Open your Bible with me to 2 John. Now the author of this epistle
is John, one of the twelve apostles. And he begins verse 1 with these
words, the elder unto the elect lady. John calls himself the
elder. He may refer to his office, Peter,
when he opened the book of 1 Peter, he said,
I too am an elder. But John may refer to his age.
Most writers think that John lived to be 90 or 100. He outlived
all the apostles. All the apostles died, martyrs
with the exception of John. who was exiled on the Isle of
Patmos and evidently died there in his late nineties. But nevertheless,
John is the elder and he writes to the elect lady. Now who's
the elect lady? Well again, I offer these words
to you. Different writers have different
thoughts about it. He may refer to a church Because
our Lord called His Church, His Bride, in the Song of Solomon.
The Song of Solomon is about Christ and His Bride. I am my
Beloved's and my Beloved is mine. So He refers to the Church as
His Bride. And then in Ephesians 5 it says,
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave
Himself for it. That's a mystery. The relationship
between a husband and wife who are one. and the relationship
between Christ and his bride, the one. And then Revelation
chapter 21 refers to the church as the Lamb's wife. It says,
verse 9, come hither and I'll show you the bride, the Lamb's
wife. So, he may be writing to a church
here, the elect lady, and down in verse 13, the children of
our elect sister. may refer to another church where
he was at the present time. But then again, some writers
believe that he's writing to a certain faithful, believing
woman. And we shouldn't think that strange,
that he should address an epistle to a certain special woman and
her children. Paul addressed an epistle to
Timothy. He addressed another to Titus.
He addressed another to Philemon, a faithful believer in whose
house there was a church. And we shouldn't think it unusual
if God should be pleased to have one of his apostles address the
inspired word in this epistle to a woman, because in Christ
there's neither male nor female. In Christ. And think of our Lord
among his special disciples and friends. I think many of them
were precious ladies. Think about Mary and Martha.
Think about the Samaritan woman. God used her to start a revival
in her town. Think about Ruth. Think about
Esther. Think about Miriam. Think about
Lydia. God used her to bless the ministry
of the Apostle Paul. Her home was his headquarters.
Think about Priscilla. Think about Timothy's mother
and grandmother. Paul wrote to him and said, from
a child you've known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make
you wise unto salvation because you sat at the feet of your mother
and your grandmother, Lois and Eunice. And I want you to read
with me Romans 16, just a few verses, Romans 16. I tell you,
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, this church of 13th Street,
every true body of believers, owes a debt of gratitude, praise,
and thanksgiving for our mothers, and our wives, and our daughters. Faithful, dedicated women. And here in Romans 16, Paul talks
about some of these dear women. These are all women now. Romans
16, verse 1, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister. She's a servant of the church.
which is sent to you, that you receive her in the Lord as becometh
saints, and that you assist her in whatever business she has
need of you. For she has been a comforter of many, and of myself
too," Paul said, Paul's writing. Greek Priscilla, Aquila, my helpers
in Christ Jesus, who had for my life laid down their own necks,
these women. And unto whom not only I give
thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles are thankful
for these faithful women. Likewise, greet the churches
in their house. Salute my well-beloved Eponidas,
who is the firstfruits of Archaea unto Christ. Greet Mary, who
bestowed much labor on us." And all the way through this 16th
chapter of Romans, somebody calls it the Hall of Faith. women,
one right after another, faithful servants of God. Not preachers, but faithful servants of God
in so many, many areas. Turn to Proverbs. Proverbs chapter
31. Proverbs 31. Let's read a few
verses here about these faithful women. In verse 25, strength and honor
are her clothing. She shall rejoice in time to
come. The last chapter proper, verse 26, she opens her mouth
with wisdom. In her tongue is a law of kindness.
