And I want you to look with me
in verse 37. And while you're looking there,
let me give you, tell you something that James gave me off of these
church signs. One of them said, get off my
Facebook and get in my book, God. And then one cross, three
nails plus one cross plus three nails equals forgiveness. All the things that people can
do. But all right, look here in John
8.37 with me. I know that you are Abraham's
seed, but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place
in you. I want to talk about the word.
having a place. My Word hath no place in you. Does the Word have a place in
us? Does the Word, the living Word,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you've got to hear the written Word
before you'll ever know the living Word. He manifests Himself and
reveals Himself through His written But has Christ have a place in
your heart? If He does, it's because the
written word has a place in your heart. Our Lord's words are blessed,
blessed, powerful. And He says that they even pierce
the heart and the thoughts and the intent of the heart. He knows
what a person's going to do before they do it. That's why when a
preacher preaches sometimes, people say, oh, you just preached
to nobody but me today. No, you preach to everybody,
but they feel like nobody but them was addressed, that they
were so single out. But sometimes it pierces the
heart, and other times it hardens the heart. The same sun, Mr. Arthur W. Pink said, the same
sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. And the same word that
tenders the heart and pierces the heart, and opens the heart,
also the same word that hardens the heart and steels it against
God. And wherever our Lord's Word
ought to be received, oftentimes it's rejected. You know, how
many times do we preach, and how many times have preachers
preached, and people ought to believe the Word, receive the
Word, but it's often rejected. Look back here in verse 33. Our Lord says, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. And the truth,
you know, the truth don't come all at once. The truth comes
to us more and more and more and more. And it makes us freer
and freer and freer. I'm freer now in Christ than
I've ever been. And yet I'm knowing and conscious
more of my sin than I've ever been conscious of. And that's
why I understand and feel and believe that I need Christ now
more than ever. And that I'm free by Him. I'm
free from... And when He talks about being
free, free from sin, free from tradition, free from self-righteousness,
free from self-justification. free from the condemnation of
God, free from the law of God, the justice of God, the wrath
of God, free from everything that's against us, Christ sets
us free. And that truth comes and sets
us free from these traditions and religion. He sets us free.
And our Lord said, look what they said to him. Well, we're
Abraham, see, and was never in bondage. Why in the world didn't
they believe that? We're not in bondage. They didn't know anything about
sin. Didn't know anything about the Word. Didn't know anything
about God. Didn't know anything about Christ.
And they said, we're not in bondage. I've got my free will. I've got
my power. I've got my church. I've got
my... I'm not Abraham. I'm Abraham's children. Well, I tell you, Abraham had
two. One was of promise and the other was of the flesh. One of
them was of a covenant and the other was of works. And that's
what our Lord went on to say here. Look what He said about
him down here in verse 40. He says, But now you seek to
kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth. They ought to have received this
Word. Abraham received it. Abraham believed it. And that's
what he said, if you were Abraham's children, you'd do like Abraham.
You'd believe me. And, oh, beloved, the Lord, I'll
tell you something, the Lord knows where His Word is received. He knows who believes it, and
He knows where it has no place. And what He's doing here is He's
teaching them and us that no matter how favored a person may
feel like they are, And they were Abraham's children, Abraham's
seed. No matter how favored somebody
seems to be, if they spoke for greatly favored, Abraham's seed. But no matter how favored a person
is, it's vain and useless unless his word has a place in our hearts,
no matter what happens. And was the result of having
a place in our hearts for the word? And the word having a place
in our hearts? Or if it doesn't have a place
in our hearts? Well, I'll tell you the first thing that happens
if it doesn't have a place in your hearts, there in verse 37.
I know that you're Abraham's seed. I know that. But you know
what? I also know this about you. That
you seek to kill me. You seek to kill me. Why would
anybody want to kill the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, because he's holy first.
Because the very presence manifests man to be what he is, a sinner.
He's God manifested in the flesh, and that condemns everybody.
