All right, we're gonna be looking
at that passage that Brother Joe just read in John chapter
15. But before we go there, I wanna
read a passage in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter
10. If you wanna follow along, Revelation
chapter 10. The title of this message this
morning is We Are Not of the World. We are not of the world. We there, I'm speaking of believers,
true Christians, sinners saved by the grace of God. We are not
of the world. We're in the world, but we're
not of the world. In the past few weeks, I've been
talking about the believer's warfare with the world, defining
the world, looking at this passage in John 15. But I want to finish
that out today on in chapter 15 what the Word of God is for
us in this subject of we're not of the world. We are not of the
world. What does that mean? Well, look at Revelation 10.
I want you to look at verse 8 of Revelation 10. This chapter of
Revelation, of course, Revelation is talking about events that
will happen in the last days between Christ's first coming
up to His second coming. and how the church will fare
in those days in the commission of the church. And here he says
in verse eight, he says, the voice which I heard, this is
John, the apostle John receiving a revelation from Christ, the
voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again and said,
go and take the little book. Now, he's been talking about
a little book that's open here in this chapter, and that little
book is the book of the gospel. It's the book of God's purpose
and promise of salvation by his grace in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ and John's commission, the church's commission to go
into all the world and preach that gospel. We're to be witnesses
for Christ in the world. And that's what he's talking
about. Go and take the little book which is open in the hand
of the angel. which standeth upon the sea and
upon the earth." That's Christ, the messenger of God, standing
upon the sea and the earth. He's in control. This world belongs
to him. And he's sovereign over all things. And he says in verse 9, and I
went unto the angel and said unto him, give me the little
book. And he said unto me, now this language may seem strange
to you, but listen to what he says. He says, take it and eat
it up. Now that's figurative language.
It's not a literal book like this Bible that you have in your
hands. And he's not talking about eating paper and leather and
things like that. He's talking about symbolically
an act of faith. Believing it. In other words,
this little book, this gospel, this word of Christ, this word
of God's glory, is something you consume spiritually so much
that it becomes a part of you. There's so many ways to state
this in scripture. It's the law written on the heart.
If something's written on your heart, nobody can take it away.
You know, if God writes it on your heart, nobody can take it
away. But it's part of your mind, your
affections, your will. It's part of your inner person,
the inner man, Paul called it. And you can't get away from it
and it will never be taken away from you. You may stray a little
while but you can't get away from it because you've eaten
it up. That's what he's saying by faith. And he says, now look
in verse nine, he says, eat it up and it shall make thy belly
bitter. Bitter. But it shall be in thy
mouth sweet as honey. Look at verse 10, I took the
little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up and it was
in my mouth sweet as honey. And as soon as I'd eaten it,
my belly was bitter. Sounds like a kid eating too
much candy, but that's not what he's talking about. He said,
I ate it and it was sweet to my taste, sweet to my tongue,
but bitter in my belly. In verse 11, he said unto me,
thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and
tongues and kings. So he's talking about going forth
into all the world and preaching this gospel that is bittersweet. The bittersweet gospel, that's
what that is. Well, we know something about
the sweetness of the gospel. Because it's sweet, this gospel
message, this good news. That's what gospel means, isn't
it? Good news. Good news is sweet to you, isn't
it? When you hear good news. And you think about it, a sinner
seeking mercy. It's sweet to find that mercy,
isn't it? Real mercy to a sinner who needs
salvation by grace. When you hear of that grace in
Christ, that's sweet, isn't it? By nature, there's none righteous,
no, not one. That's what we need, righteousness.
When I find righteousness in Christ, that's sweet. And that's
what he's talking about. We sing the song, Amazing Grace,
how, what? Sweet the sound that saved a
wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see. That's sweet. How sweet the name
of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows,
heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. How sweet, how
sweet. So we who are saved by the grace
of God, who know Christ, we know something about the sweetness
of the gospel. When we study the word, we go
through different passages of scripture and we see more and
more of the glory of Christ in our salvation. It's sweet to
us. But what about this bitterness?
