I feel maybe the slightest bit
foolish trying to introduce our speaker for this evening. Pastor
John Chapman needs no introduction here, but there's some things we ought
to say. Don't one person leave this room
tonight without telling John, thank you. John Chapman was our
first pastor here. We're only here because the Lord
laid it on John to begin this work. He came to my living room
one evening and told me, he said, we're leaving 13th Street, where
many of us were attending at the time. And I said, I'm going
with you. And he said, well, you teach
the class, and I'll preach, and we'll see if the Lord has work.
And that's what we did. My love and admiration to John
Chapman is second to none. He faithfully served as our pastor
in extraordinary circumstances. And as long as we are here, we
will owe John Chapman a debt of gratitude. And I have been
wanting to have him preach here before us before he moved. And
fortunately, I found out that they're moving Friday. So we're
loading up tomorrow morning. John says he'll have the truck
there between 10.30 and 11. All available hands on deck.
You and me, I know it's a work day, but maybe check with us
after you get off work, see if we got that thing loaded or not.
We might be able to use your help in the evening, too. But
we're just delighted that John, Vicky, and Jason are here, and
John's going to preach for us this evening. And I know you're
very comfortable, and we look forward to hearing what you work
out on tomorrow. More comfortable in the past
than right now. Going through John chapter 6,
Frank asked me to speak. This is the verse that came to
my mind and has stayed on my mind. I went down to Spring Lake about
a year and a half ago and they asked me then. I said, no, I'm
not interested in Being a pastor, I said, I'm not looking for it.
I said, I want you to understand this right up front. I'm not
down here looking for a place to preach. I said, I have enough
places to go to and preach. I'm not interested in it. And
I went back several times, and every time I would talk to Doug,
he said, well, I said, have you all found anybody? He said, just
waiting on you. That's what he'd say. He said,
just waiting on you. I said, well, you're going to
be waiting a long time, buddy. I said, I told you I'm not interested.
I said, you know, I think I'm doing what I just need to be
doing. And of course, as time went by, the Lord laid that on
my heart and I just waited. And looking back, that was real
admirable that they had the patience to wait on God. And some of them
there were just confident. They were just confident that
I was the man and they weren't going to call nobody. They said
they wasn't going to call a young man. I said, I don't blame you.
I said, you don't need to raise one. And they said, we wanted
an older man and you was the man we wanted. And so the Lord
laid on my heart and Vicki said she would, she could move down
there. And I tell you, they have just, it's been a blessing. It's
been a real blessing to be down there. I'm 61 years old. I said, well,
you know somebody who's 61 years old? General Terrell said, well,
you got 19 years on Moses. He was 80. So I started going
back and looking, and I was looking up people that lasted until their
80s. I said, well, I might have 20 years down here, guy. You
never know. But it's been a blessing, and
this place has been a blessing. Several months ago, I was in
Rocky Mount, and Henry walked across the front of the church,
shuffled across the front of the church. He shuffled and put
his arm around me. He must have hugged me 10 times
before I got out of there. And it was just so precious.
But anyway, he came over and he hugged me and said, how long
have we known each other now? I said, Henry, it's been 40 years. And he just, he was like that,
and he went back over. I got to hear him all the way
across that church telling people, we've known each other for 40
years. And I got to thinking about that, 40 years. And here
we are, still here. 40 years has gone by now since
I have believed the gospel. And what I titled this message
is, What Have I Learned? What have, have I learned something
I believe I have. I believe I have. Let me read the scripture first
before I go on here. In John 6, 45, it is written in the prophets. That's Isaiah 54, 13. John 6, 45, it is written in
the prophets. They shall be all taught of God. In Isaiah 54, 13, it says, and
all thy children be taught of the Lord, shall be taught of
God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father cometh unto me. And that's the first thing I
thought of when Frank asked me. I thought, what have I learned
in 40 years? 40 years of sitting under the gospel, 40 years of
preaching the gospel, 40 years of being here. I believe I sat under one and
most of you, most of you, sat under one of the greatest preachers
God has ever called. I don't think it's just one of
the greatest preachers of our generation. I believe it's one
of the greatest preachers that God has ever called to the ministry.
I do believe that. You need some believers. And
I have often, I have often sat down and thought, Lord, you could
have sat me anywhere, but you sat me right there. And I am
so thankful for this, I am so thankful for this, that God let
me sit there and I didn't go out. I told Joe Terrell that,
I said, you know, the Lord allowed me to sit there under that ministry. And you all went out when you
were young. I said, I'm so thankful I got to just sit there and listen
and soak it in. Thankful for that. And it's been a blessing. And
one of the blessings is this, and I said this to someone the
other day, one of the great blessings is this. We are still here. We still believe the gospel.
