If you will turn with me to John
chapter 6. I'm going to be using verses
28 and 29 as my text this morning. And I want to read a few verses
to you, but first let me tell you what's going on. A great
multitude of people had followed Christ And he went up into a
high mountain, and they followed him up there. And he asked his
disciples to prove their faith. He's not trying to find out if
you have faith or not, but when he gives faith, he's going to
prove to the world and to you that it's the faith that he gave. that it's a true work. He's going
to prove it. And he said these things to Philip to prove his
faith. And here's 5,000 men, we're told later on the number,
5,000 men. So you can figure their wives
and children and who knows how many thousand people were there
that day. And he said, where are we going to get money to
feed this multitude? They didn't know what to say.
He said, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient to feed, just
to give them a little bit. And the Lord said, have them
sit down. Have them sit down. And one of them came to him and
said, there's a lad over here, he's got a few fishes and loaves.
And the Lord said, well, go get him. Go get him. And he fed 5,000
men and all the women and children and picked up 12 basketfuls of
leftovers. And don't you know, every one
of them knew that he was somebody special and they were going to
take him by force. He knew their thought. They were
going to take him by force, immediately make him king of Israel. and
go fight Rome. Go get rid of Rome. And he just
eased out of there. Just walked right away from them. They so busy talking about what
they was going to do, they didn't even see what Christ was doing.
And he just left their presence. I wonder how often that's so
true of us. We leave his presence, don't
even know he's gone. He's left. He's not even here. And we go on like he is. talking,
planning. Went off to himself. Well, he
sent his disciples. He said, you go down and get
in your ships. They were all fishermen, all
had ships. You go down and get in your ships. You cross over
to the other side. And so they did. They went down
there and they got in the ship. They got about halfway across
that lake, and God sent a storm. Not no thunderstorm, but I'm
talking about a sure enough storm. Winds rose up, filled the boat
full of water. They were going down. These were
experienced mariners. They'd been in storms before,
but nothing like this one. And here they are at midnight.
They're out there in the middle of this sea, and there's a storm,
and I can't hardly see their hands in front of them, the lightning
flashing. You've been in storms, you know
what it is. Suddenly, they look out, and here comes Christ, and
He's walking on the water. He's not running. He's not desperate. He's walking, calmly walking. One place, during one of the
storms, the same situation, He said He made like He's just going
to walk past them. And they said, hey, hey, over
here, over here. But they saw him. He's walking
on water. Nobody walks on water, but he
was. And he's in the middle of a storm
and it's not even wrinkling his brow. He ain't upset. He's not
running. He's not dodging. He's walking. And they're begging for him to
come in the ship. Come in here with us, come in here with us.
And soon as he did, now they didn't make any headway, they're
in the middle of the sea. Immediately, the scripture said,
when he stepped into the boat, they were at the place where
they desired to be. Storm ceased, waters were calm,
they were at the other side. Don't even know how they got
there, but we're here. And isn't that the way it is
when we, you know, when Christ comes into your life, you're
where you want to be. You've struggled your whole life and
haven't gotten anywhere. All of a sudden you're exactly where
you want to be. This is what's going on on this night. Now he
gets on the other side with the multitude that he fed. They were
up on the mountain and all of a sudden they discovered Christ
wasn't there. So the following day they came down. And there
were some ships there, so they took ship and went to the other
side. They got over there too. Some
of them may have walked around, some of them took ship. Anyway,
they were on the other side. And that's where I want to pick
this up. Verse 22, John chapter 6. The day following, when the people
which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was
none other boat there save the one wherein two of his disciples
were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into
the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone, albeit
there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they
did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks. And when
the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither
his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum
seeking for Jesus. And when they found him on the
other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, Master, when camest thou hither? When did you get hither? Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles. What were the miracles? What's
he talking about here? The miracles were God's confirmation
that this was His Son. God did these miracles through
His Son to confirm Him for who He was. And He did the same thing
with His apostles and prophets to confirm their covenant. You
don't seek me because you saw the miracles, but because you
ate of the loaves and were filled. You're seeking the benefits.
That's why you came. You're not interested in who
I am. You're not thinking about me being the Christ. You're not
thinking about the salvation of your soul. You're here because
you ate the bread and was filled. You're here for the benefits.
