Let's turn back to John 18. Hopefully
I can get through this without a cop and fit. John Chapter 18
I have taken the title for this message from the three words.
The question that pilot ask our Lord what is truth. Pilate here asked a question
that all men and women at some point in their lives ask, what
is truth? How can we tell fact from fiction? We sometimes say that truth is
stranger than fiction, and sometimes it is. But I want to look at
a few places tonight in God's word that answers this question,
what is truth? And let me preface this by saying
that if anyone is listening tonight or hears this in the future,
And you say, well, I don't believe the Bible, then I really have
nothing for you. You might as well stop listening
if you'd like. Because this book that you hold
in your lap is the only revelation of the God of this universe.
And if that sounds narrow minded or bigoted, all I can say is
too bad. That is the truth. You have the
right to believe as you do. but you do so at the cost of
your eternal soul. Now what did our Lord say in
his prayer to the father in John 17. He said this sanctify them
through thy truth thy word is truth. This word that is given
to us in the form of what we call the Holy Bible. So if this
book is truth and it contradicts with the other books of other
religions in the world then it stands to reason those books
are not truth, but rather lies. Now throughout the scriptures,
our God is referred to as the God of truth. And Christ told
Pilate that the reason he came to this earth was to bear witness
under the truth. He said, everyone that is of
the truth heareth my voice. And how does that happen? Because
he gives us ears to hear the truth, but withholds that hearing
from others. Those described as ever learning
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Those who Paul told Timothy shall
turn their ears away from the truth and shall be turned unto
fables. Now notice that it says that
they turn their ears away from the truth and doesn't say and
they turn unto fables. It says they shall be turned
unto fables. God Almighty turns into fables
and lies because they despise the truth of the gospel of the
Christ and him crucified. This truth it is only found in
our Lord Jesus Christ. This truth that John said in
John 1 17 came by Jesus Christ. Now I want to look at several
indisputable truths in God's word. We'll look at these in
no particular order. And when I say these truths are
undisputable, I don't mean that men won't argue and carp and
say they don't believe them. What I mean is that these truths
are so if no one in this entire world believes them. And that's
because the God of this universe says they are true. And he is
the final authority. Truth number one. The only way
a man or a woman will see the kingdom of heaven is through
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 4 12. Neither is there salvation in
any other. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among man whereby we must be
saved. Our Lord Jesus stated this in
the clearest terms possible when he said in John 14 6, I am the
way the truth and the life. No man cometh to the father but
by me an indisputable truth. The imputed finished work of
Christ is the only way a man or a woman will ever be counted
worthy to see the kingdom of heaven. His blood is that which
makes us fit to enter. He is the door. But one would ask what about
Buddha? What about the devil they call Mohammed? or the other
hundreds of prophets of various religions around the world. The
truth is they are false prophets and their followers are doomed
to an eternity in hell. Well that's awfully narrow minded
some would say. That's man's thinking that everybody
should have a shot at this thing called salvation. It's not narrow
minded it's the truth. And if you're putting your hope
in anyone or anything except the Lord Jesus Christ, you will
in the end eternally perish. Now, how sure am I about that
statement? Sure enough to bet my eternal soul on it. Truth
number two, salvation from beginning to end is 100 percent the work
of God Almighty, and the lost sinner has nothing absolutely
nothing to do with it. In Romans chapter 3 verse 10,
it says, as it is written, there is none righteous. Pretty clear. No, not one. There is none that
understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. So here you have God on one hand,
the sinner on the other. And in order for the sinner to
be saved, he must come to God. But we just read that there is
none who seek after God. How then can any sinner possibly
be saved? Christ answered that question
in Mark 10, 28, when his disciples asked that very thing, Lord,
who then can be saved? And our Lord replied. With men,
it is Impossible. Could that be any clearer? With men, salvation is impossible. But not with God. For with God, all things are
possible. The God we worship specializes in doing the impossible. Christ Jesus demonstrated that
many times when he walked this earth. We know it is impossible
to cure blindness. with but a touch. But our Lord
Jesus Christ did it over and over again. We know it's impossible
to make a man who was born lame get up and walk with just a word. And yet our Lord Jesus Christ
performed that as well. And we most certainly know that
it's impossible for a man who's been dead for four days to be
raised from the dead. And yet our Lord Jesus Christ
with three simple words Lazarus Come forth. Made that happen. Our God specializes in the impossible. So if it's impossible for a lost
dead center to approach unto God how is anyone ever saved. It is accomplished by the sovereign
will of God alone. John 6 for our Lord said no man
can come to me. Thankfully it doesn't end there.
