John chapter 6, Rick asked when
he started, by the way Rick, thank you, that was tremendous,
what a blessing, but asked if the volume needed turned up because
he was kind of a soft speaker, you might want to turn it down
for me. As Rick preached, and I thought
this about a lot of men, I wish I could be calmer, so to speak,
or at least pace myself. Darvin, I'm 73. Don't think it's
going to happen. I mean, I make an attempt, but
I get started, then I'm gone. But hang on. It's just how it
is. Brother Henry, one time, Darvin
mentioned what Henry told him about you're not Ralph Barnard. I get it out of him. I was invited to preach in Beckley,
West Virginia, Paul, and I was still living in West Virginia.
This was many years ago. Why the brother asked me to join
in that weekend, I'm not sure, but it was Henry and Scott Richardson
and Tim James and Don Fortner and me. And so I
thought, man, I just assumed he hadn't invited me. And Henry might have sensed,
because there were some other young preachers. I was young
at the time. He may have sensed that I was nervous. And he said,
there's young men come to me and they ask advice. And I guess
there's a lot of things I could say. But he said, the best thing
I can tell you, just be yourself and don't violate the gospel.
I tell you what, I've read books on the ministry, I've read a
lot of stuff. I've never forgot that. That has stuck with me. Just be yourself and don't violate
the gospel. Okay, here in John chapter 6,
the title of my message is, Jesus Came to Them. Jesus Came to Them. Let's begin reading at verse
14. John 6, verse 14. Then those men, when they had
seen the miracle that Jesus did, that is, the feeding of the multitude,
when they saw that, they said, this is of a truth, that prophet
that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived
that they would come and take him by force to make him a king,
he departed into a mountain himself alone. And when evening was now come,
His disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship,
and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark,
and Jesus was not come to them." He sent them. They didn't go
at their own bidding. He sent them across the sea. Verse 18. And the sea arose by
reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about
five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is
I, be not afraid. been there too. Then they willingly
received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the
man with her they went." This miracle narrative is recorded in all
four of the Gospel accounts. Matthew's account, you need not
turn there, but he tells us this. And they that had eaten were
about 5,000 men beside women and children. So it wasn't simply
5,000, it was 5,000 plus. 15,000 beside women and children? It was a lot. There was a lot
of mouse to feed. And Matthew also tells us this.
He alone tells us this, that Peter, when Christ came walking
on the sea, the waves, Peter said, Lord, if it's really you,
if it's really you, if you're not an aberration, if you're
not a ghost, if it's really you, bid me come to thee on the water. And what did the Master say?
Come. Come. And Matthew and Mark tells us
that this took place at the fourth watch of the night. That's 3
o'clock in the morning. 3 a.m. Mark also gives us this
in his account. And he saw them, that is Christ. You remember, he was on man.
He sent away the multitude. First he sent the disciples across
the sea. He sent away the multitude. He
went up into a mountain to pray. And in the midst of this sea,
this storm arose. They couldn't see him, but he
saw them. Mark tells us, and he saw them
toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. The good
shepherd always has his eye on his sheep. Always. There's never
been a time that his heart and his sheep weren't in his eye. His heart and eye are always
upon his sheep. before they ever dreamed of being
a sheep, forever knew they were sheep, before God and Christ
created the heavens and the earth, as we read in John 1 that your
pastor read from, his sheep were in his heart. He loved them with
an everlasting love. There wasn't a starting place. I can understand that, but there's
never been a time that Christ didn't love his sheep. The psalmist
said, Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep. Mark also gives us this in his
account, and when the day was far spent, we're told, When the
day was far spent, Luke says, when the day began to wear away,
listen up, like your day, like my day, like today, like yesterday,
like all the days of our brief time here, it's wearing away. Isn't it, Walter? Did it shock
you when I revealed that I was 73? Well, come on now. But the most amazing thing about
that to me is how fast it's gone by, Brian. I remember thinking
40 was old. Man, I might have thought that
for a long time. The day is wearing away. What did James say? Go to now
you that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city.