What's he talking about? We'll go back to John 16. The
chapter right next to our text. And look at verse 33. Now here's
what the bitterness is all about. He says, sweet to your mouth,
the bitter in your belly. Well look at verse 33 of John
16. Now this is all right in line with John 15, what I'm going
to be dealing with, these verses. And I want you to understand
what's going on here now. They're on their way to the Garden
of Gethsemane. They just left the upper room.
Remember Christ, He walked three and a half years on this earth
and publicly preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of
peace, healing people, performing miracles. And then in John chapter
13, we see His public ministry ending and his private ministry
to his disciples in the upper room, and that's where he washed
the disciples' feet, that's where he instituted, that's where he
exposed Judas for being a false apostle, that's where he instituted
the Lord's Supper, all of that, and he instructed them, comforted
them. Now they've left the upper room and they're on their way
to the Garden of Gethsemane. That's when he goes by the temple
and they see that embossed vine on the temple and then he begins
to teach, remember back in John 15, I'm the true vine, you're
the branches. He begins showing them the things
that separate a true believer from the world, our union with
Christ. And he's going to Gethsemane.
Now the disciples knew that even his being in Judea, let alone
Jerusalem, was a danger to him and to them. They knew that. In fact, you remember, he kept
telling them, he said, this is the reason I came into the world.
They kept trying to stop him because they knew that he was
in danger. They knew he'd offended the scribes and the Pharisees
and the Sadducees and the Herodians and the Romans. He'd offended
everybody with his preaching. Now, he didn't preach offensive
things in and of themselves, but they're offensive to the
world. And even old Thomas, Thomas, I think it's recorded somewhere
back in chapter 13 or 14, I can't remember. But even Thomas, you
remember doubting Thomas. Thomas, he got so tired of their
arguing about going to Jerusalem and all that, the disciples that
is, not the Lord, because he was going. He said his face like
a flint. He said, for this purpose came
into this world. He told him, he said, shall I
not do the will of my father? He says, it's my meat to do the
will of my father. He was going. But the disciples
in their little discussion, they're like us, you know, groping around
in the dark, afraid all the time. And old Thomas, he got so frustrated
one time, he said, well, if he's determined to go to Jerusalem
and die, let's go die with him. That's what he said. So here
they are going to the, Garden of Gethsemane, and look at verse
33 of John 16. He says, these things, these
things that I've been telling you about now, these things I
have spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. That's
the sweetness of the gospel. In Christ we have peace. But
now here's the bitterness. In the world you shall have trouble. Tribulation. And that trouble
comes in various forms and various ways to various degrees. But
it's still trouble. Now he says, now that's the bitterness
right there. But he says, but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world. There's the sweetness. Aren't
you glad that it ends with sweetness instead of bitterness? We'll
go back to John 15 and verse 18. There is a sweetness in the gospel
for a sinner seeking mercy when he finds it in Christ. Forgiveness
of my sins. Not just yesterday, but today.
Not just before I stepped into the pulpit, but while I'm standing
here before you. You know what I need? I need
mercy, forgiveness by the blood of Christ. Right now. And when
I get down, I'll need it. It's of the Lord's mercies that
I'm not consumed. I don't change that way when
I step behind this pulpit. I don't become a holy man. I speak the holy word of God,
and you check me out on that. Test the spirits. I don't mind
being tested. I heard a preacher, he got offended
one time. He said, I feel like I'm being put on trial. I said,
well, every time you step behind a lectern and behind a pulpit
and say you're proclaiming the word of God, you're on trial,
my friend. You can't handle that, just get down. That's so. But here's the fact of the matter.
The world hates Christ and his disciples. You say, well, what
in the world's that all about? Well, look at verse 18. If the
world hate you, that word if would be better translated since.
Since the world hates you. Or because the world hates you.
Now here's the fact, you know that it hated me before it hated
you. He says in verse 19, if you were of the world, if you
were in fellowship with the world, that's what that means. To be
of the world means to be tied to the world. We're in the world,
you're in the world. Listen, we're not walking on
a cloud. If you're saved, you don't walk
10 feet in the air. You still have jobs, families.
