We sit because we're tired, don't
we? But in glory, we'll be able to
stand forever. I don't think any of us will
feel like sitting. Certainly not for weariness,
though we're seated in here. John chapter 7. Let's read John
7. We haven't dealt with these verses,
but tonight we're just going to look at one verse. John 7, verse 40. John 7, verse 40. Many of the people, therefore,
when they heard this say, when he said, he that belittled me
cried, many a man in thirst come unto me. They said, of a truth,
this is the prophet, that prophet, whom Moses spake. Others said,
this is the Christ. Some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh to the seed of David out of the town of Bethlehem?
Yeah, well, he did, where David was. So there was a division.
among the people because of him, then and still today. Some of them would have taken
him. No man laid hands on him. The officers sent these men to
apprehend him. All right? So when these officers,
chief priests and Pharisees came back, they said unto them, why
have you not brought him? And the officers answered, never
a man spake like this man. They went on and answered the
Pharisees, are you deceived? He deceived you too? Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed on him? This people who knoweth not the
law are cursed. They thought they knew the law.
You remember Paul later said, You hear the law, don't you? You read the law and think you
know the law, don't you hear it? The law's a curse. Those who know the law know that
they're under the curse. Nicodemus now said unto them,
he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, Doth our law
judge any man before it hear him, and know not what he doeth? I answered and said unto him,
Art thou also of Galilee? He wanted his search and look. Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
Every man went to his own half. But these officers came to apprehend
him, and when they came back, they said to the Pharisees, who
asked him, Why haven't you brought him with you? And they said,
Never may a man speak like this man. And so it is that never man has
adequately spoken on how or what he spake. And I won't do it tonight. The half won't be told. Even
Paul said, we preach in part, we know in part. To try to declare
or describe how our Lord spoke is impossible. With man it's
impossible. Never a man spake like this man.
Why? Because there's never been a
man like him. That's why. Scripture says it.
1 Corinthians 15. The first Adam was made a living
soul. The last Adam, quickening spirit. Remember he said a little later
in John, my words are spirit in life. He goes on to say, the
first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. So the way he spoke and what
he spoke was a heavenly thing. Now this is fitting that his
enemies are the ones that said this. His enemies said many things
about him that gave him great glory, didn't they? things like this when he was
hanging on the cross. He saved others himself he can't save.
They meant that in derision. That was his glory, wasn't it?
In order to save his people, he couldn't save himself. They
said, this man receiveth sinners, and he is with them. Hallelujah. There's so many things they said
in derision. See, the wrath of man will praise
him. But these are His enemies, spoken by His enemies. How fitting.
These men were sent to take Him, and they ended up being taken
by Him. These men were sent to take Him
captive, and they ended up being taken captive. They came to apprehend Him. They
ended up being apprehended by Him. That's me. They came to silence him and
he ended up silencing them. Only the Lord can do that. I told you the story of Robert
Robinson who wrote Come Thou Fount when he was 17 years old. He was a wild rebel and he went
to hear George Whitefield with the purpose of disturbing him
and all and ended up here in Whitfield, and the Lord broke
his heart and saved him through Whitfield's preaching. The Lord
speaks, still speaks today through the preaching of the gospel. There's another story. John Warburton. Anybody? Several of you have
read that book, Mercies of the Covenant God. Well, he went to
hear William Gadsby. For the same purpose, he was
going to disturb the meeting. And the story has it that he
went to hear Gadsby and he said he loathed his person. He walked
out and he said, I thought, this old country bumpkin, what's he
going to say? And the Lord ended up breaking
his proud heart and saving him. John Warburton. William Gadsby
baptized John Warburton. Well, John Warburton became a
preacher himself. And he baptized J.C. Philpott. Oh, isn't that something? And
it was said of Whitefield. You know, Whitefield spoke, and
they said thousands could hear him speak. Well, never man spoke
like this man. Heaven, earth and hell heard
him speak. Now, I want you to consider with
me how our Lord spoke. I'm going to try to tell you
how, the manner in which He spoke. and the words which he spoke.
Okay? Two points. How the Lord spake.
And I like to use Bible language, don't you? Because people don't
use it, people don't know it, so I'm going to use it. Spake. Luke 4, go with me to Luke chapter
4. How the Lord spake. Never man
spake in the manner in which our Lord spake, with great power,
authority, grace, and majesty, and mercy, and love, and kindness,
and grace just poured from Him. Luke chapter 4. He just read. They gave him the scripture to
read. He was 30 years old. He came
back to Nazareth to stand up and read, which was a custom
of 30-year-old young men in their hometown to stand up and read
in the synagogue. And they gave him the book to
read. He didn't need a copy of the book. But they gave him the
book, and he opened Isaiah chapter 61, and he read. And after he
read, it says in verse 22, all bear him witness and wonder that
the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Did you hear
that? Did you hear him read that? He read it like he wrote it. He did. He's author of it. But he read that with authority.
