OK, thank you, Sherry. All right, back to John chapter
8, if you will. Our Lord says so many things
here in chapter 8. I hope we get something. There's
just so much here, but we're going to try to get through it. He speaks, he's dealing with
one subject. Really all the way through. He
talks about his testimony or his record if you remember that. He talks about bearing record
of himself he's speaking of God's word. And here in these verses
we read just read he. Talks about the truth. Talks about what is true truth
no less than eight or nine. Look at verse thirty one and
thirty two look back there. Christ said to those who which
believed on him or. Seemed to or said they did if
you can send you in my work. Then. Are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. My word, the truth. What is God's word? What is the
truth? Many, if not most, claim to believe
the word of God. Believe the truth. What is it? Peter says this over in 1 Peter
chapter 2. He says we're born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. This is the new birth were born
again, born from above. Our Lord said you must be born
from above. And Peter says, we're born by
the Word of God. Which liveth and abideth forever. The Word of God. He said we're
born, spiritually born, by this Word of God. All right? He goes
on to say this. This is the Word. This is the
word, which by the gospel is preached unto you. So what is
the word of God? What is the truth? It's the gospel. That's what it is. And this is
how God Almighty gives spiritual birth to people. Just what I'm
doing. preaching the word. First Corinthians
1.20 says this, it pleases the Lord. Please God by the foolishness
of preaching. Now the world calls what we're
doing here foolish. And what goes on in most places
if they meet together at all in the midweek is choir practice
and WMU and you know really smart, wild things, good things. But
they call this foolishness. They call taking the word of
God and going verse by verse and declaring it foolishness.
But rather, really, they call the truth, or getting to the
heart of what is being said, that foolishness. Well, Christ
said, My word, My truth shall make you free, the gospel. Salvation
comes through the preaching of the gospel, the gospel. And salvation
is revealed. If somebody is truly saved. If
someone is truly saved, their response to the gospel. is proof
of whether they are. That's what we are going to say. And this is what we're going
to see a person's response to this gospel is proof whether
or not they're a true child of God or not. And if they're not.
It's shocking what our Lord says about All right back in the members
in John six verse forty five. Surely you can quote that we
quote that as much as any other. And he's quoting from Isaiah
four fifty four thirteen. In John six forty five he says
and they shall be all taught of God. They shall all be taught of God. Who? All men? No. Isaiah 54, 13 says, All thy children
shall be taught of that, and great shall be the peace of thy
children. But our Lord paraphrases that
and says, And every man that hath heard and learned of the
Father comes to me. He's saying the same thing. Peace. Great shall be the peace. If
they come to Christ, they'll find peace, won't they? Real
peace. Real peace. And they'll all be
taught of God. They'll all be taught who God
is. I mean that God is God. You get tired of hearing that,
John. that God is God, that God is
God. Do you ever grow tired of hearing
your God exalted as really God? Hmm? Do you? Never. Can't say it enough or loud enough,
can you? God teaches all men His job,
all His children, that is. And He teaches all these children
of His what they are. Do you ever get offended, John?
I'll just go ahead and keep picking on you. Do you ever get offended
when a man stands up here and keeps calling you a worm? I mean,
you're over 50 now. Way over 50. Approaching 60,
yet we're still calling you a dog and a worm and a knife. Never
get offended? No, but God's people don't get
offended, do they? Well, what about who Christ is
and what he's done? Be gospel. That Christ is indeed
Christ and that his blood atones for our sins and that he is our
high priest and so on. You ever get tired of hearing
that? No, God's people don't. Great is their peace when they
hear it. That's where they get peace. That's where they get
it. And he says you'll know this
truth, all right? You know the truth. You know
the true God. You know the truth about yourself.
And you know the true, true salvation, or how a man is truly saved by
trusting Christ alone, by what Christ did, not what you did.
That sets you free. free from condemnation. You believe in Christ, there's
no condemnation right now for you. There's nothing on the record
against you. Nothing. No condemnation. You're
free from condemnation. The reigning power of the I venture
to say when you were in the army that you were like most fellows
in the. Early was the you know in the
you know, good thing. I'm sure he said you would just
like you know the rally armament. Then had his reigning influence
over. him not have them in you know.