She looks well to the ways of her household. She eateth not
the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call
her blessed. Her husband also, he praises
her. Many daughters have done virtuously,
but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, beauty is
vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Don't forget that. She shall
be praised. Give her of the fruit of her
hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. So that's
all right with me if this is addressed to an elect lady. Isn't
it all right with you? I just thank God. But my concern
this morning is the message that's addressed to this church, or
to this dear elect lady and her children. And let's read the
first six verses, and I want you to notice the prominent words,
words used over and over again. In fact, the word truth is used
five times, and the word love is used four times. In six verses,
truth, five times, love four times. Now let's read these first
six verses. The elder unto the late lady and her children whom
I love in the truth, not I only, but also all they that have known
the truth, they love them too. For the truth's sake which dwelleth
in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be unto you, with you,
mercy and peace from God the Father. from the Lord Jesus Christ
and the Son of the Father in truth and love. I rejoice greatly
that I found of your children walking in truth, as we have
received a commandment from the Father. And I beseech thee, lady,
not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we've
had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this
is love, that we walk after his commandments. What's his commandments?
It's his teachings, his truth. And this is the commandment.
That as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in
it. What is truth? What is truth? This is what Pilate asked our
Lord when he stood before Him. Pilate said, what is truth? And without waiting for an answer,
he walked off. You remember? What is truth? Well, let me try
to define it. Truth is that which conforms
with fact. is that which conforms with reality. Truth is just plain honesty. That's truth. Fact, reality,
honesty. Truth is the opposite of a lie. Truth is the opposite of falsehood,
pretense. Truth being reality. then it's the opposite
of pretense. Truth being honesty, it's the
opposite of insincerity. And truth is freedom. Our Lord
said that. I want you to turn to this scripture.
I want this to be sort of established in your mind before I go to my
next point. Truth is freedom. Our Lord said
in John chapter 8, verse 32, Verse 31 and 32, now listen,
John 8, 31 and 32, Then said Jesus to those Jews, John 8,
31, which believed on him. Now these people said they believed
on him. Now if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed. If you continue in my word, you'll
know the truth, and the truth will make you free. So truth has to do with facts.
reality. Truth has to do with honesty, and truth will
set you free. What is this freedom? Well, it's
freedom from the darkness and error of Satan's lies. It's to find your information in his words, not
in the words of Satan. It's to be free from darkness
of error in Satan's lies. Truth will set you free from
the bondage of superstition. Superstition is an awful bondage.
False religion, it'll set you free from false religion. That's
a terrible bondage, a bondage of the mind, the soul. Truth
will free you from the traditions of men. Things that have no basis
in the word, but are just traditions. Old wives' fables, Paul called
them. Useless ceremonies. Rituals for
which there's no purpose and reason or commandment. Truth
will set you free from traditions of men. Truth will set you free
from a false hope. A false hope of life eternal
based on our works. So truth, if you know the truth,
it sets you free. free from the darkness of error,
free from the bondage of superstition, false religion, free from tradition,
useless ceremonies and rituals which have no foundation in the
Word. It will set you free from a false
hope, and it will free you to find more truth. In order to find more truth and
to grow in truth, you've got to be set free from these other
things, and then you find more truth. You should know the truth
that sets you free. What is truth? Well, number one,
it is truth. It is fact. It's reality. That in the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. What's the opposite of that?
He didn't. So this is the truth. This is
reality. This is fact. God created the heavens and the
earth. And not to believe that, you've got to believe the opposite,
that he didn't. That it just came about on its
own. And that's awful difficult to
believe. This is the truth, that the Most
High God is sovereign. He's almighty. He rules. That's what the scripture says,
say to the heathen, thy God reigneth. Say to the nations, thy God reigneth.
He ruleth. in the armies of heaven among
the inhabitants of this earth. And none can stay his hand, and
none can question what doeth thou. And he, the book of Daniel
said, and he giveth it to whomsoever he will. What's the opposite
of that? Well, God's not sovereign. God's
not almighty. But God does not do as he wills,
or when he wills, or with whom he wills. That God is moved by
a power greater than God. So we've got on our hands a lesser
God. But that's not true. What is true? It is true that
God is holy. God not only created the heavens
and the earth, God is not only almighty and sovereign, but God's
holy. Perfectly, immaculately holy.
