Turn to John chapter 17 if you're
following along John chapter 17, I want to read
just the first three verses for this morning These words spake Jesus Lifted
up his eyes to heaven And said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ Whom
thou hast sent What I want to try to speak about this morning
is knowing sender and sent Knowing sender and sent I Want to consider four unassailable
facts from this text. There are many unassailable facts
inferred from this text, but I don't want to deal with even
with those. I want to deal with four unassailable
facts that are directly stated this text Often when we say something
in first something it could become quite subjective But I want to
speak about the objective truth based upon the literal words
That are given in the text May it be That this morning God gives
both me and the enablement to speak these things and enable
you to hear these things as they are declared in this text. Number
one, four unassailable facts from this text. Number one, these
are Christ's words. Simple enough, right? These are
Christ's words. These words speak Jesus. And when he did it, he lifted
his eyes up to heaven. You remember I preached to you
two weeks ago about the publican in the temple? He wouldn't even
lift his eyes up to heaven, and rightfully so. But here is one
who, when he spoke, he had both right and might to speak to God
the Father, and in doing so, still lift his eyes up toward
heaven. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. This is not a philosopher. He's not trying to gather in
truth. He's not trying to get to truth
through natural deduction. He's not a philosopher. This
is him who is truth incarnate. The one who said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. Not some philosopher. But even
more than that, this is not just some pastor. He was the pastor. He is the
pastor. But it's not just some pastor.
He's not here trying to toe the denominational line. He's not
trying to toe some set articles of faith. This is, again, truth
embodied in a man. Divine truth. This is not some politician trying
to win votes. He's not here speaking to the
Father and in doing so speaking things in which he hopes that
others will then follow him because of what he says. This is not the opinion nor the words of
the populace. No one else has the right to
speak these words. Not even the first three verses,
just the ones I read to us this morning. That's number one. These are Christ's words. That's unassailable. If you don't
believe that, then nothing else I have to say will be of any
value to you this morning. God Almighty hasn't already convinced
you of that Or if he at least doesn't convince you of that
in the future Then what I the rest of what I have to say will
make no matter to you whatsoever. These are Christ's words This
is not going to be my opinion These are Christ's words Number
two Here's the second unassailable fact from the text. Christ placed
himself as central to eternal life. Did he not? That's an unassailable fact.
Now there are two things here I want us to see. That is wherein
Christ, here in his words, placed himself as central to eternal
life. One, he placed himself as central
to eternal life as its sovereign source. Verse two, as thou hast
given him power, that means authority, that means both right and might.
It includes both, it's not one or the other, it's both right
and might, ability, and right, as thou hast given him power
over all flesh. And these words spake, it doesn't
say the Lord, though he was the Lord, these words spake, who? Jesus. The man. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh. For what reason? What's the primary
reason here? That's what I want to deal with.
What's here? What's the primary reason here that God the Father
gave to this man? Jesus power over all flesh That
he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him You see that now who is the giver
of eternal life According to Christ's own words He is He is. Who does He give it to? All? No. No. He gives it to as many as, which
stands in distinction to the fact that He still has power
over all flesh. But He has power over all flesh
that He might sovereignly give eternal life to the ones God
gave him. And it's to as many as. The odd
thing about, not odd, the corrupt thing about human depravity is
we read that and our depravity says that's a limitation. When the glory ought to be, here's
an exaltation. Somebody is going to get eternal
life because he has power over all flesh so that he might give
it, give it to as many as. Somebody's going to get it. That's not a limit. That's a
glory. If it were based upon strict
justice, none would ever have eternal life. If it were based upon justice
only, none would ever have. Not even one would ever have
eternal life. He is its sovereign source. Now listen, God give us ears
this morning. As thou hast given him, that's
a person, not a place nor a thing. Now listen, he's the sovereign
source of eternal life, central to eternal life. As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should give. Do you see it? Does faith have power over all
flesh? No. No, some men are without
faith. Does repentance have power over
all flesh? No. Does church membership have
power over all flesh? You see where I'm going? Now
listen. Does the gospel preached have
power over all flesh? No. But He does. He does. And He, that same He,
is the giver of eternal life to as many as God has given Him. Therein assures eternal life. He is its sovereign source did
not God say to Israel in Ezekiel 16 You don't have to turn there,
but you can later if you wish Ezekiel 16 verse 1 through 6
When I passed by you, I saw you what polluted in your own blood.