and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain, we
will do all those things. No, you won't, unless God Almighty
allows it. James says, whereas ye know not
what shall be on tomorrow, for what is your life? It's even
a vapor, poof, it's gone, that appeareth for a little time and
then vanisheth away. All our days were away. But that's true of everyone,
isn't it? Believer and unbeliever. Yes, our days are wearing away,
but unbeliever, your days are wasting away. Without Christ,
you're wasting your life. What did our Lord tell that woman
at the well? He said to her, woman, if you
knew If you knew, every time I read that I think of my children,
my four brothers, my four sisters still living, my 96-year-old
mother, if thou knewest, and I send up a prayer every time,
I'm doing it right now, oh Jesus Christ, reveal yourself to them,
make them know who you are. Lady, if thou knewest the gift
of God and who That's where it's at, isn't it, Rick? It's not
what, it's not where, it's not how, it's who. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. Why do we imagine that Armenians
going straight to hell, and I'm not going to, don't misunderstand
me. You can't be saved living another
gospel. But why do we think a five-point
Calvinist is saved automatically? Huh? It's whom you know, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Woman, if thou knewest the gift
of God and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou
wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee. He
would have given thee, willingly, living water. Until that happens
to you and me, our life is a waste, from the youngest to the oldest.
Unless Jesus Christ is pleased to do it, and it's all up to
Him, our life not only wears away, it's wasting away. What did the Apostle Peter say? For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower fadeth. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever." And catch this, "...and this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you." You preached the first message
from John 1 and 6. And then Rick, "...this is the
gospel that is preached unto you." Week before last, I think
it was. We were up in Millsite, West
Virginia, preaching there for Brother Mike Walker, had a great
time, Frank Tate and I, and David. Was there anybody else? That's
it. But Frank made a statement, as
we would say, just in passing. I don't think it was included,
it wasn't premeditated. He was talking about the importance
of worship and so forth, and he said, don't miss it for the
world. Boy, that grabbed me. I told
him later, I know that, but it just grabbed me. Oh, to gather
to hear the gospel. Don't miss it for the world.
Young people, don't miss it for the world. Oh my soul, don't
miss it for the world. Now, this is why I chose John's
account of this incident on the stormy sea. Here in chapter 6,
verse 17, he adds this, just the second sentence of the verse. The others didn't say this, John
does. And it was now dark, and Jesus
was not come to them." First consider this, and we want
to be brief about this part. When Jesus does not come, when Jesus does not come, When he does not come, shout
out, God, aren't we afraid? Aren't we afraid? Everything
scares us. I topped the list. So bewildered. Talk about a sovereign God and
my actions deny what I say. We don't know what to do when
it gets dark And Jesus hasn't come to us. I didn't put myself
here, darling. He did. And it's dark. And the waves are rising. The rain's beaten down. Oh, how
fierce is the wind. He put me out here. And it's
dark. I don't know what to do. And
He's not come to me. I pray, been there, been there. Oh, like
Israel at the Red Sea. What did they do? The first thing
they did when they came to the Red Sea, after all they'd seen
and experienced in Egypt, and there's the Red Sea and mountains
on either side, I think, and here comes Sarah up behind. What
did they do? Moses, we should have knew better
than to listen to you. I knew this would happen. We'd
have been better off back in Egypt. At least we'd have, you
know, we'd have something to eat. Rather be back there, you
know. Oh, how quick they forgot about
that whip on their back and Pharaoh demanded they make bricks without
the usual quota of straw. Oh, my soul, I can't be too critical
of him. Done the same thing. But, oh,
I like what Moses said. He went to God and he prayed. God said, Moses, you tell him
just to be quiet. Tell him to shut up. Is that
right? Tell him to shut up and stand
still. My soul, it's not time to stand
still. We've got to do something, even
if it's wrong. No, stand still, be quiet, and
you'll see the salvation of the Lord. Oh, yes. Brother Paul preached the message,
may have been here. Our little-known Lord. Oh, what
a blessing. It's dark. and he's not come
to us, Lord, please don't leave me to myself. Because if I take
it into my own hands, whatever it is, whatever it is, little
or small, it doesn't matter, I'll make a mess of it. Waiting
on the Lord seems to be the hardest thing for me to do. Are you that
way? I think something's got to be
done and I'm going to do it. How foolish, how foolish. I remember
the first time my dear friend and pastor Don Fortner asked
me to preach. He was pastor in West Virginia
then. It was 1979 or so I met him.