Right right. Right right. Are you free from
that some day you'll be free from the actual presence of.
And you're also free if a man stood up in here in the pool
here right now in my place and began to tell you a lot. You wouldn't hear. You couldn't
hear it. You won't hear it. If it's bad
enough, you'd get up and walk out of here, wouldn't you? Huh?
Why? The truth will make you free. It'll set you free from
these charlatans and these evil men and seducers and so forth.
Blessed are you, John, bar she's late, if you know and love the
truth. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you, but your Father which is in heaven. All right, look at what our Lord
says here in verse forty-three. And haven't you asked this question
before concerning some people? Why do you not understand my
speech? Why don't you understand Why
don't people understand the gospel? You tell people the gospel, the
truth, when you declare unto men the God of the Bible, and
you just declare what the Bible says. That's all you do. That's all you want to do, isn't
it? That's all God's children want to do, is just tell what
God has said. They dare not say anything more
or less. Right? Right, Stephen? Why don't
men understand? Why don't they see it? Now, I
love that verse over in Proverbs 8 that says this. It says, there's
nothing fraud. All the words of my mouth are
in righteousness. There's nothing fraud or perverse
in them. Now, this is wisdom speaking.
This is Christ speaking. He says, all my words are in
righteousness. There's nothing forward, or that
is wreathed, or covered, or hid, or perverse, wrong, or bad, or
evil intent in it. Nothing. And then he says, they're all
plain to him that understand it. And right to them that find knowledge. Right? Don't you see? And don't you often say, when
you're talking to those fellows, don't you see? Did you hear that? Did you hear that, what it said?
No, they didn't. Why? Look at verse 43. Christ said, You cannot hear
my word. Now, if that isn't inability.
You know, we preach total inability, that man is dead in sin. No, we preach that. Amen. That's
just not so. That's what Christ said, didn't
He? You cannot. He doesn't say they won't, and
he said that before. He says you will not come unto
me. Here he says you cannot. And
you remember over in chapter six where he says no man can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me to draw him.
Men cannot hear the truth. They cannot hear. They have ears
to hear, but they hear not, eyes to see, but they see not. And
the plainest truth that can be seen or heard from God's Word,
yet men don't see it or hear it. Isn't that so? Plainest truth. There's two reasons. There's
two reasons. Now listen. There's two reasons.
I've already said the first one. A man is dead. He's blind. There is a plan for number two
he's a reprobate. And. Maybe he's both if he's
reprobating both. Reprobate. In other words they
turn their ears away from the truth they've heard it and said
and seen it. and then turn their ears from
it. I don't like that. I don't want that. And so the scripture
says in Romans, God gives them over to a reprobate mind. That means a mind void of judgment. In other words, they reach the
point where they don't have good sense. And in that religion today,
they just don't have good sense. People don't have good sense. Don't have good sense. Now, we
don't know who they are. do. God does. The reason we keep,
we keep on witnessing the people and talking to people, same,
sometimes the same people, the same thing, don't we? Over and
over again. If you're married to a husband
that doesn't believe or a wife that doesn't, You have to. You must. Your sisters, your
father, your mother, your family, you love them. You must. You
continue to tell them the same things over and over again. Hopefully
that worry will eventually, that God will drive it home. But if
it doesn't, they're blind and they're reprobate or both. Well, look at what the Lord says
here. Now, this is shocking, what he
says here. It's unbelief just a matter of
we have doctrine and they don't believe it. Now, we believe this
doctrine. We believe God's sovereign, they
don't believe it. Oh, well. Is that it? And men say Christ
was nothing but love, you know, and said nothing but good things
and so on. So look what he says here. Look
at verse 44. He says, uh, you are of your father the devil. When people won't hear the gospel
and refuse it, they won't believe it. They're children of Satan. Now,
I didn't say that, did I? The Lord Jesus Christ said that. That's serious isn't
it? Can you believe that? Yes. He said it. I remember sitting
on my front porch one day and talking to two of these, what
do they call them, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint
Mormons. and Joseph Smith. I that's what we all know. That they can't tell me what
they believe in the war and so forth, and one of them said you
didn't get that from God's word. One of them said, Oh, yes, he
said, My father taught me. My father revealed this to me,
taught me that said, Yes, he did. And your father would never. And I literally saw them go.
