You will turn in your Bibles
to the gospel according to John gospel according to John chapter
5 Well, it's been my pleasure and
the joy to my heart to be among you again. This congregation
has been dear to me for many, many years. Your pastor is a dear, dear friend
and brother. I'm thankful for him and for
his testimony of the gospel, for his clear and present presentation
of the truth of the Word of God. Greetings from Cherokee, North
Carolina. From the folks there at Sequoia. You know, anytime
y'all want to come up and see us, you can. Yes, Billy, it's
a pretty nice place to come. John chapter 5 and verse 39,
our Lord says, search the Scriptures. For in them ye think ye have
eternal life, And they are they which testify of Me, and you
will not come to Me that you might have life." Now if you read the Gospels,
there are several things which are constant in the Gospels.
One mirrors this over and over again, what we've just read,
how The only problem the Lord had
with anyone on the face of the earth was with religious folk. He never had a problem with ruined
sinners and wretches and publicans and sinners. He never had problems
with them, but he had problems with religious folks and he's
having problems with this bunch he's talking to right here. There's
also another constant. Scenes that are seen over and
over again In the Gospels, those who have great needs, needs that go beyond their own
ability to remedy, come to Christ for help. We find
that over and over again in Scripture. Religion spends a great deal
of time trying to convince people that they need Jesus Christ. But they don't. Need is something
we can understand and know. If you have a need, you know
it. I can't make you have a need. I can't create a need in you.
It's a very personal thing, a need is. If you're thirsty, you know
it. I can't make you thirsty. I can't
tell you you're thirsty and you'll believe me if you're not thirsty.
If you're hungry, you know it. I can't tell you you're hungry
or make you hungry. So the message comes to the thirsty
and the hungry, and they know who they are. It was my waste
of my time and any other preacher stands up here and tells you,
you're thirsty. Or you need something. You know
whether you do or not. And if you ask the general population
if they need Christ, they'll tell you, I don't need it. Don't
need it at all. But those who have needs, those
who are thirsty, And those who are hungry find the Lord Jesus
Christ. They find Him. And He's always
ready to help them. I don't find Him turning anyone
away. You'll also find those who have great need who could
not seek Christ. Their need was such, their malady
was such that it prevented them. And in those cases, Christ came
to them over and over again in Scripture. He found them and
met their need. It's a wondrous thing that in
the miracles that the Lord performed, which picture salvation. They're not salvation because
they're temporary healings. Those people who healed still
died. But they picture salvation. And the wonderful thing about
it He says that salvation is from
sin, and yet the sin of these people who were healed, represented
by their disease, is seen in pity. Grace views the sin of
the elect as sickness. You're not mad at somebody who's
sick. You want to help them. And wherever you find God healing
people, the Lord Jesus Christ healing people, you find that
they were sick and that represents the sinner. But in the eyes of
grace, your sin, if you're one of God's elect, your sin, as
vile and as wicked and as unclean and as hell worthy as it is,
grace pities you and calls your sin a disease
that needs to be healed. That's grace. And that's mercy
from Almighty God. When Christ came to these folks
who were without and couldn't find help, He came to those folks
and in response they came to Him. And they followed Him wherever
He went. Now when our Lord healed the
unhealable, it always got religion mad. The hackles of religion
stood up. They were raised because Christ
healed an unhealable person. The words he speaks here in John
5, 39 and 40 are to those who want to kill him because he healed
the man at the pool of Bethesda. They want to kill him for that.
That pool miraculously made some people well. How do you account
for that? I guess it's just a miracle.
