Now, you listened while the pastor
read the first twenty-four verses, and what had taken place here,
our Lord had fed, not counting women and children,
five thousand men, and he had fed them with five
loaves and two fish. And it says, perceiving that
they would by force make him a king, down in verse 15, when
Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him
by force to make him a king. This is what these Jewish people
wanted. These 5,000 men, women, and children
were descendants of Abraham. Jewish people. They were very
religious people. They were looking for that prophet,
that Messiah, that Christ to come, and they thought, set up
a kingdom on this earth, restore Israel to the glorious days of
David and Solomon, those great kingdoms when they had such power
and glory and greatness and plenty. Now they were under the heel
of Rome and in servitude and practically slavery to Rome.
And they were looking for a king to restore that glory to Israel. And this is what our Lord knew,
that they were going to take Him by force and try to make
Him a king over an earthly kingdom. And so our Lord departed from
them and alone, left His disciples and these people and went up
to the mountain alone. And while He was away, while
He was gone up into the mountains, You remember the reading a moment
ago. The disciples entered into a
ship. They were in Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. If you'll
sometime—this is interesting—these maps in the back of your Bible,
you've got—most of you have these maps here, and this is interesting
in connection with what we're studying this morning. It says
Galilee in the time of Christ, and there's a map of the Sea
of Galilee. And there in the western part
on the map here is Tiberias. And then you look up above there
in the northwest is Capernaum, and that's where they were going.
They left Tiberias and crossed the sea. It's about ten miles
by sea from Tiberias there. to Capernaum, and that's what
the disciples did. They took their boat. Our Lord
was up in the mountains away from them. They took their boat
and started for Capernaum, ten miles away. And it says, you
remember, our Lord came down from the mountain during the
night and walked on the water. He walked across from Tiberias
to Capernaum, part of the way, and storm arose, and the Lord,
the disciples, he came to the boat where they were crossing,
and he said, It's I, be not afraid. He joined them in the boat, and
they went on to Capernaum. Now, this crowd of people, these
five thousand men, women and children, all these folk, don't
know whether he took the women and children with him, but these
men took shipping and followed the disciples. They figured that
that where they found those disciples that the Lord would sooner or
later join them because he was always with his disciples. And
so they went over there. Let's pick it up in verse 25. And so they found him. Of course,
he joined them out on the water. And they found him over there
on the other side of the sea in Capernaum. And they said to
him, Rabbi, which is master, When did you come over here?
How'd you get here? When did you come over here and
how'd you get here?" And our Lord answered them. Now, you're
going to see this as we go through these verses. Jesus answered
them. They were these religious Jews,
these people that were aspiring to make Him king, to satisfy
their their desires and their wants and their thirst for glory
and so forth. You always find them presenting
something through this chapter and Jesus, our Lord, answering
them. So they said, How did you get
over here? And he answered them and said,
Barely, barely, that word is truly, truly, I speak the truth
about you. Our Lord knows all people. He knows all people. And he said,
I speak the truth, verily, verily, truly, truly. I say unto you,
you seek me. You're seeking me, but you're
seeking me for the wrong reason. You seek me not because of the
miracles, not because you saw the miracles. You see back there
in verse fourteen, then these men, when they'd seen the miracle
that Jesus did, they said, this is of a truth, that prophet.
