our God. If you have your Bibles,
turn to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18. The fifth book of
the Bible, the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18. We'll look forward
to a wonderful Lord's Day. We'll be glad to have Sue Yost
with us and John Claude will be speaking to us on each of
the services. I've asked him to speak to us
briefly during the Bible classes and just kind of bring us up
to date on how the missionary work is going, especially as
it goes into French-speaking Africa. And he has, of course,
a ministry in Haiti also. And perhaps he'll also have some
time to tell us about his publishing ministry and as he translates
really good books from English into French. and then distributes
them through French-speaking countries. And of course, he'll
be, as I said, he'll be speaking Bible classes and both worship
services. And then after the evening worship
service, we'll have some fellowship with him and with his wife, Wendy. And they're just very delightful
folks. I've known them for several years
and a good many of you have as well. So it will be a precious
time of worship together and then fellowshipping together
this coming Lord's Day. Those of you who haven't signed
for some refreshments, please do so. And we appreciate that. And I am going to ask us to meet
for the Bible classes right here, because I'd like for it to be
broadcast on the internet. You can let Matt know that, Paul. So if some folks can't be here,
they can at least watch the service by way of the internet and hear
what he has to say. Okay. Let's go to Deuteronomy
chapter 18, and I might just give you a word. I visited with
Pat yesterday and just asked you to continue to
pray for her. I thought maybe she might be
able to go to rehab this week, but I don't think that's going
to happen. And she has some other issues
going on, and so we ask God to provide for her and strengthen
her. And also continue to remember
Diane in prayer. I'm pretty certain that within
the next couple of days, probably, her husband's gonna take her
up to Cleveland Clinic. and see what they have to say
about her condition and the issues that she's had. So both of these
ladies are very, very sick. And we would ask you to pray
for them. God is able. He is a great physician,
and perhaps he will heal, and perhaps he won't. Sometimes God
doesn't heal. But all of these things come
to God's people to drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what trials do. They force us to the Savior,
and we've talked about this past Sunday morning, and evening as
well, Israel when they were in the wilderness of wilderness
of sin and that word means thorns and Pick up a lot of thorns in
this world as you go through your journey But you know what
those thorns are intended to do pushes to Christ that's what
they do and that's the right way to view them and God means
them far good, and there's nothing better that could happen to us
than to get nearer to our blessed Savior. All right, let me read
here in Deuteronomy chapter 18. Look at verse 15. The speaker
is Moses. Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse
15. And he says this to the children
of Israel, the Lord thy God, will raise up unto thee a prophet. And he says he'll come from the
midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me. Unto him he shall
hearken. And of course Moses was the spokesman
for Israel, the representative, if you will, of Israel. And Moses
now says that the Lord is going to raise up one like unto himself. He says in the 16th verse, according
to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in
the day of the assembly saying, let me not hear again the voice
of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire anymore
that I am dying hot. And the Lord said unto me, that
is Moses speaking, he says, the Lord said to me, they have well
spoken that which they have spoken. In other words, they're saying
the right thing. If you would, just kind of hold
your place there and go back with me to chapter 5 of Deuteronomy. And we'll come back and we'll
finish our reading there in chapter 18. But I want you to look with
me in chapter Deuteronomy 5. And this is when the Lord is
speaking to Israel. And He's speaking to them from
the mount. And he says in Deuteronomy 5,
look at, I'm gonna begin at 22. These words the Lord spake unto
all your assembly in the mount of the midst of the fire, of
the cloud, and of the thick darkness with a great voice. And he added
no more. And he wrote them in two tables
of stone and delivered them unto me. Now chapter five, verse 23. And it came to pass when you
heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, for the mountain
did burn with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads
of your tribes and your elders. And you said, behold, The Lord,
our God, hath showed, hath manifested us his glory and his greatness. And we have heard his voice out
of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God
doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore, why should we
die? For this great fire will consume
us. If we hear the voice of the Lord
our God anymore, then we shall die. You get the picture. God
has spoken and now they're very much afraid. Very much afraid. And they said if he says anything
else, we're gonna die. They've seen the fire of God
here from this mountain, verse 20. Verse 26 now, for who is
there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living
God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have and lived,
lived to tell about it. So verse 27, go thou near and
hear all that the Lord our God shall say. This is what they
say to Moses. you go near, you hear all that
the Lord our God shall say, and you speak thou unto us all that
the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it
and do it. The Lord heard the voice of your
words when you spake unto me, Moses is talking now, and the
Lord said unto me, I've heard the voice of the words of this
people, which they have spoken unto thee, they have well said
all that they have spoken." Here's what they wanted, a mediator.
