We're turning for our message
this morning to the book of Isaiah. I'll be speaking on the subject,
the Bible, our only infallible word. The Bible, our only infallible
word. I'm reading a portion of scripture
from the 8th chapter of Isaiah, verse 20. Now listen carefully
to the scripture. To the law, or to the word of
God, and to the testimony. If they, and that means preachers,
teachers, public speakers, whomever, if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them, if they
speak not according to this word. Now, that's our subject. Is the
Bible our only infallible source of information concerning spiritual
truth? Several years ago I found the
letter in an advice column in a newspaper. I want to read you
some portions of that letter. It's a very interesting letter,
and I'd like for you to listen carefully as I read it. Here's
the way the letter went. I would like to tell the person,
the individual from Philadelphia, whose cousin passed away, not
to worry about whether she goes to heaven or not. As a good person,
her goodness will precede her no matter where she goes. The letter continues. I read
an article by a certain reverend in which he said, Believing in
Jesus Christ is the only way a person is saved and goes to
heaven. If believing in Jesus is the
only condition to getting into heaven, I refuse to go there. I wonder, the letter continues,
where the Reverend thinks the millions of Buddhists and Islams
go who do not believe in Jesus Christ. I find this letter very
interesting, and I believe it deals candidly and plainly with
four tremendous themes. This person is writing the way
that he or she feels. This is what they believe. This
is the way they feel. But in writing this letter, they're
dealing with four tremendous themes that concern me very personally
and very deeply, and they concern you. Now, did you note the four
themes when I was reading the letter? You'll recall them when
I mention them. First of all, this person talked about heaven.
They said, I'm writing concerning the person whose cousin passed
away or died. Don't worry whether she goes
to heaven or not. Now, here's the question. Is
there a heaven? Is there life after death? This
person's assuming that there's life after death, that there's
a heaven to gain or a hell to shun. But they're assuming that
there's life after death. Job asked that question. Job
said, if a man die, shall he live again? Will the grave yield
up the body? The body that is devoured by
worms and sees corruption, will it one day live again? Is there
life after death? That's a tremendous thing. Is
there heaven? Is there hell? Is there life
after death? Here's the second subject the person deals with,
and that is goodness. Goodness. What constitutes goodness? That is, in the sight of God.
What constitutes righteousness in the sight of God? Job asked
that question. He said, how can man be just
with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? Behold, to the moon it shineth
not, the stars are not clean or pure in God's sight. How much
more abominable and filthy is man that drinketh iniquity like
the water? And the Prophet asked this question,
O man, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee? So this
person talks about a literal resurrection, a literal life
after death in a place called heaven. And then this person
talks about goodness. What constitutes goodness and
righteousness? Who is a good person? Who is
a righteous person in the sight of God? Now, here's the third
tremendous theme that is included in this letter, and that's salvation.
That's salvation. What must I do to be saved? Believe
on Jesus Christ? Or is there another way to be
saved? Is Jesus Christ the only way to heaven? The disciples
said to Christ, we don't know where you're going. He said,
I go to prepare a place for you. They said, we don't know where
you're going. How can we know the way? They asked that question
after three and a half years of personal relationship with
Christ. They still ask the question,
we don't know the way. It's strange that everybody in
the world today knows the way, but the disciples didn't know
the way. They said, we don't know the way. Is there a way
to heaven? Is there a way to God? Is there
more than one way to God? Is Jesus Christ the only way?
And then here's the fourth question. What are the consequences of
unbelief? What happens to the millions and billions of unbelievers,
those who reject Jesus Christ, if He's the only way? What happens
to the millions of people who die in unbelief? Do they go to
heaven anyway? Do they go to hell? Where do
they go who reject Jesus Christ? In Matthew 7, it says, Many shall
say unto me in that day, Lord, have we not done many wonderful
works, and so forth? And then God says, I never knew
you. Depart from me, depart from me,
and go where? I want to think about these four
things. All of you will have to admit that these are profound
and important themes. These are profound and important
subjects. I don't know any four subjects
that are more important. Is there a resurrection? Is there
life after death? what constitutes goodness in
God's sight, because God is the judge. It will be before his
throne that we stand, not before the thrones of men. And then
what about salvation? Is Jesus Christ the only way
to heaven? Is there another way? And then
what about people who reject Jesus Christ? Now, where do we
go to find the answers? That's a good question. Where
shall I go to find the answers to these questions? If your children
If your neighbors or friends came to you this evening and
asked you that question, or those four questions, you would direct
them where? Would you direct them to their
thoughts, or whose thoughts? I suppose if we go to our thoughts,
then we have thousands of answers, because there are thousands of
people who have many different opinions about these questions.
