Chapter three. We read the first verse of Hebrews
eleven a moment ago, which says this. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Or that is the ground, the confidence,
the persuasion of and expectation of things we hope for. And then it says faith is the
evidence of things not seen. The evidence of things not seen. Faith. Believers. those who have faith in God,
in Jesus Christ. Believe things that they have
not actually seen with these eyes. Believe things they have
not actually heard with these ears. Faith is the evidence of
things not seen. Now you could easily have a dialogue
like this with someone out in the world, something that may
go like this, speaking to someone out there. When they ask a believer
something like this, what is your goal in life? What is your
goal in life? And the true believer will say,
to win Christ and be found in Him. in that great day. My goal in life really is to
die and to go to be with my Lord in heaven. And they might respond,
who? What? Heaven? Where is that? And a believer might say, I don't
know. Well, Christ then, who is that?
Who is this Christ? And the believer would say, well,
he's God. He's God who became a man one day and walked this
planet. And the unbeliever says, how
do you know that? And the believer says, I read
it in a book. And the worldling says, what book is that? And
the believer says, the Bible, God's word. God's word. How do you know it's God's Word?
Because it says so. Well, did God actually write
it with his finger? No. Some men did. Now, who were these men? Oh,
some shepherds and some fishermen. I watched it. Well, when was
it written? Oh, the last entrance was over
1,900 years ago. It's almost 2,000 years old.
Well, wait a minute now. Let me get this straight here.
You are basing everything you believe. You are staking your whole life,
spending your whole, devoting your whole life to the study
of someone you have never met before, you've never seen him. You've never actually heard his
voice. No, I haven't. Based upon a book that was written
nearly 2,000 years ago by some illiterate fisherman, you're
staking everything you believe, your whole life, the life of
your family, devoting all of your life on this planet to the
pursuits of this one, the study of this book that speaks of this
one. That's what you're doing? That's right. And the world laughs and says,
that's ridiculous. But the believer says, no, that's
faith. That's faith. And they say, that's
crazy. I say, no, it's a miracle. Because
I thought the same thing you did before. That's crazy. But
now I see it can't be any other way. The Scripture says, whom
having not seen, You know, Jesus Christ is someone they have never
seen before in their life. Never actually or literally heard
his voice with these ears. Never actually seen his face
with these eyes. Never. And they love him. And they'll even, we read a while
ago in Hebrews 11, they'll even have their bodies burned. They'll
be thrown to a den of lions. They'll be sawn in two. They'll
go down to the grave believing this, and you won't convince
them otherwise. That's faith. That's the substance, the evidence. That's the evidence of things
you don't see. That's real faith. I've told
you before, I told you once before this story years ago, a true
story, of a man and a woman who fell in love. by merely corresponding
through letters. A man lived in England, a woman
lived in the United States, and he owned a bookstore, and she
was an avid book reader, and she wrote in search of some old
books, and the man sent her a list, and they began to correspond.
Well, they fell in love with one another. They didn't have
cameras, didn't have a photograph of one another. And she nor he,
neither one, ever saw one another's face. Never heard, they didn't
have telephones, they didn't hear one another's voice. All
they had was the letters that had been written between them.
And they fell in love with one another. Well sadly, that story
ends, the man died and she never got to meet him. And finally
one day she scraped up enough money and just went over there
and visited a little bookshop where he that he owned. But do you know that that is
true now? Believers fall in love with someone
they have never met, nor seen, nor heard. How? We read his letter. This book, it's not a book of
facts, although it contains facts. This is not merely a book of
facts. This is not merely a history book. This is, as we coined the
phrase, His story. This book is a love letter from
God Almighty to His people. This is a love letter from Christ,
who's called the Bridegroom, to His bride. And they all read
it, and they hear His voice, and they see His face, they hear
His voice, in every line, his signature, his hand, everything
about him. He's just as real, more so, as
if they had actually met him in the flesh. You ask somebody that has. Ask them. His signature is on
every line of every page and in every word. Yes. And the Scriptures call this
a great mystery. 1 John 3.16 says this is a great
mystery. 1 Timothy 3.16. A great mystery. God was manifest in the flesh. God. And He was believed on in
the world. That's a mystery. And it's a
mystery because it's a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of God.
Men and women just are not inclined to believe what they don't see.
