Alright, let's open our Bibles
to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. In putting this message together
this week, I kind of felt like I was making a pot of soup. Debbie
and I will decide on a cold winter day we want to make a pot of
soup, and we're going to make it for two people. And by the
time you start cutting up those vegetables and getting everything
in the pot, pretty soon when you're done, you've got enough
for a whole army. And so you eat on it for like a month or
so. And that's the way it was with this message, because there's
so many scriptures that we could turn to. Time won't allow, obviously,
for us to turn to all of them, so I tried to pick out some of
the best examples. to show you what I believe the
Lord would have us hear this morning concerning His Word. Back in Luke 16, last week, I
dealt with the first part of this parable, beginning at verse
19, on the rich man and Lazarus. I want to just read that this
morning. beginning at verse 19, and then
we'll come to the end of the chapter here where my text is.
It says in verse 19, the Lord speaking to his disciples and
speaking to the Pharisees who were within earshot of this parable. He says, there was a certain
rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared
sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it
came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. That's the eternal security of
God's grace and blessedness in Christ. The rich man also died
and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he
cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me." And you know,
at this time, the day of mercy is over. The day of mercy is
over after death. And he says, "'Send Lazarus,
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said,
Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. And beside all this, between
us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot." That gulf is representative
of the justice of God against sin. And this is the issue of
eternity. after facing judgment, will either
be justified in Christ and into the eternal bliss of heaven,
mercy in Christ, mercy and justice meeting together in Him, or will
stand before God on our own, which means damnation. And that
gulf cannot be filled. It cannot be crossed. So he says,
neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. Verse
27 at the end of the chapter is my text this morning. I want
you to listen to this. If you want to find out what
the main issue of this parable is, here it is. I know people
go into the parable and they try to construct a theology or
a doctrine of heaven and a theology and doctrine of hell. I don't
believe that's what this parable is about. I believe there is
a heaven and a hell. I don't know a whole lot about
them, but I can tell you this. Hell is a place I don't want
to go. And I know it's eternal separation from Christ. And I
know heaven is eternal union and blessedness, fellowship with
Christ. And that's the issue. But now
here's what the point of the parable is. Now listen to this
very, very carefully. Verse 27, Then he said, this
is the rich man in hell, I pray thee therefore, Father, that
thou wouldest send him to my father's house, send Lazarus. For I have five brethren, that
he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place
of torment. And Abraham saith unto him, They
have Moses and the prophets." Did you hear that? They have
Moses and the prophets. The title of this message is
this, The Message of Moses and the Prophets. The Message of
Moses and the Prophets. Let them hear them. Let them
hear Moses and the prophets. Verse 30, now listen to this
too now. And he said, the rich man said, Nay, father Abraham,
but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. You'd
think so, wouldn't you? Somebody rose from the dead and
appeared to you, would you repent? Well, listen to verse 31. And
he said unto them, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, Neither
will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." You
know, that is an awesome scripture. Because, you know, people are
all the time looking for somebody to rise from the dead. Watch
it on TV. They want to talk to the dead.
I was flipping around TV last night, and they've got this thing
called ghost hunters. They're hunting ghosts. Big dummies. Hunting ghosts. People don't come back from the
dead here on earth. You can't talk to the dead. Somebody
said, well, didn't Saul talk to Samuel? Yes, he did, but that
was by the power of God. That wasn't ghost hunting. That
wasn't a spiritist, or a medium, or a crystal ball gazer. That
was just a message of Moses and the prophets spoken to Saul.
And when Samuel appeared to him, he told him the same thing that
he told him when he was alive. He didn't say anything different.
And Saul ended up in worse shape than he was before. Hunting ghosts. People are looking for signs.
Give me a sign. Christ said, a wicked and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign. So if you're seeking after a
sign, what does that tell you? Wicked. adulterous, that's spiritual
adultery. They look up into the sky and
they want to see Jesus in the clouds. Some fool saw him on
a grilled cheese sandwich, sold it on eBay for like $1,500. A
bigger fool bought it. We don't know what Jesus looked
like physically. We don't. You know, the Lord
put it that way. That's just some Renaissance
painter's conception of it. We know Him by the truth. We
know Him by the Scripture. He's identified and distinguished
by what the truth, the Word of God says about Him. Not by what
you see in a dream. Not by what you see in a vision.
But that's the issue. Peter said this, he said, we
have a more sure word of prophecy. You know what he's talking about?
