The Apostle Paul wrote in the
book of Galatians, chapter 4, verse 16, these words. He said, Am I therefore become
your enemy? Because I tell you the truth. Am I your enemy? Are you angry
with me because I have dared to tell you the truth?" And then
over in chapter 5, verse 11, he declared this. He said in
Galatians 5, 11, "'And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision,'
and he's not just referring to the cutting of the flesh, the
circumcision of the male child. He's talking about all that's
included in circumcision, the works, works and deeds of the
law. If that's what I'm preaching,
salvation by work, salvation by conformity to these laws,
then why do I yet suffer persecution? Why are people angry with me? Men by nature are not angry with
salvation by works. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he
said, I and my Father are one, the Jews took up stones to stone
him. He said, many good works have
I done among you, for which of these do you stone me? And they
said, we're not stoning you for good works. We've got no objections
to good works. The natural world and the religious
world has no objections to good works. They have no objections
to salvation by works. People who preach salvation by
works do not produce martyrs. They do not burn Armenians at
the stake. They don't do it. And this is
what Paul is asking. He says, brethren, if I preach
works for salvation, salvation by deeds of the law and works
of the flesh, why do I suffer persecution? Why is the world
angry with me? Why is the religious world angry
with me? For then, what's this? For then is the offense, the
offense of the cross ceased. This message of grace and salvation
by grace, is offensive. Addressing all men as sinners
offends their dignity. Preaching a gospel that is only
understood by revelation offends man's wisdom. Preaching an effectual,
sufficient atonement offends man's pride. And the Lordship
of Jesus Christ offends man's love of self. And Paul said,
if I preach anything else, there's no offense to it. The offense
is in the cross. The offense is in substitution.
The offense is in grace. I'm going to be a little offensive
tonight, and I hope that what Paul said to that church in Galatia,
that you will apply it to mine and your relationship. Don't
let me become your enemy because to tell you the truth. And just
remember this, that if a man preaches the gospel of God's
redeeming grace in Christ Jesus, it's going to be offensive to
this flesh. It's going to be offensive. It
always has been, it is now, and it always will be. Now, here's
what I'm saying. First of all, I'm preaching to
a generation of men and women, and that includes this town in
which I'm a pastor. I'm preaching to a generation
of men and women who are wise in the ways of the world. They're inventors, they're engineers,
they're doctors, they're lawyers, they're men who build buildings
and bridges and houses. They're very wise in the things
of this world. During my lifetime, I suppose
there's been more progress in inventions and more progress
in luxurious living and easy living than all the other 5,900
and some odd years before. Don't you reckon? In my lifetime,
in the almost 60 years that I've lived. And men are wise. I'm not denying that they're
smart. They're intelligent, they're crafty, they're clever, they're
knowledgeable, they're well-read in the things pertaining to the
flesh. But I'm preaching, don't be offended
because it's true, I'm preaching to a generation who is the most
ignorant generation that ever lived in the things of God. I'm preaching to a generation
of men and women, I'm not denying that they're clever and crafty
and wise and well-read and knowledgeable in the ways of the world and
the things pertaining to the flesh, but they're totally ignorant
and totally in spiritual darkness in things pertaining to God Almighty.
Oh, I'm not saying, I'm not saying at all, we've got more Bibles
than we've ever had. And probably the Bible is read
more today than maybe it ever has been. I'm not denying that. And our boys and girls can stand
up and recite Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Judges, and right on through 6 to 6 on it. Yeah, they
can. And they know who little David
was, but they don't know who David represented. They know
who Noah was, and they can tell you about the ark. They don't
know what it means. They know who the King Saul was.
They know who Moses was. We had the movie, The Ten Commandments,
and everybody saw it. They saw all those things. And they know who, they know
a person they call Jesus. Not the same one I'm preaching,
but his name's Jesus. That's what they call him. They
use the same words, but a different dictionary. They're knowledgeable in religious
matters. They also are well organized. Their denominations are well
organized. They've got preachers and superintendents
and associational missionaries and missionaries all over the
world. This is a religious world, and perhaps there's more zeal
and enthusiasm and zealousness in religion than ever before.
But I still say, I'm preaching to the most ignorant generation
that ever lived in the critical issues regarding God Almighty. And I'm going to give you fiber.
I'm going to give you fiber. This is where they're ignorant,
and this is where it is. This is where they're ignorant,
and here's where the blessing is. On these things they're ignorant,
and on these things rests the redemptive glory of God Almighty.
