I have a couple of places I want
to read in the very beginning, Hebrews chapter 2 and Galatians
chapter 3, or Hebrews chapter 4, rather. And then I want to
go to John chapter 1. I want to read in different places
tonight. And I want to talk to you about
saving knowledge, saving knowledge. Look at Hebrews 4, 2. For unto
us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, them being
those who fell in the wilderness many years ago. And so Paul said
the gospel was preached to us just like it was preached unto
them. But he goes on to say, but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it." Now turn with me to Galatians. Turn back, if you will. What
I'm trying to show you to begin with is that there is one gospel,
one only. There never has been two, never
shall be two, never could be two gospels. There is only one.
The same way Abraham was saved is the same way we are saved. And verse 8, the scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before
the gospel unto Abraham. Now, this is the record of the
gospel unto Abraham as far as the scriptural account goes. In thee shall all nations be
blessed. Now, in that phrase, there is
good news. We are part of those nations,
and we ought to rejoice, for in thy seed, in that Isaac, and
that greater Isaac, the Lord Jesus Christ, all nations of
this world have been blessed. And couched in that little phrase
was good news to Abraham. Now, how much God told Abraham,
how much information he had, I just don't know. And it's not
needful for me to know, or God would have written it down here,
and we could have read it. But we know that God made that
promise to us. And God told him, I'm your shield,
I'm your exceeding great reward, you don't need anything but me.
Abraham believed God, and God said, that's good, you're a righteous
man. He imputed to him perfect righteousness. Now turn back,
if you will, to the gospel according to John. John's gospel, as we
usually say it. Chapter 1, and we're talking
about saving knowledge. Look what it says here. Well,
let me make these statements first, that I understand two
things very clearly, if I understand anything about the Scriptures.
Number one is that there has been a progressive revelation
of Jesus Christ. In other words, I'm saying that
from Genesis 315, where the first announcement of the Redeemer,
that from that point on, God continued to give more light
and increased light, so that when we come to our day, we have
the full revelation, we can read all about Christ, we know who
his mother was, we know where he was born, we know his name,
we know so many things about him. We'll have the history of
his life, and then the resurrection and the promise to return again.
And I know that, that there's been a progressive revelation
of light from the Lord. And I also know this, that salvation
in itself, not only as pertains to the kingdom of God, but as
pertains to every individual, salvation itself is a progressive,
continuous work of God. And for man to try to determine
when it's began, or when a man was actually quickened, when
he was actually made alive, when he was thoroughly converted rather
than being partially converted. These questions are foolish.
They're not our business. They're God's business. The Bible
gives this illustration. Hold John there a minute and
turn to Mark 4. The Bible gives this description,
and John Newton writes three messages on these three verses. Mark 4, verse 26, the kingdom
of God, so is the kingdom of God. This is the way it is. As
if a man should cast seed into the ground, verse 26, and should
sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and
grow up, he knoweth not how. Now, notice that. He knoweth
not how. It's a great mystery. And if
you think earthly things like that are a great mystery, what
about spiritual things? even greater mystery. But look
what it says, but when the fruit is brought forth, immediately
he put us in the sickle, because the harvest, or I skipped a verse. For the earth bringeth forth
fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ears, after that the
full corn in the ears. But when the fruit is brought
forth immediately, he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest
is come. And who knows when it's harvest
time? Whenever God says it's harvest time, that's when it's
harvest time. But this earth here might be compared to the
word of God which goes forth, like the parable of the sword.