Labor not for the meat which perisheth. If God gives you the
world, you're still going to die and go meet him in judgment. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God
the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? Now you've
heard all your life what the works of God are. And they saw
something, and they said, what can we do to work the works of
God? What can I do to believe? What can I do to repent? What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom
He has sent. That's the work of God. Who's
going to believe? You are. How come? Because God
did a work in you. I invite you this morning to turn
back with me to John chapter 6. There are several controversial
issues that are raised in John chapter 6. In fact, everything
we preach in the gospel of Christ is controversial to anyone who's
unregenerate and still in the flesh, because they reason with
carnal reasoning. We reason with the only reason
we have, that which we're born with and accumulated over time.
have no understanding, there's none that understandeth. When
I say that, I'm not talking about believers who've been given an
understanding. I'm talking about men still in
their flesh, still in their sin. There's none that understandeth.
I don't stand here and preach to you and assume that everybody
in here understands what I'm saying. I know that some of you
don't. And you never will if God don't give you an understanding. Everything we preach in the gospel
of Christ is controversial to anyone who's unregenerate and
still in their flesh. Let me read you something. This
is in the book of Galatians. I'll come back to John here in
just a second. He said the flesh lusteth. What's he talking about? He talking about sexual desire?
No, he's just simply talking about desires. Whatever it is. New home, great job, whatever. The flesh lusteth against the
spirit. It's contrary. And the spirit
against the flesh, these are contrary, the one to the other. That's what I'm saying. Everything. I don't care what it is. Everything.
Want to talk about election? It's controversy. Want to talk
about God's sovereignty? Who in the world ever pictures
God not being sovereign. If he's not sovereign, he's not
God. Is that right? But we want to talk about God
and then start limiting God on what he can do. I'm God. He said, there's none
like me. Who are you going to compare
me to? You went down to the woodsmith,
and he carved you out a statue, and then you went over here to
the goldsmith, and he overlaid it with gold, and then you made
up a story about it, and then you set it up here in a little
cavity like this, and everybody comes in, who's an ozzo. Ain't got any sense. It's nothing,
it's just a statue, it's a figment of your imagination. I'm God,
he said, you don't compare me The only thing to compare me
with is myself. I'm not like you. You thought
I was altogether such as one of yourself, but he said, I'll
reprove you. What man, what man, this is all
in the book of Isaiah, what man, he said, could declare the end
from the beginning? Anybody you know? From ancient
times, the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall
stand. God did. Didn't he? God had a purpose. He stated
that purpose way back yonder in the book of Genesis. In the
garden. Stated that purpose. Told you
what he was going to do. All through the prophets, he
told you what he was going to do, how he was going to do it, all
the way through. When time come, He did it. And He's doing it
right now. He's God. He's God. And our flesh, we try to reason
with this flesh, and I'm not trying to downgrade anybody.
Many of you here are just smart as you can be. You're intelligent.
You do all kinds of fantastic things. But you're not God. And when it comes to spiritual
things, there's none that understand it. We get bits and pieces. And our flesh lusts against the
Spirit, they're contrary the one to the other. Faith is the
gift of God, and it is the result of a mighty inward working of
the Holy Ghost. Natural man is one big disability,
that's what he is. Now hear what I'm saying. If
God leaves you to yourself, if he don't do something for you,
if he just leaves you to yourself, he lets you go on to school,
he lets you marry whoever you want to, he lets you get the
job of your dreams, and he lets you work a lifetime, and he lets
you find a religion, and it suits you to a T, and you go there,
and they make you an officer in the church. If God leaves
you to yourself, you're doomed. You see, it's not what we're
going to do with God, it's what God's going to do with us. We've got the whole thing backwards. Faith is the gift of God. It's
the result of His working in you. You'll never turn to Him. You'll
talk about it, but you'll never turn to Him. You'll never submit to his ways.
You'll never submit to his means. You'll theorize, you'll reason,
you'll speculate, you'll form some kind of an opinion, but
you'll never come to any realization of the truth. Bible said they're
ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. Twice in the book of Proverbs
he tells us there is a way that seemeth right unto a man. I thought
that at the time. I thought this is the right way.
