John chapter 1. This is a verse of Scripture
I think that's familiar to just about anybody here. John chapter 1, verse 29. And you're going to find something.
There's a lot of things declared here that we read and we skip
over, perhaps never heard even made mention of before. But twice
in these verses of Scripture, John the Baptist, the forerunner
of Christ, the man who rejoiced in his mother's womb when he
heard the news of Christ, says, I didn't know him. He says, I
didn't know him. And then it says a little bit
earlier in this chapter, in verse 18, it says, No man hath seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Now that's what John was talking
about. Now look here in these verses,
beginning with verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus,
that is, Jesus of Nazareth, coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom
I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me,
for he was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be
made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water. And John bear record, saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him, and I knew him not. You see that? Twice he says that.
But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto
me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
on him. The same is he which baptizeth
with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and I bear record,
that this is the Son of God. Now, out here beyond Jordan,
in a solitary place called Beth-Avora, was gathered two groups of people.
There was John the Baptist who lived out there in the wilderness.
He lived on honey and locusts He dressed in animal skins. He was a hard man, a harsh man. Maybe some of you in here are
old enough to remember Brother Barnard and how he preached.
That's John the Baptist. Straight shooter. Offended, be
offended. John the Baptist and his disciples. And then there was another group
sent out there of the Jews because this was their job. I talked
to you a little bit yesterday about that, this Sanhedrin, this
council elected by the Jews. It was part of their job is to
go out and examine these men of reputation. Somebody comes
up all of a sudden and they begin to draw people after them. They
go out and look and examine this man and see what he was all about.
See what he preached. See how he lived. See how he
talked. See what his habits were. See
who his friends were. They were intelligent men. And
these men were out there. So you had these two groups out
there. Two groups. And in these two groups is represented
all the religions of the world. I'm going to show you that in
just a little bit. Both groups look for the Messiah. Both groups
look for the Christ. Both expected a man sent from
God. Both anxiously awaited a kingdom
to be established. Both these groups of men. The
priests and the Levites, they looked with natural eyes. They
looked for a natural kingdom. They looked for a man like David
that God would raise up among the people. You remember the
story of David and Saul, how Saul was a man of stature. I mean, they saw in him the potential
to be the king of Israel because of his strength and his might
and his size and his reputation among the people. He was feared. And they looked with natural
eyes and they elected him as king, but he wasn't God's king.
When the prophet come down to anoint God's king, The man that
he was sent to anoint wasn't even called in. He wasn't even
recognized. They wasn't even going to bring
him. Surely it couldn't be David. You just go out there and tend
the sheep because one of your brothers is going to be king
of Israel. No, David's going to be king of Israel. And these
men looked with that type of eyes. They looked with natural
eyes. They looked at earthly qualifications
and earthly reputations, these priests and Levites. They looked
with fleshly reasoning. They looked from a worldly perspective. What kind of a potential does
this man have? And they looked out of a sense
of duty. And they looked out of a promise of reward. And they
looked at John because many of their people were drawn out there
to hear him and came back talking about his message and his baptism.
And they were shocked. You remember what the Lord said?
What did you think you went out there to do? You think you went
out there to see a reed blowing in the wind? Is that what you
thought you went out to see? No, no. For John the Baptist,
he was the greatest man, the greatest preacher ever born of
men, John the Baptist. But in all their looking, they
could not escape the realm of the natural. They couldn't get
out of it. Couldn't get away from it. Everything
they ever knew pointed this way. Everything, everybody they had
any fellowship with pushed them this direction. Their whole upbringing
brought them that direction. And they listened to all that
he said. But all their ears could do was
hear the natural. And they saw everything He did.