Whose thoughts shall we rely upon, shall we depend upon? And
then, shall we go to the religious councils? There are thousands
of sects and cults and denominations and all kinds of religious ecclesiastical
committees and hierarchies and synods. Whose words shall we
take part in? They all disagree. They all disagree. Well, suppose we go to the philosophers.
But the philosophers of which age? They keep changing their
opinions about these things. I'm saying today that there's
one source of information. one infallible source of information
in regard to these questions, in regard to spiritual life,
in regard to a relationship with God, in regard to death, judgment,
life after death, heaven, hell, righteousness, salvation, anything
regarding the soul and the soul's relationship with God Almighty,
I'm saying, my friend, that there's just one reliable, infallible
source, and that is the Word of God. There's no other place
to turn except to the Word of God. We can't turn to our thoughts. God said, your thoughts are not
my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways. There's a way that
seemeth right unto man, but the end is death and destruction.
We can't turn to our philosophers. They betrayed us in so many other
areas. We can't turn to the religious
councils. They're at war between one another. Let's turn to the
Word of God. Listen to what the scripture
says, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. Listen to
Jeremiah 23. The Lord said, I have heard what
the prophets say, that prophesy lies in my name. They say, I
have dreamed. I have dreamed. Well, I say this,
God says, The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell his dream.
But he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
And then Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said, Timothy, all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. And it's profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
instruction in spiritual matters, instruction in the way of life,
instruction in acceptance with God, instruction in a relationship
with God, that the man of God might be perfect, truly furnished
unto every good work. A man is foolish to reject the
word of God and turn to his own thoughts in matters concerning
God and his soul. A man is foolish to turn to his
own thoughts and his own ideas away from the word of God in
regard to matters that concern the soul. Now let's look to the
Bible and see what the Bible says about these four themes.
Now here's the first one. You remember the first one? If
a man die, shall he live again? is there life after death? Well,
the Bible says yes. Nothing else says yes. You've
never seen anyone return from the grave. You've never met anyone
who returned from the grave. You've heard all kinds of tales
and stories that people have made up, but you've never actually
encountered anyone who died and came back from death. You do
not know whether there is life after death except on one word,
and that's the word of God. Nature will not tell you Your
thoughts cannot tell you, your friends cannot tell you, the
doctor cannot tell you, the preacher cannot tell you. There's only
one source, and that is the Word of God. And the Word of God says
there's life after death. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15. Almost
the entire 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is devoted to the resurrection
of the body. 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says in
verse 12, If Christ be preached, that he rose from the dead, How
say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
Paul said, if there is no resurrection of the dead, if this is true,
then Christ is not risen, our preaching is vain, your faith
is vain, we are false witnesses of God, We have no hope, we are
of all men most miserable, but now is Christ risen from the
dead, and has become the firstfruits of them that slept." Paul says
in 1 Corinthians 15, there is a resurrection. He said, I show
you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, the corruptible shall put on incorruption, mortal shall
put on immortality. The weakness shall be raised
in strength, and shame in glory." There is a resurrection. And
Job answered his own question. He said, if a man dies, shall
he live again? He answered his own question in chapter 19. He
said, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and he shall once again
stand on this earth. And though worms destroy this
body, in my flesh I'll see God. Not another, I myself, with these
eyes shall behold my Redeemer. I'm going to rise from the grave.
And then John 6, listen to the Master. In John 6, our Lord declared
that he would raise all of his people from the dead at the last
day. He said, I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. And then he said in verse 44,
No man can come to me, except my Father which sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Is there a resurrection? Is there life after death? What's
the source of your information? You say, well, I know there's
life after death. How do you know? Well, I just
think it. Well, your thoughts have been wrong on other things.
You've thought wrong on other things. How do you know you're
not wrong on this? You have only one source of information, and
that's the Word of God. But I say unto you, the Word
of God declares that there is a resurrection. There is life
after death. There's a resurrection unto life.
And there's a resurrection unto death. There's a resurrection
unto eternal glory. And there's a resurrection unto
eternal shame. There's a resurrection unto an
eternal relationship with God in glory. And there's a resurrection
unto eternal separation from God in hell. The scripture teaches
that. And it's our only infallible
source of information concerning life after death. Now, the second
question. How can man be just with God?