That's his name. The scripture says his name is
holy and reverent. That's your name. His book is
called the Holy Bible. His heaven is called the Holy
Temple. His angels are called the Holy
Angels. His son is called the Holy One
of Israel. God is holy. God is just. God
is righteous. God will by no means clear the
guilty. God cannot tolerate, have to
do with, associate with, or be connected with evil. God cannot
lie. He can't walk with liars. He
cannot. He's holy. God is separately holy. He said
he dwells in a light to which no man can approach, which no
man can see or have seen. God. He even said to Moses, you
can't look on me and live. Moses, I guess the best of the
best. God said, get in the cleft of
the rock. You can't see me and live. God's holy. That's true. Thirdly, it's true that all men
are guilty, all men are fallen. In Adam, all died. In Adam, all died. By one man's
sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed on all
men. The Scripture says that all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Scripture says
none that doeth good, no, not one. Babies are without sin,
then why do they die? That's what Paul asked in Romans,
and why do they die? The sting of death is sin. A
person without sin can't die. God can't die. God's without
sin. And if you're in Christ and redeemed,
you can't die because you're without sin. That's why you're
not going to die. Oh, this body's going to die, but you're not.
You're not the body. You're in the body. Christ wasn't
a body in which he dwelt, he dwelt in the body, a body that
prepared me. So without sin you can't die. But in sin my mother conceived
me. I was brought forth from the womb speaking lies, that's
what scripture says. All men are sinful. It says there's
none righteous, there's none that doeth good, there's none
that seeketh after God, there's none that understands it. God looked down from heaven to
see if there's any that did do good, and he found they're not
righteous. They're all born of the flesh,
and that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that's the truth.
Now keep this in mind while we're going through this, you know
the truth that sets you free. Sets you free from the darkness
of error, sets you free from superstition, old wise fables,
handed down junk. It will set you free from traditions,
and ceremonies, and processionals, and all these rituals that will
open you up to a hill of beans. It will set you free from a false
hope. Everybody's going to heaven, that's what I hear. But the Lord
said, many will say unto me that day. Not everyone that says,
Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me
that day, Lord, we, we, we, we did this, that, and the other.
I never knew you. So if you know the truth, it will set you free.
And it will set you free to find more truth. You can't find more
truth if you're sitting in error. And these things are true, I'm
telling you, it's truth. Fourthly, it's true that God Almighty,
God being holy, man being sinful, that God Almighty made from all
eternity an everlasting covenant. The Bible uses the word covenant
over 300 times. I've been reading you about truth
and love here in this chapter. It uses the word covenant over
300 times. Covenant. God's a covenant God.
I remember my covenant. He says that a dozen times. I
remember my covenant. God made a covenant with Adam.
He busted it. God made a covenant with Abraham
that he'd give him the land. He will. God made a covenant
with David. One day the Messiah will sit
on your throne. He did. But God made a covenant with
Christ. on behalf of an everlasting kingdom. He calls it the everlasting
covenant. He calls him the great shepherd
of the sheep who shed the blood of the everlasting covenant.
And it was made before the foundation of the world. With the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. With the Lamb who is the
surety of an everlasting covenant. With the Lamb who is the surety
of an everlasting covenant on behalf of a people called my
elect. My elect, all the way through
the word. by an elect, by an elect. And God made this covenant with
Christ, who became our surety, our representative, our substitute,
our great high priest, an everlasting priesthood. We studied that in
your lesson this morning. Whereby he can be just and justifier,
and he can populate a new heaven. God ordained a new heaven before
he made the first one. God ordained a new earth because
he made the old. That's right. Before God made
the old earth and the old heaven, he ordained there's going to
be a new heaven and a new earth. Why would you want a new one
when he just made one? Because sin is going to mess
this one up. Sin entered heaven. Satan fell. All the angels that
followed him. Man fell. And a curse came upon
this earth. Cursed be the earth, God said,
for your sake, Adam. By the sweat of your brow you'll
eat bread. And the land, the earth, is cursed, and death occupies
the whole earth. Change and decay in all around
me I see. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. Change and decay all around me
I see, O thou that changest not. That's what I need. And God ordained
a new heaven, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Nothing shall enter that worketh
or maketh alive. And God's going to populate it
with a people. With a people. What are they going to be like?