Has that ever dawned on you? Have you ever just sat down by
yourself and thought, I'm still here and I still believe the
gospel? I realize that we have been camped.
this congregation here. We have been kept by the power
of God through faith. God has kept us. We've not kept
ourselves, God's kept us. And God has kept us believing.
He's the one who's kept me believing. I haven't kept myself believing,
but God's done that. That's a work of God. Faith is
a gift of God, but it's also a work of God from beginning
to end. He's the author and finisher of what? Our faith. He began
it and He'll finish it. And you don't know how comfortable
that is to me. What comfort it gives me. Here we raise our Ebenezer. Hither
by thy help we've come. What have I learned? What have
I learned? One of the things that I've learned, I'm going
to give you several things here, but I'm going to try to be brief
with it. I've learned something of the brevity of life. It goes by fast, hasn't it? Life
goes by fast. James said, and he wrote in the
book of James, I believe it was chapter 4, life, he said, is
but a vapor. Take the age that you are now,
whether you're young or old, take the age that you are now.
Didn't that go by fast? I told that congregation last
week, I said, if I stay here 20 years, I said, it won't be
long. I said, I'll be like Roy Rogers riding Trigger singing
Happy Trails to you again as I go out the door. I said, it'll
go by that fast. Do you know that this group has
been, we've been together now 12 years in October. October was 12 years. I was 50
years old, now I'm 62. Twelve years has gone by. Isn't
that just a flash? Just a flash. We buried some
heaven. Buried some heaven. I've learned something of the
brevity of life, how quickly it goes by. I've also learned
something of the vanity of this life. The vanity of this life,
listen now, without Jesus Christ. With Christ, now it's not a vain
life. It's a life purpose. Jesus Christ is the only one
who gives meaning to this life. He's the only reason. And He's
the only one that gives any kind of meaning to the life I have
on this earth. Without Christ, I'm nothing.
Nothing. A fat zero. Scripture says all things were
made by Him and for Him. I was made for Him. I was made
by Him. Not only was I made by Him in
creation, I was made by Him in the new birth. And I was made
for Him, for His glory and honor. If you or I do not know Christ,
our life on this earth is nothing but a vain existence. That's
all it is. It is profitable for nothing
better off not to have been born than not to know Jesus Christ. And I cannot, I cannot express
strongly enough how important it is to know Christ. I feel
this every time I preach. Every time I preach, I feel the
importance of knowing Christ, of me knowing Christ, and the
people I preach to knowing Christ. I told the people there, I want
us to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I want us to grow in grace and
in knowledge of Him. I told them I did not come down
to North Carolina to conduct a service, but to have a ministry. A ministry that glorifies Jesus
Christ. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. Oh, how important it is to know
the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, all is meaningless
and lost. I don't care what you or I accomplish
in this life. It is absolutely useless apart
from Him. Then I've learned this also. that the whole world really does
lie in wickedness. There is absolutely no good in
this world in any way, shape or form. None good and there's no good.
Everything outside of Christ is under the power of darkness. Everything. Every book written
Every secular book written, everything taught has some wickedness in
it somewhere. There's poison in the soup somewhere. There's poison in the soup somewhere. Even if it appears good, the
whole world lies in opposition to God. But now what have I learned? is the important thing. What
have I learned about God? This is what's important. I've
learned these other things. And I've learned them through
the scriptures. I've learned them by experience. I believe
God has taught me some of these things. What have I learned about
God, about Jesus Christ, about myself, and about salvation? That's what I want to know. What
have I learned from that? One of the first things that
I have learned, let me get a drink. One of the first things that
I have learned is this, that God is. There was a time that
I believed in the existence of God. I believe that there is
a God. I went to the so-called church
all my life. I believed in the very existence
of God, but that's not believing the God that is. Believing that
there is a God and believing the God that is, is two totally
different things. It's two totally different things.
