Our Lord was talking to these
Jews, and they didn't believe Him. And He asked a question here
in verse 43. Why do you not understand my
speech? Why do you not understand what
I'm saying is what He's talking about? Why do you not understand
what I'm talking about? Why do you not understand what
I'm saying? Then he answers the question himself, because you
cannot hear my word. Why can't you hear my word? Because
you're your father the devil. And down in verse 45, because
I tell you the truth, you don't believe me. What an awful thing. For somebody to be told this
from the Lord Jesus Christ, why do you not understand what I
say? Why don't you understand that?
He said, when I'm lifted up, then you'll know who I am. You'll
know that I am when I'm lifted up. You'll know. You'll know. And I ask the question here today,
do you understand the Lord Jesus Christ's words? Can you hear
what he says? Do you have the ability to understand
what he's talking about? Or are you like these Jews? You believe not, even though
he tells the truth. I sincerely believe that every
God-called preacher, every God-called preacher and pastor preaches
where the congregation understands them. Now whether they believe
what he says, that's another story. Anybody that's got any
modicum of education understands words. And the message in the
Bible is made up of words. And you can understand the words,
but do you understand what the meaning is when you hear the
words? And people often use an excuse to keep from bringing
somebody to hear the gospel. is they say, well, I'm afraid
they won't understand. What they really mean is they'll
understand and get mad, and I'll probably lose a friend. That's what they really mean.
But when God calls a preacher, and He calls him to deliver His
message, I truly believe that He'll deliver it in such a way
that people won't have any problem understanding. And that's what
I want to ask you some questions today. I want to make things
just as plain as I can make them. And I want to ask this question.
Do you understand when I say that through the Lord Jesus Christ,
God created all things that are made? Do you understand that? Now, you keep drawing and look
over here with me in Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter
1. You know, this is, people today,
there's even people who call themselves believers, who say
that they don't have any problem with evolution up to a certain
degree, that there was evolution in creation. But I'm telling you that I say,
and the Scriptures say, that God created all things, all things,
that's in this world today, by the Lord Jesus Christ and for
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it says here in verse
16 of Colossians 1. For by Him, by Christ, were all
things created that are in heaven. Everything you can see and cannot
see in the heaven, Christ made it. And everything that's in
this earth, God made it through Christ. Whether you can see it
visible or whether you can't see it, Whether there's thrones,
whoever's sitting on a throne today, whoever has dominions
and has powers, or principalities or powers, all things are created
by him, and listen to this, and for him. Now listen, and he's
before all things, and by him everything that's held together
is held together by him. And he's the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
Now listen to it, that in all things he might have the preeminence,
for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.
Now, do you have any problem understanding that God created
all things by Christ? And everything that's upheld
and consists is caused by him? So when I say that, I say that
evolution, evolution is a lie. A black, bold-faced lie. If man—if there's such a thing
as evolution, why is not things changing right in front of our
eyes? It's because God made all things. Do you understand that?
This is the Word of God. That's what I'm preaching. That
evolution is a lie, and creation is what God did. And if anybody—and
they don't want to talk about God in school anymore. You'll
have to talk about Evolution, you're allowed to talk about
a higher power sometimes, but you're not allowed to teach creation
anymore in most schools. They don't want you to mention
it. But, beloved, that's easy to understand. The second thing
I think, see if you understand this, the Lord God in three persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is omnipotent, almighty, is sovereign. He rules and controls all things
in time and eternity. Do you believe that? Look in
Daniel chapter 4 and verse 35 with me just a moment. Daniel
chapter 4 and verse 35. I could give you so many scriptures.
