We should turn back to Luke chapter
21. I will be leaving for Cleveland
tomorrow to go to the Cleveland Clinic to have surgery on my
neck or back or whatever. It's a herniated disc. And I'm
scheduled to return home on Thursday. The doctor tells me it's a pretty
straightforward surgery. They go through my neck and put
a plate in the back, and it'll relieve whatever's wrong with
me. My recovery will probably take, I'm hoping, two weeks. It might take more than that.
I'm thinking of my track record. I've had a lot of things go wrong
when I have surgery, so hopefully it doesn't happen this time.
And Dawn Fortner will preach. the next two Wednesdays, and
some of our men will be filling in for me on Sundays until I
am able to return. As most of you know, our dear
brother Joe McSherry will be moving to Crossville, Tennessee
soon. Joe's faithfulness has been such
a blessing to this church, and he's taken care of the building's
maintenance needs for many years now, and we're really going to
miss Joe. And after evening service on
Sunday, August 7th, we'll have a get together for Joe before
he leaves. Luke chapter 21. Now the Lord
had been speaking of his second advent when he will return again. Verse 25. And there should be
signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars. And upon the
earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves
roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking
after those things which are coming on the earth. For the
powers of heaven shall be shaken And then shall they see the Son
of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Isn't that exciting to think
about? We're going to see Him as He
is, every believer. And when these things begin to
come to pass, then look up. Lift up your heads for your redemption,
that time when you'll no longer be a sinner, you'll be sinless. That's what he's talking about,
your redemption. That time of sinlessness, perfect
conformity to Christ's image draws nigh. Verse 29, and he
spake to them a parable, behold the fig tree and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, you
say, and know of your own selves, that summer is now nigh at hand.
So, likewise, you, when you see these things come to pass, know
ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Now the kingdom
of God that's nigh at hand that he's speaking of is that kingdom
we're taught to pray for when we're taught to pray. Remember
when the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray? He said, After
this manner pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name, thy kingdom come. Now, the sense in which our Savior
is speaking, that kingdom has not come yet. It won't come until
he has put down all opposition. And that time is coming where
he's going to put down all opposition All of his enemies will be sent
to hell. Our Lord warned of hell more
than anybody else. And all of his people will be enjoying the
bliss of beholding his face. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom
of God is nigh at hand. So likewise, verse 31, When ye
see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God
is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, this generation,
when these things take place, shall not pass away, till all
be fulfilled. You know, everything that happens
is His will being fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away. I've entitled this message, My
Words Shall Not Pass Away. Now this is a, well this is just
a true statement. Everything you see is going to
pass away. Everything you see is going to
be burned up. And it's going to be no more. The heavens and the earth shall
melt with a fervent heat, Peter tells us. Everything that you
and I stress over right now and think about. How many people
are thinking about the presidential election right now? Will it be
Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? Who's going to be in charge?
You know, at that time, you won't even remember that. It won't
even be important. It will not be important. Time
shall be no more, and all the things of time shall be no more. But the Lord says, My words, My words, everything I say shall
never pass away. They shall stand when all else
has passed away. You know, Christ's person cannot
be separated from his words. I never will forget hearing somebody
say, I don't want to hear doctrine, I want to hear about Jesus. What are you going to say if
you don't speak of his words? His person cannot be separated
from what he said. What did he say? Well, it's all
found in this book we call the Bible. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine. for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, complete, throughly furnished
unto all good works. And the Lord said, Whosoever
shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of
Man be ashamed when he comes in his own glory. He said, if
a man loved me, he'll keep my words. He that loveth me not, keepeth
not my sayings. The Lord looked at his disciples
after the crowd left, after hearing that sermon on John chapter six,
and he said, will you also go away? You know, that passage of scripture
is scary to me in some respects. He didn't say, well, let me say
it again. Maybe you didn't understand. No, he just watched him leave.
He didn't ask him to come back. He didn't say anything to him.
And he looked at the 12 and said, will you also go away? And Peter
replied, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. Now, not one
word spoken by him who is the word, not one word spoken in
this book will ever fail to come to pass. All else will. But not
one word he said. How many times have you had to
eat your words? Bunch, huh? A bunch. You know somebody who's never
had to eat his words? The Lord Jesus Christ. All my words. Everything else is going to pass
away But nothing I've ever said will ever pass away. They will stand, come what may. The songwriter said, change and
decay in all I see. O thou that changest not, abide
with me. Now, why will his words not pass
away? Well, first, because they're
divine words. They're the words of God. They're
the words of Him who has the power and the wisdom to make
everything He says come to pass. Not one thing He says will ever
drop to the ground because He is divine. His words are the
words of God. His words are the very revelation
of the heart and the purpose of God. Now let me repeat that. Now I want you to think about
what I just said. His words. His words. And oh what a blessing
if God gives you the grace to enter into what He says and to
believe what He says. You know there are a lot of people
that can hear His words and it means nothing to them. On to
the next page. On to the next thing. But His
words are a revelation of the very heart and purpose of God
Almighty. If you are entering into His
words, He's disclosed to you and made Himself known to you
in a revelatory way. He's revealed Himself to you. He hasn't done that to everybody.