I don't know how else to account for it. Said the waters got stirred
and began to roil, and the first one that got in, that's the one
that got healed. That's the one. It was a merciful
place. Bethesda means a house of mercy,
but it's temporal mercy. It was, however, a picture of
the old covenant, that pool of healing, because
it could only meet the need of those who could get in the pool. Only those who could get in the
pool, and they had to get there first. They had to get there
immediately after the waters began to stir. Only those could
be healed. That teaches a profound truth. First it teaches that at Bethesda,
to get healed, you had to be less afflicted than the rest
of the folks there. Yet at least slightly afflicted,
because the shores of that pool were kind of like a reverse triage. A regular normal triage is the
person who needs help the most is the one who gets first in
line. But this is a reverse triage. The one who needs the help most
never gets the help. They never get the help. They got in the pool who were
somewhat sick and somewhat infirm. Secondly, it teaches that you
had to be aware of the opportunity and expedient in obedience to
the requirement. You had to get yourself into
that pool. Thirdly, it teaches that if you
were unable to follow these procedures, you could enlist the assistance
of some benevolent folks to carry you to the healing waters. Though
considering that it was every man for himself, the truly helpless
probably remained in their sad and helpless condition. How plain a picture this paints
of the old covenant. the covenant under which all
religions but one operate this very hour. You see, religion
has nothing for the truly ruined. Religion has nothing for the
totally impotent. Religion has nothing for those
who cannot help themselves. Religion works well where the
slightly sick The moderately infirm can be healed and reformed
and changed because such are able to do something. They're
able to act. They're able to move. They're
able to get to the waters. They can get to the water by
their own power. They can pull themselves up by
the bootstraps. They can get right. They can
straighten up and fly right. can be healed also on the shoulders
of religion if their future possible contribution seems vital enough
to the organization to warrant toting them around for a bit.
But what about the ruined? What about the sad creature who
can't do anything? Religion only looks for the partially
wounded, the slightly bruised. They can
get help, but not the ruined. The poor man at the pool of Bethesda
that day sat and watched as whoever was able got into that pool. Religion had given him up as
a lost cause. Couldn't do anything for him.
You see, works religion is a mockery to the ruined. It's a mockery
to the ruined. It's useless to the impotent. For it is the able-bodied or
the soul that needs a little tweaking or the self-righteousness
that needs a little redirecting into a religious arena. But to the ruined, Religion says, God will help
you if you help yourself. What if I can't help myself?
What if I'm too sick? What if I'm too far gone? Religion
has nothing for me, nothing for me. But mercy came to that pool
that day. came to the house of mercy that
day, not in some bubbling and roiling pool, but in a sovereign
deluge of loving kindness. And while the pool roiled, awaiting
the gold medalists of some semi-afflicted foot race, the water of life
washed over that old ruined wretch who could not move a muscle or
lift a finger to help himself, and nobody else would help him
either. And after Christ came to him, he was healed. "'Wilt
thou be made whole?' Christ said. You betcha. You betcha. Christ healed him and he rolled
up his bedroll and started walking home. And now we find religion
having something to do with him. They're mad at him. They catch
him. They collar him. They arrest him. What are you
doing? Carrying your bed on a Sabbath
day. What are you doing? But what
follows is that religion wants to get rid of Christ. Because
that man said Christ had healed him. Why do they want to get
rid of him? Because rules are rules, you
see. Because if religion can't help somebody, they ought to
be beyond help altogether. And if this fellow, Jesus of
Nathers, is able to help this helpless one, then he must be
greater than they, and their religion, and their rules, and
their regulations. And that would be, well, just
anarchy, wouldn't it? They simply refuse to believe
that Christ is who he says he is. They've refused it all along,
back in verse 16. It says, And therefore did the
Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done
these things on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath day. But Jesus
answered and said, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because not
only had he broken the Sabbath, but he said that God was his
Father, making himself equal with God. They're really ticked
off now. They didn't believe who he said
he was. Now in our text, it's an indictment.
It's an indictment against those religious folks, those same religious
folks. But before we specifically get
into our text, it's important to note that our Lord had some
mighty telling things to say about these people. These religious
and righteous regulators. These men, these good men, these
moral icons, these bible reading, scripture searching. law-abiding
community watchdogs. He had something to say about
them. First, he tells them that they not only do not know God,
he also tells them that they have never heard the voice of
God. And this is not a small thing.
It's a primary reason why they rejected him. Verse 37 says,
And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness
of me. He neither heard his voice at
any time, nor have seen his shape. Now these are folks that say
we know God. Nobody else knows God but us.
We're the only nation God ever dealt with and they're telling
the truth on that. They were privileged beyond measure. Beyond
measure. They had the Word of God. They
had the priesthood. They had the rites and the ceremonies.
