Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm going to be in the second epistle of John, 2 John. And I'm going to begin reading
in verse 9 of 2 John. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any
unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house. Neither bid him God's speed.
For he that bid him God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Having many things to write unto
you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust to come
unto you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. The
children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen. Okay. Believe it or not, I have
absolutely nothing new for you today. I'm going to endeavor
to preach Christ Jesus by preaching, and this is my title, Paul, the
doctrine of Christ. That's the title. Now, there's
no way I can preach all of the doctrine of Christ in one morning,
so I'm not. But I'm gonna give you something
that you should already know. I won't use big theological terms
because I don't want to. I can look them up and use them. Sometimes I can even pronounce
them correctly. But if you're like me, and I
suspect you are, most of them you'll forget before you get
out the door because it's not a word we use. And besides that,
we've got this word right here. And if this word's not good enough
for you, I can't help you. I can't help you. Because this
word is all I have. I try only to use the scriptures
because Christ, Jesus himself, through his prophets, through
his apostles, through his disciples, have given us this written word
in English. I don't have to try and translate
anything from Hebrew, although I like to look at the words sometimes.
I don't have to try and translate anything from the Greek, although
I like to look at the words sometimes. We've got them in English, and
that's what we use. And as many people have been
trying to have us get rid of some of this stuff that's in
this book, I think it's important that we actually preach from
this book. But anyhow, verse 9 says, whoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath
not goth. Now, folks, that's a heck of
a statement. That's a heck of a statement. So where it says
transgresses and abides not the word transgresses means to go
contrary To go against to be against but not only to be against
to go against his doctrine and Then it says abides not What's that mean You don't live
in the doctrine of Christ And I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. If you don't live in the doctrine of Christ, you are going
to transgress. It's gonna happen. Because this
is the thing, Christ did say it one time. If you're not with
me, you're against me. And antichrist, John wrote about
it. He said antichrist is here. Those
that are against Christ were there 2,000 years ago. not 50 years after Christ died. There were already those that
were called Antichrist. They were against Christ. Contrary. Whosoever transgresses and abides
not, the doctrine of Christ. First thing, first point, most
important point. If I can say that. The doctrine
of Christ is singular. Is singular. It's only one. The doctrine of Christ. I'm guilty. Sometimes when I
use the word doctrines in plural. But that's because of my limitations.
It's not because it's, you know, we talk about, and I mentioned
it last week, some people call it TULIP, the total depravity,
unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace,
and perseverance. They call those the doctrines
of grace. And I'm gonna try not to do that
anymore, because there's only one doctrine, the doctrine of
Christ. And TULIP, I believe is true.
I believe that's all true, but I believe that is a part of the
doctrine of Christ. Because if you use your computer,
if you want to use your concordance, the plural word doctrines is
used five times in the Bible. All five are in the New Testament,
and all five have really a bad connotation. the word doctrines. Two times it's used in the Gospels,
once in, I think it's Mark and once in Matthew, it says, teaching
for, where is it? Let me look it down. Teaching
for doctrines, the commandments of men. And that's not a good
thing. It's not a good thing. One time
it is used, as the doctrines of men, which is another bad
thing. One time it's actually used telling
you, warning you about doctrines of devils. And the last time, the fifth
time it's used, it says diverse and strange doctrines. And you're
told to avoid them. Avoid them, avoid them all actually. So the doctrine of Christ is
singular. That's why it's written that
way, because that's exactly what it means. So what is the doctrine
of Christ? Well, I don't know, but actually
maybe a better question is, who is the doctrine of Christ? Here's another question. because it's talking about those
who have bide not and who transgress the doctrine of Christ. Here's
another question for you. Who is born of God? Who is born of God? Well, 1 John,
if you want to turn back, mine's on the same page here. 1 John
chapter five and verse one says this. whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God and Everyone that loveth
him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him by this
We know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep
his commandments You understand, whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, understand this,
the reverse is also true. Whosoever doesn't believe that
Jesus is the Christ is not born of God. So, that's the question. Do you
believe that Jesus is the Christ? I'm gonna tell you something.
