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. For this Sunday morning message,
my text is John chapter five. John chapter five. If you're
out of bed this early in the morning and you're listening,
I ask you don't touch that remote. Listen to me. If you're out of
bed this early and maybe you're at home, maybe you're in a motel
room, pick up a Bible. Pick up a Bible and turn to the
gospel according to John chapter five. and I wanna read just the
last few verses of that chapter. It says John chapter five. Lord
willing, I will read verses 39 through 47, and these words are
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. So do you have your Bible? John
chapter five? If not, just listen. Listen and follow along in your
mind as I read. Here's John chapter five, the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking to some people, he said
these words. Search the scriptures. For in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they, that
is, the Scriptures are they, which testify of me. And ye will
not come to me that ye might have life. I receive not honor
from men, but I know you that ye have not the love of God in
you. I am come in my Father's name,
and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive
honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from
God only? Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses. He's talking about the Old Testament
scriptures, specifically the first five books of the Bible.
Even Moses, and listen, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings,
how shall ye believe my words? What an astounding, what an astounding
end to this message by the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, think about this. This is my subject. We can say
this is my title. This is what I want to try to
speak about on this early Sunday morning broadcast. Intrinsic
barriers to eternal life. You hear it? Intrinsic barriers
to eternal life. When I say intrinsically, I mean
it's what we are by nature. It's our innermost being and
our innermost desires and our innermost self. Intrinsically,
our inner desire is to be religious. It is to be religious. It doesn't
matter whether it's Torah religious, whether it's New Testament religious,
whether it's Old Testament religious. There are those who are religious
concerning the Quran. There are those who are religious
in the secular things and in philosophical things in this
world. We live, you and I live in a religious world. All men
and women are religious, even though I fully realize that some
deny that. Some folks' religion is to be
irreligious. That's what they're bent on.
That is what they are intrinsically. And this is the state of the
world in which we live. However, though that's true,
for this morning's message, I want to concentrate on what I will
term Bible religion. I suppose it would probably be
said in this country especially that so-called Christianity,
you could put that in quotes, Christianity is the majority
religion. But sadly, I must say this, the
majority of those who profess Christianity are not truly born
of the spirit of the living God. But what I want to concentrate
on is Bible religion, people who are Bible religious, people
who hold to the Old Testament and the New Testament. Now, in
our text, the Christ of God, and remember, this is the Christ
of God. This is not some radical preacher. preaching his own agenda. This is not some denominational
speaker trying to build up his denomination. This is not some
non-denominational speaker trying to just fit in with just about
everyone. This is the Lord of glory. This
is God himself manifest in human flesh. And this is the Christ
of God, the Redeemer, the one who said, coming to me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy, my burden's
light, and you shall find rest for your souls. So in our text,
the Christ of God warns all who are Bible religious of the dangers
of our intrinsic barriers to eternal life. Did you read along
with me? Did you hear it as I read it?
There are intrinsic barriers to eternal life. I realize this
is probably not a popular subject. And I realize that this is probably
not preached by most who claim to be preachers today. But there
are intrinsic barriers to eternal life even in Bible readers. even in those who are Bible religious. Now, think about it. Think about
it. A person can search the scriptures.
That's the God-breathed writings of the Word of God. A person
can search the scriptures according to God himself, according to
God the Son, who inspired the men who wrote these scriptures.
A person can search the scriptures, the God-breathed writings, and
at that time, there was only the Old Testament, but a person
can search the scriptures, they can think about the scriptures,
they can trust the writers of the scriptures, and yet, all
the while, a man or a woman in doing all of this, searching
the scriptures, thinking about the scriptures, trusting in the
writers of the scriptures. And yet, a man or a woman may
miss the central object of the scriptures. Our Lord makes it
clear, the scriptures testify of him. The scriptures testify
of Christ. Christ himself said, Moses, Moses,
and he's talking there about all the five books of Moses. The first five books of the Old
Testament even. Moses wrote of me. This is what Christ says, and
that makes it so. Moses wrote of the Messiah. Listen
to this. Turn, if you're following along,
turn to Luke chapter 24. Just have to turn back a few
pages. In Luke chapter 24, and this is quite a long passage,
but I want to read it to you. Just make a couple statements.