You're not going to get anybody, by nature, to believe in something
they have never actually seen for themselves. You know what
the old saying is? Man says, seeing is what? Believing, right? God turns that
thing around. Here is faith. God says, believe
and you'll see. That's faith. That's the evidence
of things not seen. And this takes the work of the
Holy Spirit of God, because a man, a woman, a young person will
not believe what they've never seen. But if God is pleased,
they will. Now, look here at 2 Timothy,
chapter 3. And God does this. God reveals
Himself. gives this faith by the means
of this word that we've got in front of us, OK? Now, if you
don't have a copy before you, and if you're not interested
in looking in what it says, it's obvious that you're not really
wanting to seek God. Right? I mean, this is God's
Word, and you may not have a copy, but if you're interested, look
upon it with somebody else here. This is how God reveals himself
through the pages of this book. Nobody's going to find God unless
they hear God's voice and see God within the pages of this
book. You don't see him in a vision. That's bad food you had the night
before. You see God, you hear God, you
come to know God and understand God through the pages of this
book, his letter. All right? God has used the means of the
written Word, and if you're not going to look at this book with
me, at least listen to me as I quote it, okay? I'm not going
to lead you astray here. God is my witness. I'm not trying
to get you to be a member of the Central Baptist Church. I'm
not trying to chalk you up on my belt. I'm not trying to get
you in that water so I can report to a committee somewhere. That's
not it at all. But I want you to see what God's
Word says here. I want you to believe. Like we,
like us. Years ago, I didn't believe this,
it wasn't interesting. Thank God, God made me interesting.
Thank God he took my eyes off of this world and stuck them
in this book. Thank God he took my ears off the clamor of this
world and opened them to the sound of the gospel. And God uses these means, the
written word and the preached word. I'm going to quote you
a lot of verses of scripture. In the wisdom of God, the world,
by wisdom, doesn't know God. You can't know God by going out
on the mountainside and trying to seek God. That's what the
pagans in the jungle, that's what the natives in the jungle
and on the mountains and everywhere are trying to find out God. Well,
that just leaves God up to anybody's interpretation, doesn't it? Anybody
who wants to can say, I saw God. What does he look like? Well,
here I'll make a little statue of him. That's what he looks
like. He looks like Buddha. Another man, no, no, no, that's
not God over here. I'll make a little statue. He looks like Krishna.
And then over here, somebody, I know I saw God. I'll make him
into a statue. He's the sun. There he is. God's
the sun. And just on and on you go. You've
got to have a standard. God will reveal himself, and
he does it in the pages of this book. The world by wisdom didn't
know God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching his word to save them that believed. Listen to
this. Paul thanked God. Paul the apostle thanked God
that some received the Word of God that he preached and others
preached, not as the Word of man, but as it is in truth, the
Word of God, which effectually worketh in you that believe.
And Peter said this, no prophecy, no writing of the Scripture is
of any private or any man's personal interpretation. In other words,
some man years ago sat down and said, I'm going to write a book,
and I'm going to call it God's Word, and I'm going to deceive many
people. I'm going to get famous by this.
Now, these men—understand me here. I'm supposed to preach,
not explain, but let me explain a little something here. Men
back then, Old Testament prophets, didn't gain a thing by doing
what they did. Men today get rich by writing
books, right? I've written this book, How to
Live the Christian Life, How to Know God. You send me $1,200
and I'll give you this little book that cost me 50 cents to
produce. And I'll get rich and famous over writing this book.
No, men that wrote this book years ago, they died because
of it. They were killed for writing
what they wrote. They went about saying that this
man named Jesus Christ is Lord of glory. He rose from the grave,
and we're here to confess that he's Lord, and you better believe
the gospel and so forth. Did they get rich and famous
because of that? No, they died because of it. They were killed. They didn't have anything to
gain in this world from that. I just wanted to add that there.
No prophecies, you see. No man in his right mind would
sit down and say, here, I'm going to write a book and call it God.
