Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 61. Hymn number 61. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
fast unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in
its fullness over me. Underneath me, all around me,
is the current of thy love. Leading onward, leading homeward,
to my glorious rest above. O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread his praise from shore to shore How he loveth, ever
loveth, Changeth never, nevermore How he watches o'er his loved
ones, Died to call them all his own. How for them he intercedeth,
Watcheth o'er them from the throne. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
love of every, love the best. Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
tis a haven sweet of rest. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Tis of heaven, of heavens to me. And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee. seated we'll sing hymn number
268. 268 How firm a foundation, ye Saints
of the Lord, Is laid for your faith, In his excellent Word. What more can Then to you he hath said, To
you who for refuge to Jesus have fled. Fear not, I am with thee, O be
not dismayed, For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid. strengthen thee, help thee, and
cause thee to stand, upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters
I call thee to go, the rivers of woe shall not thee overflow. will be with thee thy troubles
to bless and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. Through fiery trials Thy pathway
shall I. My grace, O sufficient, shall
be Thy supply. The flame shall not Heard thee
I only design Thy drops to consume And thy gold to refine The soul that on Jesus Jesus
hath leaned for repose I will not, I will not desert to his
foes That soul, though all hell Should endeavor to shake I'll
never, no never, no never forsake If you have your Bibles with
you this morning, if you would open with me the book of Psalms.
I'd like to read Psalm 146. Psalm 146. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the
Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the
Lord. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom
there is no help. His breath goeth forth. He returneth
to his earth. In that very day his thoughts
perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that therein is, which keepeth truth forever,
which executeth judgment for the oppressed, which giveth food
to the hungry, the Lord looseth the prisoners, the Lord openeth
the eyes of the blind, the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down,
the Lord loveth the righteous, The Lord preserveth the strangers,
he relieveth the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked
he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign forever,
thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord. Our most high and heavenly Father, God Almighty, God of all, All
things, all beings, God of all, almighty, all powerful. Father, we come to you through
your blessed son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for this day. Thank
you for your written word preserved through time for us. We thank
you for revealing your word to us, Lord, for teaching us thy
way. Lord, we thank you for everything
you've provided, everything you have given us. This place where
we're gathered, we thank you for the saints gathered out here. Lord, we ask that you would send
your spirit to be among us this morning. Let us not meet in vain. It would be better to not meet
at all, Lord, if we're going to meet in vain. We just read
about praising our Lord. It's our heart's desire that
you allow us to praise you today. Let us enter into worship. Ask
that you would cause us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord,
we ask that you would reveal the word to us. Ask that you bless Brother Obi
as he stands before us, that you would Give him liberty to
speak freely. Bless his heart while he speaks.
Bless the word to us, to our hearts, Lord. Pray for our pastor and his wife
as they're traveling. Pray for all the saints traveling
to the conference and your saints who are unable to gather, Lord,
for whatever reason you have deemed right. Ask for mercy upon them. As for
mercy here, Lord, we need your mercy every moment of every day. Lord, we ask that you cause the
gospel to go forth all over this world as you see fit according
to thy perfect will. Save your sheep wherever they
may be. Lord, we ask that you would keep us or we won't be
kept. Lord, we ask for mercy and grace
for those who are weak and weary. Be their strength and their stay.
Cause us all to only look unto thee, Lord, for all things, first
and foremost. We ask that thy will be done
for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. stand together as we sing the
hymn of the day in the Bulletin. ? Glory to God on high ? Let earth
to heaven reply ? Praise ye his name ? Angels his love adore
? Who all our sorrow bore ? And saints cry evermore ? Worthy
the Lamb All they around the throne Cheerfully join in one
Praising His name We who have known his blood, sealing our
peace with God, sound his dear name abroad, worthy the lame. ? Though we must change our place
? Yet will we never cease ? Praising his name ? To him we'll tribute
bring ? Hail him our sovereign king ? And without ceasing sing
worthy the lame Be seated. Once my soul was astray from
the heavenly fray. I was wretched and vile as did
thee. But my Savior in love Gave me
peace from above When He reached down His hand for me When my Savior reached
down for me for me. I was lost and alone without
God or His Son when He reached down His hand for me. I was near to despair when he
came to be there. And he showed me that I could
be free. Then he lifted my feet, gave
me gladness complete when he reached down his head for me. When my Savior reached down for
me, when he reached way down for me, Lost and undone, without God
or His Son, when He reached down His hand for me. Well, my heart doth rejoice When I hear His sweet voice In
the tempest to Him I then flee There to lean on His arms Safe,
secure from all harm Since He reached down His hand for me
When my Savior reached down for me When He reached way down for
me When He reached out His hand
for me. There to me are His arms, safe,
secure, from all harm. Since he reached out his hand
for the sky. We're pleased to have Brother
Obi with us again this morning and his precious family. It's
always good to see him. I see a few new faces this morning,
so I guess I've got to introduce you this time. Last time he was
here, I said, ah, y'all know him. Just come on. I've known him my whole life.