But I want, we talk about the scriptures are about Christ.
That's what I'm trying to say. The scriptures are about Jesus
Christ, yet thousands, if not millions. search the scriptures. They think about the scriptures.
They trust the writers of scriptures. They'll even say, I believe the
Bible's the inspired word of God, and yet they miss the central
subject of the scriptures. Now listen to Luke's writings,
Luke chapter 24, and I'll begin in verse 13. And behold, And behold, two of them went
that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem
about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all
the things which had happened." And what was it they were talking
about? Well, Jesus of Nazareth, that man who preached that he
was God, That man who preached the gospel, that man who said,
come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, that man
had been crucified. That man had died on a cross.
They had buried his body. And many of his disciples thought,
what now? What now? What's all this about?
And this is the backdrop of our text. And behold, two of them
went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from
Jerusalem about three score furlongs. And they talked together of all
these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while
they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near. Why? Because we know from the testimony
of scripture he'd been raised from the dead on the third day.
Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were
holding that they should not know him. In other words, as
I heard an old pastor say several years ago, Christ was walking
incognito. These men's eyes were holding.
I can't explain how that all was, but God Almighty had kept
them from recognizing who Jesus Christ was. And it came to pass,
that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near and went with them. But their eyes were holden, that
they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner
of communications are these, that ye have one to another,
as ye walk and are sad? And one of them, whose name was
Cleophas, Answers said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? And hast thou not known the things
which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto
them, What things? They said unto him concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed, and
word before God, and all the people, and how the chief priests
and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and
have crucified him. Oh, listen to this, whoa. But
we trusted, oh. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. Beside all this, today
is the third day since these things were done, yea? And certain
women also of our company made us astonished, which were early
at the sepulcher, and when they found not his body, they came
saying that he had also seen a vision of angels which said
that he was alive. And these men are just, I can
see it, I can picture it in my mind, can you? They're just astonished
at this. He's alive? Is this real? And certain of them, which were
with us, went to the sepulcher and found it even so as the women
had said. But him, they saw a lot. And
basically they said, we hear this, but it's just so astonishing
to believe. And we got no proof. We got no
proof. Then he said unto them, uh-oh,
listen. Listen, oh fools and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? Now look at it. Here's
the main part here. I've read all of that to get
to this verse. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets. You see it? Beginning at Moses. That's the first five books of
the Old Testament. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. You see, this book,
the Bible, the word of God, all 66 books, Old Testament and New
Testament, the central theme of all scripture is Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the Lord of glory, God manifest in the flesh. So
beginning at Moses, all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. and they still didn't
recognize him yet. And they drew nigh unto the village,
whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone
further, but they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for
it is toward even, and the day is far spent. And he went in
to tarry with them, and it came to pass, as he said it, meet
with them. He took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and
gave it to them. Oh, what an act of God, and mercy,
and grace. Remember, they're fools. Christ
said this. Christ said, they're fools and
slow of heart to believe. And their eyes were opened and
they knew him. And as soon as they did, and
he vanished, vanished out of their sight. And they said one
to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked
with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures? You see, once they began to realize
wants God in a sovereign act of mercy, God himself in the
flesh, though they did not recognize him even as Jesus then, when
he began to open up to them the scriptures and open their eyes
and open their hearts, open their ears, then they begin to see
the true subject of all the scriptures. So again, I say this, a person
can search the scriptures, search the scriptures, a person can
think constantly about the scriptures. A person can even trust in the
scriptures and in those who wrote them and yet miss Jesus Christ. So then, so then, let's note
the intrinsic barriers to eternal life that Christ noted in our
text. And he noted, he noted these
intrinsic barriers that all men and women have by nature. He
noted these intrinsic barriers that is real and intact in all
of us apart from the sovereign work of God in calling us to
life in Christ Jesus by his Holy Spirit and converting us by the
gospel of Christ. So let's note these intrinsic
barriers to eternal life our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned.