And he told everybody the truth, point-blank, naked truth. He
said, also I'm from God. How in the world can you look
at a human being, a man, born of a woman, worked for a living
until he's 30 years old, And Godel starts preaching that I
am sent from heaven, and I have the very words of God in me,
and if you don't believe I am, you're going to die in your sins.
And if they've been raised in church, they've been raised with
the word, they've been raised in the law, they've been raised
with Moses, they've been raised with the prophets, been raised
with the priesthood, been raised with sacrifice, and here comes
a man saying, except you believe I am he, you'll die in your sins.
And they said, oh, no, no, no, no, we'll kill you for saying
that. And he said, why are you going
to kill me? Because my word, what I'm telling you, what I'm
preaching to you, the words that I say to you, they don't have
any place in your heart. They don't have any place in
your heart. And oh, beloved, I'll tell you the place. Let
me give you several things about the place that the word should
have in men's hearts. First of all, the Word came from
Christ Himself. He's the appointed messenger
of the covenant. Look what it says down here in verse 42. Our
Lord said unto them, If God were your Father, you would love Me. Now, how in the world can we
know God's our Father? Do you love Christ? We cry, I'm a father.
There was a time I didn't love Christ. Now I love Him. So evidently,
that must mean that God's my Father too. He's God's Father? Well, He's
my Father. Why do I know? Because I love
Him. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I love Him more than life itself.
I love Him more than I love anybody in this whole world. I love Him. And then look what
He goes on to say. For I proceeded forth and came
from God. Oh my! I was appointed to come
into this world. God sent me into this world.
I came from God. I came from God. Nobody else ever come from God. Nobody else ever come from the
bosom of the Father. Nobody else ever came down from
heaven with the very words of God in them. And look what he
said here. Neither I didn't come of myself, but he sent me. And
so, beloved, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, they're waiting. He's the appointed messenger.
They're true. They're waiting. They're saving. And it must,
must have a place among those who hear it. Are you hearing
it? Listen to me. I'll tell you where
it must have a place. It must have an inside place.
What I mean by that is it must have a place in our thoughts.
It must have a place in our memory. A place in our conscience? A
place in our affections? Oh, an inside place. Do you think
about the Scriptures? In our thoughts? Do you think
in the terms of the Word? David said like this, I have
hid thy word in my heart that I might not sin against you. And I tell you, our Lord Jesus
Christ, He told us this. He says, you know, He says, my
word, My word come from God, and if
you hear what I say, you'll be saved. And old Jeremiah said
this, he says, thy words were sweet to my taste like honeycomb
to my mouth. Honeycomb, and let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly, richly, and then the wisdom of God will
be in you. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you richly, with all wisdom. You can't have no wisdom without
the Word of Christ. So let it have a place in your
thoughts, in your memory. Memorize it. Remember it. And
how many times when you get to talking to somebody, Scripture
starts coming to you, and you start talking to them in terms
of Scripture. Start talking to Him in terms of what the Bible
said and what God done for you according to His Word. Huh? And
have it in your conscience, in your affections, in your life.
Not only should it have a place in our thoughts, in our memory,
in our conscience, in our affections, but oh, it ought to have a place
of honor. It ought to have a place of honor. I heard a preacher
say one time that he wouldn't even lay nothing on top of his
Bible. He says the Bible is so precious,
so honorable, like no other book that's ever been made on the
top side of God's earth. I don't want nothing else on
it. It's a book that stands all along. And oh, it should have a place
of honor. How to have a place of honor
in our homes? How to have a place of honor
in our hearts? It should have a place of honor
in our attention. When somebody opens the Bible
and starts reading it and starts preaching from it, y'all start
paying attention just like that. Now I have a great reference
for it. There's nothing like the Word of God. I have great
reverence for when you open it up. I'd never, never open it
up and start reading without first saying, Lord, it's Your
Word. This is not a fairy tale. This is not a magazine. This
is not a devotional book. This is Your Word, and give it
great reverence. Don't never make jokes about
the Scriptures. Don't never make jokes about
the Word of God. Don't never deal with the Word
of God lightly and irreverently, like these guys do that I read
to you this morning. It should receive honor, a place
of honor in our faith. It's what produces faith. It
brought faith to us. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. And it brings faith to us and
increases our faith. and blesses us with faith and
opens our understanding. And, O Beloved, it ought to have
a place of honor in our obedience. Oh, how we ought to obey it.