That's exactly right. Those men, Rodney, you work with
at the mill. I know my Bible, and they do their Bible. They
don't know his, but they know theirs. I'll have you know my
God wouldn't do that. He wouldn't, but this one will.
Let me give you five things. I'm confident of this. Number
one, my generation is ignorant of the character of God Almighty,
the character of God. And full proof of that is this.
I was looking at a picture in the paper some years ago of some
Lodge brothers, and they was all decked out in their different
uniforms, you know, and had these silly-looking funnel hats on
and different things written on them. And underneath there
it had, Joe Brown is our most high potentate. Our generation calls their Lodge
brothers high potentate, and God, the man upstairs. That shows
they're ignorant of God's character. That's living proof right there.
And they call him most worshipful master. And they call God Almighty
somebody up there. I hope he takes a liking to me.
My generation is ignorant of the awesome, almighty, majestic,
holy, just, and righteous, and living God. They're totally ignorant. They
don't know who God is. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. If you'll go through the Word,
if you'll go through the Word, you'll find that men who really
knew God, when they were aware of the presence of God, when
they were aware that God was near, or God was speaking, or
God was with them, They didn't jump up and down and clap and
shout and throw songbooks. They fell at his feet as dead
men. They were literally overcome.
He said, Moses, take off your shoes even, you're on holy ground. But this generation has a familiarity
with God that is nauseating. I was riding along the other
day and I saw a bumper sticker. This little old gray-headed lady
was driving the car, and she was going from side to side,
you know, and off the shoulder and all around, and she had a
bumper sticker, God is my co-pilot. I thought I'd sure rather deal
with a co-pilot than deal with you. God is my co-pilot. Think of it. God is not your
co-pilot. He's your living creator. He's
your sovereign God. He reigns in heaven and the Lord
is in his holy temple at every mouth he speaks. My generation
is ignorant of the character of God. You rarely ever hear
a sermon on God's majesty, God's glory, God's holiness. I'll tell
you, the old time, the old Jews, they just hesitated to use the
name God. They didn't, did they? I haven't
made a great study of that, but I just know that they talked
about Jehovah, the Savior, God in His redemptive character,
God in His essential holiness and majesty in His name of glory. They wouldn't even use it. But
we joke about it. And I'm charging my generation
with being ignorant. They're going to find out someday.
But they're ignorant now of the character of God. Secondly, my
generation is totally ignorant of the nature of sin. You can
turn your television or radio on and listen to the preachers
preach, and the preachers are the representatives of the people.
They are lip-lipping and voicing what the people think. And they
have, like the Pharisees of old, they have confined sin to meats
and drinks. That's exactly right. what you
put in your mouth. They have confined sin to places
and things. And I'm not denying that some
drinks are evil and bad, especially in their results. And I'm not
denying that there are places that are evil and there are things
that are evil. But you can't confine sin to
the material and to the physical and to the outward acts. Sin
is a nature. See, it is a nature, it's a principle
within the heart. I hear people say, well, drugs
have ruined our young people. Well, I beg your pardon, our
young people ruin drugs. Drugs are a great invention for
people in pain. I'm glad they invented something
to give us when we're operating on, aren't you? My soul, I'd
hate to bite the bullet. I'm glad they've invented something
to give us in the recovery room an intensive care. I'd hate to
watch my loved ones hanging on to an iron bar and screaming
while their fingernails dug into their hands. Alcohol's ruined
our young people. Oh, no. Oh, no. Our young people
are in alcohol. And there are so many things.
Sin is not in a box. Sin is not in an outward act. These outward acts are the result
of a wicked, evil heart that hates God and hates truth. That's
right. The old Pharisees, our Lord Jesus
Christ, ate without washing his hands, and they got
all upset about that. And he said to them, he said,
it is not what you put in your mouth that defiles you, it's
what comes out of your heart. All of these things, evil thoughts
and adulteries and blasphemies and thefts and all these things,
that comes out of the heart. And our generation doesn't know
what sin is. They don't understand the nature
of sin. They don't understand that depths of sin, they don't
understand the extent of sin, from the sole of our feet to
the top of our head, all within us is putrid, rotten, untreated
sores. And then thirdly, my generation
is ignorant of the righteousness of God. I'm not talking about
God's essential holiness, they're ignorant enough of that. If they
knew something about that, they might know something about this.
