And I'm going to burden you with
the reading of an article which I wrote for the Bulletin this
week, and it's printed on the back page. Preachers do not always say much, but I'm convinced that I've said
something in this article that needs to be said. It needs to
be said again and again and again. And I'm going to do my best not
to violate my own principles in the message today, but rather
to fulfill what I've exhorted everyone to do who stands in
the pulpit. It says the Holy Spirit does
not reach after something novel, new, or spectacular. in order
to glorify Christ or to preach Christ to men. He does not need
tongues and fleshly emotions, bodily healings and creature
fame and importance in order to bring glory to Christ and
call out his sheep. He finds Christ's glory in Christ
himself. That's where his glory is. Our
Lord said, he shall glorify me, he shall take the things of mine
and show them to you. That's where the glory of Christ
is in himself. And if we want to honor Christ,
glorify Christ, and preach Christ, we must not look for something
outside of Christ, but we must honor him by preaching that which
is his already, his deity, his person. his manhood, his life,
his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his intercession,
his return. Strange as it may seem, there
is today very little preaching of Christ himself. Men preach
about those who knew him, who served him, who wrote about him—Bunyan,
Watts, Even the apostles, they preach
about his church, the right church, the straight church, the disciplined
church, his doctrines, his commandments. They preach series of messages
on those who used to preach Christ, on the conduct and conversation
of those who profess to know Christ, on the duties and responsibilities
of believers in Christ, but very few messages on the person and
work of Christ himself. Preachers read papers and conduct
discussions on ways and means to serve Christ, ways and means
to discipline and organize the kingdom of Christ, and how to
honor Christ, and they seldom get around to doing that which
God has ordained and commissioned us to do, and that is to preach
Christ. In 1 John 5, the first verse
says, whosoever. There's a wide word. There's a wide word. It doesn't say here Jew or Gentile. It doesn't say awakened sinner
or quickened sinner or interested sinner. There's no nationality
in that word. It's just whosoever. Whosoever. No social standings, no religious
requirements, no age limit, no male or female, whether Jew or
Gentile, rich or poor, black or white, old or young, just
says, whosoever. In the pulpit or in the pew,
whosoever, whosoever. What a wide word. But whosoever,
watch it now, believeth. And this is a heart belief. This
is a soul, whosoever believeth. He doesn't say he believes, he
believes. It's not whosoever professes
to believe, it's whosoever believeth. He believeth. He believeth, now
watch this, that Jesus is the Christ. That's what he believes.
Jesus is the Christ. Now that word Christ signifies
anointed. Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus
born of Mary. Let's be sure we know of whom
we speak. Jesus who walked on this earth. Jesus of which, of
whom some people said He's a prophet, He's a great preacher, healer,
whatever, but the disciples say He's the Son of God. But this
is the one we're talking about, this Jesus. And to confess or
believe that He is the Christ is saying this, that He is the,
the, not a, the anointed of God, the ordained of God, the commissioned
of God, To be what? Prophet, priest, and king. I
can't tell you what's summed up in those three words, but
I can help you by turning to a passage of Scripture. First
of all, to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, chapter 18. When
we say that Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus, Son of Mary, Jesus, Son
of God, Jesus is the Christ, we're saying that we believe.
And my friends, I confess, I believe this. I just don't preach it. I believe it, Mike. I believe
this. My heart believes it. My heart
beats it. As old Tommy Lasorda said of
the book of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he is, he bleeds blue. I bleed Christ. I bleed Christ. I bleed Him. I bleed Him. I believe He's the Christ. I
believe He's the only thing. I believe there's nothing outside
of Christ. He is that prophet. Now listen to what Moses said
way back yonder. In verse 15 of Deuteronomy 18,
the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet, a prophet,
capital P, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto
me, unto him you'll listen, unto him. Nobody else. You listen
to him. Now look at verse 18. I will raise them up a prophet,
from among their brethren like unto thee, Moses, and I will
put my words in his mouth." This is God. God speaking. I'm going
to put my words in his mouth. And he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him. Our Lord said, My words are the
words of him that sent me. He said that I don't speak of
myself. It didn't originate with a man.