The way my dad went. The way my grandmother went,
my grandpa. There's a way that seems right
unto a man. But the end thereof are the ways
of death, Proverbs 14, 12. Listen to this, trust in the
Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Don't do it. Don't do it. In Romans 3.11, describing men
under the curse of sin, he plainly declares, there's none that understandeth,
there's none that seeketh after God. Yet the scripture plainly commands
the sinner to seek the Lord. Well, let's see if I can explain
that. Here's a lame man, been lame from his birth. They carry him out because he
can't walk. His family or friends or whoever
it was, they carry him out and they lay him there beside the
gate called Beautiful because this is where everybody goes
into the temple. And he sits there with his little
cup and he begs for alms. And here comes the disciples,
and a big noise is made, and here they come, and these men
are preaching the gospel, the controversial men, and the crowds
are talking in a whisper, and sound like a bunch of bees buzzing,
and this man holds out his cup. He's expecting them to drop something
in the cup. Peter looks at him, and he said,
silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I unto
thee. rise up and walk. He couldn't. But he did. He did. How did he? Huh? God did a work in him. That paralyzed man down there
at the Pool of Bethesda laid there for how many years? Twenty-some
years. Here's the water. The angel's
trouble in the water. Somebody gets in and they're
They're healed, but he can't get in the water. Not going to
do him any good. He can't get in the water. Here's Christ. He came down and
gave his life to put away sin. Here's the cure. Now the gospel's
preached and the water's troubled, but you can't get in. And Christ come along and he
looked at him and he said, what's the problem? You reckon he asked
him out for information? Uh-uh. He said, I had no man
to put me in the water. What did the Lord tell him? Take
up your bed and walk. He couldn't, but he did. And he tells us to believe. And
you can't, but you will if God works in you. If God works in
you, you will. Seek and you shall find, Matthew
7, 7. It seems a controversy, don't
it? It seems very controversial. Here's the helpless sinner. Here's
the Lord Omnipotent. He's Elijah. Come out of that
tomb. But he did. He did. Damsel arrives. She couldn't,
but she did. And it's no less the controversy
to command you to believe. You can't, but you will, if God
enables you. It's the gift of God. Isn't that
what he said? By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. Does that mean I don't believe?
No, it don't mean that at all. It just means that he enabled
you to. And if he didn't, you never would.
By grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For where his workmanship created,
to what? Unto good works. What good works?
Faith. Repentance. Love. Worship. Prayer. Go on and on, you can't
do it. This multitude, hungry sinners,
no way to provide them with bread. No way to logically reason it
out. No stores, no bakers, no nothing,
but God feeds them. God feeds them. Faith looks to Christ for bread.
Faith looks to Christ for its daily provision. The next in
John 6, 16-21 is disciples, late in the day, got into the fishing
boat, got out on that lake, scared to death. Christ comes to them walking
on the water. They were scared, desperate,
exhausted. They were absolutely convinced
they were going to perish. Then they saw the Lord. He was
casually walking on the sea, not afraid, not desperate, not
in any way excited. And he told them, be not afraid.
It's I. It's I. Now no amount of carnal reasoning
could have resolved that situation, could it? No amount. These weak and inadequate vessels
are going to have to pass through many a storm. in this world. And Christ is what shall save
the soul of them inside. Christ in you, the hope of glory. How'd he save them? He entered
into the vessel. He entered into the vessel by
a sovereign intervention of the Spirit. And then on the following
day, the multitude got up with Began to question it. He told them why they was there.
You seeking me for the benefits. That's all you came here for.
