Yes, it is, certain. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
11. Matthew chapter 11. As Brother Terry was praying,
I was thinking, I pray that we, he said, this is the real thing.
I appreciate that. There's a world of people out
there who are going through the religious motions. A lot of people
are playing church today. And I don't want to be guilty. I don't want to be one of those
again. I say again because I've been so guilty so very many times,
and you have too, haven't you? It's gone through the motions,
just in church, you know. And I want us to examine ourselves
this morning and ask ourselves why we are here, really and truly ask ourselves
this question. The promises to those who seek
God, that they'll find Him. Those that seek, search for Him
with all their heart. If you read the bulletin, the saying in the bulletin,
but you know nobody's going to seek God unless God first seeks
them. But that's what this thing is
all about. That's why we're here, I hope. I hope that's why I'm
here, and I certainly hope that's why you're here. Seek to know
God, because that's what life is all
about. That's the reason man has been
created for the glory of God. Come to know his Maker. If we go through this life without every coming to know
our God in a saving way, then we haven't lived. We've
just existed, and we'll certainly die spiritually, eternally. I don't know the reason why you're
here this morning, each one of you. I don't know. I don't know
why you're here. I do know who brought you here.
I know that. I don't know who is interested,
truly interested in what is going on here, what I'm about to say
or not, I don't know. I know you're here. And I have an urgent life or
death message for everyone that's under the sound of my voice this
morning. What we claim to be doing here in this place, what
we claim to be doing is studying, searching, seeking, trying to
worship God, the God in whose hands we are. We claim to be
here to come to know and understand this God, come to worship Him. And you must, we must, everyone
here must, because every knee will bow at some point Every
knee, every person in here will come someday to see, or at least
into the presence of, this God. And we've got to know Him if
we're going to stay there with Him in eternal life and happiness. We've got to know Him now. Now. We've got to bow to and worship
Him right now. Every knee is going to bow. Some
people will be forced to bow, the Scripture says. in the end,
people who have not bowed now. So it's my prayer for you and
for me this morning that we come to know this God now and see
who he is and fall at his feet right now and worship him. Keep your place there. We'll
come to this in a moment. Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter
32. Deuteronomy chapter 32. All men and women must know,
must recognize, must worship, must thank, must praise our God,
must bow to, must submit to, must commit to, must love this
God. This is life. This is life eternal. Deuteronomy 32, look at verse
29. He's just going to describe himself
to us here in a moment. Verse 29, God says, Oh, that
they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their
latter in. What's he talking about? He's
talking about dying. Now, springtime is not the time
of year when we think about dying, is it? It ought to be. Christ said, It's a time when
you think not. That's what I'm talking about. The rich man who
was rich and increased with goods, had need of nothing, said, I'm
going to tear down my barn and build a big one, and right now
I'm going to rest and be easy. And God said, you're a fool.
I'm going to take your soul tonight. Verse 28 says there's no understanding,
though, in people. The nation void of counsel, neither
is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise
and would consider this, their latter end, that appointed time.
He says, now you need to see this. See now that I, even I,
am he. I'm God. There's no God with
me. I kill. I make alive. I wound. I heal. Neither is there any
that can deliver out of my hand. I lift up my hand to heaven and
I say, I live forever. Not you. I live forever. And
if I wet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to mine enemies and reward them that
hate me." Now, the Scripture says that the carnal mind, the
natural man, is enmity against God. The natural man does hate
God. And the wrath of God abides upon the ungodly. And God is
angry with the wicked every day. Who's that? Homosexuals? That's
you and me. That's everybody. By nature,
if we don't know God, if we don't know God, If we're not known
by God and loved by God and saved by God, that wrath of God and
eternal damnation and hell awaits us. It's old-fashioned, isn't
it? It's old-fashioned hellfire and
brimstone preaching without the shouting. But nevertheless, it's
God's word. It's true. It's what this book
says. Choose to believe it now or later. We must know and worship God.
We've got to. Paul said, knowing the terror
of the Lord. Knowing the terror of the Lord,
like he just described himself. We persuade men. He said in another
place, he said, be you reconciled to God. Old man that hates the
sovereign of God, lay down your arms. Be reconciled to God. You can't fight. against God. It's a losing battle, isn't it?