You still have things you have to do. Things you have to take
care of, things you have to think of that are not sinful in and
of themselves, but here's what he's saying. You're not in fellowship
with this world in its thoughts, in its values, in its ways, and
especially in its religion. You're not of the world. You're
not tied to the world. The book of Revelation and other
passages of scripture will sometimes speak about people of the earth,
that means earth dwellers and what that's talking about is
people who are so tied to this world and this earth and the
things of this world and this earth that they give no thought
to the glory of God, to salvation, to eternal life, to the judgment,
this earth is the end all and the be all of their existence,
that's what it's talking about, it's talking about unbelievers
when it talks about earth dwellers and he says you're not that You
know Christ. You know the Lord of glory. You
know this world is passing. We read that in 1 John 2. This
world's passing away. And some of us old heads, we're
becoming more and more aware of that, aren't we? This world's
passing away. Some say, eat, drink, and be
merry. Tomorrow you die. Grab for all the gusto you can
get. Y'all remember that commercial back in the 70s? Grab for all
the gusto you can get. And their answer to it was drinking
beer. That's crazy. But we know there,
we know, Brother Mayhem preached this sermon one time, I'll never
forget it. He said four points. He said there's four things that
are common to every one of us. Number one, we all have a life
to live. Number two, we all have a death to die. Number three,
we all have a judgment to face. And number four, we all have
an eternity to spend. Isn't that true? So don't ever
go around saying the only two things are death and taxes. No.
There are four things every one of us will have to go through. We've got to live a life. It
may be a short life, it may be a long life, but it's a life.
And how are we going to live it? And we're going to die. It
may be a violent death. It may be a quiet, peaceful death.
But how are we going to die? We have a judgment to face. How
are we going to face judgment? There's a good question, isn't
it? How are we going to stand before God at judgment? And we
have an eternity to spend somewhere, somewhere, heaven or hell. Now, how are we going to do it?
And this is what Christ is saying. You're not of this world. You
don't think like the world in those areas. You have a different
set of values. You have different goals, different
motives. And he says in verse 19, if you were of the world,
the world would love his own. The world would embrace you if
you were of them, if you were in fellowship with them. But
because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the
world, there's that electing grace again. Remember back up
in verse 16, he says, you've not chosen me. Salvation is not
the result of your choice or my choice. It's God's choice.
You say, well, I don't like that. It doesn't matter if you like
it or not. That's what the scripture teaches. And you can't prove
otherwise. Somebody says, well, I chose
Christ. You did if He chose you. It's what the Scripture says. I've chosen you out of the world.
Therefore, for that reason, the world hateth you. The world hateth
you. Look at verse 20. He says, remember
the word that I said unto you, the servant's not greater than
his Lord. In other words, if your Lord and Master whom you
serve and follow and identify with and testify of, if the world
hated Him, what's it going to do to you when you serve Him
and testify of Him and glorify Him? It's going to hate you too.
You're no greater than Him. You're not better than Him. How
do you think about it? And this is amazing. But by nature,
we all think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Now that's
just human nature. Even believers, we have to, listen,
believer, you haven't gotten over that. Now I'm gonna talk
about that when I talk about the warfare of the flesh and
the spirit. There's a warfare, isn't it? That's the warfare
within. But we all, by nature, think
more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. We think we're
better than we are. That's right. And I know sometimes
we can, as the old farmer used to say, put on the dog, you know,
talk about how low and all that stuff like that. But let somebody
insult you and see you put on the dog then, you know, that
kind of thing. But what I'm saying is this. Most people today think more
highly of their own love than they do of the Lord's love. Think
about that. Think about it. He says the servant's
not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, now why
did they persecute him? Listen to it, verse 20. If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they've kept
my saying, they will keep yours also. They persecuted him, not
because of what he did, but because of what he said. What he said. What he preached. And I've heard
people today say, well, you ought not say certain things to people
because you just make them mad. You ought to show more love. Don't tell them they're lost.