How can he be clean, this born of a woman? This letter mentions
goodness. It says this person is a good
person. Now, let me ask you this. What
makes a person a good person? What is goodness? What constitutes
goodness? I know that we are forever commending
one another for our goodness. I hear people say, well, he's
a good man, or she's a good woman. Now, I know what we're talking
about. We're talking about this person is good compared with
other human beings. That's what we're saying. This
person is a good person compared to all the bad people in the
world, or she's a good woman, or he's a good man. But now let
me ask this, what does the Scripture say about us, about sons of Adam,
daughters of Adam? What does the Scripture say concerning
goodness? Now, one day a man came up to
our Lord and greeted Him in this fashion. He said, Good Master,
what must I do to inherit eternal life? And the Master said this
to him, Why do you call me good? there is none good but God. In
other words, Christ is saying to this young man, if I'm not
God, don't call me good, because there's none good, no, not one.
There's none righteous. There's none that understand
it. Psalm 14 says, The Lord God looked down from heaven upon
the sons of men, and he came to this conclusion, There is
none good. They all together become unprofitable. They're all gone out of the way.
There is none righteous, no, not one. To offend in one point
of the law is to be guilty of the whole law of God. The scripture
says man at his best state is altogether vanity. Our righteousnesses
are filthy rags we all do fade as they leap. Now what I'm saying
is this. Compared to other human beings, you may be a fairly good
person. But when you compare your thoughts
and your imaginations and your attitude and your actions and
your conduct with God Almighty, with his holy, spotless, perfect
law. When you are examined under the
searchlight of God Almighty's infallible, perfect holiness,
you come up short, you fall short of the glory of God. There is
no goodness in the flesh. In the flesh, Paul said, dwelleth
no good thing. In the flesh, no man can please
God. God said every imagination of
man's heart is evil continually. So there is no good person. But
how can a person be good in God's sight? How can a person be righteous
in God's sight? How can a man be just before
God? There's just one answer to that, and that's found in
the Word of God. The only way a person can be good and righteous
in God's sight is to be clothed in the righteousness of God's
Son. That is, to have Christ as his representative, to have
Christ as his substitute, to have Christ as his own righteousness. Let me show you that in the scripture
in Romans 5.19. It says, "...by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners. Even so, by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous." Then in 2 Corinthians 5, verse
21, it says, "...he was made sin for us, who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." In Jude, verse
24, it says, "...noun to him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless, holy, without blame, before his
presence. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, "...of
him are you in Christ Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." In other words,
our righteousness is not in ourselves, it's in another. It's in our
substitute, it's in our representative, it's in our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is what Paul was speaking about in Romans 10. He was talking
about his religious friends. He said, I bear them record.
They have a zeal for God. They have a religious enthusiasm. But it's not according to knowledge.
For they're going about to establish their own righteousness. They're
going about to establish their own goodness in God's sight by
their works and their deeds and their religious endeavors. But
he said, "...they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God." And he's not talking there about God's essential righteousness
or God's personal holiness. He's talking about a righteousness
and holiness that God has provided through the obedience of his
Son for all who will believe, for all who will come to him
through Christ. In Adam we fell. In Christ we're
restored. In Adam we became sinners. In
Christ we become holy. In Adam we became corrupt. In
Christ we become righteous. Christ is our righteousness.
This is what the Word of God declares. In him dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him.
We are accepted in the Beloved. In other words, the Scripture
is saying this. There is no righteousness in the flesh with which God can
be pleased. There is no holiness or goodness
in any flesh, religious or contrary to religion. There is no righteousness
in any flesh. All holiness and righteousness
is in God. And God became a man, dwelt in
human flesh, was born of a woman, under the law, fulfilled it,
honored it, satisfied it in the place and stead of all who believe. And through him, and in him,
and because of him, and for his glory, we have a perfect righteousness
imputed or charged to us, or reckoned to us because of what
he did. Our righteousness is not in doing
It's in Christ's doing. It's not in our doing. It's in
his works and his obedience. So there is a righteousness.
There is a goodness. And that goodness precedes us.
Yes, it does. It's not my goodness that preceded
me to glory. It's his goodness. It's Christ's
goodness. And I'm accepted in the beloved,
and you are who believe on him. Now, here's the third question.
Is believing in Jesus Christ the only condition to getting
into heaven? Is that the only condition? This person says,
if it is, then I refuse to go there. Well, that's what the
Bible says. That's what God's Word says.