This has everything to do with the doctrine of Christ. Now, to take a look at the doctrine
of Christ, I wanted to use, big surprise, the words of Christ. So in John chapter 17, I wanna
take a look at that. These are the words of Jesus
Christ, his high priestly prayer, we call it, his prayer to the
Father. This is not what most people
call the Lord's Prayer, but I say it's a lot closer to the Lord's
Prayer than the Our Father's that most people repeat. These
are the words of Jesus Christ as he prayed. These words spake
Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven. This is verse one
of chapter 17 of John. And said, Father, the hour is
come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. First thing I asked you about
in verse one, the doctrine of Christ. Do you know? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is worthy of being glorified? Understand, the Old Testament's
full of it. My glory I will not share. My
glory will I not give to another. The only one who's allowed, authorized,
and deserves glory is God. That's what we're asking. Jesus
Christ is God. Manifest in the flesh, yes, but
God nonetheless. God still. Verse two says this. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Here's the question here. Do
you believe that Christ has power over all flesh? All flesh. And he has that power to give
eternal life to as many as the Father gave him. That's the Christ. That's the
anointed one. That's the Messiah. That's the
Redeemer. Do you believe that it is right
for Jesus Christ to give eternal life to as many as the Father
gave him? Some people have a sticking point
with that. They want to qualify it. Well,
God gave him everybody that would believe in him. No, you won't. No, you won't. No one believes in Christ without
the power of Christ. The scriptures are clear. We'll
get into that a little bit here in just a minute, but this is
the thing. There's no qualifier here. The
only qualifier is that God gave them to his son. And I can tell
you when he did it. Before the foundation of the
world. We were chosen in Christ by God
Him before the foundation of the world Verse 3 of 17 says this and this
is life eternal That they might know thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent You understand Do you know do
you believe? That eternal life is given to
his people on this earth right now. If you believe Jesus Christ
truthfully, you have eternal life right now. And I'm gonna
say this, whether you feel like it or not, most times I don't feel like
it. But Christ said this, This is life eternal. This is life
eternal that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. You understand, to know
Jesus Christ is to know the Father. There's no way to know the Father
without the Son. And the only way we know is by
grace, through faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God. And it's not your faith, it's his faith first. Now, I
read something the other day where a fellow was, he was taking
off on Henry Mayhem. I must have downloaded this thing
several years ago, because I don't even remember it. But I was looking
at it. And this fellow was looking at
that verse a bit, Ephesians 2 and 8, saying Henry Mahan and all
you Calvinists, you know, you interpret that wrong. Because
when you look and it says, by grace through faith, what we
don't see, okay, what I don't see, and I'll admit this because
I don't see it, is that grace is dependent upon faith. And
I said, what are you talking about? It's by grace through faith. Faith is dependent upon grace,
if anything. And both are dependent upon Jesus
Christ. And both are the, Jesus Christ
is the source of all grace, and he's the author and the finisher
of all faith, true faith. but to try and come to that verse
and say that, oh no, you have to believe, otherwise God's plans
are going awry, which is what they want. They want salvation
to be of the Lord and you. That's what they want. That's
all it is. And it's a lie. My goodness. Faith is dependent. upon grace. Grace does not depend upon faith.
It's by grace, through faith. And it's all by Christ. It's
not of you, not of works, lest any man should boast. And what
was this guy doing? He was boasting of his faith. Anyway. John 17, verse four. I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. Oh my. And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. before the world was. Do you
know that Jesus Christ was glorified before the world was? What does
John 1 say? What? In the beginning was the
Word. In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ
is God. Manifest in the flesh. Oh my. Oh, I like that. Verse nine of
chapter, John chapter 17. Here's one that really sticks
in people's craw. I pray for them. Well that's
good, that's good. Pray not for the world But for
them which thou hast given me for they are thine And all mine
are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them You believe Jesus Christ didn't
pray for the world I That's the doctrine of Christ. He didn't
pray for the world. He prayed for those whom the
Father gave him out of the world. You understand why? Because you
understand, here's the thing, about the prayers of Jesus Christ.