They saw His countenance, and they saw how He dressed, and
they saw who came to Him, and they saw how many people He baptized,
but their eyes couldn't escape the natural. That's all they
could see. That's all they could see. They looked for a man, a great
man, a man who would He'd find favor with the people. People loved David. Why is that? Why is that? You know, I went
to work for a fellow. And when I first went up into
Kentucky, we were really hurt. We didn't
have nothing. And Don said, well, there's work
here around Lexington. But if you can find it, but he
said most of the really good jobs have been taken. Well, I
went up there and I went to work and immediately I just found
favor with this guy. He just, I didn't know him from
man to moon. He didn't know me. He just saw
me working. And he came out there and I built
his house and he absolutely hated the guy that I worked for. Those
two didn't get along at all. But he liked me. And down the
road he hired me. And he raised me right up to
the top of his company. And I didn't do anything. God
has a way of showing favor with men. He just does. I can't explain that. I don't
know how that happens. I just know it's so. And he uses
men in that way. He sent Joseph. Here's Joseph. He got sold into slavery and
went down to Egypt. In a few years, this man was
in control of Egypt. Why? Because God gave him favor
with that old evil king. That's exactly right. And that's
how he does things. And that's what these people
were looking for. They were looking for a man who could find favor
with a people like David. They looked with greedy eyes
that sought an advantage with God. They sought prosperity of goods. respect among the nations. They
wanted freedom from earthly rule. They wanted freedom from the
influence of heathen religion. And they looked as men who were
convinced of their authority to do so. Turn with me over to
Romans chapter 2. I want you to see this. They
looked as men appointed and anointed to be out here doing this examining. Romans chapter 2. I want to establish
this because this is so important. And remember what it is I'm talking
about. I'm saying that out here beyond Jordan, out here in Beth-Abrah,
out here in the wilderness was gathered two groups of people
and in these two groups is represented all the religions of the world. Here in Romans chapter 2 verse
17, he said, Behold, thou art called a Jew. Now the Jew in
this day was the only people on the top side of God's earth
who knew anything about God. You're just not going to hear
them talk about God. You might hear them talk about Baal. And
you might hear them talk about some other God. You might hear
them talk about the golden calf or something, but you're not
going to hear anybody talk about God except the Jew because nobody
else knew anything about God. God only revealed himself to
these people, to the Jew. And he said, you call yourself
a Jew and you rest in the law and you make thy boast of God,
that I know God. We know God. Isn't that what
religion says? We know God. Come over here and
worship with us. We know God. We have God's favor. We've got God's ear. We've got
God's blessing. See the size of our building?
See the way we jump around, hop around, praise God? We've got
God's favor. We know God. That's what Paul
is saying here. You make thy boast of God and
you say, I know His will. And we approve the things that
are most excellent being instructed out of the law. We approve righteous
living. We approve moral living. We approve
all these things. That's proof that we know God. We're instructed out of the law.
We read the Word of God and are competent. Now listen to this,
are competent. No doubt that thou thyself art
a guide of the blind and a light of them which are in darkness,
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast
the form of knowledge and of truth in the law." Now he said,
that's your boast. That's what you say. That's what
you say. So first of all, we have a group
representing all the religions of the earth, these two groups.
You've got natural men with natural motives, natural goals, natural
understandings of the earth, Paul said, earthy. That's what
you are. And then secondly, represented
by John and his disciples, is the Israel of God. In Romans
chapter 2, back over to Romans chapter 2, verses 28 and 29,
it declares the difference that I'm declaring to you this morning.
Now, I just read to you what Paul said, and he was a Jew.
He knew exactly where they was coming from because he'd already
been there. I can talk this way about religion
this morning because I've already been there. God didn't save me
in religion. He saved me out of it. And that's
what Paul is saying to these people. He didn't use religion
to teach me. He pulled me out of the darkness.