They had the law. They had the oracles. They had
all those things. They had the Day of Atonement. Wondrous place, this place called
Israel, wherever it was and where it traveled, mostly nomadic.
They settled here and settled there. But you think about it. I don't know how many acres of
land there are on the earth. Millions and millions, I suppose.
God met with one man, one day a year, in a 15 by 15 foot cubicle,
covered with blood inside and out. Brown, nasty looking place. Bloodstains everywhere. One time. One day a year. One man. In all the population of the
universe. Nobody saw it. But that one man
who met with God. We know that's a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Privileged nation. Bible thumping. They read them scriptures. They
read them scriptures. But he tells them, you've never
heard the voice of God. You've never heard the voice
of God. It's no small thing. But you got to hear the voice
of God. What is the voice of God? It's this Word. You're not going to hear it audibly.
You're going to hear it through faith. And through faith is believing
what God has said. But this is the voice of God.
These are His words. And His words are spirit and
they are life. These are His words. But they never heard. They'd read this thing from kiver
to kiver. They believed that it was God's
book. When it said genuine leather on the back, they even believed
that. They knew this book. But like the old fella said,
they were like a sparrow on a telephone wire. They had a grip on the
wire. but have no understanding at
all of the message going through the wire. So they're like sparrows
on a telephone wire. Our Lord says, you've never heard
God, but all that hath learned and have been taught of the Father.
They all shall be taught, all the elect, all those that God
has given to Christ shall hear and learn of the Father, and
the result of that is always the same. If God has taught you
If you have learned of the Father, you will come to Christ. All
that has learned of the Father come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly, he tells them that the Word of God has never made
it past their eyes. The words they read are just
a bunch of words to them. If they had learned the words
they read, if the words had found purchase in their heart, if the
words abided in them, had reached their inner man, they would have
come to Christ long ago. Verse 38, And ye have not heard
His word abiding in you, for whom He has sent ye believe Him
not. If you heard the words, you'd
believe on Christ. How many people read this book and hear this
book and never hear the words? Never hear the words. But our
Lord says, He that is of God, heareth God's words. And He didn't
say that to lost people or people who said they were lost. He said
that to those who were Abraham's seed. And those who professed
that they knew God and nobody else did. He said, you know,
if you were of God, you would hear God's words. But you don't
hear them. He says, you don't believe me
because I tell you the truth. If I told you a lie, you wouldn't
believe me. You wouldn't believe me. Thirdly, he tells this religious
bunch that they don't love God. The love of God is not in them.
Again, this is revealed because they obviously do not love the
Lord Jesus Christ. Those that love God come to Christ.
They come to Christ. Fourthly, these fellas do what
they do to be honored of each other, to gain the honor of men,
to create power structures, to gather people and circle the
wagons. They care for nothing for the
honor of God, the glory of God. And that is a primary reason
why they do not come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 43, I am
come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, you will receive him. How can you
believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor
that cometh from God only? Fifthly, our Lord tells these
fellows that they don't believe what they read, and that they
don't believe who they say that they believe, because if they
did, they would come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 45, Do not
think that I will accuse you to my Father. There is one which
accuses you, even Moses, whom you've heard. For if you believed
Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe not His writings,
how shall you believe My words? That's a pretty strong indictment,
isn't it? In our text, our Lord indicts these men for their unwillingness
to come to Him on several levels. The primary thing addressed as
to the reason why they reject Christ is that they are unbelievers
in the face of undeniable evidence and the testimonies from God
Here in our text, our Lord uses the Scriptures as the fourth
witness, actually. As the fourth witness that these
religionists have rejected. They rejected the testimony of
John. We find that in verse 32 and
33. John preached to them. He preached
the kingdom of God was at hand. He preached to bring forth fruit,
meat for repentance. And they rejected the message
of John. They rejected the testimony of
Christ's works in verse 6. He said, My works testify who
I am. And you don't believe me. They
rejected that. They rejected the testimony of
the Father in verse 7. He said, My Father testifies
of me. And finally, they rejected the
testimony of the Scripture itself in verse 39. Search the Scriptures.