Now I have a book that you've got right there in your lap.
if you brought your Bible. This right here, and listen,
now I can't give you a respect for the Word of God, but I hope
God gives you a respect for it, a high regard and value for it.
There was a time I didn't have any respect for this book at
all. I made the statement one time, damn the Bible, I wish
it had never been written. I made that statement. But now
I can't live without it. Don't tell me there's not a change
when God saves a sinner. But you see, this book right
here is greater and better and worth more than if somebody you
know who's dead could come back and stand right down here and
speak to you. You'd say, well, if that would
happen, then I'd believe. No, you wouldn't. You might,
for a little while, you might run scared out the back, too.
But what you have in your hand, right there, this is it. That's what the Lord was speaking
of. This is what Abraham expressed
to the rich man in hell. They have Moses and the prophets. Now really, in this parable,
there's just really two questions that we have to be concerned
with. Number one, why did Lazarus go
to heaven? And number two, why did the rich
man go to hell? That's really what you ought
to be concerned with. You ought not be concerned with
all the details that men talk about, about heaven and streets
of gold and gates of pearl and all that. Or even hell and the
fire and the torments, because it's there. But why did Lazarus
go to heaven? That's what I want to know. Why
did the rich man go to hell? Well, I can tell you exactly
why Lazarus went to heaven. He went there by the grace of
God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't because he was poor.
Poverty stricken. How do you know he went there
by the grace of God? I'll tell you why. Look back
at it. Look back at it in verse 22. And it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."
What's Abraham's bosom? That's, as I said, the eternal
security and blessedness of salvation by God's grace in Christ. That's what it is. He was identified
with Abraham. How did God save Abraham? Read
it. We read it last week in Romans
chapter 4. I'll tell you how He did it. He justified the ungodly. He saved Abraham by grace. Christ
said it in John chapter 8. He said, Abraham rejoiced to
see my day and he saw it and was glad. Abraham believed God. Abraham was a sinner saved by
grace. Abraham was not a perfect man.
He was a sinner. He didn't even have perfect faith.
He had moments of doubt and unbelief, just like I do and just like
you do. But I'll tell you what he had that was perfect. He had
Christ. If any sinner gets to heaven, it'll be because of the
grace of God in Christ. It'll be because he's washed
in the blood of Christ and clothed in his righteousness alone. That's
Lazarus, that's me, that's you, that's anybody. There's no other
reason for God to allow us to enter heaven but Christ. You can get up and you can say,
Lord, I preached in your name. If you think that's a reason
for God to put you into heaven, You'll be no better off than
this rich man. You say, I've cast out demons.
I've seen visions. I've had dreams. I've had experiences. When I was 12, I walked an aisle,
shook the preacher's hand, and got baptized. If that's what
you think is the reason God should put you in the heaven, you're
no better off than the rich man in hell. You say, I've tithed
all my life. I've given to missionaries. My
friend, All those things that I mentioned, except for the dreams
and the visions and the ghost hunting and all that junk. But
you see, all the obedience that God commands of a believer is
right and good. But it is not your righteousness
before God. It is not my righteousness before
God. Christ is. Now, why did the rich man go
to hell? Well, if you believe what's written here, you have
to conclude that he did not hear Moses and the prophets. He didn't
hear Moses and the prophets. What is Moses and the prophets?
This fellow wasn't even alive when Moses was around. How could
he have heard Moses? And by this time, there was a
prophet named John. But the other prophets, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and go on down the line, they're all dead.
How could he have heard them? What's he talking about, Moses?
He's talking about the Scriptures. Specifically here, the Old Testament. Genesis to Malachi. Now, the
Scriptures are the written Word of God. Let me give you this
about the Word. I've given this before. Number
one, Christ Himself is the living Word of God. John 1.1, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He is God. He's the living Word of God.
You know, that's the Greek word logos. We get our word logic
from it. Christ is the logic of God. In
other words, He's the only logical way of salvation in God's kingdom. Come, let us reason together.