He read like he said it. He did. He did say that, didn't
he, John, in his prayer. He said, this day are these scriptures
fulfilled in your ear? This is about me. Power and authority. Look down
at verse 31. Verse 30. Came to Capernaum,
the city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath day, and
they were astonished at his doctrine. His word was with power. Authority. Authority. Oh my. See, our Lord is the authority. He's the author and finisher
of the faith of this book. One time they asked him, he came
into the temple and was teaching, they said, by what authority
do you teach these things? He could have demanded that of
them, couldn't he? This is the Lord who came to
His temple. They were the trespassers. This
was His temple. It was His Word, by His authority. Only by His authority or power
could they speak into anything. He allowed them to do so. But
He didn't answer. He didn't. Authority. See, our Lord is the only absolute
authority on any and every subject. I laugh. It's laughable to hear
men be called experts on any subject. You know that? Expert. Well, the expert's expert. Paul
said, If any man thinks he knows anything, he knoweth nothing,
yet is he ought to know. And these so-called experts, somebody's
going to, it's going to change tomorrow. Our Lord said, Heaven and earth
will pass away, but not one word of mine shall pass, shall fail. Not one word that I've ever spoken
will fail. All the words, the works of man
will fail, will be burnt up and come to naught. Everything the
Lord Jesus Christ said and did is forever. Never a man speak like this man.
The authority, the power. Oh, man. Authority. Force. You
know, authority and power. Power makes force. Irresistible
force. He spoke. We try to tell people
things, don't we? We try to get them to listen
to us. Our Lord doesn't try to get anybody to listen to Him.
When people say that about God, God's trying to tell me something.
You need another God. Did God try to get the sun to
shine? Did God try to make the earth
the heavens and the earth? Did God try, ask man to cooperate
with him when he was creating it? How absurd is that? God spoke and it was done. That's
what you read tonight, or who read it? John read it, Isaiah
46. I've spoken it. I will bring
it to pass. I purposed it. He said, I'll
do it. He spoke. He speaks. And you will hear. If He purposed for you to hear,
you will hear Him. Everything and everyone does. Look here
in Luke chapter 4. Are you still there? Look at
verse 6. Verse 6. Now this is... He was
tempted of the devil. Satan is a roaring lion and has
great power in this earth. and holds the whole world in
captivity according to the Lord's power. Designated power. There's no power but of God,
right? So God gave him this authority,
okay? And he holds all human beings
captive at his will until the Lord Jesus Christ takes captivity
captive. Stronger than that, all right?
Satan is a powerful being. Eve was no match for him. Finest woman to ever live. All right? But when he tempted
our Lord... Now this is our Lord. This is
the second Adam. This is our covenant head. This
is our representative. This is the second man. This
is the man in whom we stand. We are going to stand or fall
by this man. All right? Look at verse 6, the
devil said unto him, all this power I will give thee, the glory
of them, for that is delivered unto me. Who delivered it? Who
gave me this power? The one standing in front of me. In verse 7, if thou therefore
will worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and
said unto him, get. Like you'd tell a cur dog, get
behind me. Oh, I love that. Don't you, Kevin?