Who is that prophet? Over in Deuteronomy, well, all
the way through the Old Testament, our Lord God promised that prophet. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is prophet, priest, and king. Not just any prophet, he's that
prophet. He's not just any priest, he's
that priest, after the order of Melchizedek. He's not just
any king, he's that king. And he's the only one in all
of history ever held all three offices, prophet, priest, and
king. And they said, this is truly that prophet, that Christ. And our Lord is saying now, but
that's not the reason you seek me, because you think I'm that
prophet. That's not the reason you seek
me, because you think I'm the Christ. Listen, you seek me because
you did eat the loaves and were filled. That's why you're seeking
me." In other words, they were curious, but they were covetous. And what our Lord is saying is
this, truly, truly, I say to you, I'll tell you the truth
about yourself. I'm talking about these religious
people. You saw the miracles, to see the miracles of the healing
of people and the miracle of feeding the vast multitude, but
especially feeding this vast multitude. Here were all these
people, and he took five loaves and two fishes, blessed it, break
it, and distributed it, fed every one of them. They were full,
their bellies were full, and they took up twelve baskets full,
left over. And he said, That's why you're
seeking me, not because I'm that prophet. You seek me because
your bellies were filled. That's why you seek me, not for
the honor and glory of God, not for the good of your souls, but
because your bodies were satisfied. That's why you're seeking me,
because of the provisions for the flesh. Now listen to the
next verse. Labor not for the meat that perisheth. Now our Lord is not telling people
not to work. Our Lord puts a premium on hard
work and labor. Every disciple he chose was a
working man. And over there, Apostle Paul
said, if a fellow doesn't work, don't let him eat. The Lord puts
a premium on work and labor. He commends those who labor and
work, and if you have any meat, you're going to work for him.
But he's not talking here about activity, labor and work. He's
talking about this labor here is an intense desire and a craving. He says, don't set your affections
on things of this earth. Don't labor and strive with an
intense desire for just the meat that perisheth. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 4. Hebrews 4. The word labor is
used there, labor not for the meat that perisheth, just like
it's used over here in Hebrews 4. Listen to this. Hebrews 4, verse 10, talking
about the master here, our Lord Jesus Christ, he that is entered
into his rest, he hath also ceased. He also hath ceased from his
own works as God did from his. The Lord Jesus Christ finished
what he came to do. and entered into his rest, he
sat down at the right hand of God, having finished the work.
Now he says in verse eleven, Let us labor. That's not talking
about works and activity and deeds. It's talking about a desire,
an intense desire, an earnest desire to obtain eternal life,
to enter into his rest. Desire to enter into his rest. And I'll tell you this, that's
the hardest work you ever had, that's the hardest assignment
you ever had, to quit working and rest in Christ. To quit laboring
for God's approval and find it in Christ. To quit doing things,
doing deeds and works to find acceptance with God, that's the
most difficult thing we've ever had to do, is rest, cast ourselves
on Christ. And so that's what he's saying
over here in John 6 to these people. He had fed them, and
they followed him. They followed him all the way
across ten miles of water, and they found him. And he says,
they said, Why did you get over here? He says, You're following
me, not because you saw me accomplish miracles and the power of God
upon me and the glory of God, but you ate all this food. And you see in me a person that
can supply your physical needs. And that's why you found me.
You found in me. Why they looked at him, no more
sickness, he can heal the diseases. No more labor and work because
he can finish furnishing all the food. He can take five loaves
and two fish and feed five thousand. He can take ten loaves and two
fish and feed the county. So we won't have to work anymore.
And he said, don't strive. for this meat that perishes.
This meat that perishes. I might say a lot of things here.
Don't desire with an intense desire and an earnest desire
and seek just for food for the belly, just for clothing for
the body. These things the Gentiles seek.
Or for wisdom of the mind, or for honors of the world, or for
riches and fame, this is all perishing things. Food for the
body, raiment for the body, wisdom for the mind, get all the education
you can get, just labor and labor, honors from the world, see your
name in the paper, trophies along the wall, riches and fame, this
all perishes. It's meat that perishes. But
he says, don't labor for these things that perish, but for that
meat which endureth unto everlasting life. That's—set your affection
on that. Set your minds on that. Set your
heart on that. Acceptance with God, eternal
life, rest and joy, labor—that is, not working indeed, but intense—make
that your goal. Make that your aim, to find rest
in Christ. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. These other things will be added
to you. Now, what's this last word he says in verse 27? Don't
desire and seek after these things that perish. That's the reason
you're following me. But follow me for the meat that
endureth to everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give
you. For him hath the Father sealed, him hath the Father appointed. Him hath the Father seen, him
hath the Father declared, him hath the Father approved, and
him hath the Father accepted. He'll give you—this he gives
you—he gives you—he gives you his righteousness His rest, His
peace, His joy, His bread of life, His food.