That means you were dead You were an infant That was born
dead in blood and cast out into a field. And God said, when I
pass by you, I said to you, what? Live. And that dead infant did
what? It lived. It lived. But now do turn to this one,
Ezekiel chapter 37. According to the testimony of
Ezekiel already, It's actually God speaking, but he's speaking
through Ezekiel. He's already said, when I passed
by you, I seen you polluted in your own blood, cast out into
a field. Nobody swallowed you, cuddled you, nothing. You were
dead. And I said, do you live? Now Ezekiel in chapter 37 stands
before a huge valley full of dry bones, and they weren't just
dry. He says they were very dry. We're not just depraved, we are
very depraved. We are absolutely, ultimately,
unassailably, unequivocally, and unchangeably depraved. Because even after God saves
you, that which you are by nature still remains just exactly what
it was by nature. He doesn't change it whatsoever.
Does he? The old man is absolutely distinct
from the new man, according to New Testament theology. Right? God says to Ezekiel, preach to
these dry bones. And he does. And things happen. Bone comes together to the bone.
Sinew comes to sinew. Here lays a great valley of that
which was very dry bones, but now it's a bunch of what? Dead
bodies. Because Ezekiel says, even after
I preached to them, and things happen, guess what? They're still
dead. There was no life in them. And then Ezekiel is told not
to preach to the bones any longer, but to prophesy to the wind.
Cry out to the wind, blow! And what happens? When the wind blew, life came
into their nostrils and there stood up, there stood up a great
army. Do you see that? Well, dare I say it? Say it I
will. Preach the truth of the gospel. All you will. And all you can. Because we're commanded to do
so. But until the life of God himself in the person of the
Son breathes spiritual life into a dead alien sinner, there will
be no life. And the argument is not does
a person have to hear the gospel first During or after that's
not the argument This takes place during the preaching Yeah But
it's not the preaching that made the initial difference when it
came to What the one thing life? It's the wind now look Verse
11, then he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole
house of Israel. And what God did for Israel is
doing for the remnant of Israel this day. And what God will do
one day for the remnant of Israel is exactly what God does for
each and every individual at any time anyone's ever been saved.
These are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, our
bones are dried and our hope is lost. We are cut off for our
parts. Therefore prophesy and say to
them, thus saith the Lord God, behold, all my people, I will
open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves and
bring you into the land of Israel. Note order. The order has to be that way. Look, and ye shall, what's that
next word? Know. You see the order? Where did the knowledge come
from? God. Knowledge comes only from truth.
It don't just come out of thin air. A man can't call upon a
person he doesn't believe in. He can't believe in someone he's
never heard about. But what's got to come first?
I gotta call you out of your grave. Then, after I call you out of
your grave, and I put you in the land, that's where you're
supposed to be, I put you where you're supposed to be, then you're
gonna know. That's what God says. That ain't
Walter's opinion. That wasn't Earl Cochran's opinion.
That wasn't Sovereign Grace Chapel's opinion. That is what God Almighty
declares from His Holy Word. And that's what Jesus Christ
said. Now look, and ye shall know that
I am the Lord when I have opened. He says it again. Anytime God
repeats something, you better listen up. You're not going to
know the only true and living God in Jesus Christ whom he has
sent until God Almighty opens your grave. And ye shall know that I am the
Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought
you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and
ye shall live. And I will place you in your
own land. You're here this morning because God Almighty put you
here in this place this morning. just like he put Israel in their
land, and like he will one day again, go ahead and mock and
make fun, but that's what the book says. Why, because look,
and I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall
place you in your own land. Then shall ye know, then shall,
then shall ye know, and not before and not until. And then shall
you know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, Sayeth
the Lord And I've had people get mad at me I had what was
one preacher who said that Earl and I seriously distort the truth
Because we preach that very thing right there and what? gripped
my soul What vexed my soul was this was a professed brother
in Christ from free sovereign grace Now listen, I'll show you this
after a while. He was not criticizing Earl or
me. You know who he was criticizing?
Christ. God. His word. Somebody said that's a serious
charge. That ain't a charge. That's a fact. Christ placed
himself as central to eternal life because he's its sovereign
source. Here's the second part of this.
