Back to John 3. I'm just going to simply do a
running commentary of these verses. I've entitled this, He That Believeth,
because our Lord says that several times here. He that believeth. This is the
account of a man named Nicodemus. who came secretly to Christ to
ask some questions, and the wrong questions, but he did come. He's a religious man, and yet when he's confronted
with truth, he does not understand it, nor does he believe it. Now, who does understand? Who
will believe? Well, that's what our Lord began
by saying, he that is born from above. And flesh is flesh, he said.
Mine, carnal mine, is just opposite of what God says. Spiritual,
God says my thoughts of heavens are higher above the earth, so
are my thoughts than your thoughts, and my ways than your ways, and
so until God changes our minds and our thoughts, we're going
to have low thoughts. We're going to have carnal thoughts.
We're going to have low thoughts of God and high thoughts of ourselves.
It's the other way around, isn't it? A natural man has got the
cart before the horse. He's got man before God. And we'll have low thoughts of
God and high thoughts of man when God changes your mind. And
that's what repentance is turning, you have high thoughts of God
and very low thoughts of yourself. Well, salvation is to know the
true God, know Christ, who he is, why he came, and flesh and
blood doesn't reveal that to you. No amount of education or
studying. Job said, can a man by searching
find out God to perfection? Can't find out God at all. But the Father reveals these
things to some people. The one time, I brought to your
attention before, the one time our Lord rejoiced, He said He
rejoiced in spirit, was when He thought about this. That the
scribes and the Pharisees and the wise men, doctors and lawyers
could not figure this thing out. common people heard him gladly.
And it says he lifted his eyes and rejoiced, and that hour rejoiced
in heaven, rejoiced and lifted his eyes to heaven and said,
I thank thee, Father, that you have hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto me. Well, and if you
know the true and living God, and blessed are you, blessed
are you, Now, the Lord's not trying to
get this man to believe on him by quoting John 3.16. That's all people use this verse
for in this thing. God love you. And whosoever believes,
you know. The Lord's stating the fact.
After the fact. This chapter doesn't start with
verse 16. It starts with verse 1. Well, it really starts with
John 1, but this chapter, nonetheless, starts several verses back, 15
to be exact. And he's stating facts here,
and he's talking about who will be saved. Now, remember these
three things. Remember these three things that
I constantly bring up when reading the Scripture. You can't understand
the Scripture. We can't understand it apart
from a revelation. That's the bottom line. That's the top line. But these
three things in reading any portion of Scripture, if you don't consider
these three things, you'll misconstrue it. You'll misapply it. You'll
butcher it. The Scripture, you'll take it
out of context. Number one, who's speaking? This
is the Lord of Glory speaking here. Number two, to whom is
he speaking? Who's he speaking to? Scriptures
are addressed to certain people. It says so. He's speaking here
to a Jew, a dyed in the wool, diehard, like we say a diehard
Republican or whatever. This is a diehard Jew. Dogmatic,
bigoted, prejudiced Jew who said it's the Jews that are saying
their best. Jews in the world. That's what
they thought. There's the Jews, and then there's
the world. Well, that's the language of
scripture, but he didn't understand that the Jews were not exactly
ones, not ones that were. But he was a Jew, okay? Prejudiced,
bigoted, believed that only Jews were going to be saved. No Gentiles.
No Gentiles. All right? That's who this Christ
is speaking to. What's the subject? Number three,
what's the subject? He's talking about, he started
out by talking about the new birth. And the whole subject is salvation. The new birth, the work of the
Spirit, the work of the Father, the work of the Son, salvation. All right? Now, let's look at
it. Verse 9, he says, Nicodemus says,
how can these things be? This is not logical. He says,
can a man go back in his mother's womb? How can this be? I can't humanly figure this out. No, it's not humanly figured
out, Nicodemus. Do you remember 1 Corinthians
2, where Paul said, the natural man receiveth not the things
of God? The foolishness of something.
Born again? How can these things be? the
natural foolishness unto. Neither can he know them, for
they are what? What? Spiritually discerned. That's what our Lord just said,
isn't it? You must be born from above.