We need to bow and worship and repent and seek and call upon
God Almighty before it's everlastingly too late. Now don't take it for
granted. Listen to me. Don't take it for granted you've
already done that. Or don't rest upon having already done that.
We've got to do it daily. Call upon Him while He's near.
Seek Him while He may be found. That's a daily thing, isn't it,
Terry? So tell me, preacher, how can
I know this God then? How can I know this God? You
see, I've got to know God. I've got to know the right one. There's another God. They're
preaching another God. You've got to know the right one. You've
got to know the God of the Bible. And a lot of fellows are talking
about the God of the Bible. They're using the Bible. How
do I know the right one? How can I find that? Job asked
the question, can you, by searching, find out God? Can you? How can a man know God? How can
a man come to know God? He can't. His ways are past finding out.
Listen, I'm going to quote you five verses of scripture here.
All the work of God man cannot find out. Though a man labor
to seek it out, he won't find it. God dwells in a light which
no man can approach unto. No man has seen God at any time.
We read it in Exodus 33, Thou canst not see my face and live. How can we know God? We can't. But we must. Here's the paradox. We must. We must. The scripture says this is eternal
life. that they might know thee, the
only true God, in Jesus Christ whom thou seest." The only true
God. No man can know God of himself. This is a very basic message.
Nobody can find out God by asking questions, by searching, by digging,
by seeking. No man can do that of himself. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God. The natural man. The world, by
wisdom, didn't know God. Man cannot, cannot of his own
volition, his own power, come to know God Almighty. Now turn
back to Matthew 11. Verse 27, let's look at it. Here's
the text. No man of his own natural understanding
and reasoning, his own mind, his own thought process, can
know God. Can't do it. God's too high.
We're a worm. God's high. God's as high above
us as the heavens are above the earth, the scripture says. He
says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your
ways. There's nothing similar. We can't even compare. We just
can't find out God. All right, now look at verse
27. Somebody said right here, all things are delivered unto
me of my Father. All things, all power is delivered
unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, that
is, the Son of this Father, but the Father. Neither knoweth any
man the Father save the Son." Do you see that? No man knows
God but the Son. But we must know him. We've got
to know him. This is eternal life that they
might know thee. We've got to know him. We've
got to. Well, here's the question, then.
Do you know the Son of God? The Son of God. Now, before you answer, before
you answer, I want you to remember the scripture before us. It says
there, no man knows the Son even. I'm going to really get you confused
here. Christ said, no man knows the Son but the Father, and no
man knows the Father but the Son. He said, this is life. You've
got to know God, you've got to know the Son. But wait a minute. No man. No man. I'm so weary. I'm so sick of this generation,
this flippant, careless, religious generation that keeps talking
about Jesus this, Jesus that. God told me this, God told me
that. And me and Jesus are good buddies, good friends, we've
got a good thong thing going, you know? I'm so sick of that. What does this say right here?
Christ said, No man knows the Father but the Son. No man knows
the Son but the Father. In other words, no man knows
either one of those two. Nobody. Turn with me to Revelation
chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. This generation
know—doesn't know the God in the Christ of the Bible. That's
what I'm talking about. That's what he's talking about. They know some Jesus they've
got a conception of. They know some God that they've
imagined. But listen to the Jesus of the
Scriptures. God describes him here. And he's
a whole lot bigger and a whole lot more glorious than Oral Roberts'
vision of a 900-foot one. Look at it, Revelation 1, look
at verse 13. And I turn to see verse 12, I
turn to see a voice that spake with me, and behold, I am turning,
I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of those seven
candlesticks was one like unto the Son of Man. Now here he is.
This is the Christ of Scripture, Joe. This is Jesus Christ we've
got to come to know. This is the one. This is eternal
life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom he has sent. Here he is. See if you know this
one. "'I saw one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to his foot, dirt about the pants with a golden girdle.
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow.