shrink back, like they've been exorcised. But can you say that to somebody,
eventually? Yep, Christ did. Being hard, Is that too hard? If God teaches
a man, he's not going to teach him a lie, is he? This is what
we're going to deal with here tonight. What does God teach
a man? We have two fathers. This is the title of this message.
Two fathers, different children. Two fathers with different children.
Read on. He says he was a murderer from
the beginning. He says the lust of your father
you will do. All right? Lust. What you talking
about? Sexual lust? No. No. Health and wealth. Satan, when
he tempted Christ, didn't tempt him with sexual lust. Doesn't say anything about that.
Does. What'd he tempt him with? Kingdom of the world? All the
wealth and riches of the world? Now that sounds like modern religion,
doesn't it? That's what he tempted with.
And that's exactly what he's tempting the masses with. God
doesn't want you to be sick. God wants you to be healthy and
wealthy and kingdoms. This is his kingdom, his earth. That's what he tempts with. Well, that's what men go after.
Hey, that sounds good. But Christ comes and says, you
take up my clothes. And finally, cross affliction. Choosing rather to suffer affliction.
Remember Sunday morning's message? Choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God. Stealing the reproach of Christ's
greater riches and the treasures. And men say, I don't want that.
I'll take the riches. I'll take the world, not the
cross." That's it. That's what these lusty psalms
read on. He said he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode
not in the truth, because there's no truth in him. A murderer,
a murderer of men's souls. He's the one that plunged this
human race into spiritual death. A murderer from the beginning,
and so are his ministers. These men are far...these preachers
of the false gospel are far more dangerous and far more guilty of far greater
crimes than Charles Manson. Right? In the hottest place in hell,
if I may say, is reserved for those men and women. murderers. Read on. It says, When he is
no truth in him, when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.
He's a liar and he's a father of it. He's the first one to
tell a lie. Satan is the first one to tell a lie. And he's good
at it. And so are his preachers. They're what they call pathological
liars. Whatever that means. Did you
say that means they can't help it, John? Is that what pathological
means? I don't know. Pathological liars.
But that's what they are. They speak a lie, and the children
believe it. They speak a lie, and the children
believe it. Why do... and I asked myself
this question about Satan. How could he go up against the
sovereign God? Why would he? Huh? Have you ever thought about that?
Why would Satan go up against or attempt to go up against the
Sovereign God. Why would he try? You ever thought
about that? It'd be like me and Stan getting
us a couple of BB guns and storming the Pentagon or something. We're
going to take you. Right? Or less than that, pop
guns, air guns. We're going to take this place.
Be far less foolish, or less foolish, wasn't it, than Satan.