He's the God-man, but he's saying, what I'm preaching and what I'm
teaching, what I'm revealing, did not originate with me. It
was not for convenience. It's God's thoughts and God's
will and God's purpose and God's design through me. The words
are... Now watch verse nineteen. And
it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words,
which this prophet shall speak in my name, I will judge him
for it. I will require that. Now that's
what I'm saying. You can't know God except as
you hear Christ. Everything God has for sinners
is spoken by and through Christ. The law came through Moses, grace
and truth came by and through Jesus Christ. He is grace and
truth. He is truth. He said, I am the
truth. There's no truth apart from Christ. There's no truth
learned or known apart from Christ. No real truth. It's error. Christ is the truth. Do you see
what I'm saying? He, no man has seen God in any
time. The Only Begotten hath revealed
Him. Christ reveals God's words and works. He's that prophet. He's more than a prophet. He's
that prophet. He's the only prophet. God, who
at sundry times and in diverse manners spake to our fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His
Son. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? Now that's... I wish I could
emphasize that. I wish I could. And all I'm doing
is just preaching Christ. Christ is the one you need to
believe. He's the one you need to hear. He's the one you need
to follow. He's the one you need to love. It's just like John
the Baptist speaking here to his disciples. He said, Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Follow
Him. Look to Him. Hear Him. Believe Him. Don't
follow me. Follow Him. He's that prophet. Sit at His feet. Adore Him. Love Him. Do His will. You're not going to know God
except through Him. Or I'll tell you something else
about Christ, whosoever. Whosoever. And it doesn't matter
whether you're from Europe or from America, whether you're
old or young, whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you've
got a religious background or don't have a religious background.
Sometimes a religious background is a hindrance. It's whosoever
believes that Jesus is that prophet and he's that priest. And we'll
show you something here. is a priest. And Aaron and the
sons of Levi are types of Christ, they're patterns and pictures
of Christ, but most imperfect. Most imperfect. So God reaches
back and brings out a picture of the priesthood of Christ that
Aaron can't match, nor any sons of Levi. God reaches back and
gets a fellow named Melchizedek. Now, if you don't know who he
is, you sure ought to learn. If you're not familiar with Melchizedek,
you sure ought to find out something about him, because in the Word
of God, about six or seven times, it says Christ is a priest forever
after the altar of Melchizedek. Priest. Now, you know what a
priest is. Here's God in His ultra, super, supreme, infinite,
eternal, unchangeable holiness. Here's man in his death, depravity,
and degradation. This God can have nothing to
do with that mess, that downhill dweller, and that man can have
nothing to do with God. God cannot compromise Himself
by hearing or being heard from with this kind of outfit. So
he commissions a priest in between. No man takes this office upon
himself, but he is as chosen and anointed of God as was Abraham.
And God speaks to the priest, and the priest speaks to the
people. And the people speak to the priest, and the priest
offers sacrifices, and the priest goes to God. The people have
nothing to do with God. Nothing. In themselves, of themselves,
on their own. only the priest. That's where it was through the
whole Old Testament. And God erected a tabernacle out there
on the New Irving. It wasn't a big tabernacle, it
wasn't very impressive, especially on the outside. It was just a
common tent, clothed with badger skin. It had three other things,
coverings, that revealed Christ inside the holiness of God. Inside the indescribable Shekinah
glory of God, especially in the Holy of Holies. See, there were
two compartments in that tabernacle out there in the wilderness.
There was the holy place where the priests ministered continually.
There was the showbread and the candlestick and the incense altar. But then there was a second veil,
and behind that veil, the glory of God. There was the Ark of
the Covenant and the cherubims overshadowing that Ark. and the
mercy seat of gold. And in that art was the broken
law, man's failure in that art. And once a year, God allowed,
and over that art was the Shekinah glory of God, just the glory
of God pinpointed in one place, over that art. And God allowed
once a year that high priest to come into that holy of holies. But not without blood. The animal
was slain in the blood, which revealed the blood of Christ.