Years ago, I'm going to call it God's Word and go to the people
and say, this is God's Word. They got killed for it. But it came in old time, not
by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost. Now look at 2 Timothy 3 here
that I had you turn to. Look at verse 12. And all that
will live godly, or all that will believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, live lives following, believing, trusting in this one
name, Jesus Christ, they're going to suffer persecution. The world's
going to laugh at them, scoff at them, mock them, and not believe
them and be hated by all men. But evil men, verse 13, and seducers. Shall wax worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived. There'll be a lot of false ones
come along, but that doesn't matter. God's sheep will, they'll
hear his voice. God will, his word will not return
void. Verse 14. But you, if you're
a believer now, you continue in the things which you have
learned and are assured of. In other words, you learn through
the preaching of this gospel. And God week after week, Sunday
after Sunday assures you know of whom You know where this came
from, don't you Terry? A man years ago is not the one
who taught you the gospel. God did, through this book. It's
not a man. We're not following a man. These
people in this church are not following this man. If they are,
well surely there's somebody better out there to follow. No, you know of whom you have
learned this. God did speak unto you by us,
Paul said. And that from a child, now continuing
these things, and from a child, verse fifteen, you have known
the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God, or that is God's focus. And it's profitable
for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction of righteousness
and so forth. Okay? God's Word is a letter to his
children. And in it, they find the handwriting
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they fall in love with him. Every one of them. This gives
me comfort. You know, I preach time and time
again, mostly the same thing over and over again. The same
blessed thing. I don't say that in a derogatory
manner. I say the same blessed thing
over and over again. And many that come in here and
sit and listen to it, that's all they hear is a broken record.
Gospel, gospel, gospel, Christ, Christ, mercy, sin. And they
think, man, doesn't he have anything else to say? No. No. But I'm not concerned about that.
I am concerned. I do want these people to believe,
but bless God, he says they will believe if I determine for them
to. One day they'll sit there like they've always sat before
and listen to a good sermon or not so good sermon, or I'll be
glad when it's time to leave here and honey, what's for dinner? What are we going to do after
the service and so forth? Like they say it time and time
again, but one day, if God is pleased, through the same message
that that man was preaching Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after
Sunday, one day their ear will be open and they'll say, what
did he say? Honey, what did he say? Well, look at there. And the interest will be sparked
and the work is begun. And then they'll see it enwrapped,
enthused, interested in, and can't get enough of this gospel.
Is that not me? That's what I said. It's God's
good time. And that gives me comfort, because
I'm just going to keep right on saying the same things, knowing
that Christ said, My sheep will hear my voice. Now, they might
not hear it the first time. They might not hear it the second
time. They might not hear it the third and the fourth time.
They're starting to look bleak after that. And granted, most
times, people don't hear it. They continue to hear it. It
just keeps going over their head, and they become gospel-hardened.
But Christ said, bless God, He said, they're going to hear.
My sheep are going to hear my voice one day. Who, me? And they'll hear it, because
I know them. And they'll hear my voice, and
I'll give unto them eternal life, and they're going to follow me.
And the only reason anybody doesn't believe, if you don't believe
now, if this gospel has no effect on you right now, if you'd rather
clean your fingernails while I'm preaching, it's because you're
not God's sheep. But that doesn't bother me. I
mean, it does bother me for you, but I know this. God's sheep
are going to hear His voice. They're going to hear His voice.
And that voice is the gospel which I'm proclaiming this morning. And one preacher years ago said
this. He preached a message entitled, We're on the trail of God's sheep.
Do you believe? No, I don't believe. I'm not
looking for you. Where are you? Do you believe this, Jerry? Got you. I got something for
you. There's one who will preach to you, okay? And anybody else
who believes it. All right, I'm on the trail of
his sheep. Now whether it be few or many, they're going to
hear the gospel. They're going to believe. They're going to
come. They're going to deny themselves. They're going to take up their
cross and follow Christ all the way to glory. Now look with me
at 2 Timothy 2. If you're God's sheep, I hope
you are. You listen to this. It would
behoove you to give careful consideration and thought to what I'm about
to say. If you believe not, you're going
to hell. It sure is, but God said it. He's the one who said
it first, a long time ago, thousands of years ago. He that believeth
not shall be damned, but he that believeth will be
saved. Now, verse 7, look at this. 2
Timothy 2, verse 7, consider what I say. Consider what I say. Look over
with me at Isaiah chapter forty-one, or at least listen to Isaiah
chapter forty-one. Old Brother Jack Shanks preached
from this text down in Houston. It's a great message, a four-point
message right here in one verse. Salvation is for God Almighty
to take a dead, blind, ignorant sinner and spiritually quicken
that person, open their spiritual eyes and reveal some things to
their hearts and give them faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what salvation is. It's God's Word. Read with me
here. Look at verse 20. God says, I'm doing all this
that they may see, know and consider and understand together. at the hand of the Lord hath
done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created, that they
may see." Do you ever say that when you're talking to somebody?
Do you see? I keep trying to explain something to somebody.
I say, do you see? Do you see? Do you see who God is? What this book says about God?
God's holy? And he hates all workers of iniquity.
Do you see that? Huh? You better. That's salvation
if you don't see that. If you don't see that, Christ
said you're going to die in your sins, didn't he? John 8, 24.