His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet like fine brass
that burned in a furnace. His voice as the sound of many
waters like the ocean. He had in his right hand the
stars of heaven. Out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. His countenance was like the
sun that shined with his strength. And I saw him, but I saw him,
the one, the real one. What did I do? Go running up to shake Jesus'
hand. I fell at his feet like a dead
man. And he laid his right hand on
me. No man knows the Son. Now, I
hear a lot of talk, don't y'all? You all? I hear a lot of talk
going on today. And you know, come to think of
it, I do a lot of talking. About God, about knowing God.
Don't you? About knowing Christ. You ever
seen that Christ? No man knoweth the Son, but someday
every eye shall behold Him and see Him as He is. Right there. Right there. Now,
no man knoweth, back to the text there, no man knoweth, back to
Matthew 11. No man knoweth, not the wisest man on earth. Usually
the wisest people are the farthest away from God. That's the way
it is. That's the way God does things.
The world by wisdom didn't know God, but God has revealed these
things unto the foolish, the weak, the base, the nobodies,
the poor. the poor in spirit, the meek,
the mild, the nobodies, the children. That's the way God does things.
A man gets lifted up with pride, he's farthest from God. A man
thinks he knows anything, he hasn't even begun, or commenced,
or get started to know anything. Usually the wisest are the furthest
from God and foolishly don't really care to know God. Scripture
says to the Greek, that is the worldly wise man, it's foolishness.
It's foolishness. I'm not going to ask a lot of
questions. Faith, biblical faith. Salvation
is not by asking questions. It's by believing. Get a hold
of this. Everybody in here get a hold
of this. Salvation is not by asking questions. Salvation is
not by asking questions. Salvation is by believing what's
written in this book right here. Then the answers to questions
come. Right? Right. Except you be converted
and become as little children. Receive the kingdom of God as
a little child. You're not going to get there. Christ came to
his disciples there at one time and he said, to whom do men say
that I am? And they began saying all sorts of things. He said,
but who do you say I am? Another time they kept going
up to him and asking him questions. When will these things be? When
was this? When will that? And he asked him the question
of all questions. What do you think of Christ?
What do you think of Christ? That's the question of all questions.
What do you think of these things? God revealed, God speaks through
a man up here, the Word. I just read it, just preach it
as it is, word for word. And what do you say to these
things? What do we say to these things? Now if you believe them,
without question, without doubt, blessed are your eyes, they see.
Blessed are your ears, they hear. And blessed is your soul, it
will be saved. But if you question, I don't know, I just don't understand,
that's not it. Like I said this morning, it's
not a matter of understanding these things at all. The matter
is belief. It said in one place there, when
Christ, after he got through preaching, said, Some believe,
some don't. I'm going to say in a minute
why anybody believes, but the fact of the matter is, some believe,
some don't. Those that question, I don't
know about you, you ain't going to prove it to me, ain't going
to get it proved. Those that say, well, that's God's Word,
that describes me, ain't going to reveal the truth to
that man. All right. To be sure, there
are some people who are smarter than other people. Most people
are smarter than me. Most people out there in the
world with all their M.A.s and B.A.s and so forth and D.D.s,
so-called. People are smarter in science
and medicine and arts and history and all of these things. A lot
of people are much smarter. You've run into them. But when
it comes to this right here now, no man knoweth. No man. With regards to the knowledge
of Christ, the philosopher and the farmer are the same. They
don't know. The prince and the pauper, they're
the same. They don't know God. The lawyer
and the laborer, they're the same. They don't know God. The
doctor and the ditchdigger, they're the same. They don't know God.
No man knoweth, not even professing believers, like I said a while
ago. Some people do know who Christ is and what he did and
have been brought to saving faith and trust and love in him and
experience some communion with him, but as far as really knowing
him, now come on. Henry, how much do you really
know? How close are you and God, really? How much do you know about Jesus
Christ, really now? Well, you think of it as nothing,
don't you? Nothing. We know in part. Paul, the apostle,
the great apostle, said, I just know in part. I see through a
glass very dimly. Like looking at the sun through
a little pupil, you know. And it's obvious because our
faith is so weak. If we really knew God now, we'd
be strong. We'd believe. Oh, my soul. Wouldn't
we? We really knew God. If we really
knew God, we'd love Him. Oh, my soul. of him with every
fiber of our being wouldn't be so weak. We really knew God would
trust him, not a fear, not a worry in our lives, but we're so full
of doubts and fears and complaints and prone to wander and quit
and prone to sin. These are sad proofs that we
really don't know much about God at all now, including this
man right here, a big zero. But we've got to know God. We've
got to know Him. Our knowledge of Christ and God
in this life is like a man observing the ocean from the top of a mountain.