No man can come to me except Except what Lord if they make
a better choice than others if they read the Bible if they pray
enough. No man can come to me except the father which has sent
me draw him again pretty plain isn't it. And I will raise him
up again at the last day. What is Romans 9. Tell us that
God said to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The lost sinner does not have
a prayer of being saved unless he or she is among those whom
God chose before the foundation of this world. When Jonah said
salvation is of the Lord, he meant just that. God Almighty
alone decides who is to show mercy and who is not. The only
thing that the lost sinner can do is plead to God for mercy
and he cannot even do that unless God gives him grace to do so.
Now if that sounds unfair to you, I don't know what to tell
you. That's simply the way it is.
Your eternal fate is in the hand of a sovereign God. to do with
you as he pleases. Paul addressed this in Romans
9. He said, Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same
lump to make one vessel under honor and another under dishonor?
What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power
known, endureth with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction, that he might make known the riches of his glory
on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
even us, whom he called not of the Jews only, but also of the
Gentiles. As I said a few minutes ago,
salvation is 100% the choice of God Almighty. Truth number
three, and this ties in with truth number two that we just
looked at. Faith is a gift of God that is given to some and
that is withheld from others. Now, a gift is something that
is freely given. It is not earned. Otherwise,
it is called a wage. It is something you're entitled
to for work that you have done. But some would ask, how important
is faith? Hebrews 11, 6 tells us, without faith, it is, here's
this word again, impossible to please him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. But Romans 3 11 says there is
none that seeketh after God. So then how does this seeking
spoken of here in Hebrews 11 6 take place. Our Lord tells
us in John 4 23 it says but the hour cometh and now is when the
true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth
for the father seeketh such to worship him. This does not mean
that God is desperate to find somebody to believe on him, that
he might be justified in his existence. He doesn't run around
like some salesman trying to meet a monthly quota. Rather,
it means that our gracious, abundantly merciful God pursues his lost
sheep, those chosen by him in eternity past, those given to
Christ, and those scattered throughout the world. Christ and his discord
or discourse, I should say, on the good shepherd described how
that good shepherd searches for his sheep until he find it. Giving up is simply not an option. So Romans tells us that there's
none that seeketh after God, but Hebrews tells us that God
only rewards those who diligently seek him. Now, how do you reconcile
these two statements? because it is talking about two
completely different natures that exist in the true believer.
Romans 3 is describing the nature of natural man born in sin and
only capable of doing that which is evil in God's sight. Whereas
Hebrews 11 is describing the man who had been given the gift
of faith that enables that new man to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ to whom or to seek and to know him as he is that great
Passover lamb slain. from the foundation of the world.
This occurs when the father begins to draw the awakened soul to
his son to draw him or her to Christ. The evidence that we
have been given life and faith in Christ is that we begin to
seek him. But this seeking is a result
of the faith that is given to some and not given to others
like newborn babes seek the nourishment of their mother breast. So we
desire and seek the Lord through his word. Peter said in first
Peter to to as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the
word that ye may grow thereby this milk of the word that nourishes
our soul as we grow in grace and knowledge of our blessed
Lord Jesus Christ. This desire comes as a result
of the spirit gathering his people to himself. He promises this
in Jeremiah 32 37 behold I will gather them out of all countries
whether I have driven them in mine anger and in my fury and
in my great wrath and I will bring them again into this place
and I will cause them to dwell safely in Isaiah 54 7 for a small
moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather
thee And in Jeremiah 23, three, and I will gather the remnant
of my flock out of all the countries, whether I have driven them, bringing
them again to their folds and they shall be fruitful and increase. This word gather means to collect
from different places, to cause, to come together, to draw something
or someone close to oneself, to put your arms around all of
which are God promises to do. to his chosen people. And he
does this by freely giving faith to those who he has chosen, giving
them spiritual life, borning them again. Now, Thomas Jefferson,
when he wrote in the opening words of the Declaration of Independence,
we hold these truths to be self-evident. What he meant was they need no
further explanation. But unlike those truths that
are found in the Declaration, the truths that are found in