If you believe not that I am the holy God, the sovereign God,
you're in my hands and I'm angry with the wicked every day, you're
going to die in your sins. Do you see that? All right. And God's sovereign
and he doesn't have to save anybody. The only people he'll save are
those who call upon him and ask him to save them. Do you see
that? Nod your head if you do. You see that? I want everybody
to see this. And if God says we are sinners,
that he won't have anything to do with us unless we're holy
and righteous as he is. That's what the scripture says.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And you must be holy and righteous
to be accepted by God. Do you see that? Do you see that? Everybody, if you see, if you're
listening to me. Okay. And he says that they may
know. They may see and they may know. Do you know that there is only
one way you can get to this holy God? Do you know that there is
only one way God will have anything to do with you or me, for that
matter? I'm not preaching to you, I'm
preaching to us here. that this Scripture says that
Jesus Christ one day said, I am the way to the Father. I am the
way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. Do you know that? Better yet, do you know Him?
The Scripture says this is salvation, that we may know Him and the
power of his resurrection, actually experience something that happens
through knowing him. All right, now he says, "...they
may see, they may know, they may consider." Have you considered
the consequences of not believing this? The Scripture says, oh, that
they were wise and that they would consider their latter end. Do you know that there's appointed
unto man? Do you know this? Listen to me. Everybody. Do you
know that there's appointed unto man wants to die? I'm talking
about every person in here. I don't care how young you are.
It might be tomorrow. Appointed unto man, woman, young people
wants to die, and after that, judgment before this holy God?
Have you considered that? Oh, that they were wise and would
consider their latter end. Have you considered the consequences
of not believing this gospel? It's eternal death and judgment.
Have you considered that? Have you sat down and count the
cost of what you'd rather have this life? This makes us squirm,
doesn't it? Would to God it make us squirm
so that we'd call on God. can squirm out of our complacency
and self-righteous, sinful comfort and be calling on God for mercy.
Salvation is God making somebody uncomfortable. You know that?
Convicting somebody of their sin and their lack of a relationship
with this Holy God. I don't know. Would to God somebody
would in honesty say, No, I don't. I don't know. Teach me. No, I haven't considered this.
I want to start now." Would to God! That's where salvation starts.
That somebody would actually, honestly, before God, say, I
want to start now, considering this. And here's the ultimate end of
salvation, to understand. that you may see, know, consider,
and understand." Do you understand your desperate need of the blood
and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you understand
that? I know it's just a doctrine that
keeps pounding from his pulpit. But blood, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. And this holy God will have you
before Him one day and judge you and condemn you if this blood
is not covering your soul. Mine. And God, if God doesn't see you
righteous, holy, spotless with this faith you've got to have,
He's going to condemn you. Me. If we don't have it. All right. We understand that. I'm going to tell you where it
is, what this faith is. All right. For those of you who have seen,
known, considered and understand, look at our text in 2 Timothy
2. Look at verse 7. Consider what I say. Consider
it. Don't dismiss this. Don't forget about this. Don't
go home and dismiss it. You consider it. I know it's
unappealing that this is called the offense of the cross. The
flesh, nobody likes to sit there. Nobody likes to sit in the pew
and have a man stand up and tell them they're worthless and no
good and a bum and a worm. Nobody likes that. Flesh just
recoils against that, doesn't it? Huh? Sure it does. Nobody likes to talk about hell.
I don't like to talk about it. I told one of our ladies after
last Sunday morning's message, I said, you know, these these
these messages concerning God's judgment and condemnation outside
of Christ and warnings. I said, I don't I'm more uncomfortable
than anybody in here preaching this. It makes me more uncomfortable. I'd rather be smiling and have
you smiling and laughing. It makes me more uncomfortable
than anybody in here. It really does. I don't get amens. Ain't nobody amening when I say,
if you don't believe, you're going to hell. It makes me uncomfortable. It
sure does. But consider what I say, OK? This is taken from
the Scriptures. They didn't make this thing up.
