I titled my message this morning,
Born to Believe. And I took it from verse 1 of
1 John, chapter 5. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now, he says something very similar
to that, if you'll turn with me to the book of John, to the
gospel of John, in chapter 1. And here he's talking about,
he's rehearsing the history of the entire Old Testament. And
he's taking in here the creation of God, and the eternal decrees
of God, and establishing that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word
of God, who was with God in the beginning, and who not only was
with God, but was God. He's the maker of all things.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. And it says
that he came. He was in the world, verse 10.
He was in the world. How was he in the world? He was
in the world in promise. Right after the fall of man came
the promise of the woman's seed. And so on, all down through.
He was in the ark. That ark of Noah was a picture
of Christ. He was in the tabernacle in the
wilderness. He was the rock. You can read
about it over in the Corinthians, that rock which was Christ. that
cloud which was Christ, baptized into Him. He was in the world,
and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He
came unto His own. He established a people. He called
them the children of Israel, the children of Jacob, sons of
Jacob. And He established this people.
came to that people, and he came there in picture and type. I couldn't tell you how many.
Everything inside that old tabernacle, even the stakes of the tent,
were pictures of Christ. And that covenant, that ark of
the covenant was a picture of Christ. The mercy seat, the high
priest, you could go on and on and on throughout the New Testament,
refers back to those pictures and to those types. But his own
received him not. But, verse 12, as many as received
him, to them gave he power, authority, ability to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name. Now, that's what John
is talking about over here. He that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ. As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born. You see that? Not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,
born to believe. And I know that there's a lot
of things stated here in this fifth chapter of 1 John, but
the crux of this chapter is concerning faith. It's about faith. And
I wrestle. I wrestle in my study, and I
wrestle in the pulpit when I stand up here to preach to you, not
only of what to preach, but how to say it, how to preach it,
how to illustrate it. And I'm aware that there's consequences
involved in this thing of preaching. There's consequences not only
for me and for those who preach it, but for those who hear it.
There's consequences. You may come in here today. This
may be your only time that you come in here. This may be the
one time in your life that you hear what I'm going to say. And
there's going to be consequences of how you hear, what you hear. Our Lord came into the cities,
into these great cities, and He done many wonderful works
there. He preached the gospel to these
people. And they rejected it. They despised
it. And he left. And he said, it
will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment
than it's going to be for you. Because if I had come into Sodom
and Gomorrah and done these things, they'd still be here today. If
they heard what you heard, they'd still be here today. And therefore,
you're going to have the greater condemnation. There are consequences. to what I speak, and there's
consequences to what you hear. And I want to establish this
up front. If you're not familiar with Bible
theology, maybe you should be. But when you become familiar
with it, you're going to learn something front to back in the
Scriptures, and that is that God is God. He's sovereign. He's sovereign. What do I mean by that? I mean
he's absolutely, unchangeably, irresistibly. None can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He is sovereign. Just let that sink in for a minute.
God is God. He rules and he reigns, not only
in the armies of heaven, but among the inhabitants of the
earth. None can stay his hand. None can question what he does. arguing about the election of
God, establishing the election of God over in Romans 9. Paul
said, I know what you're going to say to me when I tell you
these things. You're going to say, well, why
doth he yet find fault? Who hath resisted his will? But
he said, Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against
God? God is God. Shall the thing formed
say unto him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Is
that how this thing works? God is sovereign. He's God. He's God. He rules over all. His purposes
are carried out in the good and in the evil, those who crucified
Christ. There was a lot that took place
there. They had some religious folks involved that didn't like
him, and he was causing a stir, going sideways to what they preached,
and he was tearing down what they built up, and they didn't
like it. The Romans really could have
carried less, except that the Jews were in bondage to them
and had become a part of that nation. So now Rome had to do
something about this stirring up that was going on, this trouble
that was going on. So they got together with the
religious folks and decided the best thing for everybody concerned
was to crucify Christ. You had two leaders in this empire
that really were not friends until they got together over
this issue of Christ. And they got together, Pilate
and Herod, and all these men, the Gentiles even got in on it.
They were agreed to it, and they all got together, and they all
had their own reasons. And they were all evil reasons.