Don't tell them that. Be loving first. Well, you think
more highly of your love than you do the Lord's. What did He
tell them? Think about it. He stood there
before the Pharisees in John chapter 8 verse 44, and he says,
You're of your father the devil, and his lust and his works you'll
do. Think about telling somebody
that today. Well, they'd say, You're the
most hateful thing that ever walked on the face of the earth. They
think more highly of their own love than they do the Lord's.
Here's love incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the person
who loved perfectly and never had a thought of hatred except
righteous hatred against sin. And he says, they persecuted
me. Now, why did they persecute him?
I'll tell you why they persecuted him. You can put it in different
ways, but it was because of his love. He loved his father. He wouldn't compromise the glory
of his father to gain the appreciation and the admiration and the following
of this world. He would not compromise the glory
of God to get you or me to be his friend. He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't sue. He told the
truth. When he came into the temple
and he saw in the outer Gentile court there the money changers
using religion to make money, did you hear what I just said? When he came into the temple
and came to the outer Gentile court and saw the religionists
using religion to make money, what did he do? Now, fellas,
you ought not do that. I know you're saved. We're brothers. That's not what he did. He got
out a whip and he drove them out. He said, you've turned the house
of the Lord into a den of thieves and robbers. And I'll tell you
what, they're doing that today too. It hadn't changed. And he said, if they persecuted
me, they'll persecute you. Look at verse 21. He says in
verse, but all these things will they do unto you for my name's
sake. Now he's talking about not just
persecution in general here. I mean, you can be persecuted
for a lot of things. You can be persecuted just because
you're hard to get along with. That's not what he's talking
about. If that's why you're persecuted, you need to change. You can be
persecuted just because you insult people. If that's the case, then
you need to change. He's talking here about being
persecuted for his name, for his glory, for his honor. He
calls it in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 10, persecution for righteousness
sake. That's for the gospel. That's
what he's talking about. for your testimony of him. He
said, they do unto you for my namesake because they know not
him that sent me they don't know God. They don't know God. Persecution over the gospel.
Now, persecution is bitter. But there's a sweetness about
it too. I want to show you that. In Romans chapter 8 and verse
15, Romans chapter 8 and verse 15 the Bible has a lot to say
about this subject being persecuted over the gospel Because of what
we believe and what it comes down to is this here Let me put
it as simply as I can put it to you. It comes down to this
the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ as He now listen
as he is identified and distinguished in the Bible And I have to say
that because they're a counterfeit Christ There are other, 2 Corinthians
11 speaks other Jesuses. The Lord Jesus Christ, as he's
identified and distinguished in this word here, whatever this
word says about him, he's God and man in one person. Whatever
the word says about his finished work, he accomplished redemption
on Calvary for his people. He didn't try to save anybody.
He's not trying to save anybody. That's not what this book says
about him, see. He saved His people from their
sins. He shall save His people from
their sins. The Lord Jesus Christ in the power of His blood and
the power of His righteousness as He was made sin and His people
are made the righteousness of God in Him as He's identified.
That one, the Lord Jesus Christ is the one exclusive and only
way of salvation. Nobody else, nothing else. Now
that's basically what brings on the persecution of the world.
It's not your idea of Christ or my idea, it's what the Bible
says about it. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Now, in the past 30 years or
so, you think about men who've preached and become famous, I'll
guarantee you that just about every one of them will renege
right here on that issue. I can remember years ago that
when Billy Graham was being interviewed by Robert Shuler, that's the
very point that he held back on. Is Jesus Christ the one and
only way of salvation? And basically, he said, no. No. I believe there'll be Buddhists
in heaven. I believe there'll be Muslims and all that. Now,
you tell somebody that and say, well, you're just being hateful.
You're just being exclusive, you're being an elitist, no.
I'm not saying this because I'm a bigot or I'm an elitist, I'm
saying that because I followed the Lord Jesus Christ and that's
what he said. Peter stood and he said, there's
none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Isn't
that what he said in Acts chapter four? And as I quote in John
14, six, this is one of the things that Christ taught him back there.