And he said, if my gospel is hid, it's hid because religion
blinded your eyes. And Satan used them to blind
them. There's two groups of people out here. Totally different,
yet a lot of what they confess is the same. You see what I'm
saying? Look here in Romans 2, verse
28. He said, He's not a Jew which
is one outwardly. He's not a Jew just because He
stands up and says, I'm a Jew. He's not a Jew because He brings
out a birth certificate and proves to you that He's of the bloodline
of Abraham. He's not a Jew. He's not a Jew
which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh, but he's a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart." Uh-oh. Uh-oh. We ain't got no power over the
heart. I can cut my skin, but I can't
touch his heart. and in the Spirit. Anybody here
got command over the Spirit of God? You see what I'm saying? He's a true Jew, which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, and in the
Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God. There is a people representative
of Christ on this earth who are the true Israel of God. Now it's necessary, I'm telling
you, it's necessary to see these distinctions because there's
no promises given to the Gentiles. All the promises and the covenants,
I read that to you a while ago in Romans chapter 10, they're
all given to Israel. Israel. Now watch this, turn
with me to Romans chapter 9. This whole generation is superstitious. I was talking to a fellow the
other day at work, and this other fellow, this real religious fellow,
was standing by. I didn't know he was there. And
I said something about the Jews, and he come unglued. I mean,
he, oh, he said, I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that. You better be careful how you
talk about the Jews, and this nation better be careful how
they have dealings with the Jews. Listen to this here in Romans
9, verse 3. Paul makes his intercession to
God for Israel. They were his kinsmen, he said,
according to the flesh. Verse 4. Who are Israelites,
to whom pertaineth the adoption? Man, we read about adoption over
there in Ephesians the other day. Predestinated unto adoption. But here it says, these are Israelites
to whom pertaineth the adoption. Well, if I can't see myself a
Jew, I can just check that off. That's to an Israelite. Now watch
this. To whom pertaineth the adoption
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God. and the promises, whose are the
fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, whose
over all God blessed forever." Now watch this. But these people
rejected Christ. These people hounded Him, despised
Him. These people killed the early
preachers and apostles. Well, don't that make the Word
of God without effect? Doesn't that contradict the Word
of God? Now listen, verse 6, "...not
as though the Word of God hath taken none effect, for they are
not all Israel which are of Israel." Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called." Now listen, that is, here's what that means.
In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Here's what it means. That is,
they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God. If you have any doubt, get it
erased. These are not the children of
God. But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. God has a people representative
of Him in all generations. A spiritual people, a children
of the promise. And these are the children of
God. So that these children, these believers, I can go back
into the Old Testament and I can read the promises of God and
lay hold on them and rejoice in them knowing that I'm a Jew. But you're not circumcised. Oh
yeah, right here. Right here. These are those in John chapter
1 who received Him. He came unto His own and His
own received Him not, but to as many as received Him. Who
received Him? Listen. He gave the power to
become the sons of God who were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." They
received Him. That's your Jew. That's your
true Jew. There is a natural Israel. They
were a nation set aside to picture spiritual Israel. I'm telling
you, God's church, His body, His elect, the true Jew, are all elect in Christ. They were all chosen in Christ.
They all have their beginning in one man. What about Israel? They all had their beginning
in one man, Abraham. To him were given the promises
and by the promises given to Abraham they all shared in the
blessing. Is that not true with the spiritual
Jews? Isn't that what it says in Ephesians chapter 1? That
He chose us in Christ and blessed us with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly blessings in Christ. We share in the blessings given
us in Him. The same as Israel shared in
the blessings given to us. We have Abraham to our father.
They knew where the blessings come from. They're a picture by type and
symbol to lay the foundation of redemption. Winston read it
to us just a few minutes ago. We're built on the foundation
of the apostles and who? Prophets. Oh my! That's the old Bible. No, we
just have one Bible. You take away the Old Testament,
you don't have a new. You take away the foundation,
you don't have a house. You see what I'm saying? We're
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The Old
Testament lays the foundation by picture. It lays the foundation. All these nations and men, these
two, he said, are an allegory. Ain't that what he said over
in Galatians? Abraham had two sons, Ishmael
and Isaac. They both represented something,
didn't they? He's laying the foundation. That old ark, did
He just build an ark so He could save a few people and let the
world continue? Is that what that is all about?
Oh no. Oh no. No. That ark is Christ. And God's
wrath falls on the world. It fell on Noah, but Noah was
an ark. See what I'm saying? It lays
a foundation. And it establishes the foundation
of redemption and substitution. Establish the way of worship,
the way of righteousness, the way of sacrifice and service.
And there's a spiritual Israel which began in the election of
God in eternity. And it's inclusive of all believers
of every age. Old Testament and New. Natural
Israel represent all the religions of the world. Turn with me to
Matthew chapter 23. I can't begin to emphasize the
importance of what I'm telling you here this morning. Religion
is the primary means by which Satan causes men to go to hell. Now that's the truth. Religion.
A fellow told me the other day that his daughter moved off somewhere
and he said, but at least she's going to church. She's not going
to a grace church. At least she's going to church.