They were all false notions, and they were all false ideas,
and they lied on Him and told lies about Him. and said things
that were not true. But you know, when it was all
said and done and they crucified Christ, here's what it says about
it over in Acts 4, verse 28. In all of that, it says they
did what God's hand and God's counsel determined before to
be done. God is God. And He's God in the
evil things and He's God in the good things. He's God. You remember the story of Joseph?
Oh, how his brothers despised him. His father loved him. And
that caused his brothers to despise him the more. And they wanted
to kill him. But one of them talked him out of it. And so
they dug a pit and they waited. And when some traders come by,
they sold him into slavery and they sold him down into Egypt.
And years went by. All sorts of things happened.
He was thrown into prison. He was lied on. All kinds of
things happened. But eventually, in the providence
of God, Joseph came to be second in command in Egypt. And then
there's a lot more things that happened. God sent a famine and
caused his brothers to have to come to Egypt to get corn. And
when they came down there and Joseph recognized them, he brought
them in. And after all these events took
place, here's what he told his brothers when he made himself
known to them. He said, you meant it for evil. Ain't no need coming
in here with excuses and lies. He said, I was there. I know
exactly why you did it. You meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. And God is God. He's God in the
good things. He's God in the evil things.
Job realized that. Job said, you know, we received
all these good things at His hand. Now I'm going to curse
Him because these things fell. He's still God. The Lord giveth,
the Lord taketh away. He's God. He's God. God rules with a sovereign hand
over all things, all things, to bring about His counsels and
decrees. And so it is in salvation, salvation
of the Lord. See, we're ready to give Him
that part in creation, and we're ready. in certain circumstances
to give him the credit and things that happen in this world, especially
when they get away out of our hands. But when it comes to salvation,
we won't take it away from him. It's of God. It's of God in its
eternal design. Salvation is. It's of God in
its promises and prophecies, in its pictures. It's of God
in its accomplishment at Calvary. It's of God in its application.
And it's of God in its ultimate perfection and completion. And there's no part, this is
what I want you to understand, there's no part of anything left
to chance or circumstance. Paul told those Thessalonians,
he said, God has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. This is 2 Thessalonians 2, verse
13. God has, from the beginning, chosen you unto salvation, and
he's got some means involved. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel. Now, that's what the gospel is
all about, and that's what John is talking about here in John
chapter 5. And you get all the way down
to the end of that chapter. And he said, and we know that
the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding. He
gave it to us. He gave it to us. That's how
we got it. There's no part of anything left
to chance or circumstance in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11. It tells us that we've obtained
an inheritance. Now listen to this. You can read
all this first chapter after a while when you get home. But
it says in verse 11, kind of culminating everything together,
he says, we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated. Ain't that what it says? According
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. There's nothing iffy about it. It's order, David said. He was
on his deathbed, and he spoke those words, and he talked about
that everlasting covenant that God made with him, ordered in
all things and sure. It's not iffy. It was sure. He said, this is my salvation.
All of it. All together. Eternal wisdom at the helm. Eternal
power moves the vessel. Eternal love binds it together.
Eternal Spirit guides the ship. He didn't leave anything for
me. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. Oh, you thought it was of you,
didn't you? You thought it was of you. You
said, well, I make the decision. I was willing. I did this. Sure
you were. Why? Why were you? That's what I'm asking. He's
the why. My people shall be willing in
the day of my power." That's what he said. It's his power
that makes you willing. It's his design that brings you
to Christ. From God's perspective, just think about that. Looking
through his eyes, from God's perspective, everything is set. Everything is exactly as it should
be. Everything is right on schedule.
Boy, we get shook up, don't we? We get shook up. Things happen,
we just fall to pieces. He's sitting. I'm pacing. I got up this morning pacing,
walking, thinking about this message, thinking about who might
come, who might hear, what might happen. I was excited and tore
up at the same time pacing back and forth, thinking about these
things. But I turned over there to the book of Hebrews and it
said, He offered that one sacrifice and sat down. Sat down. He's not worried. Sat down expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. He's not worried.
Everything's right on schedule. Looking at it through God's eyes.