Knowing Christ is eternal life's determined outcome. Look, and this is life eternal
when they know thee. Is that what it says? Now come on,
is that what he said? And this is eternal life that
they might know thee. Do you see the words? They're
quite clear. I did not do well in English
at all and still struggle with the English language. But that's
clear enough. What must come first before you
can know? Eternal life And this is life
eternal that they might know thee that means one is cause
the other is effect I'm I knew and I learned enough about English
to know that much And this is life eternal that
they might know thee you see that I Life given proceeds knowing. Spiritual conception proceeds
believing. I'm not going to it, but 1 John
5 and 1, just that one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, is. That one little word, is. born of God. Not gets, not is
immediately, is. And it's in the aorist. It means
an act completed in the past. Go back and check it yourself
if you have the ability with books to do that. If you believe
that Jesus is the Christ, you were already previously born
of God. The new birth, in all that it
is, comes first. But the new birth is not an end
in itself. It's so that you might know God. I've been born again. Do you
know the sent and the sender? Now the new birth must come first.
A man cannot see except he be born from above. He can't even
see. He can't enter either, unless
he's born from above. He's got to be born again, born
from above, first. Now I don't care if you've heard
the gospel a million times, until God Almighty births you spiritually. Fathers, let me get more accurate,
more particular, Penny, as I'm prone to do, until He fathers
you personally, you will not believe the gospel. Even if you're
one of the elect, that's how depraved we are by nature. That it takes an act of God Himself
to turn that thing around. 1 John 5, 24 through 29, I'm not
going to read it, but he said, the hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice, the phonograph, the voice
of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. And to emphasize
there what voice he's talking about, he said, don't marvel
at that because in the end day, that same voice is going to sound
forth and that same voice, that phonograph, the actual sound
of that voice will bring all the dead out of the physical
graves. Lost and saved both. Listen,
I will put it just as plain so that nobody misunderstands or
has a reason to misunderstand what I'm saying. That end resurrection
will not take place by gospel preaching. It will take place
by the very voice of the Son of God saying to everyone in
the graves, lost or saved, elect or reprobate, come alive. Come
up. Maybe I shouldn't say come alive,
but come up. And they're going to come up.
It's that same voice that says to the dead now spiritually,
live. Now some point out passages like
this. Now turn to one. John 10. This is again Christ's
words. John 10 verse 26. 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. Wait a minute, does he not know
us until we hear his voice? In this meaning, yes. He foreknew
us, but here, once we hear, then he knows us. Now think about
that for a moment. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life. Now which one's true? What he said in John 17, or what
he says here? Oh, really? They're both true?
What? Now, do they both mean the same
thing? How can they? They're speaking about the same
life, but it's not the same thing. What men do is try to make it
the same thing, and then they just confound the devil into,
I didn't say out of, into everybody. This is the same life. It's the same life. There's a
life you will not experience until you have heard or known
and you follow. And this life has in particular,
look, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.
They'll never quit hearing, they'll never quit knowing, they'll never
quit following. It's not just they won't go to
hell, they've made their decision. No, they're never going to quit
hearing, they're never going to quit following. They shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
What they refuse to see, and it's because we refuse to see
when we don't see these things. Of course, they're right here
written down for us, even translated into our own language. is the
precedent that he said in verse 10. The thief cometh not but
for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they,
who's the they? The sheep. I am come that they
might have life and, and you said it Joe, that's what you
said the and was? No, no, you didn't say that it's this is
a second thing. This is something else that goes
along with it I am come that they might have life and that
they might have it what? more abundantly In John chapter 10 Christ is
talking about the abundant life The life that is experienced
by every sheep once they hear and follow You see that? It's right there.
The life that's abundant, Joe, is still the same life, but it's
called then also, also, on top of itself, abundant life. Isn't that what he says? I've
come that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. And I know there are those that
say that means you're going to have a Cadillac, and if you don't
like Cadillacs, you'd have a Ferrari. And you'll have plenty of money.