They asked David, they said, Lord, they said, David, where
is now your God? We have ours with us. I've seen
one of these big cardinals the other day, you know, dressed
in all of his red glory and all that, and he had a great big
silver crucifix up there behind him. No telling how much that
thing was worth. If I had it, I'd melt it down
and sell it. If I could find the ark, I'd
turn it into toothpicks. If I could find the cross, I'd
turn it into toothpicks. Because any relic that men can
find to worship, they will. Whether it's a crucifix, whether
it's a statue, whether it's a piece of a cross, whether it's something
in the ark that they find on a mountain someplace. Men, a
rabbit's foot in their pocket, a four-leaf clover, whatever
they can find to have some hope in, they'll do it. But I'm telling
you, the Lord God Almighty is omnipotent, He is sovereign,
He rules and controls all things in this world, and that, beloved,
we're not saved or kept by chance or rabbit's foot or luffs or
crosses, but by Christ! Look what He said in Daniel 4.35.
Look what He says here now. But our God
is in the heavens, David said. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And what do you think nothing
is? I tell you what Scott Richardson said, it was a donut hole. You
can find a donut hole. He said you found nothing. And
that's right, ain't it? Look what he says here, and all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. Well,
I tell you what, don't tell anybody that they're nothing. That upsets
them. You'll hurt their self-esteem. You'll hurt their appreciation
for themselves. But listen, and oh, not only that, but He, He
doeth according to His will in the army of heaven. And listen
to this, and among the inhabitants of the earth who are nothing,
and none can stay His hand. Or saying to him, what in the
world do you think you're doing? Now, I've said that to my kids.
What do you think you're doing? I've said that to myself. What
in the world are you doing? Floyd used to say all the time
when he'd get up and sit with himself, he'd say, Alan, why'd
you do that? And that's the way we are. What
in the world did I do? But that's what, but God, we
don't have to say that to God. Never say, what are you doing?
Oh, beloved, listen, He works all things after the counsel
of His own will. He declared the end from the
beginning. I'm saying that all power is
of God. There is no power but what God
ordains. He says, I've heard once, yea,
twice, that all power belongs unto God. And I'm telling you
this, that Satan has no power but what God gives him. He has
him on a chain. I mean, Satan couldn't even.
He couldn't do anything to Job until God said, you go ahead,
have at him. You know, Satan cannot do anything.
They talk about the devil can do this and the devil can do
that. The devil can't do anything. He's the least of my problems
in this world. Christ unwhipped him, defeated
him, and put him on a chain. I don't have to fight him. I
don't have to deal with him. I don't have to face him toe
to toe. Christ already did that, defeated him. And when he told
him to shut up, he shut up. One of them devils say something,
says, shut up. I don't want to hear another
word you got to say. You come to church, shut up. We know who you are, shut up.
That's what Christ would tell him. Oh, you want to go here? You want to go there? I'll put
you in that bunch of hogs over yonder. And, oh beloved, he said to Pharaoh,
for this purpose have I raised you up. What for? So I can drown
you in the Red Sea. I've raised you up to show you
that I can save a whole nation when you're the most powerful
ruler on the face of the earth. I can make you a piece of dirt
and I can put you in the Red Sea and bury you and your whole
army and you ain't got no right to say anything about it and
can't stop me. I raised you up for that only.
That's the only reason you're on the throne right now, for
me to show you that I can do anything I want to with you.
And, oh, listen. Our Lord Jesus said Judah was
the son of perdition from the beginning, and that's why he
perished. Let me show you a verse of Scripture
that'll absolutely... You need to mark this in your
Bible and remember this next time somebody wants... Look at
Proverbs 16, 4. You know, what God decrees, it's
going to come to pass. You know, I tell you, he has
set our bands. He has set our habitation. I
have an appointment. He holds the breadth of my soul,
he says. I have a time that I know I'm
leaving this world. And everything's appointed. And
how I go and how long it'll take to get there, I don't know. But
that's where we're going. And beloved, and what God has
purposed and decreed is going to come to pass. And I love that.
