Am I on? I want you to open your Bibles
to that scripture that Brother Gabe read for us. John 5. John chapter 5. If my father was living today, he'd be 112
years old. The Lord Jesus revealed the gospel
to my father when he was about 50. And he brought me a new Bible.
I was about 14 or 15 years of age. He bought me a new Bible and
gave it to me with this scripture written on the front, in the
front pages, John 5 verse 24. I want you to read it with me. John 5, 24, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the to have life in himself,
and has given him, the Son, authority to execute judgment, because
he is the Son of Man. Because he's the Son of Man.
I want you to keep your Bibles open, about there at this passage
of Scripture, for a Keep your Bibles open. I'm going to refer
to some other scriptures, but my intention is to stay right
here and look at this passage of scripture that my dad, the
Lord blessed to his heart to save his soul, and he passed
it on to me. And I want to preach from it
this morning. First of all, verse 24, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Who's speaking here? The Lord Jesus
Christ, our master himself. What does he say? He says, verily,
verily, truly, truly, surely, surely, amen, so be it. That's what I say to you. That's
what I say to you. You see, Revelation says he's
the true witness. He's the true witness. Christ
is the true witness. He's the faithful witness. I
am the Amen, Christ said. I am the Amen, the beginning
and the end, the Alpha and Omega and all in between. I am the
beginning of the creation of God. That's who's speaking here,
our master. For all the promises of God,
all the promises of God are in Jesus Christ. And in God, those
promises are amen and amen, truly, truly, surely, surely to the
glory of God the Father. Now, I do want you to turn to
this scripture here. In the book of Psalms, chapter
138, chapter 138 of the book of Psalms, verses 1 and 2, Psalm
138, we're talking about Our Lord and His Word, His Word,
the Word of God, that which we're holding in our hands, that's
which we're, which we're reading, that which means so much to us,
our strength, our peace, our comfort, our hope, His Word. Now listen to this scripture.
I will, Psalm 138 verse 1, I will praise thee with my whole heart
before the gods, that is false gods, a little G, not a capital
G, before the gods, will I sing praise to thee, not to them,
to thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy
name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth, for thou hast
magnified thy word above thy name. You think about that a
minute. The Lord is saying here that
He has magnified His Word above His name. Who is the Word? It's the Son, the incarnate Word,
and the written Word. And God has magnified His Word
above His name. What does that mean? I can't
see God, but I can see His Word. I can't hear the voice of God,
but I can hear the voice of God in the Word. So God has magnified
His His word above His name. I found this one time. One of
the old timers, and this is what, this is the scripture that I'm,
that he's dealing with here. God has magnified His word above
His name. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but the truth of God's word shall never pass away. In this respect,
the Word of God has preeminence over any other form of manifestation. That's how important the Word
is to us. It has preeminence over all other outward manifestations. What God has promised in His
Word, He will faithfully perform. What God has promised in his
word, he will faithfully perform, and what God has spoken with
his mouth, he will fulfill with his hand, for which he is wonderfully magnified. Now listen to this. God Almighty
cares not much what becomes of this world and all that's in
it. He'll set this world on fire.
One day this world and everything in it will go up in flames. The
heavens and the earth shall pass away, but His Word, His Word. That's what we're talking about.
I've magnified my Word above my name. His Word shall never
pass away. God Almighty can make another
world, but not another gospel. God Almighty can make many worlds
if He's pleased, but He can't make another Redeemer. He can't
make another salvation, another truth. In the back of my Bible, I have a poem written by Martin
Luther 600 years ago, talking about the Word of God, the Word
of God. And he said, feelings come and
feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the
word of God, and nothing else is worth believing. Though all
my heart should feel condemned for want of one sweet token,
I know one greater than my heart whose word cannot be broken. I'll trust in God's unchanging
Word till soul and body sever. The words of men will pass away. His Word abides forever. God has magnified His Word above
His name. I'll write my text again, John
5. Listen. John chapter 5, verse 24. John 5, 24. Verily, verily, truly,
truly, I say to you, I say unto you, he that heareth
my word, he that heareth my word and believes on him that sent
me. Now, my friends, pause here a minute. He that heareth my
word. The word we're talking about
here is the testimony of God, the truth of God, our Lord Jesus
Christ, in his sacrifice, in his obedience, in his death.
But a man can hear this word with the natural ear, indeed,
but not understand it. A man can hear this word with
the natural ear, but not believe it. So we're not just talking
about he that hears what I'm saying. You know, really, if
my voice is the only voice you hear, nothing will be accomplished,
nothing spiritual, nothing of value, nothing that you can hold
on to. Scripture says this, one of the old writers said this,
he said, we have listened to the preacher. truth by him has
been told. But we need a greater teacher
from the everlasting throne. Revelation is the work of God
alone. So what we're saying is this.