See what I'm saying? If they knew something about
his personal, essential holiness, and they knew something about
the nature of sin, they would see the necessity of this righteousness
of God. Turn to Romans 10 for just a
moment. Romans 10. Listen to this. Romans 10. Paul talking about
Israel. He said, Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel, and these are religious
people he's talking about, these are the sons of Abraham, is that
they might be saved. I bear them record, this is true,
I know it's true, this is a fact, that they have a zeal of God,
they have an enthusiasm for God, they have a religious bent, but
it's not according to knowledge, for they're ignorant. That's
what I said, ignorant. They're ignorant. What are they
ignorant of, Paul? They're ignorant of God's righteousness. And they're going about with
much activity and much ado to establish before God and in His
presence their own goodness, their own holiness, their own
righteousness, and they refuse to submit themselves unto God's
righteousness, for Christ is the end of the lawful righteousness.
Christ is God's righteousness. My generation is ignorant of
the character of God. I tell you this, and I'm getting
a little older all the time in this body, and I'm becoming more
aware each day of the awesome holiness of God. I'm getting afraid to play religion. I told somebody last week, As
John prayed a while ago, this is getting to be a terrible place
up here. Awesome responsibility. I'm more
troubled and concerned to come up here and speak for God than
I've ever been in my life. I like what one preacher said
down at the Franklin Conference. A lady came up and said, I'm
anxious to hear you preach tonight. He said, I wish I was as anxious
to get up there as you are to hear me. With reluctance, I come. Because I'm learning something
about the awesomeness of God. It's a matter of prayer. I see people go in restaurants,
and I've done it myself, and they go in there and they have
several thoughts. They think, well, I got to pray
before I eat. I won't be religious if I don't
pray. I may offend somebody if I don't pray. So I'll bow my
head and say a few mechanical words or scratch my eyebrows,
you know, and act like I'm praying. Yeah, but what about him? Would
you offend Him? Would you play a part in His
presence? Would you go through a ritual in His presence? I'm
not afraid of man. I'm afraid of God. You didn't
wash your hands before you ate. You didn't go through the ceremony
before you ate. See what I'm saying? Oh, God
is in His holy temple. Be careful. Be careful. If you
got nothing to say, don't say it. If you're not in an attitude
and a spirit of gratitude and worship, don't mess around. Don't mess around. Just keep
your mouth shut. Don't play games with God. Play
some other game. This is Russian roulette. It's
too dangerous. The bullet's in every chain.
Start messing with him. Every time a man messed around
in worship, God killed him. The Old Testament. That's right. He put up with a whole lot of
other things. But when they messed around with his presence, judged
him. My generation, don't think about
God. Don't think about this evil heart,
this deceitful, desperately wicked. Who can know it? Evil nature
and hide. And consequently, they're going
about with all this activity and zeal to get God in a good
humor. Get God in establishing a righteousness
of their own. But I'll tell you, nothing you've
ever said, nothing you've ever done, nothing you've ever given,
nothing you've ever prayed, nothing you've ever produced has pleased
God in slightest fashion. Nothing. Everything you've ever
said, done, or presented in any fashion before God is an abomination. Only what Christ is and what
Christ has done is pleasing to God. He said, this is my son,
in him I'm well pleased. In the flesh, no man can please
God. No man. And we need a righteousness.
Oh, we need a holiness. We need a perfection. that only
Christ can produce, only Christ can purchase, only Christ Jesus
our Lord can accomplish, and my generation is ignorant of
that. I tell you this, I believe so strongly in the federal headship
and the representation and the righteousness and obedience of
my Lord, I believe so strongly in that, that I believe right
now in the sight of God I'm as holy as Jesus Christ. I believe
that. Because if I'm not, I'm not accepted. If I'm not, I'm under God's wrath. If I'm not, I'm under God's judgment.
But I am holy and completely in Christ, perfect. I'm perfect. I'm wholly sanctified. I believe
that I grow in grace. I believe that In the fruit of
the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, humility, these things,
there's room for growth in every area. So somebody said the child
of God who has the most grace is aware of his need of more
grace. But I'll tell you this, as far
as sanctification is concerned, I'm just as sanctified as I am
justified. Totally. Completely. With his
spotless garments on, I'm as holy as his son. Near, so near
to God, nearer I cannot be, and the person of his Son I am as
near as he. I've got the righteousness of God in Christ. And my generation,
ignorant. And the fourth thing of which
they're ignorant is this. You turn to Isaiah 45. Isaiah
45. And I preached on this this morning,
but I didn't use this scripture. Isaiah 45. They're ignorant.