It goes from believing some things about God to believing God. Abraham believed God when he
was told about the promise. Abraham believed God. He believed
exactly what God said to him. There's a difference. There's
a difference in believing God. When you read the word, you go
from reading about God. Now, listen, you go from reading
about God in the word of God to reading and hearing his voice. It's no more reading about Him,
but you're listening to Him. You're listening to Him. As you
read, you're listening to what He has to say in His Word. It's
not some things about what's going on, or what went on, or
things about Him. You actually read and you believe
it. You say, that's what God said. God said it. God said it. That's what God said. God is to be believed. He cannot
He cannot lie. He's to be believed. God has revealed Himself in His
Word, and I have learned that there is absolutely no excuse
for us not to know Him. For me not to know God, and for
me not to know God more than I do, there's no excuse. I have all the revelation of
God that I'll ever have, right here in this book. Right here.
And there's no excuse for me not to know it. Even more than
I do. The Bible teaches us that God
is holy. You've been asked to go out on
the street tomorrow. Ask people who God is. And you're gonna
get all kinds of answers. You're gonna get all kinds of
answers. But you and I know We know this, that our God is holy. The God of the Bible, the God
of creation, the God of salvation is absolutely holy. That means there is no imperfections
in God. Aren't you glad He's holy? I tell you, there was a time
that I didn't want anything to do with a holy God. That just didn't go with the
way I wanted to live. But I'm glad that God's holy. You know
why? That means He'll do right. That means He'll do right. He
won't do wrong, He'll do right. He can't do wrong. He's holy. I thank God He's holy. And not
only is He holy, He's a just God. Aren't you glad He's just?
I'm glad God... I'm glad As sinful as I am, as
rotten as I am by nature, I'm glad God is a just God. Because if He's put my sins away
through the blood, they're never going to come back. They're never
going to come back up. If He's justified me, there'll
never be a time that He'll turn on me. If He's loved me, there'll
never be a time that He doesn't love me. He's a holy God. He's a just God. You know what
he says in Isaiah? And a Savior. And a Savior. God delights to show mercy. Scripture
says he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He delights
to show mercy. He delights to show mercy to
the sinfulest of men. Thank God he delighted to show
mercy to me one day. He delighted to call me by His
grace. It was His good pleasure. Think
about that. We can't even begin to imagine
what that's like. It's God's good pleasure, He
said, to make you His people. It's God's good pleasure to show
mercy to you. It's God's good pleasure to show
grace to you. It's His good pleasure. And I learned this, that God is sovereign, that none
can stay His hand for saying to Him, what doest thou? I've
learned this from the scriptures. I've learned this by experience.
I've prayed and asked God not to do something and He did it
anyway. I've prayed and asked God not to do something and He
wouldn't do it. He didn't do it. He demonstrated
His sovereignty. God is sovereign. Scripture says
He gives no account for any of His matters. He doesn't answer
to us. He's not going to tell you why
He does what He does. He's not going to tell me why
He has done to me what He's done. He gives no answer because He's
the sovereign. You and I couldn't understand
it if He did give us the answer. It's too high above us. His thoughts
are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than
our ways. He did not explain to Job why he did what he did. He did not say there in Job,
I think it's what, chapter 38 to 40 or somewhere in there,
when he told Job to stand up. He didn't say, Job, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I had to do this to you. He said, Job, stand up like
a man. Gird your loins up like a man
and stand up and answer me. I'm going to give you some questions
and you give me the answers. I'm like, wow. Wow. And he just took that man and
that man just lost everything. He lost everything. And at the
end of it, God says, now you stand up like a man. You get
up your loins like a man. And I'm going to command you.
I'm going to give you some questions and you give me the answers if
you can. Old joke doesn't give one answer. Where were you when
I created the heaven? Where were you? I know where God was. He was
on the throne. He's the Sovereign. He's the
Sovereign, and He saves whom He will. I'm glad that's so, because I
tell you what, if He didn't, nobody would be saved. You and
I would not be here tonight. We wouldn't be here tonight. Our God is holy. These are not
just theological terms. Now listen, this is who God is. This is the nature of God. He
says in the Psalms, you thought I was altogether like yourself.
You thought I was like you. And when we conjure up a God
like we think, we always kind of make Him up like we are. We just make Him up like we are. You thought I was all together
like yourselves. Oh no. Our God is holy. Our God is just. Our God is merciful. Our God is gracious. Our God
is sovereign. Our God is love. Our God is life.
