If you'll turn with me back to
John chapter 8, we're going to go a few more verses past the
Sunday school lesson this morning. Primarily, I'm going to be speaking
to you from verse 12 of John chapter 8. And I want to speak
to you this morning on the subject of possessing the light of life. That's what this verse is all
about. The Lord tells them I am the light of the world. He that
followeth Me, and that's what faith does, it follows him. It follows him. He that followeth Me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He's going
to have it. He's not going to look at it
and desire it. He's not going to see it at a
distance. He's going to have it. And He's going to walk in
it. He's going to walk in it. I want
to give you several things this morning that I believe will be
of help to you if God will be pleased to open your heart to
receive them and give me a tongue to state them. And if there's
one thing in all that I say to you today that I hope God will
help you to see, it is this truth It is not for lack of light that
men perish, but lack of heart to receive it. That's why men
perish. That's why men perish. There
was enough gospel preached here this past weekend to save Arkansas. I've been around this thing a
long time, and I'm telling you, we heard the gospel last weekend
Every time the man stood, we heard the gospel. And you can't
find a service, I don't believe, since I came to this assembly,
that I have not preached the gospel of God's sovereign grace
to you in Christ Jesus. I don't think you can find one.
I've talked about His birth and His life and His death and His
resurrection, His ascension, His intercession, His righteousness,
His wisdom, His purpose, His office, and His priesthood. I've
talked about all these things. And I take this church to charge
this day that by the grace of God, I can say with Paul as he
said to that church, I have not shunned to declare unto you the
whole counsel of God. That counsel is in Christ. Anything and everything that
we ever hope to learn about this book or about the living God,
you're going to learn it in Christ or you're not going to learn
it at all. Yet often I look out from the
pulpit here and see empty seats. And I won't embarrass you this
morning by talking about the silly excuses that people give.
I've been there and done that myself. I'm too tired. I want to do this. I want to
do that. But if I am a preacher, and I'll leave that to your own
conviction. That's what Paul said. He said, I commit these
things to your conscience. If I am a preacher, if I am your
pastor, God's under-shepherd over this assembly, and only
you can determine that, if this congregation is that place where
God is pleased to fulfill His promise and dwell among us, then
this place, if you hope to see that light, you're going to see
it here. That's where you're going to see it. He went to this feast. I want
you to just think back on these Sunday school lessons that I've
been bringing you here in the book of John. We were talking
about this, John and I, out front a while ago. If you read through
John chapter 5 and John chapter 6 and John chapter 7, and you
see the things involved in that little space of walk, in just
that little space of time that took place in these three chapters.
And the things that he overcome and arranged and mingled and
put together, you can't help but see the glory of God in those
things. And all these things are going
on. All these activities of religion.
The feast day is going on and the little booths they got in
and all this type of thing. Priests and all the people of
the temple, they're going about and they came out on that last
day of the Feast of the Tabernacles with the water and poured it
out. All of these things are going on all this whole time.
And the Lord came up there and dealt with all that confusion
and right in the midst, saved this sinner that I talked to
you about this morning in the Sunday School lesson. Saved this
sinner. And then went out to the Mount
of Olives and retired as though it were no obstacle whatsoever.
He came back the next day and sat down and began to teach.
And now he stands before Him, having saved this poor adulterous
woman, and he says, I am the light of the world. Not this
feast. Not this temple. There's light
in that temple. God put light in that temple.
Everything in that temple pointed to Him. There's light in those
priests. They didn't know it. But there's
light in that priesthood. That priesthood pictures his
priesthood. That common priesthood pictures
his church. We're kings and priests. He's
made us kings and priests unto our God. All of these things
had light in them, but the light, he said, I'm the light. If you
ever hope to know what this temple's about and this feast is about
and what this poor lost sinner's about laying down at my feet,
you're going to have to look to me because I'm the light.
I'm the light. And I'll tell you this, every
time we absent ourselves from this place of worship, we absent
ourselves from the light. Do you know He said in the Scripture,
and I'm going to read it to you at the end of the service, that
He brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel?
If you're going to see it, that's where you're going to see it.
You're not going to find it in the garden or in the tree stand
or in a six-pack of bud. You're going to find it in the
Gospel. That's where you're going to
find it. You're not going to find it in the boat. You're going
to find it in the Gospel. In the Gospel. That's according
to the Word of God. And every time we absent ourselves
from this place, we absent ourselves from the light of God. Listen to what the Lord said
to those who treated Him and His gospel with careless indifference. Here's what He said. He said,
I didn't come to judge this world. The world is condemned already.