Why did he do that? Why did he try? There is no truth
in him. Evidently he doesn't know God
to God. You think about that? Huh? Why would men say what they say
about God? Why would men say what they say
today about God? Doesn't it appall you, Nancy,
when you hear men say what they say about God? I was watching
some little silly woman on that TTL club. Y'all think I sit around
and watch that, don't you? I don't, but I turn it on every
now and then just to see what foolishness is going on. And
some painted lady was on that, and oh, she was Well, it's not
worth repeating, but she was saying some of the most blasphemous
things about God. Why would somebody do that? There's
no truth in them at all, none whatsoever. They reprobate. Their mind is totally void of
judgment. They don't have good sense. Well,
a dog won't go up against someone of a strong man. Well, we rely on the liar and
father of the reverse forty-five pressure that they use for you
believe me. I feel the truth you believe
me not. The reverse forty-fifth, which of you convinced me of
him. Christ says, who can convince
me or can, or accuse me or find one fault with me? One. Well, no man, no mortal man could
say that. But Christ did, and you know,
they tried to, didn't they? They tried to. They tried to
find fault with him. They had to hire false witnesses
against him, and they couldn't agree. They got their stories
mixed up. So he frustrates the counsel
of men, as Scripture says. But then Pilate, you know, he
wanted to find something wrong with it. So he could, wouldn't be guilty
of killing an innocent man. You know, he wanted to. And his
wife warned him, don't have anything to do, he's a just man. And Pilate
later on said, I'll find no fault in it. Sorry, fellas, I tried,
but I can't find one thing wrong with it. Well, there's the Gospel of Matthew. That's my substitute, standing
for God, the law, devils and men, blameless, holy, without
fault, faultless. He's doing that for me, sinless,
doing that for me. And even though the Holy Spirit
convinces me of my own sin, God finds no fault with me. Why? Because Christ was thoughtless
in my stead. Sinless. Sinless substitute. Well, here's what he's saying
to these people. He's saying, now, if you can't find anything
wrong with me, and I'm telling you the truth,
why don't you believe me? Now, if you can prove a man to
be a cheat and a liar and covetous and egotistical and self-seeking
man, if you can prove that about somebody, then you don't have
to believe him, do you? You follow what I'm saying? If
you can prove a man to be who he's nothing but a no-good cheat,
don't believe him. But if he's proved to be a true
man over and over again, And nothing he's ever said has been
a lie. Everything he said has been right and good and just
and true. You've got to believe him. Don't
you? Like Christ. Everything he said
was for God's glory. Everything. You should never
accuse him of going around speaking his own glory. Even he said that.
I didn't come to speak my own glory. And to glorify God. You call him your father. I'm
glorifying him. You're not. I am. And the good of others, everything
he did was for the good of other people. He didn't do anything
for himself. He did everything for others.
Surely men don't believe a man like that. No. The apostle Paul, you remember
over in the first Timothy, he said, Brethren, you know my entrance
in unto you, that we didn't use deceit or any of these things. We were like a nurse that cherishes
her children, and so on and so forth. He said, You fully know
my doctrine, manner of life, and so on and so forth. Well, let's go on. Verse 47. I love this verse. He says, "...he
that is of God heareth God's word." Just a fact. Why don't
men believe? They cannot. He that is of God
must. They have to. They hear God's
word. Why? They're sheep. That's what,
look over John 10. That's what he said over in John
10. And John, this is what I said to you, John. Here in John 10,
verse 4, he says, when he puts forth his own sheep, and he did,
he put you forth. He set you forth. He sanctified
you as one of his own. And he put you where you are
to hear the gospel. Read on. He goes before them,
and the sheep follow him. They know his voice. A stranger
will they not follow? They'll flee from him. They don't
know the voice of strangers. That's the reason that so many
times you hear a man preaching, you say, you know, it sounds
good, but something's missing. I can't put my finger on it,
but it's just not so much what he's saying as what he's not
saying. You ever done that? Well, he
says some good things, but he's not saying the good things. Now,
he's preaching the Bible, but he's not preaching the Word.
Right, the shepherd's voice, you're listening for the shepherd's
voice, which is a clear sound of middle C. Him. His work. That's his voice. The gospel is his voice. And
they hear God's word. They hear his word. They must.
They must. The stranger, they won't hear
it. Verse forty-seven, he says, uh, if I, he says, you therefore
hear them not, because you're not of God. You're not of God. He said, you're of your father's Well, look at verse forty-eight.
This is interesting. "...the answer to the Jews is said unto
him, Say we not well that thou art a devil, or a Samaritan,
and hast a devil?" Well, you're the devil. I heard Jimmy Swigert one time
talking about Calvinism. Of course, they totally misconstrued
it. You know, they really abused it. But he said, that's the doctrines
of devils. You see, they call what's good,
evil. And they call evil good, don't
they? You know what the Scripture said they would? It's called
good, evil, and evil, good. They call the work of the devil.
Listen. Men call the work of the devil.
The work of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember that Gadarene
fellow that I was supposed to preach about? Do you remember
him? He was carrying on, doing all
that stuff, you know, rolling around and so forth. Sounds just
like one of these modern-day church meetings, doesn't it? That's the work of the devil.