And it brings forth fruit unbeknownst to anyone except in the soul,
the mind, the heart of that one who sat and heard it. And God
uses it, and God blesses it, and God brings it to their mind,
and they can't get away from it. And they hear His voice,
and He leaves them a little at a time, reveals more and more
to them. Well, that's the way salvation
is. And to try to sit down and explain it and put time marks
and drive in stakes for when a man was thoroughly converted
or actually quick and fully regenerated, these things are foolish. as
foolishness of men is all it is in this world. Because he
says right here, this is the way the kingdom is. The seed's
sown, and it comes up and it grows and it increases and it
comes to maturity. And who knows how? Isn't that
what he said? Who knows how? We don't know how. It's a great
mystery. It's God working salvation in
the heart and soul of an individual. So I know these two things. I
know that salvation, to repeat, This spring of salvation, this
gospel, has been given us by an increasing revelation of God
until we have the full revelation before us now, Old and New Testament,
the full story. We even know the last chapter.
We know how it's going to wind up. And I know that salvation,
as I just read in Mark 4, beginning with verse 26, is also a progressive,
continuous work of God in a man's heart, in a man's mind, in a
man's soul. It is God which worketh in you
both the will and to do of his good pleasure. And he which hath
begun a good work in you, he'll perform it, he'll continue it,
he'll perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. And so those
two things I know about salvation. And so with those two ideas in
mind, it's hard to pinpoint what one man had to know in the Old
Testament. how much a man had to know of the New Testament
before he was thoroughly converted or a thorough Christian, a complete
Christian, a real Christian. You just don't know those things.
I know he had to do this. He had to believe God. That's
what it is. However much God gave him, he
believed God. That's the testimony of the Scripture.
However much God might have, he might have come and sat down
with Abraham and talked for half a day, told him many, many, many
things. But I don't know that. But I know what he did tell him,
Abraham believed, because the Bible does tell me that. And
it tells me that for a very important reason, because I'm supposed
to believe what God says. And if I'm going to be a child
of Abraham, and if I'm going to be an heir of the kingdom,
If I'm going to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ, I'm going
to have to believe God like Abraham believed God, however much he
reveals to me, what he makes known to me. When he speaks,
I must hear his voice. I must believe him. That's just
the way it is. That's just saying a salvation. This thing of how much a person
has to know as far as statements of fact and doctrinal statements
of fact, I just don't know. Nobody else does. It's foolish
to try to set some kind of standard and say man has to know this
and thus and thus. or he's not quickened of God.
He's not a real Christian. He can't be a Christian until
he comes to, well, he's the first point and the second point and
the third point. Well, he's got to the fifth point.
Now, now he's a Christian. He understands Calvinism. He's
been indoctrinated. He's a Calvinist. Well, you can
be a Calvinist and split hell wide open. I'm talking about
saving knowledge. I'm not talking about what one
preacher conveys to a congregation, not merely, not primarily. I'm
talking about what God is pleased to speak. It's one thing for
me to stand up here and speak God's Word. It's another thing,
entirely another thing, totally different, for God to take that
Word which I speak and Himself speak through that Word by the
Holy Ghost. That's a different story altogether. And when he
speaks, they hear his voice. His sheep do. And they know him.
And they follow him. And another they will not follow.
How much they know. But I'll tell you, they know
some things. They know some things. They know who the master is.
They know who the boss is. That's what Paul, Saul of Tarsus,
learned on the Damascus Road. Learned who boss was, but didn't.
Lord, who is it? He said, it's Jesus of Nazareth
whom you persecute. He learned it. He learned that
lesson. But when, you know, God made
this proclamation of gospel news, he was talking to Satan rather
than Adam and Eve, but they were there, and they heard it, and
they were in on it, because the promise was for their deliverance.