How we ought to obey it. Look what our Lord said here
in verse 47 of John chapter 8. Oh, give it a place of honor.
Give it a place of honor. He said here, He that is of God,
heareth God's words. Do you know what that means,
heareth God's words? That means they believe Him and obey Him
and love Him. He that heareth, not just hears
one time, hears, continually hears, constantly hears. And
watch this, you therefore hear them not. Why don't you hear
them? Because you're not a Keep John chapter 8, look in Matthew
chapter 7, just a moment, talking about a place of honor for God's
Word. Oh, a place of honor. There's nothing, nothing like
it. Oh, have great respect for the
Word. Heed the Word. Listen to the Word. Look what
our Savior said here in Matthew 7, 24. Now listen to what He's
saying now. Therefore whosoever heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them, I'll liken him unto a wise man
which buildeth his house on a rock. You listen to what I'm saying,
and do what I say. You know what? I'll say you're
a wise man. I'll consider you a wise man.
You know why I consider you a wise man? Because you're building
your house on a rock. The Lord has picked my feet up
out of a horrible pit and set them on a rock. No other foundation
can be laid than Christ, who is our rock. He's the rock of
ages. And then, beloved, this is always
going to happen to people. The rain descended. Oh, how the
rain comes. floods of rain come beating down,
and when the rain come beating down, the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat on that house, and it didn't fall. Why?
Because it had the right foundation. And oh, listen to this, now he
says what happens, and everyone that hears these sayings of mine,
don't do them. Don't do them. He's like a fool. You know what I'll treat him
like and call him? I'll call him a fool. Why? Because he built his house on
the sand. And the same identical things happened. The rain descended,
the floods came, the wind blew, and beat up on that house, and
it fell. And I'll tell you what's bad,
and great was the fall of it. When you see somebody fall, see
somebody fall, you're shocked, you're hurt, and you grieve,
but they fall. And look what happened. Our Lord
said here, goes on to say, and when it came to pass that when
Jesus had ended these things, now watch what happened, the
people were astonished at His doctrine. I'm still astonished
at His doctrine. For He taught them as one having
authority. He has some power in His words. Not like them old scribes. Not
like them scribes. So the Word ought to have a place
in our thoughts, our actions, conscience. A place of honor
in our reverence and faith and obedience. And the Word ought
to have a place of trust. A place of trust. Do you believe
the Word? Do you trust God's Word? Do you
trust what He says? Huh? Rely upon this blessed book. God cannot lie. Paul said, in
hopes of eternal life, which God promised before the world
began. God, who cannot lie, promised
before the world began. You sons of Jacob, you're not
consumed. Why? Because I am God, and I
never change. Samuel stood and told all the
people of Israel, said, God's not a man. that he should lie,
and he's not a man that he should repent and change the way he
thinks and the way he does things. He's not a man like us. And oh,
I don't have to rely on this precious word. The promises of
God are sure as he is. I mean, you can trust this word. I don't care if the devil comes
and say, well, this happened, that happened, and why would
it happen? And I just don't believe that God would let this happen.
I don't never, that don't enter my mind. You know why? Because
God cannot lie. He cannot fail. I can trust what
he says. I can't trust my own self, but
I can trust him. I may change the word from one
day to the next in what I say. I may make a promise and my man
will keep it, but God's not that way. I may tell you something
and forget I ever told it to you, but God don't forget. Let me show you, let me keep
John chapter 8, look in Joshua 21. Joshua is the last, Deuteronomy
chapter is the fifth book, and then Joshua is the sixth book.
And look in Joshua 21, 45. You know, we can trust God's
Word. We can trust it. We can believe
it. Oh, he's never failed. He's always... He's never lied. He's never...
