Brother Norbert and I just met
Rose this morning. She kind of made us want to pine
a little bit for the bluegrass stage. A long time ago there was a preacher
who came to Lexington, been called to a Baptist church there to
be pastored. A young man, fresh out of Louisville
Seminary. We don't live in the Bible Belt,
we live in the buckle. And everybody around us is religious. Well, this fellow wanted to get
off to a good start. First Sunday in the new church,
he got up and preached on the evils of tobacco. And boy, he
worked it over. I mean, he worked it over. This
deacon came up to him at the service was over. Everybody else
left to stand in front of the porch and he said, Brother Pastor,
I don't know how to approach this, and I don't want to interfere
with your business and preaching, but did you happen to notice
as you drove into Kentucky those big black barns all over the
highways out in the country? He said, yeah. I said, what kind
of strange looking barns out there? He said, did you notice
those broad leaf plants up about so high, a little cap on top
of them? Yeah. What is that? Brother Pastor,
that's tobacco barns and that plant, that's Kentucky Burley. And I'm sure you're not aware
of it, but that's some of the finest tobacco in the world. It's raised right here in Kentucky
and we ship it all over the world. Those barns, that's where they
cure the tobacco. And a good portion of your salary
is going to be coming from fellows who work in that stuff. And if
I were you, I'd kind of be careful about preaching against tobacco
too much. Pastor says, well, thank you.
I'll take that under advisement. So next Sunday, he got up and
preached on the evils of alcohol. And boy, did he work it over.
Boy, did he work it over. That St. Deacon met him at the
services and he said, Brother Pastor, I don't mean to pry. I don't want to interfere with
things. And I know you want to get off
to a good start here. as being your first pastor, your
young man. You did come down here from Louisville,
didn't you? He said, yeah. He said, didn't
you come through Bardstown? He said, well, yeah, I did. He
said, as you came through Bardstown, didn't you notice those big,
tall, 8, 10, 12 story, gray, ugly buildings? He said, yeah,
what are those? He said, they're called those
aging houses. aging houses. He said, they're
not for aging people. He said, here in Central Kentucky,
we kind of have a reputation for making something called Kentucky
bourbon. It's supposed to be the best
sipping whiskey there is. And a lot of your fellows who
support your ministry here, they work in that stuff. And so, you
know, I'd be kind of careful if I was you about talking too
much about that. Pastor said, well, okay, I'll take that under
advisement too. So next Sunday, he'd gotten a
full fit and he had it just right. He preached on the evils of gambling.
And man, did he work it over. At St. Deke. He comes shaking
his head and he said, well, Pastor, didn't you graduate from Louisville
Seminary? He said, well, yeah. He said, did you notice As you
drove into Lexington, they had these huge, beautiful barns and
one horse out in the paddock. He said, I wonder why they had
just one horse out in that pasture. It looked like an awful waste.
He said, that's not a pasture, pastor. That's a paddock. And
that one horse out there, not just any horse. Here in Kentucky,
we raise the finest thoroughbred racehorses in the world. They said, when you were in Louisville
in seminary, didn't you ever hear that thing called the Kentucky
Derby? He said, well, yeah. I said, it's horse races, isn't
it? He said, well, yes, sir. But it's not just any horse race.
It's the biggest one. And you might not know this,
but sometimes folks gamble on it. And a lot of the fellows
here in this church are going to be working around horses and
in the horse industry. I can't preach on gambling either. He said, tell me what I can preach
against here in Lexington, Kentucky. I can't preach against tobacco.
I can't preach against liquor. And I can't preach against gambling.
Just what can I preach against? And that old deacon thawed and
scratched his chin. He said, I've got it. He said,
why don't you preach against them witch doctors down in Africa?
They ain't one in 1,000 miles of here. Most preaching is just about
that useless. I won't speak to your heart.