Get! Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God. I believe Satan was probably
trembling in his boots. Boy, he did ski-daddle on out
of there after that. Boy, I love that. He said that
to the devil. He says it to demons. Down in
verse 33, in the synagogue, there was a man who had a spirit of
an unclean devil and cried with a loud voice, said, Leave us
alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
Art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art. I know thee
who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, said,
Shut up. Shut your mouth. Hold that peace. He spoke to devils and demons
and they did what he said. Chapter 8, look over chapter
8. Our Lord spoke to the elements
and they obeyed his will. Chapter 8, you remember the story,
where the disciples were in the boat, the ship, the storm of
wind, verse 23, and he fell asleep. He was in that ship, and it came
a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water
and were in jeopardy, and they came to him, awoke him, saying,
Master, Master, we perish. Another gospel, they said, carest
thou not to be perished? Like little children, scared
half to death. These were rough, tough sailors. These were expert
sailors. The Lord, who was asleep in the
ship, He's the one that went, poof, caused that wind to blow. Showed them who they are and
showed them who He is. And He arose, rubbed the sleep
out of His eyes, Walked up to the bow of that ship and rebuked
the wind. Stop. And the wave, ten foot
wave, said, Lie down. Now, they said in verse 25, What
manner of man is this? Even the winds, he commanded
the winds and the water and they obeyed him. He had never a man
spake like this man. Authority, power. Oh my. The raging, ranting rebels did
what he said. He stops a wild career of raging
lunatics like myself. He's the only one that can. Psalm
29. Don't you love Psalm 29? Those
of you who know it, go over there real quick. Psalm 29 speaks of
the voice of the Lord. We almost read it together tonight,
but just a few things here in Psalm 29. We need to give unto
the Lord the glory due in His name. Verse 3, the voice of the
Lord is upon the waters, a God of glory and thunder. The Lord
is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful,
full of power. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. His majesty. The voice of the
Lord will break at the cedars, those big proud cedars of Lebanon
that stood tall and higher than any cedars and strong. And the
Lord just sends a wind and breaks them. He'll do that with the
proudest of men when He'll break them down. It makes them to skip
like a cat. Verse 7, the voice of the Lord
divided the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord, verse
8, shaketh the wilderness. Verse 9, the voice of the Lord
make cows to calves. When the Lord says, Be born,
you'll be born again by the Word, by His Word. And Hebrews 1, don't you love
Hebrews 1, those of you who know it, speaks of His power and His
majesty and says He upholds all things. How powerful is it? He upholds all things by the
Word of His power, just His Word. It was the centurion at one time
that said, you don't have to come to my house, just speak
the Word. Just say the Word and it's done. So, my, my, our Lord
is of great power. He speaks with great power. His
greatest power in speaking, the greatest power of His Word is
over the hearts and the minds and the wills of men. He tames the hardest and wildest
of beasts, which is man. Right? With apology. It was Bunyan
who said, Apology to the beast. The ox knows his owner, the ass
knows his master's career, but not God's people. He came to
his own, Christ's people. He came to his own. The Creator
came to his creation. His throne received him not.
And they wouldn't. He said, you will not come unto
me. You will not hear my voice. You
have ears to hear, but you will not hear. What's it going to
take? The powerful voice of the Son of God to get a son of man
to hear him. He and he alone can open the
deaf ears of hard sinners. He said to the Gadarene demoniac,
remember that? Gadarene demoniac. Nobody could
tame him. Nobody. He got a little religion
and it threw him down and crashed him into fire and water and all
that. He still didn't tame him. Our
Lord came and when it was all over, he's sitting. at his feet,
clothed, with his mouth shut, and in his right mind. Who could do that but the Lord? He said to an old cussing sailor,
Simon Peter. Old cussing sailor. I just always
picture Simon Peter as a brawler, a tough fellow, just some fight
you, look at you. And he walked by his boat one
day. He came to his ship. And he said two words. Follow me. And walked off. He's out there in the boat. You
know, he could have said it in a still smile. Follow me. Or he could have hollered it.
Follow me. And Peter, Simon Peter, dropped everything. and followed
somebody he'd never met in his life. He said, that's an even tougher
case than that, Saul of Tarsus. Oh, I'm going to put that Jesus
out of business. Oh yeah, I'm going to put an
end to this Jesus stuff. He got on his high horse and
was riding Hail men and women to jail. He's riding along, and
boom! Light shone round about him,
surrounded him, apprehended him, put him in the dust at the Lord's
feet. He said, Now, Saul, Saul, stop
kicking. Who are you, Lord? I'm Jesus,
who you're going to put out of business. Now you're going to serve me."
Who could do that but the Lord? That wild ass's colt, nobody
ever rode with him. He said, bring him to me. Bring
him to me. And he did. And that old, wild
ass, little young colt, he dropped his head. He lowered his head,
and he lowered that shoulder, and the Lord got on it, and he
just walked into town like a broken old hound dog. Power. No bit, no rhyme. Just a voice. Gee and haw. You know, the gospel is the power
of God. And nobody could... never a man spake like our Lord
spake. He raised the dead. He had a
voice to raise the dead. Listen to this. Don't you love
this? Is this your story? This is my story. And you, hath
he quickened, who were dead in trespass and sin? Yes, you walked
according to the course of this world, like that wild ass is
cold, according to the prince of the power of the air, like
that gathering demoniac, the spirit that works in the children
of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation in time
past, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. to my side. God was manifesting the flesh.