We haven't followed cunningly devised fables like Peter said. And I am a faithful witness to
you, Steve, in the fact that I've kept nothing back, nothing
profitable on you. I've not shunned or declared unto you all the
counsel of God. Now you go down to the church down the road and
they're going to tell you what a good person you are. They're
going to sit and tell you. A man's going to stand up with
his eat and grin and give you all this nonsense about how good
you are and how God loves you and Christ died for you and you're
on your merry way to heaven and all you got to do is come to
church every now and then and he's lying to your soul and your
soul is going to hell because of it. And he's going to fill
his pockets full of money and you're going to go on your way
thinking you're alright when you're not alright. And if God gives
me the courage and the faithfulness to stand up here, I'm going to
tell you you're not alright when you're not alright. And nobody is all right unless
they're in Christ by faith. And this is urgent. Don't sleep,
as do others. Now consider what I say. The Lord's going to have to give
a man an understanding. You don't figure this thing out
by yourself. Like I said, the flesh sits there and says, I
don't like this. I'm going to go down there where
a man tells me I'm good. That sounds better. That's more
appealing to me. If you're one of God's sheep,
you'll not be comfortable down there. You'll come back and say,
I better go back and let him tell me what a worm I am. Because
salvation's for worms. Because this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. Christ said, the harlots and
the publicans will be getting into heaven before church folk.
And if I'm a sinner, I'm going to sit here and listen to a man
who tells me about this hope for sinners. If I ain't a sinner,
I'm going to go down there and let a man tell me what a good
woman or man I am. So consider what I say, and may
the Lord give thee understanding. Now remember, here's salvation,
verse 8. Now, right now, consider right
now, think right now, remember, in your mind, everything you've
heard as a girl, as a boy, about this gospel, that Jesus Christ
of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel. Jesus Christ of the seed of David. Say, is that significant?
Do I have to understand the seed of David? Well, you just can't
believe in any old body. Can you? There's people out there
all over the world believing in a Christ here and there. No,
the Scripture says the Christ, the Savior, is going to come
from a particular place, particular family, particular order. These are proofs. God's given
proof all the way through the Scriptures who Jesus Christ is,
where He's going to come from, what He's going to say, what
He's going to do. You see, listen to me carefully.
Consider what I say. The Lord gives you understanding.
Man fell under the curse of sin, death, and judgment. I've been
talking about that. But God determined to save some people, and they're
going to be saved. Everyone that God chooses to
elect. I don't like that election. That's what God says. It doesn't
matter if you like it or not. It's the truth. It does matter,
too. It does matter, because if you
like it, that means you're one of the elect. It's plain and
simple as that. God determined to save a people,
to send a Messiah. He said, I'm going to send a
Savior. Isaiah 25 says, this is our God. God's going to have
to come down. With man, it's impossible. Steve,
man cannot get to God, like I've been talking about. How are we
going to get to God? God's going to have to come down
to man. Well, who is he? What's he going to look like?
Where's he going to come from? We don't want the wrong one,
do we? A lot of them are going to say they're God. A lot of
them are going to say they're Christ. They're going to say, here's
Christ, there's Christ. Who is he? You've got to have the right
one. Paul said there's a lot of people
today talking about a Jesus. Well, he's Jesus. That's who
he is. Which one? There's another Jesus, Paul said,
that people are preaching. Another gospel. He won't save
you, he'll damn you. Well, who is it? What does the
Scripture say? Where is he from? Well, God pinpointed
it. God hadn't left us without a
witness. God hadn't left us without proof. Faith is—man, I've got
to hurry. Salvation is believing God, not
seeking proof and then believing. Salvation is believing first,
and then God gives you the proof. But there's not without proof.
That's what the whole Old Testament is, to the believer, right? That's
what the whole Old Testament is to the believer. Firm nails
driving an ant. That's right. That's who I believe.
That's right. He's the one. Right one. Got
it. He is, isn't he? God started out. He said he's
going to come from Abraham's seed. Abraham. OK? All the way over in the middle
of nowhere. A man named Abraham. An old man,
idolater, just like everybody else. If Abraham had got what
he deserved, he'd have been damned like everybody else. who's rich
in mercy, called a man and said, Abraham, you're mine, you're
my chosen man, father of the faithful. I'm going to call out
a people from you, a whole multitude of people, which no man can number,
the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, a whole
multitude of believers in God, who believe God and is counted
under them for righteousness, holy, accept them. Abraham. And Abraham had two boys, okay?
Two boys. Two boys. Ishmael, the first
one, he tried to get the job done, didn't he? Abraham said,
I've got to have a boy if I'm going to have a seed, don't I?
So I'll try this. Maid, come here. Abraham, that's not what
God said. Well, I'm going to help God out.
No, Abraham. God said from Sarah. So this
boy Ishmael came along, God rejected him. And that's indicative, that's
typical of man trying to get to God by his own works, see?
Isaac came along, son of the promise, son of the old age,
a miracle. That's what faith is, a miracle.