Oh, I look at verse 28. But they didn't, they didn't
hear. They didn't see. And they said unto Him, listen,
well, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
What shall we do that we might work? See, they still, that's
the idea of working for these things. When he said, labor not
for the meat that perisheth, he wasn't talking about works.
He was talking about a desire, an intense desire, and craving,
and thirst, and a seeking after not the meat that perisheth,
but the meat that is everlasting. And they said, well, what shall
we do that we might work? It sounded like the rich young ruler
had came to him and said, good master, what good thing shall
I do to inherit eternal life? That's what the folks at Pentecost
said to Peter. What shall we do that we might
be saved? Do, do, do. What shall we do? All right.
He answered. Verse 29. And he answered. Our
Lord answered them and said, Listen, this is the work of God. You want to work the works of
God. This is the work of God that you believe. That's the
work of God that you rest, that you believe. Our Lord called
them to a work they never heard of. They never heard of it. They
never heard of faith. It's just a ceremony, Sabbaths,
sacrifices, keeping the law, doing these deeds, alms. I give
alms. Listen to the man, public, a
Pharisee in the temple. I fast twice daily. I give alms
to the poor. I tithe. I do all these They
don't know anything about faith. And they said, well, tell us
what to do. Tell us what to do. He said, this is the work of
God that you believe on Him. That's the work of God. This
is the work of God that you rest in Him. This is the way of God
that you believe in Him. This is the way to please God.
Believe Him. Enoch walked with God, and he
had this testimony. He pleased God. How did he please
God? He believed God. That's right. For without faith, it's impossible
to please God. And this is the work of God.
This is the way of God. This is the way and only way
to please God. This is that work without which
no work is good that you believe. You see, works that please God
are works of faith. Labor that pleases God is labor
of love. I have heard, Paul said, of your
works of faith. You see, so believing God makes
any work you do acceptable, and not believing God makes any work
we do unacceptable. This is that which honors God
to believe in. I believe the greatest honor
that my son could pay me is to believe me. I believe that he could give
me rings of gold and watches of gold and automobiles, and
he wouldn't believe me near as much as he'd say this word, I
believe what you tell me. And I do not know of any dishonor
he could afford me as to say I don't believe what you say.
Isn't that correct? Don't you, as a father, wouldn't
you say that? With a way to plead, what shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Believe Him. And labor to believe Him. It's
hard sometimes. Oh boy, it's hard sometimes. Labor to enter His rest, to quit
striving, striving. I never will forget, I was a
young pastor in Ashton, Kentucky. I hadn't been pastor of that
church for just two or three years. And there was a man, his
name was Howard, Ike Howard, and he'd been on the finance
committee of that church ever since that church had been there.
He was an old man, and up in the years, by those I am now.
You know, I say old man, and that's where I am. He was about
my age. And he got sick with a bleeding
ulcer and was going to die. He knew he was going to die,
his family knew he was going to die, and I knew he was going
to die. And I went up to the hospital, more or less just to
tell Ike goodbye. And I went in the room and he
was upset. He said, I don't understand why
God's doing this to me. He said, I've been on the finance
committee of that church, Twenty-five, thirty years. He said, I've tithed
everything I have. He said, I've never missed a
Sunday, except when I'm sick or had to work. He kept on talking
about what he'd done, and the more he talked, the more I was
drained. You can imagine, couldn't you?
I thought, he hasn't heard a word. Twenty-five or thirty years,
he hasn't heard a word. A lost man. And this, what our
Lord is saying, this is the work of God. When you, we come to
our dying day and our dying beds, let's say, I believe Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus Christ is,
that's the work of God. This is that which honors God,
this is that which exalts Christ, this is that which makes all
other work acceptable, and the soul, now watch this. This is
the work of God, verse 29, that you believe on him whom he hath
sinned. Now, I'm going to give you something
here that I want you to remember. This is so important. Christ
and faith are so much one that if you take away Christ, faith
is nothing. This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom God has sent. A person may say, I believe
in God. I believe in God, but I do not
own Christ to be my Redeemer and my Savior and my Lord. Then
your faith is nothing. Your faith is nothing. Faith
without Christ is nothing. I'll tell you why. Here's the
illustration. Christ is the bread. Faith is
the mouth that receives the bread. Take away the bread, the mouth's
nothing. It's nothing. Your mouth can't
nourish you. Your mouth can't strengthen you.