It's like a man who's never seen the ocean before, and finally
he crosses a mountain peak and stands on top of a mountain about
ten miles away from the ocean. Ten or twenty miles away, and
from there it looks like a pretty good-sized lake, you know. Might
look like Smith Mountain Lake. And he goes back and says to
his friends, and they say, have you ever seen the ocean? Yeah,
I've seen the ocean. How big is it? It's pretty big. It's big. It's real big. Oh,
my soul. They didn't get out on a boat.
Out in the middle where you can't see land. They let him come back
and talk about the ocean. Like Paul. Paul came back and
said, I saw a thing. I said, you can't talk about
it. It's all things unlawful to her,
impossible to her. Scripture says even angels don't
know it. They hide their eyes in front of it. Angels. And all they can do is shout,
holy, holy. Right? And what does that say
about this religious generation? Just talking about Jesus and
talking about God. The angels that are with him, to see him,
you have to stand in front of him. You can't even look on him. That's what he said to Moses,
wasn't there, in Exodus 33. You can't look at man. But, he said to Moses, but, but God. He said, now this is life. You've
got to know me. Okay. But God, who's rich in
mercy. Because he knows that the people
have to come to know him, who he is. Bow to him. Submit to
him. He did something. Look at verse
27 again. He did something. He revealed
himself to some people. Like old Moses. Like old Moses. No man knows the Son, but the
Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and I'm
glad that little word's in there. And, I like the buts and ifs
and only of God's Word. I like the buts and ifs and ands
of God's Word. Not the buts of goats, but the
buts of God. But God. And He. Who's going
to know God? He to whosoever the Son of God
will reveal Him. Nobody knows God except Christ
reveal God to him. And here's another thing. Christ
said, nobody's going to know me, except the Holy Spirit reveal
me to him. No man can. No man knows. But he to whomsoever the sign
revealed. And both are revealed, both God
and Christ are revealed through the preaching of the gospel.
The gospel, the old, old story that you've heard so many times
before. Turn to John chapter 4 with me. John chapter 4. The
old, the same old story. The psalmist says, tell me the
same old story. Tell it to me. Why? Because I
didn't hear it so good the first time. Tell me the story again. Tell it to me again. Why? Why
should he? You heard it before again. Because I just didn't
understand it much the first time. Tell me the story, the
psalmist says. Tell it to me slowly. Why? I'm
so weak. I'm like a little child. I can't
take it all in. Tell it to me again. It's going
to be something I haven't heard before. I know it. I know it. I tell you, folks, guard against
this. Try to shout right now. Pray to God Almighty that you
don't grow weary hearing the same thing. You've been hearing
the same thing. I'm going to stand up again Wednesday
night and tell you the exact same thing. Probably the same
words. Pray to God Almighty that you
don't grow weary of hearing it. Pray to God Almighty that you're
not so puffed up, that I'm not so puffed up and lifted up that
we can't hear it again with our new lunas to it, our freshness,
and that there's something there surely I haven't heard before.
Something I don't understand about this thing. Let's talk
about it. Look here at John 4, verse 24. Look at it. Let's talk
about it. Christ said, God's a spirit. Somebody tell me what
that means. Somebody tell me. Somebody describe God to me.
God is a spirit. Those that worship him must worship
him in spirit. Somebody please trade places
with me. Here, take my coat, stand up here, and tell me what
this means. God's a spirit, and those that
worship God have got to worship him in spirit and truth. I'll
sit down, and I feel like it. It's holy ground here. What do
we know about this, Terry? God's the Spirit. I'm flesh.