Though your sins be as scarlet, they'll be as wool. Though they
be red like crimson, they'll be white as snow." How's that
possible? Through Christ. He's the Word
of God. He's the alphabet of God, somebody
said. No matter how you spell it, ultimately
it comes to Christ in God's Word. And then He's the incarnate Word,
secondly. Somebody asked me, what does
that word incarnate mean? It comes from the root word carnal. Means flesh. And we always think
of carnality and fleshliness as sin. But in Christ's case,
it wasn't sinful at all. He had a human body. And so,
without sin, He became incarnate. John 1, 14. The Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. Tabernacled among us. And then
thirdly, the Scriptures are the written Word of God. Turn over
to 2 Timothy chapter 3 that Brother Joe read to us. I want you to
listen to this. Now, in the first part of this
chapter that Joe read, it speaks of evil times in the last days. People being deceived, people
being led away astray, people being fooled. Now, here's the
question. What's it take for me not to
be deceived? For you not to be deceived? How
do you know I'm not deceiving you? How do you know I'm not
deceived? How do we know those things? Is it possible or do
we just have to, like one preacher, just do it with his hands? He
said, I don't know, just wait and we'll see how it all works
out in the end. I don't believe that's what the
Bible teaches. Just throw up your arms and say, well, we'll
all find out at the end. I believe there's an assurance
of grace given in the Scriptures that comes through the Scriptures. But evil times, bad times, we're
in those times. How am I going to know that I'm
not deceived? Alright, look at verse 14. Here's
the answer. But continue thou in the things
which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom
thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known
the Holy Scriptures." What's he talking about? He's talking
about Moses and the prophets. He's talking about God's Word.
"...which are able to make thee wise unto salvation." In this
book, there is salvation. And even in the Old Testament.
You know, a lot of people pit the Old Testament against the
New Testament. That's not so. We have both the
Old and the New Testament. We have the completed, revealed
Word of God right here in front of us. Genesis to Revelation. But they only had the Old Testament,
part of it then, and he says, you've known the Holy Scriptures
and they're able to make thee wise unto salvation. Now, how
do they make us wise unto salvation? Read the next line in verse 15.
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. That's how. Looking to,
resting in Christ. The Holy Scriptures lead a sinner
where for salvation? To Christ and Him crucified and
risen again. And then he says in verse 16,
all scriptures given by inspiration of God, literally God breathed,
Profitable for doctrine, for reproof, correction, instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God, that's the sinner saved
by grace, may be perfect. That word perfect there doesn't
mean sinlessly perfect, it means complete. That's the Greek idea
of perfect. It's not what we think of as
sinlessly perfect. Because the man of God in himself
is not sinlessly perfect. He's a sinner saved by grace.
It means complete. And remember Colossians chapter
2 and verse 9 says, For in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. And then it
says, Thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now notice it
doesn't say thoroughly furnished by all good works. It says thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. Makes that sinner a complete
man that he can bring forth fruit unto God by the power of the
Holy Spirit in Christ. That's what it's talking about.
You've known the holy scriptures. The scriptures are the written
word of God. And then, fourthly, preaching
is the uttered word of God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Peter said, The word
of God abideth forever, and this is the word which was preached
unto you, the gospel. And so here you have Christ the
living word, the incarnate word, the scriptures, the written word,
and preaching the uttered word. Now here's the lineup. Now listen
to this. The preaching of the uttered
word will be from the written word and will lead you to find
peace and rest and hope and assurance and salvation in the living incarnate
word. You see how it works? You can't
have one without the other. Any preacher who gets up and
doesn't preach from the written word And even if he preaches
from the written word, if he doesn't lead you to the living
incarnate word for all salvation, Christ and him crucified, he's
not preaching the gospel. You're not going to be made wise
unto salvation under that kind of preaching. And so Christ told
this rich man. They have Moses and the prophets.
The word preached in the power of the Holy Spirit brings sinners
to hear and believe and obey the word of God. The gospel.
Paul called it the power of God unto salvation. To them that
believeth, to the Jew first, and the Greek also, verse 17
of chapter 1, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith, for it is written, The just shall live
by faith. What is the righteousness of God? Romans 10, 4. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. You
want righteousness? My friend, you must have it to
get into heaven like Lazarus. You must have it the same way
Abraham got it, through Christ. Washed in his blood, clothed
in his righteousness. Now this rich man, he was a natural
son of Abraham. Back here in verse 24, he cried
out, Father Abraham. He was a Jew. But you see, it's not enough
to be a physical descendant of Abraham. We must be spiritual
descendants of Abraham. No one is identified with Abraham
spiritually except those who believe. Let me read this to
you in Galatians chapter 3, verse 26. Listen to this. For you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Who are children of God? Those
who believe in Christ. That's a child of God. A child
of God. That's an elect. That's the elect. People talk about it. That's
the elect. Isn't that right? Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, whereby
he called us unto him by our gospel. That's the justified. Those who are justified by the
grace of God. Who are they? They who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the redeemed. That's the
adopted. That's the regenerated. That's
the ones who've been born again by the Spirit. They believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus, verse 27, for as many of you
as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. That word
baptized there does not refer to water baptism. That means
to be placed into. That's what it literally means.