Come here for the bread. You'd be surprised how many people
join a church because it's good business. Huh? Good business. Man, if they like
you, they gonna hire you. We're going to hire you. We're
going to church. It's good business, isn't it? You'd be surprised how many people
join the church looking for a wife, looking for a job, looking for
the benefits. No understanding of God's confirming
Christ to be the Christ, Jesus to be the Christ. There's no
confirmation of that. They didn't see that. They didn't
understand it. No understanding of the God-man
mediator coming into the flesh as a substitute and representative. If he hadn't come, how in the
world are you going to provide a righteousness acceptable to
God? Huh? You're not even satisfied
with your own righteousness and you think God will be? You think God will accept the
best that you can do? He did in the rich young ruler. No understanding. It was just a temporary filling
of the stomach, a temporary relief in this world, just whatever
inadequate benefits, whatever they could give. Why does the multitude follow
him today? They need a temporary fix. They need a marriage fixed. Financial
difficulties fixed. Disease-ridden bodies, they need
fixed. Deliverance from the just sentence
of a broken law. Be surprised how many prisoners,
when they're judged, begin to seek the Lord. So they say. Disobedient children. Acceptance
in society. And on and on and on the list
goes. Why do God's elect seek Him? They seek Him to save their
sin-riddled souls. That's why they seek Him. My friend, sin entered and death
passed and Adam all died. There's no hope for you apart
from Christ. And no son of Adam will ever
evolve into a believer. It's not going to happen. I'll
figure it out, I'll get some books, I'll get a library, I'll
do this, I'll do that. No you won't, you'll do exactly
what God said. He saves men by his sovereign
will and he saves them through the means that he's ordained. Now we better get that in our
heart and head. How should you hear without a
preacher? I didn't say that, he did. James said, Every good gift,
every perfect gift, cometh down from above. It comes down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Well, he saved men from preaching
back in the beginning, but now, he saves them the same way now.
The same way now. There's no variableness with
God. Thank God there's none. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Our Lord told this ignorant multitude,
labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed.
What's he talking about? He sealed him. He sealed him
in an everlasting covenant of grace. He made him our provision,
our surety. That covenant is only as good
as the surety. David's last words, the sweet
psalmist of Israel, listen to it. He said, although it be not
so with my house, yet God hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered in all things and sure. What if I do this and that? No,
that's not it. It's sure because God chose a
surety. And that surety is Christ. He's
the covenant savior. Our covenant redeemer. Men not going to evolve into
faith. You're not going to stumble on
it. You're not going to work it up. It's the gift of God. Well, I
got saved. No, you didn't. You got religion. Not of works. He just keeps telling
us that over and over and over in various scriptures. He tells
us, not of works, not of works, not of works. God has saved us,
called us with an everlasting calling. Not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Not everyone. And every sinner asked this question. They said unto him, what shall
we do to work the works of God? What am I to do? Seek the Lord. I can't. I can't. You will if God begins
to work in you. But how do I know if God's beginning
to work in me? You're here. Huh? Let's start there. Why ain't
I somewhere else? Why am I here? How come I have an interest to
be here? God probably does. Is that right? Why are you listening to me?
There's a thousand people out here preaching this morning.
Why aren't you out there listening to them? How come you're here? Could be God has an interest
in you. Huh? That's what he does when he has
an interest. They murmured at him. He said,
I'm the bread that come down from heaven. The Jews murmured.
He said, he's the bread. Man's nuts. Oh, he said, don't
murmur. Don't murmur. See, all that the
Father gave with me, they're going to come to me. And those that come to me, I
will in no wise cast out. For I come down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And
this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He
has given me, I should lose nothing. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that believeth on the Son may have everlasting
life. Now don't murmur. No man can
come to me except my Father draw him. He's just a maggot. He'll go out here and feed on
the corruption of this world until he dies. He has to be drawn. He has to be drawn. And I tell you, when he draws
a man, he draws him irresistibly. He can't quit coming. He can't
quit listening. He can't quit believing. He can't
quit repenting. He can't quit. We're not of them
that draw back unto perdition. We draw back a thousand times,
but not to perdition. Why? Because we're preserved
in Jesus Christ. Kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. Every sinner asked this question,
but most for the wrong reason. They were covetous for divine
gifts. They wanted to do what they saw
Him do. And the Lord said unto them,
this is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has
sent. Faith is the intervention of God. There's no repentance
apart from faith because you don't even know what to repent
of. Faith is the great work, the beginning work. And it doesn't
come out of your nature, your reasoning, or your logic. Faith
is of God. He's the source of it. He's the
reason for it. And he's the power behind it.
Not something in you waiting to be discovered. It's the work
of God. Paul writes to the church at
Philippi and he tells them that to have this gift of faith and
therefore work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. Arminianism is great on quoting
that scripture. Let every man work out his own
salvation in fear and trembling. It doesn't say let every man.