They're ignorant of the justice of God. Now, my friends, I tell
you this, once in a while, from what we call a sovereign grace
preacher, I hear a message on how God can be just, holy, and
righteous, and maintain his throne, and be true to his character,
and justify the ungodliness. But 99% of the preachers in this
country that I hear on the radio and I hear on the television
and people I read after are totally ignorant of God's justice. Now let me tell you this. God
does forgive sin. The scripture says that. I wouldn't
offend anyone here by saying that God does not forgive sin
because you'd misunderstand what I said. I have a preacher friend
that It said that one night, got in quite a conflict over
it. God does not forgive sin. And
I knew what he meant. The other people didn't. It says,
if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, right?
He said, you be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another as God for Christ's sake hath what? Forgiven you. Well,
let me tell you this. When God forgives a sin on your
part, It's because that sin has been paid for on his part. That's
exactly right now. He has a reason to forgive it. He has a basis on which to forgive
it. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid
my sin debt. And because Christ bore my sin
in his body on the tree and paid for them and fully satisfied
God's justice, God's justice, therefore God can be my Savior. Now look at this, in verse 21
of Isaiah 45, he says in the previous verse, 20, folks are
foolish and have no knowledge that set up the wood of their
graven image and pray to a God that can't save. He said, Tell
ye and bring them near ye, let them take counsel together. Who
hath declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from
that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me. I am a just God. and a Savior. Now then, people
who know the gospel know what God means when he says that.
See that, Bob? They know what God means. Therefore,
he says, there's none beside me, so look to me. You can look
to me and be saved. You have a reason to look to
me and be saved, because I'm not only a Savior, but I'm a
just God. Now, God is love, but God's love
cannot be manifested and God's love cannot be expressed at the
expense of God's holiness. Can't do it. Not in be God. God is merciful, but God cannot
and will not and must not show mercy to any creature at the
expense of his holiness. But in Christ Having been identified
and numbered with the transgressors and bore our sins in his own
body and through his obedience satisfied God's perfect law and
satisfied God's perfect righteousness, God can be both just and justified. He can be both righteous and
merciful. He can be both holy and gracious. He can be both just and love
in Christ. And you know and I know that
that's not being preached, that's just not being preached in this
day, that's not being declared from the pulpit, but let me tell
you this, that's the very foundation of redemption. Believe on Jesus. Believe what
about Jesus? And that brings me to the fifth
thing, and these things are so. And there was a time, Spurgeon
said one time, that even the children in his church knew even
the children. But nowadays, not even the preachers
know. The character of God, the character
of men, the nature of sin, the holy, spotless, perfect, immutable,
infinite, unchangeable righteousness of Christ in which we are robed
and in which we are presented before his holy presence, and
then the justice of God. when mercy and truth met together
and righteousness and peace kissed each other at Calvary. But here's
the thing they don't understand either. They're ignorant of the
person and work of Christ. And therefore, our Lord said,
you don't know me or my Father. Oh, I know they use the name
of Jesus. They write songs about Jesus.
They talk about Jesus all the time. Jesus this, Jesus that.
But my friends, I say unto you that this generation is ignorant
of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Exactly, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you who Jesus is. Old Scott Richardson was preaching
up at Beckley, West Virginia with me at a Bible conference
one time. Me and somebody else talking about our ministry, and
he said, uh, these fellas didn't come into Beckley on the back
of no pickup truck. I can just see, you know, how
we used to ride on the back of a pickup truck. There's somebody,
he said. Let me tell you something. This
Jesus of whom men speak, this Jesus, he's somebody. He's somebody. He was with God in the beginning. He said, glorify me with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. He is the second
person of the blessed Trinity. It's Jesus you're talking about.
He's the creator. All things were made by Him.
Not only by Him, but for Him. And through Him. And God's covenant
of grace was established with Him. He chose his people in him
and gave his people to him and obligated him to be their charity
and bring them home. He put them in his hand. In fact,
the Heavenly Father from the beginning put everything in his
hand, everything in his hand, nothing that hasn't been put
in his hand pertaining to God. Everything that's not in his
hands is going to be burned. Everything that's not in His
hands is going to be separated eternally from God. Everything
that's not in His hands is going to be in hell. That's right.
That's who He is. He's the incarnate God. He's
the perfect, holy, righteous God-man. He's the crucified Redeemer. He's the buried scapegoat. He's the risen justifier. He's
the seated King of Kings and Lord of Lords and the only mediator
between men and God. He's the tabernacle where God
meets men and where men meet God. He's the priest. He's the lamb. He's the sacrifice. He's the author. He's the mercy
seat. And He's the one to whom it's offered. And He's the one
who receives it. And he's the one who gives life,
this Jesus. Are you thirsty? He's the water
of life. And there is no other water.