I come to save. I didn't come to condemn. Condemnation's
already here, my friend. We're born condemned. That's
right. We're guilty. We came forth from
the womb speaking lies. That's what the Scripture says.
In sin did my mother conceive me." That's what David said.
By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men. What's the evidence? They all
sinned. Condemnation is already here.
You know, men are running around in churches and things today
pointing toward that day, pointing toward that day. That's the day
of judgment. That's the day of condemnation.
You're condemned already. The whole outfit is condemned.
He didn't come to condemn. He came to save. His presence
in Jerusalem was to save. His presence in the church in
this day is to save. The world is already condemned.
When did God condemn the world? Before or after He gave that
message to Noah? Before. It was condemned already. But, He said, Noah found grace
in Israel. Huh? It's condemned already. He said, this is condemnation
that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light. I love my TV, don't you? I do. I'm not going to lie to you.
I love it. I sit there and watch them documentaries
and them sports shows and football. I watch it all night long. I
love the old westerns. I sit and watch them up to wee
hours of the morning if I got time to do it. Sometimes when
I don't have time to do it. I love these things. Do I love
them more than I love this light? I better not. I better not. Let this be a test for all that
we do. Let me think on this before I
react in disagreement with someone. Let me think on this before I
disagree and put the truth of God in a bad light. Let me think
on this before I start my day, go to my job, interact with my
family. Let me think on this in every
circumstance that comes my way in this life. This is condemnation. Light has come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light. This is condemnation. This is
the curse of man. This is where his sins have put
him. This is how he is and why he is. He loves darkness. He's satisfied in his darkness. He's comfortable in his darkness. Go ahead and read John 3 where
this quotation comes from. He goes on to tell them, he said,
Man loves darkness rather than light because his deeds are evil.
He's not going to come to that light lest those deeds be reproved.
He's going to be convicted of what he is before he approaches
that light. You come in this church and it's
dark. You turn these lights on, you can see every cobweb. You
can see every spider. You can see anything that's in
here. You can see it when that light comes on. And the more
light comes on, the more you see. He said, I am the light. I am the light. And you're not
going to approach that light and not see yourself for what
you are. The text says, I am the light
of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life. And I want to give you several
things this morning. I want you to carefully consider
these things and go home and read the references that I give
you and ask God to show you what I'm saying and what this is saying
here in this book. First of all, the Lord says,
I am the light. The light. He's not a light. He's not another light. He's
not one of many lights. He's not the potential of light.
I've got an old caboose lantern out in my shed and He'll give
light if I light it. He's not somebody with the potential
of light that you have to strike the match. He is not a potential
of light. He said, I am the light. It radiates
from my person. It radiates from my being. In
me dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. God is
light. In Him is no darkness. In Psalm
19 is a picture of what I am talking about here. I will read
through it for you. But in Psalm 19, David speaks
of creation. And he said, the heavens declare
the glory of God, and the earth showeth His handiwork. Day unto
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Every man in all the world, refined and well-educated or bone-in-the-nose
heathen, all experience the wonders of creation and see this great
picture that God sets before. Romans chapter 1 tells us that.
Man has that light of God given to him in creation. He understands
his power and his Godhead if he just walks out the yard and
looks. Creation necessitates a Creator. But he goes through
day after day, he said, these things, utter speech and night
unto night. He sees darkness and light, cold
and heat, misery and comfort, blindness and clarity. Verse
4, their line has gone out through all the earth and their words
to the end of the world. In them hath God set a tabernacle
for the Son. He's got a picture here of a
great temple, of a great sanctuary, a tabernacle, a place to see
the glory of God and worship, a place to learn about God and
worship, a place of patterns and pictures and illustrations. What does it picture? David said
it pictures this. It's like a bridegroom coming
out of his chamber. That's Christ. And rejoitheth
as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end
of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there's nothing
hid, nothing that's unaffected by it, nothing hid from the heat
thereof. Its light shines on every crevice
and every hole and every mountaintop and every piece of timber that
ever grew. Nothing hides from this light. This is God's eternal
light, just like that sun. That sun never quit shining.
Never quit shining. It shines 24-7. It's been shining
since God hung it in the air because it's a picture of His
Son. It continuously shines. You're not going to put it out.