You've got to have your mind transformed. He that is spiritual,
Christ said, discerneth all things. He understands all things in
light of who God is and what man is. Right? Don't have no
problem with it. All the doctrine falls in place
to understand, in light of a sovereign God and a dead sinner. Well, this is why the new birth
is essential. Verse 10 and 11, Christ answered
and said unto him, Are you a master, a teacher? He's mocking him here. I know he's doing it very gently,
though. The Lord was not like us. He does it with compassion, I'm
sure. I know it. He says, are you a master of
it, a teacher in Israel? I don't know these things. Are you a teacher? Paul said to Timothy in a letter,
he said, They desire to be teachers of the law. They don't understand
what they're saying, and neither whereof they affirm. They just
don't understand. They desire to be teachers, so
they go to get their masters of divinity. Can you imagine a man saying, In essence, he said, I've mastered
the knowledge of God. I have a doctorate in theology.
I've attained, I've arrived, I've learned all I need to know
about God. That's in essence what they're
saying. Paul said, desiring to be teachers of law and understanding. Neither understanding what they
say, nor whereof they affirm, nor where they got it. You remember me telling you I
was talking to a fellow who had an M.D. of a Master of Divinity
one time. I talked to him about two in
the morning at my house one time. He never quoted one verse of
Scripture. He couldn't. He tried and he butchered a couple.
He butchered them and I had to finish them for him. I thought,
where did you get this degree anyway? At Cracker Jack Box? And I was real young, Stan. I didn't know anything. I don't
know much now, but I didn't know anything. I knew more than he
did. Well, Nicodemus, are you a master?
Well, our Lord says in verse 11, we speak that we do know.
Now, who's he talking about? We. I'm glad he said this, aren't
you? Well, the we here. is like the
scripture says, of the Spirit. The Spirit doesn't
speak of himself, neither does the Son. He speaks with the Father. So we talk about the Father,
the Son, the Holy Spirit. We, like in the beginning, God,
God spoke and the Spirit moved on the face of the water is the
truth. Well, we, God, the Father, the Son, the Holy are saying
this. But yet, he's including us. He's
including his disciples. His poor, pitiful, they were
saying they never were much in three years. But right here,
they weren't anything. Right? They didn't know anything.
But our Lord included them. He said, we speak, we at least
speak what we know and testify what we've seen. And you receive
not our witness. Does that sound familiar? Who
wrote this book? I mean, who recorded it? John? Does that sound familiar with
John's other letter, 1 John? It says this over in 1 John,
he says, that which we have seen and heard declared unto you. Nothing more, nothing less than
what we've seen and heard. And he said this, and we see
And we know, John said, we know that the Son of God has come
and given us an understanding, that we may know him that is
true, and we're in him that is true. Even in his Son, Jesus
Christ, is the true God and eternal life. We speak what we know,
testify what we've seen. You receive not our witness.
My pastor always said you can't. tell what you don't know any
more than you can come back and where you ain't been. I always ask the question, why
aren't preachers preaching constantly the gospel? Why aren't men declaring,
like Paul who said, I'm determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Like Paul who said, Christ is
all and in all. Like Paul who said, in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead Bible. Why aren't men preaching
him? That's all. And they're preaching
everything else. Why? Well, we speak what we've
seen, or what we know, and testify what we've seen. God, who shined
a light in darkness, hath shined in our hearts. to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ
Jesus, a person. A person in his glorious Word.
So why don't men declare it? I haven't seen it. I haven't
seen it. There's a pastor down in Florida,
I may have told you about this, Brother Todd Niber. went down
to speak. His sister, Todd's sister, got
married to a man. He moved, his family moved her
down to Florida from Kentucky. To make a long story short, at
any rate, she started attending this place where she could get
something close to the gospel. It was one of these Reformed
places, you know, where they, what that means is they believe
the doctrine, but they sure don't major on the personal work of
Christ, I believe, doctor, and major on Christian living. Well, at any rate, she started
going there to get what she could, and this man would say some good
things. He'd at least say election every
now and then. He'd at least say God was sovereign every now and
then. He'd at least make mention of Christ every now and then.
And he was at least speaking from the scriptures. The Lord
sovereignly saw fit to send Brother Todd down there, because Todd's
sister kept begging the man, please have my brother down here
speak. Please, please. And he did. And he did. And Todd preaches one thing. One thing needful. That which
God demands and that which we must hear. and that which is
the power of God, Christ, the wisdom of God and the power of
God. Well, to make a long story short, the Lord used Brother
Todd and moved in the hearts of a few of the people there,
but especially in the pastor's heart. And the pastor, not too long
after that, said to Brother Todd, he said, Well, he got up one Sunday morning
to his congregation and said, I've been preaching for a long
time now. He's a man about my age. He said, I've been preaching
a long time, but I haven't been preaching the gospel. He said,
I haven't even known the gospel. He said, as a matter of fact,
I don't think I've known Christ. He said, I believe I do now. He said, I'm determined to preach
one thing now, one message, And like it or not, this is where
I'm going to stay from here on out. The message of... And he
started preaching Christ. He had to resign this way. He just resigned. Big place.
