what she did. And they lifted up their voices and
wept, and verse 15, Naomi said to Ruth, your sister-in-law's
gone back to her people and her gods. Go on now. Go back with her. Brothers and sisters, Is this
the confession of your heart? Ruth's confession. Is it really? I begged you, she said. Don't
let me leave you. I don't want to go back. That's not my God. That's not
my family. Didn't you? She said, I want
to follow you. This is what all of God's people
say to Jesus Christ. Please don't let me turn back.
And treat me not to leave you. I want to follow you. Where thou
goest, I will go where you lodge. I want to abide with you and
you with me. Your people are my people. Not my family, not my people.
Your people are my people. And your God, this God, who is
God, is my God. Is that what you believe? There's
no gray area. There's no straddling the fence.
No ifs, ands, buts, or maybe. All the promises of God are what? Yay. Is that what you say? Yay. Yes, that's what amen means. Yes, that's the way it is, and
amen means that's the way I want it. Amen.