The Scripture says that which is flesh is flesh. I'm in a body. I can't get past, I can't think
about, can't believe on anything but this. Thomas said, it's show
men how to believe. That's about the way I am most
of the time. But God's the Spirit. They worship Him. You ever worship
God? We pray it all the time. Have
we ever really worshipped God? Have we ever come into communion
with God Almighty? Have we ever? About like that. Right? Just
about like that. Christ said, if. If you had faith
as a grain of a mustard seed. You ever seen a mustard seed?
Rick showed me one one time. One of these days I'm going to
get some of them and put a piece of scotch tape, put a mustard
seed in everybody's bulletin. So you'll know what a mustard
seed looks like. It ain't nothing. He said, if. If you had that.
In other words, we don't have that, Henry. We don't have that. God's a spirit. Now, here's the
gospel. God is a spirit. Those that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit. God is God. You can't get to
God from here. Here it is. Here's the basic
gospel message. You can't get to God from this
right here. Can't know God, can't find out
God, can't seek Him, search Him, pray Him, get on His knees, you
can crawl across the glass, you can kiss steps like old Martin
Luther. You can beat yourself like the
Moslems do. You can read your Bible till doomsday. You can
listen to all the tapes you want to listen to. You can't get to
God from here. God is a spirit. We're flesh. OK? How are we going to get to
God? God's got to come to us. There's
the difference. God's got to come to us. God's
Spirit's got to reveal Himself to us, 1 Corinthians 2. No man
knows the things of God, save the Spirit of God, which is in
him, right? God's a Spirit. No man's seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared, called the
Spirit of Christ. Christ. Here's the gospel. Here God is. God's Spirit. God's
Holy. God's Holy. I can't even go any
further with it tonight. God's Holy. You can't get to
God or worms. God is just. He will by no means
clear the guilty. Not one sin. Can't do it. Won't
do it. What the Scripture says, isn't
it, Joe Park? Will by no means clear the guilty. That's what
the Scripture says. The soul that sinneth, it must surely
die. Well then, how can I get to this God? You can't. God's got to come to you. No
man can come to the Father. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He has to come to the clarion. Okay. Gospel point number two.
God came down in human flesh. All right? God came. Now somebody want to come up
and describe and explain the incarnation. God in the belly
of a woman. We hadn't even begun to get started,
I believe. God had to come down. We can't
get to God. No man has ascended to God. No
man can find out God. God has to come to us. He did. He came down. He came down. God was with us. His name was
Immanuel. They called His name Jesus. They
called His name Jesus because He had a job to do. But that
thin, brown, Jewish man, that thin, brown, Jewish man, over
there in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago that everybody talks about,
that's not just a man. That's not just a man. If he's
just a man, he might as well not have come,
right? But the scripture says, now here's
the gospel, here's our only hope, that in that man who came was
none other than God himself. God disguised himself in a body
of a thin, brown, Jewish man some two thousand years ago,
and walked this earth all stooped over and humped over. A man of
sorrows, plain with grief. And end up in one day. The men
didn't like him, hated him, stuck him on the cross and slew him,
and then they put his body in the ground. Now if that's all
he was, just a man, and if that's all that happened to him, and
his bones are still over there, I quit. I'm leaving. And you all might as well too. But there's somebody in that
body. That body was just a vessel. Just a vessel. Something in that
body. God. Scripture says God was in
Christ. Reconciling the world to himself.
God was in Christ. Well, alright. Gospel point number
three. If that's God. If this is Christ. If this Jesus
Christ is God. And he came down here. Why'd
he come? I bet you there's not one in
a hundred the religiousness that they really know why Christ had
to come. Oh, he came to die for your sins. Why? Well, yeah. Bloody shit is blood. Why? Well, it says that blood, somewhere
blood makes a tone. Yeah, but why? I mean, why did
he have to die? Isn't there another way? Billy
Graham said there's another way. Yeah, he did. He said that in
a magazine. That's a quote. I got it in a
file out there. See, I used to think there's
one way to God, but now I believe differently. Why? Why'd he come? Some say, most say, well, it's
blabbermouth, just throw it out there. You ever want to believe
on Jesus, you know, God love you, cry to die for you. Well,
goody, go on to heaven. Then why'd he die then? Why do
you have to die? Why doesn't God, just like a
supernatural being, just set us all up to heaven in a spaceship,
you know? Why go through all this? Why, if God loves me, George,
if God loves me, why did he butcher his son on a cross? That doesn't
make good sense, does it? If it didn't do any good, why'd
he do it? God's a monster thing. And if
God loves me, why didn't he save me from this mess and just take
me on up to heaven? S-I-N. The issue of the day is not being
dealt with. That nobody's talking about.
