If you like to follow along I'm
gonna be in the second epistle of John 2nd John And I'm gonna
begin reading in verse 9 2nd John Whosoever transgresses and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ is 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. 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 TULIP, the total depravity, unconditional
election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance
and say, 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 it in 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 and 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. You
believe 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, oh Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had, what? 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. I 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. 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 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 of 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. 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 you can 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. Whew. That's some tough words,
Mason. It's true. It's true. God blessed
it. True forever. But that's some
harsh words. If you abide not, if that's not
where you live, you don't have God. That's what John said. You understand? I don't need
a big theological doctrine for that, Mason. I don't need a big
theological word. He said, you don't have God.
You don't know God. He told us before. He that doesn't
hear God will not hear us. Why? Because they're not living
in the doctrine of Christ. Abraham told that rich man in
hell. Christ told the account, that
story, that account of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in Abraham's
bosom. Send Lazarus back, because if
one rose from the dead, they'd hear him. To my brothers, so
that they don't come to this awful place. And Abraham said,
they have Moses and the prophets. If they won't hear them, if they
won't hear Moses and the prophets, they won't hear if one raised
from the dead. And that's true. Because you
understand, there was one that raised from the dead. and people
won't hear him now. Jesus Christ, the righteous.
We preach him and they won't hear now. And the reason they
won't hear Moses and the prophets, Moses and the prophets are saying
the same thing we're saying. Abraham saw my day and not only
saw it, he was glad. He was glad. Why won't they hear? John says,
they have not God. Stephen, when he was being, before
he got stoned, said, they're uncircumcised in heart and in
ears. And, and, because of being uncircumcised
in heart and ears, they do always resist, not you, the Holy Ghost. They always resist the Holy Ghost.
Why? Because they're still dead in trespasses and in sin. And
their hearts uncircumcised, their ears are uncircumcised, and they
can't hear and they can't understand. Oh, but listen. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. I like that. He that abides, lives in the
doctrine of Christ, hath eternal life. He has. Now understand, I wanna
put the order here correctly, right? He that abides in the
doctrine of Christ, and it doesn't say, shall have both a father
and a son. No, he says you already got it.
You already have the Father and the Son. He that believeth hath
eternal life. Because I'm telling you something,
without the eternal life from God, without the life from Christ,
you will not believe. You will not believe. Life comes before faith. I still remember Earl telling
me that years and years ago. We were on the phone. He said
he had a fella ask him a question. He said, what comes first, life
or faith? And Earl said, life. Because dead men don't believe. That's the whole problem with
coming up to the front and praying the prayer and God will save
you. You understand? Dead men can't believe. Dead
men can't do anything. And that's what we are, is dead
to God before he gives us life. That's the doctrine of Christ. Matter of fact, in Him, in Christ,
we live, we move, and we have our being in Him, in Him. Because without Him is only death,
death. Dead in trespasses and in sins,
dead in heart and ears and mind. Blinded in the mind. In him we
have life, the very life of the Son of God. He hath both. I like that, both. The Father
and the Son. Oh, I like that. If you live in Christ, you've
got both right now. Is there anything better? If
you live right now, you have the Father and the Son. What's
it say? This is eternal life. This is
life eternal. To know thee, God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. Ah, I like that. No man knows
of the Father except the Son, and whomsoever the Son will reveal
him. Oh my. I'm tempted to go back to Romans. I am found of them that sought
me not. I made manifest to them that
wasn't even looking for me. He makes himself known to his
people, to all those that the Father gave him. Oh, if there's
any come and don't bring this doctrine, what? Don't receive
them. Don't let them in your house.
Well, that's not very Christian. No matter of fact, that is Christian.
It's scriptural right here. Don't let them in your house.
Matter of fact, it kind of goes without saying, don't receive
his doctrine or doctrines. Paul told Timothy in his book,
Timothy, from such, turn away. Turn away. Just, hey, you know? I'm not going looking for that
fella who wrote that article against Henry Mahan's preaching.
I don't need to talk to him. And I'm pretty sure he don't
wanna talk to me. And don't bid him Godspeed. Don't
even tell them good luck. Just tell them to go away. We
don't care where you go, but you can't stay here. The true doctrine of Christ is
who is Jesus Christ. And the doctrine of Christ, if
you want it boiled down, without any theological terms, comes
down to this. Christ is all. Christ is all. All. There's nothing lacking in him.