All things are set. All things are fixed. Oh, the
iffy part is when I look at it from my perspective. Now things
get iffy. How do I know? How do I know
if I'm one of God's elect? How can I tell if I'm one chosen
of God? How can I know that I'm one fixed
by eternal love? You read Romans 8. You're so
fixed in the love of Christ and that love of God which was in
Christ. He just names thing after thing
after thing after thing all the way down through Romans 8. Somebody
called that the golden chain of assurance. You read down through
there. Who's going to bring any charges?
God justified you. There's no court higher than
that. Christ died for you. You know any redemption money
that's worth more than the blood of Christ? God spared not His
Son. What's He going to spare for
you? Since He worketh all things after the counsel of His own
will, then all things work together for your good if He loves you.
And he goes on and he talks about principalities and powers and
things present and things to come, and life or death or any
other creature shall be able to separate you from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Fixed, fixed by eternal
love in such a way that nothing can separate me from it. Well,
what separates the elect from the rest of the world? He says
here in this chapter, I read it to you in your hearing a few
moments ago, he said, and we know, verse 19, that we are of
God and the whole world lies in wickedness. How did he know
that? How did he know that? I'd like
to know that, wouldn't you? I'd like to know if I'm of God,
if all these blessings are for those whom God loves, whom God
chose, whom God put in Christ, for whom Christ died, then I
want to know. I want to know. John said he
knew. He said these people to whom
he was writing knew. In fact, it's the theme of this
whole epistle. You go through it. I don't know
how many times he says it going through these five chapters.
And we know. We know. We know. Do we? Do we? How can I know? What separates
the elect from the rest of the world? How does a sinner come
to have hope in the omnipotent God? How can I come to see where
I stand in the scheme of things? Faith. Faith. That's right. Faith. Faith, it
says in Hebrews 11, verse 1, is the substance. of things hoped
for and the evidence of things not seen. Kathy and I bought
a house when we moved down here, and we agreed on a price. The fellow that had the house,
he agreed to sell it for that price, and he wrote out a contract,
and I handed him the money, and they processed it through the
court and sent me a title. The house belongs to me. How
do I know that? I have a title. I have a title. How do I know I have a title? to all the blessings of God.
How do I know that? What have I got? I don't have
any paper. I don't heal the sick. I can't
raise the dead. I don't have any of those types
of evidences. How do I know? How do I know? Faith. It's the substance. What is substance? Will you see that table? Made
out of wood. That's its substance. You can
see it. You can sit on it. You can feel
its strength. You know what it is. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for. And it's the evidence of
things not seen. Paul said he wasn't there. He
said, I haven't arrived yet. I'm not there yet. I'm pressing
toward that mark. What kept him pressing? Faith. It's the evidence of things
not seen. Evidence of things not seen.
He talked about his salvation in the past tense many times.
Many times. Now, there's a multitude of things
that I could sit down and talk to a hungry soul about, somebody
that was interested, somebody that was truly troubled, and
I could sit down with you And I could give you some arguments
and illustrations and reasons and examples and promises. I
could go through the Word of God and I could show you these
things and have with individuals in the past. But what it all
boils down to is this, faith. Faith. And if you give me your ear for
the next several minutes, I think I can give you some things that
will help. First of all, I have before me a Bible. It's just
a book like any other book. It has chapter divisions. It
has verses. It contains history, geography,
mysteries. You can go through it. Everything
that's in other books is in this book. You can go through here
and find it. You can find it. You can find in here the murder
of people. You can find in here all sorts
of calamities and catastrophes. And all these things. You can
find historical records in here. You can find your origin in here.
You can find all sorts of things in this book. It's just a book
like any other book. Has chapters, paragraphs, all
these things. And it's written like all other
books to convey knowledge. That's why a book is written.
To convey knowledge. To take the thoughts of one and
like a vehicle drive them to another. If I don't talk to you,
you can't know what's on my heart. I can't look at you all day.
I've never been very good at telepathy. But if God would stir
my heart and I could write something, write an article or stand here
and talk to you, speak to you, write a book, then I can convey
what's on my heart to you. That's what this book is. It's
the book of God. It conveys His will. It conveys His intention. It
conveys his reasons. It conveys who he is. And faith, now listen to me,
faith believes. Here's where faith comes down
to. Do I believe? Where does it start? It starts
right here in this book. That's where it starts. I believe
this book to be the Word of God. Now, if I believe that, then
I'm going to set aside everything I know. I'm going to set aside
all my prejudices. I'm going to put them over here,
and I'm going to see what God says. What God says. That's where faith
begins. It's not what men say. It's not
what men say that God says. But what God said through men. Isn't that what this book says?
