I'm reading to you a very wonderful
prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ found in the book of Malachi
chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3 verses 1 and
2 read this way, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of
his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's So this is a clear prophecy of the Lord
Jesus Christ, of whom it was said, the Lord shall suddenly
come to his temple. Jehovah shall suddenly come to
his own temple. But who may abide the day of
his coming like a refiner's fire? Christ said those very things.
I am come to send fire on earth. Well, in John chapter 7, the
gospel of John, he came. The Lord came to his temple. In John chapter 7, I read in
verse 14, about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into
the temple. A man came into the temple. A
Jewish man came to the temple to teach, but all more than a
man. much more than a man, though
veiled in flesh, though in a plain brown wrapper, if you will. This was the Lord God Almighty
walking into His temple. And it says He taught. He went
up into the temple and taught. Well, surely men will hang on
His every word. If this is the Lord of glory,
if this is God, If this is He in whom is all the mysteries
of wisdom and knowledge, if this is wisdom personified greater
than Solomon, surely men and women will hang on His every
word, will believe everything He says and follow Him implicitly. Not hardly. Not then and not
now. Verse 15, though, it says the
Jews marveled. They were amazed. They were impressed
by his speaking, especially because he had no formal education. They said, verse 15, How knoweth
this man letters or learning, having never learned? They knew
who he was or thought they did. Joseph's son, Mary's son, they
thought. And they knew that he had no
formal education, that he was not raised in the noted schools
of his day, that he did not get his degree, his master of divinity,
his doctor of divinity, his master in theology. Oh my, how knoweth this man letters? Why, this is the one who made
man's mouth. This is the Lord of Glory. This
is the God of Glory. But they marveled, anyway, at
his speaking ability and his teaching ability. And it's no
different today. Many marvel and wonder at the
man named Jesus. They do. I don't know what he
taught. It does not say here at this
particular time, the particular words that he taught. I know
the subject, the message, the same that he taught everywhere. He taught who God was, who he
was, and who man is, what man is. It was God's Word that he spoke.
I guarantee you that. Now, isn't it ironic? ironic that they refused the
Lord Jesus Christ. They refused him for his lack
of learning, yet they kept pleading Moses. Moses was their teacher,
they said. They pleaded Moses, Moses' law
or doctrine. Well, Moses, who was Moses? Moses
had no formal education. He was a shepherd taught by God,
yes, but a shepherd. Well, this was the teacher. This was the teacher that came
into the temple. This was the Lord of Glory. Scripture
says in John 6, 45, they shall all be taught of God. Quoting
from Isaiah, all thy children shall be taught of the Lord,
and great will be the peace thereof. Well, here's the teacher's doctrine. and credentials. He said in verse
16, Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but
his that sent me. He says, My teaching is not my
own personal teaching, but the teaching of the one who sent
me. See, all that Christ said and
taught was God's word. He said in another place, all
that I speak, that which I speak, I speak not of myself, but the
Father which is in me. All that Christ said and taught
was God's word. You see, God at sundry times
and diverse manners spoke unto the fathers by the prophets,
but hath in these last days spoken unto us by son. All that God
has to say to us is through his Son. made flesh, God's Word. God's Word is of his Word, his
Son. All that God has to say to human
beings, he says through his Word and of his Word. What God says
to man is, look to my Son, kiss my Son, bow to my Son, believe
my Son, go to my Son. All judgment committed unto the
Son. All things given into the Son's
hands. And Christ came and said, my
word, my doctrine is his that sent me. His doctrine was not
his own, but the Father's. And it's the same with every
true God sent preacher. Christ was a preacher and a teacher.