The mouth's nothing. It's the bread that satisfies. It's the bread that gives strength.
It's the bread that sustains life. The mouth is nothing. Christ
is the sacrifice. He's the serpent lifted up. Faith
is the eye that looks. Take away the sacrifice. Your
eye is worthless. Somebody says, keep the faith.
What faith? Got no one to whom to look. No sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. You got faith, but you got no
remission. Christ is the remission. Christ is the mercy seat. That's
where the glory of God is between the cherubims, over the mercy
seat. God said, I'll meet you at the
mercy seat. At the mercy seat, where the blood is, where the
law is covered, where the sin is paid for, where it's atoned.
The mercy seat. Take away the mercy seat. You've
got no God to come to. Faith's coming to the Lord. You
ain't got no Lord. Faith's coming to Christ. Without
Him, you've got nobody to come to. Faith's worthless. It's Christ. Christ is the mercy. Christ is the bridegroom. Faith
slips the hand in the hand of the bridegroom and we have a
marriage. Without a bridegroom, no marriage. No marriage, no
inheritance, no glory, no kingdom. And that's the reason he's saying
here, listen, this is the work of God. This is it. This is the kingdom of God. This
is the work of God. This is the glory of God. This
is the honor of God. This is the hope of God. This
is the life of God. Believe on Him whom God hath
said. Rest in Him. Just rest. Just rest. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. Well, they just
can't get it. Look at verse 30. These fellows
are so religious and so lost. Then said they unto him, Well,
what sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee? What be your work? Our father's
deed, manna in the desert, as it is written, Moses, he gave
them bread from heaven to eat, Here's what they're saying. Now
if we're to believe you and follow you as our fathers followed Moses,
show us how you're going to provide for us. You say, how do you know
they're asking how you're going to provide? Because they said
Moses fed that multitude over there in the wilderness. He fed,
he gave them quail, he gave them water out of the rock, he gave
them manna, he fed them. Now how, we follow you, how are
you going to take care of us? How are you going to meet our
needs? How fine do you show that we're not going to get out there
in the wilderness and die? Moses gave them bread from heaven.
All right, the Lord answered them again. Verse 32, Jesus,
our Lord said unto them, truly, truly, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven. Moses didn't give them
that bread. My Father gave them that bread,
just like he gives the true bread. Moses did not give that bread
by any power or virtue in himself. The Father gave that bread. But
that bread was material bread, typical bread. They ate it. and
died. It was typical material bread.
They ate it and died. Just like this bread he just
got through giving them, the barley loaves, they ate it and
they're going to die. And no matter if Moses kept on
giving them bread for 40 years and giving them bread and giving
them quail and giving them water, finally they all perished right
out there in the wilderness. But my Father gives you the true
bread. goes back to what he said to
start with. Don't strive and desire and seek after that bread
that perishes. But strive and desire and seek
after that bread that God gives that'll bring life everlasting.
He said, My Father gives that true bread, God gives the true
bread from heaven For the bread of God, verse 33, for the bread
of God is he that came down from heaven and gives, giveth life
unto the world. That's what he came to do. He's
the bread from heaven. I'm the bread. I'm the living
bread, the true bread. I'm the water. I'm the life. I'm the door. I'm the way. I'm
the truth. To feed upon him is to live forever. And he's saying the same thing
to us today that he's saying to those people there. Don't
labor for the... You've got to work now. You've got to get clothes
and food and these things. But that's not what he's talking
about. He's not talking about physical labor. He's talking
about desire. Set your affection on things
above. And notice that affection is
singular. Set your affection, your mind,
me, I'm talking to all of us, set our affections, our hearts,
and minds on things above, not on the things of this earth.