Listen to this, 2 Peter 1, verse 21. It says, Holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. God spoke through
men. He did that. 2 Samuel 23, verse
2, David said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His
word was in my mouth, in my tongue. The Word of God. In 2 Timothy 3.16, he said, All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
Now listen, that the man of God, that the man of God, that's what
we're talking about, may be perfect, that is, mature, truly furnished
unto all good works. The chosen of God, men of God,
believe this book. to be divinely inspired. They
believed this book to be written to them, written to them to convey
the will of God. When our Lord came into this
earth by His appearance over in Hebrews chapter 10, He said in the volume of the
book, it's written of Me, I come to do Thy will, O God. This book conveys the will of
God in His Son. in his son. And this book is
the foundation of faith. We believe a thing not because
it seems right or not because we weigh it in our mind and say,
well, I think that's right, or it's not because we take it and
we compare it with all the other thoughts of all the rest of the
men on this earth. It's right because God says it.
And I tell you this, any man who claims to be a preacher of
God and does not fill his messages with the Word of God is a false
prophet. I couldn't tell you how many
times growing up, sitting in the church, I'd listen to this
man get up and he'd read a text and he'd leave it and he'd tell
stories and talk about this and talk about that. And pretty soon
he was trying to get folks to come down the aisle, but he didn't
refer one time in all that whole message anywhere else in the
Word of God. He didn't talk about Christ, he didn't talk about
his death, he didn't talk about any of those things. In 1 John 5, verse 9, the apostle
says, if we receive the witness of men. 1 John 5, verse 9. If. If. I'll tell you this, if
you're a child of God, you'll receive it. Because that's how
God saves sinners. You'll receive it. But he said,
if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. That witness of that man has
in it the witness of God. It's filled with the scriptures,
filled with scripture references, filled with truth. The witness of God is greater,
for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his
Son, he that believeth on the Son of God. had the witness in
himself, he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because
he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. That's what
this book is. It's the record that God hath given his son. And we're built upon the foundation,
he said, of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. That's Ephesians 2.20. All right,
here's the third thing. Faith comes to know that Jesus
Christ is what the Bible is all about. This is the witness of
God which he has testified of his Son. He says over in verse
13 of this same chapter, These things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name
of the Son of God. That's why it's written. These things are not dreams.
Peter said we do not preach cunningly devised fables. We didn't sit
at home and think this thing out. We didn't find this in some
old writer's book. This is the message of the Word
of God. This is what true preaching is
all about. And then fourthly, and this is
where I want to focus my attention this morning, faith is born of
gospel preaching. Who shall ever believe it that
Jesus is the Christ, is born of God? And the Bible is a book
of redemption. It records the fall of man in
the garden, and then immediately it begins to speak of the Redeemer. Immediately. It begins to speak
of the woman's seed. It begins to point out the offering
there of Abel and Cain. It just goes down. Enoch. You
can just go down through time and see this seed as it's prophesied. and throughout its pages are
promises and pictures and prophecies of Christ. But I tell you this, preaching
is necessary. Preaching is the commandment
of God. And preaching is how faith is born in the believer.
I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. This
is so important. I can't tell you how important
this is. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Paul came to this place. They're so easily impressed.
They had some speakers there, probably Apollos and some different
ones. And Apollos must have been something
else. He must have been a real orator
and had just the right. I'm telling you, I used to listen
to Henry Mahan. And this man had a command of
the language and illustrations and He just had such a love of
the people, and he just came over in such a way that folks
would just drive for hundreds of miles to come and hear him
speak, the way I imagine Charles Spurgeon was in his day. And
back in the day, I used to elevate him above other men. I used to
set him up here a little bit above other men. And that's what
was going on in this church at Corinth. They had some said that
we were of Apollos. They were converted under his
ministry. And then some said of Paul and others of this one
and others of that one. And they saw some value in these
men, in their talents and abilities. And Paul told them, he said,
I thank God I didn't baptize any of them. I thank God I didn't baptize
any of them. He said, you totally missed this
whole thing. You totally missed it. God didn't send me to baptize.
