If you'll turn with me to the
epistle of 1 John, 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. And read with me verse
12. 1 John 5, verse 12. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." Nineteen words, all one-syllable
words. Yet, the secret of life is in
it. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." Very simple,
isn't it? But a mystery to most, a mystery. And we're going to look at this
morning, very, very simply, what is life? What is it? What does
it mean to have the Son? And I hope, well, verse 13, it
says, These things have I written, this is God's Word through a
man, but it's God's Word, things written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life. Hopefully, those who have the
Son will have it confirmed to them that they have life. What is life? Do I have the Son?
What does that mean? And hopefully the Lord will be
pleased to use this Word, His Word, to give life to someone
who does not have the Son of God. And that you may believe,
he said, on the name of the Son of God, that you might go from
this place more fully believing Christ and
trusting Him than when you came. I told Mindy we were loading up
the car and could barely get everything in there, and it wasn't
that way when we came. I said, we always go home with
more than what we came with. Well, I hope that's so for you
this morning. If we've heard the Gospel, we
ought to go away more confirmed in it, shouldn't we? If we've
seen Christ, we ought to go away more fully believing Him than
when we came. Hopefully. What is life? What is life? A lot of people
ask that question. People the world over are trying
to find the meaning of life. What is the meaning of life? Right here it says life is to
have the Son of God. And he that does not have the
Son of God doesn't have life. No matter what it is, no matter
what you may call it, it's not life. Isn't that what this says? No matter what it is. God's Word
says, He that hath the Son hath life. And verse 11 says, This
is the record that God hath given, that whoever has this life, God
gave it. That God hath given. to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. This life is eternal life,
whatever that may be. It's something different than
mere animal life or plant life. It's something different, altogether
different. Our Lord said this, that which
is flesh is flesh to him. There can never be anything but
that. And that which is spirit is spiritual. Spiritual life
is what we're talking about. The life of God, eternal life.
It's not life if you're waiting to die, is it? If it ends, is it life? Is it worth living for if it
dies? Stop and think about that, because
that's how foolish Men and women are. Living for dead things. Dying and dead things. Our Lord
said in the garden when man sinned, He said, Dying, you shall die. Waiting to die. Is that the life? We say of people who accumulate
great riches and a big home and a good job And lots of money says, man,
that's living. That's living. Then all of a
sudden, boom, they die. Is that living? Is it? It's over. And man, it
was like that, wasn't it? It went by so fast. Is that life? It's not life if it's no better
than a dog. Turn with me to Psalm 49. If
we're no better than a beast, eat, drink, and then you die,
what kind of life is that? Psalm 49. Look at this. The Lord
says through the psalmist, you have it? This is sobering. It is sobering if God lets you
hear it. He says, hear this, all ye people,
give ear, and all the world, everybody, low and high, rich
and poor, my mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation
of my heart of understanding. You need to understand this.
This is wisdom from above. This is wisdom of God. Don't
be a fool. Be wise. I will incline mine
ear to a parable. I'll open my dark, mysterious
saying upon my heart. Wherefore should I fear in the
days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me
about? They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves
in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means
redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. The
redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceases forever." Read
on. We will not live forever. None
can redeem themselves that they should live forever and not seek
corruption, that is, rot in the grave. Verse 10, he seeth that
wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish,
and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is their
houses shall continue forever. They dwell in places to all generations. They call their lands after their
own name. Nevertheless, man, being in honor,
abideth not, is like the beasts That parish. I just put an old dog in the
ground. I had him 15 years. And I loved
that old dog. And we had some good times together.
But I put his body in the ground and that's it. I was real sad
for that reason. Because I'll never see him again.
It's over. He's just going to rot and that's
it. Is that the way it is with man? Didn't Job ask that question,
a question of Job 14? If man dies, shall he live again? Not unless he hath the Son. And really, living on this earth
and this life of flesh, it's not true life. If it's no better than, like
I said, a dog eating and drinking and sleeping. No better, is it? Is that all you've got to live
for? Something far and above. Our Lord called it life more
abundant than that. Something far and above mere
animal life or plant life. Something that comes from God,
only God. Well, look back at 1 John chapter
1. Look back there, 1 John 1. See,
in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son. God Almighty
came to this earth. That's right. Very few people
believe that. You know that? I mean, very few
people really believe that. They believe there was a man
named Jesus, a good man, and so forth. But God, come on. But he did. And I'm not here
to prove that or argue that. But he did. He did. He walked this earth. And look
at this, what this says. 1 John 1, verse 2. It says, well,
1 John 1 and 2. That which was from the beginning,
which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've
looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life,
the life, was manifested, revealed. The life. Be life. Real life. Eternal life. Abundant life. Life that doesn't
end. More than an animal. Life. We've seen it. It. John couldn't
have said such a glorious thing or want or person and a mysterious
one that all he could say is that. That, that's what the angel
said, didn't he, when he was being born, that's holy thing.