Big church. Several hundred people. But,
there's a remnant in there. Twenty-five, thirty people maybe
who believe. what he's preaching, and I think
they're coming out with him nevertheless. Nevertheless, that man now, he's
preaching what he knows, who he knows, and testifying what
he's seen, the glory of God in the face of Christ. Well, our Lord said to Nicodemus, he
said, verse twelve, he said, If I told you earthly things,
you'd believe not. How shall you believe if I tell
you heavenly things? How shall you believe earthly things? Our Lord said,
now, that which is flesh is flesh, and that which is spirit is spirit.
And you remember the illustration that Barbara's son was here last
Sunday? I said to her, I said, Barbara,
did you give birth to him, or did he decide to let you? Which was? That's a tough question,
isn't it? Isn't that tough? This is what our Lord is saying
to this man. If I tell you something so simply, so simple, in earthly
figures and types, who gave birth to whom? Barbara. He wasn't even
in the equation. When he was conceived, he was,
as it were, dead. He had no will, he had no mind,
he was nothing, was he? He was nothing. And you and him, that old fellow
there, Charles, besides you, decided we're going to have a
child. And you got together and consummated
this relationship, seed was planted, she prevailed in birth till This
baby was formed in her. And then went through excruciating
pain and agony and blood and water. And what happened? Life was given. Bob Ross. That's exactly what
happens spiritually, isn't it? That's exactly what happened.
That's exactly what the Lord was telling Nicodemus. He said,
now if you can't understand that, How are you going to believe?
How are you going to understand what I tell you? You're a lot
higher than that. How are you going to understand
justification? How are you going to understand
perpetuation? How are you going to understand election and reprobation? How are you going to understand
all these things? Huh? How are you going to understand? But
notice what he said here. He said, I told you earthly things. Verse 11, he said, We speak what
we know, and testify what we have seen. You receive not. Verse
12, he said, I told you earthly things, and you believe not.
What's the problem? Nicodemus is understanding. That's
not the problem. He didn't believe it. Isn't that
what it says, Barbara? You believe not. Around here
he says, here's the condemnation. Light's coming into the world.
It's not that men, well they are blind, but they don't like
light. They don't want light. They like
their darkness just fine. I like my refuge just fine, my
false refuge. I like my religion just fine.
I'm happy. Don't mess up, don't rock the
boat here. I believe there's a man and his
wife that And Mindy and I have been speaking with, and they're
big in religion. They've got a good, real secure
job in religion and all, and they're having a big time, going
on cruises and this and that and the other, you know, being
clowns for Jesus. And we've tried to tell them
the gospel and how the truth, you know, is hated. We've asked
them, where's the offense in what you're doing? And I believe, and they have
rejected, thumbs down, everything you've said. Why? I believe they've
counted the cost. I believe they've sat down and
said, hey, if I believe that, and if I begin to preach that,
I'll lose my job. I'll lose all this time. Right? The problem is not the understanding
here. The Academies say, that's the reason you came by night,
wasn't it? He's afraid of the Jews. He's afraid of his Sanhedrin
fellows. He's afraid he's going to lose
that good seat. They just don't believe. These
things are clear. Proverbs 8 says, nothing forward
or perverse in what I say. It's all plain. How plain can
you get? God has from the beginning chosen
you. Man is made in sin. God works
all things as the counsel of his own will. It's not of him
that will. How plain can you get? You just
can't get any plainer than that. The problem is not the understanding,
is it, Ed? That's really not it. It's the
will. That is the problem, Ed. That's
not the solution. That's the problem, isn't it?