When he makes a promise, he keeps his promise. Whether it's a promise
of judgment or a promise of salvation, a promise of preservation, a
promise of perseverance, a promise of life or a promise of death,
he keeps his promises. Look what he says here in Joshua
21, 45. Listen, I love this right here. Put this on your letters when
you mail them or cards you mail them out. Thine failed not ought
nothing of any good thing which the Lord hath spoken unto the
house of Israel, all came to pass. Nothing failed. Nothing failed. Oh, bless this
holy name. Oh, listen, let me tell you something
else about the Scriptures. The Word ought to have a place.
It ought to have a place of rule in us. Sometimes something's
got to rule over us. That's what he says. The Son
shall make you free. The truth shall make you free.
Or He that's committed sins is serving the sin. The Scriptures
is our place of rule. The Word of the Lord is the law
of His people. This is my law. This is my rule
of living. Is this not your rule of living? Somebody's got to have something
to live by. Some kind of a rule, some kind
of a law that he goes by. Well, the
law of the scriptures is our rule. It's our rule. It's what governs us. It's what
governs us. That's why, you know, his mother
said to those folks when he And having at the first wedding,
when he turned the water into wine, he said, He said, Whatsoever
he saith unto you, do it. He said, Whatever our Lord saith,
whatever he says unto you, just do it. Do it. That's why Solomon Peter, you
know, he fished all night, didn't catch any fish, pulled up to
the shore early in the morning. The Lord Jesus says, Launch out
into the deep, let down your net for a drought, great bunch
of fish. Simon Peter says, Oh, I fished
all night, Lord. Oh, I'm so tired. He says, But
nevertheless, at your word, I'll let it down. I'll let it down. You keep John,
look over here in 1 John chapter 2 with me. Oh, my. This is the place of rule. Something's
got to rule our lives. Something's got to govern our
lives. And I tell you, the only thing that will govern it and
govern it right is the Word of God. It ought to have a place
in our rules. Look what he said here in 1 John
2, verse 3. Hereby we do know that we know
Him. Oh, hereby we know that we know
Him. How do we know we know Him? We
keep His commandments. We keep His commandments. He
that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments. Boy, John
don't pull no punches. He's a liar. That's what our
Lord said to the Jews that day, right there. He says, you're
a liar. All of you are liars. You're a father of the devil.
You're a liar. You're going to do what your father does. And
that's what he says here. He says, you know, he's a liar
in the truth. It's not in him nowhere. But
now listen to it, whosoever keepeth his word, keeps him. In him verily
is the love of God perfected. It becomes mature. Hereby we
know that we are in him, because this precious word of God governs
us, rules us. Let me give you another place
where it ought to be. Not only an inside place, thoughts, memory,
conscience. Place of honor. Place of honor,
reverence, attention. Faith. Believe it. Place to trust. Rely on it. Believe God. He can't
lie. In the place of rule that governs
us. And then it ought to have a great place of love. Oh, do
you love the Word of God? There's nothing like it. Just
nothing like it. A place of love. If you know,
look at what it's done for us. Look at what the Word's done
for us. Defend this blessed book. Defend the Scriptures. Live upon
the Scriptures. Don't never... Always defend
the... People say, make some awful statements
about God. Make some awful statements about
the Scriptures. But defend the Bible. Defend
the Word of God. A fellow said one day, he said,
and this is a guy that teaches at a seminary now. He's teaching
preachers. And another thing, I was listening
to some messages this week. And they don't call one another
brother, they call one another doctor. We're going to invite
Dr. So-and-so to the pulpit. Well,
I appreciate Dr. So-and-so having me come here. Well, you know what Joe said?
He said, you're all physicians of no value. If a doctor ain't a medical doctor,
he ain't a doctor. But that's what they, you know,
doctor this and doctor that. They placed great honor on men,
great respect for men, and great respect for titles. And they
loved those titles, and they loved those places, and they
loved being honored. But oh my, to love the Word,
to love the Word of God, defend the Word of God, live upon the
Word of God. Job said, I esteem thy Word. more than my necessary food.