That's exactly what they wanted. They began to recognize, it's
certainly dawning on them, this God who, he set the mountain,
as it were, on fire, it belched with smoke, there were earthquakes,
And they heard the voice of God and they said, we want Moses,
we want Moses to represent us to God. Because if we deal with God directly,
we're not going to live to tell about it. I go back over here
to Deuteronomy 18, and this is what this passage is speaking
about. God raising up for His people,
a prophet. So back to chapter 18, verse
17, I'll read again. The Lord said unto me, they have
well spoken that which they have spoken. Now listen, folks, we've
got to have a mediator. You can't deal with God one-on-one. We hear people ignorantly say
things like, well, I've made my peace with God. You can't
do that. You don't have the ability to
do that, and you can't go before God yourself. You've got to have
a representative. You've got to have an individual
to speak to you who can abide in the very presence of God and
not be consumed, and yet one who is like unto us. Well, that's
Christ Jesus. That's the only one. And so this
is what God says. We'll continue reading now in
chapter 18, verse 18. I will raise up, I will raise
them up a prophet, capital P. And I'll raise them up a prophet
from among their brethren. Like unto thee, God says, and
will put my words in his mouth. Remember that. I'm gonna put
my words in his mouth. In other words, he's gonna speak
exactly the words that I give to him. And he shall speak unto
them all that I shall command him. and it shall come to pass that
whosoever will not hearken unto my words which it shall speak
in my name, I require it of him." In other words, you better listen
to what he has to say. You better listen to this prophet.
Because he speaks for God to us. And we know it goes the other
way, too. He speaks to us for God and speaks
to God for us. Look at verse 20 now. But the
prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which
I have not commanded him to speak or that shall speak in the name
of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart,
how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? How
can we tell the difference? How can we tell who's speaking
for God and who's not speaking for God? Well, he says this,
verse 22, when a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the
thing follow not, nor come to pass, That is the thing which
the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously. Don't be afraid of him. He doesn't
have the word of God. Don't be afraid of him at all. God's gonna raise up a prophet.
Christ Jesus is that prophet. And of course, he fills all three
of the offices that in the Old Testament men were anointed to.
He is that prophet of God. He is at a high priest unto God
who prays for his people and offered the sacrifice to God
for his people. And he is also the king and he's
anointed to all three offices. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, it is so good of
you to direct our steps to this building tonight where, gathering
as a group of unworthy sinners, we can open up this sacred book and read and to some degree understand
the things that you have had recorded for the benefit of your
people. Lord, thank you for leaving on
record this everlasting book, this book that shall outlast
this earth. When the heavens and the earth
shall be consumed with fervent heat, and when they shall be
renovated and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth, there'll
still be this old book, this glorious Word of God, that as
you have said, it liveth and abideth forever. Lord, this reveals
to us the very mind and will and purpose of God. And we couldn't know you in a
saving way except through this word. Indeed, the heavens do
declare your glory. The firmament, it shows your
handiwork. All the marvelous things that
you have made manifest to us something of your power, your
greatness, and your wisdom. But it is only in this book that
we learn of the glorious gospel of substitution and satisfaction. It's only in the word of God
that we find out about the Lord Jesus, that blessed Savior, that
one that you rose up from among the brethren, one whose bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh, born of a virgin, made
under the law in order to redeem those that were under the law.