I guess he's known me my whole life. You're not that much older
than me, but old enough to remember me, I guess. He used to sit right
there where I sit and take care of all the sound and stuff, and
then he moved to Kingsport, abides and resides there, and faithfully teaches and preaches
when he's called upon. Brother Obey, you come and preach
to us whatever the Lord's put on your heart. Thank you, Houston. Good morning. Good to see everyone again. If you would, turn with me to
1 John chapter 5 this morning. 1 John chapter 5. While you're
turning, I'll relay all the greetings from Kingsport and the folks
there. Everyone sends their greetings.
1 John chapter 5 verse 1 says, Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth
him that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. Lord
willing this morning we're going to take a close look at the great
promise and hope that is in the first part of this verse. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. When I first
started considering this message, I was going to go about it word
by word, just take the words as they occurred. And as I got
deeper into the message, it dawned on me that this morning we are
here to hear about our Lord Jesus Christ and all that he has done
for us. So we're going to approach this
verse in this order. Jesus, who is he? Christ, what does that title
mean? Believeth. What does it mean
to believe? Whosoever am I included, born
of God, the promise. Whosoever believeth that Jesus,
who is John referring to here? Is this a good man? An example
to be followed? A man who came and tried his
best but ultimately accomplished nothing other than becoming a
martyr. Let's see what John has to say
about this man in his letter. Hold your place here and turn
back to chapter 1, 1 John 1, verse 3. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ. John declares this Jesus he refers
to is God the Son. Does this in some way mean that
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is somehow less than God the Father? No, in no means. There is one God in three persons,
the Father of God, the Son of God, and the Spirit of God. Back in chapter 5, in verse 7,
we read, 1 John 5, 7, there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, who is our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. The Son of God is no less God
than the Father of God, and the Spirit of God is no less than
either the Son of God or the Father of God. These three are
one. Hold here in 1 John and let's
turn over to John 14. Verse 7, our Lord is speaking
to his disciples here. John chapter 14 and verse 7. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? You can turn back to 1 John. The man, Jesus, that John is
referring to in our text, is God the Son. The infant that
laid in that manger so many years ago was the Almighty God. The 12-year-old in the temple
is the Almighty God. The man in the hinder part of
the ship, asleep on a pillow, he was exhausted. is the Almighty
God. The man who was nailed to a tree,
shedding his precious blood, is the Almighty God." John continues
to declare who he's referring to in 1 John 2. 1 John 2, verse
1. 1 John 2.1, My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Our Lord Jesus Christ is righteous. He is righteous as God the Son,
and as a man, he earned a righteous standing before God. Jesus of
Nazareth is a man. He is a man as though he were
not God, and he is God as though he were not man. explain that. I can't. Wouldn't even try to. But I have come to this conclusion. If we worship a God that we can
explain and understand, we don't worship much of a God. The true and living God declared
in the scriptures saith, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts." Now I've spent goodly portion
of time declaring that Jesus Christ is God and Jesus Christ
is man. Why am I making such a big deal
out of this? Why does it matter? Our salvation depends on it. Someone who is more than a man
would not be able to be touched with the feeling of our infirmities
in like manner as we are. Because that person, being more
than a man, wouldn't be able to be tempted like as a man. He wouldn't be able to be tempted
like as we are. He'd have a way out. if he were
more than a man. And if our Lord was less than
God, he could not fulfill all righteousness. For even the holy
angels, which are always beholding the face of the Father, are charged
with folly. Now why does our salvation depend
on the Lord Jesus Christ being the God-man? Sin came by man,
and sin must be paid for by a man. In Hebrews 10.4 we read, For
it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins. Why not? Why can't the blood
of bulls and goats, those sacrifices that were ordained and ordered
to be made throughout the Old Testament, why can't they put
away our sins? Turn over to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. Why was it not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins? Sin did
not come by the bulls and by goats. Romans 5 verse 12, Wherefore, as by one man, Adam,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin And so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned." This is our condition. We are
sinned. We are, outside of Christ, guilty
before God. Ephesians 2.1 describes us as
dead in trespasses and sins. What can the naturally dead do? They can't get up and walk about. The naturally dead can rot, they
can stink, they can decay. What relationship does life have
with the dead? We who are naturally alive We
want our dead placed out of sight, separated from us. The holy God is life. He cannot have a relationship
with men and women who are dead in trespasses and sins. Is it possible for that relationship
to be restored? Can life have a relationship
with death? The only way is for both parties
to be in the same state, alive or dead. God is spirit. God is life. God cannot die, for death only
comes by sin. And in chapter 3 of 1 John we
read, and in him is no sin. So the only way the relationship
between a sinful man or woman can be restored to the living
God is if that man or woman is made alive. Well, false religion tells us
all we have to do is keep the law. Can a dead man keep the law?