That's what salvation is, a miracle. It's not us doing or getting
anything. Salvation is being saved. Isaac came along. Then Isaac had two boys, Jacob
and Esau, remember that? God said, Esau have I hated,
Jacob have I loved. Jacob's my chosen, not Esau. Esau's going to be all those
Arabs over there. Jacob's going to be a Jew. How
do I like that? Well, that's what God said. Jacob. And then God pinpointed it down
the line. Jacob's going to have twelve
boys. One of them's going to be named Judah. That's who my Messiah is coming
from, Judah. And on down the line, Judah's
going to have a boy on down the road, his great, great, great,
great, great, great grandson. His name's going to be Jesse. And listen to this. Over in Isaiah
chapter 11, it says this. Listen to this. There shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. A branch shall grow out
of his root, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
and the spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel. With righteousness he'll judge
the poor and reprove with equity. Righteousness shall be the girdle
of his loin. In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, who
shall stand for an ensign of the people, saying in that day,
Here I am! Like holding up a flag. a bright
red bloody flag. Here I am, the one you've been
looking for." And on that great day, one day,
John the Baptist says, Abraham see, Isaac see, Jacob
see, Judas see, Jesse see, the son of David. He even came from
the place David was from, Bethlehem. Thou Bethlehem, though thou be
little among the nations, out of thee shall come he whose goings
forth have been of old, the Messiah." Is it significant he be of the
house of David? It's got to be. It's proof. Keep on going down
the line. Proof! That thrills my heart. Thrills my heart. He came. God came as a man. He said, I'm here. The Messiah. The only one in
a lot of hucksters before him, and a lot of hucksters after
him. A lot of Jesus is being preached now. This is the one,
the one I'm preaching to you this morning. He stood one day
and said, Here I am, your only hope. I'm God. There is none else. I'm the Lord. That's my name. If you believe
not that I am, you'll die in your sins. Come unto me. Believe me. Trust me. You're weary and heavy laden,
you're sinful. You want to know this God? Come
to me, believe me, and I'll take you to God. I'm going to the
cross to prepare a place for you, that is, shed my blood,
because without this shedding blood, your sins are going to
be on you. I'm going to shed my blood and
cover your sins so God can't even see them. If you come to
me by faith, I'll take you all the way to God. Do you believe? Have you come to Christ? Huh? You better. Without this faith, it's impossible
to please God. Because he that cometh to God. You want to know God? You want
to come to God? You must believe that he is, that Christ is, the
only way to God, and that he's the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. I'm talking diligently, not half-heartedly,
not once awake. And it says here in our text,
it says, he was raised from the dead according to my gospel. Christ came, he lived a righteous
life, he went to the grave and died.
And Roman has it, the Scriptures have it, that
one day, three days later after he died, he got up out of that
tomb and went to heaven. Walked right up into heaven,
sat down on a throne, and now he's just waiting until his enemies—that
is, everybody that doesn't believe him—are finally made his footstool. And then one day he's coming
back. Don't believe? Well, like I said,
look at verse 13. If you don't believe, he's still
sitting on the throne. Right? It's not going to change
a thing. This old preacher, people might
cry over you. God's not. These foolish, pitiful, begging
preachers make God out to be a beggar, don't they? He's wringing
His hands, just hoping, wishing, wanting people to let Him save
them. God isn't doing that. It says when God walked this
earth, He said He didn't commit Himself to man, did He? Huh?
All men. It said Christ did not commit
Himself to all men. He knew what was in them. He
said, You believe not, because you're not my sheep. He says,
I'm not concerned about it. My sheep will hear my voice.
They'll know me. I know them. I chose them, and
they'll hear my voice, and they'll follow me, and they'll be so
happy. My joy, my peace I'll give unto
them. They'll hear my gospel, they'll
believe me, and I'm going to give them the unsearchable riches
of God Himself. They're going to be joiners with
me, and one day I'm coming back in the judgment and take them
back to glory with me. We're going to be sitting in
the heaven, and we're going to be so happy, and everybody else is
going to be so sad, but that doesn't bother me. My sheep will hear my voice." And that one who went to that
tomb and walked out of there, one day he walked out right up
into heaven and sat down on the right hand of God. And he said,
like I said, he's coming back someday to judge this earth.