He sent me to preach. And he takes two chapters, chapter
1 and chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians, and begins to tell them what
this preaching is all about. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18,
for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish. Now,
I'm not going to go into a big explanation about Greek words
and trying to I'll tell you this, just take my word for it, here's
what it's saying, who are perishing. He's talking about men who are
perishing, men who despise the gospel, men who won't receive
this thing. To them, he said, it's foolishness. But unto us which are being saved,
it is the power of God. Now, what's that word mean? Sometimes
it means authority. like a permissive authority,
and sometimes it has to do with ability, raw power, dunamis,
dynamite. In this case, it has to do with
both. It has to do with both. Why do men get so upset? You
tell them that God saves men through the preaching of the
gospel, and they get so upset, they get mad. They get mad. Why
do men suddenly just blow up? and begin to question the doctrines.
Why do they resist it so? Why is it when you tell men that
God saves men by the preaching of the gospel? Well, yeah, but
he can do it this way. Where does it say that? Find
for me in the word of God anywhere where it tells you that you can
be saved any other way and come to serving faith in Christ except
through the preaching of the gospel. You can't find it. It ain't there. It ain't there. In fact, there's only one example
in all the Bible of a man who came to have the Spirit of God
on him apart from the preaching of the gospel, and that was John
the Baptist. You can't find me another example of it anywhere.
Men and women are born through faith. Through faith, they're
born. They're born to believe. That's
what John's talking about here. You've got to be born to believe.
Nicodemus came in talking about what Ollie knew. The Lord said,
Whoa, except you be born again, you can't perceive the kingdom
of God. You've got to be born. You've
got to be born. And the only way you're going
to be born is to hear it. I'll tell you why they get upset
about it. Two things. First, it doesn't comply with
their experience. They had an experience. It doesn't
comply with it. It doesn't fit it. It doesn't
fit it. And the second reason is this,
because it leaves them in their ignorance at the sovereign mercy
of God. That's right. How shall you hear? Read Romans chapter 10. I didn't
ask those questions. The Holy Ghost did. Read Romans
chapter 10. Whosoever will. Huh? Whosoever will. Isn't that what
it says? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Whosoever. I don't care who you are. Rich,
poor, black, white, I don't care who you are. Whosoever. But he said, how are you going
to call on Him in whom you have not believed? How are you going
to believe in Him of whom you have not heard? And how are you
going to hear without a preacher? How is he going to preach except
he be sinned? You want to argue with somebody,
argue with the Holy Spirit. Watch what he says here in 1
Corinthians 1, verse 19, for it is written. He's talking about
preaching now. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. That word prudent means a man
who likes to put things together. He's a puzzle worker. That's
what that word means. He takes all the pieces and throws
them out here on the table and just starts putting them together.
Our Lord said, I thank the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the people who like
to put it together. They can't see it. They can't
see it. I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Listen to this, verse 20, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Where is he? I said, where is
he? I hear you bragging on him. I
hear you telling me that a man can figure this thing out. I hear you telling me that all
I've got to do is sit down if I really want to know, and I
can figure it out. I can learn. I can know. Well,
he said, where are they? Where are they? Oh, here they
are. They're over here, they're over
here steeped in religion, walking aisles, making decisions, bound
down before man, kissing his rank. Here they are. This is
where they are over here. Here's the wise and the prudent.
Where are they at? Where are they at? That's what
I'm telling you this morning. Where are they at? You can't
hear without a preacher. And he can't preach unless God
teaches him and sends him and draws you to him. Where is the wife? Where is all
these people? He's up to his eyeballs in religion and superstition. That's where he's at. He's going
about like Israel, trying to establish his own righteousness
and would not submit himself to the righteousness of God.