And we'll see that they're in two venues. These intrinsic barriers
to eternal life for us by nature For us as we are born, for us
in our unregenerated state, this venue is both in what we don't
do and it's what we do. Both our, think about it, this
is what Christ says here. These barriers consist in both
venues, in both aspects. This barrier exists, this intrinsic
barrier exists in what we do and what we do not do. So let's
see this double whammy that we have by nature. Let's see this
intrinsic barrier that God Almighty pronounced against the whole
human race when our daddy Adam rebelled against God in the garden.
Here's number one. Look at it. What we intrinsically
don't do. What we intrinsically do not. These things are a barrier. They're
a barrier. They're a wall. Like a castle
wall built up. Barriers. Barriers. Citadels
built up. Let's note these. What we intrinsically
do not. What we intrinsically do not
do. It is a barrier to eternal life according to Christ himself.
According to Christ himself. Even Bible readers will not come
to Christ for life. Do you see what he said? Look
at it again. And ye, verse 40, and ye will not come to me. Do you see that? And ye will
not come to me that you might have life. Our Lord Jesus Christ
did not preach the freedom of the human wheel. Our Lord Jesus
Christ preached that one of the intrinsic barriers to eternal
life is the very fact that we are not willing to come to Christ
that we might have life, which lets me know we are dead. We
are dead unless somehow we get to Christ. And no one comes to
Christ unless he's been given to Christ by the Father. and
ye will not come to me that ye might have life. You see, the
will, man's will, my will, your will by nature is a barrier to
eternal life. You do not have a free will. Your free will, even if you're
a Bible thinker, a Bible reader, and a Bible truster, the problem
is we do not willingly of ourselves come to Christ that we might
have life. Christ said that's a barrier.
I believe him. I believe him. So again, one
of the intrinsic barriers to eternal life in the venue of
what we do not do is we do not come to Christ for life. Secondly,
even Bible readers Listen, this is an astounding statement, I
realize that, but this is the Lord of glory. This is that man,
yea, even more, this is the God man who knew what was in man. He knows what's in me. He knows
what's in you. And here's what it says, even
Bible readers do not love God. Verse 42, but I know you that ye have not the love of
God in you. Oh, what a statement. Now, I
have no doubt that this offended these people. When I first began
to hear this years ago, when God first began to open my eyes
to this truth, I was offended myself. But it's true. You can
be a Bible reader and still not love God. The problem is we like
our ideas about God. We like or love our opinions
about God. But by nature, we do not love
God as God reveals himself in this book, the sovereign, absolute
creator of heaven and earth, the one who holds men and women's
souls, old and young, rich or poor, male or female, He holds
us in His hands to do with as He pleases. But I know ye that
ye have not, I know you that ye have not the love of God in
you. That's what we don't do, we don't
love God by nature. And we will not by nature, we
will not, our will is not to come to Christ. But also, let's
look at what Christ says we intrinsically do. That's a barrier to eternal
life. Now I know, I fully realize that,
especially in this day and age, radio waves and airwaves, almost
every so-called church, preachers are telling people what to do,
what to do, what to do, to do, do, do. There is, the apostle
Paul said about the Jews, they're constantly, constantly going
about, going about, to do what? To establish their own righteousness.
And sadly, that's what we are by nature. We read even God's
book, and we can be Bible religious, but we think because our eyes
are blinded and our ears are deaf and our hearts dull to the
truth of God, we think by reading and doing something, we can merit
God's favor, and this just is not so. So let's look at what
we intrinsically do. That is a barrier to eternal
life also. He says this, our Lord Jesus
Christ makes it clear. We seek to be approved of men. We seek to be approved of men.