It's an endless source of light. Everything revolves around it. Everything's held in its place
by it. You see what he's saying? He
set a tabernacle here, and he put his Son out here to picture
his Son. And it does, in great detail. But we don't understand it apart
from Christ, do we? Because He's the Light. He is
the light. In Him, the great eternal mediator
of God who created all things and by whom all things consist. In Him, John said, was life and
the life was the light of men. He is the light as He is the
source and beginning of all light. There was nothing in the beginning
of this world. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing but darkness and chaos.
Darkness was upon the face of the deep. Nothing of God was
known, nothing of His character, nothing of His will, nothing
of His purpose of redemption. It was without form and void,
he said. But the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light, and
there was light. That's a different light. You
go on down in creation, you'll find where He hung the sun and
the moon. This is a different light. This is that eternal light,
that light of God's eternal decree. This is redemptive light, creating
light, revealing light. What a picture of Christ it is.
All the way through this book, revealing God's purpose in creation,
revealing God's purpose in salvation, revealing God's hand in all providence. All that light, that light. And
the only way to escape this light in this world is to hide from
it in a cave. That's all you can do. That's
all you can do. Just run into a cave and hide.
The only way you can miss this light is for some man to come
and hang a sack on your head and pull it tight around your
neck where you can't see. Paul said, if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to the lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded
their mind. Lest that light of the glorious
gospel of Christ should shine unto them. I'll tell you why
they don't see it. They got a bag of religion over
their head and the string pulled tight. You can't help but see it. Go
out in the yard and look around. You can't help but see it. It's
everywhere. It's in the trees and the stones
and the grass and the sky and the wind. The wind blows where
it lifts you. Talking about the Holy Spirit
of God. This whole creation ain't nothing but a tabernacle for
God's Son. That's all it is. And He shines
and you can't get rid of it unless somebody come put a sack over
your head. And that's what religion does. Puts a sack on your head
so you can't see His glory, so you can't deal with His glory.
He is that eternal light purposed of God in the beginning who was,
then is, now and ever shall be. In the bosom of the Father, He
said, I am light. He alone that cometh from above
is above all. And what he has seen and heard,
that he testifieth, and no man receives his testimony. He that
has received his testimony is set to seal that God is true. For he whom God the Father has
sent, he speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit
unto him by measure." He said, I am the light. The light. Now watch this. Here's the second
thing I want you to see here. See those two words, I am? I
am. He said, I am the light. That's God. That's God. That's how God... Moses said,
I get down there to Egypt before that great Pharaoh, and they
said, who sent you? Because I ain't nobody. I can't
even talk. I have to take my brother with
me to interpret for me because I can't speak. I can't go down
there and do this thing that you told me to do. And God said,
if I didn't intend to go with you, you think I'd have sent
you? You ain't nobody. You just go do what I told you
to do. Well, who am I going to tell? He said, tell them I am
sent you. God never explains Himself. He never defines Himself. He
just says, I am. That's enough. That's enough. My daddy didn't explain himself,
did yours? Huh? My dad told me to sit and
I better sit. He didn't say, now son, look,
that's why they invented chairs. He didn't go, he just said, sit.
And if I didn't, he'd cut them eyes down at me and I guarantee
I'd sit. God is God. He said, I am the light. I am the light. The light has to do with God
Himself. Turn with me to 1 John 1. I tell you, we've been told some
things. We've been lied on and lied to. Eternal life is to know God. It's not to accept Jesus as your
personal Savior. It's to know God. It's to know
God. Well, how did you arrive at that,
preacher? I read John 17, verse 3. Listen
to it. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee the only true God. That's eternal life. Ain't
no speculation about it. That's what it is. And Jesus
Christ whom thou sent. Now watch this over here in 1
John 1. This is the same John. This is his first general epistle
that he sends out to the little churches that are scattered abroad
all over the place. And he says to them, that which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you. that you also might have fellowship
with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ. This then is the message which
we have heard of Him, and declare unto you that God is light." Now when he stands before this
people and he says, I am the light of the world, he's saying,
I am God. That's what he's telling us.
God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Now turn back
over to John chapter 8, and look down to that last verse that
I read for you back when I read through these Scriptures a while
ago. Down here in verse 23, John 8, 23, He said unto them, Ye
are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not..." See that
little he in italics? Just lift that out. Here's what
he's saying. If you believe not that I am,
you'll die in your sins. Every notion, every idea, every
concept that you arrive at concerning God, you better arrive at it
concerning me." That's what he's telling them. I'm the light.
I know where you're coming from. I know you. He said, I know you. I don't need any man to testify
of me about man. He knew what was in man from
the beginning. He knows what we're all about.