Little old church called Lookout. And if you didn't, you'd miss
it. It was Lookout, West Virginia. And I'd been attending for a
while. I'd met Don, and we won't get
into how that came about. I came out of a free-will Baptist
church, so that's pretty well. But anyway, I sat under Don for
a while, and he asked me to preach. I guess it was the weeknight
service, Wednesday night, I suppose. And I did what I'd never done
before. I mean, I worked, but I stayed
up all night before Tuesday night, I guess it was all night before
I'd go to work. And man, I was writing out, I mean, didn't have
an iPad, didn't have nothing. I was writing, I'd never done
this before. I mean, I had notes with, you know, five pages of
little, but I thought, this is so good, I can't afford to forget
anything. So I wrote everything out, words,
I got writers cramped. And then I quoted Gill and Spurgeon
and Luther And then Don introduced me. I
got up, and the Lord just left me alone. I mean, he left me plum alone,
Paul, because it was as if he said, young man, you didn't seek
me for a message. You've done it all. It's not
for my glory. It's for you. So let's just see
what you can do. Have at it. I spit and stuttered
and puttered around for about 10 minutes. And I thought, man,
it's been an hour and a half. I've got to shut up and sit down.
Sweat popping up. I looked at the clock. 10 minutes. I'm done. Stick a fork in me,
I'm done. And I slithered down and sat
in the pew and old brother Don got up, he didn't know what to
say, he said, well, Larry, you'll never be criticized for being
brief. Yeah, that's what happens when
left alone. But it taught me a lesson I hope
I haven't forgotten, I'd like to say. Wouldn't do that again. Oh, Darwin, he, what did old
John say? He must increase, we must decrease. We must decrease. But here's
the second thought. Yes, Jesus had not yet come to
them, but he did come. Oh yes, he did come. Look at
verse 19. Verse 19 here, and they see Jesus. walking on the sea and drawing
nigh unto the ship. Yes, he will come. He has come, and he will come. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son." Wow! made of a woman, made
under the law, to try to redeem them. No, to redeem them that
were under the law that we might receive the adoptions of sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. For it is impossible,
we read in Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10 and 4, it's impossible. It's
not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sins. Wherefore, when he, Jesus Christ,
cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offerings thou
wouldst not, but a body, this is God the Son speaking to God
the Father, but a body hast thou prepared me. You weren't satisfied
in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. You had no pleasure
in them. Then said I, Lo, Lo, as brother
Rick pointed out, Lo, I come, Christ, God Almighty in the flesh,
the Word incarnate, tabernacled among us for a little while.
He pitched tent in that body for a little while. And He said,
I come. Nobody else could say that to
God the Father. I come to do Thy will, O my God. And He did it. From the time,
the first breath he drew in that stable, from the last breath,
he expired on Calvary, in word, in thought, in everything he
ever did, everything he thought. He did it perfectly. And God
said, that's my son. That's my son. It's not John
the Baptist. This is my beloved son in whom
I will please hear ye him." Have you heard him? Have you ever
heard him? God said, now that's final. That's
final. Boy, when I was a boy at home
living up there, holler. Y'all had a bunch of holler jokes.
I don't have any new ones. Well, if I think of one, I'll
maybe work it in another time. But my four brothers and myself,
Man, and I'm sure they thought the same. I thought, man, my
daddy, my soul. Man, he's hard to please. He'd
say something to me, Larry, I want you to do this. And if I didn't
do it, he'd say, son, I've told you once. This is it. That's final. That's final. And I wasn't so
stupid, Darwin, that I would say what I was thinking, because
he'd have slapped me across the room. Been in jail for that today,
wasn't he? God Almighty says He has spoken
in these last days by His Son. He won't be spoken to and He
won't speak to anyone except through His Son. That's final. That's final. That's what God
said, and listen to what the Son said. Yes, he will come. In verse 34, these people that
had followed him with their feet, look at that. Here in verse 34,
chapter 6, they find him. He's talked about the bread of
life. And they said unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. Give us this bread. You see,
they had come to Him with their feet, but they never came to
Him with their heart. They followed Him. They took
shipping when He crossed over. They took shipping and followed
Him. I mean, that took some effort, that took some time, and they
found Him. And what did Christ say to them?
You've not really come to Me. No, you've not really come to
Me. They got hungry against what happened. They came to Him for
natural bread. Listen, you've heard this many
times. But Sunday, people all over this
country, this world, will be told that they can come to Jesus
Christ with their feet, just moving from there to here. It
ain't going to happen. No, no, no. Coming to Christ
is something you do with your heart. Listen to what he said
in verse 35 of the same chapter here. Jesus said unto them, I'm
the bread of life. He that really cometh to me shall
never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But
I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believed not. All that the Father giveth me.