This is what our Lord said, he that hears my word with a heart. He that hears my word and believes
it. Remember what he said? Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that Here's my word, and believeth
on him that sent me. You know the old timers, the
old patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The scripture says
they heard God's word, they believed it, they embraced it, they were
persuaded of it, and they looked for comfort. That's what it is
to hear the word of God. is to hear it, believe it, embrace
it, be persuaded of it. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him. I'm looking for comfort. Jesus Christ, this is the true
God, this eternal life. I read a journal years ago by
a man, I forget his name, but I've read a lot of those Whitfield's
journals and West's journals and David Brainerd's journals
and different journals, but I read this one and I got upset with
it. Because the man recorded everything
he said and did and preached and thought and believed and
everything else. But he always started every sentence
with I. He'd say, I felt my burden. I
grieved over my sins. I searched my heart. I wondered
if I had any hope. I tried to pray. I tried to find
peace. And I read that and I thought,
this man has no assurance. He has no confidence. He really
has no faith in Christ. And I discovered his problem.
I discovered his problem. The book of Isaiah, chapter fifty-three,
you've read it many times. It starts this way. Who hath
believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealing? He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root
out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness.
When we shall see him, there's no beauty we should desire him.
But he was wounded by our transgressions. He was bruised by our iniquities.
Chastisement of our peace was upon him. By his stripes we're
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned every one to his own way, but he laid on him. Isaiah used the possessive pronoun
he, him, and his 43 times in that one chapter. Not I, but
he. Not I, but him. Not I, but his. That's the Father's Bible. And
if you're looking for assurance, don't look for it in I. Look for it in him, in his Word. That's right. That's right, him, his and he. All right, go back to my text.
Verily, verily, truly, truly, I say to you, he that hears my
word, hears it, believes it, embraces it, persuaded, looking
for a country, and believes on him that sent me, ha, everlasting
life. Ha, H-A-T-H. What's that spell? That's exactly it. He that hears
my word and believes on my Father has, right now, everlasting life. Our Lord did not say he has the
promise of life. He did not say he has the doctrine
of life. He did not say he's got the hope
of life. He said he's got eternal life. If he believes. You believe God?
He's got eternal life. You have it. He has everlasting
life. Believers, they don't just have
the doctrine of life and the promise of life and the hope
of life. They've got the experience of life. Christ liveth in you. Christ liveth in me. And the
life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Christ
in you. That's the hope of glory. Paul
said, I travail to Christ before Him. in you. We are partakers
of the experience of life, partakers of the presence of life, Christ
in you. That's the hope. And we're the
partakers of the divine nature. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying this. I'm saying that a man believes
on the Son of God, hears His Word, believes on God, believes
on Christ, receives Him, trusts Him, persuades Him, he has the
presence of God in him. I'm crucified with Christ. I'm
already dead. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I. Christ lives in me. And the life
which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God." John wrote this, "...whoso confesseth that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he dwells in God."
Is that right? That's what it says. "...he that heareth my word,
and believes it, God dwells in him, and he dwells in God. If a man loves me, Listen to
this, 1 John chapter 14. Christ said this, if a man loves
me, my Father will love him. And my Father and I will come
and take up our abode in him. Verily, verily, truly, truly,
I am the faithful witness. the beginning of the creation
of God, I say to you, he, whoever you are, whatever your age, background,
he that hears my word in the heart, and really, truly, sincerely
believes on me, he hath everlasting life. Watch this, men. And he'll never, and he shall
not ever come into condemnation, never. There is no judgment to
them whom Christ Jesus. He shall never come into condemnation
for original sin, the sin of Adam. In Adam all die, but in
Christ we're made alive. Not for the sins of transgressions
that we have done, thought, said. Not for any lapse. Everybody
has their lapses and their falls and their stumbles. that he'll
not come into a condemnation for any lapse or fall or transgression
at all because he, well, listen, he already has passed from death
unto life. Isn't that what it says? You
know, there's a part, I'm glad my dad wrote that in my Bible
so long ago. So I'm listening to him. Barely,
barely, I say to you, He that hears my word and believes on
him that sent me hath right now everlasting life, and shall never
come into condemnation, because he's already done." He's already
been judged, he's already been condemned, he's already been
accepted in the beloved. Oh, my goodness. That is good news, isn't it?
It is to sinners. It is to sinners. That's the
only people this is good news to is sinners. The Lord didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Look at verse twenty-five. The hour is, verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, it's already come,
when the dead, That's you and me, dead in trespasses and sin.