I'm not left to luck. I'm not left to fate. I'm not
left to destiny. I'm not left to chance. This
world is not just in chaos and running out of control. I would
be in despair at the shape that America's in if I didn't know
God wasn't the one that would run in this outfit. I would be
in utter and absolute despair. over the condition of this world
and the sin that's in this world. I'd be over despair over my children
and my grandchildren for the sin that they're living in if
I didn't know God was running this world. That God can put
people down and God can raise people up. God can break hearts
and God can harden hearts. God can open minds or He can
blind a man. God can do what He wills to do,
and I find great comfort in that, because I can say, Father, if
it pleases You, will You please do this? But not my will, but
Yours be done. And it'll be done. And I tell
you what, He'll get glory out of it, whether it's in grace
or judgment. He'll get all the glory. Did you find that hard to understand?
And look what it said here in Proverbs 16 and 4. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil." Huh? Made the wicked for the day of
evil? What's all this business about bad things happening to
good people? Oh, that's easy to understand.
Where is this frail, pitiful person that they call God, that
can't do anything unless you let Him, that stands at your
heart's door knocking? Where is this God that's trying
to teach me? People say, God's trying to teach
me something. God's trying to show me something.
Well, I'll tell you something, God ain't trying to do anything. He ain't trying to do anything.
What He does, He does. I mean, if He intended for you
to learn something, you're going to learn it. He said, all thy
children shall be what? Taught them God? I'm going to
try to teach them? No, no. He is going to teach His people.
He ain't trying to do nothing. He ain't trying to show you.
I'll tell you what, if you find a God that can't do what He wants
to, that means that you've got more power than He does. And
let me tell you something, beloved, is that easy enough to understand?
And let me tell you something. God created man. This is my third
thing. I want you to understand this.
You know, do you believe this? You know, why do you not understand
my speech? Because you cannot understand. You're not a God.
God created man in his own image. That means that he has an ability
to know God, believe God, trust God. Has a conscience, has an
ability. to know God, and then he made
Christ. Christ is a man, so man was made
in the image of Christ. Put him in the garden, and he
was made upright. He wasn't one of these fellas
all hooked over and just started popping up, popping up, got out
of trees and started walking. That's not the way it worked.
God made him upright, and he sought out many inventions, is
what Ecclesiastes 7.29 says. But God, when he put him in the
garden, left him, and there he was, and he fell. God gave him
one commandment. Don't you eat of the fruit of
that tree of good and evil. Well, he says, I'm going to eat
of it, and I don't care what the cost is to me. I don't care
what the cost is to my wife. I don't care what the cost is
to my children. I don't care what the cost is to my gandchildren.
He said, God is trying to hide something from you. And I want
as much glory as he's got. I want as much power as he's
got. I want as much authority as he's got. And I want to be
independent. He took of that fruit and immediately
he changed. You know what happened to him?
He became a sinner. He failed. He lost the image
of God. He was marred on the spot. And
in that day that he partook of that fruit, the whole human race
became sinners. You know, how in the world did
we get in the condition we got in? Where did sin start at? Where did rebellion start at?
Where did disobedience start at? Where did shame come from? Where did pride come from? Where did this independence streak
that we got Well, I'll tell you where it had to start someplace.
It started in the Garden of Eden when Adam rebelled against God
and partook of that fruit. And I'll tell you what, from
that day to this day, every human being born into this world is
born a sinner. He don't become a sinner when
he gets 12 years old and tells a lie. He don't become a sinner
when he steals an apple when he's six. He don't become a sinner
when he sticks a cigarette out of his mama's pack and goes hide
behind the bar and smokes it. He don't become a sinner when
he does those things because he is a sinner. He tells a lie
because he was born a liar. He steals because he was born
a thief. And that original sin had to
start someplace, and it started with our father Adam. And every
child that comes from a mother's womb from that day to this day
is born a sinner. And you don't have to do anything
in the world to be a Lord. You're just born that way. And
if God in His sovereign mercy don't come and do something for
you, you'll live like you're born, and you'll die like you're
born. Huh? That's what I'm telling
you. Adam represented the whole human
race. When he fell, sin entered this
world. There was no sin in this world
before. It entered through this one man.