And I know that's true of me and that's true of you. We all
like the approval of our buddies, of our friends and our fellow
workers. We love the approval of men,
but Christ said, Those who seek to be approved of men, they can't
even believe. You see it? They can't even believe. Look at it, verse 44, we read
it a moment ago. How can ye believe? He's saying it is impossible
for people like this to believe. How can ye believe which receive
honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from
God only? So we see that when we try to
please ourselves, when we try to please other men and women,
no matter how good intentioned we are, and we can be doing it
in a religious venue, even reading our Bibles and thinking about
our Bibles and trusting in our Bibles, but are we truly trusting
Christ? Are we saying that it doesn't
matter what I think about myself? And it doesn't matter what others
think about me? I need that honor that comes
from God only. And that honor comes only through
and in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the first.
The first intrinsic barrier to eternal life and things we do.
We seek to be approved of men. Secondly, he said this. We readily
receive human opinion and not Christ himself. You see it? We
readily receive human opinion and not Christ himself. Verse
43, I am come. in my Father's name. And that means he told
the truth about who God is. He told the truth about who he
is. And he told the truth about what
we as the sons and daughters of Adam are. I am come in my
Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come
in his own name, him ye will receive. You see? Man's will. is bent toward man. And this
is the consistent anti-Christ message that we hear preached
by Bible religious people today. It's all about man. It's all
about man. But our Lord Jesus Christ made
it clear There are intrinsic barriers to eternal life that
exist and are intact in you and I unless God Almighty does something
in mercy and compassion for us first. You see, my intrinsic
barriers are real. They're real. and your intrinsic
barriers are real. Anyone who reads just the Old
Testament only and does not see Christ has his or her natural
barriers still intact. What then? What then? It begs this question. What then
must happen? What then must happen if I or
you are ever to have eternal life? Isn't that a vital question? Does that question interest you
at all? If it does, turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. I'll give you the answer to that.
The apostle Paul, writing his second letter to the church at
Coriath, gives us these words. Listen to that. 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. And the question is, since this
is true, these intrinsic barriers, how do these barriers ever Get
overcome, how do they, are they ever overcome? Listen to what
Paul writes, 2 Corinthians chapter 10, this is the first five verses. Now I, Paul, myself. beseech you by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but
being absent and bold toward you. But I beseech you that I
may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith
I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked
according to the flesh. And Paul said that some people
lie about us in our message. For though we walk after the
flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the what? Look at it. Pulling down of strongholds. Do you see it? Casting down imaginations. and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringeth into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. That's where it's
at. God Almighty must knock down
my walls. God Almighty must knock down
your walls. God Almighty must conquer my
citadel. God Almighty must conquer the
barriers Act toward me in sovereign, free, reigning grace. Now hear
me now. Hear me now. Unless God Almighty
by His power knocks down these walls or these barriers, you
and your castle will perish. Unless God has done that for
me, I believe He has. I'm assured from His word that
He has. But unless God Almighty knocks down my walls, unless
He conquers my thoughts subjects me to the obedience of Jesus
Christ. Unless he does that, I will perish.
Unless he does that for you, you will perish. The barriers
must go down, but only God can do it. The barriers will go down
for some, but it's only God that does it. Glory to God, I say. I say glory to God. Let him that
glorieth, where should he glory? Where should that person glory?
Let him glory only in the Lord. Oh, God Almighty. If you haven't
done that for me so far, God, do that today. Do you see anything
of that? Does this message mean that these
words, not my words, the words of Jesus Christ, do they mean
anything at all to you? I pray they do. I pray they do.
I see my time's about gone. So what I want to do is I want
to give you this reminder. Every Sunday morning on this same TV
station, WVVACW. Every Sunday morning, a portion
of one of our Lord's Day gospel messages can be watched, starting
at 12 noon. So I ask you, if you're able,
12 noon, tune in again and hear one of our gospel messages.