But God made that declaration of mercy, of a deliverer, of
a conqueror who would come, be born, see to the woman. And we
know that Eve was a child of God. We know that Adam and Eve
offered up sacrifices which were acceptable under God. We know
that Abel offered up a sacrifice acceptable under God. But how
much did they know? They believed God if they were
truly converted, and I'm sure Eve was, or Adam was, and if
they were truly converted, if they knew God, they did believe
what God told them. And what did God tell them? He
said, from the seed of the woman there's coming forth a deliverer
to destroy Satan's kingdom. They believed that much. Did
they know when he would be born? No. Did they know what his name
would be? No. When Eve had that first child,
she named him Cain. She thought that was him. That's
just the way it is. You say, well, and here's what
I want to emphasize again. There has never been, there never
can be, there never will be but one gospel. And the Bible gives
the examples, faith illustrated by these Old Testament men reaching
all the way back to Abel, that if our faith could be as their
faith, we'd be in good shape, wouldn't we? But what was their
faith? How many facts did they digest? How much clear light
and knowledge did they have? Well, not as much as we have
today, I guarantee you. But they believed that one gospel,
didn't they? There's only one gospel. The
gospel preached in the wilderness, the gospel preached in Paul's
day, the gospel preached to Abraham, the gospel preached by me to
you folks here. There isn't but one gospel. And
we have to believe the gospel like Abraham believed the gospel.
Believe God. But I'll tell you what I've noticed
in the scriptures, and it's just been a joy and a delight to my
soul. I've noticed that these Old Testament prophecies are
all concerning a person, and they all would have us look to
and wait for a person. Not a doctrine, but a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's look at it. Pure for
men now who have been reading the Old Testament for many centuries,
they had the ordained, organized religion of God. They had the
tabernacle. They had the temple. They had
the history. They had the Word committed to them, the promises
and all of this, as Paul tells us in Romans and in other places. But one day, a man comes on the
scene. He just appears out of nowhere.
He was hidden in the wilderness until the day of his appearance.
And that man was John the Baptist. And he dressed rough, spoke roughly,
like an Old Testament prophet. And when he began to speak, men
began to listen. He got their attention. They
thought, this might be the Christ. Now look at it. St. John, chapter
1. Verse 6, there was a man sent
from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might
believe. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came to his own, and they
received him not. But John wasn't that light. John
came to bear witness of that light. Now look on down in verse
19. This is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you, buddy? Who
are you? They were interested. They thought
he might be that prophet. They thought he might be the
Christ. That's exactly what they thought. They said, Who are you?
And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ,
I am not the Messiah. And they asked him, What then?
Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you
that prophet, referring to the prophet like unto Moses? And
he answered, No. And then said they unto him,
Who art thou, that we may give an account, or an answer, to
them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?"
We want to know about you. Who are you? And he said, direct
quote from the Old Testament, I'm just the voice of one crying
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way for that prophet, for
him. And so that was the account here
of John the Baptist. the Baptist preaching and declaring
our Lord Jesus Christ. But it was always a person who
was looked for, it was always a person who was set forth. How
much knowledge they had of how he would deliver and what manner
he would deliver, I don't know that. But I know this, their
faith, if they had saving faith, it was always in a person. Their attachment was to a person. Their submission was to a person.
They believed God concerning the testimony of his son. However
full a testimony God gave them, they believed it." All right,
now let's go on a little further. I want to show you something.
And I've tried to imagine this and just walk along with these
folks with their frame of mind as best as my imagination could
do it. But I want you to see this. I
read it the other night in one of the messages. John chapter
1, verse 35. The next day after the baptism,
the next day after John stood with two of his disciples, and
looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God,
behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. They took off after they left
John and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. They were interested
in this term, the Lamb of God. Then Jesus turned and saw them
following. And he says unto them," Can't
you imagine their timidity, just a little timid about They were
following. They were staying close. But
what would they say if they actually caught up to it? What would they
ask you? And so they were just following along, hoping something
would happen, and it did. He stopped and asked them what
in the world they were doing. Why are you following me? He turned
and saw them following and said unto them, What seek you? And
they said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted,
Master, where dwelleth thou? Where do you live? Where do you
come from? So forth and so on. I'm sure these questions are
all in their minds. And he saith unto them, What
comest thou? And they came, and saw where he dwelt, and abode
with him that day. For it was about the tenth hour.