If you have some appreciation of His word, it's because you're
His friend and He's made known to you the very heart and purpose
of God Almighty. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 17. Verse 6. This is the Lord's great high
priestly prayer for his people. And he says, I've manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of this world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that
all things whatsoever thou hast given me are thee, for I have
given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have
received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee,
and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which you have given me. I have given them thy words. Now this thing of having the
heart of God open to me, listen to this passage of scripture.
This is a very familiar passage with I hope all of us. And we
know. I love the way he says this.
Do you know? Can you enter into this? Would you be saying with
Paul, and we know, he's speaking of all of God's elect, all who
believe, and we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Now here he gives us his purpose. For whom he did For though He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. God predestinated
a people to be just like His Son. Moreover, whom He did predestinate
them He also called, and whom He called them He also justified. and whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Now there's the very heart and purpose of
God Almighty. To some, it doesn't mean a whole
lot. To others, it's the joyful sound. The joyful sound of the gospel. His words are words of pure truth. He said, sanctify them through
thy truth. There's no sanctification apart
from the truth. His words are pure truth. When Pilate was questioning him,
what did he say? He said, I came forth to bear
witness. Of what? The truth. That's why I was sent, to bear
witness And oh, how He bore witness with His own life's blood. He
bore witness to the truth. That's what the cross is. The
cross is the truth. That's the truth of God's true
character. It's all seen in the cross. That's the truth of my
character. I'm so sinful that the only way
I could be saved is for God the Son to die for me and put away
my sin and give me His righteousness. The cross is the truth of how
God can save me. He said, everyone that's of the
truth heareth my voice. His words will not pass away
because there's no power that can prevent them from falling
to the ground. You see, he's almighty God. If
he says something, it must be. He said, have I spoken it? Shall
I not do it? Have I purposed it, and shall
I not bring it forth to pass? No power can prevent His words,
which is nothing but His will, being done. Turn to Psalm 2. I love this Psalm. Psalm 2. Verse 1. David says, why did the heathen
rage? And the people imagine a vain
thing. You'll remember that this was quoted by the early church
in Acts chapter four. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointing, saying, let us break their bands asunder and
cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in
his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King, the Lord
Jesus Christ, God the Father, saying this of him, upon my holy
hill of Zion, I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said
unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask
of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou
shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in
pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, all ye
kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord
with fear. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry and you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust. in him. Oh, with the word of
the king there is power. Light be, and the darkness fled. You see, the very honor of Christ
is at stake in his words being fulfilled and coming to pass.
If they fail to come to pass, you know who else fails? He does. And he will not lose his honor. Now, this thing of his words
is true with regard to all of his doctrine, the doctrine of
Christ. That's what's called in 2 John
7 and 9, the doctrine of Christ. Now, the doctrine of Christ is
made of many doctrines which make the one doctrine of Christ. And if you leave one of these
doctrines out, you no longer have the doctrine of Christ.
His doctrine is made of many doctrines which make the one
doctrine of Christ. But I think it's particularly
represented, the doctrine of Christ is particularly represented
by this word, and I've already made mention of this, the cross. Paul called it, in 1 Corinthians
1.18, the preaching, and the word preaching is actually the
doctrine, that's the word. The word, the doctrine of the
cross. Before time began, I love thinking
about this, before time began, we had the doctrine of the cross. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. After time is no more in heaven,
what shall the song of the redeemed be? Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain. Now the doctrine of the cross,
the word of the cross, the preaching of the cross is the subject of
the eternities. And you know what? It's the subject
right now. The doctrine of the cross shall
never fall to the ground. What's the doctrine of the cross?
What's the doctrine of who God is? All He is, is seen in the
cross of Christ. Every one of His attributes are
manifest and displayed in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who, me and you really are, is only seen in light of the cross. I wish every one of us believed
this, but the cross lets us know how bad we really are. The cross is a declaration of
how God saves sinners by the cross. That's the doctrine of
the cross, and it shall never pass away. It is eternal. Now, there is nothing new regarding
Christ's Word, regarding Christ's doctrine. There is nothing new
that is true. And there's nothing true that
is new. I want you to chew on that. There's nothing true that is
new, and there's nothing new that is true. How old is the doctrine of the
cross? Well, how old is God? That's how old the doctrine of
the cross is. All of His promises stand forever. All the promises of God in Him
are yea and amen to the glory of God by us. Now, here's one
promise. All that the Father giveth me.