Oh, they talk about cigarette smoking. They talk about drinking. Aren't they? Talk about adultery.
Talk about abortion. Talk about homosexuality. Those
are sins. Right? Plural. Those are sins. Those are actions, deeds of the
body. Here's the problem. What makes
a man do what he does? What makes a young baby grow
up speaking lies? What makes it easier for a baby
to lie than tell the truth? To be selfish rather than charitable. What makes men and women do the
thing they do? Sin. S-I-N. There's the problem. It's a principle. It's a nature.
It's an evil nature that's within every single human being that's
ever born under the face of God's Son. There's the problem. So why did Christ come down here?
To put away sin. It's that which the sin is that
which blocks our view from God. Are you listening to me? This
sin is that which separates us from God. It's like a huge black
cloud over us. It's like the cloud there, Joel,
at the door of the tabernacle. It blocks our view from God.
God's holy. I'm sin. It's that which makes
a man not want to think about God, not want to thank God, not
want to seek God. It makes a man lust and covet
and envy and jealous and malice and hateful and murderous and
lying and all of these, the works of the flesh. It's this, it separates,
your sin has separated you from you and your God, the Spirit
of salvation. Why did Christ come? Christ came down here to put
it away. To put it away. To take all of
those sins of all of God's people and take it upon Himself. God
said, the soul that sinneth, it must surely die. He said the
wages of sin is death. That's us. Everyone, we must
die, separated from God Almighty. The wages of sin is death. Why
did Christ come? He came down here to be made
sin for us, the Scripture said. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. To be made sin for us. He who
knew no sin. See, God approved of him. Excellent. A well-approved, well-beloved
son. God could just take it. There
was no separation. Listen to me. The Son of God,
Christ, and the Father, there was no separation there between
them. Why? Because he was holy, spotless,
just like God, even in the body. Adam was, to begin with. But
when Adam rebelled, this cloud separated sin. He became a sinner. But not Christ. He came down
here to commune with God. He could snap his fingers and
things were at his beckoning call. Raise the bed. Talk to
God. Transport himself as he was a
spirit, but in a body. There was no sin in him. Well,
God said, if I'm going to have some people in my presence, if
I'm going to receive these sinners in my presence, they've got to
be like him. Nothing to separate us. So God took all of the sins
of all of God's people and boiled them up. How did he do this?
How great is the mystery of God in that? took all the sins of
all of God's people in a ball, in a heap, supernaturally, somehow,
not only to God, and took them over here and laid them on his
son. Because of who he was, Joe, he
could do this. Put them on his son's back, and he carried the
sin, the sin of all of God's people in a spiritual sense. To that cross, God said, Die! The soul of the sinner has got
to die. That's you and me, on his back. Well, Henry, this is
salvation. We're on the back, everything's
riding on the back of this man. Now either he did it, or he didn't. And I'm cut off from God. Did
he? Why'd he come? He had to be made
sin, he had to take this burden, and go to the cross, and God
was going to kill him. punished my sin, didn't he? Did
he do it? John! The world says he didn't. The
world says he tried and failed, doesn't it? That just makes me
angry. The reason I talk about these
false prophets, P-R-O-F-I-T, prime time prophets, they've
knocked my foundation out from under me. They blaspheme God's
book, God's gospel. They blaspheme God's Son. I'm
here to tell you, That's your only comfort, your only hope.