Are you hungry? He's the bread. There is no other
bread. Are you weary? He's the only
rest for the soul. Are you sick? He's the only one
who can heal. Are you lost? He's the way. Are you at war? He's your peace. Are you an orphan? He's the everlasting
Father. Are you confused? He's the counselor. Are you outside? He's the door.
Are you dead? He's life. Are you in darkness? He's life. Are you naked? He's
the covering. Are you lonely? He's the friend. He's everything. He's all within
all. Anything that's not of Him, through
Him, by Him, and for His glory ain't worth having. And I've said it before, and
I'll keep on saying it till somebody somewhere hears it, salvation
is a person. Salvation is a person! Salvation
is a person! Christianity's not a law. It's
not a change, it's not a creed, it's not a profession, it's a
person. This is the record God has given
us, this life in a person. And he that hath that person
hath life. I heard somebody say one time, I'm going to strive
to love people more. I'm going to determine to love
them more. Well, you're not going to succeed.
You're not going to succeed. Because you can't do that. But
I'll tell you who love is and where love is. It's in Christ.
And if you have Christ, you have love. That's right. And the more
you sup with Him, and the more you walk with Him, and the more
He possesses you, boy, you're going to love. But love's a person. Love's not a thing. Love is not a goal. Love is not
an objective. Love is oppressive. God is love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, and he that knoweth God, the more he knows him, the more
he loves him, and the more he loves him that's begotten of
him. Oh, I'm going to be more humble,
somebody said. No, you're not. Pride runs deep, deep. What you're going to do is cover
it over. would still be right there. But I'll tell you this,
let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Now
that's where it is. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself
of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, was made
in the likeness of men, became obedient unto the cross, the
death, even the death of the cross. Learn humility, move in
with Christ. Or better still, make Christ
move in with you. Now, you'll learn humility. It's
not too hard to be humble standing beside a fellow at six feet six.
Know what I mean? Now, it's pretty hard for me
to be humble when I'm running around with a bunch of folks
that didn't finish the second grade, and they're weak, and
emaciated, and drawn, and hadn't got much smarts, and can't do
much, you know. But when I'm around folks, every
one of them, you know, accomplished, successful, famous, I might sing
a solo if Don Fortner was here, but I ain't gonna sing while
Mike's here. That's what I'm talking about. You know what
I'm saying? Because he's so much better than
I am. It ain't hard to be humble around folks when they're better
than you are, bigger than you are, smarter than you are, stronger
than you are. And I tell you, if you ever meet
him who's everything, it won't be hard to be humble. He'll overshadow
you. That's right. Him, that's where
it is. That's where it is. He's the fountain. Come thou
fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise."
Where he is, life is, love is, truth is, grace is, humility
is, because God's given everything into his hands. Let me show you
in John 17 what God's put in his hands. And I'll tell you,
I do feel a whole lot of what I think Moses felt when I approached
John 17. I know what this is. I know what
this is. It says, these words speak Jesus. Now, that's not talking about
what he's going to say, what he's going to pray. That's talking
about what he has said, what he has said to his disciples.
John 13, 14, 15, 16, he's been talking to them about
who he is, and he's going away, and the Holy Spirit's coming,
and the Holy Spirit will testify of things that he's given to
them, and the world will hate them. They'll be persecuted,
and they'll be cast out of the synagogue. People will kill them
and think they're doing God a service, and he washed the disciples'
feet and he gave them the Lord's Supper and all these things,
John 13-16. And these words he spake, he
told them that their joy may be full, that their joy may be
full. These words he said that they
might not be offended and quit. And he said these words he spake
that they might have peace. He says that right up there in
John 16-33, that they might have peace. But then he said he lifted
his eyes to heaven. Somebody said one time, I jotted
it down, said this earth had been a wilderness, this earth
had been a desert to him, a time of sorrow and greed. And he was about to walk the
winepress of God's wrath. The agony of substitution was
upon him. He lifted his eyes to heaven.
His Father was there. His throne was there. His angels
were there. His rest was there. His glory was there. And he lifted
his holy, weary eyes to heaven, and he said, Father, the hour
has come. that thy son may glorify thee."
And then our Lord begins to talk about these things that the Father
had given him. He mentions about 6, 7, or 8.
And the first one he mentions is this, verse 2. Listen to it.