That, read on, this life was manifest. We've seen and bear
witness and shown to you that eternal life which was with the
Father and manifested in that. Alright, two things here. Life
was revealed in Christ. in the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God revealed life, what life is. We see it in Him, true
life in Him. And life is given by Him. Life is in Him, we see it, and
life is given by Him. That life, true life, the life
of God. He had no home and no earthly
possessions. Zero. He had no home, nowhere to lay
his head, and not one single material earthly possession other
than the robe on his back and the shoes on his feet. And he
was perfectly, completely, 100% happy, content. He was not married. He had no children. He is never alone. Never. Never lonely. He ate very little. He ate very little. You know,
these are the things that consume us, that we think this is what
living is all about. This is what we live for. He
ate very little. In fact, they would tell him
at times, Master, eat. And what did he say? I'm eating. You don't know anything about
it. Isn't it? I have meat to eat that you know
nothing about. And they said, did you give him
something? Life must be more than meat and
the body more than rain, isn't it? Huh? That's what he said.
He slept very little. But he had perfect rest. Perfect rest. Why do we, the
older I get, have a hard time sleeping? Anybody? Oh my. Teenagers don't have any trouble
sleeping. You have trouble waking them up. The older we get, the
harder it is for us to sleep. Why? All these worries and responsibilities
and fears and aches and pains. boat, ship, torch, tempest, storm,
raging, he slept. When he did sleep, perfect. He had something that man doesn't
have, doesn't he? Life. Real life. He said a man's life consisteth
not in the things that he possesseth. Because if you lose them, You've
lost your life. Huh? He's a dead thing. Things that are dying are dead
things. We sing that song, don't we?
Things that are higher, things that are nobler. It's got to
be better than this. Doesn't it? It is. He revealed
that. He revealed that. Life is more
than me. The body more than Raymond. The
life that he had, that he is, is eternal spiritual life revealed
by him. It's to be alive to God and dead
to this world. He was dead to this world. No matter what he saw, it didn't
impress him. The disciples, you know, were
impressed by things like we are. They were impressed with the
temple, and they took the Lord a tour of the temple. He left
heaven. He left glory. And I'd taken him a tour of this
little stone temple. And he said, look, look, isn't
this wonderful? Wonderful. I hasn't seen that. He left glory. He's not impressed
with anything. Anybody. Doesn't need anything. Didn't desire anything. What he heard didn't bother him.
The praise of men, the derogatory remarks, the hatred
of men. You've only got something that
man doesn't have, doesn't he? It's the life of God. Life, true
life. I want that. Don't you? Dead to this world, alive to
God. Now I'm not talking about somebody
like Buddha or Gandhi. You know, those fellows who renounced
this life, they're liars. Those fellows are liars. Look
at Buddha. Look at his belly. He must have liked food an awful
lot. Gandhi, they're liars. They say
they have peace, they're liars. No human being that has perfect
peace. Son of God did. God did. In Him was life. Life of God. Life of God is love, too. Love
is the character of God. Love. Greater love hath no man
than this. Again, love personified. Wisdom. Wisdom of God. Wisdom. He is
wisdom. Wisdom. We're fools. Man's a
fool. He falls for everything. Anything
and everything. Christ. No. Wisdom from above. His affection set on things above,
not on things there. Nothing here that he desired. Nothing. Peace that passeth understanding. This is the life of God. Peace
that passeth understanding. I don't understand how you could
have such peace. Well, you will if He gives you
this life. Joy, rest, undisturbed, joy unspeakable,
full of glory. said this life was revealed in
him. This life was given by him. In him we live and move and have
our being. This life was given by him. Our
Lord said this, I am come not to show them how to live, not
to show them a pattern to try to follow and they can have what
I have. No sir. I am come that they might have
life, to give this life. How did he do that? Mystery. by dying. John, take over. Come up here
and explain this. It can't be explained. It's a
great mystery. He said, As a corn of wheat falleth
into the ground, except a corn of wheat falleth into the ground
and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
die. came to die. We tell these things
and it sounds like doctrine because we have such a hard time. We're
just men, just men trying to talk about God. Who's sufficient
for these things, huh? How can we possibly? Here it
is. Jesus Christ came. God is holy. In Adam all die. In Adam all die. We're born dead. Dead in trespasses and sins.