He said I know that you have the gift of God. Now work out
your own salvation in fear and trembling for it's God that worketh
in you. both the will and the do of his
good pleasure. Also, Paul was a brilliant man,
a Pharisee of the Pharisees, at the top of his class, had
the most recognized teachers the Jew ever talked about, Gamaliel,
and he sat under him. Yet Paul was void of faith. He
did what he did, he said, in ignorance and unbelief. But he said, when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen. He said, immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood. I quit reasoning in the flesh.
Right there. When God reveals His Son in us,
we learn what we are by birth, by choice, and practice. He tells
us in Romans 7 verse 18, for I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, in my nature, dwelleth no good thing. But oh, how we look for it, how
we search for it. Surely there's something. No,
there's nothing. If I know my own heart, you don't.
Scripture said, the heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked. Who can know it? Nothing to work with, nothing
to start with, nothing to build on, nothing to contribute. We
are together, he said, become unprofitable. This is the work
of God, he said, that you believe on him whom he has sent. You
want to see the work of God? They're standing right here.
And when the multitude got angry and walked away, the disciples
who'd been following him walked away, he turned to the twelve
and he said, the door's open. You gonna go too? They said,
where are we gonna go? Thou hast the words of the eternal
life. Where are we gonna go? We don't
have anywhere to go. Like it or don't like it, understand
it or don't understand it, we ain't got anywhere to go. My nephew asked me one time,
I was down visiting with him, we'd been fishing. He was on
a project down in Biloxi, Mississippi. And he said, how can a man like
me, with no experience in church or any background of religion,
know what's right and what's wrong? How can I know who's telling
the truth and who's not? And my answer is this, but by
the grace of God, you never will. You never will. So preacher, how do we know if
God's working in us? Well, I've already told you several
things, but you're here, not down at the First Baptist Church
or the Methodist Church. You're here. God begins with
the work of faith. and a providential intervention,
he did something in your life to cause you to stop and change. We spend our whole life doing
whatever it was we want to do. All of a sudden we want to do
something else. Why? Why? God intervened. God arranged for that Ethiopian
eunuch to travel a particular route at a particular time and
for a particular man to meet him on a particular day. Neither
one knew the other was coming or who was going to tell them
what. Neither one. Not the preacher nor the hearer.
But God in his providence brings them together. He's journeying
all the way back to his Ethiopia. Here's Philip down here in a
revival meeting and the Lord tells him to go out in the wilderness
Out in the wilderness, yeah, out in the wilderness. Don't
tell him why, don't tell him anything. Going along, he goes
out there and he's looking, here's a big caravan, he's looking all
over this caravan, wondering why God sent me out here. All
of a sudden, he spies this Ethiopian eunuch, this black guy, and he's
up there in that carriage, and he's got scrolls. Only man in
the caravan that had a scroll. He's up there and he's reading
the book of Isaiah. And boy, Philip knew. He ran
up there and he said, you understand what you're reading? He said,
how can I except some man tell me what it says? Huh? Could be the Lord bring you there.
If he does, he'll save your soul. I don't know what I'm reading.
I've read it and read it and read it and heard it and I don't
understand it. How are you going to understand
it except some man tell you what it says? And how's he going to
tell you if God don't teach him? Huh? How's he going to preach
if he's not sent? Oh my. You might write these things
off to chance and circumstance. You can do that if you want to. The scripture says that in Christ
we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. How many things? All things. Well, I know he does the big
things. He does the little things. He
works so much every day and we don't see it or even acknowledge
it. He works every day. Oh my soul. If you're here today,
it's no accident. You're here by an act of divine
providence. And then secondly, you're here
in the preaching of the gospel. I'm telling you that salvation's
in Christ. It's in Christ. What do I have
to do? Believe on Him. Look to Him.
Bow to Him. Submit to Him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They're not going to come to
a doctrine. They're not going to come to a church. They're
going to come to Him. They're going to come to a person.
And that person is going to be declared to you as He is. Not what men think He is. How are you going to come to
him? Romans 10 asks four questions. How are you going to call on
him in whom you have not believed? You just going to say God and
hope some entity out there is going to recognize what you're
talking about? You believe in a god, a deity,
something unseen, a higher power, but you know nothing about him.