And our God is life. That's who He is. That's more
than just theological terms. That's the nature of our God. That's his nature. Now what have
I learned about Jesus Christ? I've learned this, that Jesus
Christ is the very God that I just told you about. The God of creation. Our God is holy, just, that's
Him. That's who Jesus Christ is. He is God incarnate. When
you read the Gospels, and you watch him as he moves through
the Gospels, as he moves through the crowd, and he heals the leper,
he heals the lame man, he heals the man with the palsy, and he
moves through and shows mercy, and he deals with those Pharisees,
and he tells them the truth. You're a bunch of snakes, that's
all you are. A bunch of vipers. As he does this, you know what
you're watching? You know what you're watching? He says, come unto me, all ye
laboring and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest, for I am
meek and lowly of heart. Have you ever thought of God
that way? Have you ever thought of God as meek and lowly? That's
who He is. He's the expressed image of the
Father. He's all of God you're not going to see. Because He is God. He that has
seen me has seen the Father. Phil says, show us the Father. He says, you're looking at Him.
That's what he said. You're looking at Him. Jesus Christ is the incarnate
God. And this One is God. He became a man. is made unto me and you who believe
the gospel, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I don't produce any of that.
I don't produce any of it. I don't bring any of it. I receive
it. God gave it to me. It says that
the Lord has made him to be my wisdom, my righteousness, my
sanctification, and my redemption. How secure am I? How secure are
you in Christ? It can't get any more secure.
It cannot get any more secure. And I have learned this. I have learned that Jesus Christ
is truly, truly all that I need. If I have Christ, I have enough. You know what Jacob said when
he saw he was going to give him all his stuff? He said, I have
enough. I have enough. And I've learned this. It's taken
me some years. It's taken me 40 years. I have
learned this. I have Christ. I have enough. If I have to live in a shack,
If I have to beg like Lazarus, and the dog licketh my sword,
if I have Christ, I have none. And if I have Christ, I'm the
richest man in the world. All things are yours in Christ.
Everything that belongs to him belongs to me. Everything. Absolutely everything. Scripture says, in him ye are
complete. Christ is my prophet. Christ
is my priest. Christ is my lamb. Christ is
my resurrection. I'm not looking for an event
to happen no more. I'm not looking for it. I had someone call me the other
day. Want me to buy a book from this
TV preacher that does not preach the gospel. He said he's really
got this thing down on what's going to happen with North Korea
and what's coming and all this stuff. I don't care what's coming in
that sense. I'm not worried. I do not lose
sleep over this. There's one thing that will keep
me awake at night. And that's my relationship to
Christ. Am I His or am I not? Lord, don't let me miss you. Don't let me miss you. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. What have I learned about myself?
Let me wind this up. Well, I've learned that I'm a
lot worse than I can ever conceive that I am. I'm a lot worse than
I've ever thought to be. However bad I think I am, it's
worse. That's what I've learned. It's
worse. I've learned that I do deserve
the wrath of God. I do. If God's holy and I am what I
am, a rebel, I deserve it. I deserve it. I have learned
that I cannot save myself. Sin is too much for me. It's
too strong for me. The sins of this flesh is too
strong. That old nature is too much for me. I can't handle it. It's too strong. I can't save myself. I was born
in sin and shaped in iniquity. I need Christ now more than ever. I mean that. After 40 years,
I need Christ now more than ever. I struggle with sin more now
than I ever did. I do. Things that bother me now didn't
bother me 40 years ago. The Sermon on the Mount. I have
more trouble now with that Sermon on the Mount than I did with
election. I don't have any trouble with election at all. Man, I
love it. It's the gospel. It's the gospel.
It's the truth. I'll never grow in election.
It is what it is. I'll never grow in particular
redemption. It is what it is. But to love your enemies? Pray for them who despitefully
use you. That's what troubles me now.
That's what really troubles me. If a man asks you to go a mile,
go two. If he asks for your coat, give
him your cloak, give him all of it. Just let him have it. Now, to me, that's the deep things
of God. Because that's exactly what He
did. That's exactly what He did. And
He's never told us to do anything that He hasn't. You can't grow in election, can
you? You can't grow in election. You can't grow in the doctrines
so much because they are the pillars. It is what it is. But
you can grow in love. You can grow in grace. You can
grow in joy, you can grow in the fruit of the Spirit, and
that's what troubles me. I don't see that. I've learned that without Christ
I can do nothing. You know, one of the things that
I believe that I had to learn, and I believe I've learned something
of it, I had to learn, especially in those earlier years, that
I could not preach. I did. I had to learn. I thought
I could. Then there came a time I learned
I couldn't preach and I didn't want to do it no more. I don't think a man will ever
be a preacher until God teaches him he can't do it. God's the one who makes preachers.