And read like this, for as many of you as have been placed into
Christ, you've put him on. Now to put him on means to believe
in him. In other words, if you were put
in Christ, you'll put him on. And he says there's neither Jew
nor Greek. Greek means Gentile. That's the
way of referring to Gentiles. In Christ, Jew or Greek means
nothing. The color of your skin, your
gender means nothing in Christ. What you are, where you were
born, your pedigree has nothing to do with your salvation. It's
are you in Christ. And he says there's neither bond
nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus, and if you belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's seed. You're in Abraham's bosom. And
heirs according to the promise. Just like Lazarus. Isn't that something? But now
this rich man back here, he refused to hear. He refused to believe
the same gospel as Abraham. You see, to hear here, he said,
you remember he said this? He said, they have Moses and
the prophets. And verse 31, if they hear not
Moses and the prophets. Now this rich man had Moses and
the prophets. He was a natural son of Abraham,
but he didn't hear it. Now this hearing means this,
it means first to be endowed with the faculty of hearing. You see, if you're physically
deaf, you can't hear, physically. But you see, all men and women
by nature are spiritually deaf, spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. So that if we hear spiritually,
we must be endowed with the faculty of spiritual hearing. That's
why Christ told His disciples over in Matthew 13, He said,
Blessed are your ears for they hear, and your eyes for they
see. You see things that the Pharisees
refuse to see, you hear things that they refuse to hear. Secondly,
this hearing here means to heed. It means to listen. It means
to believe it. It means to follow it. That's why he said in James chapter
1, Be ye not hearers only, but doers of the word. That's what
this hearing is. It's the hearing of faith. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And then
thirdly, listen to this now, it means to need it. I need it. Peter said in 1 Peter
chapter 2, he said, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk
of the word that you may grow thereby. You know why a baby
eats? Huh? It's real? Listen, let me
give you a real complicated answer here. I'll tell you why he eats,
because he's hungry. You know why he drinks? Because
he's thirsty. And if you have a need to hear
the Word of God, to feed upon the Word of God, to drink from
the living waters, it's because the Holy Spirit has made you
hungry and thirsty for the Word. Now, there are people who can
take it or leave it. That's right. What's the problem? They're not
hungry. They're not thirsty. They don't
need it. When the multitudes left the
Lord in John chapter 6, he turned to his disciples and he said,
will you go away also? Peter turned to him and he said,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. There's
no life without your word. That's right. You need to breathe,
don't you, to stay alive physically. Well, the only life there is
to be found spiritually and eternally is in Christ. This is life eternal
that they might know Thee, and Thee only in Jesus Christ whom
Thou hast sent. So you're endowed with the faculty
of hearing, you heed it, you listen, you believe it, you follow
it, and you need it. But this rich man refused to
hear. What's the problem? 1 Corinthians 2.14, the natural
man, the fleshly, unconverted, unregenerate man, He receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them,
for they are spiritually discerned." He doesn't have the spiritual
ears and eyes to see and hear. Back up in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, it tells you exactly what he won't receive. Those
things that are freely given. Salvation is free. Now, you give
people a list of rules and regulations to follow, they'll flock around
you. Tell them they've got to be baptized
to be saved. Boy, they'll all jump into the pool. Probably
three or four times. Tell them they've got to walk
an aisle. They'll walk the aisle. Tell them they've got to tithe. They'll
tithe. Tell them to taste not, touch not, handle not. They'll
stop tasting, stop touching, and stop handling. Give them
something to do. Because you see, that exalts
the flesh. That exalts the pride of man. But tell them that they
have to come to Christ as a wicked, wretched, depraved sinner and
just fall at His feet and beg for mercy that they don't deserve
and cannot earn. Who do you think you are? You see the difference? Freely
given. Well, here's the issues for us.