Now you listen real carefully. May God give you the grace and
me the grace to enter into this. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Now think of that promise. But
you're such a hypocrite. But you're so inconsistent. Do
you mean to say if you come to Christ for no reason whatsoever
He'll cast you away? That's exactly what I'm saying.
This is the promise of Christ. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise for no reason whatsoever cast away. What a blessing. Wherefore He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God. How? By Him. It's only come, isn't it? By
Him. And His threatenings stand forever. Not one word of His threatenings
shall fall to the ground. Now, if you want to ask me what
I would least rather talk about, I'd have to say it's hell. Hell
is not something I like to talk about. But you know who warned
of hell more than anybody else? The Lord Jesus. You know, the
Apostle Paul never used the word hell. I guess he thought it was
so horrible that he couldn't even bear to say the word. But
the Lord spoke of that man who was said, I'm tormented in this
flame. He spoke of the worm that dies
not and the fire that shall not be quenched. He said, he that
believeth not shall be damned. Now, if you don't believe, If
you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you don't come
to Him and follow His feet, you'll be damned eternally. You're going
to spend, I'm going to spend eternity either in heaven or
in hell. Hell is just as real a place
as heaven is. It really is. May God give everybody
in this room the grace to believe, to rest in, to trust the Lord
Jesus Christ as all of their salvation. Because the folks
that do that are the only folks that will be in heaven. Did you
know that? The only folks who'll be in heaven are those who trust
Christ only as everything in their salvation. I love the authority
of his words. I love that passage of scripture
in the end of the Sermon on the Mount when he preached that great
message. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at
his doctrine, for he taught them as one who had authority. Not like the scribes. I love
that slam against the scribes. What he said recommended itself
as the very word of God. He said, you've heard it said
by them of old time, but I say unto you. I read in the paper, John Roseman's
article. I always read him in the Lexington
Herald later. He's a really good child psychologist. But he said, let's bring back
the statement, because I said so. Your child asks you, you tell
your child to do something. Why? Because I said so. No other thing needs to be said. But don't you need to explain
to him? No. No. Because I said so. This is the
teaching of authority. And I'll tell you one who can
say that. Scripture says he gives no account
of his matters. I said so. What are you going to say to that? Nothing.
Bow. Bow. Oh, the authority of his
word, the power of his word. That man said, speak the word
only and my servant shall be healed. He said, I've given them the
words that thou gavest me. And then he said, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. The truthfulness
of his words, everything he said is pure truth. Now here's the
one man, the one being who can actually be identified exactly
by what he said. Are there any human beings like
that? Not a one, is there? Not a one. But this one can be completely
identified exactly by what he said concerning himself. Absolute
truth. He said, I came to bear witness
to the truth. And Pilate replied, Truth? What
is truth? Can the truth be known? Yes,
it can. You shall know the truth. Is there such thing as truth?
Such a thing as truth? Yes, there is. Is it worth all
this? Is it worth dying for? Yes. Yes. You shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free. And the certainty of his words.
Turn with me to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1, verse 1, for as much as many
have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those
things that are most surely believed among us. even as they delivered
them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that
thou mightest know the certainty of those things." And that word
things is the same word that's generally translated words. That
thou mightest know the certainty of those words wherein thou hast
been instructed. the certainty, the certainty
of His words. Now here's what came to my mind
when I thought of the certainty of His words. This, said Paul in 1 Timothy
1.15, is a faithful saying. It's a saying that's faithfully,
utterly true, can be relied upon, And it's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the best thing they've ever heard. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Now, beloved, if you fit the description of
a sinner, you can count on this. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save you. And you know what? That's exactly what he did. When he said it is finished,
the scripture says he cried this with a loud voice, so as to be
heard. When he said, it is finished,
everybody who believes themselves to be a sinner was saved from
their sins. Oh, don't you love the certainty
of his words, the graciousness of his words. When they heard
the gracious words that proceeded from his mouth. Luke 4.22, the
words of grace. Now, let me tell you this about
his words. that shall not pass away. They're words of grace. The gospel is called in Exodus
chapter 20 verse 32, the word of his grace. Now I think about his gracious
words and I just think about the way he dealt with people.
That poor old woman in John chapter 4, he said to her, go call your
husband. She said, I don't have a husband.
He said, well, you told the truth there. You've had five husbands.
And the man that you're with now, he's not your husband, in
this thou sense truly. And so she tries to come up with
some kind of vague religious mumbo jumbo. We know that in
this map, you say you're gonna worship, and you all say in Jerusalem,
y'all worship. She said, woman, believe me,
you don't know what you're talking about. The hour's coming, and
now is, when all that worship me will worship in spirit and
truth there in John chapter four. She replied to him, I know that
when Messiah comes, he'll tell us all things. I don't know anything. And he replied, I that speak
unto thee, am he. What words of grace. That man
hanging on a cross beside the Lord in his misery. He believes
that Jesus Christ is Lord, when nobody else did. And he said,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he looked
at that man and look at these, listen to these words of grace.