He knows our our concepts. He knows our foolishness. He
knows exactly what we are. He knows our frame. And He knows we have to be taught.
They shall all be taught of God. Every last one of them is going
to be taught. And that's what this thing of Christ is all about.
He tells us in His person and in His work and in His accomplishments
and in His resurrection and in His ascension up to glory, He
tells us all that we know about God. Now, we're going to talk
about repentance. We're going to talk about forgiveness
of sin. We're going to talk about justification.
We're going to talk about all these things. We'd better keep
them in that light, hadn't we? I better not run over here to
my concept of God and say, well, God just takes a bigger race
and races the way you sin. Why did His Son die on a tree
then? When the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, what did John say he saw? He said, we
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And Jesus Christ is all of God
that you're ever going to see. That's it. You're not going to
see anything else. All of the fullness of the Godhead
took up residence in the body of Jesus of Nazareth. He's the
God-man. He is the God-man, God and man
in one glorious person. Now here's the next thing I want
you to see in this text. He said, He is the light of the
world. He came to give this life and
this light to a people chosen of God throughout this world,
all over this globe, every kind of people under the sun. He didn't
put any limitations to it. He didn't put any statutes on
it. He didn't put any of those things. He just said, anybody
thirsty, come drink. Come drink. Anybody hungry, come
and dine. Come on. Every tribe, every kindred,
every nation, every tongue under heaven. Jesus, who is the Christ,
the sovereign Lord of glory, appeared in this world to light
the hearts of God's elect. And he lights them up. He lights
them up. I've met them in Mexico. I've
met them in Alaska. I've talked to them in Australia.
They all see the same thing. They all worship the same God.
Every one. All kinds of cultures. All kinds
of backgrounds. All kinds of churches that they
come out of. You know what? They believe the
same gospel. Worship the same God. and lay
down at the feet of Christ. Ever the last one of them. I've
never met one who didn't. He came in the sovereign, divine
character of God in the body of a man to reconcile man to
God. And how this reconciliation is
accomplished manifests the light of God. Let me give you some
examples. The fact that God Himself must
appear on this earth to save sinners. ought to forever establish
in our minds that man cannot save himself. Would God subject His Son to
such atrocities as He did if there was some other way? I can't
imagine. I wouldn't subject mine, and
I'm not God. If there was any other way for
a man to save himself, he would not have subjected his son. He would not. And this is forever. I want you to understand this.
This incarnation of God, when God and man become joined in
one person in the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the God-man now
forever. Forever. There is a man in glory. A man in holy Think about that. God in holy union with a man
and one person seated at the right hand of God. I can't fathom. I just know it's so. A man took
his seat on the throne of God and rules. And God gave all authority
into his hands. Think of it. Think of it. Seated
at the right hand of God. Interceding. Interceding. He said, with man it's impossible,
but with God all things are possible. Listen to this. Here's another
thing I'll give you. The fact that Jehovah Himself
in human flesh became servant to His own law ought to forever
extinguish any idea of a fallen sinner producing some righteousness
of His own. He was made under the law. Under the law. To redeem them
that were under the law. I'm under the law. Same as that
woman that I described to you this morning in her text back
there in John 8, in the first few verses. She's guilty. I'm guilty. She could have kept
that law spotless from that day forward. She wouldn't have been
righteous. She already broke it. That law demands continual,
unbroken, spiritual perfection of obedience from the cradle
to the grave. If you seek a righteousness by
that law, you better read it. Most of us don't even know what
it says, let alone follow it. We just want to grab ten of them,
put them on a sign, and put them out in the parking lot. I tell
you, you better go back in the Old Testament. You're going to
produce a righteousness by following the law. You better go get you
a lamb. You better go get some goats
and heifers. You better get you a priesthood.
Get them elected and get them in place. Get some common priests.
Get a high priest. You better get all these things
in order if you're going to do this. And you better not break
this law from the cradle to the grave. You can't do it. You can't do it. And I'm telling
you, that's why he become a servant. God made him of a woman and made
him under the law. He become a man, a representative
man who stood for his people and in their place put himself
in subjection to that holy law and obeyed it in every jot and
tittle from the time he was born to the time they took him down
off that cross and put him in the tomb. And God declared this
man righteous. How do I know that? He raised
Him from the dead. He raised Him from the dead.