What a magnificent Savior. And Lord, we meet together tonight
to sing praises to Him, and then to try to exalt Him in the preaching
of the Word of God. We know He is the incarnate Word,
and this written Word is all about Him. This is indeed a hymn
book. And open our minds and open our
hearts, open our understanding that we might see Christ Jesus
throughout the scriptures. The words of the master to the
Pharisees come to mind. He said, search the scriptures
or you do search the scriptures. For in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and these are they which testify of me. And we know when we read the
word of God and we don't see Christ Jesus in the portion that
we read, we have read to no profit. Our reading has been vain. Let
us always be looking for the Savior, and we ask, O God, the
Spirit, that you'll give us an eye for Him. And as we go through
the message tonight, we ask that you'd bless the Word. Those that are sick, we pray
for them, especially Pat and Diane. And Lord, we say of them
what The messenger sent from Mary and Martha said to the Savior
concerning their brother Lazarus, Lord, we'll put it this way,
Lord, these two ladies whom thou lovest are sick. And we ask that
you'd administer healing mercy to them if you would. And others
of our congregation, we hold them up to you as well. Pray
that you'll meet all of our needs. And we believe and know that
you will according to the riches of your grace through Christ
Jesus our Lord. Thank you for blood redemption.
And I ask that all of us would be brought to the feet of the
glorious Savior to rest in him for all of our salvation. These
things we ask with thanksgiving in that name which is above every
name. In the name of our Lord Jesus
and for His sake. Amen. Go back with me, if you
would, to John chapter 17. I've been preaching several messages
from John chapter 17 and asking God to bless as the Word does
go forth. And I want to go back to it tonight,
and maybe I might get another message from it for next Wednesday
night, I'm not sure. But let me read two verses to
you from John 17, verses 8 and 14. This is our Lord praying,
and He says to the Father, for I have given unto them, I've
given unto them words which thou gavest me. Remember that passage
I read back in the book of Deuteronomy. I have given unto them the words
which thou gavest me. And they have received them and
have known of a truth or surely that I came out from thee And
they have believed that thou didst send me. And then verse 14, I have given them thy word and
the world hath hated them because they're not of the world, even
as I am not. of the world. As a result of
the Savior giving these words to his disciples, four things
are gonna happen, and they have happened. Three of them are mentioned
in verse eight. I've given unto them the words
which thou gavest me. Number one, they received them. They've received. Have you? Have
you received the Word of God? The words that come down from
God? They have received them, and secondly, they've known. Now they know something. They've known about me. That I came out from thee. So first of all, they've received
the Word, and they did so with gladness. And secondly, they've
known me. They've known that I came out
from thee. They now know since I have given
them thy word that I'm equal with thee. I'm God. I'm the very
Son of God. And here's the third thing. And
they have believed that thou didst send me. They've
received. They've known and they believe. And here's the fourth result
of him giving them his word. Verse 15. I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the... Oh, verse 14, I'm sorry. I have
given them thy word and here's the result. And the world hath
hated them. Now, when God gives His Word,
and His Word is, He's exalted His Word. I said in my prayer,
heaven and earth, the Lord said, heaven and earth will pass away,
but not my Word. Not my Word. Whenever He gives
His Word, and He gives it with authority, and He gives it by
the very power of the Spirit of God, something's going to
happen. and actually four somethings
are gonna happen. Those to whom He sends the Word
of God with power, they're going to receive it as being the Word
of God. Do you remember in the book of
1 Thessalonians 1, Paul talked about preaching to these people
from Thessalonica, and he says, when the Word came to you, you
received it, not as a word of a man, but as the Word of God. This is not my word. The doctrine
that we preach, the words that we say, the Word of God here
that's open before us, these are not our words. These are
the words of God. And when He, by His Spirit, works
within us, here's what will happen. We will receive them. We will
receive them as being the very Word of God. The reason we embrace the Scriptures
and we hold the Scriptures so very, very high, and I'm fully
persuaded the King James Version is the best translation, and
I know there are some other translations, but I believe that there are
lesser translations. I believe this is as close to
the original as there's going to be in our day or for the rest
of the days in which the saints of God are on earth. God has
preserved this book. And He laid upon the hearts of
several men who were very knowledgeable of the original languages and
they accurately translated the Scriptures out of the Hebrew
and out of the Greek and out of the Aramaic into English. And I understand there are some
archaic words that come forth in the King James Version, but
not such as we can't understand what they mean. The Lord has
preserved this book. This is a miraculous book. Other
books, men forget about them. Other books become irrelevant.
Other books become very unimportant. We have several people here tonight
who are in the medical community. The books that you study, they're
up to date, and the medical community today, things are kept, it's
high tech, and not like doctors used to practice years ago where
they would bleed you if you got pneumonia and that sort of thing.