He says in verse six, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, I am
the truth, the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. There's
one God and one mediator between God and men, not Mary, not the
saints, the man, Christ Jesus, no other way. No other foundation
can be laid. Now that's basically what it
comes down to. But look at Romans 8, 15. Now
he says, for you have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. Now that's the sweetness of it.
The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. We are the children of God. And
if children, then heirs. Oh, how sweet the sound. Heirs
of God and joint heirs with Christ, now look at the next line. If
so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. Suffering with Christ. What's
he talking about? He's talking about the bitterness
of persecution that comes, that Christ is talking about here
in John 15 when we identify with him. He said in Matthew chapter
5 and verse 9, he said, listen to this now, this is the Beatitudes
in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 9. He says, blessed are the
peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Now
the children of God, believers, we're to be peacemakers. We're
to try to make peace in every way we can. We're not to be people
of war and debate and argument and fussing and fighting and
all that. We're to be peacemakers. but
not at the expense of the truth, not at the expense of the honor
of God. Listen to the next beatitude in verse 10 of Matthew 5. Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. So right after he says blessed
are the peacemakers, he says blessed are they that are persecuted.
Why would you ever be persecuted over making peace? Well, what's
the ground of that peace? What's the issue of that peace?
What's the issue of peace between God and sinners? It's how can
God be just and justify the ungodly? How can that take place? Not
by your works, not by my works, but only by the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Period. Nothing else. And so
he went on to say in Matthew 511, blessed are you when men
shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely for my sake, rejoice and be exceeding
glad. You mean because people are reviling
me? Saying all manner of evil against me? No, he says for great
is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. You know, the persecution that
comes over the gospel proves that we have the gift of faith.
Listen to this in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 27. Paul writes, and you know Paul's
writing from prison when he's in prison at Rome because he
preached the gospel. And he writes to the church at
Philippi and in verse 27 he says, "...only let your conversation
be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." that whether I come
and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that
you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together
for the faith of the gospel. And in nothing by your adversaries
be terrified, which is to them an evident token of perdition,
damnation. but to you salvation, and that
of God. For under you it is given, it's
a gift, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, yes,
faith is a gift, but also to suffer for his sake. That's a
gift too. It identifies us as true children
of God. But now, look back at John 15.
Now look at verse 22. Now, here's the specific reason
that the Lord gives for the world's hatred. Now listen to it and
don't miss it. He says in verse 22, if I had
not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. What does he mean they had not
had sin? Well, that colon that's after that in the King James
Version, that explains what he means. The next line explains
what he means. But now they have no cloak for
their sin. In other words, what he came
and spoke to them removed the cloak that was hiding their sin. Some people say that word cloak
should be translated excuse. They have no excuse for their
sin, but I think cloak is a better word. You can look it up if you
want, but I believe it is. He says in verse 23, look here,
he says, he that hateth me, hateth my father also. Now, somebody
says, well, you're talking about the religions of the world. Well,
we all believe in the same God, we're just going different ways.
Christ didn't say that. Here's what Christ said, if you
hate me, you hate the Father. Somebody says, well, I don't
hate him, I just don't believe in him. Well, he says, you can't
sit on the fence there. He that is not for me is what?
What did he say? What did Christ say? He that
is not for me is what? Against me. That's what he said. He said, look at verse 24, he
said, if I had not done among them the works which none other
man did, they had not had sin. What does he mean? But now have
they both seen and hated both me and my father. What happens
here? In his preaching, the gospel
of God's grace in Christ, what he did is he exposed their sinfulness
and their hatred for the father. That's what he did. Now, the
question you need to ask yourself on this thing here is this. How
do people cloak sin? How do they cloak it? And there's
a lot of ways. I could spend a lot of time up
here showing you a lot of ways, but let me give you some things. First of all, turn to John 3
and verse 19. Turn to John 3. Now, when you
look at this passage, don't forget Who the Lord is talking to here? John chapter 3. He's talking
to a man named Nicodemus. Now, who was Nicodemus? Well,
Nicodemus was a religious man. He was a Pharisee. Not only that,
he was a Pharisee of high office. He was one who had reached the
court of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court. He was a leader among
the Jews. He was a man who was respected,
looked up to, a moral man. One who appeared outwardly righteous.