No, he can't do anything. We've also heard things along
these lines. Just live a good life. Do the
best you can and God will accept you because, well, God is love. God hates the sin but loves the
sinner. God is love. That is true. God is also holy, just, and righteous. And we can't fathom this, but
he is 100% all of those. He cannot One characteristic of God cannot
supersede another. They are all the same. He can't sacrifice one characteristic
and exalt another. He is holy. He is love. He is righteousness. A sinner dead in trespasses and
sins cannot of their own doing be given life. Life is only given
by the operation of God's power. Just as Adam was given life,
that lump of clay was given life, that same power has to work in
a dead sinner and raise them to life. All right? It can only be done
by God's operation. How can the holy, just, righteous
God give life, pardon sin, declare the guilty guiltless, and remain
holy, just, and righteous? God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came
in our likeness came in the likeness of sinful flesh, obeyed His law
and commandments in absolute holy perfection. Then, for all
those lovingly elected, for all those that God the Father chose
and gave to God the Son to redeem, our Lord took upon Himself the
sins of His people He bore the shame, He endured the judgment,
He shed His precious blood, laid down His life, entered into the
tomb, and He rose again on the third day. Because He paid our
debt, because He endured our judgment, because He obtained
a righteous standing before God, and because he died, the just
for the unjust. God is holy, just, and righteous
in declaring all those guilty sinners who died in Christ Jesus
as guiltless, and he gives unto them the gift of eternal life
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever believeth Do you believe
that Jesus is the Christ? Well, I don't know. What does
believeth mean? How can I know if I believe until
I know what it means? I've had lots of definitions
read to me, and I find them worthless. Hopefully, this example will
help some. When I was in elementary school,
mom and dad went somewhere. I think they were only going
to be gone till late in the evening or late at night. And they left
me and Jenna at our neighbor's house with some friends. Just so y'all know, this neighbor
wasn't across the street. We lived out in the middle of
nowhere. It was a mile between houses. So it was a little ways
from one house to the other. And that night, everyone in that
house that we were staying at was asleep except for me. I was
laying in the bed. listening to all those creepy
sounds that old farmhouse made. I remember it as a monstrosity
of a house. The ceilings were high. It was
dark. Well, I laid there as long as
I could until I couldn't take it anymore. And I woke my buddy
up, and I said, I'm going home. And I snuck out of that house,
got on my bike. I rode that mile down the road
through the dark. And when I arrived at the house,
it was locked. But Dad's truck wasn't. So I
climbed up in Dad's truck, locked the doors. And the next thing
I knew, Mom and Dad were beating on the window to wake me up. You see, my trust, my belief
that couldn't be shaken by a long bike ride through the dark was
that I was safer at that house than I was in that farmhouse.
And I had to get there. This childhood belief prompted
me to take action. I sought to be there. I made
an effort to be there. I defied authority to be there. Mom and Dad had told me to stay
at their house, but I couldn't do it. I had to be there. If we have this faith, if we
believe in our hearts the Lord Jesus Christ is the Christ, we
will take action. We will seek to know more of
Him. We will flee to Him. We will
call upon Him. This belief is more than giving
a general acknowledgment that there was a man named Jesus who
lived a long time ago, and he did some good things, and he
ultimately died on a cross. I fear that many are trusting
in this type of belief as their hold to the promise of life eternal. But this type of belief, this
general acknowledgment of factual information is not saving faith. This type of faith would be equivalent
to saying, I believe today that George Washington will save this
country. Now, George did a lot of good
things in the establishing of this country. But knowing he was president
at one time is not going to do a thing in the world for this
country today. See, my belief that I was safer
at home than in that old farmhouse all those years ago was not in
that house that resided there on that property. My faith was
in the people that I knew were going to be there, my parents. If I could get to them, I'd be
safe from the dark. It was my belief in them, not
that place, that made me want to go home. Whosoever believeth. Whosoever places their trust
in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, that's who believeth. Not on
the factual historical truth that this man lived, but on the
person who now lives and reigns above. Not on the fact that I believe. but by trusting that man, the
only man who is accepted of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. If you
today are holding out your hope of eternal life is that you believe
this man Jesus lived, but you aren't prompted to action,
to flee to him, to call upon him, to rest in him, Ask the Lord to reveal to you
who you are, who he is, and ask him to give you a reason to trust
him. You see, I would have never left
that farmhouse if I hadn't had some reason to leave it. I was
perfectly safe there, but in my mind I wasn't. I had a fear,
and that fear could only be met by being at my parents. When we see, when the Lord reveals