God's word are definitely not self-evident. They are hidden, we're told,
from the unbelieving. They are called mysteries by
the Apostle Paul. Our Lord Jesus spake of this
in Luke 8, 10, when he said to his disciples, but unto you it
is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to
others in parables that seeing they might not see, and hearing
they might not understand. God hides these things from some
and reveals them to others. Christ made this plain in his
prayer to the Father in Matthew 11, 25, when he said this, I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hath revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my father, and no man knoweth the son, but the father. Neither
knoweth any man the father, save the son, and to whomsoever the
son will reveal him. Faith and salvation are revelations
from God Almighty. These things that are formerly
hidden, which are now made crystal clear to the believer through
that faith, which is a free gift of God. Truth number four. And this will come to a shock
for many in the religious world. God does not love everyone, nor
does everyone have a chance to be saved. I have relatives, Debbie
knows who they are, that insist, they're good religious Baptists,
they insist that everyone in this world has at least one chance
to be saved. And if they miss that chance,
then it's all over for them. I recall years ago, I think it
was my cousin talking about, she went to an old regular Baptist
church and talking about how her son was under conviction
and he was just ready to walk up that aisle, but then they
quit singing the invitation and she said if they had just sang
another verse or two, he'd have been saved. I'm so glad we don't
believe that. I am so glad we don't. Now, I know that this goes against
everything that the modern world teaches, especially the so-called
Christian world. But first of all, salvation is
not by chance. It is according to the purpose
of God, which he purposed in himself before what we call time
ever was. Can I back that up, that God
does not love everyone? You bet. Let me read just a few
scriptures. Psalm 11, 5, the Lord trieth
the righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth violence,
his soul hateth. Romans 9, we won't read it because
we're very familiar with it. Those verses that talk about
Jacob and Esau. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Before these two boys were ever
born, the Lord made that statement. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. He didn't look through time and
see that Esau was going to be a rascal and Jacob was going
to be the good guy. So he decided that Jacob was
the one that deserved salvation. No, it was just the opposite.
Jacob was the rascal. And Malachi 1 3 told of this
long before Romans was ever written. It says this. And I hated Esau
and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons
of the wilderness. So why did God choose to do this?
The scriptures tell us that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand because Jacob was a chosen vessel of
God's grace, and Esau simply was not. And so it is with all
the human race. Some are loved of God, chosen to be vessels of mercy. How can we not? How can we not be the most thankful
people on this earth? Chosen of God to be a vessel
of mercy. It's truly astounding. But all
this is done according to the purpose of God, which he purposed
in himself. Psalm five, five, the foolish
shall not stand in my sight. I hate us all workers of iniquity. But some would say, wait, weren't
we all workers of iniquity at one time? Yes, we were. That is very true. But the difference
is that since we were in Christ from before the foundation of
the world, We were not seen as a worker of iniquity, but being
found in Christ, we were looked upon as righteous as he. We had
just not yet been born. We had not yet received the gift
of faith whereby we were enabled to believe on the Savior. There
was never a time when God's sheep were ever goats. Now you'll read
of untold places in God's word where sinners were made to be
righteous. where the blind were made to
see, where the deaf were made to hear, where the lame were
made to walk, where the dead were made alive. But you will
never, in this book, read of any place where a goat was made
a sheep. It is simply not there. But when
you make this statement about God not loving everybody, the
righteous, self-righteous, Religious folks run to John 3 16 and John
3 17 for God so loved the world That he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believed in him should not perish But have
everlasting life for God sent not his son into the world To
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved
They also like to quote John 12 47 where Christ said I came
not to judge the world But to save the world They say see it
says that the world might be saved and indeed it does. But
you must realize that there are numerous places in this book
where the world does not mean everyone in the world. Let me
give you a couple of examples. In Luke 2 verse 1 we read this. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. The world same word that is used
in John 3 16. Yet obviously we know that the
people in Asia and Africa and North and South America were
not subject to this taxation of the Roman Empire. Therefore
the word world here cannot possibly mean the entire world. Christ said this in John 5 19.