That's who he's talking to. Remember, he told him, you gotta
be born again, Nicodemus. Nicodemus didn't understand that.
But look at verse 18 of John chapter three. He says, he that
believeth on him is not condemned. He that believes on Christ, who
rests in Christ, who can sing from the heart. My hope is built
on nothing less, and I would add nothing more, than Jesus'
blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Do you really believe that all
other ground is sinking sand? All other ground but Christ the
rock? See what I'm saying? Any other ground? I mean any
other ground. For any person, even grandma
and grandpa, any other ground is sinking sand. I believe that
because that's what our Lord said. He says, he that believeth
not on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is
condemned already because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. You see, to rest on any hope
of salvation other than Christ and Him crucified, His blood
and righteousness alone is to be condemned under the condemnation
of God. You stand before God In your
own works, your best works, your best intentions, your best professions
of religion, your best experiences, your most astounding experiences,
your best reformations, stand before God in anything but the
blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does
that mean? Condemnation. And so he says in verse 19, and
this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world.
What does light do? It reveals, it exposes, it removes
the cloak, the darkness that hides and conceals. It removes ignorance, something
I didn't know before. And men love darkness rather
than light. Why do they love darkness? Because
their deeds are evil. What are their deeds? That's
their attempts to keep the law. Nicodemus? Well, I'm doing the
best I can do. I'm trying to be a good person. I'm trying to do all these things.
That ought to count for something. No, as far as justification before
a holy God, as far as the forgiveness of sins and salvation, it will
do nothing for you. That's why Christ had to come
and die on that cross. That's why he was made sin. Christ,
too, knew no sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. That's why he was made a curse
for us, because man at his best state is altogether vanity. We're
sinners, and if God were to judge us based upon our best efforts,
we're still sinners and deserve nothing but death and have earned
nothing but death. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And men who think so highly of their
deeds, when the gospel is preached, it says you can have no hope
or confidence in your deeds. They will not save you, they
will not wash away your sins, they will not make you righteous,
they will not allow you to enter heaven, and they will not keep
you out of hell. There's only one thing that'll
do that, and that's the blood of Jesus Christ. the righteousness
of Christ. He says in verse 20 of John 3,
for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh
to the light lest his deed should be reproved. Now if that offends
you, you say, well, I'm not going to hear that anymore. I'll go
somewhere where some preacher will applaud my deeds. Some preacher will talk well
of my deeds. where they'll give me the key
to the city and put a plaque in my name. That's where I'll
go. Well, verse 20 describes you. You know what I'm saying. But
look at verse 21, but he that doeth truth. What is it to do
truth? It's to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to rest
in him, submit to his righteousness alone as my only ground of salvation
and my only right and title to heaven. They come to the light,
that his deeds may be manifest, that they're rod of God. Whatever
deeds I have that are acceptable, they're the work of God, not
me. Don't applaud me. Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works and do what? And glorify
your father, which is in heaven, not glorify you or me. That's what it is. This gospel. How do men by nature seek to
cloak their sin? Well, some do it by general human
morality. Charity. But that won't do it. Some cloak their sin by love. They speak peace in the name
of love. Peace where there is no peace. Some, in the way of
sexual immorality, cloak it by love. Think about the homosexual
community today. What do they say? Well, if it's
love, it can't be wrong. Now what they say, what are they
doing? They're cloaking their sin behind love. How do most people cloak their
sin? Religion, ceremony, false professors. Matthew 7, 21, Lord,
Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name? Haven't we cast out
demons? Haven't we done many wonderful works? Only to hear
him say, depart from me ye that work iniquity, You see, preaching
in his name won't cloak your sin before God, it may before
men. Casting out demons will not cloak
your sin before God, it may before men. The Pharisee, I thank God
I'm not like other men, I'm not an extortioner, I'm not an adulterer,
I do this, I go to church, I fast twice a week. You see, that may
cloak your sin before men, but not before God. Some people get baptized. Some
people rely on a profession that they made years ago. Ask people
if they're saved today. How many of them go back, well,
I made a decision back when I was 12 or 13 or 14. That won't cloak
your sin. You see, you don't need a cloak
for your sin. I don't need a cloak for my sin. What do I need? I
need my sins to be taken away, removed, dealt with. There's only one way to do that,
and that's by the blood of Christ. Did you hear what Jesus said
to me? They're all taken away. Your
sins are pardoned, you're free. They're all taken away. That's
what I need. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. He bears them away. God was in
Christ. Reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto him. David said, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. What's God going
to do with him? He has to deal with him. He's
holy. He's just. He can't just look over him.