He was possessed of the devil. But today they call that being
filled with the Spirit. don't they, Rebecca? They're
babbling, blah blah blah, rolling on the floor, you know, foaming
at the mouth, acting like wild Tasmanian devils. That's what
they are. Devils. They say they're filled with
the Spirit. Things haven't changed. But you take a man who's seated,
clothed in his right mind, the mind of Christ. All he wants
to hear about is Christ, the gospel. All he wants to hear
about is this clothing, this righteousness of Christ. And
he's quiet. He's shut up to the gospel. He's
not saying much. She's not saying much. They're
just sitting there, soaking it in, rejoicing, being still and
knowing he's God. In quietness. their strength, Isaiah said,
and waiting and being still and standing still and seeing his
God and being seated and just beholding his glory and not saying
anything, listening for him to do all the talking. People say,
that's why she's dead. They don't have the spirit. That's exactly what they said
to Christ, wasn't it? So we're in good company, people.
Read on, and I'll close this out. Christ said, I have not
a devil. Verse forty-nine, I honor my
Father, and you do dishonor me. I seek not mine own glory, as
one that seeketh and judges. Oh, how men honor themselves,
don't they, and dishonor the Sovereign Lord. They speak of
themselves. Read on. Verse fifty-one, I barely,
barely, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never
see literal fire. Somebody asked
me that the other day. What do you think about hell?
What is hell? I don't know. I don't know. No man does. Our Lord talked about fire, talked
about the worm that dies not. I do know this. It's separation
from God. I know that. It's a place where
God puts people and leaves them, and then whatever goes on. It is too horrible to speak of,
no man has seen it. But that's what death is, separation
from God. Christ says, you keep my sane. Now, Barbara, he didn't say sane,
did he? What's his saying? The truth. What's the truth?
The gospel. The Word, singular. God is single. The whole body
is full of life. You keep, take the heart, believe,
hold fast. My saying, the truth, the gospel,
you'll never see death. You'll never see separation.
You'll see life. Not only then, but now. You'll
see him who is life. Read on. It says here in verse
52 through 55, they said, we know you have a devil now. Abraham
is dead. And the prophets, yeah, they are, aren't they?
Christ is life. If a man keep my faith, he shall
never taste of death. How art thou greater than our
father Abraham, which is dead?" Yeah, I am Abraham's father.
Read on. The prophets, they're dead. See
how they keep talking about the dead? They want to kill the living
and brag on the dead. Are you greater than Abraham?
He's dead. Yeah, I am. I'll never die. Our fathers are
dead. Prophets are dead. Yeah, they're
all dead. I'm life. I am much greater. Christ answered, If I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It's my father's honor is me,
of whom you say he is your God. You say he is your God. You say
he is your God. Read on. But you have not known
him. But I know him. If I should say I know him not,
I'd be a liar like unto you. But I know him and keep his faith.
Now what does he say in him? If I should say I know him not,
I'd be like you, a liar. But I know him. See if this doesn't
make sense. Men say they have a God. But
he's not God. Here's a sheriff. They say God
wants to. Well, that's not God. They say he's God, but he's not
God. And we don't agree with them in any shape, form, or fashion.
We're not about to say anything similar to what they're saying.
If we do, we'll be disliked. That's a lie. What they're saying
about God today is a lie. He's not God. What they're saying
about this Jesus today is a lie. That's not the Jesus Christ description.