to us who we are, that we are sin, who he is, that he is the
holy God, we will have a fear. We will
have a reason to flee. And if he does that, if he's
the one who gives us that fear, that knowledge of who we are
and who he is, he will also give us a reason to flee to him and
show us why we need to flee to him. He is our hope of salvation. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? If we do, don't we cry out, Lord,
increase my faith. Cause me to come nearer and closer
and hold to you all the more. Whosoever, what a word. What an all-encompassing word. Are you a whosoever? Am I a whosoever? Whosoever is used in our Bibles
in 163 verses and in every single instance there is a specific
qualification that describes that whosoever. For you to be included in the
whosoever here, you must believe. You must trust. As a little child,
scared of the dark, trust his parents. To keep him safe, you
must trust that Jesus is the Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ,
God Almighty, manifest in the flesh, came into the world to
save sinners. The righteous man, the sinless
man, who was made to be what you and I are, sin. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. He bore our sin in His body. He stood in our place before
the judgment of men. He stood in our place before
the judgment of God. He stood in our place in our
death. He laid down His life that we
might have life. And when He rose again, he gave
unto us his righteousness." Do you believe that Jesus is the
Christ? Then this promise belongs to
you. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. What a blessing. What does that
mean? Turn one last time, John chapter
3. John chapter 3, verse 3. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. John 3, verse 3. Jesus answered
and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Who is the kingdom of God? the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. That which is born of flesh is
flesh." That's us. That describes all of us. Born
of the flesh. But if God has revealed to you
that Jesus is the Christ, then you are born of God, a joint
heir with the Lord Jesus Christ, and have eternal life in Him. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. May the Lord be pleased to give
us faith to believe and to flee to our Lord and our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, for our salvation. Amen. Thank you for that message, brother.
Let's have a word of prayer. Our high and mighty Heavenly
Father, Lord God, we come to you once more through your blessed
Son. Thank you for this message we just heard. Lord, we ask that
you would keep it on our hearts Lord, continue to give us faith
to look unto thee, to flee unto thee. Lord, we ask that you'd
always cause us to only cling unto thee, the only one that is the all
in all, Lord of lords, God of gods. Father, keep us clinging
unto thee. Lord, I ask that you would continue
to bless this message to our hearts, and as we prepare to
go Have lunch, Lord, that you would
bless that to our bodies. Bless our time together and our
fellowship. Or cause us to think of things
of Christ. Cause us to greet each other
with brotherly love. Lord, as they travel back, I
ask for traveling mercies for all the traveling saints. Lord, that you would have us
meet again or cause us all to come and gather
again. We ask that that will be done
for Christ's sake. Amen. Before we sing, if you need to
go tend to anything in the back to prepare for lunch, you're
dismissed now. Brother Obey, I've heard that
y'all have to hit the road. Is that right? Thank you on behalf of everybody.
I know you're probably going to sneak out pretty quick. I
want y'all to go back there if you need a snack anything, you
go back with them and help yourself, okay? Let's stand together and
let's try to sing hymn number four in our course book, The
Hiding Place, Hell's Sovereign Love. I couldn't help but think
of this song, you said you went and the door was locked, you
went in the truck, you were looking for a hiding place. We have no
better hiding place than our Savior, do we? Can you play that
one, Marlene? I don't think we've ever tried
this one together, so we'll try it together. Hail sovereign love
that first began The scheme to rescue fallen men Hail matchless
free eternal grace That gave my soul a hiding place Against
the God who rules the sky, I fought with hands uplifted. I despise the mention of His
grace, too proud to seek a hiding place. Enwrapped in thinking, and fond of darkness more than
light. Madly I reign that sinful race,
secure without a But thus the Eternal Council
and Almighty Love arrest that man. I felt the arrows of distress,
I found I had no hiding place. I flew. But justice cried with
frowning face, This mountain is no hiding place. There along a heavenly voice
I heard, And mercy's angel form appeared. He led me on with gentle
pace, to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. On Him, almighty vengeance
fell, that first hath sunk a world to hell. He bore it for a chosen
race, and thus became He triumphed over death and hell. Our Jesus hath done all things
well. He is the sovereign King of grace. This Jesus is our hiding place. Should storms of sevenfold vengeance
roll, And shake this earth from foal to foal, No flaming bolt
could dot my face, For Jesus is my idol. There'll be no service
this evening because we've got a fellowship dinner We'll meet again Wednesday evening,
Lord willing. Y'all are dismissed. Please stay and eat. Somebody
will poke their head through the door and holler at us when
it's ready.