He never gave anybody this kind of assurance. Today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. He said, if any man thirst, how
thirsty he didn't say, if any man thirst, let him come to me
and drink. Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, laboring under sin, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. I'm meek and lowly in heart and
you'll find rest for your soul for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light. Oh the graciousness of his word. Turn with me to John chapter
6 for a moment. These things, verse 59, John
chapter 6, verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue. He gave them his word as he taught
in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples,
when they had heard, notice that this is in italics, they just
heard everything he said. And here's their reply. This is a hard saying. Everything you've said, it's
harsh, it's austere, it's unsympathetic toward humanity is what the word
means. We don't like what you said. These are hard, harsh sayings. Who can hear it? Who can be expected
to listen to such teaching as this? Verse 61, When Jesus knew in
himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth
this offend you? Are you offended by what I said? What and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where he was before? Now you see me now
speaking these words and you're offended. You'll really be offended
when you see me speaking from heaven as the absolute Lord of
glory. Verse 63. It's the spirit that
quickens, gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that
I speak unto you. What are they? They are spirit
and they are life. Purely spiritual and there's
no life apart from these words. These words are life. The receiving
of these words are life. No spiritual birth, no spiritual
life apart from these words. And these words are words where
you must be of God to even receive. Look in John chapter 8. Verse 43. Why do you not understand my
speech, my words? He would preach to them and they
didn't have any idea what he was talking about. Even because you cannot,
you lack the ability to hear my word. You are of your father,
the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because
there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
his own, for he's a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not because
you are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said,
Say we not well thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil. You are crazy
saying something like that. Well, what he said was the truth. And these words that will not
pass away are the words that must be continued in. and persevered in. The Lord said in John 8 31, if
you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.
If you continue, if you persevere. Now, these are the words, his
words, all that this book says, particularly all that he says,
and you know, I You know those Bibles that have everything the
Lord said in red letters? I mean, if you have one, that's
fine, I reckon. But one thing I don't like about those, it
almost makes it sound like those words are more inspired than
the words in black letters. It's all His Word. It's all His
Word. From Genesis 1-1 to the very
last verse of Revelation, it's all His Word. Now, I'm not saying
you need to get rid of your Bible that's got red letters. The one
I've got waiting after this one's got red letters because I couldn't
get one like this. So I'll get through it. But the point is,
this is all His Word. Now, what's that mean? Well, first, to the preacher.
To the preacher. A word to the preacher. The Lord
said, you search the Scriptures. And in them, you think you have
eternal life. And they are they, every single
one of them, which testify of me." He said, Moses wrote of me. Then he expounded in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself. Now what's the Word
to the preacher? Timothy, preach the Word. That's your only job, to preach
the Word. Not to try to get anybody to
do anything. Preach the Word. Whatever the
Word declares, preach it. That's the only job of the preacher. It's not to gather a following,
it's not to build a church, it's not to When, friends, it influences
people, it's to preach the Word. Whatever God's Word declares,
preach it. It's all important. Preach it to the believer. Believe the Word. I love what he said to that woman
at the well. Believe me. Believe me. Believe the Word. Believe this is the very Word
of God and hang your soul upon it. All of my salvation is resting
in what He has said. That's it. Who is He that condemneth? And
I think of all kinds of things that condemn me. And I think
of the Apostle's answer. It's Christ that died. That's all I need. It's Christ
the God, yea rather that's risen again, who's even at the right
hand of God who also maketh intercession for us. All my eggs are in the
basket of what he tells me in his word. When I hear by grace
are you saved, thank the Lord. Praise the Lord. I'm so thankful
it's by grace. I believe what God says. When
it says Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, I'm
a sinner. He came to save me. That simple. I believe the word. To the unbeliever. To the unbeliever. I feel quite sure there is at
least one unbeliever in here. I don't know that for a fact,
but I believe there may be more. To the unbeliever. Now is the accepted time. The time for you to believe is
right now. This is His command to you. Quit looking for anything in
yourself. Quit waiting for something to happen. Quit waiting to do
some great thing. Quit waiting to straighten out
your life. The time for you right now, right now is the time for you
to believe the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Quit waiting for anything. Quit
waiting for an experience. Right now, trust Christ to save
you just as you are. Just as I am without one plea,
but that His blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidst me come
to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am in waiting not to
rid my soul of one dark blot, To thee whose blood can cleanse
each spot, O Lamb of God, I come. Come to Christ right now as you
are, as you are, and He will receive you. That is His promise. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for these
words, the word of Christ, that shall never pass away. Lord, give us grace to preach
the word. Give us grace to believe the
word. Give us grace to obey the word. and to believe on the name
of thy son. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.