And that's if you really believe. That ain't what he's talking
about, abundant life. Abundant life is hearing and following. That's abundant life. To be able
to hear and to follow Him, that's abundant life. I know. That's more abundant, Joe, than
anything. Take my home. It don't matter. But take my
hearing. And I'm doomed. Take my following. Don't allow
me to follow. See what happens. You know what
will happen to you if you don't follow? You'll perish. And it says, he that endures
to the end, the same shall be saved. Nobody else. Hebrews 11
talks about the people of faith. These all died in faith. It's
not just, well, I had faith back yonder. If you had faith back
yonder, you will have faith until your last dying breath. And then
faith will open up into what? Sight. Life produces life. Life feeds on life. A young baby comes into existence
by milk, by food. How does a young baby exist?
How does it live? By God. Not by the mother and
the father because some mothers and fathers can't produce children. Life comes from God. I don't
care whether it's physical or spiritual, whether it's animal,
human or vegetative. Vegetable life. Life, all life
comes from God or there is no life. But when God gives life,
that life is sustained by what? Nutrients. All life is. Is it not? God's put it before
us in unassailable manifestation. He gives life, and then he sustains
that life by life-giving property. And you know what the life-giving
property of the people of God is? That sustaining, life-giving
property is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the initial impartation of
eternal life, and that comes from Christ. The initial impartation
of eternal life is manifest. Always manifest by gospel declaration. That he hath brought life and
immortality to light. How? The one and only way how? Through the gospel. Through the gospel. Some of us
talked about this two or three weeks ago. When Christ said unto
Lazarus, and Lazarus was dead. I mean, he was, as Earl used
to say, as dead as last year's Christmas tree. That's pretty
dead. That's dead. When Christ said
to Lazarus, Lazarus, Lazarus, he was alive. He was alive. But then he told him to do what?
Gotta put him in the proper place. Come forth. Now, did the stone
have to be removed? Yeah, but that could have been
removed before or during, right? He didn't have to have the stone
removed so his voice could get in there. He had the stone removed
so Lazarus could get out. But Lazarus couldn't get out
with the stone removed until Christ said, Lazarus. But when Christ said, Lazarus,
guess what happened? Lazarus come forth, he came out. But guess what? He was still
bound in his grave clothes. Could Lazarus live like that?
No. He was alive. But he can't live
like that. You can't live in grave clothes,
David. So what did Christ say to those people around him? Go
loose him. Let him go. Now folks, that's the way it
happens physically or spiritually. That's the way it happens. That's
the way it is. That's number two. That's the
second unassailable fact. I will not apologize for either
one of those. I've said it before, whether
it costs me fellowship, so be it. Here's number three. Knowing sender and sent. It cannot
be separated. Let me get back to John 17. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee. But then he didn't stop there,
did he? Now that would have been true
enough, Joe. Would it not? Mason, wouldn't that have been
true enough? But Christ, even in his own prayer, which would
be recorded for our benefit, Wanted to put the absolute qualifying
factor here that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus
Christ Whom thou hast sent That's an unassailable fact the
two cannot be separate sender and said you can't separate them
According to our Lord's own words in John 5 verses 17 through 23
and mainly verse 23 if you dishonor the one cent you dishonor the
sender Well, I believe in God, but I
don't know about all that Jesus stuff we you don't know God not
the only true living God Well, I mean I believe in Jesus,
but I don't know if I believe all that stuff about Jesus you
either take him as he is or you don't take him at all and I mean,
he is who he is. We don't pick and choose what
parts of him we want and what parts we don't. To dishonor the sent is to dishonor
the sender. Secondly, according to our Lord's
words to the disciples, John 14, verses five through 11, you
know, was it one that Philip, one of them said, Lord, show
us the father and that'll suffice. That'll be good. That's all we
need. And you know what he told them? Have I been so long with
you? He that's seen me has seen the Father. Knowing the sent
is to know the sender. That's simple enough. And yet
so hated by our Adamic natures. In light of these three thus
far, now listen to me. In light of these three thus
far, number one, three things here on this third unassailable
fact. Eternal life cannot increase
in extensity. That's its length. Okay, according
to Paul in Titus 1 1 & 2 God promised eternal life Before
the world began he says in hope of eternal life that God promised
and what God promised he is able to perform So you can't increase
it back that way because it was Whenever God was and he always
was eternal life's always been promised David and So you can't,
you can't, it can't increase that way. It can't increase forward. We done read John 10. Those that
hear, I know, and they follow, I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them to
me is greater than all, and nobody's gonna pluck them out of my Father's
hand. So that you can't increase it that way. Can you? Number two, eternal life does
increase in its intensity. It does increase in its intensity.