No, she went downhill big time. Big time. Well, Daddy, ain't
you happy I'm going to church? Uh-uh. My children, they was
so angry at me growing up, they wanted to go over to their friend's
house and go to church with them, go down there and worship with
them. I wouldn't have it. I wouldn't stand for it. I'd rather they go to the bar.
That too hard? I'd rather they go down to the
bar. They'd be less damaged at the bar than they're going to
be down there because they're going to get a false refuge down
there. My wife's mother, she just wasn't
one much to go to church at all and she had this friend up in
Ohio that was very religious and she talked her into going
a few Sundays with her and that preacher talked her into going
down that aisle and making a profession of faith and she shook his hand
and was baptized and they put her name on the church roll and
she went to hell trusting in that profession of faith. I had
lots of friends that just go to the bar. They got to get out
and work out that rebellion of heart when they're young. Go
down there, don't go here. Don't go here. I'll take it a step farther than
that. Our Lord went around and He was pronouncing woe on these
countries where He'd been to preach. And He said, I'm going
to tell you something. He said, if Sodom and Gomorrah,
you know what they were guilty of? He said, if Sodom and Gomorrah
had heard what you heard and saw what you saw, they would
have repented. And he said, it's going to be
easier on them in the day of judgment than it's going to be
on you. Look here in Matthew chapter
23. In verse 13 he said, Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer
you them that are going to enter in. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees! Verse 14. Hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses,
and for a pretense make long prayers. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees! Hypocrites! For you compass sea
and land to make one proselyte, one convert, And when you make
him, you make him twofold more the child of hell than you are.
Verse 23, Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the
weightier matters of the law, skipped over judgment, skipped
over mercy, and bypassed faith. Verse 24, You swat at a gnat
and swallow a camel. Verse 25, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrite, for you make clean the outside of
the cup and of the platter, but within you are full of extortion
and excess. Verse 27, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrite, for you are like the whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full
of dead men's bone and uncleanness. Verse 29, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets
and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous. And you say, if
I had been in the days of my fathers, I wouldn't be in partaker
with them. Is that what they say? Well, I wouldn't do like he does. I wouldn't do like he does. Wherefore,
you be witnesses unto yourselves that you are the children of
them which killed the prophets. Fill you up the measure of your
fathers. You serpents, you generation
of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore,
verse 34, wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and
wise men, and scribes, and some of them you'll kill and crucify,
and some you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute
them from city to city. Why is he going to allow that?
Watch it now. Here's the reason. that upon
you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from
righteous Abel, slew by a man who rejected the
counsel of God. from righteous Abel unto the
blood of Zechariah, son of Barchai, whom you slew between the temple
and the altar. All the righteous blood shed
from first to last is laid at their charge because they were
set forth as the primary example of it." That's what I'm trying
to tell you this morning. There's only two religions in
this world, there's works and there's grace. And they may call
themselves Mohammeds or Nazarenes or Baptists or whatever it is
they want to call themselves. There's only two religions on
this earth, works and grace. Those who believe that by something
they do, something they say, something they contribute, some
potential in them, they can find favor with God. And those who
come to know that salvation is the free, sovereign gift of God's
grace. Two religions. And it's sovereign grace because
He's sovereign who gives it. It's in His hands. You read the
rest of Romans chapter 9, you'll find that out. He's God. And the reason we want to talk
about free will and all this kind of stuff is because we don't
know God. God's sovereign. They wanted to lay some charge.
Paul said, You're going to say unto me, Why doth he yet find
fault? This God you preach, nobody can resist His will. Why doth
He yet find fault? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? You're going to call God out
on the carpet? You're going to question God? That's what this
generation does. It's sovereign grace because
He's sovereign that dispenses it. It's unchangeable grace because
He's unchangeable that gives it. It's omnipotent grace because
He's all-powerful who gives it. Brother, you don't believe in
falling from grace? No. No, I don't. I don't. You can fall out of religion. You can fall out of a profession,
but you can't fall from grace because you didn't have anything
to do with it. He just gives it to you, John.
