Morning. It is a privilege and
a pleasure to be back with y'all. If you want to open your bibles
this morning to john six verse 66. While you're turning folks in
Kingsport send their greetings. Gabe texted me this morning and
asked me to be sure to tell y'all hello for him. And as I hobble around, we'll
try to make it through. John 6, beginning in verse 66,
our text will come from verse 69. Let's start reading in 66. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the 12,
will ye also go away? Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure. That thou art that Christ, the
son of the living God. It seems every time I read this
passage, every time this passage is brought to my attention, almost
immediately I follow it with, Lord, I believe. Help thou my
unbelief. And we, does that include me? And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. When our heart
cries out, amen, that is my confession as well. What is it that I believe? What is it that I am sure of? You don't need to hold your place
here. Let's turn to Genesis 1. Lord willing, this morning, we're
going to take a walk through this book of Genesis. And as
we go through it, I pray the Lord will be pleased to reveal
to us just something of what it is that I believe and am sure
of. Genesis 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God. We'll start right there. The
first four words. We believe and are sure that
Jesus Christ is God. Over and over, I have read these
words. This is one of those verses,
first thing you teach to a Sunday school class. In the beginning,
God. We've learned that from being
small children. And over and over, I read these
words and I have almost always associated it with time. And
yes, there was a time that God appointed himself and he created
the world. He created the heaven and the
earth, but he created them in the beginning. Revelation 1.8,
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord. which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty. The beginning is a person, our
Lord Jesus Christ. In John 1, 3, speaking of the
word of Christ, it says, all things were made by him, and
without him was not anything made that was made. The Lord
Jesus Christ is God. God Almighty, He is specifically
God the Son. He isn't like God. He isn't a
lesser God. He is God, one with the Father,
one with the Spirit. Colossians 2.9, for in Him, in
the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead,
bodily. We believe and are sure that
Jesus Christ is the almighty God. We believe his law is like
unto him, holy, good, and just. And he is holy, good, and just
in upholding his law. Turn the page to Genesis chapter
two. Verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the
man saying of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. That's the command. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. with the penalty. Paul, writing
in Romans, summed up the law. For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. More succinctly said, do and
live. And we failed to do, and we died. Genesis 3 verse 6. And when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant
to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her
husband with her and he did eat. We believe and are sure that
there is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Wherefore, as by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. All of mankind is the
same in spirit and condemnation. Turn over to Genesis 6 verse
5. Genesis 6 verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. We just read the testimony of
God concerning mankind, concerning us before the flood. Surely, having only Noah and
his family saved in that ark, surely that testimony changed
after the flood. Turn over to chapter 8, verse
21. Genesis 8, 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet
savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse
the ground anymore for man's sake. For the imagination of
man's heart is evil from his youth. When we confess, thou art that
Christ, the Son of the living God, we confess that man, starting
here, I am, this man, is sinful, undone, wicked, dead in trespasses
and sins by our nature, without Christ, without God, and justly
condemned by the law. In our confession, we take the
stand before the just and righteous God of all the earth, and in
woeful humility, we declare we have no choice else. I am guilty. I have sinned against you and
you alone, and you are just in condemning me. Wherein do we find hope? Can
the righteous judge set aside his law? Back to Genesis six, verse eight. Genesis 6, 8, but Noah. Noah, who was included
in the descriptions of verse 5 of this chapter and 8, 21,
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Noah didn't escape that. It wasn't
All men except for Noah. Genesis six, verse eight. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. We believe and are sure salvation
is of the Lord. God chose Noah, not because Noah
was different, Not because Noah was trying to escape, not because
Noah was going about doing good. God chose Noah because it was
it pleased him to do so. To the praise of the glory of
his grace. We believe and are sure that
the Lord Jesus Christ is a just God and a savior. Chapter 6 here,
verse 17. And God said unto Noah, Behold,
I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy
all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven. And
everything that is in the earth shall die, but with thee. will I establish my covenant.
And thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy
wife and thy sons' wives with thee." The end of verse 20, to
keep them alive. The penalty of sin is death. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ
that executes judgment. But for those who have found
grace in the eyes of the Lord, just as Noah did, it is the Lord
Jesus Christ who keeps us safe. We believe and are sure that
God shall not forget a single promise. Chapter nine, verse
12. And God said, this is the token
of the covenant which I make between me and you and every
living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud,
and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the
earth. And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the
earth. that the bow shall be seen in
the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between
me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters
shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the
bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I may
remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living
creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said
unto Noah, this is the token of the covenant which I have
established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. It thrills my heart every time
I see a rainbow. And there's something about the
Kingsport area. We see lots of rainbows. But I am so very thankful that
it is not my seeing a rainbow that gives hope that God will
not destroy this world with water again. I often cannot see the
bow that is in the cloud, but God sees his bow. And he is reminded
of his covenant. And that is what brings peace
to my heart. We believe and are sure from
John 3, 36, he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life. Turn to chapter 15, verse six. Genesis 15, verse six. And Abraham believed in the Lord
and he counted it to him for righteousness. By which we say
salvation is of grace. Echoing Paul, for by grace are
you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the
gift of God, not of works. lest any man should boast. Hold
your place here and turn to Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four, verse one, Romans 4.1. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but
not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh, is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Paul says here, if Abraham had
done something to obtain a righteous standing, then God would have
been indebted to give Abraham something. But Abraham, performing
no works, believed, and God counted his faith for righteousness.
Go back to Genesis, this time Genesis 21. When this world becomes heavy,
when our sinful mind begins to forget that he is faithful, there
is a word of comfort And we've already seen it, but I need to
be reminded so very often. Genesis 21, verse one. And the Lord visited Sarah as
he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. We believe and are sure that
God's word shall not return unto him void, but it shall accomplish
that which he pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
he sent it. He that gave the command shall
perform it. What do we confess when we declare,
I believe and am sure that the Lord Jesus Christ is that Christ,
the Son of the living God. We declare that we believe and
are sure that our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Genesis 22, verse seven. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and said, my father? And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold, the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. So they went both of them together.
Turn over to John chapter one. John one. Verse one. In the beginning. Was the word. And the word was with God and
the word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. In him. Not in doing not in man. In him was life, and the life
was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness. He came to where we are naturally,
in darkness. And the darkness comprehended
it not. Skip down to verse 29. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. The thrice holy God, God the
Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, created all things for
his good pleasure. And he has decreed in the beginning,
that in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God,
he should receive all glory, all honor, and all praise. His
holy law, established to point sinful men to Christ, we have
not, we cannot, we will not keep, and it condemns all men and women. There could have been no hope
for any of Adam's descendants had it not been for God's redeeming
grace. Before there was a cloud in the
sky, Noah and his family entered the ark, and the Lord shut him
in. God the Father, having chosen
those of Adam's sinful race, those he loved from the foundation
of the world, those he loved in the beginning, those that
he loved in Christ, he shut them up in Christ. And it pleased
God to make a covenant concerning us. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. We won't. We can't. For we are dead and are in darkness. But he is faithful. He sends
his word through the preaching of the gospel, and he calls his
own to himself. When he calls us, he reveals
who we are. sinful, rebellious creatures
deserving of death. And he reveals who he is. He gives us life in him, and
he causes us to cry out for mercy. He reveals he is the just God
and Savior, the Lamb of God who shed his own blood for our sin. He came down in our likeness.
He fulfilled his own law in our place. He obtained a righteous
standing before God. He became bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. Being found as a man, faultless
before man and God, he bore the sins of his elect people. He
bore my sin. He suffered and he died upon
Calvary's cross. the just and righteous wrath
of God targeted at my sin and my transgressions fell upon him,
just as it fell upon the ark that kept Noah and his family
safe during the flood. The Lord bore the wrath, and
I was kept safe in him. The knife and fire intended for
Isaac, intended for me, found instead the willing substitute,
the Lamb, God Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation is
His covenant, His choosing, His faithfulness, His safekeeping,
His calling, His doing, His saving, His love, His grace, His mercy, his living, his dying, his burial,
his resurrection. To our Lord Jesus Christ be all
the glory forever and ever. One last thing. We believe and
are sure that he has fully and completely obtained the salvation
for all those he came to save. And because we are so certain,
we can say with Joseph in Genesis 50 verse 24, and Joseph said
unto his brethren, I die and God will surely visit you and
bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob. And more sure than Joseph's word
is that of our Lord. Turn over to John 14. John 14, verse one. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. May the Lord be pleased to give
each of us faith that says, Lord, I believe and am sure that thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. And Lord, please
help my unbelief. Thank you.