And not without the incense, which are the prayers of Christ,
the intercession of Christ. And he'd slip in that, under
that veil, into that Holy of Holies once a year, with that
blood atonement, and put it on that mercy seat. And then slip
out. And God would have some dealings
with these creatures through that prayer once a year. and
atonement until Christ came. You see, Christ is our priest.
Christ is our great high priest. But Christ brings not the blood.
Christ is one. They were many. Christ is a priest
forever. They had a limited priesthood.
Their sacrifices could never put away sin. He has effectually
put it away once and for all and perfected all for whom it
was offered. They offered the blood of animals, he offered
his own blood. They came into the holy place made with hands,
he went into heaven itself, into the presence of God. They stood,
he sat hanging. They never finished their work,
he finished his work. He is that high priest. So you
see, these fellas actually cannot even be a good type of Christ.
Pretty good, but not good. They lack so much, there's so
many ways he's so different from them. So, turn to Hebrews 7. Now watch this. Hebrews 7. And I'll tell you, without a
priest, you're not coming to God. And some people look for
Him in Rome or Cincinnati or somewhere like that. That's not
the one I'm talking about. Nobody's playing priesthood now. I'm talking about the one great
high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Hebrews 7, verse 1. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, king of priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham
returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him,
to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation
King of Righteousness, after that King of Salem, which is
King of Peace, without father, without mother, without descent,
pedigree, ancestry, having neither beginning of days nor end of
life, but made like unto the Son of God, abiding a priest
continually. Now look at verse 11, the last
line. Another priest should rise after
the order of Melchizedek. Verse 15. It is yet far more
evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there rises another
priest. Verse 17. Now are the priests
forever after the order of Melchizedek? Verse 21, the last line, "...thou
the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Verse
25, "...wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost them
that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them." How many times God says He's the priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. Now watch this. Abraham was coming
back from the slaughter of the king. And he met one called Melchizedek,
priest of the Most High God, King of Righteousness, King of
Salem, King of Peace. But this priest, here in the
Old Testament, before Christ came, had no tabernacle. Pauly had no Holy of Holies.
He had no blood sacrifice. He had no incense. He had nothing that the Aaron
had. He had bread and wine. How in the world could he be
a priest? He himself is the sacrifice. He himself is the tabernacle.
He himself is the mercy sick. He himself is the altar. He's
Christ. That settles that issue once
and for all, who Melchizedek is. If Melchizedek's not Christ,
he needs a sacrifice. He better have some blood. He
better have an atonement. But he had none of that. He had
bread and wine. The same thing he gave his disciples
at the Last Supper, and said, just do in remembrance of me.
Now, do you believe that? Go back to our text. You see, my friends, and I've
tried to say this, it's like I said while ago, and I'm not
being an alarmist, an extremist, or a fanatic, or a radical. But
our generation is playing religion, and they're playing church. My
generation doesn't know anything about these things. My generation
cannot define the word justification. They cannot define the word righteousness. They cannot define these Melchizedek. They don't even know who he is.