People think he prays like we do. No, no, no, no, no. Jesus Christ prayed perfectly.
Perfectly. Anything he prays for is gonna
happen. It's going to happen. We ask
amiss. That's what the scriptures tell
us. You receive not because you ask amiss. You're wrong. Jesus Christ was never wrong.
Every prayer he set up, God said yes. Oh my. People don't understand this.
If Jesus Christ prayed for the world like he prayed for his
people, the world would be saved and everybody in it. Because
his prayers have a power that we know absolutely nothing about. We don't know. We do not know. Do you believe that this Jesus
is the Christ? Back up just a little bit. John 10, 26. I got my bookmark in the way there. Well, 10, 25. Jesus answered
them, I told you and ye believed not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not. Because ye are not of my sheep
as I said unto you My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and
they follow me Do you believe that some don't
believe because they're not a sheep That's what the scripture say I know I've had people read this
to me, but you're not of my sheep because you don't believe. That's
the way everybody wants to interpret it, but that's not what it says.
It says you believe not because, because you're not my sheep. Now I can't preach, I can't say
that to somebody because I don't know. Jesus Christ knows. Jesus Christ
knew. You understand, if I'd have been
there to stone Stephen, and I'd have seen Saul and Tarsus standing
there holding everybody's cloak while they went and stoned Stephen
to death for preaching the truth of God, I'd have thought Saul
was a goner, and I'd have been wrong. At that time, he didn't
believe, but it wasn't because he wasn't a sheep. is because
God had not revealed himself to him, which he did on the Damascus
Road later. I can't say this, but I can tell
you this. Jesus Christ can say it, and
it was absolutely true. Those men that he was talking
to at that time, they were not his sheep. And that's all he
could say. That's all I can say. He said
it. John 6 and verse 65. And he said, therefore said I
unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. John 6, 44. No man can come to
me except the Father which has sent me draw him and I will raise
him up at the last day. Do you believe, do you know that
no man can come to the Father except to be given unto him of,
no man can come unto me except to be given unto him of my Father? You understand that? We tell
people to come to Christ, and we mean that. We mean for you,
we want you to come to Christ, but understand this, we understand
this, that you can't come unless it's given unto you of the Father.
You won't come unless it's given unto you by the Father. And I
believe this, the hour is coming and now is, And there's gonna
be those who hear the voice of the Son of God, and those that
hear shall live. And they're gonna be the ones
that come unto me. And I will raise him up at the
last day. Oh, that's good. That's good. That's the doctrine of Christ.
That's the doctrine of Christ. And you know, after he preached, John six, verse 65, then comes
John six, verse 66. From that, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said unto the 12,
this is after the other ones left. Will ye also go away? And Simon Peter answered. Oh,
I tell you. And here's the answer. First
word, Lord. First word is Lord. First word
is Lord. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ said, yes, except
Judas Iscariot. What Peter said was exactly true.
What Peter said was exactly true. But Judas was still there. Isn't
that amazing? He preached that and multitudes
went away, but Judas hung out for a little longer. Now it says
that he was a thief, and he held the bag so there was a profit
for Judas to stay. But you understand, Jesus Christ
knew him at that time. There was no surprising the Lord
Jesus Christ. He knew what was in all men's
hearts. But what Peter says is glorious.
Lord, to whom shall we go? There's no one else. That's the
doctrine of Christ. There is no one else. There is
no one else. Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. So what happens if you don't
know this Christ? What happens if you don't know
the doctrine of Christ? What happens if you don't live
in the doctrine of Christ? Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.