The will. Christ said, you will not come
unto me. They're unable, he said, no man
can, except the Father which has sent me draw him. They're
dead, but he said, your will's a problem too. You will not come
unto me. Well, read on, verse 13. No man hath ascended up to heaven Now remember, our Lord is continuing
the same subject, talking about the new birth. He's talking about
regeneration, salvation, and the necessity of it. He says,
No man hath ascended up to God, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of Man which is in heaven. No man has ascended
up to God. Nobody has ever worked his way
to God. Isn't that what Paul said in
Romans 10? Isn't that exactly what he said
in Romans 10? Say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven. Oh, no. Here's salvation. Not how are we going to get to
God. Here's salvation. God came to us. See, our Lord is still dealing
with the same subject in his Same subject. This is the foundation
of truth. This is how we're saved. No man
hath seen, can see, will see God. No man can get to, no man
has a right to, no man has the ability to, to approach unto
God. God's holy, God's light, God's
a consuming fire, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love, wherewith he loved us, who's the us? Go to Romans 8
to find out. Even while we were dead in trespasses
and sins, that quickened us. Christ came down, or the Holy
Spirit sent the gospel of Christ to call us forth from the grave,
just like he did Lazarus. No less a miracle than when he
called Lazarus out of the tomb. There's Teresa Patterson over
there. She was a dead woman. for a long time didn't have a
care for the gospel, did you, Teresa? I bet you Deborah tried
to tell you about the gospel. Not interested. How about you,
little sis? She's a lot older than these
two, and she... I bet you the same way, weren't
you? Don't care about this stuff,
Deborah. Oh, come on, hear the gospel. Not interested. Just
not interested. But God came one day. God turned, sovereignly worked
it out to where these two would come and hear the gospel of Christ
crucified. They're smiling right now. I remember when they first started
coming. Smiling now. This is God's work. God comes
to a dead sinner and calls him by his grace, by the gospel,
just like he did Lazarus. Lazarus, sinner, come forth. Come unto me. Come unto me. Oh, you little lady. They're
not going to come until he draws them by this gospel, cords of
a man. And he binds it about your neck
and about your heart, this cord. And he's got you on the court.
Yeah, you're God's puppet. That's all right with me, isn't
it? I want him pulling the string, controlling me. Well, no man
can ascend to the holy hill of the Lord, but God came down. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. Well, how did he redeem them?
Verse 14 tells us. blood, he was lifted up, he was
crucified. That's what verse 14. Barnard
used to say the gospel is not in John 3.16, it's John 3.14.
He said you can't understand verse 16 without verse 14. Look
at it. Verse 14, as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness. This is Numbers 21. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life." What's that all about?
Nicodemus said, how can this be? But he was thinking, and
now what's he talking about? Lifted up. Oh, my. Have you seen him high and lifted
up? Lifted up. This is the gospel
right here. John 3.14. This is Christ crucified. This is the heart of the truth.
This is why Christ came, and this is what he did. This is
substitution. This is imputation. That's what
this is. This is satisfaction. This is it right here. As a serpent,
as Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole. You know the story,
don't you? Want to hear it again? Okay. I thought you'd never ask.
The people were bitten by this serpent. This serpent was sent
because of sin, to plague the people. And this serpent bit
all these people and they were all dying from the bite of this
snake. And God told Moses, well you
get you some brass and form it, make it in the image of the serpent
put it on a pole and lift it up, and everybody who's bitten
by this serpent, if they look, they won't die, they won't perish,
they'll live. That it? Just look? That's it. Just look. Oh, that's too simple. Give us something. Just look. Just look. You see, it's not,
it's nothing you do, it's, it's, It's what God hath decreed and
what God hath declared and what God hath purposed and willed
to hold His servant up by His servant. And whosoever lived,
whosoever lived. Who are they? I don't know their
name. Whosoever lived, I know that. Whosoever lived, lived. Right? You know why they used
whosoever? Because I don't know who they
were. And there were so many of them, so I say, whosoever
looked was saved. Right? Whoever looked. Man is
dead and trespasses in sin. Why? He's bitten by serpents. He was bruised. He was wounded. He was killed in the fall. He
died in Adam. as a result of the bite of that
serpent and sin, and were dead and trespassed in sin. Well,
Christ came in the fullness of time, made of a woman, in the
likeness of sinful flesh. A body has now prepared me, he
said, like these worms. He said, I'm not a man, I'm a
worm, like a serpent. sinful flesh, the Lord of glory,
condescended to be a worm like a snake. He was made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that run to the curse of the
law. And God hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, and lifted
him up, Christ crucified, shed his blood. Without the shed of
blood there is no remission of sin. and lifted him up on the
pole as a sacrifice for sins committed. And whosoever looks,
he said, look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the
earth. If everybody looked, would they
be saved? Yes. Well, who will? Whosoever looks, whosoever believes, all
who look are saved. Who shall ever believe? Look
at verse 15. Who shall ever believe? Verse 16. Now, wait a minute