Now one of the two which heard John speak, and followed him,
was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And the first thing he did was
found his own brother Simon and said to him, we have found the
Messiah. We found the Messiah. Now this,
you think about it in the context of Jewish thought, Jewish expectation,
and this is just marvelous. The excitement they must have
had in their minds and hearts. We have found the Messiah. My,
men had been waiting to say that for thousands of years. Now they
could say it. We found the Messiah, which is
being interpreted the Christ, and he brought him to Jesus.
And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son
of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas,
which is by interpretation, a stone." Now, the next day, Jesus would
go forth into Galilee and find that Philip saith unto him, Follow
me. Now, Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and
saith unto him, We have found him. And you can't imagine the
excitement of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write,
and it's Jesus of Nazareth, it's Joseph's son. We found him. We found that prophet. We found
the Messiah, the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the
world. We found him. Who is he? Where does he live?
When did he come into the world? Well, it's Jesus of Nazareth. We found him, and that's who
he is. Now we know his name, don't we? That's who he is. He
is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He is the Son
of the living God. He is the prophet, which was
prophesied from Genesis 3, 15, all the way down through the
Bible. Can you imagine these four or five men here with the
knowledge and the understanding that they had in their minds
and hearts, going back and telling their family, we found him! After
so many years, him we found. Come, let me show you." He was
talking about a time of excitement. It was a time of excitement.
All right, let me see now. Let's look at, hold your place
here in John and turn back to Matthew. I want to show you something.
These men had jobs. They had responsibilities. Most
of them had wives and families. And then we, you've seen that
they found him. They had no doubt in their minds
that that was him. And him, his name was Jesus of
Nazareth. He's the Messiah. He's that prophet.
We found him. So excited. Go get my brother. Take him to Christ. Want him
to find him. Want him to see him too. Want
him to meet him. But you know, these men, evident
that the next day they had to go back to their work. They had
to go help their father. Let me find the passage of Scripture
here I'm looking for. In Matthew, I believe it's the
fourth chapter. Yes, sir. Beginning with verse
18. And Jesus, walking by the sea
of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
They were fishermen. Now, they had already met the
Messiah, and I imagine as they sat in their boat, talking to
their father, and we'll read about the next two men, I mean,
that's all they were talking about. We found the Messiah.
Wonder where he's at right now. Wonder what he's going to do
today. Wonder when we'll see him again. Well, they saw him
again. Casting a net into the sea, for
they were fishers. And he said to them, follow me,
and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left
their nests and followed him." That's all they'd been talking
about while they were fishing. They'd found the Messiah, and
now he'd found them again. He came where they were and said,
Follow me, I'll make you fishes of men. Straightway they left
all and followed him. Going on from then, he saw other
two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother.
And they were in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending
their nets. And he called them, and immediately they immediately
left the ship and their father, and they followed him." And so
you see the progressive nature of this thing. They met him.
He called them to be his disciples. He later made them to be his
apostles, so forth and so on. Now look back at John, if you
will. Let me show you something back here in John. John chapter,
let me find it here. Chapter 3 and verse 22. See what it says here. John 3,
22. Look what it says. Now, he's
got some disciples now, and they're following him. How much information,
how much knowledge and understanding they have, I don't know. But
here's the thing. They knew him. They had found him. They knew
who he was, and that's all that mattered. John 3, and after these
things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there
he tarried with them, and there he baptized." Look at chapter
4, verses 1 and 2. knew how the Pharisees had heard
that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though
Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples he departed, and
so forth and so on. But here's what I want you to
see. I want you to get the picture of how they met him and how they
followed him when he came and called them from their work,
from their secular labors. And they left off. They left
their fathers. They left their business. They
left lock, stock, and barrel. They left it all and followed
him. Well, it's not long until he's making more disciples, and
his disciples are baptizing those who follow him. And so the ministry
is growing, you see. And he continues. He doesn't
baptize any personally, but his disciples are doing the baptizing. And then they come to Samaria.
