Let's open our Bibles together
once again to John chapter 3. In the text that we read a few
minutes ago, our Lord spoke to Nicodemus about
the new birth. The Lord told him, except a man
be born again, except he be born from above, he cannot see, cannot
understand, and he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That new birth is from above. It's by the Spirit. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. Can't be anything but flesh.
Never shall be anything but flesh. But that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. This new birth is wrought by
God, the Holy Spirit. It's wrought in sovereign power,
omnipotent power. And it's wrought in irresistible
grace. It's not an attempt to save.
It's not a mere imitation. But it's irresistible, invincible
grace. And it's accomplished through
the word of the gospel, through the word of the gospel. In whom
you trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation. This new birth is more than a
change of doctrine. It's more than a change of habit.
It's more than an education, more than adopting a new creed.
The new birth is the impartation of life. It is giving life to
that which was dead. You and you hath equated who
were dead. This impartation of life is the
impartation of divine life, spiritual life, and eternal life. That's
beyond the scope of man's power and ability. Now, to tell a person, to tell
a person that he must, and that's what our Lord said, you must,
but to tell one that he must be born again by the Word and
by the Spirit of God, that's true. That's true. And it's necessary. It's necessary. You know, I think
this statement, as much as any other statement made in Scripture,
if a person hears it, will absolutely shut them up to God and His mercy. It'll shut a man up to mercy.
It'll shut him up to God. It'll shut him up to grace through
Christ. Because in the same way that
we had absolutely nothing to do with our first birth, in the
same manner we have nothing to do with our second birth. It's
from without us. But you know, to simply tell
a person that that he must be born again while it is true and
while it's necessary, if not the whole gospel. If not the
whole gospel. And our Lord didn't say this
to Nicodemus and leave him there. Our Lord continued to speak to
this proud Pharisee, and he took an example from the Old Testament
scriptures to answer the question that he asked, how can these
things be? And our Lord used this occasion. Not merely to shut him up to
God, shut him up to grace, but to teach him the way of salvation
and life. You know, a few minutes ago in
our Bible class, Brother Dale talked about Mary sitting at
the feet of Jesus. And he talked about the possibility
of our Lord taking those Old Testament types and figures and
pictures and so forth and expounding them. And he said, wouldn't you
like to have been there and heard? We weren't, and we're not, but
we've got the next best thing. Because our Lord now takes one
of those Old Testament pictures and expounds it right here in
this text. And if he will enable it this morning, I'd like for
us to sit in while he does it. While he does it. So we'll pick
up. We'll pick up. Brother Sonny
left off reading. We'll pick up at verse 14. Now,
first thing our Lord does is he speaks here of the divine
pattern, the divine pattern. Verse 14, he says, and as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, the divine pattern. Now, this was an incident that
was well known to Nicodemus and other Jews, and I believe that
it's an incident well known to us, to all of us gathered here. It's recorded in Numbers 21,
and we'll not take the time to turn back there and read it,
but you can read it at your own leisure. And in that account,
we find that the people had sinned against God. They'd sinned against
God, and He'd sent fiery serpents among them, serpents which bit
the people. And many people died, and many
others were dying. And the people came to Moses,
and they said to Moses, We've sinned. We want you to go to
God for us. And Moses did. And God told Moses,
instructed him, to make a serpent of brass, to make it in the likeness
of the serpent which bit the people, and to lift it up on
a pole. And if anyone who was bitten
looked upon that serpent of brass, he'd live. He'd live. That's the divine pattern. And
we ought to notice a few things about that pattern. Because there
it says the people had sinned against God. Well, beloved, I'm
telling you, we have too. We've got the same problem. Because
the Scripture emphatically tells us that all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. There's none that doeth good
and sinneth not. We've sinned against God. Those
people were dying because they were bidden by those serpents.
Well, we're dying also. as the result of our sin. By
one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men, all of us. In that divine pattern
back there, there was no human cure. Those people had nothing
that they could do to cure the effects of that, of the bite
of that serpent. And I'm telling you that we don't
have any human cure for the sickness of sin. It's beyond our ability. Beyond our ability. But of the
deeds of the flesh and of the law, no flesh is going to be
justified in the sight of God. Can't be done. Just like back
there, God provided one remedy. He provided the serpent of brass.
That serpent of brass lifted up. And even so, our Lord Jesus
Christ is the only remedy for sin. He's the only Savior and
mediator between God and men. He's the man, Christ Jesus. Back
there in that Old Testament pattern, life was through faith. Whosoever
shall look, shall live. There was no efficacy in the
look. It was in the Word of God that said, look and live. And
whosoever looked, lived and lived. So we have the divine pattern.