And the soul that sinneth must surely die." Okay, the wages
of sin is death. Death passed upon all men for
all to have sinned. Christ came, life, holiness,
beauty, glory, God's well-pleased for His righteousness sake. Somehow,
mysteriously, glorious, God Almighty switched places with His Son
and His people. that Christ died that they might
live. He and Adam all died, but in
Christ all are made alive. Somehow, mysteriously, and we
cannot explain it, we just declare it, that when Christ hung on
the cross and God Almighty pleased the Lord to bruise him, Christ
died. And because of that, God is God
is propitiated. He's reconciled all things to
God. And in Him, we died. We were crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, we live and will never die. Christ said, He that
liveth and believeth in me, he'll never die. He never called it
death whenever one of his people died. He said, he sleepeth. Because people will never die.
Somehow they have this eternal life given to them. That's the
best I can do with it. That's all I can say. Because
it can't be explained. It's not something you figure
out and therefore you have it or something you accept. It's
something that happens to you. Given to you. Like born. You're born. How does he do it? What I'm doing right now. That
men call foolishness. I don't believe that stuff. You
don't believe it until you experience it. You have life. And I'm going to explain that,
well, I'm going to declare a little bit more of that in a moment.
But he died that his people might live. Because he died, they'll
never die. And because he lives, you see,
here's the difference between Buddha and Gandhi and all these
idiots and our Lord Jesus Christ. All those messiahs and all those
fellows who had the answer of life and so forth, they think,
died, and if you'll go looking for their bones, you'll find
them. You'll dig them up if you can find what's left of them.
They're just men, and they died. How do we know that this is the
Son of God? How do we know that He is God? How do we know that
what He said was true? How do we know? How do we know?
By the resurrection from the dead. He walked out of that grave. He said he would, didn't he?
He said he would. He said, you destroy this temple.
They didn't understand a word he was saying, did they? No, man can't understand God
unless he reveals it. He said, you destroy this temple
and in three days I'll raise it again. And he did. Somebody bought him. In that
grave, and three days later he walked out. He said, I told you. I'm God. You can't kill God.
In Him we live and vote. He is life. I'm life. And you
remember what Martha and Mary said to Him at Lazarus' grave,
you remember? Oh Lord, we know that our brother
will rise again in the resurrection. He said, Martha, it's not an event. I am the resurrection. It's a
person. If you're in him, you've already been raised. Quickened
together. Have you? Is that right? Life. Life. Alright? What does it mean
to have the Son of God? He that hath the Son hath life. What does that mean? Do you have
the Son of God? I want you to ask yourself. Everyone examine themselves,
see whether they be of the faith. This is it. Life of faith. Life. What is it? What is it
to have the Son of God? Do I have the Son of God? Number
one. And go to Matthew 16 with me.
Matthew chapter 16. Go over that. Number one. What is it to have the Son of
God, to have life? It means to have a knowledge
of the Son of God. Only those who have life know
who He is. You know that? A lot of people
think they know about him. A lot of people say they know
about him. And to this day, you know, they're
still trying to figure him out. Books everywhere. I see them
everywhere. Barnes and Noble and all that. Jesus this, Jesus
that, movies and so forth. Still trying to figure him out.
There was a division because of him back then. There's still
today. You'd think that a man that lived
2,000 years ago, they could forget about him. They can't. Why? Because of who he is. You can't ignore it. Matthew 16, the Lord asked His
disciples, verse 13, whom do men say that I am, that I the
Son of Man am? And they said, say that our John
the Baptist, son of Elias, and other Jeremiah's are one of the
prophets. Now, if you said those things about me or John, we'd
be flattered, wouldn't we? My, my. That's not flattery to
him. That's dishonor to him. Oh, my. He's more than a prophet. More than a prophet. Verse 15,
Whom say ye that I am? He said, Who do you say that
I am? And Simon Peter answered, and he's looking at a man who's
thirty years old. Must God be like you and me?