There we go. Did you find this discouraging?
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh unto me I will then know whilst cast out. Every child
of God here is a proof of that. Every believer, not only here
but the world over, is proof of that. All that the Father
giveth me, they shall come to me. They'll be made willing in
the day of my power, and they won't have a problem with that.
They won't holler about unfair or their so-called free will. They'll say to God, be the glory,
great things he hath done, won't they? Glory to his name. He does come always. And he comes in this sense, doesn't
he? In that time of love for God. for God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness. Oh, my soul. Wasn't that one
of Barnard's? I think you'd like that one too,
don't you, Don? Because when we can't find any other word,
we just stand in wonder. Oh, my soul. God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined into our hearts. to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. My soul, God forgive me that I can read
that and by God's grace say He's done that for me and not stand
before Him 24-7 in utter astonishment that He would have such mercy
on a sinner like me. God forgive me. Because I do,
I do. So how often? And only then when
he brings me down that I look up again and say, oh, my father,
Lord Jesus Christ, my elder brother, my all in all, I'm complete in
him. What a wonder. What a miracle. I remember when God got me lost. That's not out of style anymore. It's always been with the religious
world, but not with God's people. You got to be lost before you're
found. You got to be stripped before you're clothed. That's
what the book teaches. That's what Christ said. He,
and I remember when he got me lost, when was I lost? Okay, that's Jesse, that's Luke.
You want to get them right? I remember I was so miserable. I thought people could look at
me and tell how miserable I was just by... I didn't even want
to be around anybody, Paul. Suddenly all the things I was
doing, they were leaving a sour taste in my mouth. The things
I once loved, for some strange reason I now hated. Well, I was
a hippie, does that tell you enough said, right? I went to
my dear grandmother. Granny, what should I do? I'm
lost, that's all I know. She claimed to be a believer,
said she was a Christian. She said, get a haircut. That's the truth, that's sad.
But her religion was touch not, taste not, go not, wear not,
smile not. Get a haircut and get you a Bible.
She gave me a Bible. So I went and got a haircut.
I remember, seriously, I went to this barbershop, hadn't been
there, hadn't been in one for years. And these old guys were
in, you know, you had to wait your turn. And I had to wait
for a few old fellas to get their hair cut. And when they were
finished, they didn't leave. They sat down to watch me get
in the chair. And they cut that mess off. Oh, you look like a
man now. You're a man now. And I thought
I was pleasing God. I didn't know any better. And
everybody I trotted up hours, said the sinner's prayer, got
slapped on the back, well, you're a believer now. Then why don't
I know it? One fellow that told me, you're
saved, you just don't know it yet. Duh. Duh, what good is that? That sure didn't give me no peace.
But I remember one time a hitchhiker. I was so amused, I said, everybody
can look at me and tell what a worm I am. I mean, I was messed
up. God got me lost. So I got on
the railroad tracks to walk home. Nobody could see me, darling.
Nobody could know what a wretch I was. And every time, every
railroad time, I placed my foot on, shouted back at me, you're
lost. You're lost. And everybody's
saying you're saved and God said, no you're not, you're lost. But the grace that taught my
heart to fear, that same grace would leave my
fear. And oh my soul, what a relief
it was, my soul. When King Jesus touched this
leper and said, I will be thou clean. Glory to his name. You know, I thought about, and
I can't quote it all because there's too many verses. If I'm
not mistaken, I heard Brother Henry read this several times.
It may have been one of his favorites. Paul, not sure. But the old vowel
end, the touch of the master's hand. But you may be familiar
with it. But I'm going to skip down to
where application is made. Well, just the verse before that.
