Turn to John chapter 8. Now this is the third message
that I preach from these verses entitled, Christ's Disciples
Indeed. I have this one and two more
that I want to deal with because it's so important. It is certainly
a self-examination message. If we do claim to be Christian,
claim to believe the Bible, claim to be saved, We certainly ought
to be in a continual process of examining ourselves according
to the Word of God. We read here, verse 30, look
at it, John 8, Christ spoke, as He spoke these words, many
believed on Him. Now we know that we're talking
about a profession of faith. I have a profession of faith.
You have a profession of faith. Most of you are here, if not
all of you, because you have a profession that you believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That you're a Christian. That
you are saved. And that's a good profession,
if it's a right profession, if it's based upon the right ground.
So many heard him, his words. That's what I want to focus on
this morning. He said in verse 31, it says, then Jesus said
to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my
word, then are you my disciples indeed. The evidence of being
a disciple, a true disciple of Christ and not a false professor
has to do with continuing in his word. Continuing in his word. And as I said last week, that
involves basically two things. It's faith and repentance. That's all one thing, really.
Because repentance will accompany faith. And remember, repentance
is not just feeling sorry for your sin. Repentance is a whole
change of life, a change of thinking, a change of mind. Whereas before,
I thought that Other things, other than Christ,
crucified, risen, His blood, His righteousness recommended
me unto God. And I repent of those. I repent of ever thinking
that I made the difference between saved and lost. It's Christ who
makes the difference. And that's what it is. And I
remember we went to Philippians 3, places like that. And so this
faith and repentance and then perseverance in the faith. And
I made this point, you see, he says in verse 32, he says, and
you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
We know this, that all of God's people, however you identify
them, and they're identified in many ways in the scripture,
they're called the elect of God. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? All of God's elect, all of God's
redeemed, all of Christ's sheep persevere for one reason. Because
God preserves them. If it weren't for the preserving
grace of God, we'd all be damned. We know that. Christ said, my
sheep, hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, and no
one will pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father
are one. He that begun the good work in you shall complete it
to the end, perfect it to the end. So in other words, I know
that salvation is not of me. And here's the way I put it this
way, just to make the point even as clear as I can, I guess. If
God were to lift His sovereign, powerful, gracious hand of preserving
grace from me right now in one minute, I would be damned forever. That's the way I feel about it.
It's not conditioned on me in any way, to any degree, at any
stage. Now, does that mean that the
believer has no role in this thing of salvation? Oh yeah,
where the fruit, the fruit of His power, the fruit
of His grace, the apple tree, it has apples on it. You don't
eat the root, so you eat the apple. The apple has a row, but
the row, the power comes from the root, the tree. Christ said,
I'm the vine, you are what? the branches. You see that? And
that's what we are. We grow in grace and knowledge.
We persevere if you continue. And that if there is not a condition
for, it's an evidence of. All right. And I spent a whole
message on that. So God's elect persevere, continue,
keep on keeping on, as they say, because God preserves us. And
there's several reasons in the scripture that we could point
to on that. And then secondly, all of God's
people, how do they persevere? Now that's what I want to deal
with more today. But how will they persevere? They persevere
as they keep looking to Christ. Keep their eyes focused upon
Him. Hebrews 12.2. We run the race of grace looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We don't ever want
to take our eyes upon him. Now sometimes we do because we're
human and we struggle. We war against the flesh and
sometimes the flesh gets the best of us, doesn't it? But God
won't let us go. And I use the analogy of Peter.
Remember when the storm came and Christ got out and walked
on the water and Peter got out of the boat and walked towards
him? And it says, when he took his eyes off the Lord, he sank. That's the way it is with us.
This thing of self-examination. What do I want to know? Somebody
said, well, I want to know if I've done enough. Well, what
is enough? Enough to what? You say, well,
I want to know if I've ever done enough to show the Lord that
I love Him. Let me give you a stock answer to that. No. Listen, if you're truly saved,
you'll never feel like you've done enough to express your love
to Christ for His grace. Do you know that that's really
one of the main things of eternity? Is thanking God for eternity. That's a debt we owe that we
cannot pay. It's not a legal debt now. A
debt of love. How much should I love the Lord?
I can't even begin to tell you how much. Do I love Him? Yes, and that's by His grace.
Do I love Him perfectly? Not yet. So you say, well, I want to see
if I've done enough. Somebody said, well, I want to see if
I've done enough to make sure I get to heaven. No, you haven't. But
I can tell you who has. Christ has. He's done enough.