You know the story there. Well, this woman makes one confession,
one acknowledgment. She knew some things. She knew
that there was a Messiah coming. And when he came, he'd tell them
some things. He'd tell them all things necessary, all things
needful. Look what it says in chapter
4 here now, and verse 25, "...the woman saith unto him, I know
that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. And when he is
come, he will tell us all things. And Jesus said unto her, I that
speak unto thee am he. And she threw her waterpot up
in the air, and took off back to the city." Now if you'll permit
me to paraphrase, that's exactly what happened. She forgot all
about being thirsty. She forgot all about she came
for water. She had met the Messiah. And she went back into the city
and said, I've met a man that told me all things that ever
I did. Is not this the Messiah? And many believed on him because
of her words. And then the town went out and
they heard him speak from his own lips. And they believed on
him both for his wordly. What happened here that day?
They met the Messiah. What can possibly happen in a
person's life that's so important as this, so wonderful as this,
that this woman and these other people of the city, they met
the Messiah? Man, that's all that's necessary
for us, too. That's all that's necessary. We meet Him, we can
submit to Him, we can love Him. That's all that's necessary.
It has to be the true one. It can't be one of our Sunday
school imaginations. It has to be the real Messiah.
But you'll find out that they were submitted to him. Then go
on to different other places, but we don't want to... Let me
turn back. No, I've already read that passage.
Look at John chapter 8. John chapter 8. This is something. You see, when you've met this
Messiah as a sinner, Whatever he reveals to you about himself
in this word, and what he revealed to them was through his spoken
word. But whatever he reveals to us about himself, it's incumbent
upon us to receive it. We're bound to submit to it,
because he's the Lord. Is that right? And that's exactly
what these disciples did. You say, well, they didn't do
it very perfectly. No, and you and I don't either.
You say, Peter rebelled a time or two. That's right, and we
do too. But if we're the elect of God, we will hear his voice,
and we will submit to him, and we will follow him, and we'll
love to have it so. That's the way it is. But look
what it says here, John chapter 8. Now this is like John chapter
6 where it says it's a hard saying. Who can hear it? He's talking
about spiritual communion with God, eating His flesh and drinking
His blood. Who can hear these things? It's
tough. And many of His disciples went back and walked with Him
no more. You see, they couldn't submit to His words. And He said,
You're My disciples indeed if you continue in My words. It
says that in John 8 too. But look what it says here, if
I can find it here quickly. Verse 21, John 8, 21, "...then
said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me,
and shall die in your sins." Whether I go, you cannot come."
Then said the Jew, when he killed himself, because he said, Whether
I go, you cannot come. And he said unto them, You are
from beneath, I am from above. You are of the world, I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you, that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am he, you'll die in your sins." And my friend, that's the issue
right there. That's the key to this thing of eternal life, believing
that he is the great I Am, that he is Mary's son, that he's the
eternal Son of God. And you'll find that the confession
As I preached the other night, Son of Man, when they heard that,
it brought to their mind this prophet, the Messiah, the Son
of God. This Son of Man. Who do men say
that I, the Son of Man, am? Peter said, You're the Son of
the living God. You're the Messiah. We know who you are. So you see,
you have the story there. You have the identity of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He said they had problems with
a lot of things he said, and a lot of folks couldn't receive
it. And a lot of folks didn't believe that he was actually
the great I Am, that he was God. And they died in their sins. But here's what he said on this
occasion. He said, You're from beneath. I'm from above. You're
of this earth. I'm not of this earth. I came
down from heaven. Same problem he had on other
occasions, and they couldn't receive it. They say, we know
your mother, we know your father, we know your family, we've worked
alongside of you perhaps, whatever. But how can you say you came
down from heaven? How can you say you're the true
bread of God, the bread which came down from heaven? This doesn't
make sense. Well, if you know Him, it makes
sense. If you're submitted to Him, it makes sense. If you love
Him, it'll all work out. You'll understand all you need
to understand. But the main thing is you'll believe it because
He said it. That's it right there. Abraham believed God. The God
of glory, Stephen said, appeared unto our father Abraham when
he was yet in Ur of Chaldea. And when he saw the God of glory,
he took off and followed God. That's just what it is. All the
gods he'd ever known had been in glory, dead idols, good for
nothing. But when the God of glory appeared
unto Abraham, he left off, and he believed God, and he followed
God, and so forth and so on. I just quoted Matthew 16, 17,
but I won't turn there. But look at Matthew 10, just
a moment. Turn back to Matthew 10. I'm
using a lot of verses of Scripture, trying to prove a point or two
that eternal life is just exactly what God said it is. This is
life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. That's life everlasting. I know it is because God said
it is. And I know it is by my own experience, for that's all
I need to know. That's all I care about. And Paul said that his
life ambition was to know Christ, to win Christ, to be found in
Christ. That's enough. That's enough.