And how you know a true one is his word is not his own, but
it's God's. God's word. Verse 17. He says this, he goes on to elaborate. He says, if any man will do his
will, speaking of God's will, if any man will do God's will,
his will, he shall know of the doctrine. He'll know the teaching,
whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. If any will
do his will, he shall know whether it's of God or man. What is God's will? What does
it mean to do God's will? Well, John chapter 5 verse 23
says this, that all should honor the Son even as they honor the
Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Men do not honor
Christ, honor the Son, as much as the Father, because he's equal
with the Father. Yea, they are one and the same. Many go about door to door these
days saying they are witnesses of Jehovah. Well, I'm here to
tell you that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. He is the Eternal One. A child was born. Yes, a son
was given. What's his name? What does Isaiah
9, 6 say his name is? The mighty God, the everlasting
Father. Yes, in the beginning was the
Word. The Word was with God, and the
Word was God. All things were made. The same
was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. Jesus Christ
is none other than God. manifest in the flesh. Scripture
says God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. It said
all things in Colossians 1, by him were all things created.
He's the image of the invisible God. And this is what throws ignorant human beings for a loop.
God whom no man hath seen nor can see, yet Christ is the image
of the invisible God, the express image, Hebrews says. God took
a body, a body hast thou prepared me, Christ said, a body. He took a body and dwelled in
human flesh, the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin,
and men didn't recognize him. He said to his disciples, though
he revealed himself to his disciples, he said, He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. I and the Father are one. Yes, this is God speaking, and
he came in John chapter 7 to his temple to teach his children,
and his children will hear him. They will all be taught of God.
Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father Come to
Christ. Believe Christ. If any man will
do his will, what is it? The will of God is to honor the
Son, kiss the Son, believe the Son, bow to the Son, appeal to
the Son. John chapter 6, the will of the
Father. There are some religious people who came to Christ and
said, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
What should we do to do the will of God, the works of God? Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that
ye believe on him whom he hath sent." Well, the will of God. Christ
said, This is the will of the Father which hath sent me, that
every one which seeth the Son, beholds the Son, looks on the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. to believe
the Son, look to him, to exalt the Son, worship the Son. That's
the will of the Father. If any man will do his will,
if any is truly a Christ-exalter, a Christ-worshipper, a Christ-seeker,
a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ,
a follower of Jesus Christ, Christ said he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God. or whether that man speaks of
himself. Here's the test. Who is getting
the glory? Well, the true Christ-seeker
and Christ-worshipper and God-lover will know. He'll know. He'll
know the doctrine, whether it's of God or that man speaks of
himself. Who's getting the glory? Who's
getting the glory? Whose name is really at the forefront? When you hear these, and those
of you who listened to this this morning, if you're listening
to this, you probably listened to other preachers. Well, let
me ask you a question and give an honest answer. Whose name
is really at the forefront of these preachers in their ministries
and so forth? Whose ministry is really Whose
ministry is it? Who is getting the glory? Whose
name is being heard the most? Who do you associate? Whose name
do you associate with such and such a ministry? Man or the Lord
of glory? John, the baptizer, was God's
true sent man. He was the one of whom Malachi
spoke in chapter 3, verse 1 of the the preparer of the way,
the messenger, the harbinger before the Lord, John. They came
to John and asked him his name. He wouldn't even tell them his
name. They said, Where did you come from? He wouldn't tell them. A man that speaks of himself
is a self-seeking man. But if any man will do his will,
all who truly seek God's truth, God's Word, all who truly seek
God's glory, Christ's glory, Worshippers in spirit and truth,
they'll know the doctrine, Christ said. They'll know. They'll know.
All who truly seek to worship, honor, and glorify God will recognize. All who are truly seeking the
truth will find it, Christ said. Let me ask you these things.
You try the spirit. Try the preachers and so-called
churches. Is it God's Word that's being
heard and preached and declared, or man's? What's on their bulletin
board? God's Word or man's clever sayings? Is it Christ? Is Christ being set forth for
all men to marvel at and wonder at, or a man? Are titles being
accepted, recognition being accepted by men, or deferred to Christ? Is the truth boldly stated, the
truth that offends the natural man? Are ears being tickled and
backs being scratched, or the truth being told at the expense
of being their enemy? If any man will do God's will,
he'll know the doctrine, whether it's of God or of that man. I pray that the Lord will cause
you to seriously consider these things. Until next Sunday, good
night.