You know, we're similar in age. Well, similar. It'd be like you
looking at me, or me looking at you and saying, I believe
you're God. That's right. Two men. There's
a man standing there, Dan. A man about the same age as Simon
Peter. Simon Peter says, I believe you're
God. Not a prophet. Not a preacher. Not a good man. Not a miracle
worker. God made me. Made the earth I'm standing on.
Made the water I drink. Hung the sun in the sky. We say
of people, He hung the moon. Don't ever say that again, okay?
Don't say that again. That's blasphemy. about anybody. But that man did hunt the moon! You know what the Lord said to
him? Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. My Father, which is in heaven.
Oh, you're so blessed. You know me. Jesus? Jesus? All his enemies, that's what
his enemies called him. And people, I know, people give themselves
away. It's clear that they don't know
Brother H.B. by the way they refer to him,
don't they? No fear of God before their eyes. I have never called
my father Henry in my life. Still don't. Who's this man that walked this
planet? Jesus? God, Thomas fell at his
feet after seeing something, just a little display of his
glory, just a little bit, when his wrath was kindled, just a
little. He fell at his feet, a man, flesh and blood like him,
thirty years old, and said, My Lord and my God. My, my. That's life. That's how he's
revealed himself. to know Him. This is eternal
life, that they might know Thee, the only true God. There's only
one. What's His name? Jesus Christ. Oh no, yes He is. He's God. He's
the Father. He's the everlasting Father.
He's the mighty God. He's the only God that any man
will ever see. Jesus Christ. He has to reveal Himself. You
hear these phony preachers say this, we're trying to make him
known. You can't make him known. He's got to make himself known. He's
got to reveal himself to you. Talking to dogs, you know, I'm
trying to make myself known. He had to become us. What is
it to have the Son? It's to have a knowledge of the
Son, know who He is. What is it to have the Son? It's
to have a need for Him. Have a need for Him. See, if
you know who He is, you know who you are. You come to know
who He is, you find out what you are, sinner. See, He came and they had no
cloak for their sin. Holiness walked this earth. Men
and women talk a lot about holiness, don't they? Like to brag about
holiness. You know, they wear black and think they're holy.
I don't know where they got that. Because they're not wearing black
in heaven. Everybody's wearing white. Where'd they come up with
that? Tradition, superstition, something. Holiness. It's not like men think it. Holiness
walked this planet. Jesus Christ. And the so-called
holy people couldn't stand it. Why? He exposed them. Uncovered them. They had no cloak
for their sin. They couldn't hide from it. They
couldn't put on a show in front of Him. He looked at his heart.
And sinners, common people, were drawn to Him. That's holiness. Holiness is to be like Jesus
Christ. Love, mercy, grace, compassion,
forbearance, forgiveness, pardon, abundant pardon. Condescension. Yes, it's without sin, but it's
much more than that. Kindness, love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. He's full of that. Full of that. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. When you see Him, you see, I'm
not that. I'm not that. I'm not any of that. I'm full
of sin. And so you cry out with Bartimaeus, have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me. I need mercy. To see your need
of Him is like a hungry man needing bread. He's got what I need. Hunger and thirst after His righteousness.
Like a thirsty man needs water. Like a guilty man needs an advocate.
Like a child needs its mother. Like a sheep needs its shepherd.