All assurance is to be found in the fact that when that man,
who's not just a man, who's God, when he went to that cross with
the sin of his people on him, and God Almighty saw that sin
and killed him, that my sins were paid for. Were paid for. Now you've got
to believe on Jesus. Now, I know Christ died, but
you've got to believe on Jesus. Face the gift of God. This was a transaction between
God the Father and God the Son. I wasn't even around when Christ
died. When he made that price, when
he paid that price, when he died that day, I wasn't anywhere to
be found, was I? Huh? The Scripture even says
he's the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. There
wasn't nobody around then. But it says we were chosen. God's
people were chosen in him. God saw, God foresaw, for whom
he did foreknow, he did predestinate. For whom he did put his affection,
his love upon. A chosen people, a Joe Park,
a Rick Williams, a John Davis. A Henry Sowell to Sherry Anderson.
Put his love and affection on it. Why? Why you, Sherry, and
not your buddies at work? This is where the amazement,
this is where the grace comes in. Why me? Chosen people, people
which no man can number. And listen to me. Election and
predestination doesn't exclude anybody from the kingdom of heaven.
It makes sure somebody's going to get in there. Don't worry about election. Well, it's not fair. You know,
man's got to have a chance. Salvation's not by chance. Salvation's
according to the purpose and the will of God Almighty, and
salvation's in that sacrifice on the cross, and salvation is
for everybody that he put in that man on the cross. But salvation's
not by chance. If everybody got what was coming
to them, if everybody got what was right and what was just,
he'd send us all to hell, wouldn't he? for mine. Then there's a people
which no man can number according to the mercy and the grace of
God. People which no man can number
that God chose out of who they are. That's the reason he said,
we're a priest in this election. If God just got to elect people,
why preach? He said, go. He said, go preach. Joseph wasn't
going to save anybody. He said, go preach. I got to
go preach, don't I? He said, go preach the gospel
throughout the world. He that believeth in his blood
shall be saved. Well, you say, I thought people,
only people of God, choose to be saved. They will! How are
they going to be saved? Through the preaching of the
gospel when they believe. When they believe, well, it's
a gift of God. Ah, Bill, let's quit asking questions. It's just belief. It's the way
it is. It's the way it is. Who's going
to believe? Those that God gives faith to. Those that God gives
faith to. Who doesn't believe? Those that
refuse to. God's responsible to give faith
to whomsoever He will. We're responsible to whoever
does not believe. We're responsible for not believing. God gets all
the credit, all the glory and salvation. We get all the credit
for our damnation. It's just the way it is. Explain
that. I'm in the explaining business.
Just in the proclaiming business. That's the way this book, that's
what this book teaches you. For when Christ took those sins
upon his people, upon that crop, and paid for those sins, a tear
of cinders, I'm here to tell you from God's Word, that he
puts your sins away, buddy. If you simply come to Christ
in faith and believe him, is your only hope of salvation.
Your sins are gone, buddy, and you're going to glory. You're
chosen by God, loved by God, and you're on your way to heaven,
buddy. What if I... What if what? He says, I give
unto them eternal life, and they'll never perish. Never. No man can
pluck them out of my Father's hand. No man. Did he say that?
What if, what if, quick, say it, what if, and just praise
God, thank God, believe it. Right? Did he do it? Who is this? Who is this? What's this all
about? How can a man know God? He can't. He can't. He can't
know God. God's got to reveal Himself to
you. God's got to come down here and reveal Himself to you. No
man knoweth the Father save the Son. No man can come to God except
God the Father draw him. Come to Christ. Well, who is
this that came down here? He's God. God came in human flesh. Why'd he come? He came down here
to have a job to do. Johnny had a job to do. Called
his name Jesus. He got to save his people from
their sin. He got to remove this barrier
between God and his people. Did he do it? You better believe it. You better
believe it. You better believe it. Somehow
or another, this faith is what connects us to that sacrifice. And hanging on that cross, the
last words that came out of Christ's mouth were, it's finished. It's finished. It's all over. This is the way I really wanted
to address this message. We've all got a lot of questions.