For the bread of God, verse thirty-three, is he that cometh down from heaven
and giveth life unto the world. Then, all right, here they go
again. Here they go again. Then they
said to him, Master evermore give us this bread." They still can't connect him
with being the bread. You know, I use this quite often
because it made such an impact upon me. It made such an impact
when I really saw what the Lord was saying to Martha. You know,
Lazarus, there was that little family down there in Bethany,
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. The Lord loved them. And when
Lazarus got sick, they sent word to the Lord, he whom thou lovest
is sick. And the Lord finally came. Lazarus
was dead. And he was out a good distance
from their home, and they said, the Lord is coming. And Martha
ran out to meet him. And first thing she said to him,
she said, Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother wouldn't
have died. He said, Martha, your brother will live again. And
she said, I know. He'll live again in the resurrection.
He said, Martha, I'm the resurrection. The resurrection is not a doctrine. The resurrection is a person.
I'm the resurrection. I'm the life. He that liveth
and believeth on me, though he were sleeping, though he were
dead, shall never die. Martha, do you believe that?
Do you believe that, Martha? You believe if I'd have been
here your brother wouldn't have died? Yes. You believe I can
still raise him from the dead? Yes. You believe there's a resurrection
here? Yes. And you believe doctrines.
Now I'm calling on you to believe me, you see. I'm the resurrection. If you have me, you have God.
If you have me, you have life. If you have me, you have everything.
Because the resurrection's not a doctrine. The disciples didn't
go around arguing the resurrection. They went around preaching a
person. Because He lives, we live. Because He's God, because
He sent from the Father, He takes us to the Father. And that's
what He's saying to these people here. I'm the bread, but they
said, Lord, give us this bread. That's like the woman at the
well. What'd she say to Him? Lord, give me this water that
I don't come back here to draw anymore. Hand me, hand me a solution. Hand me this that I can, this
medicine I can take. I am the medicine. I am the cure. I am the water. I am. I am. And like Brother Paul said in
that bulletin this morning, I came out, I hadn't read his article,
and I walked out and I said, it's not very cold. It's ten
degrees, that's pretty cold. But the sun was shining. That's
what you are. The sun will shine. And when
the sun, when you have the sun, even when it's cold, you're warm.
Even when you're hungry, you're fed. Even when your heart's broken,
you can rejoice. Even when things look like they're
gonna all just fall to pieces, you know better. Because you
have Him. If I didn't have Him, I wouldn't
have any more. I wouldn't have any reason to
live, would you? wouldn't have any reason to look forward to
tomorrow if I didn't have Him. But no matter what tomorrow brings,
if I have Him, I don't have to worry about it. That's what He
said, and they can't get it. They said, give us, give us this
magic formula. I am He that cometh to me, to
me, not to the front, not to the altar, not to the preacher,
not to the pool, not to the sacraments, not to the building, not to the
doctrine, me, I have Christ. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me will
never thirst. I am the bread of life. and never
hunger. I'm the Messiah, come and never
fear. I'm the good shepherd, come and
never want. Oh, I tell you, you'll want for
some things here, but not for the things that really
matter. Every need's supplied. I'm the way, the truth, and life,
come to me and never die. I am the righteousness of God,
come to me and never be ashamed. I'm the door, enter and be saved,
go in and out and find pasture. I'm the vine, bear fruit, come
to me and bear fruit. I'm the light, come to me and
never walk in darkness. I'm all you need in this world
or in the world to come. I am." But they never got it. They just never got it. So he
said in verse thirty-six, I said unto you, You've seen me, you've
listened to me, and you haven't believed me.
Isn't that so? You've seen me, and you've listened
to me, and you don't believe me. And I'll tell you, my generation
has seen Him too. They've seen Him in the promises.