I count you dear, and I won't speak to your heart. Give me
your attention for a few minutes as we turn to 1 John 1. 1 John 1. By the time John wrote this epistle,
he's already an old man. He has lived long enough to see
many antichrists go forth into the world, denying the gospel
of God's grace, denying the person and work of Christ, denying the
glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Knowing that many had
made shipwreck of the faith, had been turned aside to fables,
he writes this epistle to give assurance to God's people. To give peace and comfort to
God's people. Several years ago, I had a fellow
come visit me. He was listening to me on radio
when I was on radio up in New York. He came down several times. Last time he came to visit us,
he's sitting on my back porch and he's bragging on his pasture.
He goes to one of these Reformed churches where they beat you
to death every Sunday. He said to me, he said, oh, brother So-and-so
is such a good preacher. He said, every time I go to church,
I just, I'm just so beaten down. I said, I quit going. I quit going. If my daddy beat
me every time I came home, I quit coming home. That's what I did.
I just quit coming home. I'm not looking forward to that.
Our God says, comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, says the Lord. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Declare to her her warfare is
over, her iniquities pardoned, she has received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins, and John's epistle is written
for that specific purpose, to assure us of the union of God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the union of Jesus Christ, our
Mediator, with the eternal God, for He is God, and the union
of our souls to His Son, and to one another in His Son. John 1 verse 1, 1 John 1 verse
1, 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 ye also may have fellowship with us and
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus
Christ and these things write we unto you that your joy may
be full I want you to walk home rejoicing fully I want you to
walk through the day full of joy. I want you to walk through
your life full of joy, the blessed joy of faith, that your joy may
be full. This then, in order to accomplish
this end, this then is a message we have received. Is that what
it is? This is the message. The message. There's only one message in this
book. Just one. You just heard it. You're going to hear it again
in just a few minutes. Just one. One message. This then is the
message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you that
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Now these opening
verses of this epistle, John describes himself as an eyewitness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the word of life. The word,
translated word in the New Testament, sometimes refers to the written
word, but that's a different word. This word speaks of Jesus
Christ, the Living Word, in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is He who is the
Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. John says we
have looked upon and we are eyewitnesses of the Word of life, this One
who is Himself, eternal life. He said in John 1-4, in the Gospel
of John, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Here He declares certainly the eternal deity of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He certainly is declaring the
unity of the triune Godhead as He states it in 1 John 5-7. It says there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, Word and the Holy Spirit and
these three are one. These three are one. He declares
to us that our Lord Jesus Christ the Word is Himself God. He said in the beginning was
the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Really a better reading would
be in the beginning was the Word and the Word was face to face with God in perfection. And God was the Word. When our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Word, was made flesh and dwelt among us, He never ceased to
be God. I love the way Brother Harmon
stated it just a little while ago. He didn't say God took on Himself our nature. He
didn't say God assumed flesh. He stated it as God states it. And God was made flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Jesus Christ is Himself God Almighty
in full humanity. one glorious person, God and
man entirely. But then he speaks here, specifically,
not so much about our Lord's eternal deity as something else. Notice what he said, that which
was from the beginning, that cannot possibly refer to our
Lord's eternal sonship as God the eternal Son. with him in
his eternal deity, there is no beginning. But he said that which
was from the beginning. So specifically, here in 1 John
1, the Apostle is talking to us about our Lord Jesus Christ,
our Savior, the God-Man, our Mediator, of whom Micah said
his goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. His goings forth have been of
old, from everlasting. John says that which was in the
beginning, from the beginning, this which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you. Now, let me just make a statement,
and you're going to think I've popped the cork, but I haven't.