He's done more than enough. Keep your eyes on Him. You see
what I'm saying? Keep looking to Christ. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. His righteousness is all I need
to save me and keep me and bring me to glory. Now I'm gonna come
back to that in just a moment. Thirdly, perseverance is an evidence
of being a disciple indeed. Again, understand this is the
context here is the gospel of God's grace. He talks about believing
His Word. His Word is not salvation conditioned
on you or conditioned on me. It's salvation conditioned on
Him and He fulfilled all the conditions. That's how you know
the if is an evidence rather than a condition. It's an evidence
of. But I want you to look back here.
He says, if you continue in My Word. What is His Word? Well, when you study the concept
of the Word in the Scripture, it's a real interesting study.
For example, the Bible says that Jesus Christ Himself is the Living
Word. In beginning was the Word. The Word was with Him. The Word
was with God. The Word was God. He is the Living
Word. Jesus Christ Himself. And then
the Bible says He's the incarnate Word. John 1.14, the Word was
made flesh and tabernacled among us. So when He walked the earth,
He is Himself the incarnate Word of God. And basically what that
says, if you want to know anything about God concerning salvation,
you've got to look to Christ. The living word, the incarnate
word. And then the Bible speaks about the written word, the scriptures. That's the Bible. I believe we
have the written word of God. I believe this book from Genesis
to Revelation is God's verbally inspired, inerrant word. He told the Pharisees, he says,
you do search the scriptures. For in them you think you have
eternal life, they are they which testify of me." Now, the scriptures,
the written word, points sinners to Christ, the living incarnate
word for salvation. Nowhere else. Somebody says,
well, I can't understand all the scriptures. Well, I can tell
you, I don't know. I can say, I may think as I study
and I get more illumination on the word. But do I know perfectly
the right interpretation of every verse in the Bible? Well, I wouldn't
be so bold as to say that I do. But I know this. Any verse that
I read in this book that does not point me to Christ for salvation,
for forgiveness, for righteousness, for eternal life and glory, that's
a wrong interpretation. I don't care how you see it.
James, for example, he wrote, faith without works is dead.
Isn't that what he said? Now, if I interpret that to mean
that my works have a part in saving me or keeping me saved,
it's a wrong interpretation. Because James is pointing us
to, in fact, before he even said that, he talked about the perfect
law of liberty. Do you know what the perfect
law of liberty is? Well, it's certainly not the Ten Commandments,
because that's a condemning law. That's bondage. You know what
the perfect law of liberty is? It's the gospel that points you
to Christ for salvation, for forgiveness, for righteousness,
for eternal life, for glory. So whatever James says, it's
in that context. What's James talking about? He's
talking about works as the fruit. and evidence that we really believe
Christ. That's what he's talking about. And that's what the written word
is about. But then the Bible talks about the preached word.
You ever heard of the Greek word Rahema, they say? Rahema? That's
what that is. That's the preaching. Peter spoke
of that, how it is vital, the preached word is vital in our
conversion. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. to save them that believe, that
come unto God by Him. The spoken word. Now the preached
word, again, points sinners to Christ. The preached word is
based upon the written word. If they speak not according to
this word, there's no light in it. The preached word is based
upon the written word, which all leads us to the living incarnate
word. So that when we read this, If
you continue in my Word, we can look at it in two ways. It is
the Word about Christ. If I'm going to tell you who
Jesus Christ is, I've got to go to the Word. Who is He? He's God in human flesh. Now
any person who comes along and says he is neither God, he's
not God, or if a person comes along and says he's not human,
I don't care how sincere, how moral, how dedicated, how zealous
that person is, he's not preaching and believing the same Christ
that I preach and believe. And you know what it's all based
on? Doctrine. Somebody said doctrine divides. Yes it does. But doctrine
also unites the people of God. What is doctrine? It's teaching.
When the Bible speaks of man, what does it teach? That's what
he's talking about, his Word, his teaching. You see, all of
these things have their foundation in the Word of God, not in the
annals of the minds of the natural man or the philosophies or the
religion of man. We were talking about a while
ago, you know, somebody says, well, that's your interpretation
of it. I say, well, what's your interpretation
of it? And if their interpretation of
it denies what I believe, I would ask them, well, what rules of
interpretation do you use to arrive at that conclusion? Because
there are rules, you know. Some of them apply to all literature,
but some of them just apply to the Bible. When the Bible speaks about Christ
and how God saves sinners. This is the issue now. The issue
of the gospel is not just that Christ died. He did die. It's
not that just he was buried. He was buried. And not that he
just arose again. He arose again. But here's the
issue of the gospel. What did he actually accomplish
in all of that? There's the gospel. Did He try to save you if you'd
let Him? Because that's the message that's
being preached today. Whether they say it like that
or not, that's the impression. I grew up in that. Or did He
accomplish the redemption of His people? That ensures not
only their final glory, but their new birth. Christ told His disciples
in John 16, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come.