They've seen Him in the prophets. The name Jesus is no strange
name to this generation. They've seen him in the pictures
and types. If you notice lately how the
Ark, A-R-K, Ark of Noah is taking the country by storm. They've
gone into these craft shops and it's the Ark. Christ is that
Ark. But they don't know it, but there
he is. They've seen him in the pictures
and the types. They've seen him. Jesus Christ
was born in Bethlehem. Anybody knows that. The calendar
tells you that. B.C. What's B.C.? Before Christ. The Roman Empire, B.C. before
Christ. What's A.D.? Anno Domini, in
the year of our Lord. We use it on the calendar, 1996
A.D. That's Christ, in the year of
Christ, after Christ, in Old Albany. These things weren't
done in a corner. They've seen Him, they've heard
of Him. The Bible is in every home, every motel room, every
hospital room, in the fulfillment of Scripture, but to have a belief. But I'll tell you, don't despair. Verse thirty-seven, listen. All
that my Father giveth me will come to thee. That's when he said that. You
know, I tell people so often, and I wish preachers, preachers
are the biggest fault. Frankly, your posture goes verse
by verse with the Scripture. But a lot of preachers get up
and preach on John 6, 37. Oh, if my father gives it, he'll
come to me. Well, that's true. But he said
that in response to all these things that took place. To all
the warnings he gave them, the exhortations he gave them, the
invitations he gave them, the commands he gave them, the explanations
he gave. I'm afraid he kept telling them
that, telling them that. And they kept resisting, didn't
they? They smarted off at him with
everything he said, didn't they? Well, show us what you're going
to do. Moses said, I'm only going to show us what you're going
to do. All this sort of thing, you know. And finally, he said,
well, you've seen me. I told you, you didn't believe
me. But I'm telling you this. I have
a sheep. I have a church. I have a people. They'll come to me. So I'm supposed to follow the
game. And they'll hear my word, and they'll believe it. They,
preachers gonna stand before them and tell them what I said
to you, and they gonna believe it. Because my Father gave them
ears to hear, and gave ears to hear, and eyes to see, and a
heart to believe. And they gonna come to me. All
that my Father giveth me'll come to me. You know, I read something
that's a great blessing to me, and I'll share it with you. But
this is no doctrine in Scripture. has generated more anger among
religious people than the truth of God's absolute sovereignty
and salvation. And that's what he's saying to
me. He says, all that my Father giveth me will come to me. And
Him that cometh, thy people shall be with me in the day of my passing.
And Him that cometh to me, I will no wise cast out. But verse 38,
I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which is sent me, that of all which he's given me, I'll lose
nothing, but raise it up at the last day. All that he gave me,
they'll come. And all that he gave me, I'll
redeem. And all that he gave me, I'll
raise up. Take them to glory, and they'll be made like me,
all mine. You know, God has a right. This author says this, God has
a right to act as he wills. Does he not? God has a right
to act when he wills, and to do what he wills, with whom he
wills. He said, can I not do in my own
way what I wills? Hath not the Father now owed
the claim to make of the same lump a vessel under wrath and
a vessel under honor? It rested with God to make the
world or not make the world. Would you agree with that? When
the world was made, when all things were created, by whose
will and word was it created? It rested with Him to make the
world or not make the world. It rested with God to make man
or not make man. Who made man? God did. Revelation
says, all things were created by thee, and for thy pleasure
they were created. It rested with God to make man,
or not make man. It rested with God to allow Satan
to fall, and man to fall, or not come out of the fall, but come over. Could God have
prevented the fall? Absolutely. But he didn't. I can't explain why. But I do
know the fall was in his provisional will. It happened to me. Your
habit was never to fall. Faithfulness never falls. It rested with God to take on
himself the nature of angel or the nature of man. And the scripture
said, He took not on Him the nature of angels, but it took
on Him the seed of Abraham. He became not an angel to redeem
them, but a man to redeem them. Isn't that correct? Who made
that decision? God did. It rested with God. It rested with God to make a
covenant with Christ. An everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sugar. To make Christ our surety, our
high priest, our prophet, our redeemer, our substitute, our
savior, and give him a people and make you one of them. You didn't choose me, he said,
I chose you. It was according to his
will to make one creature a snake and another one an eagle. You
see the sliver and slimy snake in the weeds and jump back. You
see the eagle sailing and soaring through the clouds. You say,
well, I'd like to ride with him. Who made the eagle? The rest of you would God have
made one walk on the earth and another swim in the sea. They're
God's creatures. It's by His decree that one born
a male and one born a female. That's right, is that not right?