Our Lord gives the divine pattern, and then the next thing he sets
forth here is the divine necessity. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That serpent of brass
was typical of our Lord Jesus Christ incarnate, typified the
Son of God who became the Son of Man. Our Lord spoke of that
in verse 13 of this text. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is
in him. The serpent of brass was made
in the likeness of the fiery serpents, but it had no venom.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
yet he was without sin. He was tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. That serpent of brass was made
of brass, and it was lifted up on a pole, which signified a
curse, which signified judgment for sin, which signified a sacrifice. Paul tells us in Galatians 3
that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree." I was thinking earlier, you remember
back when David was king, that there was a plague in Israel. David inquired as to why, and
it was because of the Gibeonites, the way they'd been treated by
Saul, and what they asked for. from David was that Saul's sons
might be given to them. And they took them, and they
hung them up. It was a picture of a curse,
and it was also a picture of a sacrifice that by this the
curse was removed. And David granted them their
wish, that he wouldn't give them a fiddle share. So that's what
was typified there. And this serpent lifted up. Our
Lord Jesus Christ must, He must be lifted up. He must be lifted
up on the cross as the substitute and sacrifice for His people.
He said later on in this book, John records, He said, And I,
if I be lifted up, will draw all unto me. He must be lifted
up. Sin has got to be atoned for.
An atonement for sin has got to be made. And God has said
the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given it to you
upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. The sin of the
sacrifice has got to be offered. We're told in Hebrews that almost
all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. Not only must sin be atoned for,
but the righteousness of the law has got to be fulfilled.
What the law requires will never be lessened. It must be fulfilled
in every jot and every till. A perfect obedience must be rendered
to it. The justice and judgment of God
has got to be satisfied as well as His divine requirements. That's
why God set forth the Lord Jesus Christ to be a propitiation,
an atonement, a mercy seat through faith in His blood. And he's
the only one, the only righteousness, the only sacrifice that God has
ever appointed to put away sin. He's the only one of whom it
is said it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He must be lifted
up on the cross, and he must be lifted up from the tomb. He
died on that cross, and he was buried, but he did not stay dead. God raised him up from the dead.
God raised him up having loosed the pains of death. It's not
possible that the grave could hold him. It's not possible that
his body could see corruption. Yes, he was delivered for our
offenses, said Paul, but he also said he was raised again for
our justification. He must be lifted up from the
grave. He must be lifted up to the throne of eternal glory as
victorious Savior. Must be. And He was. When He
had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down. Where? At the right
hand of the Majesty on high. And I tell you something, I know
the place that He must be lifted up. And He must be lifted up
in the preaching of the Gospel. In the preaching of the Gospel.
If we don't do anything else in our preaching, we must lift
up the Savior. We must set Him before men as
highly exalted. as having a name that's above
every name. That at that wonderful, majestic
name, every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going
to confess that he's Lord to the glory of God the Father.
We must lift him up. We must lift him up as who he
is, the eternal God who became flesh. The Word was made flesh
and tabernacled among us. We must lift him up as the Savior
appointed of God. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. But don't ever forget that we
must lift him up as absolute Lord. If he died, then he might
be Lord, both of us, dead and living. And we must lift him
up in his offices as prophet, priest, and king. As prophet,
priest, and king. He's the one who tells us of
God. The law was given through Moses,
but grace and truth came by one man, Jesus Christ our Lord. We've got to lift him up as priest,
seeing then that we have a great high priest. Where is he? He's
passed into the heavens. Who is he? He's Jesus, the Son
of God! Lift him up! Lift Him up as God. Lift Him up as man. Lift Him
up as Savior. Lift Him up as Lord, Prophet,
Priest. And lift Him up as our Eternal
King, who is none other than the King of kings and Lord of
lords. And let's lift Him up as our
righteousness. Let's lift Him up as Jehovah's attendant, the
Lord our righteousness. Let's lift Him up as the only
atonement for sin that God has set forth, the only propitiation,
the only mercy seat, the only mediator. If we don't do anything
else here this morning, let's lift him up. Let's lift him up. Let's ask God to reveal him to
us like Isaiah saw him. In the year that King Isaiah
died, I saw also the Lord. How did you see him, Isaiah?
I saw him high. I saw him high and lifted up.
That's the way I see him. Is that the way you see him?
And that's the way we must set him forth. We must save them. There's the divine necessity.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, that's the
divine pattern. The divine necessity is, even so, the Son of Man must,
must, must be lifted up. And then we have the divine purpose.