God who was rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he
loved them. Who? A demoniac? A lunatic? Yep. A Pharisee that hated him? Yeah. Boy, that's love. Even
when we were dead in sin, He quickened us together with Christ.
It goes on to say, you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, no hope
without God in this world. But now, in Christ Jesus, He
said He came and preached peace to you that were far off. And
now you're nigh. Who can do that to God? The voice
of the Son of God. A voice to raise the dead. Oh,
never man spake with such love. He is love. See, this proves
beyond a shadow of a doubt man's utter depravity. Never man spake
with such kindness. Never man spake with such mercy. Never man spake with such grace. Grace poured from His lips. You
know, those three things, The criteria for us speaking, is
it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Everything he said was true. He used to be believed. He used
to be heard. Every mouth ought to be stopped
so we can listen to his mouth. He's the truth. He's a faithful
witness. He tells the truth every time,
always. He's kind. Even His rebukes are
kind. Let the righteous smite me. It'll
be a blessing. Necessary? It's life or death that we hear
His voice. That's proof of man's utter depravity
to hear everyone and everything except Him. And every man speak
with such love, such mercy, such kindness. Such compassion, such
tenderness. Stooped down to a poor woman,
that's the next story of John 8. Condemned by the law, condemned
by everybody around her. She didn't say a word, and she's
laying at his feet, and he stooped down, roped in the sand. When
it was all over, he lifted her up and said, Where are thine accusers? Doth
no man accuse thee? Sweetest voice she'd ever heard
in her life. Oh, how he spoke the truth with
such Honesty, integrity, and sincerity. The old saying is,
a man is only as good as his word. You know that? That's an
old saying. I used to say that. Nobody's
saying it now. Newton can't believe anybody. It's sport to lie. It really
is. That's what the scripture said.
The evil man seduces what's worse than worse. And that scripture
says, this is an amazing thing, a marvelous thing, that people
tell lies and my people love to have it so. That is religious
people. But the old saying is, a man
is only as good as his word. The old saying is, they said,
he's a man of his word. He's true to his word. That's
the only true of one person, Kellie Fenner. He's a man of
his word. If he tells you something, he
means it. He will not go back on His promise.
Oh, I'm getting to the heart of this now, about what He said. He's to be believed, He's to
be trusted, He's to be relied upon, He's to be depended on,
He's never disappointed anybody whom He's given a promise to. That cannot be said of any human
being. We've been disappointed. We'll continue to be disappointed
by other creatures like ourselves, not Jesus Christ. He's true to His Word. He's a
man of His Word. He's even called the Word. All right, what did He say? What did He say? What did He
say? Luke 4. Look here in Luke 4 again. That's my text, really. John
7, Luke 4. Actually, my text is Genesis
1 to Revelation 22. That's the Word. That's Him.
He said it all. Everything He said. But Luke
4, He came to Nazareth. And here's what He read. And
He could have chosen any chapter in Isaiah. And it all, we went through it,
remember? How it all speaks of Christ.
But he chose chapter 61. And here's what he said, verse
18. He read this. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. Wouldn't you have liked to have heard him say this? I believe
I have, a little bit. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. That means he's the Christ, the
anointed one. Because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor. Good news. He came to bring the
good news. Oh, how beautiful Isaiah 52 says
are the feet on the mountain are the feet of Him that bringeth
glad tidings. There's never a man spake like
this man. He's altogether lovely. There's
never a more beautiful man and there's never a man with more
beautiful feet. Always going about seeking to
save these people. Everywhere. Never stop walking. Seeking. Oh, he said, he sent
me to heal the brokenhearted. He's the only one that can. And
he does. Over anything. Everything. especially sin, but anything
and everything. He's the only one that can heal
your broken heart, whatever your sad and sorrowful over. Sin,
bereavement, losses, troubles, trials, persecutions. He's the only one, isn't He?