Look at Matthew chapter 10. Now, one of the reasons I'm reading
a lot of these verses of Scripture is that there are some who talk
about how much doctrine a man must know to be a Christian.
They even go so far as to say that the apostles weren't until
after the resurrection, which is the most preposterous thing
I ever heard in my life. I understand that there are a
lot of things they didn't know, and I understand in Luke 24 he
had to open up the scriptures and show them that all the scriptures
bore witness of him, that he must need to come into this world
and suffer and die and enter into his glory. A lot of these
things they didn't fully understand, but they did believe in Him.
Didn't they say that? We trusted that He was the One. That statement they did make,
and that statement was enough. All those things he told them
from Matthew chapter 12 through Matthew 17, most of it they didn't
understand until later. He told them beforehand they
wouldn't. He said, but I'll send the Spirit and he'll teach you
some things, and he'll even bring these things back to your remembrance.
You'll have some understanding of these things. But at the present
they had all they needed. But I want to tell you something.
They were God's people, and they were Christians. They were children
of the living God. They were children of the kingdom
from the very beginning. Is that all right? You better
believe it. Let me show you something. Matthew
chapter 10. Look what it says here. And I've just been amazed
reading through the gospel. how many statements of confirmation
that they did know God, that for the time being, the time
in which they lived, they knew all they needed to know. But
Matthew 10, let me find the verse here, Matthew 10, verse 20, look
what it says. You know, he's going to send
these twelve out, two, two, two together to go into different
cities, preach the gospel, work miracles. And he said this, he
said for verse 20, verse 19, let's read them together. "'When
they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall
speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what you
shall speak. For it is not you that speak,
but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.' You see,
they had a Father and they had a Spirit already. And it was
the Spirit of the living God, and it was the Spirit, the Holy
Spirit. which would give them what they
should speak. But notice it says they had a
Father, they had a heavenly Father, and he would send forth his Spirit,
and he would give them what to say, tell them what to say, show
them what to say, give them word. Look at verse 29, "...are not
two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father?" Was our Lord speaking out of
turn? Was he giving them something which they had no right to? Absolutely
not. They were the children of God.
They were Christians. They were born of God's Spirit.
They had God's Spirit within them. And he said, Your Father,
Your Father. It must have meant a lot to them.
You take it into context here, this chapter. It must have meant
a lot to them. that their father, not one sparrow
could fall to the ground without their father. And you are worth
a lot more to your father than these birds are." See, that's
what he's telling them, your father. They had a heavenly father
because they knew Christ and God in Christ. In Matthew 13,
verses 11 and 16, he's speaking to them in parables. You remember
these parables? And you know what it says there?
They said, Why do you speak in parables? He said, Because so
that seeing they might see not, hearing they might hear not.
But he says, Blessed are your eyes, for they see. That sounded
like Christian to me. Blessed are your ears, for they
hear. For I declare unto you that many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which
you see, and weren't permitted to, never were able to. Now look,
I want you to look at this one, John chapter 17. Look what it
says here in John, 17th chapter. He's praying to his Father and
our Father, his God and our God, and he said in verse 6, "'I have
manifested your name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world.' Now, this was before the crucifixion. This
was before the garden of Gethsemane. He said, I've manifested your
name. What does that mean? It means he's shown them God.