Like a sinner needs a Savior. See who He is, see what you are,
and see your need of Him. Most folks want a little helper,
you know, a little healer, a little friend, you know, a little insurance
policy, a little fellow named Jesus. Get them out of a spot
when they're in it. No, no. You see who He is, you
really need Him. You'll see Him as your all and
all, your only hope, your only help, your Lord, your Savior. To have the Son is to have faith
in Him. Have faith in Him. And boy, that's
much deeper than most things. I mean it's to believe Him, trust
Him, look to Him alone. Him alone, not faith in your
faith. Faith's not an act per se. Faith
is looking to a person, depending on a person. To have a son is
to have faith in the son. Look to him, him only. Him only. I had one father, and I believed him. I trusted him as a child, and
still do, but as a child, and he did say this, didn't he? He said, you become as little
children. Implicit trust. Complete trust. Dependence. That's
what faith is. Complete dependence upon Him. That's what faith is. Looking
to Him for everything. That's faith. That's faith. To have
the Son is to have faith in Him. To have the Son is to have a
love for Him. To have a love for Him. I mean love His person. Love
His person. Love His holiness. As we said,
self-righteous people hated it. Sinners loved it. Love is sovereignty. The love that this man reigns
and rules. Most say, we will not have this
man reign over us. If you have this life, you say,
oh please, come reign over us. Reign over me. Lord, have rule
over me. Many love a baby Jesus, not the
Lord Jesus, don't they? To have the Son is to have a
love for Him, to love His persons, to love His work. Such is love thy salvation. Those
that have the Son love His salvation. They love that it's in His hands.
They love that it's up to Him, not up to them. They love that.
They love His glory. To have the Son is to love the
Son. It's to love His glory. And if
you love His glory, you hate everything that takes away from
that glory. That's right. You see these so-called church
signs everywhere. Mindy makes a point not to read
them. She said, I just don't pay attention
to them. Well, I can't help it. And they make me angry. Do they make you angry? Why? Why? Because they're so blasphemous
about my God. Right? This world, this religious world,
has made a mockery of God Almighty. A laughing stock of God. So much
so that His name is on the lips of the smallest children. Oh
my God. No fear of God before that. And that's religion's fault.
Fault's in the pulpit. They turned God into a laughing
stock, and the world laughing at him. And that makes me mad. You can't love him and not love
his glory and that not make you mad. Men share in his glory. You cannot love somebody and
see them derided. You can't, huh? You can't do it. David said,
Do not I hate them that hate thee. Yea, I hate them with a
perfect hatred. I consider them my enemy. I don't mean to look mean or
sound mean, but I'm telling you, if my wife, if they were doing
that to my wife, let alone my God, huh? You can't abide it. You
can't stand it. A preacher stands up lying on
God, lying on Jesus. You can't stand it. Just to love
His work and His words. Love His Word. People don't love
the Word of God. It's obvious. They don't use
it. They don't listen to it. Not interested in it. God's people
do. They love his word. They hang
on his every word. To have the Son who would have
a love for his word is to hang on his every word. That's what the Lord said to
his disciples. He said the people, you know, it was an offense to
them. An offense to all of them, what
he was saying. They said, these are hard sayings.
We can't hear this anymore. We can't take this anymore. And
they left. And he turned to his disciples and said, will you
also go with them? What did they say? It's one of the times that Peter
spoke up, and I'm glad he did. He said, to whom shall we go? These are words of life. Your
words are life to me. Right. To have the Son is to
have a love for Him. So, to have the Son is to have
a knowledge of Him, a need of Him. It's to have faith in Him,
hope in Him. It's to have a love for Him.
And to have the Son is to have Christ in you. Now let me show you something. To have Christ in you, that's
the hope of the Lord. Christ in you. Talk about a new
man, a new creature. And I'm not arguing, this is
not for the purpose of arguing with pot sherds. Oh no, this
is just the way it is. This is what God said. It's a
new creature, and again, this is not something that can be
explained, but it's so. It's a new creature, like Christ,
creating the image of Jesus Christ, the life of God in the soul of
man. That's what it means to have
the Son, to have him in you. his life in you. It's the new
birth. It's to be born again. You must
be, our Lord said, you must be, not get, be born again. Alright? And our Lord was talking
to Nicodemus there in John chapter 3, wasn't he? And he talked about
this and Nicodemus couldn't understand it. How can a man be born when
he's old? Can he enter his mother's womb?
foolish. People are so ignorant. And you're
ignorant of it until you experience it. Right, Brother John? And
you'll argue it until you experience it. But this is it, and it's
similar. Physical life has five senses.
He that hath the Son hath life. Whoever is born of God has the
spiritual sensibility. Okay? Physical life has five
senses, doesn't it? All right? I had to write I did
learn something in science class, very little. Sight, hearing,
smell, taste, and feeling. That's proof of life. Sight,
hearing, smell, I should say hearing, sight, smell, taste,
feeling. Five senses. Everyone's path
of life has those five senses. Well, he that hath this life,
spiritual life, hath these five spiritual senses, okay? Hearing. Faith cometh by hearing. This
life cometh by hearing. This is where it goes in. This is what God gives. This is what God uses. The seed,
seed, he says, that's just a book. Oh no. Oh no. If somebody just
says that, they haven't experienced this life yet. This is life-giving. This is incorruptible. This is
the seed of God. That's where life comes from. That's where you're born. Okay? It goes in right here. Hearing.