Just gives it to you. There it is. And these natural men, they were
looking for a helper, they were looking for a teacher, they were
looking for a leader, they were looking for someone they could
accept. They were looking for a man that
they could approve of, a man that they could find confidence
in. John looked for a lamb. You see
the difference? That's the difference between
religion and the Israel of God. The Israel of God wasn't out
there looking for them things. They were out there looking for
the lamb. It's always been about the lamb. God slayed a lamb in
the garden and shed his blood, killed him, took his life, took
his skins and clothed him. He said, I never read that. You
ever read about Abel's sacrifice? Where did he come up with the
idea to have a lamb? Daddy told him. That's where
he got it. Daddy told him. And God verified
it in the offering of Abel and the rejection of Cain. He verified
that lamb. There was a time on the mountain.
Abraham, the father of faith, took his son up on the mountain.
Young boy. Probably attended with his daddy
many a worship. Went out there at that altar
and watched his daddy slay the lamb. I knew he knew all about
it because he asked the right questions. He'd been there, but
he still didn't know anything about it. He was going up that
mountain and he knew where Abraham was going because he saw the
fire and he had the wood on his back. And he saw the knife. His daddy took a knife. Says
that right at the outset. This is what's involved in sacrifice.
Something's got to die to please God, either in picture or in
substitution through the body of Christ, through the death
of Christ. Something's got to die. And he saw that knife, and
he saw the fire, and he saw the wood. He said, where's the lamb?
I think he was worried, don't you? Have you ever been worried? You ever been brought to that
place where you knew what was awaiting you? That's where he
was. He knew what was fixing to happen.
There wasn't no lamb and he was the only other one there. He knew what was coming. You
ever been there? You ever come to see that God
can't be satisfied any other way except you die? By one man,
sin entered into the world and death by sin. He has to die because
God is just. And that death passed upon all
men. How come? All sin. All sin. And he said, where's the lamb?
Only the Lamb can put away sins. Only the Lamb can purge the conscience. Only the Lamb can satisfy God.
Where's the Lamb? He said, My son, you hear me,
God will provide Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering. John the Baptist was looking
for a Lamb. He wasn't looking for a revival. He wasn't looking
to build a big church out there in the wilderness. He was doing
what God told him to do. Go out there and declare the
Christ of God. Declare the Lamb. Harold, he was the forerunner.
He was told who to look for. But he said, I didn't know it.
I didn't know it. He looked at those disciples
when they come down the path. He looked at them Pharisees when
they come down the path. He didn't see the Lamb. But when
Jesus of Nazareth come down that path, He saw what God told him
to look for. He saw a dove ascending and descending
off of him. And he said, ìThereís the Lamb.
Thereís the Lamb.î He looked with eyes of revelation. He looked
back. Old John looked back into eternity. This is who wrote the book of
John I'm talking about. He looked back with those eyes
into eternity, and he saw that book sealed with all the counsels
and purposes of God. And none was worthy to take the
book. None was worthy to look on the
book. None was worthy to unloose the seals. And they all wept,
but one was found worthy. He said he looked and right in
the midst of the throne and in the midst of the beast and the
elders and everybody there stood a lamb as it had been slain. Look for the lamb. And I tell
you this, we've gathered here this morning and I'm trying my
best to preach to you the lamb. The lamb. Look for the lamb. That's when you and I are going
to learn to worship, when we see the lamb. We see the Lamb. Where's the Lamb, he said. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10 and I'll wind this up. Hebrews chapter 10. He says here in verse 1, and
he talks about this in these previous chapters. He calls it
these ceremonial types of the law, he calls them figures for
the time then present. He calls that back there in Hebrews
chapter 9 where he's talking about the tabernacle. He said
in the beginning there was a tabernacle and it had the priesthood and
it had the sacrifices and all those things. He said this was
a figure for the time then present. And here in Hebrews chapter 10
verse 1, he says, for the law in all of its ceremonies, in
all of its services, in all of its washings and purifications,
he's talking about the ceremonial law here, in all of its types
and symbols, having a shadow of good things to come. You see
that? It just had an outline. Just a shadow of good things
to come. can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually. They offered them every year,
offered them continually. I'd be afraid to estimate. We
were studying the tabernacle one time. It's mind-boggling
how many cows and sheep and goats and things that those folks killed
out there in the wilderness worshipping God. Take that times their entire
history, you couldn't get it all on a piece of paper. They
offered them continually, but they couldn't make the comers
there unto perfect, for then would they not have ceased to
be offered? Wouldn't God just say, don't offer them no more?