The divine purpose. Look at verse 15. That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Christ
lifted up is the means whereby God can be just and justify. Just and justify. You remember what we were told
in Romans 3, 26? To declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness, that he, God, might be just, and the justifier
of him which believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, faith, faith, beloved,
is the means of salvation and life by the grace of God. Paul said in Romans, therefore
it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed. This grace of faith, or faith
which is by grace, it's the gift of God's grace, the gift of God's
grace. By grace are you saved. How?
Through faith. That's not of yourselves. Where'd
it come from? It's the gift of God. It's not
a word. Why? That no man should boast. This faith has our Lord Jesus
Christ as its object. As its object. That whosoever
believeth in him. Is that what it says? That's
what it says. He's the object of faith. than whosoever believeth." Don't
you like that? You know, if it was put any other
way, if it was put any other way, I'd despair. I personally
would despair of salvation. If there was anything that I
had to do on my own for salvation, than whosoever believeth in him.
You see, this gospel is addressed to all without exception. I can
say to everyone within the sound of my voice, that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have eternal life." Preacher
sounds to me like you're preaching a freewill gospel. I am. I am. But not the freewill you're
thinking about. Turn over to Acts for a minute.
Let me show you this. This gospel is addressed to all
without exception. all without exception. In Acts 13, Acts 13, verse 38, Now be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, this man Christ Jesus,
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that
believe are justified from all things, from which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses. Men and brethren, women
and sisters, whosoever, it's addressed to all without exception.
But, beloved, I'm telling you, this gospel, this gospel, is
certain to some. It's addressed to all, but it's
certain to some. You still have Acts 13, don't
you? Look down at verse 48. It's certain
to God's elect. When the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many acts were ordained to eternal life. You know what they did? They believed. They believed. Some people say, well, that's
strange doctrine. No, that's not strange doctrine. That's not strange doctrine. John, go back to John and look
at chapter 10. John chapter 10. It was at Jerusalem, the Feast
of the Dedication, it was winter. And the Lord Jesus walked in
the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you
be the Christ, tell us plainly. And the Lord answered them and
said, I told you, and you believe not the works that I do in my
Father's name. They bear witness of me. Now
watch this. But you believe not, because
you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. You believe not because
you're not of my sheep. The world tries to turn that
around and say you're not my sheep because you don't believe,
but that's not what our Lord's saying. This gospel is addressed
to all without exception, but it is effectual to God's elect. To those who were ordained to
eternal life, they hear the word of the Master, and they believe
Him, and they receive Him. And He gives unto them eternal
life. Eternal life. Oh, listen, listen, that's the
divine purpose. And then the next thing we have
in this text is the divine reason. Look at verse 16. The divine
reason for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life. That's the reason Christ must
be lifted up. It's the reason all who believe in Him will not
perish but have eternal life. You know what it is? It's because
of God's love. Because of His love. Oh, listen,
beloved. Listen to it. The cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ not only displays the holiness of God, the justice
of God, but it displays His great love towards His people. The
proof, the proof of God's love, the proof that He loved His people
is the gift of His Son. Most of the world believes that
Christ came and died in order that God might love us. But beloved, that's not what
Scripture teaches. Our Lord Jesus Christ became
incarnate, rendered that obedience to the law, suffered and died
for the penalty of our sins. God loved us, not in order that
he might. John, writing in his first epistle,
says in 1 John 4, 10, Herein is love, not that we love God,
but he loved us and sent his Son, the propitiation for our
sins. Turn over Romans chapter 5 for
a minute. Romans chapter 5. In Romans 5.8, if you don't know
this by heart, go home today and learn it by heart. And repeat
it over and over in your mind until it penetrates to the depths
of your soul. That God commendeth His love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. not because we were worthy, but
because God loved us. And the effect of God's love
in Christ is that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but
have eternal life. Oh, listen. It was on my heart
this past week, and I read it over and over and over again.
1 John 5.1. Behold what manner of love the
Father, hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God." And the old-time manuscripts add, and we are. And we are. I tell you, that's
love. That's some manner of love. And
I know, and you know, that there are many who use this text especially
this verse as a proof text for universal love, universal atonement
and salvation, and that by man's so-called free will. But, beloved,
I'm telling you that such doctrine is not consistent with Scripture. It won't stand up under the inspection
of Scripture. It will not do so. Universal
love says that God loves all men the same, but God doesn't
say that in His He does not say it. Speaking of Jacob and Esau,
he said, The children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto their mother, The elder shall serve the younger, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That doesn't
sound like universal love to me. Does it to you? Doesn't you? You're in John there. Turn over
to John 17. I want to show you something. Maybe you haven't
seen it or thought about it before. If you have, you'll be glad to
see it again. You know that in our Lord's great
high priestly prayer in this chapter, you're aware that six
times, six times in this prayer, he refers to those that thou
hast given me." Verse 6, he says, I've manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me. Verse 2, as thou hast given him
power over all flesh that he should give you per life, to
as many as thou hast given him. Six times he uses that. Now go
down to verse 23 and read it with me. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
As thou hast loved who? Who? Who did he love? All that
he gave him. All that he chose from eternity
past. All that he gave to the Son.