How are you going to call on him? How do you even know he's
willing to say? You don't know if he's willing
or not. Maybe he can't say. Religion says he can't without
your help. God's done all he can do. Now
it's all up to you. Your God done all he can do and
it's all up to you. What kind of God you got? And how shall you call on him
in whom you have not believed? And how shall you believe in
him of whom you have not heard? Romans 10, 14. Religion don't know him. Philosophers
don't know him. Historians don't know him. How
shall you believe in him of whom you have not heard? And thirdly,
how shall you hear without a preacher? God said he purposed to save
sinners through gospel preaching. Please God, through the foolishness
of preaching, to save the unbelievers. There is a Master Woodley. How many jobs, I know without
asking this, but I'm asking for the benefit of the congregation,
how many jobs have you went on, a master woodsman, and somebody
says, how do you think I'll trim this tree? And you start telling
them, no, no, I don't want to do it that way. Huh? Well, you called me out here.
telling you, I'm giving you my professional advice. No, I don't
want to do it that way. People come here and preach.
I've been studying for almost 30 years. And they say, well, what do I
need to do? And I tell you what you need
to do. Well, I don't want to do it that way. Huh? We come to God. Get me out of
the equation. We come to God. What can I do? I don't want to do it that way.
I want to have an experience. Get some warm honey and pour
it down your back. You'll get an experience. I don't know what
to tell you. Come to Christ. Come to Him. Salvation's in Him. Eternal life's in Him. Bow to
Him. Love Him. Our Lord said, You search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life. That is, in your
knowledge of the Scriptures, you think that's life eternal. And they are they that testify
of me. Oh, what's the problem? You won't come to me that you
might have life. A guy come in at the old church,
I think William had invited him. And he come in, he sat there
for a little while, and he showed up too early. And he was getting
antsy. And pretty soon he stood up and
he came over and he said, Preacher, here's what we're going to do.
He said, we're going to get a bunch of guys around me here, all that's
here, we're going to get around me, and I'm going to kneel down
here and pray. And I'm going to accept. Jesus
is my personal savior. I said, no sir, that's not what
we're going to do. What we're going to do is you're going to
sit down and shut up, and I'm going to get up here and preach
the gospel, and we're going to see what God's going to do. He may
save you, and he may not. Well, he said, I'm an awful sinner.
I'm a great sinner. You know that man left that building
that night and went outside, and the first words out of his
mouth, he said, I ain't as bad as he said I am. I didn't tell him how bad it
is, I'm just quoting the scriptures. Carnal mind, enmity against God. I don't hate God. Well, God said
you do. I think we ought to believe God
and let every man be a liar, don't you? Yeah. Oh, my soul. You're hearing the
gospel of Christ. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you interested
in the things of God because nobody else is? Might be a good
evidence God's beginning to work in you. I'm interested. I'm interested. Do you know you're
a sinner? Do you know what a sinner is? Oh, my soul. Could be if you
do that God's beginning to work in you. Let me say this and I'll
quit. God doesn't believe for you.
He enables you to believe. When the time comes, you will
believe. You say, I can't. But you will. You will if God does the work. You reckon Moses, here's a great
sea out here in front of him. Here comes Egypt, thunder down.
He was raised in Egypt. He knew what kind of army they
had. He knew they had chariots and horsemen and here they come
and there's mountains on the left and mountains on the right.
No way out, they're pressed up against the sea and here comes
this army. God gives him the word, stand
still and see the salvation of God. There's no escape, no way
out. Moses, take your rod and stretch
it out over that sea. You reckon Moses thought he had
the power to split that sea? No. But he believed God could,
and God did. God did. You reckon you have the power
to believe? But you believe God. If he works
in you, he'll make you will and you will believe. You believe
that? That's the grace of God. I know
it's controversial. I know it's against everything
that man preaches. It's against him. Been there
and done that. Been shut out, run out, and everything
else. But that's salvation. Salvation's
in Christ. It's the gift of God, not of
works. If one little piece of that was
your works, you'd brag on it for all eternity. And you're
not gonna brag on nothing but with God. You're gonna brag on
Him.