I've proved my statement right. There was a beginning before
there was a beginning. There was a beginning before
the beginning. Turn with me, if you will, to
Proverbs chapter 8. Our Lord's human body and soul
did not exist before He came into the world a little over
2,000 years ago. That does not mean He did not
exist as our mediator before He came into the world. He comes
into the world in human flesh in time as the last Adam. But He is really the first Adam
who stood from the beginning as the image of God in whose
image the first Adam created was made. Our Lord Jesus was
from everlasting our surety, our mediator, our representative
before God. Proverbs 8 verse 23, I was set
up from everlasting, look at it, from the beginning. What
does that mean? or ever the earth was. When we
think about the beginning, we think about in the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth. That's the beginning of
time in this world. That is not the beginning of
the outworking of God's eternal grace and salvation for his people. He was set up wisdom, assurity,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. Another way of
putting it is from the foundations of the earth. And that's what
the phrase is used frequently in the scriptures. Turn over,
if you will, to the book of John, the Gospel of John. This one
who is from the beginning says he is God alone declaring the
end from the beginning, in Isaiah 46. He declares the end from
the beginning. He declares back before the world
was, that which shall be the end. And then he does it, having
declared that it's done. Here in John chapter 1, verse
1, I've referred to it several times. In the beginning was the
Word. The Word. But that specific word speaks
of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Mediator. Hang on now. I have some thoughts
in my mind. I've been working them over a
good bit. I know what I want to say to you. Do you know what
I'm fixing to say to you? You can't possibly know what
I'm fixing to say to you. You can't possibly know what I'm
thinking in my mind. There's only one way you can
know and that is if I put it into words and reveal to you
what's in me from the beginning or ever the earth was. God set
up His Son, the triune God set up Christ to be our mediator
and made Him our mediator and our surety in whom, by whom God
communicates and reveals Himself to men and in and by whom men
come to God. In the beginning is the Word
by which God is known. takes God and executes Him, opens
Him up to us. Look at John 6, verse 44. Or verse 64, I'm sorry. There are
some of you that believe not. Now then, Circle this next gigantic
three-letter word. For. What does that mean? What does
that mean? Because. There are some of you that believe
not. Because Jesus knew from the beginning. who they were
that believed not, and who should betray him. In Acts 15, known
unto God are all his works from the beginning. Now, turn if you
will to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. I want you to
see what he is referring to when he speaks of from the beginning.
Here in 2 Thessalonians, Paul is describing the apostate religious
age in which we live, man of sin being revealed, God sending
the strong delusion of will worship, that men should believe a lie,
who believe not the truth, that they might be damned. And then
he tells us the only reason why you're sitting here, worshiping
God. The only reason why you're not
in some dark dungeon of Satan worship, or man worship, even
worse. The only reason. Verse 13, But
we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren
beloved of the Lord, for, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you. Brother Harmon referred to this
place. Why on earth would God establish
His Word here? Why? Go down to San Diego, try
to find a place to hear the gospel. Go ahead. I spent a week there
before I met your pastor one time, called around churches
trying to find some place. I didn't find anybody. I didn't
find anybody who even had a clue what I was talking about. And
I was talking to the preachers. Didn't find anybody. Go down
there. For why on earth would God Almighty establish His Word
in this place? Because God had from the beginning
chosen me. That's all. That's all. He knew
from the beginning who would believe, and who would not believe,
and who would betray Him, because that which He knew from the beginning,
He ordained from the beginning, because God had from the beginning
chosen you. You have known Him, John says
in chapter 2 of 1 John, that is from the beginning. Now, John
assures us that his message is no more and no less than that
he had personally seen and heard. It wasn't second hand information.
He wasn't a fellow who had gone to seminary and learned how to
paw parrots things that he learned in seminary. You listen to preachers. You ever find it strange how
they all sound exactly alike and even use the same voice inflections? If you meet them on the street
and they talk to you, hello Joe, you hear them in the pulpit,
God said, fake is a three dollar bill, fake is a three dollar
bill, everything about fake. They go to seminary and they
learn doctrine, learn some things to say, and they get in a poor
pit and say, probably want a cracker. I mean, it's just as simple as
that. They follow Perry, everything they've heard. John says, that's
not what I'm preaching to you. God's servants don't preach something
they've learned from another man, except as that man learned
from God teaching him. God's servants don't preach that
they learn by their academic astuteness. They don't preach
that that they simply repeated from somebody else. But rather,
we don't give out second-hand information, we're giving you
that which we have seen and heard and looked upon and handled.