But if I go away, He's coming, and He's going to convince the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Who's the world
there? I'll tell you exactly. Everybody in this world who's
convinced of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Now who is that?
That's believers. He said, if I be lifted up on
the cross, I'll draw all unto Me. Who is the all there? It's
all who are drawn to Him. Now, when He says, if you continue
My Word, it can also mean this, the words that are about Him,
the truth about Him, but what He said, what He taught, what
did He say? Now, most of you, if not all
of you, have heard of the terms Calvinism and Arminianism. Now, if you haven't heard those
terms and gotten bogged down in those terms, consider yourself
blessed. And the reason I say that is
this. People love to label things like that because it gives them
an out. So that when you come and you preach, for example,
or you promote the doctrines of sovereign grace, is what we
call it. The teaching of sovereign grace.
And let me tell you something, there's no other kind. No other
kind but sovereign grace. Grace reigns through righteousness. So when you come, they say, oh,
I know, you're just a Calvinist. And then Arminianism. Well, I'll
be honest with you. I have never read a biography
of John Calvin. I have never read a biography
of Jacob Arminius, the Dutch theologian. John Calvin was French. Arminius was Dutch. Calvin was
before Arminius. But usually when people talk
about that, Calvinism, Arminianism, it's reduced to five points of
doctrine, all right? And those five points of doctrine,
you either fall in line, they say, with Calvin or Arminius.
Now, when you look at what they call
the five points of Calvinism, I agree with them, and I disagree
with the five points of Arminianism. Now why do I agree with the five
points of Calvinism rather than the five points of Arminianism?
I'll tell you why. It's not because Calvin believed
them. I've got Calvin's commentary
and I use it some. Sometimes I agree with him, but
on those five points I agree with that. But not because Calvin,
because I believe that Christ taught them. They're the biblical
way. It goes far beyond Calvin. And what are those doctrines?
Let me just give you a rundown here and I want you to go back
to John chapter 6. Now remember, Christ said, if you continue
in my word, what I'm teaching, if you continue in the truth,
the doctrine of Christ. And listen to this, look at John
chapter 6 and verse 44. What did Christ teach about man? about the sinfulness of man. He says in verse 44, no man can
come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him and
I'll raise him up again at the last day. Do you know what that
is? That's the total inability of man. What some refer to in
the Calvinist, the total depravity of man. Now, Christ didn't use
the term total depravity, did he? He didn't use the word total
inability. He just simply said, no man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me drawing. Why do you think it was important
for him to teach that? I even had a fellow ask me one
time, he said, even if it's true, why would you have to say it?
Well, because we're continuing in his word. And He said it.
Why is it so important? I'll tell you why it's so important.
Because the main issue in the salvation of a sinner is that
God gets the glory and not you and not me. God will not share
His glory. He's not going to allow His people
to think that I made the difference between saved and lost. He's
going to let me know that He made the difference. That's it. Turn to Romans chapter 3. Now, when you read Romans 3, I want
to emphasize that what we're reading here, these words are
just as much the word of Christ as the words I just read in John
6. Do you believe that? Because if you don't, you're
not going to understand the Bible. Somebody said, well, that's just
the way Paul thought. No, this is the way the Holy Spirit, God
the Holy Spirit, led him to think. This is God's Word. This is Christ
speaking. I know in Romans 3 here it's not in red, but that doesn't
mean anything. This is the Word of God. And
look at verse 10 of Romans 3. As it is written, there's none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth,
no, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. That's biblical doctrine. Now,
the doctrine of total depravity doesn't teach that everybody
is as bad as we could be. We could all be worse than we
are. But what does it teach? It teaches that none of us have
a righteousness that answers the demands of God's law and
justice. It teaches that we cannot work
righteousness even by our best efforts to keep the law. And
it teaches that by nature we don't want righteousness God's
way. No man can come to me. except
the Father which has sent me drawn." Now my understanding
of John Calvin is that he agreed with that. My understanding of
Jacob Arminius, he disagreed with that. He said that everybody's
got a spark of good, and if we just fan the flame enough, we
can persuade them to choose Christ. That's my understanding of it.
But what I want you to understand, whatever the truth is, it goes
way beyond John Calvin. This is His Word. You know there
in John chapter 6, look at verse 65. And you know what Christ was
doing here? He's preaching the gospel, He's pointing sinners
to Himself, and the majority of those who heard Him were rejecting
Him. And He assured His disciples, now listen, don't be discouraged
now, don't be dejected, no man can come to Me except the Father
which has sent Me drawing. Same thing in John chapter 10.