Wouldn't God just say, let's just wind this thing up. We're
not going to do this anymore because it ain't working. Or
wouldn't He have said, I'm satisfied. Don't offer no more sheep. Don't
kill any more goats. That's what Paul said. For them
would they not cease to have been offered, verse 2, because
that the worshipers once purged, if you went in there and your
conscience was purged and your sins was put away, there shouldn't
be any more need. There shouldn't be any more need
to offer sacrifice, should there? If my sins have been atoned and
God's been satisfied and my guilt put away, I should have no more
reason to offer another sacrifice. But in those sacrifices, in those
ceremonial washings and killings and bloodletting and all that
kind of stuff. In those sacrifices, there's
a remembrance again made of sins every year. That high priest
had to kill another one and go back into the tabernacle again.
And somebody's going to say, well, why'd he go in there? Well,
he has to go in there and make atonement for sin. There's a
remembrance of sin made every year. Verse 4, for it's not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. It's not
possible that your good intentions and ceremonial church going and
all these ceremonial tithing and service should take away
sins. It ain't going to happen. Verse 5, when He cometh into
the world, when Christ come into the world, that's what John talked
about, behold the Lamb, here's the Lamb. D-Lamb, not A-Lamb,
D-Lamb. Here He is. And by His appearance,
He didn't say this vocally, it's His appearance. When He cometh
into the world, He saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared Me. You see that? "...and burn offerings and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure." Verse 7, "...then said I, Lo,
I come in the volume of the book, it's written of me, to do thy
will, O God." Verse 10, "...by the which will we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Sanctified. Considered holy. Set apart. Set apart for divine use. Once
for all. You see that? Verse 12. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. He wasn't like that
old priest running around doing this and that. His business was
never over. The next generation succeeded
him, and the next generation succeeded him, because they never
died. Never died. He sat down. He finished his work, and he
sat down. Now listen to this. Now don't
miss this. Verse 14, "...for by one offering he hath perfected
forever them their sacrifice." sanctified. But now watch this,
verse 15, whereof, what's he talking about? He's talking about
that body that God prepared, sent into this world to offer
up as one sacrifice forever. The perfect sacrifice, the sacrifice
that satisfied God. That's what he's talking about
here. We're of. That is all the things I just said. We're of.
The Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. And here's what the Holy
Ghost teaches from that ceremonial law. Here's what the Holy Ghost
teaches concerning the testimony of the Holy Spirit of God to
you. You're reading the Old Testament. Here's His testimony. I'll put
my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them."
What in the world is he talking about? He's not saying he's going
to write in your head, thou shalt not or thou shalt. That's not
what he's talking about here. He already said whereof. He's
talking about this one sacrifice. You see what I'm saying? For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. That's what he's talking about.
It's the fulfillment of it. It's the gold of it. It's the
consummation of it. It's over with. It's over with. You take that word in any way
you want to and that's exactly what it means. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to
the Gentile. He's the exaltation of the law,
and that's what he's talking about. He's going to write this
in your mind and in your heart that his law was not compromised,
his justice was not compromised, his demands were not compromised,
they were fulfilled. And this man took the law, something
the old priesthood couldn't do, and he exalted the law and made
it honorable. And now we're going to take the
Lord's table here in a little bit. This is one of two ordinances
that our Lord gave to His church before He sent it into glory.