For by one man, sin entered into this world by that one man's
sin. And then Genesis 5 says, Adam begat sons in what? His
own likeness. His own likeness. And God created
only one man. Only one man ever created. And
every one of us comes through Him. We have an evil nature because
our Father had an evil nature. And the results of sin and rebellion
is death, spiritual death. Adam died that day. He died as
toward God. He died toward righteousness.
He died toward holiness. He died as spiritual death. He couldn't commune with God
anymore. And from that day on, he started dying. And I'll tell
you what, we had a new great grandson born Friday morning.
Little fella just come into this world and he won't be no time. He'll be 60. And he'll just get older and
older. And I'll be loving. How did we get in the shape we
got in? How did we become sin? Where
does sin come from? You know, it had to come from
somebody. Because it's natural. Do your children got any little
angels, do you? Huh? I got on a rider last night. I'm telling you what, she says,
I want... She'll just start going, I want,
I want, I want. And I finally got aggravated
for saying I won't. And I said, I said, you're not
the only one in this house who wants something. There's other people that want
something besides what you want. Your wants is not the paramount
reason for being in this house. Boy, she packed up, drummed up
in the bed, and dropped her back in the house. She said, oh. She
shut up right quick. You know, all they talked about,
I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't. But listen.
Everybody wants something, but everybody can't get what they
want. But I tell you what I do want, I want God to save me from
my sin and rebellion that I had in my father Adam. And I want Him to save me yesterday,
I want Him to save me today, and if He lets me live tomorrow,
I want Him to save me tomorrow from this old fallen nature,
old wretched man that I am. But I tell you what, you know,
that's just human nature. I don't care what anybody else
is doing, everything's got to stop right now because this is
what I've got to have. The whole world's got to stop
because I want something. You know, what does it cost?
I don't care, I want it. And I'll throw a fit till I get
it. And that's the way human nature is until somebody sets
their little old honey in on fire and tells you that there's
something different besides them in this world. And you hope you
do your children that way. And let me tell you, I've got
to hurry on. And let me tell you the fourth
thing. Did you understand everything I just said about where sin comes
from? And Almighty God decreed in a
covenant of grace to redeem and save a people out of this fallen,
sinful race. You know, I was shamed in iniquity
and conceived in sin, and I came forth from my mother's womb speaking
lies. But bless His holy name. God
had a covenant of grace before I ever entered into this world.
And out of all the sinful people, God said, there's a whole multitude
that no man can number that I'm going to give my Son for, and
I'm going to redeem them from their sin. Let me show you in
Psalm 111. Look at this with me. Psalm 111. Oh, my. He's going to redeem
a people, pay for them, shed His blood for them, save them
from their sins. Psalm 111, verse 9. Look at what
he says here. Oh my. This is what he said. He sent
redemption unto his people. Sent it. He sent it. Who descended by
it? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Redeemer. through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sin. And listen to this, He has commanded
His covenant for how long? Forever. How long is it going
to last? Forever. And listen, holy and reverend
is His name. Look at Psalm 89, verse 34. This whole 89th Psalm is about
the covenant that God made with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what
he said here in Psalm 89, verse 34. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Won't do it. Oh my, now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep,
the Lord Jesus Christ, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. And you look at how many times
in John 17, seven times, seven times, our Lord talks about those
that were given to me. Seven times, those that were
given to me, those that were given to me, those that were
given to me. Seven times. That's perfection. Perfectly
given. And I'll tell you this, if he
hadn't have entered into this covenant of grace to save this
people, to redeem this people, to pay the price for their sins,
then no one would have ever come to Christ. Our Lord Jesus says
that you will not come to me. And he says there's none that
seeketh me. No, not one. But it pleased God
to choose a people in Christ to make Him their surety, and
a surety is someone that stands good for someone else and takes
care of all their obligations. Well, Christ was our surety,
and God charged Him to take care of all of our obligations, all
of our sin debt, all of our guilt, all of our shame, Trespassers,
we've made all of our iniquity. He paid everything that was owed
to God, and Christ paid it all, all that He'll owe. And God gave
these people to His Son, and He took upon Himself their responsibility
of these people in this covenant of grace. Let me tell you something.