He can't just cover him up. What does he do? He lays him
to the charge of Christ. And Christ took the sins of his
sheep. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. The sins of his church. and went to the cross and shed
his blood unto death as the full, complete, final, eternal, unchangeable
payment for all the sins of God's elect people. Somebody says, well, I wanna
be in that number. Well, believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be saved. That's it. Paul said, I thought, A lot of
things recommended me unto God. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a
Pharisee of Pharisees, touching the law, righteous. But when
I saw the glory of Christ, when that light that men by nature
hate came on by the power of the Spirit, it exposed me for
what I was, a sinner. Even though religious and outwardly
righteous before men, I was a sinner in need of salvation by grace
and mercy. And I count it all but done that
I may win Christ and be found in Him." What are you saying,
preacher? I'm saying this. Look back at
John 15. I'm saying that if you're cloaking your sin under anything, my friend, you're in a state
of lostness. The only thing that will take
away my sins is the blood of Christ. Nothing else. If you look to anyone or anything
but Christ and Him crucified and risen again, if you have
any way of forgiveness but by His blood, if you have any way
of acceptance before God but by His righteousness imputed,
then you're lost. And I'm not saying that because
I'm being mean. In fact, I want to tell you something.
That's the most loving thing I could do for you. If your house
is on fire, the best thing your neighbors can, and you're asleep
and not aware of it, the best thing your neighbor can do for
you is holler and say, get out. Isn't that right? The most hateful
thing they could do for you is just let him lie in there and
get burned up. That's what Christ is talking
about. Look back at verse 25. Here's the blindness of unbelief
and hatred. But this cometh to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they
hated me without a cause. That's quoted from Psalm 69,
I believe, which is a Psalm of Christ and his sufferings. If
you hate him, then you hate what's said of
him and by him. And if you hate what's said of
him and by him, you hate him. But let me tell you something,
if you do, it's without a cause. You don't have any just cause
to hate him or his word or his truth. You may not like it. You
may say, well, I want to believe the mountain analogy, one God
and just different roads up to him. It's not going to work. You can believe what you want
to believe, but it don't make it true. Isn't that right? I have
the authority of Christ, the authority of the word of God.
But he says in verse 26, but when the Comforter has come,
that's the Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth, that light that exposes, that
light that shows me the glory of God in Christ and my need
of Him and exposes me for what I am, which proceeds from the
Father, He shall testify of me. If it's the Holy Spirit, if the
Holy Spirit has done anything for us, You know where we'll
end up for salvation, for righteousness, for forgiveness, for eternal
life and glory? We'll end up right at Christ and Him crucified
and Him alone. You won't go anywhere else. You
won't be thinking about your baptism, your church membership,
your false professions, your works. You'll be thinking of
Christ and His glory. He's my wisdom. If I've got any
wisdom, it's Him. He's my righteousness. If I've
got any righteousness, it's Him. He's my holiness. He's my redemption. He's my all in all. Why has God
put it out all that way? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. And that's what He's saying. He shall testify
of me in verse 27, and you also shall bear witness because you've
been with me from the beginning. In other words, if the Holy Spirit's
done anything for you, you'll see that Christ is your only
hope. His blood and righteousness is
your only hope. And if the Holy Spirit's done
anything for you, you know what you're going to do? You're going
to testify of it. You're not going to keep it to yourself.
You're not going to hide this under a bushel. You're going
to tell people through your identification with the people of God and the
Word of God and the witness of His Word. All right. Let's sing
as our closing hymn, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, hymn number
235.