If you were of the world the world would love his own but
because you are not of the world but I have chosen you out of
this world therefore The world hateth you. Now, if God loved
the whole world, why would he have to choose some out of the
world? In his prayer to the Father,
Christ, speaking of his disciples and those who would believe on
him through his word, said this, They are not of this world, even
as I am not of the world. And in Romans 1 8, Paul tells
the saints at Rome that your faith is spoken of throughout
the whole world. Now you can just imagine that
back around 30 35 40 a.d. that the Plains Indians and the
Chinese and everyone else in the world weren't speaking about
the faith of the Saints in Rome. That is absolutely absurd to
even think of such a thing. But this very word is used the
whole world is talking about your faith. Paul told the Romans
and certainly the people who lived at that time weren't discussing
the Saints in Rome. It means, obviously, a certain
segment of the world, a certain segment of the population. Now
then, further expanding on this, that God does not love everyone
in the world, we read in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, verse
9, in the prayer to the Father, the Lord says this, I pray for
them, speaking of his disciples, I pray not for the world. Why, if God loved everyone in
the world, would Christ not pray for them? Yet clearly he does
not. He simply prays for them, which
thou has given me his chosen people. Turn over to Proverbs
with me. Now, if you love someone and you see them suffering, then
you would do everything you possibly could to ease their suffering,
would you not? If you're able, and we know that
our God is able, but I can assure you that if
God does not hate men and women, we would not read what is written
in Proverbs chapter one. I've read this before. To me,
this is one of the most solemn warnings in the word of God to
lost men and women. Proverbs chapter one, starting
in verse 22. How long, ye simple ones, will
you love simplicity, and the scorners delight in their scorning,
and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof. Behold,
I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words
unto you. Because I have called, and ye
refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.
But ye have said it not, all my counsel, and would none of
my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh at desolation
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but
I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of
my counsel and despised all my reproof. Therefore, shall they
eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their
own devices. Now, does that sound like the
way you would treat someone you love? Obviously not. It's certainly
the latter. It is someone that you hate,
proving beyond a doubt that there are some men and women in this
world hated of God. Truth number five, God Almighty,
who is called the Ancient of Days, is in all things absolutely
sovereign. Now, what do we mean by that?
Just this, that God holds all power over every person, every
creature, every wind that blows, every drop of rain that falls,
that he controls the path of every speck of dust that you
see when the sun's coming in your window and you see all the
little dust particles floating around. Our God controls the
path of every one of those every airborne virus that takes the
lives sometimes of men and women. He controls it all. Now a sovereign
is one who exercises supreme undisputed and permanent power
and authority over the kingdom which he rules. Let me read that
again. One who exercises supreme undisputed and permanent power
and authority over the kingdom which he rules in the kingdom
over which our God rules is not just this earth but this entire
universe that he created. But one would ask how can you
believe such nonsense. Do you not see the chaos that
is going on in this world. How can we possibly believe such
silliness by faith, by simply believing what God says in his
word? We don't judge God by what we see on Fox News. We judge what happens in this
world by what we read in this book, the promises that God makes
throughout his word. What we see happening is not
chaos rather it is the purpose of God unfolding and playing
out before our very eyes. Now numerous scriptures tell
us of the power of God over all things and all men. If our God
wills it to happen it is as sure as done. In Isaiah chapter 14
verse 24 our God gives us an example of his power. He says
the Lord of hosts has sworn saying surely as I have thought So shall
it come to pass, as I have purposed, so shall it stand. And verse
27 of that same chapter, for the Lord of Hoth has purposed,
and who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and
who shall turn it back? And of course, we cannot forget
Daniel 4, 35. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? Any power that the so-called
rulers of this world, if they have it according to the will
of God, he directs the affairs of this world with sovereign
ease, and turns the king's heart, whithersoever he will, the scriptures
tell us. All the evil that we witness
in the affairs of the nation to this earth. Debbie and I were just watching
a show the other night and they had a segment on the Holocaust. Man's inhumanity to man. I read
an astounding. Astounding statement the other
day. Concerning the Holocaust. And that's just one example of
man's cruelty to man. They said, if you were to hold
a minute of silence for every victim of the Holocaust, you would be silent for 11 and
a half years. All of the evil that we witness of all the nations of this earth
is all preordained and allowed to come to pass by the God that
we serve. The first four verses of Psalm
2 speak of the power of God and the impotence of man. It says,
Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed saying. Let us break
their bands asunder and cast away their cord from us. And
what is the reaction of the God that we serve? Is he wringing
his hands wondering how all this is going to come out? No, we
read his reaction in verse four. He that said it in the heavens
shall laugh. He shall have them Now verse
three would suggest that these rulers seem to know that their
power is limited and bound by a power that is greater than
them, which is why they speak of breaking the bands and cord
with which they're bound. But because our great savior
holds all power in heaven and earth, he sets in sovereign ease
and he has a good life. Knowing that the combined power
of all the nations and all the rulers of the earth are counted
as dust on a scale, completely insignificant. Wicked men have
about as much chance of thwarting the will of God as a gnat has
of stopping a speeding freight train.