I can do without food, but I can't do without Your Word. I can miss
a meal, but oh, I can't miss Your Word. If I misbelieve in
Your Scriptures, if I misbelieve in what You have to say, and
if I don't rely on it, I don't believe it, and I don't reverence
it, then it won't amount to nothing. So that's why I esteem Your Word
more than what I have to eat. Make it to have a permanent place
in your heart Oh God, write this scripture in my heart. Write
it in your heart. Because you know what? What the
Word will do? It will affect your thinking.
It will affect the way you think. When you get that Word of God
in you, it affects the way you think. You think different than
everybody else thinks once you get the scriptures in your brain.
Don't you? You view the world altogether different than the
world views the world because of the way you're thinking. And
it has a great effect upon the way you live in this world. The
way you live, the way you treat people, the way you react to
things, the way you love people, where you go and what you do.
And it has a great effect on the way of life that we have
in this world. The way we react to things in
this world. And oh God, make the Word to
have part and parcel of us. And take it as it is indeed the
Word of Christ itself. Not just the words on black,
black words on white paper, but the Word of Christ Himself. Take it as that. Oh my, it'll
change you. Look how it's changed us. Oh,
look how it's changed us. And it continues to change us.
Continues to change us. If you ever, and I know you all
have done this. You've read the Scriptures, or somebody's preached,
or you've been talking to somebody, and the Word becomes alive. I
mean, it really becomes living. And it affects you. It moves
you sometimes to tears. It moves you to joy. It moves
you to thanksgiving. It produces guilt. Sometimes
it produces shame. Sometimes it produces regret. It produces all kinds of affections
and emotions upon us. And it has a great effect on
what we're going to think, what we're going to do. And I'll tell
you where it has a great effect on you worse than anywhere else. It's when you're facing eternity
and life and death. It has, it brings such a calm
and a peace to you that you cannot imagine. It does. It does. Can't do without it. Can't go on doing without it,
God. As long as, if I get blind and can't see, I'll have somebody
read it to me. If I get deaf, I'll get me one of them Braille
Bibles, you know. If I get deaf, I'll, Get one
of them braille bibles, learn how to read braille. But I'm
going to have the Word. I've got to have the Word. You
do too? I know you do. Does it have a place in you?
And let me tell you, my Lord Jesus says here, He says back
in verse 37 again in John chapter 8, I know that you Abraham's
seed. I know your folks here, some
of you, are very, very wonderful, very gracious, very generous.
But He says, but I'll tell you something, Even though you're
highly favored, you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place
in you." And that word, no place, means this, no room. It's filled
up with other things. And my word hath no place in
you. There's no room for my word in your heart. There's no room
for my Word in you because you're filled up with other things.
You're filled up with Ben Abraham's seed. You're filled up with law.
You're filled up with self-righteousness. You're filled up with your goodness.
You're filled up with your morality. You're filled up with your opinions.
You're filled up with your traditions. You're full of everything. And
that's why my Word don't have no place in you. And I'll tell
you why it has no place in so many. Some people are just too
busy. It's too busy. So His Word has
no place in them. It's too busy. It's too busy
to sit down with the Scriptures. Too busy to pay attention to
the Word. Too busy. Let me ask you, are you too busy to be saved? Are you too busy to be saved?
Because that's what happens when you get so busy that you ain't
got no place for the Word. You're too busy to be saved by
the grace of God. And I'll tell you another reason
why it has no place in Pim's heart. Because it's not new. It's got no novelty to it. You know the Athenians, when
Paul got up on Mars Hill, he says, the Athenians were there
to hear or tell of some new thing. And there's nothing new about
this. Gary Shepherd said one time, if it's true, it's not
new. And if it's new, it's not true.
When it comes to the Scriptures. There's nothing new about the
scriptures. Nothing new. We can't come up.
I ain't come up, I've been here 34 years. This month. We reorganized the
church 34 years ago in May. 34 years. And if I come up with anything
new in the last 30 years, you know, should you be listening
to me? I'll tell you, I've got a new
thing for you today. If I said, God, I've said that, you know
what you'd say? Uh-oh. No, no, I've got nothing new.
It's the same, tell me the old, old story. I love to hear it
best. Oh my, it's the same old story.