They're going to be like His Son. They're going to be like
Christ. Listen to the Word. And we know
all things work together for good to them who love God, who
are the call according to His purpose, His covenant. For whom
He did foreknow, He did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son. that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, and whom he predestinated he
called, and whom he called he justified, and whom he justified
he glorified." That's right. It's true there is a covenant,
an everlasting covenant, in Christ for his glory and for the good
of the people who believe on him. It is true that in the fullness
of time, now that covenant was made before the foundation of
the world, that's what scripture says. And then in the fullness
of time, this is true, God sent forth his only begotten son into
this world, made of a woman, made under the law, made in the
likeness of sinful flesh, to be for us a second Adam. The
first Adam is of the earth, earthing. In Adam we die. Sin passed upon
all men. The second Adam, born of a woman,
made in the likeness of flesh. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. In the first Adam we died, in the second Adam we're
made alive. By the disobedience of one we were made sinners,
by the obedience of another we were made righteous. We bore
the image of the first Adam flesh, we'll bear the image of the second
Adam spirit. glorified spirit and flesh. And he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him by his stripes we're healed. All we like sheep went
astray. We turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord laid
on him, on the cross, the iniquity of us all. It pleased God to
bruise him. That's what scripture says. It
pleased God to make his soul an offering for sin. Not just
his body, but his soul. It pleased God that the pleasure
of God should prosper in his hands, and he shall not fail.
He'll justify his people because he bore their iniquities. And
he, Christ Jesus, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He delivered us
from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. That's the
truth. That's the gospel. Paul said
to that church in Rome, the Corinthians, he said, I preached the gospel
to you. I preached the gospel to you,
and you received it, and you believed it, and you stand in
that gospel, and that gospel is this. Christ died for our
sins, according to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again,
according to the scriptures, fulfilling the promises of God.
It's true that he was buried. It's true he arose from the grave.
It's true he ascended to the right hand of God, where he as
our high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, not made
with hands, but heaven itself, and obtained eternal redemption
for us. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you, and you for the place. And if I go and prepare a place,
I'll come again. He entered into heaven itself
and sat down as our forerunner at the right hand of God, and
he makes intercession for us, and one day he'll return. Because
he said, that where I am, there ye may be also. Now this is true. It is true that that gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that glorious gospel, which is good news, glad
tidings, that's what the angels said to the shepherds, we bring
you good news. It's not just the doctrine, it's
good news. It's good news from a far country. I mean a far country,
from God's throne itself. We bring you good news of glad
tidings of great joy. It's going to be to all people.
This news is going to go around the world. Some will believe
it and some won't. Unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Savior, a Savior, a Redeemer, a Messiah, a Substitute, a High
Priest, a Sent Offering, an Atonement, a Kinsman Redeemer. Unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is none
other than Christ, Jesus, God Almighty, the everlasting Father,
the Lord of heaven and earth. That's a great mystery. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. That's a great mystery. God
was manifested in the flesh. But that's the good news. That's
the good news. And He walked through this earth
as a man, tempted, tried in all points as we are, yet without
sin. He died on that cross for His people. How can one man die
for so many people because of who he is? He's a God man. It's not how much blood he shed,
it's whose blood. Feed the church of God which
he purchased with his own blood. Who did? God did. With whose
blood? God's blood. God became a man. It's not how long he suffered,
it's who suffers. That's the truth. That's the truth. And
God takes this gospel and uses it as a means whereby he quickens. That's right. Men are dead in
trespasses and sins. That's right. In Adam we died.
We died spiritually. We didn't die physically. We
will someday. The body will, but we died spiritually. The
Bible talks about men being without hope, without God, without Christ
in this world. And he quickens them. How does
he quicken them? With the Word. The Holy Spirit
takes the Word. You see, the Word is the Word
of life. The Word is the seed. The Scripture says, "...of his
own will quickened he us, of his own will begat he us." With
what? With the seed of the Word. With
the Word. He quickened us with the Word
of God. "...of his own will begat he
us with the Word." The Apostle said, we're born again. Not a
corruptible seed. That's how we were born the first
time. The seed of man, implanted in the womb of a woman. And a
child was born. And that child's flesh. Son of
Adam. Fallen creature. Rebel. Sinner. Leave him alone. He'll
be what the rest of us are. That's right. Because he's flesh.