Tell me, is it not so? Other people, our brothers and
sisters, try to console us, try to give us some help. Where are
you going to get your help? Don't play. His Word. I mean,
He really speaks to you. He said to me, He said, to preach
deliverance to the captives. Turn Him loose. He said, John,
a ransom's been found. I found a ransom. Recovering
of sight to the blind. Old Bartimaeus said, I just want
one thing, Lord. Just one thing. What is that? I want to see. See. set at liberty them that are
bruised, lost and bruised and mangled by the fall, Christ hath
redeemed us once and for all, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord." In other words, he's saying, anyone that comes
to God by me, God will accept. That's a promise. Oh, but Lord,
you don't know. Oh, I do know you. I know you
better than you know you. He's a man of his word. That's
what he said. Look at Luke 18 with me. Luke
18. Luke 18. Boy, you need six hours
on it. Maybe Paul preached this for
six hours at that time. But Luke 18, it says in verse
13, the story of the publican, you know, and the pharisee that
came into the temple, the publican, was so guilty and so broken and
so downcast that he'd stand in the far off, he wouldn't lift
his eyes to heaven, he'd smote upon his breast and said, Those
seven words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Here's what
the Lord said. I tell you, this is what he said. I say,
this man went down to his house justified. Tammy Jo, he's the only man,
the only one who can say justified. He's the only one that can totally,
completely clear somebody that's guilty of breaking every single
law with just a word. Justify! Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. That's what the Pharisee said.
Who can forgive sins but God? Right. Right. Justify. He said to that woman, Thy sins
be forgiven. Oh my, look at a thousand verses. Look at Luke 23. Look at this.
One more here in Luke. Luke 23. Go over there. Luke
23. Look at verse 42. You know the
story of the thief on the cross. A thief. This is the worst. This
is one of the worst. You wouldn't have anything to
do with that thief. You'd be glad he's hanging on
that cross. You'd want him dead. You'd want him dead. You'd want
to see him suffer. He's such a bad man. And he heard the Lord hanging
on the cross beside him. And he heard the Lord speaking,
and all that he said. And that thief, chapter 23, verse
42, all of a sudden, that Lord, the Lord hanging on the cross,
Christ crucified, changed his heart, broke his heart. And the
Lord gave him repentance and faith and caused him to call.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And
that thief said in verse 42, Lord, remember me. When thou comest into thy kingdom,
and Jesus said unto thee, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. And he was. Today. Just a word. Justified. Today. With me. He's going into heaven.
With me. How can you do that? Because
I said so. I love that. He said, oh my. John chapter 6, look at this.
John chapter 6, he said things like this. John 6, he said, I'm
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. He said
in verse 47, he said, he that believeth on me hath everlasting
life. I do, don't you? Don't you? Do you? I do. You know what he said? He can't
lie. You have everlasting life. He said, all that the Father
gives me should come to me. I have, don't you? Haven't you?
Do you? To whom come, don't you? He said,
him that comes to me, I will in no wise, for any reason, ever
cast him out. He means it. He means it. Oh my, he said things like this,
verse 56, he said, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
dwelleth in me, and I in him. Christ in you is the hope of
God. Oh, you have a hunger and a thirst for Christ. You love
to hear His gospel. That's Christ, isn't it? A couple
more. John 14. Go over here. John 14.
You know, He said things. He sounded like He was God. John
14. The disciples, remember, the
disciples were, show us the Father. We don't know the way. And our
Lord said in John 14, 6, I am the way. I am the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Can you imagine some human being
saying that? Nobody gets to God but by me. No mere man can say that, can
he? Only the God-man. Old Philip
said, show us the Father. It will suffice. He said in verse
9, Have I been so long time with you, yet thou hast not known
me? Philip, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. He had all these people out there,
so-called Jehovah's Witnesses. That's as plain as plain can
be. He that hath seen, and that's
what Christ said, this is the will of the Father, everyone
that seeth the Son believeth on him, I will raise him up.
He said, I have life in myself, like the Father. Everything the
Father is and said and does, Christ is and said and does,
because he's equal with the Father. He spoke as if he were God, because
he is God. He is God. Never a man spake like this,
man. And finally, on the cross, and I had so many other verses,
but on the cross, the first thing he said, a verse that's so dear
to me, words that's so dear to me, words that he spoke to my
heart, I think the first time I ever heard his voice, Father
forgive them, and know not what they did. And whoever he said that for
is forgiven. And I believe I'm one of them.
Those were the first words. And the last words, three words,
that heaven, earth, and hell heard, it is finished. And I dare not try to emulate
that, how he said that. No man can. What did he mean
by that? Exactly what he said. It's finished. He finished the transgression.
He finished the work. There's nothing left to do. He
did it all. Never a man spoke like this man.
Never. And I like to think about this.
You remember after they had the Lord's table
together and they went out in the garden, it says they sang
a hymn. They sang a hymn. Now, if never man spake like
this man, surely never man sang like this man. A voice so sweet
the birds hustled singing. If they were singing, I bet all
the disciples stopped. I said, well, you listen to that.
If there's a solo sung in glory, He's going to do it. I never
made a spank like this man. Okay, stand with that.