He accepted what He did. And there is no other accounting
for His being put under the law of God except to establish the
light of the righteousness of God. He says over in Romans 3,
but now is that righteousness of God manifested. It's brought
right where you can see it. There it is. There it is. And the light of His suffering
and death ought to put away any idea we ever had of a holy God
overlooking sin or compromising His justice. If He spared not
His own Son, He ain't going to spare you. If He subjected His
own Son to that kind of torment, He's not going to spare us. He's
not going to spare us. We better get that idea out of
our head. He was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification, and He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And He said, we which have believed,
we which have saw this light, embraced this light, come to
this light, He said, we've come there that our works might be
manifest that they are wrought in God. And we which have believed,
He said, do enter into rest. We rest. You know why you rest? Because you see a sufficiency
in what He did to take care of the job. And you rest. God rested from creation because
there was nothing to add. What was left to add? It was
done. It was good. And I'm telling
you, it was God good. When it's God good, it's as good
as God. Huh? Ain't nothing good but God. That's
what the Lord said. And He said creation was good.
It was good. There wasn't anything to add.
He quit working. This thing of salvation, when
the Lord cried on that cross, it is finished. It's done. It's done. All the believer does
is receive it. Rejoice in it. Hang on to it. And I tell you this, in the light
of His resurrection, we should never have another doubt as to
the sufficiency of the work He accomplished at Calvary. Never
have another doubt. You see what He's saying here?
If you believe not that I am, you're going to die in your sin.
If you don't get some idea from what it is I'm doing, and God's
manifested who He was, He did miracles by His hands. He was
a man approved of God among you with miracles and wonders and
signs, which He did in your midst. Undeniable miracles. He fulfilled
everything that was ever written of Him in the Old Testament,
right down to the very words that He spoke from the cross.
You can go back in the Old Testament, thousands of years before He
ever came, and here's the words. It's like Don said the other
night. It's like he's standing up here reading a book. Alright,
now, I'm supposed to say this now. I mean everything He did. Everything He did. He's the Christ. He's God. He's God. When we see His work that was
manifested in His person, and we see what He did and all of
these things, now we begin to get a view of who God is. And
all of these ideas and concepts and things that used to make
sense don't make sense anymore because God isn't who we thought
He was. You see what I'm saying? If you take the things that I'm
telling you and I'm preaching to you and you try to apply those
things to the God of religion, it ain't going to fit. It's going
to be upside down. It's like taking two pieces from
two different puzzles and trying to put them together. Eventually,
you might pound them in, but they don't fit. They just don't
fit. You see what I'm saying? But
when you begin to see who God is, unchangeable, He doesn't
change. He doesn't have to change. What's
he need to change for? We want to need to change. There's
no change in him. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. God is holy. He's not going to
compromise that. He's just. He's not going to
compromise that. You see what I'm saying? So you
can just take that eraser now and all them little things that
you thought God was going to do. You thought God could just
say, well, OK, you can go. No, He can't. No, He can't. There are some things God can't
do. God can't justify a sinner until those sins are paid for.
He can't do it. They've got to be paid for. God
can't look on you and count you as righteous without that obedience
to the law. We receive that obedience as
He obeys. When man sees that, he enters
into his rift. Alright, here's the fourth thing.
Possessing this light. Look back here at the text. Let
me read for you the whole text again. John 8, verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth Me shall
not walk in darkness. but shall have the light of life."
He's going to possess it. If you're a believer and you're
here this morning, you have something that no other son of Adam has. You are a possessor of life and
light. I don't care who you are. I don't
care how wise you are. I don't care how many years you've
been to church. I don't care how many seminaries
you graduated from. You cannot take this book and
sit down and figure it out. It ain't gonna happen. It ain't
gonna happen. You have to be given light. It has to be given to you. You
can't just snatch it out of the air. It ain't of Him that willeth. It ain't of Him that runneth.
It's of God that showeth mercy. He gives light. And I tell you,
if you ever get it, He's going to bring you to that place where
He destroys your wisdom and takes that prudent understanding that
you're so proud of and blows it to smithereens and shuts your
mouth and sets you down and preaches to you the Gospel. And when He
does, When He does, in your weakness and in your sniveling and quivering
on the ground just like that young harlot, you're going to
hear what He says. And you're going to be thankful
that He brought you there. And you're going to see the glory
of that light of the Gospel. He brings life and immortality
to light through the Gospel. Through the Gospel. Now, turn
back to the book of 1 John. I've just got a few more things
and then I'll wind this up. This is where I was reading from
a while ago, back in 1 John 1, talking about this light. God
is light. In Him is no darkness at all. Jesus Christ stood before this
crowd and He said, I am the light of the world. He's saying, I
am God. Except you believe that I am,
you're going to die in your sin. You're going to die in your sin. Until you're brought to this
place where you see the necessity of what I'm doing is because
of who God is, you're just going to die in your sin. You're just
religious. Now watch this over here in 1 John 1, verse 5. He
said, This then is the message which we've heard of Him declaring
to you that God is light, in Him is no darkness at all. Now,
verse 6, if we say, that we have fellowship with God. Huh? Ain't that what we say when we're
believers? Fellowship's fellows in the same
ship. That's what that means. We have fellowship with God.