But when a child is born into the kingdom of God, The one who
begets is the Spirit of God. And the seed with which that
child is begotten is the Word of God. So we're born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed by the
Word of God. That's the reason preaching is
so important. Not screaming, not yelling, not walking up and
down here entertaining people, and blasting them, and ripping
them to shreds, and conning them. It's teaching the Word of God. That's how men are quickened.
That's how faith comes. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. Not the word of the Catholics,
or the Baptists, or the Methodists, or the Presbyterians. It's the
Word of God. Read the Word of God. Preach the Word of God.
Teach the Word of God. Men are born by the Word of God.
They're begotten, quickened by the Word of God. They're made
alive by the Word of God. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. But how are they going to call
on him in whom they've not believed? and how they're going to believe
in him in whom they've never heard, and how they're going to hear
without a preacher, and how they're going to preach unless God sends
them. How beautiful are the feet of them that bring good tidings,
good news from afar. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
the word of God. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation, the gospel. By the gospel he calls. Let me
read you a scripture over here in 2 Thessalonians. Turn to 2
Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Listen
to Paul here. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse
13. He says, We are bound to give
thanks, bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. That's how he calls you. Through
sanctification of the Spirit, that's what I said, the Spirit
comes upon a man. And the preaching of the truth
and belief of the truth, those are the two things that are essential
to the new birth, to salvation. The Spirit and the Word. Christ
said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. He said, how can
I be born? I'm old, and in my mother's womb,
I'm old. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. I'm talking
about being born of the Spirit and the water, the Word. Now
look at the next verse. When do he call you by our gospel
to the obtaining of the glory of Jesus Christ? My friends,
that's the truth. That's the truth. That's how
God quickens, regenerates, calls, and saves his elect. It has pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. They
hear and they believe. Let's go back to our text. I
want to point out a couple of things here, and I want you to
listen carefully. But knowing facts and knowing
truth and acknowledging mere facts is not salvation. You see, a man can believe there's
a God and still not know that God and love Him. The Bible says
this, you believe there's one God? The devil believes this
one God, and he trembles. Did not the evil spirits in Luke
chapter 4, when Christ came upon this particular scene and place,
there was a man possessed of demons, and they cried out. And
they said to Jesus Christ, cried out through the voice of that
man, we know who you are. You're the Son of God. Have you
come to torment us before our time? So knowing facts and believing
facts is not knowing God and not believing God. A person can
acknowledge the presence of facts and really not in his heart experience
and love and know that truth. Nicodemus is a prime example.
He is an educated, moral, religious leader. And he stands in front
of the Son of God. And he said, I know, I know you
came from God. A man couldn't do what you do
except God be with him. But Nicodemus didn't know him.
He didn't know the truth. He didn't know God, because Christ
said, Nicodemus, you've got to be born again. With all your
facts and with all your truths, Nicodemus believed God created
the earth. Nicodemus believed men were sinners, especially
Gentiles. Nicodemus believed God elected a people, especially
Jews. Nicodemus kept the Passover. Nicodemus obeyed the law, Ten
Commandments. They were written on his garments.
But he didn't know the Son of God. So here's the key. Truth is a person. Truth is not found in a catechism
or a creed. It's found in a person. He said you should know the truth.
and the truth will make you free." And two verses later he said,
if the Son makes you free, you're free indeed. That's right. He said, I'm the
way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. Now read verses 1 through 4 of
my text, verses 1 through 4, and substitute Jesus Christ in
the place of truth. He is truth. Listen to it. Now you read it that way. the
elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in
Jesus Christ. And not only I, but also all
they that have known Jesus Christ." That's how people love, by knowing
Christ. For Christ's sake, who dwells
in us and shall be with us forever, grace be with you, mercy and
peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Father, in Christ and love, I rejoice greatly I
found your children. walking in the Lord Jesus Christ. Walking in Him. As you have received
Christ, walk in Him. Walk in Him. Christ is the truth. It's love in Him. That's the
reason John, in this chapter here, he always keeps those two
words together, truth and love. See, God is truth. God is love. And both are revealed in Christ.