Same precious story. Tell it to me over and over and
over. I love to hear men tell the same
story. Now, you know, let me tell you
something. You know, when folks get old
and they'll tell you the same thing over and over and over
and over and over, you hear, say, well, I've heard that a
hundred times. Well, that's not the way the scripture says that
you may get tired. And you'll see, you'll always
be, you'll always be respectful. You'll just sit there and listen
to them and nod. You've heard it. Bruce, how many
times? You know, you don't ever tell
nobody. But, you know, we But that's
not the way the Scripture says. That's not the way the Gospel
is. We can listen to it. How many times has Ruby left
here in the morning and said, you can come back tonight and
preach exactly the same thing. Tell us that over again tonight.
Just say the same thing tonight. You know why? Because it's so
precious to us. It has such a place in us. Huh? Oh, it's the same. You're not
tired of it. I know you're not. Are you tired? Oh, why, it has
no place. Are you tired of the only way
of righteousness, of justification, of acceptance? It's the only
way to have a righteousness, to have justification before
God, acceptance of God. It's through the gospel, through
Christ. And I'll tell you another reason
why it has no place in a person's heart. Something else takes the
place of the Word of Christ. and what he ought to have in
your heart. Something else takes the place of the Word of Christ
and what he ought to have. You know what? One thing that
takes the place of the Word of Christ in a person is the Word
of man. They'll take the Word of man
quicker than they'll take the Bible. Oh, our Lord Jesus said, well,
Paul said in Romans, which I say is the Word of Christ. Everything
is the Word of Christ. He says this, he says, let every
man be a liar. Let God be true. I mean, beloved, you know, men,
they have superstition. They have superstitions. Oh,
how far superstitions they have. Oh, am I afraid to leave off
all religious sayings? Hold on, hold out, let go, let
God, That's one of the commercials
on the radio in this town. It's just absolutely every time
I hear it, I turn it off. That one, you know, where they're
advertising for these youth groups in these churches, these kids
who go to church, you know, in this revolution ministry. And
these guys, you know, start talking about Jesus and the devil starts
talking. Now, I told you not to start talking about him like
that. What kind of outfit would put
you? You don't know what I'm talking about. You ever heard
on the radio here? He says, you know, the devil's talking. And
he said, now don't you mention him again. You know. Me and Hunter, oh, it's awful.
And you go in, go in, there's a, go in the place and here they've
got them a, they've got them a great big cross. Not only that,
but then they got a purple scarf hanging around it. And if you
was to go in there and take that cross and open the window and
throw it out, what would they do to you? What would they do to you if
they got this thing, got these crown of thorns on you, take
them crown of thorns and start taking them apart and using them
for toothpicks? What would they do to you? Huh? That's why we don't sing,
you know, the old rugged cross and my trophies all the way down.
We don't have any trophies. That's why we don't preach the
cross in and of itself. We preach Christ who was crucified. It's not the work that saves
us, it's Christ who did the work that saves us. And we're not
going to be saved by a work, we're saved by a person. And
the work, I do lots of work, but my work don't amount to anything. Paul, not a great word, but he
said when he got ready to leave this world mouth, they said,
I count everything but done. I'm going to face God with nobody
but Christ. And oh, beloved, they just won't
give up them old religious sayings in me. And I'll tell you something.
If there's two Gospels that you can believe in this world, if
you believe a man can be saved by free will and by grace at
the same time, you don't know any Gospel at all. Huh? And skepticism. People are so
skeptical, they say, prove it to me, prove it to me. God don't
even prove Himself. He just says that He is. In the
beginning, God. And lots and lots of people take
out the first eleven chapters of Genesis in these schools nowadays
and say, you know, just forget that. None of that ever happened. Well, you prove it to me. Can't prove. He said, He that heareth my sayings,
hears. And I'll tell you something else.