And we don't agree with them in any shape, form, or fashion. We're not going to, not going
to find, we're not going to find common ground. There is no common
ground. We have the common faith, Paul said to Timothy, didn't
he? Of the common faith. One Lord, one faith. Oh no, preacher,
not one faith, but many faiths. No, there's one faith. And if
we said there are many faiths, we'd be a liar like you. But
we're not. They say they know Him, but they
don't. Can I be that bold? Can we be that bold? Say, our
God is God. Their God just wants to be. Our
God is Christ. Their God just tries to be. Our
Christ's blood actually put away our sins. He's made an end payment. And we say that this gospel,
our gospel, is the gospel. Can you say that, Sam? Without
apology, without reservation, without hesitation. And if any
man preaches or believes any other gospel than your gospel,
Sam, he's going to go to hell. Can you say that? We better,
but we're liars just like they are. And I gave this illustration
to one of our brethren. If a man says to me, I know Henry
Mahan, I know him well. Yeah, I know him well. He's pastor
of 13th Street Baptist Church, a young son. I say, where'd you
meet him? They say, well, I met him in
Phoenix, Arizona back in 1963. Wait a minute. I don't think
he's been to Phoenix. Well, keep on. Yes, he's 6'5
and has red hair and brown eyes. I said, wait a minute. Now I
know you don't know him. That's not my father. Oh, yeah,
yeah, I know him. I know him well. I met him. I
just talked to him the other day. Oh, no, you didn't. You're a liar, man. You're a
liar. And if I agree with you and say,
well, that's close enough, I'd be a liar just like you. Six-five. Close enough. Right? So God is love. Close enough.
No, it's not close enough. Describe your God to me. He's
holy. That's close. That's getting
real close. He's sovereign. Getting closer still. He doeth
according to his will in the armies of heaven, among the heavens,
that there are none to stay his hand or say unto him, He can't
do that. That's God. You just might know the God of
the Scripture. My God, my Father, that's my
Father. Describe your Christ to me now. He's sovereign, too.
He's holy. He came down with an express
mission sent by the Father, with a people given to him by the
Father. No more, no less. He came down to do that job.
He paid the pricing full, paid for their sins, absolved them
of all their sins, went back, sat down, making sure the covenant
is fulfilled, that every one of his sheep are brought home.
He got the job done. There's nothing left to do. That's
my Christ. That's my Christ. Tell me about
your spirit. Oh, he's sovereign too. Yeah,
he's sovereign too. Now, when he moves, ain't no
man going to thwart him. When he moves, and he moves where
he listed. You can't tell where he's going to be. You can't announce
a revival on Saturday at 7. He's going to be where he will.
And where he will is where the gospel is, where Christ is being
preached. That's his work. That's what
he does. And he moves on the hearts of dead men and women
and children, and he raises them. and they hear this God, and they
hear this Christ, and they bow, and they repent, and they believe,
and they keep on believing. We've got the same Father. We've
got the same Father. I believe you know the truth.
Don't you? You see that? And Barbara or
Charles, if we had that in us, if we agree with men in one iota,
If we turn to the right or the left and not right on, we'll
be just like them. If we preach circumcision, why
do we suffer persecution? That's what Paul said. If all
this that's going on today is the gospel, why are we suffering
persecution? Why never? Nobody else is. because our Lord said we will.
You preach the truth and they'll hate you, because they won't
hear my word. I don't like persecution, but
I like that promise, don't you? I like the promise. I like that
assurance. You see, the gospel comes not
in word only, but in power and the Holy Ghost, and much assurance.
The assurance is persecution. Have you ever thought of persecution
as being assurance? I have, many times. Many times. Well, your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, Christ said. He saw it and was glad. You said you're not fifty years
old. Have you seen Abraham? Before Abraham was, I am. We have a city and every city
is God. God's people here heard him say it many times, didn't
they? We heard him say it about eight
or nine times here. John ate alone. Why? He is of God here. It's God's word, his voice. They hear his voice. That's God.
The same one that said to Moses, I am, said it just then, didn't
they? That's my father. All right. Our Father, our God, we thank
you for revealing the Christ to us, the truth to us. Deliver
us from pride or presumption, but yet deliver us from cowardice
and timidity Lord, we need to be bold to speak
truth and bold to declare our God before
men. They are bold with their false
god, bold with their false religion, speak blatantly and blasphemously
against God. May we be as bold to tell the
truth. though men don't receive it.
Oh, Lord, we have received it only by your grace, though, and
we thank you for it. Set us free, made us free from
sin, from condemnation, and from evil men and seducers that wax
worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Oh, Lord, thank
you. Thank you for the gospel of our
salvation. In Christ's name we are met together.
Amen.