You know, those things, they've become obsolete, but not the
Bible. It's never obsolete. Because
it's always telling the exact same story. It tells us of God
and His glory and His greatness. He's solitary. He's just. He's righteous. He's gracious.
He's loving. He's holy. He's sovereign. All
of these things about God's in the book. And it tells us about
us and our depravity, our fall in Adam, our wickedness, our
iniquities, our impurities. And it tells us how we can be
right with God. That there is indeed a mediator. There is a great high priest.
There is one who represents poor sinners to God. And there is
one who represents a holy God to us. He communicates to us
for God, and He communicates to God for us. And this is the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bible tells us He came into the world,
He lived, He died, He rose again, He died that God might be just
and justify the ungodly. The Word of God tells us that.
And that message will never ever change. God has preserved the
Book. There have been men like Voltaire,
who he printed his anti-God literature. And he said before long, he would
go in and on their printing presses of those who were publishing
Bibles, he would go in and he would have his literature being
published on that. Oh, it was just the reverse.
Because when he was dead and gone, on his printing presses,
Bibles were turned out, the Word of God. Because this Word of
God, it does live and it abides forever. And God sends it to
us, and by his grace, we receive it as being God's Word. It's
not the Baptist's Word, it's not the preacher's Word, it's
not the church's Word, it's God's Word is what it is. and we receive
it as such. And this word, when it comes
to us, we then know the one who came down from God. And you can't
know him apart from this book. There is no knowledge of him
apart from the scriptures. All of the word of God is about
him. It tells us who he is. in His
identity, in His holiness, in His deity. It tells us of His
humiliation, how He left heaven's glory, how He did come here,
of His birth, how He made Himself of no reputation
and took upon Himself the form of a servant. And then he was
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And we receive that truth. We
receive this as being the book of God. You know why I reject
evolution as it's taught by science? Because I believe the word of
God. Why, it's very simple. Well, preacher, can you explain
this and explain that? If not much, I can't explain.
But I believe what God says. Oh yeah, I believe what God,
I believe in the beginning God created. All things begin with
God and all things gonna end with God. He made all things,
the scripture says He made all things by the word of His power.
That's what the book says, that's what I believe. Well, they say
you're simple minded. Be it what it may, I'll admit
to being simple-minded if it means you just believe what God
says. Well, I'll confess that's what
I am. I just believe what God says.
And I believe there was a flood. I believe God did destroy this
earth, the population on this earth with water. I believe what
God says about homosexuality and sodomy and that sort of thing. I believe God's word is right
and I believe that those who abide in that kind of lifestyle
are deserving of the judgment of God. Sodom and Gomorrah, they
were evil cities. But that wasn't their only problem
because Ezekiel says their sin was pride. That was their sin. And that's the sin of across
the globe today, is pride. That's always been man's problem,
arrogance. We think we're big. There's nothing
to us. Why do you think false religion
is so rampant and people take hold of it? Because it elevates
man. It elevates man above what the
Scripture says he is. You see, the Word of God says,
Our Lord is all. He is everything. If He's everything,
that means we're nothing. We're nothing. But the more you
make man to be something, then you bring God down just that
much. And that's what's wrong today.
We're bringing God down and we're lifting man up. The Bible doesn't
do that. The Bible says every man at his
best state is altogether vanity. At his best state. And it says
there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth
not. And people talk about how good
men are, and as we would define goodness, I understand what they're
saying. But the Bible says, because the Bible's comparing us with
God, it says there's none that doeth good. No, not one. It just takes the sickle and
just whacks us all down to size. And that's offensive to men.
But when God the Spirit does a work of grace within us, here's
what happens. We receive the word of God. We
receive it as God's word. Not as the words of some Jewish
peasants. Not as the words of some self
appointed preachers. We receive this as the word of
God. I have nothing, I have no other authority for what I believe
and what I practice than this book right here. That's all we've
got. Most of the old creeds and confessions
of faith, and I found some degree of interest in reading these
old documents, but most of them begin this way, that the authority
is the word of God. Don't even have to write the
other things, just say, it's the Word of God. And you see,
the Word of God, the Bible, it is all we need for instruction
and guidance in this life. Now, if you go to a so-called
Christian bookstore, you'll find any number of books on, so-called
Christian books on how to, How to run the Christian race. Well,
don't waste your money. The Bible tells you how to run
the Christian race. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. That's what the scripture says. How to be better parents. How
to be godly parents. How to be Christian parents.