What is the message of Moses and the prophets? And do we hear
it? Now, that's the issue of this
parable. First of all, I need to know what the message of Moses
and the prophets are, and do I hear it? What is the message
of Moses and the prophets? Well, Moses and the prophets
spoke of our utter sinfulness and depravity and deadness. That's the message of Moses and
the prophets. We could go all over the scripture
here, but let's just turn to one. Let's turn to Isaiah chapter
1. And I've got a bunch of them up here, believe me. We can go all the way back to
Genesis. Now, you know, Moses wrote the first five books of
the Bible. God wrote them through Moses.
Moses, in those first five books, spoke of the fall of man in Adam. Genesis chapter 3. Man fell in
Adam. And he didn't just stomp his
toe, he fell into deadness, spiritual deadness, darkness. And in Genesis
chapter 6 he says it, he said that God looked upon man and
man's heart was only evil continually. That's what Moses wrote up. Moses
was the mediator of the Old Covenant. God gave the law from Mount Sinai
to Israel through Moses, and the mainstay of that law, first
and foremost, the Scripture tells us, was to bring sinners in guilty
before God to the point that they see that by deeds of law
shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. That's why the Ten Commandments
was mainly given. It wasn't given as a system of
rules and regulations whereby men would seek to save themselves
by their works or to make themselves righteous by keeping them. You
can't keep them. Christ taught that in Matthew
chapter 5 when he showed the reality of what Moses wrote.
They said, well, it says don't commit adultery. And the Pharisee
stands up and he says, well, I haven't done that. And Christ
said, well, to look upon a woman and lust after her makes you
an adulterer. What does that tell me? That
tells me that there's no hope of my salvation or my being righteous
before God by my works. That's what it tells. That's
what Moses said. That's what the prophets say. Look at verse
4, Isaiah 1. A sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity. A seed of evildoers. Children
that are corruptors. They've forsaken the Lord. They've
provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They're gone away
backward. You say, well, that's talking
about somebody else. Well, let me tell you something. If you
ever hear Moses and the prophets, you will say, that's talking
about me. Am I right? You won't say, well, whoever
those guys are, God ought to just kill them all. My friend,
that's what we deserve. That's a good description of
us by nature. He goes on, verse 5, why should
you be stricken anymore? You'll revoke more and more.
The whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. Man's
spiritually dead. Sin's not just something we do,
it's something we are. Without Christ, all we are is
sin. That's why the Holy Spirit, when
He brings us to hear Moses and the prophets, He convinces us
of sin, because we believe not on Him. John 16, 8 and 9. He says in verse six, from the
sole of the foot, even under the head, there's no soundness
in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They've
not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
And you can read the rest of it. Go on. That's the message
of the prophets. Now, you know, let me tell you something about
Isaiah 1, folks. You know who he's describing there? Religious
people. Later on, he talks about their
worship services and their prayers which are an abomination. You
see, religion without Christ, religion without grace, religion
without truth, religion without heart and mercy is an abomination
to God. You know the worst thing a sinner
can do? Come to God expecting salvation
by your works. That's what Moses and the prophets,
taught. Here's the second thing. Moses
and the prophets spoke of God's holiness and justice to punish
our sins. God is just. You know this rich
man over here in Luke 16, he never looked up and he said,
I don't deserve to be here. He didn't say that, did he? Because
you see, when God damns a sinner, you know why he does it? Because
he's just and holy, and it's the right thing to do. That's
what Moses and the prophets taught. That's exactly right. Job said
it. How can man, born of woman, be
clean? David said it in Psalm 130. He
said, O Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who
would stand? That's right. Act 1731, God has
commanded all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed
a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained and that he hath given assurance
unto all men and that he hath raised him from the dead. In
other words, without Christ, God would be just to damn me. That's what Moses and the prophets
wrote. Thirdly, Moses and the prophets
spoke of Christ and Him crucified as the only way of salvation. Look at Luke chapter 9. And I'll
tell you what, you talk about making a pot of soup. Boy, you'd
have enough to last a lifetime on this one. And you throw these
ingredients into that pot. We could go to so many scriptures
here. But Luke chapter 9, this is the
mouth of transfiguration. Luke chapter 9, look at verse
28. He took Peter and James and John,
and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and
glistering. And behold, there talked with him two men, which
were Moses and Elias." Moses representing the law, Elijah
representing the prophets. And it says, verse 31, "...who
appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem." And that word for deceased there
is the Greek word for Exodus. Just like Moses, because of the
blood that was put over the doorpost in the Passover, led the children
of Israel out of Egypt and they crossed through the Red Sea,
typical of the blood of Christ. Our Lord on the cross shedding
His blood would lead His people out of sin and captivity. Think about that. Here's Moses,
here's Elijah, speaking with the Lord of Glory. What do you
think they'd be talking about? Whatever it is, it's the most
important thing that we can hear if we hear Moses and they spoke
of his death on the cross. That's what it's all about. That's
what Moses is all about. That's what the prophets are
all about. Think about it. Christ took His disciples in
Luke 24, He sent them down and He went through Moses and the
prophets and the Psalms and taught them the things concerning Himself.