He begins to talk about these things that the Father had put
in his hand, these things the Father had given to him. He said,
Thou hast given me authority over all flesh. Now, my friends,
I wonder, will you listen to me just a moment? And I was preaching
last week in Chattanooga, and I think I got a hold of this
as well as I ever have before. May not tonight. But I wonder,
are we thinking of calling upon, resting in, and preaching the
right Jesus? If we're not, we're in trouble.
in trouble. Because Paul says they'll come
preaching another Jesus. And this was back in the year
50 A.D. This is back a long time ago. They'll come preaching another
Jesus. And it won't do a man any good to believe in another
Jesus. It won't do a man any good to rest in another Jesus.
It won't do a man any good to call on another Jesus. You turn
to Romans chapter 10, and I hope you understand this. I want to
preach so that I can be understood. I want to preach in the simplest
of fashions. A man wrote me last week, and
he said, you've never been a scholar of any depth or consistency,
but you are a good preacher. Well, I'll buy that. That's all
right. I'll buy that. That's the truth.
It wounds. It hurts. In the light of 1 Corinthians
2, 1 through 5, I don't want to be a scholar with enticing
words of man's wisdom. It says here in Romans 10, 13,
"...for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus
shall be saved." The name of the Lord. Now then, in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, I have a friend by the name of Ed Lawson. He is
an electrical engineer. He was with a space program in
Cape Canaveral and Redstone Arsenal and with the CIA in Washington.
He's quite an outstanding man. I know him real well. Stayed
in his home last week for five days. He's an inventor. He loves the gospel. There's
another Ed Lawson Chattanooga. He ain't no electrical engineer.
He's not with Cape Canaveral. He'd never been with the government
in Washington, and he knows nothing of the gospel. There's two men
with the same name. And you walk into that town,
and you say, I know Ed Lawson. I say, which one? That's right. You say, I'm calling on Jesus.
Tell me about him. There are a lot of Jesuses. Tell me about Well, God tells
you about him right here in John 17. He tells you about him, who
he is. He's got to be the right one. He's got to be the right
one. Barnard said one time, we got up and sang a song in a so-called
revival meeting. We sang, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. He said, it ain't so. Oh, I'm brought back, you know. No, ain't a word of truth in
it. The Lord Jesus saves. You understand what he's saying?
I understand what he's saying. Jesus doesn't say it, the Lord
Jesus says it. And he says here in John 17 too,
this Jesus has all authority and all power over all flesh. He said in Matthew 28, 18 that
he had all authority in heaven and earth. So this sweet little
Jesus boy that everybody's feeling sorry for and that all the preachers
are trying to get folks to do something for is the wrong Jesus. He's the wrong one. This Jesus that wants to and
can't, he's the wrong Jesus. This Christ here that's praying
to the Father said, the Father has given me all, A-double-L,
all authority, all power over the living and the dead, over
the saved and the lost, over the Jew and the Gentile, over
the male and the female, over the old and the young, over the
short and the tall, over the black and the white, all flesh.
That's what he said. That's what he said. What did
he say? The Father gave him that. Don't waste your time feeling
sorry for Jesus Christ the Lord. He does not need your sympathy.
You need His. You need His. Pilate said to
Him, Why answerest thou not? I have the power to crucify you
and let you go. Oh, no. You have no authority over
me. None whatsoever. and the sceptre
be given you from above." None whatsoever. Our Lord is King. He's Lord. On His way to the
cross in His weakest moment, in His moment of humiliation,
bearing that awful cross, with drops of blood streaming from
his face, and from where they plucked out his beard, and his
back lacerated, and his legs hardly able to move. He looked
like the weakest man on earth, and he stumbled under the weight
of the cross, and he'd fall, and he heard those women crying
and lamenting and weeping, and he drew himself up and looked
around at them, and he said, Don't weep for me. Don't weep
for me. You wait for yourselves, for
your children. That's who you wait for. He went
on to that cause. He's king. He's king. I'll tell you something else
about him, God gave him. Look at verse 2 again. The Father
gave him all authority over all flesh in heaven and earth, that
he should give eternal life. You know where eternal life is?
It's in Christ's hands. That's right, Woody. Eternal
life's not up here in an altar. It's not in a wafer. It's not
in the wine. It's not in the water. It's not
in the law. It's not in the preacher's hand. It's not in our getting
together and storming the gates of heaven. It's in the hands
of Christ. In the hands of Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is in His hands. Look at Matthew 11, 27. You believe
this? But it's so anyhow. Matthew 11,
27, you look at this. All things, Christ said, all
things are delivered unto me of my Father. All things. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father, and neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal. You'll never know God unless
Christ reveals Him to you. That's what it says. Look at John 5, verse 20 and
22. Listen to this. You say, these
things are hard. I don't know that they're hard.