They know nothing of the person at work in the office of Jesus
Christ, prophet, priest, and king. They know nothing of those
things. They know nothing of how God can be just and justify. And I'm trying to teach these
things to you. I'm trying to show you these
vital, basic, fundamental truths that a person has to believe
to be saved. It says, whosoever believes that
Jesus is that Christ, that prophet, priest, and king, He is the altar. He is the sacrifice. He is the
mercy seat. He is the way that God can be
just and justify. He is the power and wisdom of
God. He is the grace of God. You've
got to believe that. This is not walking down an aisle
and accepting some facts about Jesus. Poor Billy Graham and
these other men. I listened to one all the way
through, though. They're not saying anything,
my friends. They're just giving some illustrations
and poems and a few facts and telling people, come down here,
here's where you're saved. No, this is not where you're
saved. You're saved at Calvary. That's
where a man's saved, at Calvary, at the cross. That's where man
is justified, in Christ. And you're saved when you meet
a person, not a preacher. You're saved when you bow in
heart, not shake a hand. You're saved when you come to
believe, believe who Christ is. And my generation's not hearing
that. That's the reason there's no results. That's the reason
there's no continuance on the part of those who make these
professions. Or here's the next thing, he's
the king. Now listen to this. Turn with
me to John the Baptist's testimony in John 3. I thought this was
one of the best scriptures to emphasize what I'm saying. He
is the king. Barney just talked, Ronnie, about
the crown rites of Christ. Crown rites. A man told me from
Texas years and years and years ago, He said, when Barnard was
just a young man, and I heard him, and I heard him talking
about the crown rites of Christ, he said, I knew he knew something
about the gospel. And that's all he said, something about
the crown rites of Jesus. What are the crown rites? Well,
John the Baptist gives them right here in John 3, verse 31. He that cometh from above is
above all. One hundred percent above all.
Who is that? where He comes from above. He's the King, the Lord,
the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's above all. He that
is of the earth is earthly. That's me, you, anybody else.
And we speak of the earth, but He that cometh from heaven is
above all. He's above all. All authority,
power, crown rights, they're His by design, by decree, by
death. They're Don't feel sorry for
him. He's on the throne. The universe
is his throne, the earth is his footstool. And what he hath seen and heard
that he testifies, and nobody receives his testimony. Don't
listen to him. He that hath received his testimony,
have you? Hath set to his seal that God
is true. That's what you're witnessing
and testifying and setting to the scene, God's truth, when
you hear Christ and receive his testimony. For he whom God hath
sent speaks the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him. I have just an inkling of the
Holy Spirit. He has the fullness of God's
Spirit without measure. That's Christ. For the Spirit
of God is called the Spirit of Christ. The Father loves the
Son. We're on the wrong channel. We're
running around here talking about how God loves the rotten, despicable
worms of this world. We have compromised and prostituted
the love of God. We got him loving what he can't
love and be God. John the Baptist didn't do that.
John the Baptist set the record straight. He told where the love
of God is. He set forth the true object
of God's love. He lets this whole world know
God loves the Son. That's who God loves. God loves
the Son. The Father loveth the Son. and
has given everything, all things, into His hands. It's been given
to Him. We don't have a nickel's worth
of anything. Christ's got it all. He's the heir of God. It's all His. God's given it
to us. Now, he that believeth on the
Son, if you can believe the Son, Prophet, Priest, and King, If
you can fall down and worship the Son, if you can kiss the
Son with a genuine heart and affection, if you can believe
and receive the Son, then you've got life, because God's put life
in him. And you that believe not the
Son, you're not only not going to see life, but the heart abides
on you. What is that word? Say it for
me. That says wrath. That's what
that says. That's what that says. I'm not a scholar, but I know
what that says. And that doesn't say these people
run around out here who believe salvation's in the Catholic Church,
or salvation's in the Mass, or salvation's in some petty doctrine,
or salvation's in the law, or salvation's in their morality.
That doesn't say God loves those people. He says those people
are under God's wrath, and that wrath abideth, abideth, abideth
on them. You say, why aren't they in hell?