You stay there in John 6, look at verse 65. He says, and He
said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me
except it were given unto him of My Father. What's He answering? Look at verse 64. But there's
some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray him. He
said, therefore I said unto you, this is why I'm telling you,
no man can do it. He didn't have the natural ability.
He didn't have the natural desire. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. That's the bottom line. That's
what he said. That's what the Bible teaches. Now Arminius and
his father say, we disagree. God's Word says man doesn't have
a spark of goodness that he's born spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. And if he comes to the Lord,
it's because God made him willing in the day of his power. Arminius
says, no, that's not true. There's a little spark there.
He's fallen, but not that far. What does Christ say? And it's
the same in John 10 when he said, To the Pharisees who reject Him,
He says, you believe not because you are not of My sheep. My sheep
hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me.
I laid down My life for them. Look back at John 6 now. Look
at verse 37. We quote this one all the time. John 6, 37. All that the Father
giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will
in no wise cast out. All that the Father giveth Me Now when did the Father give
them to Him, according to the Scripture? We don't have time
to go to all these Scriptures, but turn to John 17. Who is it that the Father gave
to Him, and when were they given to Him? According to the Bible,
He's talking about His elect. That's what He's talking about.
Isn't that right? And when were they given to Him?
According to passages such as Ephesians chapter 1, 2 Timothy
chapter 1 and others, He gave them to Him before the foundation
of the world. Put all the responsibility of
their salvation upon Christ. This is unconditional election.
Look at John 17 in his high priestly prayer. Look at verse 1. These
words spoke 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 as thou has given him power over all
flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given
him. That's what he taught. That's what he said. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out." Any sinner, every sinner, who
comes to Him according to the Scriptures, God's way, He won't
cast you out. Somebody said, well, that means
if I come to Him and I'm not elect, He won't receive. No, my friend,
if you come to Him, that means you are elect. Look at John 6.38. Listen to
this. He says, For I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing. Not one
of them, that's what that means. You know what He's teaching there?
That's particular redemption. Why did He come down here? To
die. That He should lose nothing.
Christ redeemed His people. He didn't make an attempt to
redeem them. He redeemed them. He put away their sins. Their
sins were charged to Him. He was made sin. It was imputed
to Him. They are dead. He paid the debt
in full. He established an everlasting
righteousness that enables God to be just and justifier. And
His righteousness demands and secures their eternal life. and
glory. That's particular redemption.
Now going back to Calvin and Arminius, since I mentioned them,
back on the election part, Calvin, according to everything that
I've read of him, he agreed with that. Arminius didn't. Arminius
said that God elected a people based upon foreseen faith. That's not what the Bible teaches.
On particular redemption, Calvin agreed, as far as I've read,
he agreed with this, but Arminius disagreed. He said, no, Christ
tried to save everybody. He shed his blood for even those
who are in hell. He said that he redeemed them,
but they wouldn't receive it. Look at verse 44 again. He says,
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. It is written
in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. This is how
God draws them. He teaches them through the gospel,
by the power of the Spirit. Every man therefore that hath
heard, that's the spiritual ear, that's the regenerate heart,
isn't it? And hath learned of the Father, how God can be both
a just God and a Savior, cometh unto me. You know what that is?
That's irresistible grace. Effectual, invincible grace.
All whom God chose and justified in Christ, all whom Christ redeemed
by the blood of his cross, are regenerated and converted, born
again by the Spirit. They learn as they're taught
in God's word by the Spirit, the doctrine of Christ, the teaching
of Christ, and they are brought to faith. Now as far as I've
read, and Calvin, he agreed with that, Arminius didn't. He said
that that effectual call that is described here by the Lord
in John 6.45 can be resisted. My friend, it can't be resisted
because what does God say? He says, I give them a new heart.
I give them a new spirit. They shall follow me. They'll
be my people and I'll be their God. And then look over at verse
40 of John 6. He says, This is the will of
him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and
believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. That's preservation of the saints
right there. He's going to raise them up.
He won't let them go. And that includes their perseverance.
That's how he does it. Now my point is this. John 8.
Let me conclude with this. He said, He says, if you continue
in My Word, then are you my Messiah? Well, that's His Word right there. He said it. It's all over the
Scriptures. If we had another six months, I could go through
all the Scriptures with you right here and show you that. But that's
His Word. Now, do you believe His Word?
Do you continue in His Word? That's the key. What He said. Not what some other preacher
says or somebody said. Not even what Calvin said or
Arminius said. What Christ said. That's His
Word. And we pray that those who hear
it will be given ears to hear and eyes to see. To see that
great glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Whom to know
is life eternal.