before we get there. Who will look? Let's answer that
question. Who will look? Well, what has he been talking
about the whole time here? He that is born of the Spirit. Right? Whoever is born of the
Spirit. They'll Who will believe? Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest of his good pleasure. It pleased
the Lord to make you his people, so he worked in you both to will,
God Thy people shall be willing in the day of his power," which
is the gospel, it's the call, and it's the effectual call,
it's the invincible call, it's the irresistible call, it just
ain't no possible way anybody can resist it. Because he said
they shall, doesn't he? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. It wouldn't be power if it wasn't
effectual, would it? And so, when you receive the
gospel, not in word only, but with power, to the saving of
your soul, and you believe, you believe. Why? How? Not of ourselves. It's the gift of God. Right? You repent it. Why? It's the
goodness of God. Well, that's just as plain as
Bible-given birthday. Isn't it? It's not the natural man. And
they say, I just, I just, I don't believe that. Well, some will. My sheep, here are my boys. I
know them, and they'll follow me. And they'll believe this.
They will. All of Blessed is the man. Faith is a gift of God. God chooses,
sent Christ to live, die, and die, sends his Holy Spirit, call,
regenerate, give repentance. Verse 16, For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
so loved the world. Now, let me impress you a little
bit here. This is qualitative, not quantitative.
Are you impressed? You know what that's talking
about, don't you, Ed? What that means. That's a big
word for the soul there, the world. He's not telling how many. He tells in what way. God loved
the world. God's soul. The word for is the
beginning of that verse. For. It doesn't start. You don't
ever start a, what if I called you on the phone, Stan? Stan? Yeah, this is Paul. For. For, Stan. What? For what? What's before that? What's before for? See? You don't
start any sentence with for. Do you? For. God's whole. love the world. What way? In
this way. In this way. God in this way. So, this is the way. This is how it is so. God so,
in this fashion, in this way. Not how much he loved, but in
what way he loved, or how many he loved, but in what way. God
so loved the world. How? Making his son a bloody
propitiation for his people. And the world here, remember,
who's he talking to? A Jew. Who said it's Jews, no
Gentiles. No Nicodemus. No. God has a people all over the
world. God has a people out of every
tribe. Tell me if this isn't a world or not. Every tribe,
kindred, nation, tongue, and peoples under heaven. Is that
the world? That's the world. That's the
world he's talking about. A remnant, but out of every tribe
and every kindred all over the world. And it is a glorious passage. And maybe I just spent too much
time explaining that. But the world, and we need to
know that. But the world so misuses this
passage, don't they? We ought to love this. This is
glorious. God so loved the world. I'm glad he loved the world.
Aren't you, John? I'm glad he loved... People in Rocky Mountain
wouldn't be included. Martinsville wouldn't be included. It'd just be a little spot on
the map over there in Israel. But God so loved the world. How'd
he show his love? He bruised his son. He wounded
his son. for the likes of other, greater
love hath no man than this that lay down his life." It's not
that we didn't love God, no, it doesn't even compare, it's
not worth mentioning the way that God so loved us, is it? Scarcely for a righteous man
would one die, but a good man. God commended his love toward
us, and while we were at sinner, so God so loved the world, he
gave his only begotten to whosoever. Let me quit. Whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He doesn't
say whosoever will, does he? He doesn't say that. He says
whosoever believeth, and I've qualified him. So the will is
bound. Belief, faith, comes through
a changing of the will. It's a gift of God. Barnard used
to say this. He said, I'll give $500. He said, I'll give $500 to anybody who
can find in the scriptures where it says, Whosoever will, let
him come. Barner never collected on that
one, or never had to pay up on that one. People quote Revelation
22, 17, and the last line of that verse says, Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. All right? Who's talking? To whom? The Church. What's he talking about? And
he started that verse out by saying, The Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. Nobody's coming. You will not
come unto me. But all that the Father hath
given me shall come unto me." The Spirit says, Come! And they
come, don't they? Whosoever, I'm glad he says that,
aren't you? What if he said, If takings will
come, your life everlasting life. I guarantee you there's another
Terry Kinsley on the earth. Guarantee you. There's probably
five, there's probably ten, there may be a hundred, there may have
been a thousand over the course of the years, Terry. Right? How
do you know so much? But this is a faithful saying,
and worthy of your acceptation, that Christ came into the world
to say who? Sinner! Whosoever believeth. Do you believe,
Terry? You're a whosoever. That's better than saying, it's
better. Well, he said this, I need to
quit, don't I? Don't say amen. He says, let
me get through this, because I want to begin Sunday with this
fresh portion of it. He says in verse 18, God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world, that the world
through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. You
see, that doesn't sound like the level of God to me, does
it you? Condemned already? Does it? He that believeth not
is condemned already? What's condemnation? It's wrath,
it's judgment, it's hatred, isn't it? Is there love in condemnation?