God has never looked to me or any people for whom He gave His
Son to for anything from them at all. Never once has He ever
looked to us do anything. They don't. If Christ, if He
required of Christ what He required of me, how could He come require
anything from me? Did He require obedience from
me? He did. He got it from Christ. Did He
require death for my sins? He got it. Christ died. Did He
require holiness? He did. Christ is my holiness. Did it require a fulfilling of
the law and the obeying of the law? Yes. Well, I did it in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you, beloved, in John
6.37, everybody ought to know this verse. Everybody ought to
know this. This is what I'm saying. Do you
understand these things? These people, that's why I said,
our Lord Jesus said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Didn't
say nothing about a goat. I lay down my life for the sheep. I know my sheep, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. Herein doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life for the sheep. I know my sheep, and
I'm known of them. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep." Look what he says here in John
6.37, talking about this covenant of grace. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me." Here's the thing. Now, do you
understand that? That's why our Lord said, do
you not understand my speech? Can you not hear my words? Do
you understand that right there? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. What? If I've been given to the
Father, Well, how can I know? Have you ever come to Christ? If you've been given to the Father,
guess what happens? You come to Christ. Where else are you going to go?
Now, listen to this. And him that cometh to me, I
will know I was cast out. You just don't know what I've
said and done. I'll not cast you out. You don't know what
I did before I come to church this morning. He'll not cast
you out. Oh my, He ain't going to cast you out. No, no, no. Bless His holy name. And those
that were given to our Lord Jesus Christ in eternity, He calls
them His sheep, calls them His body, calls them His people,
calls them His children, calls them His sons, calls them vessels
of honor, calls them vessels of mercy, calls them His elect,
calls them His chosen. He got a Lot of names, and he
calls them by them. And as long as he calls them.
Oh, my. I've got to show you one other
thing. You've just got to see this. In Romans chapter 9. I
know you all know this. You've seen this so many times.
But it's wonderful to look at it again. You know, the thing is, is do
you understand this? Do you understand this? Do you
understand what I'm saying? You know, that's why the Lord
said, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes, causes
to approach unto thee. But look what He said here in
Romans 9 and 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. None of them works. These children hadn't done anything
yet. But of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob hath
a loved, he shall have a hated. What shall we say then? Oh, wait
a minute. That ain't fair. Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
He's going to use the scripture. I'll have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. If I choose to have mercy on Jacob and not have mercy
on Esau, it's my mercy. And nobody deserves mercy, or
if it deserved mercy, that wouldn't be called mercy. And listen to
this, I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then, it's not of him that runneth. Not of him that runneth. But it's of God that showeth
mercy. God that showeth mercy. And oh,
listen. For the Scripture said unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power, my authority in you, and that my name might be
declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will, and whom he will he hardens. It's easy enough to understand,
eh? And let me tell you, let me hurry up here. Our Redeemer,
our blessed Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, all through the
Scriptures, all through the Old Testament, He was told out. He was pictured. Oh, so many
pictures of Him in the Old Testament. He was prophesied in the Old
Testament. He was promised in all the types and patterns in
the Scriptures. That's why our Lord Jesus told
His disciples, He, beginning at Moses and the Psalms and the
Prophets, told them all things written concerning Himself. You
know, it tells us that He'll be a prophet like Moses. He'd
be a priest like Melchizedek. He'd be the king like David,
but His throne would last forever. The first promise in the Bible
concerned his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'll put enmity
between thy seed, he told that serpent, between thy seed and
the seed of the woman. He said, he'll crush your head,
you'll bruise his heel. And that seed of the woman, women
don't have seed, but this woman did because he was the seed of
God, he was born of God, born of the Holy Ghost. And the scripture
says, and when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son made of a woman. And all beloved, if an angel
offered that blood sacrifice, it's pointing to our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb. That ark that Noah got into,
that was our Lord Jesus Christ. One way in, and the judgment
of God fell on that earth, and everybody in that ark was saved.