We've been reconciled to God. If I say that and walk in darkness,
what's that say? I'm a liar. Huh? If I say, I know the living God,
I know Jesus Christ His Son, He's given me light and life. I profess Him. I was baptized
in His name. I stand and declare unto you
His name. There's none other name given
under heaven whereby we must be saved if my profession is
that I have fellowship with Him. But I just keep right on walking
in my darkness. You're a liar. You don't know
it. You don't know it. You wouldn't keep walking there
if you knew it. Huh? You ain't going to keep on walking
in darkness when you got light. You're going to walk in light. You see what he's telling them?
You can't hide this thing. This thing's of God. You can't
pretend this thing. It's of God. You either have
light or you don't. If I say I have fellowship with
Him and walk in darkness, I lie and do not the truth. If my confession is to have fellowship
with the light, but my walk says something else, I'm a liar. Now watch this, verse 7. But
if we walk in the light, as He is the light, In the light of
God manifest in His obedience, His sinless life, His suffering,
His death, His resurrection and ascension into glory, if we walk
in the light as He is the light, we have fellowship one with another. I've got no reason to part. I've
got no argument with you. I'm a sinner saved by you, saved
by grace. I have the light, same as you."
We're both looking at the same sun. We have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us
from all sin. He that followeth Me, who's that? Who's that? Who follow Him as the light?
Who follow Him as His disciple? who follow Him in faith-believing,
who follow Him in believer's baptism, who follow Him unto
death, a continual follower, who hold the beginning of their
confidence, Paul said, steadfast unto the end, who hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm unto the end. Our
Lord said, He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved. Any profession that does not
produce an obedience to Christ is just a false refuge. That's
all it is. It's a pretense. And your foot's
going to slide and do see. Any profession that does not
generate a conviction to be baptized and put on the uniform of Christ
and be identified with His people is a lie. It's a sham. That's all it is. It's a false
profession. In a profession that rejoices
in the presence of believers and runs back to a world full
of darkness is a lie. It's a lie. He that followeth
me, he said, walks in my light, has my light in him, shall not
walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Now let me read
for you 2 Timothy 1, verses 9 and 10, and I'll close. Paul tells Timothy. Paul's in
prison here. And he writes to Timothy. And
he said, don't be ashamed of me. I'm here for the Gospel's
sake. And he said, don't you be ashamed.
He said, but be partaker. Go ahead and be partaker of these
sufferings, of these afflictions of the Gospel according to the
power of God. who has saved us, verse 9, and
called us with a holy 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, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ." This whole thing. This whole thing is now made
manifest by the appearing of Jesus Christ who has abolished
death Abolish the curse. Taking away the blinders. Taking away the sack over your
head. Shine just as He commanded that
light to shine out of darkness. He commanded it and it shined
into your hearts. And you saw that glory in the
face of Christ. He has abolished death. Now listen,
and He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles, and for the witch cause I also suffer these
things." Nevertheless, he said, I'm not ashamed. Sitting down
here in this prison, sitting down here with those Roman chains,
he said, I'm not a prisoner of Rome, I'm a prisoner of Christ,
and I'm not ashamed of it. For I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've
committed unto him against that day. I see God in him. And I see the willingness of
God in him to save. Some of you are hunting for that
right now. Some of you are hunting for that right now. Some signs,
some evidence that God is willing. It's in Christ. You can't find any other reason
for Him to become a man except God is willing to save. Can you? If God hadn't been willing to
save, He wouldn't have sent Him. Look at the preservation and
the power of God in the Gospel that's persisted for the past
2,000 years and overcome every obstacle and brought down every
dominion and every religious power that's ever been, brought
it down to its knees and caused it to preserve and to do exactly
what He sent it to do. Huh? God willing to save. And look at His providence that
brought you here today. and gave this ignorant sinner
the words to tell to you." God's willing to save. It's not for
lack of light that men perish. It's the lack of the heart to
receive it. God give you a heart this morning
to receive His message for Christ's sake.