I just know they're so and they're true and they're going to have
to be preached or folks are going to go to hell leaning on the
wrong arm and looking to the wrong Jesus. Trust in a little
simple, easy believism that can't save a flea. John 5, 20, listen. The Father loveth the Son, the
Son, and showeth him all things that he himself doeth. And he'll
show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the
Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the
Son will quicken whom he will, to save whom he will. God gave
him eternal life to give. to give, and He has the power
to give it. He has the right to give it.
First of all, it's His by decree. It's His by design. It's His
by death. It's been given Him by the Father.
It's all in His hand. We're going to deal with Christ.
He's the one with whom we have to deal, either in mercy or in
judgment. Because everybody's going to
appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That's just so. And here's the third thing quickly,
verse 2. You're going to give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. To as many as thou
hast given him. And I think several times in
this chapter he says that. Verse 6, he said, I've manifested
thy name to the men which thou gavest me. In verse 9, he said,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world, I pray for them which
thou hast given me. Verse 11, he said, Now I know
more in the world, but these are in the world. I come to thee,
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me. Verse 12, he said, While I was with them in the
world, I kept them, none of them is lost, those that thou gavest
me. I'll be as plain as I can and
answer several questions about these people briefly. First,
who gave these people to Christ? They said, my father, my father. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me, him that cometh out of no wise cast out. Well,
when did the father give them to him? Christ said he chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. I thank God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning He's chosen you to salvation. That's when He did
it, in the beginning. Why did the Father give them
to Him? Why don't you look this up, Ephesians 1. Why did the
Father give Christ to people? Why did the Father redeem a people? Why? Ephesians 1 says this, verse
3, 4, 5 talks about the Father choosing us and predestinating
us, and He says in verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His
grace. That's why, verse 12, that we
should be to the praise of His glory. Verse 14, unto the praise
of His glory. Verse 7 of Ephesians 2, that
in ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace. Look at Colossians 1. I'll tell
you why He gave them to Him. In Colossians 1 it says this. In verse 16 of Colossians 1,
by him were all things created, and so forth. Verse 17, he's
before all things. Verse 18, he's the head of the
body of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead. That, in all things, he might have the preeminence.
That's why. That's why. And he said over
in Philippians 2, he hath given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven,
earth, and under the earth, and confess that he is Lord. That's
why he gave it to them. The king has made a supper to
honor the soul. God Almighty, Charles Spurgeon
said one time that salvation was not designed to keep you
out of hell or to take you to heaven. That's the result of
it. Salvation was designed to make
you like Christ to glorify His name. That's right. The Father had decreed that the
Son was going to be on there. And He's going to populate this
universe with a people who in their hearts and from their lips
and from the depths of their souls cry unto Him who loved
us and washed us from our sins. They're gonna glorify Him. Well,
where'd He get, where'd He find Him? Well, He found Him in the
dunghill. That's right. He lifted the beggar
from the dunghill. He found Him in the dunghill.
He found Him in a spiritual grave. You have to quicken who were
dead. He found Him in darkness and blindness and lameness and
deadness. He found Him, He found Him in
every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven. Well,
is He gonna save all of them? ever want of. All that my Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh I'll in no wise
cast out, for I came down from heaven, not to do my will, but
the will of him that sent me." And this is the will of God.
And it can't be frustrated. Can't be. Can't be defeated.
This is the will of Him that sent me that of all that He gave
me I'll lose nothing. God brought Israel out of Egypt.
Old Brother Mews used to say he didn't leave a hoof nor a
hair behind. Ever one of them came out. Ever
one of them. All right, John 17 again just
briefly. In verse 4, he said, I finished
the work you gave me to do. I finished the work you gave
me to do. God gave the Son of work to do. What was that work? Well, the angel said, thou shalt
call his name Jesus, he'll save his people from their sin. Luke
19, 10, our Lord said he came to seek and to save the lost.