They will be when the cup of his wrath is full. Their foot
will slide in due time, that's what God says. All right, that's
it. Now look at this. Now watch this
character, stay with me. It says, Whosoever believeth
that Jesus, this Jesus, is actually always has been, always will
be, is now the Christ, and all that that contains. He is born
of God. He's born of God. He is literally,
actually born of God. He who truly believes in, on,
and to Jesus Christ is already born of God. We're not born of
God because we believe that. We believe that because we're
born of God. Don't get that backwards now. It doesn't say whosoever believes
that Jesus is the Christ, he shall be born of God. He is born
of God. What is born? Begotten. What
is begotten? Regenerated. What's regenerated? Received life. So that person
who has been brought by the Spirit of God to actually enter into
and embrace and receive and love and confess all that Jesus Christ
is. That person is born of God, he's
regenerated of God. Look back at verse 15 of chapter
4. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwells in him. I want you to hold that scripture
right there a minute and turn to Acts 13. Now, this is, the
natural world misses this. I want you to watch this. I'm
going to try to be brief, but I want you to listen to this. We're not born of God because
we believe. We believe because we're born
of God. We're not regenerated because we heard the gospel and
accepted it. We heard the gospel and received
it because we were regenerated. Did you know that? Now, that's
so. Acts 13, 48, listen. And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. And they glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to life,
they believed. They believed. You see, salvation
is something God did for me. And salvation from Alpha to Omega,
like you said then the other Sunday, and all in between, is
of the Lord. It's the work of God. It's the
gift of God. Now go back to our text. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ, he's been born of God. He's been
given life from God. He was born not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.
And God dwells in him. Now watch this. And everyone,
without exception, everyone, without exception, that loveth
him that begat," who is that? That's Christ, that's God. He loveth him that's begotten
of him. In other words, if I truly love
the Father, I love the only begotten Son. But not only that, if I
love Christ, I love all who are begotten of Christ, and all that
is of Christ. Look at verse 2 now, 1 John 5.
And by this, and by this we know that we love the children of
God when we love God. Our love for the children of
God is because of our love for God. Our love for the children of
God is because we love God. Our love for God. Not the opposite.
We don't love God because we love His children. We love His
children because we love Him. That's first. You see, regeneration
comes before any results. Regeneration comes before preceding
any results or any evidence of salvation. When we love God,
we love His Word. We love all that belong to God. We love His commandments. We
love His gospel. We love all that's identified
with Him because it is identified with Him. That's why we love
it. And things which are not identified of Him, our anger
is upon it. David said, I hate them that
hate thee. My judgment, like your judgment, falls upon that.
Let me read verse 2 and 3 together. Now this we know that we love
the children of God when we love God, and keep his commandments,
keep his word, love his word, all of his word. For this is
the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments
are not grievous, his word is not grievous. The word of God
is the children's bread, and those who are born of God love
that bread. The fellowship of believers is
refreshing to the soul of a regenerated man, therefore he seeks that
fellowship. It's not grievous, it's not a
responsibility or a duty, it's a desire. That's what he's saying
here. The worship of the Lord is no
duty, it's a delight. It's a delight. You see what
he's saying there? And the walk of obedience and faith, though
it be contrary to the natural flesh, is in complete harmony
with the new heart and the new nature. And the more like Christ
that our lives become, the happier we are, the happier a true believer. The more that he fellowships
with Christ, with His Word, with His people, the happier he is.
And when there's a broken fellowship between Christ and his people,
that's when he has a troubled soul and a troubled heart. And
verse 4 tells us why. For whosoever is born of God,
these people that are born of God. Now, let's go back to what
he said here. First of all, he says, those
that are born of God believe. They believe Christ. They are
enamored with Him. They are obsessed with Him. They
adore Him. They love Him. They believe Him. They'd die for Him. And not only
that, but they love the things that are identified with Him.
They love His Word. They'll drive miles to hear it.
They love His people. They love to fellowship with
Him. They love anything identified with Christ. And His commandments
are not grievous. not tiresome. His words are not
tiresome. His requirements are not tiresome.