Open their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.
In John 5.39, He spoke to the Pharisees. He says, You do search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life.
They are they which testify of Me. He said, you trust in Moses,
Moses will be your judge. He said, if you'd believe me,
Moses, you'd believe me, for Moses wrote of me. In John chapter
5. The law, Galatians chapter 3
and verse 24, the law was a schoolmaster to lead us unto Christ. Lead
us unto Christ for forgiveness. By His what? Lead us unto Christ
for justification. By His righteousness imputed.
Lead us unto Christ for salvation, for assurance, for blessedness,
for reward. Lead us unto Christ. Now you think about it. That's
the message of Moses and the prophet. That's the message this
man wouldn't hear. Now second, do we hear it? Do I hear it?
Moses and the prophets spoke of the necessity of faith and
repentance. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
and he sought and was glad, the Lord said. We enter into his
rest by faith. Moses and the prophets never
taught, commanded, or encouraged any sinner to seek salvation
by their works. They always preach the message
of Christ and Him crucified. Believe on Him. When Philip went
into the desert to preach to that eunuch, that Ethiopian eunuch,
who was reading Isaiah 53, he began at the same scripture and
preached unto him, Jesus, Jehovah, our Savior. And when the eunuch
said, what doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip asked him
one question. Do you believe? Did you hear
Moses and the prophets? Do you love Christ? And then
Moses and the prophets spoke of the fruit of obedience. There
is obedience, but it's not the obedience of legalism and self-righteousness,
trying to earn your way into God's favor and reward. It's
the obedience of grace and gratitude and love. Let your light so shine
before men that they may see your good works. That's the fruit
of grace, not the cause of grace. And glorify your Father, which
is in heaven. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them." Now, there are two pitfalls,
and I'll close with this. When it comes to hearing this
message, somebody says, well, I'm not perfect. Well, if you
were, you don't have to hear Moses and the prophets. You're
okay. You see, we're sinners. And that's why the message of
Moses and the prophets is one of grace and mercy. to the chief
of sinners. Paul studied Moses and the prophets.
Saul of Tarsus studied Moses and the prophets all his life.
And then one day on the Damascus Road, the Holy Spirit came in
Christ and knocked him down into the dust. And then he heard Moses
and the prophets and he said, I repent. All that I thought
recommended me unto God, now I count but done, that I may
win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ." Somebody said, well, I can't obey God. You mean you
can't look to Christ? You can't submit to Him and His
righteousness? Well, if you can, I'll tell you
exactly why you can't, because you don't think much of Him,
you think more of yourself. You think more of your own righteousness
than you do His. You think more of your religion
than you do His. Somebody said, well, have I done
enough? And my stock answer to that question, and you get this,
enough for what? Have you done enough to be saved
by your works? No, you haven't, and you never
will. Somebody said, have I done enough to be saved? Well, let
me tell you what it is to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. Is He enough? Somebody said,
well, my faith's not enough. Well, what is enough faith? Show
me in this book, from Genesis to Revelation, the scale upon
which it is. Now, here's too little faith,
and here's medium faith, and then here's the best. Listen,
it's not how much faith you have, it's who Christ is. Is He enough
for you? That's what I'm asking. Is He
enough for me? If He is enough for me, and He's
all I need for all wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption, And
my faith's enough, because my faith's in Him, and He is enough. Enough for what? You say, well,
I haven't shown Him that I love Him enough. Well, get this, you
never will. Think about your children. When
do you say, well, now I've shown you I love you enough, I can
stop showing you? Oh, I know you give them enough
food and enough clothing and all that, but loving them enough...
Are you going to be like the man who turned to his wife after
the wedding and said, now I love you, if I ever change my mind
I'll let you know? No, you'll spend the rest of
your life showing her you love her and it'll never be enough.
And that's the way it is with our love for Christ. It's never
exalted, exhausted. We'll spend eternity showing
Him how much we love Him. Enough? It'll never stop because
His love will never stop for us. Alright.