Now, I don't know where you're going to find an answer to this
question. How can we know the way? The
disciples said, we don't know where you're going. I don't know
where heaven is. Do you know where heaven is? Everybody points
it out when they're talking about heaven, but do you know where
heaven is? Do you know the way to heaven? Do you know the way
to God? Do you know the way that a person,
a fallen son of Adam, guilty before God, under the judgment
of God, the wrath of God, the condemnation of God, the sentence
of death, the guilt of the broken love, do you know how I can get
right with God? Would you tell me? Would you
tell me? Well, I think no. I'm not interested in what you
think. I can think about it. I can go down to a hobo by the
railroad cross and find out what he thinks about it and his thoughts
would be just as worthwhile as yours. I want an infallible word. I want a word from somebody who
knows the way to God. And these disciples asked the
Master himself. They said, we don't know the
way. And Christ answered and said,
I am the way. I am the way. Now the person
writing the letter said, is Jesus Christ the only way? He said
he was. He said he was. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. That's what he said. That's what
he declared. And his disciples declared that.
They said the same thing. They said, He that believeth
on the Son of God hath life. He that believeth not the Son
of God hath not life, and the wrath of God abideth on him. That's what his disciples said.
Paul said, Other foundation can no man lay than that which is
laid, Christ Jesus the Lord. Again, the disciples said that
there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Listen to John writing in 1 John
5. This is the record. That God
has given to us eternal life. This life is in his Son. He that
hath the Son of God hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Now, my friends, if that's the
question, is Jesus Christ the only way to God? Then the answer
from the Bible is, yes, he's the only way. He's the only way. There is no other way. The Apostle
Paul was in Philippi, and you remember the story of how the
jailer was shaken by the earthquake, and the Philippian jailer came
to him and fell on his knees. And here's a desperate man. Here's
a man about to commit suicide. Here's a man at the bottom of
the barrel. Here's a man down in the dust.
And here's a man pleading for his life and his soul and eternity. And he says to the Apostle Paul,
What must I do to be saved? Paul, if there's any other way,
you'd better tell him. Be honest with this man now.
What did Paul answer? He said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. If there's some other
way, why did God send his son? If there's some other way, why
did Christ go through such an awful, terrible, ignominious,
hateful death? If there's some other way, why
didn't God give it in the Scripture? All the way from Genesis to Revelation,
I can only find one way. Moses wrote of me, Christ said.
Abraham saw my day and was glad. David said, The Lord is my shepherd. Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. Isaiah said, He was wounded for our transgressions, by his
stripes we're healed. All the way through the scriptures
there's but one way. I am the door, Christ said. By me, if
any man enter in, he shall be saved. And go in and out and
find pasture. Now I'm not being radical nor
fanatical. I'm trying to preach the Word.
And I'm simply saying to you that the Word is the only infallible
source of information concerning a relationship with God. And
the Word of God says that Christ is the way. And in the book of
Revelation, chapter 5, verse 9, it gives us the song of the
redeemed in glory. And this is what the redeemed
all say, unto him who loved us, and washed us from our sins,
in his own precious blood, and made us unto our God, kings and
priests, unto him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. So, my friend, I'm being totally
honest with you. If you take the Word of God,
if that's your rule of life and faith, if you believe the Word
of God, then you've got to believe this, that anyone who knows Christ
is redeemed, and anyone who does not know Christ is not redeemed. Whatever redeemed means, whatever
salvation is, it's in Christ. Whatever righteousness is, it's
in Christ. Whatever a relationship with
God is, it's in Christ Jesus. That's the source of it. He's
the fountain of all life. Now, here's the last question.
Where do people go who do not believe in Jesus Christ? What
about the millions of Buddhists, Confucius, Islams? And they openly,
publicly state that they do not believe that Jesus Christ is
the Messiah. They have their own messiahs, Confucius or Buddha
or Mohammed or whoever. Can they not go to heaven? Well,
this is what Christ said. Now listen to the scriptures.
He said, if you believe not that I am he, I am he. What does he mean by I am he
or I am? That's God's name, I am. That's God's name. He gave it
to Moses. Moses said, when I go down and tell Israel that I've
come to lead them out of Egypt, whom shall I tell them has sent
me? He said, you tell them I am sent you. And Jesus Christ said
to these religious men, if you believe not that I am, You'll
die in your sins, and if you die in your sins, you cannot
come where I am. There's your answer. You cannot
come where I am if you believe not that I am he. When our Lord
sent the disciples to preach, he said, you go unto all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's what the scripture said.
Now, the message I preached this morning and the one I'll preach
next Sunday is on a cassette tape. If you'd like to have this
message, you write to us and send $2.00. The address will
be given to you in just a moment, and we'll mail it to you by return
mail. Until next Sunday, God bless you.