The people cheered, and some began to cry, what we don't quite
understand. What changed the worth of the
old violin? Quick came the reply, the touch
of the master's hand. And many a man, with his heart
out of tune, that was me. That was me. Battered, scarred
with sin, that was me. His auctions cheap to the thoughtless
crowd. That was me. My mom kept waiting
to get a call. He's OD'd. Larry's OD'd. His auctions cheap to the thoughtless
crowd, much like the old violin. But the master comes. and the phobos crowd never quite
can understand the worth of a soul and the chains that's wrought by
the touch of the master's hand. Is my nose bleeding, baby? Oh. John Newton says, and we've all
heard it, I think in his old age, He said, I'm not what I
ought to be, and I'm not what I wish to be, and I'm not what
I hope to be, but I can truly say I'm not what I once was. Grace makes us to differ, does
it not? Let me jump on down here. Rick was preaching. I thought,
man, you could hang meat in here. Somebody turned the AC off. Should I have kept my mouth shut? Yes, he will come. He will come. And oh, when he does come, children
of God, how reassuring, how comforting to be reminded again. He's my
great God and Savior. In those times when He speaks
as only He can speak, nobody else sounds like Him. Remember what He said in Mary? Oh, she turned around. That's
my master's voice. No one else can produce what
He does and cause what He causes just by His voice. Straightway, Matthew tells us,
but straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
it is I, it is I. Don't be afraid. Oh, dear brother,
sister, maybe you're afraid right now. You're afraid. You're afraid. I wouldn't dare tell you not
to be afraid. I can't tell you I know what
you're going through. I don't. But I know that Jesus Christ
is the master of the sea. As one dear lady expressed it,
she wrote this. She said, when thou passest through
the waters deep, the waves may be encolded. But Jehovah is our
refuge and His promise is our hold. For the Lord Himself has
said it, He the faithful God and true, when thou comest to
the waters thou shalt not go down but through. I like that,
don't you? Threatening breakers of destruction,
doubts insidious undertow, shall not sink us, shall not drag us
out to ocean depths of woe. For his promise shall sustain
us. Praise the Lord, whose word is
true. We shall not go down or under.
He has said, thou passest through, all the way through. But now
thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed
thee, O Israel, fear not. I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee." The psalmist said, they go from strength to strength.
Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. The Lord will give
grace and glory. Christ says, Father, I want them
with me where I am. Now, who's going to stop it?
If Jesus Christ wants me with Him where He is, who's going
to hold me back? Oh my, so yes, He will come. I've got to skip on down. Robin
and I, every time I mention her name, she's wondering, what's
he going to say now? You pastors know that, Bill.
I tell her sometimes, just teasing, honey, I'll use that in the illustration. But this will be good, though.
This is what I told you about this afternoon that made me think
of, and so blessed me. But her, she and I have a bucket
list. Places that we want to see together
and she's already shown me some places that she had been to before
but not with me and She gets such joy From watching me get
excited She does I've heard on the phone tell and that's the
truth. That's the truth But sometimes I remind her she says, you know,
we want to do this and we want to do that. I say honey you better
put your top priority on top of the list because by the time
we do your bucket list, your husband's probably done kicked
the bucket. But I know this, for me, for
you, for every child of God, this is on top of their list.
I want to be face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face,
what will it be? With rapture I behold him, Jesus
Christ who died for me. This next thing I doctored up,
I think it was a country song, I don't know, but I hope that
doesn't offend anybody. So many places of beauty we long
to see here below, but time and so many things have kept us from
them, as you know. But on that morning of leaving,
together we'll stand anew, and I'll stroll over heaven with
you." If I surveyed all the good things
that's come to us from above, if I could count all the blessings
from the storehouse of God's love, I simply ask for a gift
of Him beyond mortal man, and I believe our Savior will grant
it again and again. I want to stroll over heaven
with you somewhere today. All of you. When all the troubles
and heartaches are all banished away, they will enjoy all the
beauty where all things are new. I want to stroll over heaven
with you. He's coming again. He's coming again. It's no fable. It's no delusion. Or you say,
I don't believe that he's coming again. I've heard that all my
life. Peter dealt with that, didn't
he? But the day of the Lord will come. I don't see it that way,
but the day of the Lord will come. But will it be pre-millennial,
or millennial, post-millennial? Tim James said, oh, I'm pan-millennial. I believe it'll all pan out in
the evening. Brother Donnie says until he
does come, Brother Donnie Bale, I like how he put it. Until then,
we'll just keep looking out the window. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is." I've got to leave you with this question.
Has Jesus Christ come to you? Has Jesus Christ revealed himself
to you? We read in the Old Testament
that Enoch walked with God, and God took him. An old preacher
said it was as though God said, Enoch, come up and spend the
night, and he never came back, because there's no night there.
And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give
every man according to his work shall be. This is Christ. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. Listen now, listen. He's not unwilling to save. No,
he doesn't hold anyone back. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is
thirsty, come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. He which testifies these things
saith, Surely I come quickly. And the church said, Amen. Even
so come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Amen. God bless you.