He says, I'm telling you, that which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, isn't that a great word? which we have
looked upon, we have gazed upon diligently and with delight,
and our hands have handled of the word of life. Christ, life
essential, swallowed up death in victory and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. John said, we're
telling you about Him who is life. That which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you. He's not merely glorying and
having had physical sight of Christ. I read numerous times
over the years, one particular fellow, Austin, one of the fellows
who regarded him as a great spiritual leader, he said one of the three
things he wished he could have had was to have seen Christ in
the flesh. Well, frankly, that would have
been nice. I'd like to have done that. But there's no spiritual
benefit to it. No spiritual benefit to it. People
that hang up crosses and they have pictures of Jesus and they
carry around little religious icons and angels and all that
nonsense people put with Roman Catholic religion we pared over
in the Baptist and Protestant churches, but it's just idolatry
because they think there's something, oh now that brought it close
to God. That'll make us feel spiritual. It probably will, but it'll send
you to hell. If that's how you feel spiritual, I promise you,
because if it makes you feel spiritual, that's your God. If
it makes you feel closer to God, that's what you worship. That's
the spirit in which you walk. You mean, brother Don, it wouldn't
be any real spiritual benefit to us if the Lord Jesus were
to walk into those doors right now and stand in the midst? Wouldn't
do you one speck of good. I'm proving it. I'm proving it.
There were untold thousands who touched him and were touched
by him who never knew him. Our Lord, on numerous occasions,
performed miracles on the bodies of men who never had a clue who
He was. Our Lord fed 5,000 on one occasion,
4,000 on another occasion, men, not including women and children,
with just a man lunchbox. Just a lunchbox. They watched
Him break bread, break off a piece of bread, 20,000 times. Like that. They watched him pass
out fish. Just two or three of them. 20,000 times. And you know what
they got out of it? A piece of bread and some sardines.
No more. No more. Nothing physical will
in any way bring you to God. John's talking about having seen
and handled Christ and gazed upon Him and held Him with the
eyes and the arms and the heart and the hand of faith that Christ
Himself gave. He's talking about knowing Him
spiritually. Turn over to 1 Corinthians, 2
Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14 In verse 14, Paul
says the love of Christ constrains us. In verse 15, he says this
is why the love of Christ constrains us. Let me give you a paraphrase
of it. Because when Christ died, we all died in Him that we might
live forever before God in Him. Now verse 16, he's telling us
about saving knowledge. I read fellows write about saving
knowledge, talk about saving knowledge. There's nothing on
this earth short of Gnosticism. If you can just believe these
facts, receive these facts, ascend to these facts, that's saving
knowledge, what nonsense. Paul says in verse 16, wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh. Paul knew Christ after the flesh,
just like I know Stonewall Jackson. He knew Christ after the flesh,
just exactly like you know me after the flesh. He knew who
he was. knew where he lived, knew what
he did, knew what he taught, and he hated him. He said, we
knew him after the flesh. Multitudes filled churches who
know Christ after the flesh. Somebody told them to believe
and say, I agree to some facts, and now they sit in church and
say, you're saved. That's not the knowledge of Christ. The
knowledge of Christ is what God puts in you when He reveals His
Son, not just to you, but in you by His Spirit. Read on. Yet now henceforth know we Him
no more. We've seen Him and handled Him
and gazed upon Him diligently and continually, holding Him
by faith and faith alone. Then he asserts the believer's
fellowship with God in Christ. His desire for every believer's
fullness of joy in Christ. Truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son. Union is the ground of communion. That's not a clever saying, that's
a good statement. Union is the ground of communion. Union is the ground of communion. What do you say, Pastor? You
mean we can't have communion with God unless we're one with
Him? You got it. You mean we can't have communion
with one another unless we are one? You got it. You got it. You mean we can't have union
with Christ unless we are one with Him? You got it. Union being
the ground of communion John declares plainly here, our fellowship,
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son. Glory. What does that mean? Happy art thou O Israel, who
is a people like unto thee, O people saved of the Lord. This is the
message God sent me to declare, he says. God is light, and in
him is no darkness at all. Now, he's not talking about God's
moral excellence, if you want to use such language. He's not
talking about God's transcendent glory. He's not talking about
God's indescribable, ineffable, glorious purity. Rather, he's
telling us that the message he is sent to proclaim is the revelation
of God, whom no man hath seen nor can see, whom no man can
approach unto. Well, how on earth then can God
be revealed? That which is from the beginning,
the Word of Life. God Almighty comes by the power
of His grace. and causes the light of the glory
of God to shine in your heart in the face of his Son. You mean, you mean the only way
a man can know God is for God to come into him? It's the only way. The only way
man can know Christ is for Christ to invade him, the only way. The only way man can know anything
spiritual is for the Spirit of God to knock down his heart's
door, bolt and bar, and take up residence in him, the only
way. First time you know he's around,
he's already there. He comes in, in sovereign power. And you find yourself believing.