Is there? There's no love in condemnation.
Well, he that believeth not, condemned already. He's not loved
by God. It's saying, doesn't that qualify
verse 16? They're under the condemnation
already. They're under it. But God loved
the people before the foundation was built. A people, not all
people, a people. And whosoever believeth will
not perish. But whosoever doesn't believe,
who is it? I don't know. He knows. They're
under condemnation already. Is that clear? If this is condemnation,
light came into the world, men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. And everyone that doeth evil
hates the light, neither cometh to the light. His deeds should
be reproved. What is this talking about? He's
certainly talking about outward evil, immorality, doing evil. Yes, without a doubt. It's clear. Paul said, whoremongers and adulterers
and so forth will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's plain. But Paul said in Romans 1, he
said, some hold the truth in unrighteousness. Remember that? When they knew God, they were
not thankful. And they hold the truth in unrighteousness. This is what our Lord is talking
about here. They that are evil hate the light. What's the light?
Thy word. is a lamp under my feet and a
light under my path. This is what men hate, isn't
it, Nancy? They hate it because their deeds
are evil. What deeds? They have a righteousness. Their religious deeds are evil.
They suppress the truth. They hold the truth, but in unrighteousness. What's unselfrighteousness? That
he that doeth truth, what is to do truth? What may we do to
work the works of God? What is it to do truth? Do truth? Do truth? What is truth? Christ is truth. What is to do truth? To believe
on him whom God has sent. that his deeds may be manifest
that they are wrought in God." Now, aren't my works of righteousness
what we have done? See, that all falls together,
John. That's also talking about Christ there, in the most principal
talking about Christ. Christ who is the truth, he is
the light, and he come to make it manifest that our life is
hid with Christ in God. his works are wrought in and
by God for us. Is that clear? The masters at
Farram University don't understand it. We're a blessed people, you know
that? And the reason, and I said a while ago, that men reject the truth. That's what Christ said. You
receive it not. You believe it not. It's clear,
it's plain, but you don't believe it. Why? Why don't men? Because
it It just does away with all merit. It does away with all
intellect. It does away with all human wisdom
and attainments and education and talents. It's a leveler. It makes everybody on the same
plane. It makes a doctor on the same
level with a dishwasher. It makes a scientist on the same
level with a shoe salesman. Person. Person. The same, right? A lawyer with a laborer. What
are they? They're all beggars. They're
all sinners. They're all beggars in need of
a handout. They're all dummies until God gives them some understanding. They're all dead until God gives
life. And they don't, Pharisees don't
like that. Well, sinners do, don't they?
You see your colleague, brethren, from philosopher, philosophers
on the same plane with florists. Botanists, botanists don't understand
the rose of Sharon like you do, or the lily of the valley. Oh, my blessed are you, your
eyes, your ears, your understanding, flesh and blood, and reveal it
to you. My Father, I thank you, Father. I thank you. All right,
stand with me. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for assuming flesh and blood, coming down in the person of
your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. doing for us what we could not
do, to bring us to God, many sons unto glory. And we have
beheld your glory, the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and
truth. And we come to the truth. We
come to the light. shine in our hearts this light,
the knowledge of the glory of God in a person that face the
work of Christ Jesus and expose our sin and then drive us to
Christ again. We come to the light that our
deeds might be made manifest, what we are, sinners, and that
his deeds might be made manifest to us. That all we are of God
are we in Christ. Thank you, Lord, for revealing
this to us. Reveal more to us of the person
and work of Christ. In his name we are met together.
Amen.