For in them you think you find eternal life, but they are they
which testify of Me. If you know the Bible. Barney,
you say, show me a man who believes the Bible, I'll show you a Christian.
And in truth, that's true. If you really believe the Bible,
you're a child of God. And you've come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. You've trusted Him, if you really believe the Bible. How do we know that they don't
believe? How do we know that the Scriptures have done them
no good? How do we know that they've rejected all these testimonies
before? Simple. They didn't come to Christ.
They didn't believe in Christ. How simple is that? If you are
a child of God. If you've heard the Word of God.
I know where you're going to end up. And if you're not, well,
like old Martyr said, I ain't got nothing for you this morning. I ain't got nothing for you.
Our Lord also indicts them for their thoughts. For their thoughts. There's an old saying that said
they can't hang you for your thoughts. Well, they, whoever
they are, might not be able to. But be assured, if your thoughts
are wrong about God's Son and how eternal life is obtained,
God has a gallows with your name on it, and a rope, a noose, with
your neck sized. Our Lord, in the original, says,
you do search the Scriptures. You do search the Scriptures,
for in them ye think ye have eternal life. Now the Scriptures
do declare eternal life. There's no doubt about that.
Our Lord said this in John 6, 63, My words, they are spirit
and they are life. Now don't go try to set up some
kind of equation on that. Just believe it because it's
so. When the disciples left, And the Lord looked at his rest
of them that were sticking around and said, y'all gonna leave also?
Peter said, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art the Son of God. They declared the promise of
it, the Word of God does. They possess the power of it.
I don't know any power on the earth that we
have contact with other than this book. Everything else is
derived. All other power, all other strength
in this world is derived. That means God gives it and God
takes it away. The only power belongs only to
God. But he said this word, this gospel,
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of it. It's the power of God. The power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. For therein, in that powerful gospel, is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. For it is written, the
just shall live by faith. This word, this powerful word,
powerful word. Yet men reject it. And they'll hang for it. They'll
hang for it. This word contains the seed of
life. Again, mysterious language. Wondrous thing. I stand up here
a sinner saved by grace. I have no power whatsoever. And
the longer I live, the more my power is diminished. The more
I realize that I'm powerless to do anything. And I repeat
to you words. Words that God has saved. and
God somehow can take that and does take that and puts it in
people's hearts and gives them life you're not born of corruptible seed but
incorruptible seed even the word of God which liveth and abideth
forever and this word which is by the gospel is preached unto
you this word is life My word is
their spirit in their life. The word of God is employed in
the generation of life. Of his own will, he said to James,
of his own will begat he us, birthed he us, brought us into
existence. This new creature with the word of truth. With the word of truth. That's
how it happened. No other way. Have confidence when you tell
folks the word. It will do its business. It will
always do its business. It will prove all men. All men
are proved by this Word. You tell the truth to a man,
or a woman, or a woman tells the truth to a man, however it
goes, or a preacher stands in the pulpit and preaches the gospel,
this Word does something. Always. It always works. always
works. That's what Paul thanked God
for over in 2 Corinthians. He says we thank God because
we always triumph in the preaching of the gospel. We're always triumphant. And whenever we preach the gospel,
whenever you tell someone about Jesus Christ and tell them the
truth about Jesus Christ, that's that same sweet-smelling savor
unto God represented by the Old Testament sacrifice of the fat.
The fat belongeth to the Lord. You know fat smells good when
it's on a fire. It does. It does. You get somebody out barbecuing
and they got pork chops on, that fat begins to drip down on them
coals. That's what that's talking about. That's why the fat was
reserved for the Lord. They put that fat on that fire,
that smoke rose and that sweet smelling aroma came into the
nostrils of God. He said, that's my gospel. When
you do that, it's like throwing the fat on the fire. And that
sweet-smelling smoke comes up in my nose. And it's always when
you preach the gospel. No matter what I intend for it
to do, and no matter what I make it do, God says, no matter what
happens, the result of it is not up to you. The response to
it is not up to you. It always smells good to me.