I've manifested your name. That's who God is. I've manifested
your name to the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Isn't that amazing? Who keeps God's word but those
who know God? They that are of God hear God's
word, nobody else. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me. They have received
those words, and have known surely that I came out from thee. And
they have believed that thou didst send me, and they were
believers worth it." And no other way you can look at it. It's
just simple, plain facts. Simple, plain facts. Then listen
to these passages. Not only does he say, "'The Father
has given you eyes and ears,' Matthew 13. John 17, where I
read, I've given them thy word. I've manifested God to them. They've received your word.'
But he says in John 13, "'These are clean every whit.'" Now,
that must be a Christian. They're clean everywhere. Yeah,
but they don't know. They didn't know what foot washing
was. They didn't even know what that meant. I know that. But
they were clean everywhere. Is that all right? Then he says in another place,
he said, Rejoice not that you have... This was the early part
of his ministry when he sent the 12 out and they came back.
They came back rejoicing that even the demons are subject to
us through your name. He said, Don't rejoice in that.
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Maybe he was speaking
a little too quickly. Maybe he was telling them something
they didn't know yet. You suppose? I doubt it. I doubt it. Their
names are written in heaven. Boy, I bet you that meant something
to them. It sure means something to me. Then you know in another
place he said, it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Second, he spoke too quickly.
They didn't know anything about the kingdom yet. They weren't
in the kingdom yet. I don't think he did. I think
that which converts a man's soul is not, now I'm not speaking
disparagingly or lightly of divine truth of any sort, but I'm telling
you that which converts a man, a sinner, unto God, that which
brings him into the kingdom, that which makes him neat to
be in to be an inheritance, or to inherit with the saints in
life, that which qualifies him to enter into God's heaven, is
not his familiarity with some doctrine. No, it's his familiarity
with some person, and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Of
course, we could argue until the sun comes up and goes down
again that How much do they have to know about him? That's not
my business. That's God's business. I know one thing. All of those
whom he called, all of those who are ever saved by him, are
going to be called by him. They're going to be called by
the truth. They're going to embrace Christ in that truth. They're
not going to rebel or continue to rebel against the truth of
Christ, whatever it is. They don't have to understand
all these things, but they have to know him. They have to love
him. They have to follow him. And
they'll submit to him. When Paul was talking about,
he's given a, well, you call it whatever you want to, he said
this, talking about his assurance. He said, I know, not even in
whom or about whom, but he said, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. You
see, his confidence was in a person. That person, the one who brought
him down on the Damascus road, you could go on and on. But look
at 1 John, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 20. I love this verse of Scripture.
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true. And we are
in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ." Now,
notice this last statement. My friend, this is true God,
and this is life, life everlasting. What is it? Knowing him, being
in him. That's it. What can be better,
what can cause greater rejoicing in the heart of an old sinner
than to know the Messiah, just like these apostles I'm just
so convinced that they went home that night after meeting him,
after taking their brothers to him, that they went home just
so full of excitement. We found him. Well, who is he?
Where does he live? See, that's the first thing that,
when I'm asking him, I said, where do you dwell? He said,
well, come and see. They went home full of excitement.
We found him, of whom all the Bible testifies. that they've
been waiting for and waiting for for century after century
after century. We found him. His name is Jesus
of Nazareth. We found him. We found him. And
they went back fishing the next day, and soon afterward he came
by where they were fishing. He said, follow me. They left
everything and followed him. Why? Because they had a a lot
of theological knowledge and understanding? No, sir, because
of who he was, and that's all right. God will teach his own
people in his own time as much as he wants them to know, because
he's well able and capable, and he's full of grace, and he's
full of mercy, and he knows how. I can't teach anybody anything,
but thank God he can. He's a good teacher, and all
of his people They shall all be taught of God. Every man,
therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, he'll
go to Christ." That's what the Bible says. What is salvation? What is this saving knowledge?