He's coming back as he is. The only reason men don't believe
him now and didn't believe him then is because he walked into
earth as a bot in the body of a man. They said, he's just a
man like everybody else. But someday he's coming back
and he's going to show up in the world that I'm not just a
man like anybody else. I'm the God-man. And people are
going to see him as he is, and it says, all eyes will behold
him and look upon him whom they have pierced and say, he's not
a helpless, hopeless figment of weak Jesus, is he? He's not
a figment of our imagination, is he? He's not just a sermon
on Sunday, is he? He's a real Lord! And I didn't
believe him. How stupid could I have been?
So the great mandate continues all the way through the Scriptures.
What does it say in Psalm 2? Kiss the son lest he be angry.
Not like Judas. Oh, I believe this, Master. Go
on your merry way. and sell your soul for a mess
of pottage." That's Judas, not like Judas. He kissed his feet
like Mary. You sit down on the front row
of the church building and you listen to the gospel and you
kiss his feet for revealing the gospel to your son. Time and
time again, you kiss his feet. That's what worship is, kissing
his feet. Remember that, Sammy? Worship, like a dog licking its
master's hand. Thank you, Lord, for revealing
this gospel to me. And I'm going to sit here and
keep sitting here until you keep revealing more to me. Thank you,
Lord. Kiss the son lest he be angry.
Angry at who? Those that aren't interested.
Not interested in the Son of God? You know, that's what God Almighty
thinks about unbelief. Not interested in my son? Well, I ain't interested in you. Am I right? So kiss the Son. This is the
mandate. This is not an option, Rick,
is it? Not an option. God doesn't ask me in every way
to repent. He's, God commended me in every way to repent. Why?
You better now, because we're going to then. Everybody's going
to do that. Kiss the Son. And buddy, if you kiss His feet,
He's got a kiss for you. You ain't never been kissed. until you've been kissed by his
God's love and mercy and grace and pride. You think? I used to think this world and
everything in it and the girls I dated were sweet. I tell you, nothing matches this
gospel now. He's a saint preacher, that's
a bunch of... I know you haven't experienced it. Those that have
experienced it know what I'm talking about. Believe in thine heart who he is, what he did, where
he is now. Confess with your mouth. The
scripture says you go up here in this pool. Didn't Christ say
when he was leaving Terry, when he was leaving the earth, he
that believeth not shall be damned, but he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. In other words, this is the way
you stand up, what you're doing here in this baptismal pool.
Everybody comes out and watches. You're standing up there in front
of everybody, all embarrassed, you know, you got your t-shirt
on or whatever, you know. And what you're saying to the
world, though, is, I don't want this world. I don't love this
world anymore. I'm being crucified to the world.
I'm dying to the world. Oh, what I got my mind, my heart,
my soul, my interests, my ambitions set upon now is knowing this
one who did all this for me. And I'm going to be crucified.
That was me hung on that cross, crucified with Him, raised again
to walk in newness of life. And I'm confessing to everybody
here that I believe this Christ. He's my only hope. He's my life.
He's my ambition. Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found with Him. I believe Him. And I'm confessing
for everybody. I want to be a believer. I do
believe. Lord, help my unbelief. And I'm
confessing today. Not saying you're better than
anybody else, just saying this is your heart's desire, this
is what you believe, this is who you believe. Confess with
thy mouth and be baptized, and the scripture says you'll be
saved in that day when Christ comes. Do you believe? Huh? Well, why tarry us that? Arise
and be baptized. And wash away your sin. Isn't that good advice? Huh?
That's saving those saving words. Do you believe the record? I'll
quit. Let's read this together. 1 John
5. Let's read this together and I'll quit. Just look at it with
me. 1 John 5. You say, Preacher, I just don't
know. I don't understand. Well, have you considered? Do
you see what all I'm trying to say? You see that, don't you,
Steve? I can make it pretty logical,
can't you? It's not logic, it's faith, but
you can. You can make it pretty logical. You see, don't you,
what I'm saying? What this scripture is saying? It's not a lie. I'm
not feeding you a lie here. I'm not trying to be religious. I have a brother that nobody
in here has met. You know that? I have a brother. I have two brothers. One has
passed away back in, I don't know, 20, 26 years ago. It's
hard to believe. No, 23 years ago. Hard to believe.