Bless God, one of these days it's going to be far more intense
than it is right now. Is it not? Christ said, I come to give them
life. And they might have it what? More abundantly. And this
is not the final end. Aren't you glad? Eternal life does not even say
can I said it does because he said so I'm come did he come
It's settled and I've come that they might have life and that
they might have it what more abundantly we do and we shall
Peter said grow in grace and in the knowledge How you gonna
do that only through eternal life? And this is eternal life that
they might know thee. And that means today for me just
as much as it meant 30 some years ago. Number three, eternal life is
never to be considered presumptuously. Remember the apostle Paul said,
lay hold on eternal life. Now, if eternal life is to know
God, then how do you lay hold on eternal life? Learn of Him. Come unto Him. Come unto Me.
Learn of Me. Learn by Him and learn of Him. You see it? Eternal life is never
to be considered presumption. Lay hold on it. Don't say, well,
I got it, it'll all be okay. Continually, every day, every
moment, be reaching out, laying hold by faith of Jesus Christ. Lay hold on it. They hold on
it. Now here's number four. This is the fourth unassailable
fact from this text. This knowledge, which is resultant
of eternal life, it also produces eternal life too. The knowledge
produces eternal life, does it not? They hear, they follow,
and I give them eternal life, but they gotta have eternal life
before they can even know. Both are true. We don't play one against
the other. When you do, you lose. At best,
you lose understanding, you lose peace, you lose joy. This knowledge, which is resultant
of eternal life, this knowledge is not ecumenical. that they
might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. Well, all of us a person just
believes about God. No, you must believe the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. There are false gods,
whether it be icon or imagination. If you know them, you'll perish.
If you know them only, you have no eternal life. I don't care
whether it's an icon or whether it's something you imagine in
your own mind. There's a lot of people that
imagine things about God in their own mind. The God of the Bible. But David, it ain't true. There are false gods. There are
false Christs. Our Lord even warned about that,
didn't he? There are false Christs. Paul
said there's another Jesus. and another spirit. Paul said
there's another gospel, which really, in fact, ain't another,
but it's a perversion of the gospel of Christ. Eternal life
is that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. All these other things are damning. You hear what I said? I said they are damning. Well,
I'll believe what I want about God, as long as I believe, I'll
believe what I want about Jesus. It don't work that way. Because
when God gives you eternal life, that's that you might know thee,
the only true God. So if you got eternal life given
you sovereignly by the source, you're going to begin to hear
the truth of the gospel, and you'll believe that gospel. Always. And once you do begin to believe
it, you'll always believe it. You won't be able to get away
from it, even when you try. Ask Jonah. Ask John Mark. Hmm ask John All of us damning
here's the precedent turn to John 10 or I'm sorry Matthew
10 Matthew 10 just one verse verse
40 He now remember This is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. And you can't honor God without
honoring the Son. Now look at what he says though.
He goes even further than that. He that receiveth you, receiveth
me. And he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. I don't have to believe what
you're preaching. Yes, you do. Not because I preach it, but
because these are Christ's words. This is the gospel. This is God's
truth. And if you receive the men preaching
God's truth, you're receiving Christ. And if you're receiving
Christ, you're receiving the Father who sent Christ. Isn't
that what he says right there? John says, those who are of the
world, who do they hear? They hear the world. Those who
are of God, who do they hear? They hear us. And I'm preaching
what the us said. The us have wrote down the words.
Here it is. I'm preaching that. Now think about that. He that
receiveth you, receiveth me. He that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. Now turn to John 6. You know
this. This is familiar. John 6. Remember, sent and sender. John chapter 6, verse 37. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. How many of them?
All of them. All the all. They have to be
given before they come because they come because they're given.