He rescued God from one who'd be born in Russia, Canada, Africa,
the rusty mountain cheese, where the gospel's put. It's by His will that your physical
body is made like it is, your mental capacity is what it is,
your temperament, your talent, and your gifts are what they
are. He gives to every man separately as He wills. So this is going
to be something. Be God. Let God be God. Are you?
Am I with you? I am. It's His will that we're called
to Christ, that we hear the gospel, that we're made women to come
to Christ. He said that to Peter. He said, whom do those folks
out there say that I am? Peter said, well, some of them
say you're John the Baptist. Some of them say you're a liar.
Some of them say you're one of the apostles. He said, whom do
you say that I am? Peter said, you're the Christ. You're the Son of the Living
God. I believe, I'm sure, that you're the Son of God. He says,
blessed are you. Blessed are you, son. Flesh and
blood will reveal that to you. My Father will reveal that to
you. If it weren't for His grace, I'd be right here arguing with
these people right now. I'd be smarting off at God. I'd
be taking that haughty, proud, arrogant spirit By His grace
that He's given me a love for this world. And really this is
bad. By His grace. For by nature,
I'm not that way, and you're not either. By nature, we're
arrogant, haughty, and proud. And we want our way and our will.
But by grace, He strips us. And you're not foundations after
nothing. It's humbleness. Humbleness brings
it down. And we say, that's what ought to be done. He's going to be. Every knee's
going to bow someday. Every knee is going to bow someday. Every knee and every tongue's
going to confess that He's what? Lord. He's the only one that's got
the wisdom enough to be Lord. He's the only one that's got
the right to be Lord. I'm going to read you something and quit. I don't even know where I got
this, but I found it somewhere. What makes mistaken men afraid
of sovereign grace to preach? The reason is, if truth be told,
because they are so rich. Just quote that sentence. Rich increase
with goods and have an easy time. No, you're not. You're miserable,
poor, decadent one. Why are they so offensive in
their eyes to God's inextricable seed? Because they think themselves
so wise that they've chosen him. Somebody's imputed somebody. Why is imputed righteousness
a truth so little known? It's because people think they
possess a righteousness of their own. You have to have one or the other
here in mind. Election is a word divine. But Lord, I claim to see that
not your choice preceded mine out of the seven chosen men. Give him back, I came to thee. for righteousness divine. Oh,
my life and everything by the invitation of God. I'm glad your heart is gone. I'm glad you didn't tie yourself
to the bottom of the chimney. I'm glad you're soft-fitted.
Where is Dr. Younger before the world begins? He has ever lacked
the influence of changing love on others. Send His beloved Son
to this earth to dine on the cross, find sins, and work out
for us a perfect righteousness." And then one day when I wrote
to Hagar, he said, Whoa, boy, that's where I raised you up.
Whoa, Solomon. And he revealed himself to God. He wrote this stuff to you. with
the two-by-four of His grace, and brought me to love Him and
trust Him, and brought me to rejoice in what I once hated,
and find happiness and contentment and rest in the very things from
which I ran so fast. That's the Lord. That's the Lord.
I tell you this, if He ever does For a fellow, that work, you
all attest to this and agree to this, if he ever does that
work, it's done quick. He'll never leave you, you'll
never leave him. That's what he said. Okay. This is a good hymn sung after
that great message, number sixteen. The Lord is King. This is a good
one. I thank God for that message.
Let's stand to sing a few verses of that. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Sing his praise. From world to
world, the joy still reigns. For he alone is God indeed. From
sky to sky, his banner free. Sing his praise. Sing his praise.
The Lord is King. Let all His worth declare, praise
His name. They're all too good not to sing. Let's sing them all, okay? The
Lord is King, and I will give Him love. God is great, God is
good. I've got to hope that all is
ever done. God is great, God is good. Holy and true are all His words. God is great, the Lord of all. Ancient of days, God is great,
God is good. The Lord is King throughout His
vast domain. He is all, all in all. The Lord Jehovah evermore shall
reign He is all, all in all Through earth and heaven one song shall
ring From grateful hearts this anthem spring Arise ye saints,
salute thy King O my days, say His praise.