Everybody outside the ark was lost. And there wasn't but one
wind in it, and it looked up. And there's only one way in,
and only way to see God. That's through our Lord Jesus
Christ, and only way to see Him. And see, the Old Testament tells
of one who is coming. The New Testament says he has
come. John the Baptist said that's
the Lamb of God. The epistles say that he has come
and that he's coming again. And this Bible, listen to this,
this Bible is so tailored that it'll only identify one person. as the Savior, as the Redeemer,
as the only sacrifice for sins forever. And that's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Only God identifies one person.
Now listen. Our Lord Jesus is the only man
who chose his mother, chose his place and time of birth, chose where he'd go and what
he'd do every day of his life, chose the hour and the method
by which he would die, and then raised himself again from the
dead." Huh? Oh, my. Oh, bless His holy name. Well, I want to show you one
other thing in Hebrews 10. I know you all have seen all
this, but oh, this is so wonderful to look at. He came to redeem the pain for
the sins of His people, to save His people, to put their sin
away, to make them acceptable to God. You know, the only way
that you can be acceptable to God is through the Lord Jesus
Christ. The only way you can talk to
God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way God will
have anything to do with you is through His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. You've never thought a thought said a word, shed a
tear, had a feeling, done a good enough deed that God would even
look in your direction. That's why we needed a Savior. That's why we needed somebody
to pay our sin debt. That's why we needed somebody
to put away our sin. Look what he said here in Hebrews
10 in verse 11. And every priest stands daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. Done it over and over and over.
But this man, this Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat there on
the right hand of God, waiting till his enemies would be made
his to listen to him. For by one offering, he had perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Perfected, grabbed, perfected,
made holy forever. And listen, whereof the Holy
Ghost Himself, He witnesses to us. He says this, this is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my law into their hearts and in their minds
will I write them. And listen to it, and their sins
and inequities will I remember no more. Now, where these sins
are paid for, you don't need another offering for sin. What
are you going to bring to put away your sins? Christ did it!
So then there are others. Look at what we can do now. Having
therefore grown this brethren, boldness, liberty, we can come
into the holiest of all by the blood of the Lord. We can go
right into the very throne room of God through Christ. And oh,
beloved, when God made all things, He created them with an Indian
view of having a heavenly kingdom. A new heaven and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness, and all those people He redeemed
will dwell in that new heaven and new earth. And, oh, beloved,
let me tell you what. If anybody had any problem understanding
what I'm saying, it may be getting tired. Does anybody have any
understanding of what I've said so far? That's what our Lord asked. That's
what he said. Why do you not understand the
speech? Because you cannot believe the Lord. Let me tell you something. Understanding is not man's problem.
You know what his problem is? Unbelief. Just absolute out and
out unbelief. And if that went back over in
our text, back over in John chapter 8. Our Lord says this, because I
tell the truth, you believe me not. A lie will get up and go around
the world before the truth gets off the porch for people to believe. I tell you something, you see,
unbelief is the problem, not understanding. Our Lord says
you don't believe. And he said in verse 46, which
of you convinces me of sin? Which of you can tell me that
I'm a sinner? Where have you ever seen me do anything other
than please my Father? And if I say the truth, why don't
you believe me? Why don't you believe me? Let
me tell you something. They understood Moses from the
first time he went down there and said, let my people go. You
know what he said in the first word out of his mouth? Who is
the Lord? Don't mean nothing to me. People
in Noah's day understood Noah when they was building that ark.