We heard the voice of the Son of God. What is that voice? My
sheep hear my voice. I give them eternal life, and
they'll never fail. My sheep hear my voice, and they come
to me. My sheep hear my voice. They will. They hear the voice
of the Son of Man. They hear the voice of the Son
of God. And everyone who hears, believes, is persuaded. Shall live. Shall live. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Listen to
this. Ephesians 2, beginning with verse
1. Oh, you hath he quickened. That's
what he's talking about. The hour is coming now is when
the dead shall hear the voice of the quickened dead. Now hath
he quickened. you happy quick, and who were
dead in trespasses and sin, wherein in times past you walked according
to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all, Jew and Gentile, had our conversation
in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind. We were by nature children of
wrath, even as others. But God, but God, who is rich
in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses and sin, had quickened us, made us alive.
quicken us together with Christ, by grace are you saved, and hath
raised us up, and made us sit together, already passed from
death unto life, already seated in the heavenly, already seated in the heavenly
places in Christ, that in the ages to come, verse seven, he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Don't you love this word? Doesn't
it make your heart beat a little faster, and your hair stand up
on the back of your head, and joy fill your heart? Promise
of God. And all the promises of God in
Christ Jesus are yes. Yes. Verily, verily, truly, truly,
and amen. That's the word. Now, I want
you to read this next life verse, John 5, verse 27. Verse 26 and
27. John 5, 26 and 27. For as the
Father hath life in himself, and that's the only place life
is, is in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life
in himself, and hath given him authority, power, to execute
the judgment. Judgment. Listen to this. Because
he's the Son of Man. That's the reason. Because he's
a son of man. That's the title of my message.
All this because he is a son of man. I want you to sit there
quietly and look at me and listen to the same things I'm going
to say to you for the next few minutes. I want you to listen
very carefully. Because he's a son of man. God Almighty made a covenant
of grace in Christ before the foundation of the world. God
himself, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And Almighty God spoke. And he
said, let us make man. Let us make man in our own image. And let him have dominion over
all the earth. Let us have a kingdom of eternal
righteousness, holiness, and happiness. Let us have a kingdom. And the holiness of God speaks. And he says, but man will not
continue in uprightness and holiness. Like Lucifer of old, and the
angels that you created. Man too will be lifted up with
pride and he'll follow. That's what the holiness of God
decrees. And then God in his justice speaks
and he says, and when man sins there'll be none good None righteous. None that seek God. And the justice
of God will arrest them all, charge them with treason, and
cast them into hell. But the mercy of God speaks.
And the mercy of God says, Lord, thou shouldest charge iniquity. Who can stand? But there's forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared, and that thou mayest
be worshipped. There's forgiveness with God.
Lord, may not mercy and truth meet together? May not righteousness
and peace kiss one another? Can a way be found that man could
be redeemed? Can a way be established whereby
God can be just and justified? Can a kingdom be established
so that everyone in that kingdom will be conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ? The wisdom of God's faith. God
has attributes—holiness, justice, mercy, and wisdom. Pastor preached
on that this morning. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
of redemption. The wisdom of God speaks. The
wisdom and power of God. And God says, there is a way. There is a way. But only one. If a ransom can be found, there
is a way. But there must be a man. there
must be a man, because by man came death, also by man came
life. Got to be a man. And that person,
that man, if one is to be found, must be in the nature of God
and yet take the form of a servant. That man must come to earth and
yet never leave the bosom of the Father. That man must be holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and yet numbered with the transgressors and by their sin. That man must
be tempted and tried in all points by heaven, earth, and hell, and
never That man must take upon himself
the full scope of law and obey it before God and not complain. That man must die and be buried
and walk out of the tomb under his own power and ascend to heaven
and sit down at the right hand of God and say, I finished the work you gave
me to do. Therefore glorify me with thine
own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was, and I give unto those that you gave me that same glory,
because thou hast loved them as you loved me." Understand
that's the gospel. That's the truth. He's the Son of Man. That's the
only reason. Bishop, one way, one truth, one
life. And you know something? God has
given it to us. Who am I that you should show
such mercy to such a dead dog? But he does, and he did, and
he will, to all who believe. We don't have some secret society
here. It's wide open to all who believe in the Son of God. Our Father, oh, thank you for
your Word. Thank you back there for the
foundation of the world. You set apart our surety, our
Savior, our Lord. made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made your righteousness in him.
I thank you. I thank you that our Lord came
to this earth and lived and died for sinners as we are. And I thank you for your grace
and your mercy that revealed Christ to my father and through
him to me and through all of us here to those whom we love,
you made us lights of the world, salt of the earth, made us witnesses
to Christ, ambassadors of the Savior. Lord, use us for your
glory. Thank you for your gospel. Thank
you for eternal life. Thank you for this congregation. Our great God, because He is,
the Son of Man. For Christ's sake, amen. you. Okay. Okay. you