God loved them. He loved them just like he loved
his son. Just like his son. People talk about universal atonement. They say the blood of Christ
was shed for all men alike. Our Lord didn't say that. He
said, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Religion in our day talks about
man's free will, that man by act of his own will makes the
love of God in the blood of Christ effectual, but God doesn't say
that. God said it's not of him that willeth nor him that runneth,
it's of God that showeth mercy. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
I'm sure it is. And when he talks about the world
here in this verse, that word simply means both Jew and Gentile. Both Jew and Gentile, a people
of every kindred, tribe, nation, and tongue under heaven. Beloved,
listen. If you want to learn something
about the love of God, then learn about the God of love. Because
God's love is like Himself. His love is like Himself. His
love is like Himself in that it is eternal and immutable. He said in Jeremiah, I have loved
you with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee." His love is discriminating love. It discriminates
between Jacob and Esau, not because of any good or evil that they've
done, and yet he said, Jacob I love, and Esau I hate. His
love is sovereign in its action. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he And his love, his
love is found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Paul asks the question
in Romans 8, 39, who shall separate us from the
love of God? And he lists all those things.
And he says, I'm persuaded that nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in our Lord Jesus Christ. God's
love is like I know when people talk about this, they hear the
gospel, the gospel of God's sovereign free grace preached, and they
come back with something like, oh, I believe in whosoever will.
Well, I believe in whosoever will according to the Scripture.
Don't you, Dale? That's you, Chris. You believe
in whosoever will according to Scripture. I do. A young man came to Brother Tom
Harding one time and heard Tom preach. And after the service,
he said this very thing. He said, Oh, I believe in whosoever. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, he said, shall be saved. Tom said, Well, I believe
that. I believe that. So you just quoted
Romans 10, 13. He said, Do you know where that
comes from? Do you know where that's found? Found in Joel 2,
32. You ever read it? Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel. Chapter 2, verse 32. This is where Paul quoted that
from. It shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered, shall
be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall
call." Did you know that at this present day also there's a remnant
according to the election of grace? That's Bible. That's it. And I believe in whosoever
will, according to Scripture. I sure do. And I say to you,
all everyone that thirsteth, come to the water. He that hath
no money, come, by wine, by milk, without money, without price.
Incline your ear and heed. All right? Come on. Come on. The Spirit
and the bride says, come. Let him hear us say, come. Let
him that is at first take of the water of life freely. That's where the problem is.
Men don't want it freely. They want to earn it. They want
to merit it. They want it as a reward for
effort. But we are justified freely by
God's grace through the redemption that's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe in free will as it is actuated by free grace. I believe that God's people shall
be willing in the day of his power. Let's go on back in our text,
verse 17. He goes on and he tells Nicodemus,
verse 17, for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through him might be saved. It wasn't necessary for him to
come into this world to condemn the world. The world was already
condemned. It was condemned when he came. By the disobedience of one, we
were all condemned. By the sin of Adam, that condemnation
passed on all of us. But our Lord came that men and
women of all nations might be saved. He came in order to save
men and women of all nations. He said, I came not to judge
the world, but to save. To save. That's why He came. And he goes on, he said, verse
18, "...he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he
that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Just like
Israel in the wilderness. Those people who looked lived.
And those who did not look until that brazen serpent lifted up,
they were already condemned. They weren't condemned because
they didn't look. They were already condemned.
The natural man is already condemned by the original sin of Adam and
by actual sin. And when he hears the gospel
of Christ and believes not, he's further condemned. And his final
condemnation then is sure when he rejects the gospel. It tells
us that in the last verse of this chapter, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. I'm telling
you, beloved, if you're still in unbelief, don't you let some
huckster tell you that God loves you. You look for a man that
will tell you the truth, and if you don't believe on the Son,
the very wrath of God is at this instant abiding on you. Look at verse 19. This is the
condemnation, that light has come into the world and men love
darkness rather than light. You know why? Because their deeds
were evil. It's the sure evidence of man's deadness and depravity. The light of Christ, the light
of the gospel has come into this world. But men loved darkness. They still do. They love the
darkness of sin. They love the darkness of error.
They love the darkness of tradition. They love the darkness of, I
think. They love the darkness of superstition.