It's Jesus Christ the Lord. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. You can say what you will. Salvation
is nothing less, nothing more than knowing a saving knowledge,
a revelation to the heart of Jesus Christ the Lord. I'm convinced
of this, that to these apostles, in all of their ignorance, in
all of their remaining darkness, that this Jesus of Nazareth,
he was to them somebody. He was somebody. And when he
spoke, they listened. And when they needed answers,
they asked him. And when he said, shut up, they shut up. And when
he said, get up, they got up. They made a lot of mistakes,
manifested a lot of foolishness, but they had come to the right
place. And they said, we know that thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God, and we know and are sure and are dead
certain that you have the words of eternal life, and we're not
going anyplace else. That's good, isn't it? Knowing
Christ. Knowing Christ. But his people,
I could go on and say many things about this, his people don't
have to know so much, as far as doctrine is concerned, but
they have to know him. And he'll teach them at his own
time, whenever he gets ready, because he's the teacher. And
they'll submit to him, and they'll learn to love him more, and they'll
cling to him. And they'll say in their dying
breath, if I only have Christ, that's all I want. If I only
have Him, if I really know Him, that's all I need. You know why?
Because He promised to save me if I trust Him. He did. I can't
explain imputation. I don't know how in the world
it could be right and just for God to take our sins off our
guilty souls and impute them righteously to His Holy Beloved
Son. I don't understand that. But
the Bible says it's not only righteous and just. But that's
the only way God can righteously and justly forgive us ungodly
sinners. If I had to explain imputation,
I'd be in big trouble. But if all I have to do is look
to Christ in simple faith, I'm in good hands. I like that. And
that's where it is. That's where it is. And the more
you look in the Scriptures and read and meditate upon his dealings
with men and women as he passed through this world, The more
you'll realize how wonderfully compassionate and merciful and
loving and kind he was, the more you'll read, the more you'll
find out. I mean, he just didn't turn folks away in need. He was
able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.
Let me give you this little illustration. I have a father who's 85 years
old. He has a couple acres of land. One day he's going to die,
and he's got a will written up. I don't know what's in it. I'm
the executor, I still don't know what he said. Doesn't make any
difference. But you know, I don't have to understand all of the
legal jargon and stipulations and ramifications. I don't have
to understand all those things in order to believe that I'm
going to inherit. All that I would need is one word from Father. He said, when I die, I'm going
to give you this. I wouldn't have to read the will.
I wouldn't have to understand all the will. I'd just believe
my Father. Now, that's how men are saved,
by Jesus Christ alone. It's wonderful to die like David,
and to be able to say, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant
ordered in all things, and sure, this is all my desire and all
my salvation. Wonderful, wonderful. But he
doesn't die any more, surely, in the arms of Christ. and that
simple beginner who has first cast himself upon Christ. One
of them understands a lot about the covenant, evidently, and
the other one has heard the word from the Master, come unto me,
I'll give you rest. That's all I need to know. I
don't have to understand all the ramifications of the covenant,
do you? It's wonderful when we do. It's encouraging. It strengthens
our faith, so forth and so on. But all we need is a word from
him, a word from the Master. That's sufficient. You know those
words in John 14, and now I'm just rambling at the end, but
these things are so encouraging and so great, where he said,
he said, don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God,
believe in me too. believing me with the same faith,
because I am God. But he said, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. And he said, if I go prepare
a place for you, I'm going to come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Aren't those
wonderful words? I don't understand. I've heard
people preach and debate and write about these dwelling places
in heaven. What difference does it make?
Here's the assurance of the Word and the love of the Word. I am
going away. I am going to leave you, but
I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I do that, I'm
going to come again and receive you unto myself, that where I
am there you may be also. All I need is that Word. That's
all they needed. And that's what he gave them
in his wonderful grace and mercy. You see, a word from the Master.
That's all. That's what we need. May God
bless his word to our hearts.