And when it goes out there, it accomplishes where I send it
and what I purpose it to accomplish. And when it gets there to some
people, that fat burning on that fire smells great. They want
to consume it. They want to eat it. They want
to be near it. It smells great. They want to
be surrounded by it. It smells like life. Life unto
life. But to some, it smells like death, unto death. It always does one of those two
things when the gospel is preached. So if you're here without Christ
this morning, I'm telling you, you're not going to live here
the same as when you came. Because you've heard the gospel.
And it's done something. Does Christ smell like life to
you? Or does He smell like death? One of those two. You say, well, I don't believe
you. Well, I'm kind of like old Scott Rich and I want to be clear
enough where if you don't believe me, you'll know what you don't
believe when you walk out that door. Christ said this word is life.
This Word is life. In fact, this Word is Him. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God, the same as in the beginning God, and the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And over in Hebrews chapter
4, when it talks about this Word, the power of it, the resurrecting
power of it, in Hebrews chapter 4 it says this, For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of
the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. You have been discerned. Your heart has been Discern your
thoughts have been discerned Because this word has done it Can't tell you how many people
have told me after I finished preaching or other preachers
and I know it said the same thing Felt like he was reading my mail
up our preacher Felt like you've been reading my mail. Why because
this word is discovering and disclosing What's in your heart
and what's in your mind this very moment? That's what this
Word does. It always does that. He goes
on to say, "...neither is there anything, any creature, that
is not manifest in His..." Talking about the Word. Quicker than
a two-edged sword. "...discerning the thoughts and
tents of the heart, neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in His sight, But all things are naked and open unto
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." I don't begin to
understand that. But I am in awe of it and I bow
down and worship God and say, thank God that's the way it is.
It's full of wonder. Full of wonder. You do search
the Scriptures. For in them you think you find
eternal life. They are they which testify of
me. They are they which testify of
me. The scriptures testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is
this indictment? These believed that the act and
the practice of reading the Bible and memorizing the Bible and
copying it down and endeavoring to live by its law and know its
doctrine They believed that meant that they had eternal life. They
believed it. They believed they had eternal
life. These believed that the Bible was the Bible. I was raised
like that. Weren't you? You a Southern boy?
You raised in the South? I guarantee you cut your eye
teeth on the King James Version of the Bible. I know you did.
And I can guarantee the moment you were able to rub two cogent
thoughts together in that poor brain of yours, your mom and
dad had already convinced you that Jesus Christ was the Son
of God. You believed that, didn't you? When you was a little boy? And they told you salvation was
by grace. Did you believe that too? As
much as you could understand, you believed that. You believed
Jesus Christ was the Son of God. You said, well, wouldn't you
say I was lost as a goose in a snowstorm? And I'd fight you if you said
the Bible wasn't the Word of God. And I didn't know God from
a goose. People believe that looking at
this book and holding this book and adhering to this book is
eternal life. It ain't. It's only eternal life
if by this book and through the preaching of the Gospel and the
preaching of this Word you end up at the feet of the Savior.
If you don't, you're still in your sin. You're still in your sin. This
is quite an indictment. This is quite an indictment.
Part of this indictment is a suggestion in the words that these who would
not come to Christ for life, the intimation and the fact of
their chosen life reveals this. They had come to religion. They wouldn't come to Christ
for life. So they had come to Christ. But not for life. They followed him around wherever
he went. They tried to question him. They tried to trip him up.
They followed him. They liked the miracles that
he did. Just like our brother said this morning. They liked
him when they got fed. And they wanted to be able to
do the works of God. And what they were talking about is, I
know you ain't staying. You just keep going to the other
side of the river. The other side of the creek won't stay
with us. So will you teach us that trick? And we can do that,
and we can take a few fishes and a few loaves of bread and
feed thousands, so we'll never be hungry again. He said, that's
not the work of God. This is the work of God that
you believe. And if you believe, it's because God's worked on
you. It's because God's worked the work in you. These believed the Bible was
the Bible. They believed the Bible was the Word of God. They
didn't believe the message of the Bible. Because they did not
seek eternal life at the place where the Bible taught that eternal
life is. The scriptures testify that Christ
is life. And to have eternal life is to
come to Him. Come to Him. What have you come
to? Have you come to religion? Maybe you've
come to the Bible. Maybe you've come to church.