In fact, we delight in the law of God. We delight in fellowship. We delight in doing His will. When we don't do His will, we're
not happy. And you know why that is? Because
whosoever is born of God has been weaned from the world. He
overcomes the world. He overcomes the world. What
do you mean by that? It means just this. Those who
are born of God only believe Christ, not only love Christ
and love the things identified with Christ, but they've been
weaned from the philosophy of the world, from the influence
of the world, from the attraction of the world, from the dominion
of the world, from the control of the world. The approval of
this world means nothing to them. What people think, that's not
important to those who are born of God. The glory of this world
is unimportant. The recognition of this world
is unimportant to those who are born of God. They're not interested
particularly in the world's glory. The materialism of this world
to them is detrimental. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter,
I believe chapter 11 a minute. Hebrews chapter 11. Now I want
you to look at this. In Hebrews 11, verse 23, this
man Moses, this is a good illustration of what I'm talking about. This
man Moses was in Egypt, and he had the power of Egypt, he had
the material possessions of Egypt, he had the political control
of Egypt. Moses was next in line to be
Pharaoh. He was one of the leading men
of Egypt. And yet he took a staff and a
robe and walked away from all that, walked out in the wilderness,
and stayed there tending sheep on the backside of a mountain
for forty years, and then came back into that great country
to lead those ragtag Israelites out of Egypt. What possessed
him to do that? Well, let's see what it is. Verse
twenty-three, Faith in Christ, by faith Moses. By faith Moses,
verse 24, when he was come to years, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing, choosing, he did it deliberately,
he didn't have to, he chose it, rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
esteeming the reproach of Christ, the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had recompense
of the reward. Go back to our text in 1 John
5. Whosoever is born of God, he's
seen something. He's seen someone, Christ. He believes Christ. Prophet Preston
came, he's enamored with Christ. And he loves everything associated
with him, identified with him, that's begotten of him, that's
come from him. And the world, with its attractions, with its
philosophy, with its glory, with its influence, with its recognition,
with its materialism, which is contrary to that Christ He's lost interest in it, and
there's a twofold reason. He does what he has to do, as
far as this world's concerned. And here's the reason. Verse
four now of our text. Whosoever is born of God overcometh
the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, faith. That's what Moses, by faith.
How could Moses turn? He believed. He believed Christ. He believed the riches and treasures
of Christ. He'd seen Christ. That's how
he could do it. Verse five, who is he that overcometh
the world? Who is he that wins the victory
over this, this octopus, this monster of materialism that just messes you up? Messes your family
up and you up and everybody associated with you, greed and clamoring
after these things, and prizing their recognition, and doting
on their good word, and seeking their fame. What can overcome
this? He that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. That's the man. Mike, would you rather sing here next
Sunday, or would you rather sing in Carnegie Hall? Something to what I'm saying. You'd rather sing here or you'd
rather make an LP for Columbia Records? That'll maybe get you
a golden record and put you on the charts. It might put you
on another list too, mightn't it? That's what I'm talking about.
That's what I'm talking about. You'd rather have treasures in
heaven or treasures on earth? That's what Christ said. But
you rather have. I say that people who've seen
Christ and love Christ and believe Christ, they do what they have
to do. They do what they have to do. As far as this world's
concerned, they meet obligations they have to meet, they take
care of responsibilities they have to take care of, and they'll
be glad when they're over. Because Abraham looked for a
city whose builder and maker is God. I got some people I got to keep
being nice to and I'm going to do it. I got some people I love. I'm looking to spend eternity
with them. I got some things I got to do here, some obligations
to fulfill. And we'll do it with joy and
submission. But we're looking for a city
whose builder and maker is God. And Paul said, for you it's expedient
that I remain. For as I'm concerned, I'm ready
to go. Be with Him, which is far better. Live as Christ to
die as guest. But they've overcome the world.
My generation is jogging and diving and doing all these things. They tell me it's to improve
what life to have. I think some of them are counting
on staying here all the time. I think a lot of them have wrapped
up in this world. They give more time to that than
they do to this, I know that. They give more time to discussing
that than they do to discussing this. That's right. Our Father, give us, individually,
every one of us, a sight of Christ, an ear to hear a heart to love
him, oh to know him, and the power of his resurrection to
win Christ and be found in him. To have that faith Moses had
that overcomes the world, that overcomes the world, that puts
it in its proper place, the place of condemnation and the wrath
and judgment of God. The judgment of God is upon this
world. Lord, wean us from it and set
our affection on things above. Do what I can't do for all of
us, and let's apply the word to the heart. Exalt and magnify
Him, for Christ's sake I pray. Amen.