I can't tell you how many times in the last 40 years I've preached
to folks and prayed for them. I've preached to them and pleaded
with God for them. I quit pleading with men a long
time ago. You can't do nothing. But I plead with God for you. Get a call in the middle of the
night. Never will forget Brother Rex Bartley, you preachers have
met him, but Todd knows him. He'd been sitting in church all
his life. Been listening to me preach for
ten years. And Rex goes to bed early. He called me one night
about two o'clock in the morning, knew I'd still be up at the services.
He said, Brother Don, God's given me faith. He didn't say, how can I have
faith? He said, God's given me faith.
I've had those words repeated numerous times. People come to me and say, what
can I do? How can you help me? I can't
help you. I can't help you. I can't help you. I tell you,
believe on Christ. This pastor just told you, believe
on Christ. This one coming after me is going
to tell you to believe on Christ. That's all I tell you. So how do I know when I believe?
If you do, you do. It's just that simple. You will
find yourself believing when Christ himself has taken up residence
in your soul forever. And you walk in union with him
and his people and the eternal God. And then John makes a statement. Verse 6, if we say we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Anyone who professes that he
has faith in Christ walks in fellowship with God who is light
and yet walks in darkness is a liar. What's he talking about? What's he talking about? Men
who walk in darkness, being ignorant of the plague of their own hearts,
ignorant of the character of God, ignorant of the person and
worth, the accomplishments of Christ, ignorant of salvation
that God gives and God works in a man by His Spirit, walks
in darkness. And they don't know the truth. Those who know the truth walk
in it. They walk in it. But pastor,
don't God's saints walk in darkness? They sure do. They sure do. Every
one of them. Let me show you. Isaiah chapter
50. I want you to turn now. Isaiah
50. Yes sir, God's saints walk in
darkness, but it's a different darkness. They know the light and walk
in the light. Being fully convinced of the
plague of their hearts. Fully convinced of sin and righteousness
and judgment. Seeing clearly the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. Seeing how God shows himself
glorious in the accomplishments of the mediator. Knowing that
salvation is his work. They walk in darkness. All the
time. All the time. Let me show you. Isaiah 50, verse 10. Who is among
you that feareth the Lord? That's a believer. Is that right,
Brother Harmon? That's a believer. Those who
don't know God, there's no fear of God before their eyes. They
talk about fearing God. They don't have a clue what it
is. But those who believe fear the Lord, that obeyeth the voice
of his servant, they obey the message of the gospel. Now watch
this, that walketh in darkness and hath no light at all. No light at all. What's he to do? What kind of
darkness is he talking about? What's he talking about? Look inside here. Look in your heart. You hear
preachers tell you all the time to examine yourself? Look inside. See if you love the Lord. See
if you're increasing in knowledge. See if you're See if you're getting
to be more and more like Jesus. See if you are. See if you are.
Talk to the religious hypocrite and brag on his faith. Brag on
it. And he'll act humble. Oh no. And then he'll tell you how great
his faith is. I guarantee it. He'll do it every time. You talk
to him about his, oh, how I wish I loved the Lord like you do.