Maybe you've come down front at some altar many years ago,
so-called altar. There ain't no altar. Where have you come? If you believe this book, you've
come to Christ. You've come to the Savior. And
I won't ask you how that happened, because you can't tell me more
than I can tell you. A lady in our church, her mother
says, Well, how do you believe? And the lady said, for a moment,
I thought I could answer that. And then I went, I don't know. It's a miracle. It's a miracle. They would come to Christ, but
not for life. He said, you will not come to
me for life. They'd heard John, they'd come
to religion. They'd come to the law, they'd
come to the scriptures, but not to Christ. There is a suggestion
by omission that they had even come to Christ, many of them
did, but not for life. Men come to Christ for miracles,
for hearing, for monetary gain, for business networking, for
help when they're in trouble, for religious experience, but
these things are of no value if Christ has not sought for
life. Finally, these words of our Lord
are an indictment of the will of these men. You will not come
to me that you might have life. They will not come to Christ
for life. Now, our Lord, when addressing
the subject of the will, is not addressing the will as to ability
or power to perform anything. you'll never find him doing that
in scripture except when he's talking about his own will in
reality the concept of free will and let me say this very clearly
except in the sense of power to perform the concept of free
will does not exist in the universe even with god almighty god has
a character and he's a being And he does things that he wants
to do. Never does stuff that he don't
want to do. So if he does what he wants to
do, that means he's willing to do what he wants to do and not
willing to do what he don't want to do. So his will is not free,
it's directed by what he wants to do. You will not do what you will
not do. You will not want to do what
you will not do. That's just dumb. That's just
dumb. So our Lord is not talking about
power to perform here. You will not come to Me. They
will not. Why? Well, if He said it as to
power to perform, it would be a moot point because such a thing
as power or ability to perform cannot be applied to man's will
or at all in any situation. it's only deals with direction
or choice which is merely a revelation or reflection of the nature the
will has no power and two prime examples of that is the fact
uh... are set forth in scripture in
isaiah fourteen when the king of tyre or satan said he would
will arise and stand as head of the congregation. He will
go to the most high place. He will sit on the throne of
God. I will. I will. He will too. He wanted
to. That was his heart's desire.
And God said, you're going to hell. So much for your will,
Buster. He had the desire that he made
the choice. He wanted to. But he couldn't. Religion equates the will with
power to perform and it simply does not exist. Paul, a saint
of God, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, what I want to do, I can't
do. And what I don't want to do,
that's what I end up doing. The will is present with me. But the power to perform I find
not. You can will all you want to.
And you do. We will all the time. I want
this. I want that. I want to fly. I
can flap my arms all day. I ain't going to elevate one
inch off the ground. I guarantee you. I want to be young again
sometime. wonder what it would be like
to have that strength I had when I was a meat cutter and threw cows
around like they were toys, you know, and stout and tough. Well,
I couldn't do that anymore, but sometimes I think, boy, I wish
I could do that. No, I can wish all I want to,
it ain't gonna happen. It ain't gonna happen. So he doesn't equate
the power to perform when he's talking about, you will not come
to me. You will not come to me that you might have life. The
will is the choice, and it reveals the inclination, and the affinity,
and the affections, and only that. It reveals what you want. The will's ability extends only
to that of choice, of want, or desire. Only God possesses ability
to accomplish what He wants. and what he desires. And he always
does. Now I know these clowns, these
pusillanimous pulpiteers stand in the pulpits of this nation
saying, God wants you too. God wants this for you. They're
dumber than a bag of hammers. If God wants you to do something,
you know what's going to happen. You're going to do it. If God
wants you to have something, you know what? You're going to
have it. Because our God is in the heavens. And He hath done
whatsoever He hath pleased. In heaven and earth and all the
deep places and even under the sea. He gets what He wants. Why? Because
He has the power to back it up. Nebuchadnezzar found that out,
didn't he? Nebuchadnezzar thought he had power of the will. He
stood out on the porches of Babylon and pulled his galluses and said,
O Babylon that I have built, O great... And while the words were coming
out of his mouth, God broke him down and sent him
out into the field. Here's the great king. Where's
he going? out to the field and he fell down on his knees and
he began to walk on all fours. He began to eat grass and his
fingernails grew like claws and his hair grew and his beard grew
and people walked by and said, who's that? What's that? That's
the king. What happened to him? He willed,
he thought. God said no. And after God stripped
him of everything One day while he was out there eating grass
like a cow, God opened up his mind again, returned his mind
to him. And he said, looked at himself
and said, you know what? His dominion, God's dominion
is from everlasting. And he does according to his
will in the armies of heaven. and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay his hand, none can stop him,
and none can even ask what he's doing. You don't have any right.