And so you go and invest and buy that book. Well, I can tell
you how to be Christian godly parents. Raise your children
up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Well, I'm gonna
go buy a book on how to be a better husband. Maybe you need to be a better
husband. You don't have to buy another book for it. You got
a book right here. It says, Husbands, love your
wives as Christ loved the church. and gave himself for it. That
was a sacrificial love. That was a giving love. And wives,
you don't need to go buy a book that says how to be a godly wife. Bible's got some for you too.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. I mean, all of this is set forth
in the script. Well, what about the children?
Children, you don't need to go buy a very simple book about
how to be a child in your household. Children, obey your parents and
the Lord. But this is right. And it's the
only commandment given with promise, the scripture says. You see,
the Word of God, it fits us to a T. It's just exactly what we
need. God knew exactly what we needed. And so He gave us this book.
And in the Old Testament, in all of these pictures and types
and so forth, and even in the history of Israel, it isn't just
to teach us historical narratives. The Old Testament sets before
us Christ Jesus, the Lord who is coming, that great prophet,
likened to Moses, that great high priest, after the order
of Melchizedek. And He's the King, like David,
who reigns in righteousness. And the Old Testament tells us
about salvation, Salvations of the Lord, the salvation of the
righteousness of the Lord. If I had nothing but the Old
Testament Scriptures, and any preacher of the Gospel will tell
you this, if that's all we had was the Old Testament Scriptures,
we'd just keep on preaching the Gospel right on. Now here's what
the New Testament does, it brings to light. a lot of those mysteries
of the Old Testament, pictures and typologies of the Old Testament.
That's what the New Testament does. It kind of explains the
Old Testament. Because here are the symbolic
pictures of salvation in the Old Testament, and we get to
the New Testament, and then it's made very clear for us. And we receive the Word of God. When the book of God comes to
us, when the words of the Lord come to us in power, here's what
we'll do. We'll receive them. And we won't
argue with them. Now we may say something like
this, I can't understand that. That's over my head. That's too
deep for me. All of those, that's okay. but
those in whose heart the Holy Ghost has worked a work of grace
will not read something in the Word of God and then say, I'm
not gonna believe that. I'm not going to receive that.
No. The people of God say, I'm gonna
receive it though I can't explain it. Though I can't comprehend
it. This is God's book. And I'll
just ask him to teach me. I'll ask him to open my mind,
open my heart. And that's exactly what the Savior
did in Luke chapter 24. After his resurrection, first
of all, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he opened their
understanding and then to the eleven apostles at the end of
Luke chapter 24. He opened their hearts. He opened their understanding.
He gave them understanding. And here we have the Word of
God before us tonight, and what we ask God for is, give me grace
to receive this as being the very Word of God. And then, they have known surely that I
came out from thee. All of the people of God, when
the Holy Spirit sends forth the word to our hearts, we will know
the Lord Jesus Christ. We will know him in a saving
way. We will know him as the Redeemer. In the Bible, so often when it
talks about to know, it kind of includes, it does include
the idea of love. It's like the Lord said to Israel,
you only have I known, you only have I known of all the nations
of the earth. Well, you mean he didn't know
about anybody else? Oh, he knows about everybody and everything.
He's saying he had special knowledge for them, and they were a typical
people, typical of the church. And as the Lord knows us, the
scripture says, the Lord knoweth them that are his, isn't that
what it says? The Lord knoweth them that are his. Does that
mean he doesn't know everybody? That's exactly what he means.
And he knows about everybody and he knows everything there
is to know about everything and everybody. But he knows with
a special loving knowledge only his people. Therefore, he's gonna say to
some folks in the last day, Matthew chapter seven, Depart from me. I know I've heard you bragging.
I've heard your profession. Lord, Lord, have we done this
and that and something else in your name and in your name cast
out devils and in your name done many wonderful works. And then
the Lord says, I'm going to profess something to them. I never knew
you. What's that mean? I never loved you. I never had
a heart relationship with you. I never had affection for you,
and you never had affection for me. You see, when we talk about knowing
the Lord, we're talking about loving Him. It's a loving knowledge. You find out who He is, you receive
the record of God, you find out who Jesus Christ is, and you
love Him just exactly the way He's set forth in the Bible. Is he set forth as the prophet?