But nobody in here met him. But I have a brother. Believe
me. I still got some letters that he wrote me. Still got them
in my drawer down there. It's been a long time since I've
read them, but I have a brother. Do you believe that? No, I don't
believe that preacher. I never met him. Well, wait a
minute now. I do. I got a letter to prove
it. And when I read that letter,
Nancy, when I read that letter, his handwriting is very familiar
to me. I saw it a lot. His mind, his heart, everything
comes out in that letter, you know? I've got a brother. I've got another brother who's
still alive on this planet anyway. He's dead to God. But he's alive
on this planet. But nobody in here has met him
either. He said, I don't believe that. Well, maybe someday he'll
come down here. He said he's going to come down
here and you'll meet him, OK? You'll meet him. Or unless he calls you. If he
wrote you a letter, if he kept writing you a letter, you might
get to know him. Well, God reveals his son to all those that believe
him. Margaret, you've never seen it. This is the way I started this
whole message out. You've never seen Christ, have you? You've
never seen him. I haven't seen him. And a man that says he has,
or a woman that says she has, is a liar. Right? That's what the Scriptures say.
He's a liar. And I'm calling every one of
these hucksters, Oral Roberts and all of them that say they've
seen Jesus and seen God and heard from God, they're liars. The
Scriptures call them liars. But, we've got a letter. We've got a letter. And God reveals
his son to all who first believe him, through this letter. And
then he begins to, then he actually reveals himself. You understand
where I'm coming from? You read this letter, and if
God grants you faith to believe, you say, well I don't understand
it all, but there it is, and I believe. Then God begins to
reveal his son to you. He begins to speak to you. Not
audibly, but right here again. And you keep believing. And the
proof keeps coming down the chair. While the world's sitting there
unimpressed and unbelieving, the believer's just amazed, aren't
you? The world's sitting there saying,
I don't see anything in that. The believer's sitting there
Sunday after Sunday after Wednesday saying, this is too good to be.
Look at that, would you? He's speaking to me. He's showing
me something else. Revealing Christ to you. Keeps
revealing Him to you. Until you say, beyond a shadow
of a doubt, He's real. How do you know Christ is real?
Go on, you old fool. Believe for yourself, and then
you'll see. That's what God says. Believe. And then see, isn't
that what Christ said over at Lazarus' tomb? Didn't I say that
if you would believe all things would be possible, that you'd
see the glory of God? Well, all right. Lord, I believe. The lights start clicking. The
Word starts pricking. And look at here, verse 11. This
is the record that God has given to us. Oh, it's sweet music to
your ears, isn't it? It's a record. You musicians,
you love to listen to music, don't you? Classical music. This
is the all-time classic. This is the record. I play it
all the time, over and over again. Can't get enough of it. You can
have Ralph Stanley in the boys. You can have this and that and
the other. Mozart. much as I like him or who had
Paula Abdul and all the rest of those faggots. This is the record God's given
to us about eternal life. Paul's music to my ears, his
life's in his Keep saying that over and over again. It's a broken
record, Stephen. It's life's in His Son. Life's in His Son.
Life's in His Son. Life's in His Son. Life's in
His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. Real life. Enjoying life. You know, I enjoy this planet
so much more now than I did back when I was trying to get all
I could of it and trying to, like Solomon, dive in. enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season. You know, I enjoy this planet
so much more now than I did then. I was experimenting in everything
there was. Whatever it was, I didn't withhold
from my eyes. You know, I enjoy the planet
so much more now. I can go out and sit on the porch. I don't
have to be doped up. You know what? I don't have to
have a beer in my hand. I can actually go out on the
porch and look into the sky and have a good time. I can actually
sit down with this book right here and have a good time. It's ridiculous. Isn't that ridiculous? You young people, isn't that
ridiculous? That's stupid. That's stupid, isn't it? No, it's real. It's real. And you'll not experience it
until you've experienced it. You might not know anything about
it. And you'll say this is stupid until you've experienced it.
You'll see God in everything, won't you? You'll enjoy life
when that baby is born to you. You won't want to put it in an
orphanage. You'll love it with every fiber of your being, knowing
who it comes from. That boy, every blessing that
comes along, you see it from the hand of God, you'll thank
him for it, rejoice in it. He that hath not the Son, no,
hath not life. Now these things have I written
unto you, read verse thirteen, that you believe, unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that
you have eternal life. Now verse twenty says we know
the Son of God has come. How do you know? That's what I've been trying
to do for forty-five minutes saying I can't, I'm not going
to be able to prove it to anybody. I can't do it. Well, God can
know, can't he? He's the only one who
can. But I do want you to consider
what I say, like Paul said, and may the Lord give you understanding. Brother Joe, what was that email
I had written down, buddy? I think I've got it here. 252? Would you come up and lead
a couple of hands? Couple of verses of two fifty
two. Oh, you folks, if God's pleased
to.