And if I'm actually standing here right now preaching, if
I'm really doing it, And God is sending it out in power, it's
the Holy Spirit doing it through me. I'm just a voice. John said,
I'm just a voice. I'm just a vessel, a conduit. That's all I am. I have also
learned that Jesus Christ is my greatest need. Some of you, you may have financial
needs, you may have health needs, you have this need and that need.
I can tell you right now, Jesus Christ is our greatest need. I have learned this, I have learned
that salvation is truly of the Lord. You can't save yourself. Could Jonas save himself? Even
if he'd gotten out of the belly of the well, he'd have drowned
before he got to the top. I'm sure he's too deep to make it
to the top. Salvation is of the Lord. God can save me. God can save
me. I believe that. I believe that
with all my heart, that he's able to save me and still be
God through Jesus Christ. His blood and his righteousness
is sufficient. We need no more. God could justify
me in Christ. He can clear me of all charges.
He can do that. God can do that. And only God
can do that. The Pope can't do that. They
can't absolve you of sins. That's so stupid. That's so stupid. He says there in verse 45, I'll
quote it. He says here, It's written in
the Prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, that is every man who hears the voice
of the Father, Who's speaking tonight? Is it just me? I hope not. I hope not. I hope you're hearing something.
I hope it's penetrating your heart. Every man there has heard the
voice of the Father. The Father is speaking to the
heart. And he's learned of the Father.
The Father is teaching him. He's teaching him. And for 40
years the Lord's been teaching me. And you know what that teaching
leads to? It keeps leading me back to Christ.
It keeps bringing me back to Him. It keeps bringing me to
Him. That's what it does. And hath
learned of the Father, cometh... And you know what that means?
That means continually. You know, I come to Christ now
more than I did 40 years ago. I need Christ now more than I
did 40 years ago. I need forgiveness now more than
I did 40 years ago. I say more, but I feel it more. I need cleansing more than ever. I need kept more than ever. I tell you, I could fall a thousand
times a day. I mean that. What have I learned? I've learned
that I need Jesus Christ more than ever. More than ever. As John was preaching, I thought
of something he said Years ago, I don't remember when he said
it, but it was outstanding. What have we learned? You see,
Christ is a teacher and he's a lesson. He's the only one that
can teach us, and if we learn it, it's going to be him. I didn't
plan what I was going to say when I introduced John. You all
know he's the pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Spring Lake,
North Carolina. Back at the conference this summer
in Crossville, right before I left that conference, I saw John at
the Y. We were talking about this, and he said, no, I'm not
going to Spring Lake. Doug West was there at the conference
in Crossville, and he said, can we go off here and talk for a
minute? He said, what do you think John's going to do? I don't
want to tell him. The man just told me he's not
coming. And Doug said, our congregation is 100% united. We want John to be our
pastor. And I said, well, did you just keep waiting? Well,
I got home and Don Fortner called me, so I know you're going to
miss John. I said, what are you talking about? Just right. It was that quickly after that
conversation, the Lord called him to go down there and he was
right. We're going to miss you. But
I'm very thankful. We're going to sing a song here
in a minute, but now this is not Goodbye. John's come back
here in April. He said to Al, I'll hold you
to it. He's going to come back to our conference in April. He's
going to be in Lexington in December at the conference there. But
we certainly pray Godspeed. One of the trips, the Apostle
Paul got ready to leave on his mission trips. He got ready to
leave and all the men went down there with him. Before Paul left,
they bowed in prayer and they prayed Godspeed. Let's do that. Let's bow and pray before we
sing a song. Our Father, how we thank you for allowing us
to be here this evening to hear your gospel preached to you.
To hear one more time of our great God, our all-sufficient
Savior who meets our every need. To hear of our nothingness and
to hear that Christ is all. Father, how we thank you. Father,
I pray that tonight you would be our teacher. that you would
apply these lessons to our hearts, to all of us, that we might leave
here coming to our Lord Jesus Christ. Give us faith in him.
Give us a heart that hungers and thirsts after him, that pants
after him. Father, we pray at this time
that you bless our brother John in a special way. Be with him
and his family as they head to North Carolina Father, bless them in every way. Bless them with your presence.
Bless them with the power of the gospel. Meet their every
need. Bless that congregation, your
people there richly through the preaching of your word. All these
many years, you've given them such a faithful pastor, Brother
Rupert. Now you've sent them another
one. Father, we pray you continue to bless them. Bless them mightily
for your great namesake. It's in our Lord Jesus.