It comes by hearing. Those who have this life hear
God's Word. Christ said, they hear my voice.
Tell me, those of you who have this life, was there not a time
that you heard message after message after message and didn't
hear a thing? I did. Scott, you and I, we grew up
under message after message after message. I know you were like
me. I know you. You know me. Couldn't
wait to get out. Let me out of here. But one day,
sitting under that same word, You know what I thought? And
you did too. You thought, He's talking to me. You felt like
you were the only person in there, didn't you? And so, from that day forward,
by God's grace, you continue to hear His voice. Not just words,
not just printed paper, not just a man, but the voice of the Son
of Man. He said that. It's not ideology
or fable. It's true. He said, they will
hear my voice. I will speak to them. I will
comfort them. I will speak peace to their heart.
I'll convict. I'll convince. I'll encourage.
I'll strengthen. I'll settle. I'll do all these
things. You hear His voice. You do through this. It's a mystery. People say, I don't believe that.
Then you don't have life. You don't have life. And we go on, don't we? How many
times we continue to say, it was just for me. It was just
for me. How do you know what I needed?
I didn't. He did. Life. Hearing. Heard it. Heard it. Sight. Dan, you and I were talking about
this. The world can't see God in the creation of God, in the
hand of God. Clearly seen. Romans 1 says, these things are
clearly saying His eternal power in Godhead. Clearly saying it. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Who are not thankful, who don't
give God of the wrath of God. He keeps pouring out His wrath.
And they say, I don't see it that way. It's just, well, this
cloud got together and bumped and it's cataclysmic and there's
a fault line. John the Lord said in Isaiah
1, why should you be smitten anymore, stricken, you will keep
rebelling? They don't see it. The only ones
that acknowledge it as a hand of God are insurance companies.
Isn't that right? Huh? It says clearly, without
excuse, clearly seen. Think about the children of Israel.
Now I've got to hurry. Somebody said I didn't need to
hurry, but I didn't. The children of Israel were in
Egypt, and the Lord poured out all those plagues on Egypt, didn't
He? Who saw it? Who knew it was from God? The
Egyptians didn't have a clue. Frogs, look, lice, flies, hail,
darkness, all these phenomena were happening, and they didn't
give it a thought. Oh well. The children of Israel clearly
knew it was from God, God's hand. So it is with God's people. They
clearly see creation. You see that sun come up. God's
people have sight, spiritual sight. They see that sun come
up. What do they think? What do you think when you see
the sun come up? Huh? The sun of righteousness has
arisen. Life on this planet depends upon that ball of helium, hydrogen. That's all right. See, I didn't
learn much in science. It just burns. It just hangs
in the air. What makes it hang there? If
it was a foot closer to the earth, we'd burn up. A foot further
away, we'd freeze to death. Aren't we lucky? My, my. Somebody must be holding
it there. It just burns and burns and burns. And we live because of it. We
live because of it. And God says it from start to
finish in this book. Look! Can't you see me? No. They're blind. Blind. Until He
comes one day and gives us sight, then you see Him in everything,
don't you? You hear Him in everything. What
do the birds sing? The birds wake up. You know,
we're grumbling and moaning and complaining. What have we got
to complain about? We hadn't had our first cup of
coffee. But the birds wake up and they don't sow. They don't
reap. They don't do anything. The heavenly Father who feeds
them? God! So what do they wake up doing?
Singing! God said to do this. Shout it. Get up on the rooftop and shout
it. When God gives life, He gives
sight to see Him, see His glory, see His creative glory, His power,
See, order and purpose, like Brother Marvin was preaching
on. Order and purpose. Don't you see the purpose of
God and all things? The will of God? Oh, my, see. You've got to go smell. Smell. This right here, what we're doing,
is a sweet savor of life. It's only life to life. As I
said, there was a time when there was nothing I saw no beauty in
Christ, no need of Christ, and this was not sweet to me. It
was distasteful. He said, Saviour of death to
death was life to life. Life to life. Fragrance of life. Can death, the death of Christ,
be a savour of life? Can the death of a man Be savor
of life? Yes, if it's given you this life. Taste, taste, oh, taste. Have you tasted that the Lord
is gracious? It's distasteful to most people.