Tim dealt with this admirably. He was talking about men saying
that they don't understand things. Men say, I don't understand election. Yes, you do. Yes, we do. Yeah, they do, don't they? It's
clear as a bell in scripture that God chose a people, chose
who he would. On the foundation of the world, before the world
ever began, he just chose, he just flat chose a people. What
is hard to understand about that? Hmm? Yeah, but, no, no, no, no
buts. Sheep don't but. He said, my
sheep hear my voice. He said, you're going to separate
sheep from the goats. You know what goats, you know
what's a characteristic of goats? You know, buttheads, aren't they? But, but, but, but, but. Sheep
don't, but, do with John. Sheep just receive. Well, I understand
it, but I believe it. God said it. All right? My sheep
hear my voice. He said it in John 10. Yeah,
but I just don't understand this particular redemption, how the
Christ died for us. Yes, you do. Yes, we do. What's hard to understand about
it? The blood of God's Son cleanses us from all our sins. What's
hard to understand about that? He said, I laid down my life
for my sheep. And he told the Pharisees, you're not a sheep.
I didn't die for you. What's hard to understand about
that? That's not the problem. Not the problem. Yeah, but this
predestination. I don't understand this, how
that God can do... Yes, you do. It's four times in the Scripture.
Four times. Yes we do. Here's the whole problem
in a nutshell. Men just don't believe it. Won't
receive it. Won't bow to it. Don't like it. But now wait a minute. I like
it. I love it. It's the only thing
I want to talk about isn't it? I want to talk about what I have
to do. What I need to do. What I ought to do. But I sure
like to talk about what he did. Why is that? Why do some people
hate it and some people love it? Why? No man knoweth the Son, saith
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
saith the Son. And he to whom the Son will reveal
him. Now, if God opened your eyes,
takes away the glasses there, and it takes away the darkness
of this world, and my religious superstition, and my questions
that clutter my mind and my ears, and just like a little child,
open the book. That's what it says. I've got to believe that. Then
everything starts falling in place, doesn't it? Then you start
seeing, like the Spurgeon said, I know God had to choose me before
I was born, because He never would have chosen me if He had
waited. Right? If He had waited until after
I was born, wouldn't He? What do we want to choose me for?
He opens your eyes to see what you really are. Think you're
a pretty good fellow before that, don't you? When He opens your
eyes, reveals who He is, first thing, He covers your eyes like
those seraphim, cherubim. You don't decide to accept God.
You pray. You beg for mercy. God's going
to accept you. Right? If he shows you Christ
on the cross, boy, you go running, clinging, screaming, crying,
begging, sitting at the feet of him. Come in here and hear
the gospel. Tell me one more time about my
own death. Right? And if he ever tells you,
hey, your sins are gone, look there, you're gone, paid for.
You mean this now? You mean? It's too good to be
true. Like David said in Psalm 126,
When the Lord delivered us from our captivity, we were like one
that dreamed. Hey, this too could be true.
We laughed. Oh, boy. You know, I don't have to worry.
I don't have to be religious. I don't have to keep the law
to perfection. I don't have to worry about being
damned in the end. No, you don't. God's people were
damned in Christ. They were punished in Christ.
And now, because as He is, so are we in this world, except
in Him alone. Yeah. I know we're in a while,
but that's the gospel as plain as I can make it. And God says,
Believe it. Believe it. Believe it. We can't. Stand with me. I'll just miss and pray. God help us. God help us to see
your glory. God open our dark eyes. Remove this darkling veil. Remove
the religious blinders that we have on. Unstop our ears from
all commotion, all the questions, all the reasonings of this world. Unstop our ears and open our
hearts just to receive the gospel, God's Word, as a little child,
and come bow to the feet of a holy, sovereign God. God, show us what
we are. Show us our desperate need of
knowing God, knowing Christ. Show us. Open our eyes, and we'll
say, with Christ, and our eyes are truly blessed, for they see,
they see. Lord God, help us. Make us like
little children, come sit at the feet of Christ and learn
of him, and not ask so many questions, but rather believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and be saved. Someday our questions will be
answered in God's good time. according to God's will and His
pleasure and His purpose. I thank you for revealing the
gospel to these people, and I ask that you don't let us take it
for granted, Lord, that you cause us to always, from here on out,
be like little children, receptive, little birds, our mouths open,
ready to hear it one more time, because it's our only hope. It's believer's bread. Go with us and bring us together
again to worship you and hear this same old story. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.