Why did God do that? It's none of your business. Why does God make horrible things
happen? It's none of your business. Why do things happen that we
don't especially like and wish they was different? It's none
of our business. What shape would this world be
in if God consulted us about His providential acts? Nothing would get done. My dad died five years ago. A lovely man. A man's man. One time, and he could fight. And the Southern boys appreciate
that notion. Saw him drop a man one time with a little old short
right hook. I mean, knocked him out cold. That guy didn't get
up for 10 minutes. Broke a guy's, cracked a guy's
skull back when he was a policeman with his fists. Also broke my
daddy's wrist, but he broke the guy's skull. Tough man, strong
man, could do anything. If I needed something done, daddy,
this is broke. I'll bring it over here, I'll fix it. He died. My young brother Myron, Hadn't
been going to church, and he'd heard the gospel because all
of our family believed the gospel. We could sit around and talk
about grace all day long. And he sat there and heard it. When
Daddy died, Mama didn't have a way to go to church to hear
the gospel. And so Myron called her one day
and said, I'll take you to church, Mama. And I believe the Lord's dealt
with his heart. I'll take you to church, mama." We're sitting
out behind my daddy's old Buick one night and I said, Myron, now if God had asked you, is it alright if I take your
daddy so I can get you under the gospel,
what would you have said? He said, I don't believe I'd
have wanted him to do that. I said, that's what he did. That's what
he did. He does his will. The armies
of heaven, in his glorious providential
grace, he brings his children home. However, whatever it takes,
whatever it takes, What an indictment against these
men. Religion loves everything about
the Bible except for what it teaches. With the clear declaration
of Christ from Genesis to Revelation, that He is life, eternal life,
men are not willing to come to Him. Why? They don't want to. Just face the fact, they don't
want to. Therefore, they choose not to. They will choose a thousand ways
to die. A thousand ways to wind up in
hell. They'll go to hell from a church
pew with a Bible in their hands, spouting scripture verses along
with singing, just as I am. But they don't want Christ for
life. They will not come to Him because they have no inclination
toward Him. They have no affinity for Him
and no affection toward Him. Therefore, they will not choose
Him ever. That's their nature and their
heart is revealed. Their nature is religious sin.
What the old Puritans used to call, Splendida Peccata. Shining sin. Shining sin. Their love is for their life.
And they think they have one because they say, won't you invite
Jesus into it? They don't have a life. They
love themselves and they don't love Christ. But thanks be unto
God. All that the Father gives to
him shall come. And you know what? They will
will to come. They'll will to do so. They'll
be willing to do so. They'll choose Christ because
God has given Him His Spirit. And His Spirit only has one inclination
in this world, and that is toward an affinity for and affection
for the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall not glorify Himself.
He shall speak of Me and take the things of Mine and show them
unto you. The most reasonable thing for
one who has been thus blessed to hear the Gospel and believe.
The most reasonable thing for him to do. And the thing he always
will do. He will. He will come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He will choose to come. He will be glad to come because
His heart determines that's what He wants. Because that heart
of clay has been removed and a heart of flesh has been put
in its place. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is my Father's will, which is sent me. Of all He has given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again in the last
day. And when our Lord was speaking, when God was speaking to His
Son, and David overheard that conversation, in Psalm 110, a
promise was given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Rule thou in the
midst of your enemies, God said, his son and thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. God bless you. I hope that everybody will stay
and eat with us this morning. Father, we thank you for this
word. Words that you speak their spirit
and their life. Pray that you would make us willing
that this would be the day of your power for your people. Thank
you for this food and for all we have received at your gracious
hand. We pray in the name of Christ.
Amen.