And you know why? You know why they love it? Because
their deeds are evil. Because their deeds are evil.
Verse 20, Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. Neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reprieved." Natural
men hate the light of Christ and the word of the gospel because
it exposes their evil deeds. It exposes their evil nature.
It exposes the evil of their flesh and of their religion.
That's why they hate it. That's why they hated Christ. It wasn't the miracles that he
did. It was the words that he spoke. He said to them one day,
many good works have I done, for which of these do you stone
me? Oh, we stone you not because of the miracles, but because
you being a man, make us yourself God. The words that he spoke. They had that completely backwards.
He wasn't a man who made himself God. He's God who made himself
man. And the light of the gospel exposes
man for what he is. Doesn't whitewash it. Doesn't
play it down. As Phil told me one time, you
shouldn't tell people that they're dead. Why? Why? Who should I listen to, you or
God? Verse 21. He that doeth truth cometh to
the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they're wrought
in God. He that doeth truth. Who is that? He that believes
the word of truth. word of truth, the Christ of
truth, the God of truth, the gospel of truth. He that looks
to Christ, who is the truth, looks to him for all of salvation,
from beginning to end and everything in between, looks to him for
pardon, forgiveness, for life, for righteousness, looks to Christ
as his all and then all. You know what he does? That person,
you know what he does? He comes to the light. He comes
to the light. Many of you here this morning,
many of you here believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God's had
mercy on you. He's given you life. He's saved
your soul. And yet here you are again this morning listening
to the same gospel. You know why? He that doeth truth
comes to the light. Can't get enough of it. Too much
darkness out in the world. Too much darkness in the world.
We come here to the light of scriptures, the light of the
gospel, the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we come again,
and we come again, and we come again. We come to the Word, and
we come to Him because from there it is revealed that our deeds
are wrought of God. What's that mean? What's that
mean? Am I saved? Am I saved? Are you
saved? Well, that's wrought, if you
are, that's wrought of God. If I am, it's wrought of God.
Paul told Timothy, God who hath saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That's the Word of God. If I'm
saved, God saved me, and He saved me in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you right now have forgiveness?
Well, how'd that happen? A sinner like you, and a sinner
like me, forgiven. Well, I'll tell you how it happened.
God wrought it. God wrought it. Paul told the
Ephesians, Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Are you righteous? If you're not, you're not saved.
If you're not, you're not justified. Are you righteous? How'd you
get that way? Well, God made him to be sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,
that we might be made. Who wrought that? That deed was
wrought of God, is it not? It's wrought of God, it's wrought
of God in our substitute, and it's wrought of God in our regeneration,
because we're created in righteousness and true holiness. Do you have
life? Do you have life? Have you been
made up the partaker of the divine nature? If you haven't, you're
not saved. But if you have, you have it
because God wrought it. Because God, who's rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, has quickened us, given us life together in Christ,
by grace are you saved. Huh? Do you have faith? Do you have
hope? Do you have love? Well, if you
do, I'm telling you, it's the gift of God, and it's the fruit
of the Holy Spirit. The gift of God brought in us
by His Spirit. And it's through the merit and
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's the rod of God. It's the rod of God. Does the
believer have good works? Without question. without question. He has them. She has them. They're
ordained of God by way of the new creation. We are created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in. They're wrought of God. They're
wrought of God. That's why I keep coming to the
line. That's why you keep coming to the line. I love, oh, I love. Don't you love to what God has
done for His people and His beloved Son. He did it all. He did it all. And He presents
us holy, unblameable, unreprovable in the very sight of God Almighty. And you know how He does that?
It's wrought of God. It doesn't have anything to do
with what I did. It has everything to do with
what God did. And I love to hear that. I love the light of that.
I love the joy of that. I love the peace of that. I love
the Christ of that. Don't you? I love it when somebody
tells me or when I turn to the Word and read that he which hath
begun a good work in you, he'll perform it, he'll finish it until
the day of Jesus Christ. He doesn't set his people on
the road of salvation and lead them to find their own way, but
he puts them on his shoulder and brings them home. Learn of Christ. Learn of Christ. Believe on Christ. Look to Christ. As Brother Dale
said earlier, he said, claim to him. Let us do as we are encouraged
and exhorted to do in Hebrews 12. Let us keep on looking unto Jesus,
the author and the finisher of our faith. Who for the joy that
was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
He's now set down on the right hand of the throne of God. And when we've finished our course
in this world, we will go there and be with Him. I'm going to a fair place, He
said, and if I go, If I go to prepare a place for you, did
he go? Sure did. If I go, I'll come again and
receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be
also. That's gospel. That's the way
of salvation of life. That's Christ.