It really is. Oh, my feeling, feeling, feeling. We don't put stock in emotions
and feelings. Feelings come, feelings go. Feelings
are deceiving. Modern religion puts all stock
in it. They try to drum it up. I'm not
doing that at all, but I'm telling you. That's just so. This life, you will feel something. You'll feel pain. Guilt. Guilt's a good thing.
If we ever cease to hear the Word of God and not feel guilty,
Something's wrong. Right, buddy? If the Word of
God does not convince us of sin, that's an ongoing thing. That's
not a one-time thing. It's an ongoing thing. Which
makes you look to Christ. If we ever cease to feel guilty,
are there scriptures that you almost pass over because they
make you feel so bad, so guilty? Huh? Anybody but me? Anybody
but me? Oh, conviction. Good! The world's not predicted. It
doesn't bother us. It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't bother us. It doesn't.
God's given us this life, this conscience, what it's called.
Well, all God's written on the heart is feeling. Feel guilt.
Feel pain. Pain. Oh, my. And you feel sorrow. Life involves these things, doesn't
it? Physical life. You feel sorrow. Sorrow. Oh, blessed are those that mourn
over sin. And then there's hunger and thirst.
That's a sign of life, isn't it? Somebody doesn't hunger or
thirst, they're not alive. But somebody doesn't hunger and
thirst after Christ, they're not alive. They don't have this
life. Do you? Neither have the Son. Do you hunger and thirst? Joy? We call that life, don't we?
Life, love, laugh, live, live. What's that little saying they
got boards painted all over? Laugh, live, love, whatever it
is. What is it? Live well, laugh
often, eat liver or something. Something, another L. But joy
is life. This life of the Son of God,
joy. Do you know what joy is in this
gospel? The world hates it. They hate. Why do you love what
some people hate? This is life. This is life. I'm feeling better already. I
think maybe I have it. Laughter. Laughter. I catch myself
laughing all the time when I hear the gospel or preaching or whatever.
It's not about a joke or anything. It's holy laughter is what it
is. Psalm 126 says, When the Lord turned our captivity, we
were like them that dreamed, and then our mouths were filled
with laughter. Like, this is wonderful. You
remember Brother Henry Breedlove, don't you, H.B.? I remember him
well. I remember him so well as a boy. He'd sit at our Bible
conferences. Dad forced me to sit on the front
row so he could watch me. And right behind me, usually
on the second row, was Henry Breedlove, okay? And I remember
when the preaching was going on. You remember? He'd laugh.
He'd just laugh. And I remember thinking, well,
I didn't hear the joke. I do. I remember that. I didn't
hear anything. He'd just do that. And now I
catch myself. And maybe there's a boy sitting
in front of me thinking, what's he laughing about? Laughter. Boy, we're going to
laugh, all right. When we get to glory. This is
a poor taste of it. Life in this world makes you
sad. You walk out these doors and you're going to be sad. This
life, man's born a woman who's full of trouble, sorrows and
troubles. Nothing but trouble. Tell me,
when you come in here and hear this good news, does it not just
fill you with joy? Huh? It's the only thing that
can. It does. That's life. Life in the Son
of God. Hot and cold. Our Lord said,
I wouldn't if you were hot or cold. Do you ever feel cold?
Do you think, oh, the gospel's not touching me. There are times
when you are hot, and other times when you feel, I'm so cold. I'm
so dead. Good. Good. Sign of life. You didn't feel
cold? Live your life. What does that mean? I want to
be warm. It's a good thing that some look
warm and they leave the gospel and never come back. The cold
is good. The cold is good. He that hath the Son hath life. That's this mystery called the
life of God and the soul of man. Christ exhibited it, showed us
this is life. He gave it. In Him we live and
move and have our being. And this life knows Him, sees Him, hears Him,
believes Him, trusts Him, loves Him, lays hold of Him, hears
His voice, sees His glory, tastes His grace, feels His comfort,
and lays hold of Him, believes Him. Blessed I am. I hope the Lord
will bless that.