Let me hurry on. I've got to hurry. And another reason why the Word
has no place in so many, no room, because it's filled up with other
things. You think Christ's Word is too holy, too spiritual. And you just can't live up to
it. No, we're not living up to the
Word. We have Christ. Christ. That's who we trust. The only reason men are against
the Bible is because they know the Bible's against them. That's
why they mock and make fun of the Bible, because the Bible's
against them. It exposes them for what they are. And they just
fight it. And I tell you another reason
why people reject the Word of Christ is because they're too
wise. Too sophisticated. Too sophisticated. And they won't have His Word
in them because they love their sin. That's the reason my children
don't have the Word of Christ. They love their sin. I'm going to tell you something
about your own kids and tell you something about mine. How
many times do you hear people say, well, I'm praying for you.
They tell them since their mama got sick. They say, we're praying
for you. They cannot pray for her. They can't do it. They may ease their conscience.
They make them feel good about themselves. But until a person
is saved by the grace of God, he ain't never uttered a prayer. Until Christ is in you, you ain't
never said a prayer. You said words, but you never ever prayed a prayer. And that's one of those things
you've got to be honest with people about. You can't pray
for me. You can't even pray for yourself. How can you pray for me and love
your sin? How can you pray for me and never
hear the gospel? How can you pray for me and the
word has no place in you? How can you pray for me and you
hate God? How can you pray for me and you
don't love the master that I love? Huh? Oh my. That's pretty hard. It's the
truth. That's what we're talking about
defending Protecting and loving the Word above everything everybody
else. Now what happens, let me hurry
quick on here, what happens to those that the Word has no place
in? When those that the Word has
no place in. He said, Our Lord says, because of My, you seek
to kill Me, because My Word has no place in you. Every past rejection,
now listen to me, of that Word, every time you reject the Word,
has involved you in some sin. You reject the Word, it will
involve you in sin. Mr. Pete said this years ago,
and I believe it, and I know it so from my own experience.
The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from
the Bible. The Bible will keep you from
sin, or sin will keep you from picking up the Word. Ain't that
right? Huh? That's what our Lord said
here. He said in the Word. Oh, here's
why it has no place in you. The Word may stop touching you. If the Word quit touching you,
quit moving you, quit having an effect upon you, you may have
become so hardened that you don't ever hear the Word with the outward
ear even anymore. Wouldn't that be awful? And then you may be like these
Jews who oppose the Lord Jesus Christ, who oppose the Word.
You may end up, when it's all said and done, fighting the very
words of life. The words of life. Fight against
the words of life. What did they say, Dirk, over
there in that one place? And actually says, you know,
Paul said, seeing that you put the word far from you, And consider
yourselves that you don't want the Word, don't need the Word.
He said, I'll turn from you, and I'll turn. You count yourself
not worthy of the Word, but we'll turn somebody else. You don't
want it, somebody else will. Somebody else will. And I tell
you, look right here in John 12, 48. The Word will condemn
us and will condemn everybody who doesn't receive it in the
last great day. John chapter 8 and here in verse
12 of chapter 48. John chapter 12, verse 48. The
world will condemn you on that last day, that great day. Listen
to what our Lord said. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. What you hear is what will judge
you. That one fellow said, I know
you're a hard and austere man. He said, that's what I'll be
to you in the day of judgment. You think I'm hard and austere?
That's what I'll be. You think I'm unjust? That's
what I'll be to you in judgment. That's what will condemn you.
Out of your own mouth you reject my words, and out of your own
mouth you'll be condemned. And oh, beloved, let me show
you this in closing. John 6. Does the Word of Christ have
a place in you? You know, this is the words of
the Savior Himself. It's His words. It's His words. Look in John 6.63. Does the Word
of Christ have a place in you? Oh, God, make it have a place
in you. Oh, Lord, save Your people here. Please, open hearts. You see, there's the Word of
Christ have a place in you. You see, it's His Word. It's
the Word of the Savior Himself. And the Word means you the highest
good. It will bless you greatly. Receive it, believe it. John
6, 63. It is the Spirit that quickens. The flesh profits nothing. The
words that I speak unto you are Spirit and are life. The words that I speak unto you
are spiritual, and they bring life. Now look what he said down
here in verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, Will ye also go away? Now listen to this. Then Simon
Peter answered, Lord, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life." Has the word become the words
of eternal life? May God make it so. May God make
it so.