He gave the ordinance of baptism. What's it do? What's the confession
of your faith? You say, well, I believe. What
does baptism do? It tells what you believe. You
believe that God created in you a union between you and Christ,
that He put you in Christ. And that when Christ came and
died and was buried and was raised again, you was with Him. That's
your hope. That's what baptism shows. Both these ordinances testify
of Him and they testify of His work. Baptism shows His death,
burial and resurrection and we confess our faith in Him. And
then there's the Lord's table. And the elements of the table
do the same thing. They picture His blood and they
picture His broken body. The wine represents His blood,
the blood of the everlasting covenant, the blood of the New
Testament. In whom we have redemption through His blood, He said, the
forgiveness of sins. And the bread, His broken body,
a body, hast thou prepared me? Isn't
that what He said? A body. A broken body, a body of substitution,
a representative body, a body identified with us by which he
can know when you call on him about pain and you heard or you
call on him about sorrow, something's happened or some great loss,
you call upon him because the way is hard, he knows exactly
what you're talking about. He's been there. He's been there. He can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. And here's what he says about
this table. He said, this do. This do. We make such a complicated
thing out of the table. It's not complicated. That's
why he gave it. That's why he gave it. He said,
this do in remembrance of me. Now, I'm just going to say a
few things and then we're going to take the tape. He said, this
do. He didn't say, don't do it. He
didn't say, ignore it. He didn't say do it every five
or six years. He said, this do. Do this. Do this. It has a purpose. I'm giving it to you to do. You see what I'm saying? It's
not out of your reach. This do. It's not to be ignored. This do, he said, exactly as
I'm telling you how to do it. Don't do it some other way. This
do. Don't substitute grape juice
because you've got a problem with alcohol. Don't go over there and get some
grape Kool-Aid and call it the blood of Christ. And don't insult
my intelligence and tell me that that word back in the Greek meant
grape juice, not wine. He changed that water into wine. And he served it. This do. Don't change those elements.
Don't monkey with it. Just leave it alone. It's perfect
and pure and given for a good reason. Enjoy it. Rejoice in
it. And don't try to add stuff to
it. Don't try to add the glamour and glitter of this world. The
Catholics make such a big deal out of coming and taking the
this little wafer. They've got to have a spoon.
The Lord didn't go around with a spoon holding His disciples'
tongues and putting a wafer in there. He broke the bread and
gave it to them. He poured the wine and He gave it to them.
And He said, No, it ain't good enough for us. We got to put
on a gown and a hat and we got to get out here with a spoon
and a wafer and a little picture on the wafer or something and
say a bunch of words in Latin that nobody knows what you're
saying and that's why they say them. This do. You see what he's saying? This do. And then we've got to add a lot
of worldly superstition and judgments and restrictions about the table. I was telling Winston this yesterday.
I can't see your heart. I don't know what you believe.
I hope God gives you faith in Christ. I hope you can rejoice
in Him. I hope you don't come here and be miserable. I don't
want you to be miserable. I want you to come here and rejoice.
But I don't want you to go to hell. I want you to hear the
gospel. And it makes me angry and upset
when religion spouts out lies on God. It made Christ angry. He went in with a whip and beat
him out of the temple. He didn't go in there and say,
well, I don't want to offend anybody. He plaited up a whip and drove
him out of the temple. And Paul was the same way, didn't
pull any punches. Our Lord called them serpents,
vipers. He said, I don't want you to come in here. I want you
to come in here and rejoice. Rejoice in Christ. Rejoice in
His blood. And we don't fence this table. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was
God over all, blessed forever, I read it to you while ago, who
could see right into your heart. He knew every motive, every thought,
every deed, before you ever did them. Walked right up to Judas
Iscariot at that table, knowing him to be the son of perdition
from the beginning, and broke the bread and laid it right out
in front of him, and poured the wine and laid it right out in
front of him. He didn't single him out. He didn't restrict him. They didn't call him out on the
carpet and embarrass him because of something he did that was
going to keep him from taking the table. He never mentioned
Judas Iscariot. He just broke the bread and gave
it to him, poured the wine, set it right in front of him and
went on. You know why? Because the table is not about
you, it's about him. And it's about remembering him
and you can't remember what you never knew. Old Bernard used to say, you
can't come back from someplace you've never been. And that's
what he's saying. So now, Winston, have you got
somebody already picked out that can help you? One of you men
come up here and help him pass out the bread and the wine. Go ahead and pass it out and
then we'll have prayer. Yeah, yeah. You can just kind
of pass them out together if you want to. The only restriction on this
table is that you believe. that you believe. If you believe,
you're welcome. Take it. You don't have to be
a member of this church or any other church. But you've got
to believe. Believe. Because you can't confess
what you don't have. I hope that waters for me.