Oh, I don't love the Lord. And then he'll brag on how much
he loves the Lord. He'll do it every time. Every
time. You talk to him about his devotion,
his consecration, his sacrifices. Oh, I haven't made any sacrifices. And then he'll give you a whole
list. He'll do it every time. He'll do it every time. Talk
to a religious hypocrite about his knowledge of the Bible. First time I was addressed to
you, no it wasn't the first time, it was back in 94 or 95, somewhere
in there. Several years after it started coming down there.
Some fellas came up and wanted to talk, two in a row. I don't
know who they were. If you're sitting here, I'm glad
you're still here. I thought I probably killed you
then. They came up, one of them came up to me and said, Brother
Don, I need to talk to you. And this is how I started the
conversation. He said, I'm really a very spiritual man. You'd be
surprised how close I am to God. And I said, you're right, I would
be. About five minutes, I'm on my way to get something to eat.
Another fellow came up, Brother John, I need to talk to you.
He said, I consider myself a strong Christian. In fact, you'd probably
be astonished at how much I know. I said, I'm sure I would be.
Utterly astonished. Utterly astonished. Nothing but
religious, self-righteous hypocrisy. And if that's your language,
that's what you are. I'm just telling you exactly what I know.
Talk to that man right there about his love for Christ. What was. We love him because he first
loved us. But I can't walk in the light
of my love for him. I love my wife. I'd die for her. But when I think of her love
for me and my love for her, I can't even mention it. Talk to a believer about his
strong faith. Oh, how I wish I believed. Talk to a believer about his
devotion, his sacrifice, his commitment. And he'll tell you real quick,
Don, it's easy for me to convince you that I'm a real committed
fellow because I act like it all the time. I can act like it all the time
and you can too. I wonder how on this earth a
man can be so committed to himself and still know God. I walk in darkness. And the darkness has been getting
thicker for 40 years. Darkness. But what do you do? I trust in the name of the Lord. That's all. That's all. I trust Jesus Christ,
who of God has made it to me, wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. The wicked, the unbelieving,
who walk in darkness, they walk in dazzling light. They really
do. They walk in dazzling light.
Ask them. They'll tell you. Just ask them. They'll tell you.
The things I've said in the last five minutes are so utterly confounding
and confusing to folks who don't know God, they don't have a clue
what I've just said. They don't have one clue what
I've just said. The wicked, the unbelieving, They've got plenty
of life. Plenty of it. Let me show you.
Isaiah 50 verse 11. Behold, all ye that kindle a
fire that can pass yourselves about with sparks. Let me give you the picture.
Let me give you the picture. I'll wrap this up. I never will
forget the first time I bought my grandson and granddaughter
sparklers. Y'all get sparklers out here,
probably they're out in California. Yeah, just little sticks. You put a match or light to them
and they'll just spark. I mean, they'll just fizzle and
sparks go everywhere for 60 seconds, maybe. Maybe 60 seconds. First
time I snuck one up there. Before it dried out. Do another
pop. No, no, let me have two. And
I put two in each of the kids' hands. They said, and shaved
just waving sparklers everywhere. And they grabbed one some more.
What great light. Entertaining, delightful, and
fizzling. Fizzles out in about a minute,
strike another sparkler pop. That's it. That's it. You that
compass yourselves about with sparks. Oh, I've been going to
church for so long, I've got so many Sunday School buttons,
they'll drag the ground behind me by three feet. I want you to know I don't tithe,
I double tithe. I wouldn't want anybody to know
that, but you know, just within you. I've read my Bible three times
this year. Not that I'm bragging. I can recite books in the Bible
till you never miss a word. Now there's nothing good about
that. You that encompass yourselves
with sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks
that ye have kindled Go ahead to hell with it if you can. Go ahead to hell with it if you
can. Sparks that are made by striking
your hard, flimsy heart with this hammer and you just keep
striking off sparks. Go ahead. This shall you have
of my hand, and you shall lie down in sorrow." Oh, may God do for you what you
can't do for yourself. Oh, may God do for you what you
will never do for yourself. May God Almighty invade your
life by His omnipotent mercy and take
over from inside. Amen.