That's clear. You gotta stand up in any court
of law that's just. That'll stand up in any court
of law that's just. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. I will for no reason. For I came
down from heaven not to do my own will, but what? The will
of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me. So we got no reason to doubt
what the will of the Father is if Jesus is true and tells us
what the will of the Father is, right? And this is the will of
the Father which has sent me, that of all which He hath given
me, I should lose not one, nothing. But raise it up at the last day
and this is the will of him to sent me Remember what to see
if God says it twice you best pick up your ears. That's right
This is the will of him that sent me that everyone to see
if the son and believeth on him You got to see before you believe
But you got to have eyes to see before you can see It is Everyone that seeth the son and
believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up
at the last day The Jews then murmured and said unto him because
he said I am the bread which came down from heaven and And
they said, isn't this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, who father
and mother we know? How is it then, he saith, I come down from
heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not
among yourselves, no man can come. Now he gets right down
to the nitty gritty of it. No man can come except the Father
which hath sent me, draw him out. You see, they were still
fixated on that bread thing. They never even heard these last
few words. Do you get it? It's just like
it went right over their head. They didn't even get it. They
went back to the bread thing. And Jesus said, I'm not letting
it go at that. No man can come. You can't come. You missed the whole coming part.
No man can, but he didn't make it easier. He still told the
truth. No man can come except the Father
which has sent me draw him, the sender. And I will raise him
up the last day as it is written in the prophets and they shall
all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and learned of the Father does what? Comes to me. Now turn to Luke chapter 10. Verse 16. He that heareth you, heareth
me. That almost sounds like Matthew
10, 40, don't it? It is. But now look at what we
read here. He that heareth you, heareth
me. I know that preacher, but it really don't matter if I hear
you. If I'm preaching God's truth, you will. Well look, and he that
despiseth you, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. So he covered both sides of the
pole. Didn't he? What we would call
the positive side and the negative side. People tell say things
like or have in the past that group over there Sovereign Grace
Chapel. They don't really believe the preaching of the gospel is
important That angers me That angers me because it's a
lie and it's always been a lie I Don't want to leave on that
note But sadly, that's the way it
is sometimes. The question is this. You can listen to men preach. You can listen to tapes. You
can listen to all these things. Bear with me a moment. And listen,
you should. And listen, you must. You hear
what I said? Listen, you should. And listen,
you must. But my question is this, what
is the medium or that is the instrumentality that constitutes
the gospel declaration? God willing, I will preach on
this the next time I preach. God willing. Preach on it in
detail. What is the medium? Or the, a better word, I like
the better word, the instrumentality. You'll read, Mason, you'll read
theologians, you'll hear grace men talk about the instrumentality
of the gospel. And rightfully so. But our question
is this, what medium or what instrumentality constitutes the
gospel declaration? Is it just verbal? Must you hear
someone verbally? If so, and you're deaf, physically
deaf, you're damned forever. Can it not be communicated in
sign language? Sign language is not verbal.
It's the very reason you use sign language, because they can't
hear the words. Can it not be in written form? Is this book not full of gospel
messages? And, Penny, you and I listened
to a preacher this morning. What did he say? A person who
truly wants to know and hear the truth can't get it by reading
the Bible himself. Did he say that or not, Penny?
And that's a grace preacher. That's a lie. I am not your priest. I am not your prophet. And God
knows I ain't your king. And you don't depend upon me,
you depend upon God's truth. Now God put me in this place,
and you better listen to me when I tell you God's truth. But you're
not dependent upon me. Let God be true, and ever man
a liar. So then, here's what it boils
down to. Here's what it really boils down
to. Do I know the sender and the sent? I'm not here to debate
with you how did you come to know the sender and the sent.
Did you listen to printed message or listen? Did you read printed
messages or did you hear the pastor preach on Sunday morning?
That's not the question. The question is when God Almighty
Communicated to you the truth of his gospel in whatever medium
in whatever instrumentality it was Did you by sovereign free
act of God know? sender and sent That's what it's
all about And don't say, well, I ain't
never gonna listen to something else Walter ever says again.
You better listen to me when I tell you the truth of God.
Because I speak for God when I stand in this place. You hear
me? But when you read a message written
by some preacher hundreds of years ago that they copied down
and they have copies of it today, David, and you read that message,
if it's the truth of God, you better heed it just like you
do you hear my voice when I preach from this Bible. It is no less
truth and no less food for your soul. Now, this is the normal
mode. But it's not the only mode. And that's God's truth. Elizabeth,
that's God's truth. That's just the way it is. Father,
as we partake of this table, may it be, Lord, that we truly
remember you. We truly remember you. I ask
it in Christ's name. Amen.