Where does a man love the truth? In Christ. Where does a man learn
to love? In Christ. Truth and love are
noble companions which cannot be separated, because they are
both in Christ. Truth without love would be stern,
cold, and cruel, wouldn't it? 1 Corinthians 13 says this, I may speak with the tongues
of men and angels, and I don't have love. I don't have Christ,
it profits me nothing. I may give my body to be burned,
and have not Christ, it profits me nothing. I may give my goods
to feed the poor, and I don't have Christ, it profits me nothing.
If I don't have Christ, I'm a sounding barge and a tinkling cymbal.
You see, that's the difference in religion and life. Christ. Truth and love. Who is Christ?
and he's the love of God manifested. Here in his love, not that we
love God, he loved us and sent his son to be the perpetuation
for our sin. Religion is to know doctrine.
Life is to know Christ. Religion is to know what I believe.
Life is to know whom I believe. Religion is to be found in good
standing in the church. Life is to be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, but his. Religion is to be a
new convert. Life is to be a new creature.
Religion is to be reformed. Life is to be regenerated, translated
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's just
heart. And that's the reason for the next verses. Listen,
chapter 7, verse 7. of 2nd Epistle of John. For many
deceivers are entering into the world. What is their deception? They confess not that Jesus Christ
is the truth. Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God Almighty,
our representative. This is a deceiver. This is a
liar. This is antichrist. Now you look
to yourself. that ye lose not those things
which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward, whosoever
transgresseth, and continueth not, and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ," what we've been talking about, what truth is, that's
Christ, who does not abide in that doctrine of Christ. He may
start saying that and then quit. He's got to abide, you see, abide
in Christ. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you, if you continue in me, my words continue in you.
You see, repentance is not an isolated act. Repentance is a
state. I have repented, I am repenting,
I will repent. Faith is not an isolated act.
I have believed, I am believing, I will continue to believe. Salvation
is not an isolated experience. We have been saved, we are being
saved, and our salvation is nearer than when we believe. If you
continue, if my word abides in you, He abides in me and my word
abides in you. So whosoever abides is not in
Christ. And I've seen folks leave it for various reasons, because
influenced by false teachers and couldn't stand the trials
of life or the persecution or influence of men or prosperity
or allurements or ambition or covetousness or indifference
or whatever. But let's follow the example
of the Old Testament believers of whom Paul wrote in Hebrews,
they died in the faith. Abide. Whosoever transgresseth
and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, he doesn't have God. But he that abides in the doctrine
of Christ, he has the Father, he has the Son. Now, people come to you and bring
out this doctrine. Truth is Christ. Love is Christ. Life is Christ. Salvation is
Christ. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. They don't bring this doctrine. Don't receive them
into your house. Don't let them contaminate your
home. Don't bid them Godspeed. To be involved in this sort of
thing is to be an antichrist. It's to be an enemy of Christ.
Enemy of the cross. The gospel is a wide word. Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life. But it's a narrow place. It's Christ. It's a wide word. Come. All things are ready. Everyone
that thirsteth, come to the water. I'll give you. You'll have drink. Out of your belly will flow rivers
of water. Labor and heavenly, come to me. I'll give you rest.
It's wide. But come to me. That makes it
narrow. It's straight and narrow. It's
broad and wide. Come on! Don't hesitate. But there's one to whom we come.
There's one in whom we trust. There's one on whom we believe.
There's one in whom we rest. There's one who is our life,
our salvation, our joy, our all and in all. It's Christ. No man cometh to the Father but
by needs that and makes it a narrow way. I don't know why anybody
would want to come anywhere else. I just don't know why. I just
cannot, I can't imagine that when God so plainly declares
from one side of this book to the other, it's Christ that makes
the center whole. Why would we look anywhere else?