There's all kind of lacking in me, but there's nothing lacking
in him. What does that mean? I mean it sounds real simple,
Christ is all. Christ is all my salvation. From
beginning to end. From beginning to end. And including
all of the middle. None of it's up to me. And that's
the way I like it. Because if any of it's up to
me, I'm dead. I'm dead. And if any of it's
up to you, you're dead. From before the foundation of
the world to a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Understand, I need no one else
and I need nothing else, nothing else. And I can add nothing to
his salvation because it is his salvation. And not only that, Christ is
all my forgiveness. He's my substitute. He took my
place and he paid the complete debt that I owed. The debt that I owed to God for
my sins. My transgressions, my trespasses,
and even he died for my omissions. just the things I didn't do that
I should have done. And understand this, him being
my forgiveness is because when he hung on that cross, one time,
one time only, when the father looked at that man, and he was
a man that could die, the God man, not the man God now, the
God man, There's lots of people around now that wanna say that
Jesus was a man God, and you can be one too, but it ain't
so. He's the God man. He was God
first, and then he became man. And while he was man on this
planet, he was still God. But there on that tree, when
he hung on that cross, the Father looked at him and saw my sins
being paid for. right there, saw your sins being
paid for if you believe him. He saw the sins of all the people
that he gave to the son laid on him, took him in his own body
on the tree and paid that debt. You understand, forgiveness is
free to me and to you if you believe, but it ain't free. Jesus Christ paid for it. He
gave His life. He paid all the debt I owe. And
Christ is all my righteousness. He is my righteousness. And He's
my righteousness imputed and my righteousness imparted. I
like that. How? Because when God looks upon
us, He sees His Son. He sees His Son. He said, that's
one of my sons. That's one of my sons. And you
know what? In my son, you are holy. You are unblemished. You are
free in my son of the curse of sin and death. Oh, I like that.
Matter of fact, you're righteous in God's sight. Not in my own
sight, but in God's sight, I'm righteous. In Christ Jesus, in
Christ Jesus. He's my righteousness. And now,
beloved, we are the sons of God. I like that, I like that. In
God's sight, in God's holy sight. Jesus Christ is all my redemption.
He has bought me with His own blood, paid for me with His own
blood. And He has bought with His own
blood every single one of His people. He's redeemed us to God
by His precious blood and by His one offering to the Father
of that blood. And he has. Here's the thing
about redemption. In Hebrews it says this. He has
obtained eternal redemption for us. It's a redemption that never
ends. It never ends. Christ is all my sanctification. He set me apart from the world.
We're in it, but we're not of it. We were in it, we're still
in it, but now we're not of it. Ah, I like that. Because Jesus
Christ brings in every single sheep that he has. Other sheep
I have. What about those sheep? Well,
they're gonna come, that's all it says. Them I must bring. Now when he brings you, you'll
come. When he brings you, you will
come. Mm, I like that. He brings in every one of his
sheep, and there is one flock and one shepherd, and that's
it. No more. Christ is all my life. I already said it. We live and move and have our
being. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, what happens? Oh, good things. All good things. Because here's the thing. Jesus
Christ is all God. He's God manifest, made known
in the flesh. He told them while he was here,
I and my father are one. Jesus Christ was God, is God,
and ever shall be God. What is it? In the Old Testament,
they were talking about the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. What
did they call him? The Lord of hosts is his name. That's a name
for God. Yes, it is. That's exactly right. He came to call sinners to repentance. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. Jesus Christ is all God and,
like I said before, is found of them that didn't seek him.
He's made manifest, made known to those that sought him not.
They weren't even looking for him. He came from heaven and
became man and still was, is God. And he is seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high, ever living to make intercession
for us. For us. Oh my. Christ is all. He's more than
we can know. What is it? Oh, the half has never yet been
told. That song, of course, that song is true. The half has never
yet been told. But I was looking at this. My God, my life, my love, the
only I adore. My savior, Lord, my priest and
king, my all forevermore. Thy love to me has been from
all eternity. Thou loved me, chose me for thine
own to ever be with thee. Thy grace has brought me here.
Thy banner of love has shown that in thy house I'll feast
and find. the fullness of thine own. Christ is all. And the doctrine
of Christ is this, that Jesus Christ is all. Anything less
is not Jesus Christ. And if you don't live there,
If you don't live with Jesus Christ being Lord, if you don't
live in the fact that you know Jesus Christ is God, it says you have not God. You
don't know. You don't know. And that's the
state of this world. But thank God if you do know
him, because he is all. everything you'll need, everything
you want, and everything you have. He's all. Our Heavenly Father, thank you,
Lord, for this time and this place. But most of all, Lord,
thank you, thank you, thank you, for your Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the Lord of glory. He is the King of glory. He is
our savior, our prophet, our priest, and our king. Help us
to know thee more and more. Be with Paul as he comes to preach
here. Bless Walter where he is and
all of your other men that are preaching your gospel in this
day. In Christ's name we pray, amen.