1 Timothy 1, 15, Paul said he came to the world to save sinners.
Hebrews 2, he said, Paul or the writer of Hebrews said this,
in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 16 and 17, he said, he took not
on him him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of his people." Did he do it? Yes, he did. I finished
the work he gave me to do. In the same breath that he said,
You gave me all authority. You gave me eternal life to give
to the people you gave me. And Father, I finish. I finish. I believe that. I believe that. I said to someone not long ago,
what we call particular redemption or effectual atonement or sufficient
sacrifice, whatever you want to call it, is the easiest doctrine
in the Bible, honestly, before God is my witness for me to believe.
If Christ died for me, I cannot die. If He paid my debt, pay. If He suffered for my sins, I
won't. Payment, God's justice cannot
twice demand, not the justice of God. What kind of God do you
got? Once at my bleeding shirt, His hand, and then again at mine.
Don't believe it? My only hope, my only plea is
that when He died, He died for me. Is that your place? I don't have any other place.
One of these days, I may not be able to spell the word faith.
One of these days, I might not be able to see the Scriptures.
One of these days, I may not even know my name, but He knows
it. He knows it. And the Father's not looking
at me, He's looking at the Son. I'm accepted in the Beloved.
Ain't no problem there. No problem there. I finish the
work you gave me to do. What work is that? You know what
it is as well as anybody else. And then verse 8, he said, John
17, I'm going to quit in a minute. In verse 8, he said, I have given
to them the words that you gave me. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
just a moment, our Lord appeared and was glorified in their sight. And with him, Moses and Elijah,
the law and the prophets. And they met together to discuss
his death. That's what it said they were
talking about. And then Peter spoke up. He's like we are, just
impulsive and talks off the top of his head about things he didn't
know a whole lot about. He said, Lord, let's just stay
here and build three tabernacles. Now think about this. Equal tabernacle. We'll build you one. But we'll
build one for the prophets and build one for the law. And we'll
just mix them all together, the law and the prophets and grace.
Huh? And the father said, this is
my beloved son, you hear him. You hear him. You listen to Moses only as he
talks about Christ. You pay attention to the law
only as it drives you to Christ. But you hear Him, and He said,
I've given them the Word you gave them, and they've received
it. Have you received His Word? And last of all, this, I don't
know much about this, and it's a good place for me to quit,
in verse 22, and the glory, and the glory, and the glory, and the glory. One time, What's his first name? Christopher,
pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. He was on vacation. He visited a little black church. He and his wife were riding along
and they stopped. It was church time and he saw
this little framed church building out there on the side of the
road and a bunch of black people in there worshiping. He said
it was packed, just packed. And he said he couldn't get in,
so he went up to the window, and Tommy put his hand, arms
on the window sill, and he was leaning, the windows were up,
you know, and the fire was going in and out, and they were wiping
sweat and preaching, you know, and some black preacher in there.
And he was right in the middle of a big point, and he said,
where were the Lord? Where were the Lord? Before the morning
star sang together, where were the Lord? Before the sons of
God shouted for joy, where were the Lord? Before he laid the
foundations of the earth, where were the Lord? Before he made
Adam and put him in a garden, where were the Lord? Before Adam
failed in sin, where were the Lord? In His glory! Christopher said, I wish I'd
have said that. I wish I'd have said that. Well, I don't know
much about that glory. I have ambition. and great expectation. But our Lord said, and the glory,
glorify me with the glory. Paul came back here and said
he couldn't even talk about it, that glory. And the glory which
thou gavest me. Listen to it. I've given them
that beyond comprehension, David. I'm an heir of His glory. All
the glory arising from His sonship and His offices. All the glory
of His infinite sacrifice and the honored law. All the glory
of His conquest of death, hell in this world, and the prince
of this world. All the glory of His resurrection
and ascension. all the glory of His exultation,
all the glory of His intercession, all the glory of His grace and
riches, all the glory of the crown and kingdom. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and the King of glory is coming in, and that's
me right there with you. That's what he said, right there
with you. I don't know much about that,
Charlie, but it's ahead, just over the horizon. Just over the
sunset now. Glory. That's what makes all
our little second-worker craze. Speaking in gibberish and playing
church. Don't that make, it just fades
into a nothingness not, nothingness that's not even worthy of consideration. This religious world is on a
broad road of celebration and entertainment into a pit of everlasting
darkness. They're not talking about His
glory. They know the facts of religion.
They know the mechanics of religion. They know the ceremonies of religion.
They know nothing of the glory of it. And that glory is wrapped up
in and springs from a person. And I love Him more than I have,
but not like I'm going to. Not like I want to. But the Father
has given the Son everything. I want it to be it. Well, you'll have to come to
Him. And you'll have to get the right name. The right name. Don't come to the wrong Jesus.