Professing himself to be wise, he says in Romans 1, he'd become
a fool and he changed the glory of the incorruptible God into
an image made like unto man and four-footed beasts and birds
and creeping things. That's where he's at. Where is
the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? He's ignoring the miracles of Christ. Ignoring the testimonies
of Christ. If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. That was religious men who said that. Wise men. High priests of Israel. Doctors
of the law. If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. He said, I told you. I told you
plainly. But you believe not. That's what
we're talking about now is this faith. You believe not, he said,
because you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They
hear my voice. You search the Scriptures because
in them you think you have eternal life. You think you can figure
it out. I tell you, there's a bunch in our day that think so too.
They think you can sit down and read a Bible and come to know
Christ. You read that Bible until you're blue in the face, you're
not going to understand it. You're not going to understand
it. Ethiopian eunuch tried it. He took his Bible with him, didn't
he? Went to Jerusalem. Saw the feast played out. Saw
the whole thing played out. Went back as dumb as he was when
he went. Sitting there reading what he'd
been reading on his way over. Reading that passage there in
Isaiah. God sent him a preacher, and the preacher ran along beside
his chariot, and he said, Do you understand what you're reading? And he said, How can I except
some man tell me? That's the language of Scripture.
Oh, I believe a man take the Bible. That's all he needs, is
it? Then why didn't our Lord say,
Go ye into all the world and take Bibles with you and pass
them out, and everybody figures them out and be saved? That ain't
what he said, is it? Uh-huh. Now, that's just how foolish
this notion is. He said, go ye into all the world
and preach my gospel, and he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. Preacher,
you don't believe God can save a man through the Scriptures?
Oh, yeah, I believe God can do whatever God wants to do. What
I'm telling you is Willie. Willie. Really, of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. Peter said, born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God. And then
he goes on and follows it up and says, this is that word which
by the gospel we have preached unto you. I'm telling you, you
won't find it. You get in there and dig around,
you won't find it. You won't find it. How shall you hear without
a preaching? Preaching is foolishness to them
who are perishing. Oh, but let God, let that sovereign
Spirit of God move over the soul of a man and begin to reveal
in him what he is, what he is made of. Reveal his sin. Reveal his helplessness. Reveal
to him what all mankind is through the fall. He is dead in trespasses
and sins, walking according to the course of this world. walking
according to the spirit of disobedience. By nature, the children of wrath,
even as others. Let the sovereign Spirit of God
move over a man's soul, and then he becomes interested. Then he
wants to hear. Then he wants to hear. And he
goes and he hears foolishness, and that ain't it. He don't go
back, does he? Then he goes and talks to this
one, and he talks foolishness, and he don't want to hear it.
And he goes somewhere. where God has a preacher and
he listens. He listens. And God shuts his
mouth and he hears. He hears. Oh, I tell you, if God don't
send you a preacher, you just shut up to a world of scientific
facts and conjecture and philosophy, religious opinions. Shut up to
this idea and that one, this church and that one. This faith
and that one, newspaper ads, churches on every corner, you're
not going to figure it out. You're not going to figure it
out. Our Lord went on purpose. This
was the Son of God. If preaching wasn't important,
why did He preach? If ever there was a man who could
have stood in one place and called all men, it was Him. But He didn't
do it, did He? He preached. He said, Thou hast
anointed Me to preach the gospel. to preach the gospel. I tell you, I'm tired of men
going contrary to the Word of God and calling it faith. It
makes me sick at my stomach. Preaching shuts men up to the
sovereign mercy of God. It shuts you up to the preaching
of the gospel. You'll never know what that means
until He shuts you up to it. At the end of those verses that
I read to you over there in Romans chapter 10, or quoted to you
a few moments ago, how shall he preach except he be sinned?
He said, Therefore is it written, How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace. I tell you, if God ever
sends you His gospel by a preacher, your heart will be fastened to
Him forever. I can't even talk about Brother Mayhem without
tearing up. I can't even talk about it. Oh, how sweet that
message of grace was when I heard it for the first time. And it's
still that sweet. Oh, God give you eyes and ears
to hear His gospel. His gospel is a person. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what He says, Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ. This promised one of God. This
anointed one of God. This high priest of God. He's
all things. Everything that he pictures throughout
the Scripture, he's fulfilled. Set before us a law. Holy. But he said Christ is the end
of the law to everyone that believes it. Christ. That's what the Gospel does.
It just keeps pointing you to Him. Pointing you to Him.