Yes, I love him that way. He's the only infallible teacher. Is he set forth as the great
high priest who intercedes for his people and who offered himself
unto God as a sacrifice for us? Oh yeah, he set forth that way.
I received the word of God concerning Christ Jesus as my high priest
and I know him that way. I love him that way. I love the
fact I got somebody representing me before God. He calls my name to the heavenly
father. He intercedes for me. He represents
me and my interests and my cause. And he's working all things out
for my good and for his glory. Oh, I know him. I love him. I love him as my high priest.
I love him as my king. I love Him as the Sovereign.
I receive what the Word of God says about Him. He reigns over
everything. Boy, I'm thankful. I love Him
that way. I love His Lordship. I love the
fact that He governs everything and everybody. I love what David
said about him. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did he. In heaven, earth, seas, under
the earth, everywhere, whatever he pleased to do. I love him
that way. Because that means he's got all
authority to work all of these things together in the lives
of believers for our good and for his glory. You see, if God
does not absolutely rule as the sovereign, How in the world could
it be that he'd make all things work together for our good? In
order for him to work all things together for our good, Romans
8, 28, you know the passage of Scripture. In order for him to
work all things together for our good, he's got to have authority,
absolute authority over all things. He does, I love him as the king. I know him as the king. I receive
his word. I know him. I love him. And then he says, they have believed, they have
believed that thou did send me. I'm a believer. That's what I
am. I'm a believer. I believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Pretty simple, actually. What
must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Believe. And I'll tell you, if
the word of God ever comes home to you in power, in authority
by the Holy Spirit, you'll believe Him. And you'll give up this
self-salvation. You'll give up all this trying
to work yourself into God's favor. You'll give it all up. And you'll
say, this is the Savior I need, the one who did everything. And I believe Him. And then, one more. Let's go
to that verse 14 again. Verse 14. So those to whom the
word of God comes, they receive this is the word of God. They
know Christ who came from heaven and they believe him. And then
in verse 14, I've given them my word and I'll tell you what
they're gonna find out then. The world's gonna hate them. The religious world is not going
to be your friend. Why can't you, preacher, why
can't you get along with all the other preachers around here
and go to the ministerial association meetings and all of that sort
of thing? Because most of the preachers
that I know of in this area, and of course I don't know all
of them, but I can read, I read what they put in the newspaper
and that sort of thing, and I know the position, the beliefs and
positions of their churches. The reason I can't walk together
with them is because we're not agreed. Amos said that, Amos
3.3. I learned that verse many, many
years ago. I was about five years old. Can
two walk together except they be agreed? You can't walk with
somebody, you can't be in fellowship with somebody unless you're in
agreement with them. There's gotta be some level of
agreement. There's gotta be some level of
fellowship. I can't fellowship with anybody
who believes man's will is more powerful than God's will. I can't
do that. I can't have fellowship with
somebody who believes that the Lord Jesus Christ tried to save
everybody when He died and now it's up to you if you're going
to be saved or not. I can't believe that because
that means salvation is in the hands of the sinner. That means
it all hinges on you. I'm just simple minded enough
to believe salvation is of the Lord, Ron. That's what the Bible
says. That's what I believe. Take me to task over that if
you want to, That's what it says. That's what it says. It says, by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not even of yourself. It's a gift of God.
What is that? Faith is a gift of God. You don't
have it. You can't muster it up. It's
not in you to believe. If you believe, God's got to
put it in you. And I'll tell you what, if the
Word comes to you in power, The Word of God, the Word of the
Gospel comes to you in power. The religious world is not going
to like it. They're not going to be your
buddy. You can get along with them on some other ground. You
understand that. But when it comes to religion, they say two things you don't
want to get into discussions about. Religion and
politics. Well, I know a bunch of people
are wrong about politics, but I'll keep that to myself. But I'm not going to keep this
gospel to myself. Because to be wrong on this, that's a death sentence. That's
right. It's a death sentence. You can
be wrong about your politics. You can be wrong about a number
of things, but if you're wrong about the gospel, you're gonna miss glory. You're
gonna miss Christ, that's for sure. Well, let's sing.