Said, it's going to rain, and if you don't get in this ark,
you're going to perish. They understood everything Noah preached
for 120 years. And don't you think they understood
him? They understood him. They just didn't believe him. The Pharisees understood everything
that our Lord says. That's why I look over here in
John 8. Excuse me, John 10, right over John chapter 10 and verse
31, look what he said, the Pharisees understood our Lord, that's why
they took up stones to stone him. Look what he says, verse 30,
I and my father are one. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him, this is the second time. Our Lord answered,
How many good works have I showed you from my Father? For which
of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, For a
good work we don't stone you. We've got no problem with people
doing good works. But for blasphemy, because of
thou being a man, makest thyself God. They understood what he
was saying. I'm God. You're dealing with
God here. They understood that. The Jews understood Paul. And
the Scripture says that some believe and some believe not. And I tell you, beloved, and
that's what our Lord asked. That's why He said, why do you
not understand my speech? Why do you not understand my
speech? Let me close with one verse of Scripture over in 2
Timothy. Let me close with this. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 12. People say, well, preacher, I
believe the Bible. I'm going to tell you something,
and it shocks you. If you believed the Bible, you'd
be a safe person. Is that not right? If you believed
the Bible, you'd be a safe person. When I believed it, I was safe. When I took it for just its face
value, But my traditions were killed,
and my opinion was killed, and my legalism was killed, and my
fundamentalism was killed, and all my hopes for saving myself
were slain. And I understood that Christ is the
only Redeemer, the only Savior, that God gave Him a people. He
came to save those people. Then I found rest. I tell you again, I say, if you
believe the Bible, if you believe that you'd be saved, you mean
what you're saying is that you just understand some of it instead
of believing it. Look what Paul said, verse 12
here, 2 Timothy 1. For the rich cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed.
Why not you ashamed, Paul? You've been suffering for Christ.
You've been in prison. You've been in jail. You've been
beaten. You've been ridiculed. You've been mocked, you've been
made a fun of for what you believe, for election and sovereign grace,
and that you're one of God's elect, and you believe in God's
sovereignty, and that God has ordered all things in your life,
and you're not ashamed? No, I'm not ashamed. Why ain't
you ashamed? For I know whom I have believed.
I know whom I have believed. Except you believe I am, my Lord
said. I know whom I have believed.
I know whom I have believed. And look at what it says here.
And I'm persuaded. He has persuaded me. The Bible's persuaded me. The
Holy Ghost has persuaded me. The truth has persuaded me that
He is able to keep. Now watch this now. Here's where
the rubber hits the road right here. I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep. Now listen to it. What I've committed unto Him. What I've committed unto Him.
What have you committed? When a man understands and believes
what Christ has said, he does like Paul says, I commit some
things to Him. Huh? He said, I've committed
unto Him. I've committed, this is the man
who believes, the man who commits everything to Christ. The One
who has committed all. Here's my soul, Lord, I give
it to You. Here's my hopes, Lord, I give them over to You. Here's
all my dreams for my future, I give them over to You. All
my ambitions, I commit them to You. My hand, I commit it to
You. My heart, I commit it to You.
My family, I commit it to You. my heart, my life, my soul, everything
I am, everything I hope to be, all my children, my grandchildren,
my great-grandchildren, everything, my home, everything. Oh, Lord, I commit it to You." Then you say, I understood. I understood. Oh, the debate. Here's where the debate is. Who's going to be Lord? You or
Him? I read one time where a bunch
of Romans went to a country, to Concord, and they came in
ships. And after they all got on shore,
got set up, they looked out and all the ships were on fire, and
they were burning. And all those soldiers started
saying, how in the world are we going to get back home? And
that Roman general said, we ain't going back. We're not going back. God burn all my ships. Burn them,
burn them, burn them. Burn my ships. Burn them. Have your ships been burned yet? One old fellow in the Old Testament,
lift up his arms, says, I've opened my mouth and I cannot
go back. Cannot go back. Can't go back.