If you want to, you can open
your Bibles to the book of 1 John chapter 5. I read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon
last week. I don't remember the title of
the message, but in the message he said something like this. He said, for 30 years I've been
trying to learn how to preach. That's exactly what he said.
And he said, I believe that I'm beginning to understand a little
bit about this business of preaching, and I'm beginning to learn something
about how to preach the gospel. And then he gave three things.
He said, preaching that is not heart preaching, that is not
from the heart of the speaker to the hearts of the people is
worthless preaching. If I cannot preach in sincerity
from a broken heart, from a heart that loves God and loves people
and loves the truth, to your hearts, head-to-head preaching
is useless preaching. It just makes dry, dead, cold
bones, that's all. But life is from the heart. And
secondly, he said, it must be not only heart preaching, but
scriptural. Our foundation of faith is still
the word of God. And I boldly declare unto this
congregation, I believe God's word more now than I've ever
believed it before. I believe in the verbal inspiration
of the Word of God. I believe it's God's Word from
Genesis to Revelation. I know something about translations,
and I know something about out of Hebrew and Greek into English
and these things, but I'm saying basically, fundamentally, this
is the Word of God, without error, without contradiction. The error
is in us, not in the Word. The contradiction is in me, not
in God's Word. Somebody said one time, Brother
Mahan, I go and hear him but he's not consistent with himself.
No sir, I'm not. I'm not trying to be. A man who
tries to be consistent with himself will find in the end he's been
consistent with a fool. I'm trying to be consistent with
this book. I know on one occasion our Lord Jesus said, come unto
me and I'll give you rest. That was a generous and sincere
invitation. On another occasion, he addressed
a multitude and said, no man can come to me except my Father
drawn. Is that consistent? It is with the Word. It's not
with human logic. That doesn't make sense. Not
with human logic. But we're trying to be consistent
with the Scripture. I'm going to preach the Word of God. I'm
going to believe the Word of God. I recognize that we know
in part and we preach in part. And we see through a glass dimly.
But face to face, someday I'm going to know as I have been
known. I'm going to understand all of this. I'm going to say
with Peter, oh, this is what Joel said. This is what David
said. This is what Paul meant. This
is what the master was declaring. Scriptural preaching. And then
thirdly, he said this. We must, we must, we must address
the issues of the day. We've got to deal with things
that people are dealing with. We've got to address men where
they are. We can't fight battles that have
been over for 200 years, 300 years. We've got to address the
issues of today. Now, I prepared this message
Friday to bring this morning. And usually God will give me
some confirmation that it's his message. And last night, I was
visiting with some of the members of this congregation, had dinner,
and we talked, and a question was raised. about knowing Christ,
about having assurance and confidence, about facing life and trials
and sickness and death with some confidence and assurance of our
position and interest in Christ. And that's what my message is
about. I got a confirmation that this is what God would have me
bring this morning. This is from my heart to your
heart. This is from God's Word to you. And this is addressing
the issue of this day. Every one of us face these things.
We face life. We've got a life to live. It's
brief. We've got a death to die. It's
appointed on men once to die. We've got a judgment to face.
And after that, the judgment. Every man should give an account
of himself to God. And we've got an eternity to
spend. And that's what I'm going to talk about. Now, in the book
of John, it's remarkable. Remarkable how John continually
uses this word, K-N-O-W, know. Just remarkable. Throughout the
epistle, if you read the epistle and take a pen or a pencil and
go through this epistle of John, five chapters, and mark when
John says, know. We know, we know, we know, we
know. He says it, Bob, over and over
again. We know, we know. And in this day of doubt, when
men are doubting the existence of God and putting a question
mark on the Word of God, it's so refreshing to hear John say,
we know. We know. So refreshing. Because
after all, now listen to me, somewhere in God's universe,
somewhere, in heaven or earth, somewhere in the kingdom of God,
in God's universe, somewhere, there's got to be an anchor for
my soul. Somewhere there's an anchor.
There's got to be somewhere, Paul talks about in Hebrews 6,
9, an anchor for the soul. Somewhere there's got to be a
place where I can place my anchor and not drift. Somewhere in God's
universe there's got to be a foundation to build on. God said other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid. There's got to be somewhere.
If God is all-wise, and He is, and all-mighty, and He is, and
all-powerful, somewhere He's laid, see, a foundation. God's laid a foundation. Somewhere,
a foundation for my hope, for me to build upon. There's someone,
there's someone, and I know we put no confidence in the flesh,
mine, yours, anyone, even the angels can't be trusted. They
fail. But somewhere, there's someone who can be trusted. In
God Almighty's eternal purpose, there's someone who can be trusted.
There's some place where my soul can be anchored. There's somewhere
a rock on which I can build. There's someone who can be trusted
and God has established somewhere a city of refuge in which I can
hide. And John declares he's found
it. John said I found the anchor. I found the foundation, I found
Him who can be trusted, and I found that refuge, and I know Him.
That's what He said, and I know Him. Let me just give you a few,
just run through them. This is just some of them. 1
John 2, 3, Hereby we know that we know Him. 1 John 2, 5, Hereby
we know that we're in Him. 1 John 2, 13, I've written to
you fathers because you've known Him. First John 3, 2, Beloved
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know when He shall appear we'll be like Him.
First John 3, 5, We know that He was manifested to take away
our sin. First John 3, 14, We know that we've passed from death
unto life. First John 3, 24, We know that
He abideth in us by His Spirit which He gave unto us. On and
on, we know, we know, we know. Look at the very beginning of
this book, 1 John 1. The very beginning of it, he
said, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon, our
hands have handled of the word of life, verse 3, that which
we've seen and heard declare we unto you. And then the last
chapter, chapter 5, look at my text, verse 20, and we know. And we know, no room for doubt,
no room for controversy, no room for argument. And we know that
the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that
we may know Him that is true and we're in Him that is true
even in His Son Jesus Christ and this is a true God, this
is a true God and this is eternal life. Now, my brethren, we live in a world of change.
Nothing about us, and I thought about this when I put it down,
nothing about us or our world remains the same. Isn't that
true? We live in a world of total change.
Nothing about us or our world remains the same. Now I know
his purpose is the same, he is the same, his son is the same.
His glory is to say, but I'm talking about us. There's nothing
about us, in us, around us, associated with us that does not change.
The songwriter picked it up this way. He said, swift to its close
ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim. Earth's
glory fades away. Change and decay in all around
I see. And then he turns his eyes to
God and he says, O thou, who changes not. Abide with me. Abide with me. Now let's see
if I can speak this morning with the same dogmatism, the same
confidence, the same assurance as the Apostle John. Let's see
if we can lay hold of the same faith and the same assurance
that he laid hold of in this verse 20, and we know that the
Son of God is come. We know it. And I'm going to
give you four things. Number one, we know it by instruction. We know that the Son of God has
come. We know that the Messiah has
come. We know that the Redeemer has
come. We know that. Simeon stood in
the temple and Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus to do
after him according to the law. And Simeon took him up And the
Holy Ghost had told him he would not die until he had seen the
Lord's Christ, the consolation of Israel. And when he saw Christ,
he lifted his eyes to heaven and he said, Lord, now let your
servant depart in peace according to your word. I've seen your
salvation. I know that the Son of God has come. I know that
the Redeemer is here. Do you know that? That's what
John is saying here. We know that the Son of God has
come. We know that he's come. The church
is not the Savior. The law is not the Savior. Even
the Bible is not the Savior. Baptism is not the Savior. There's
nothing that we have that's a... Christ has come. The Savior has
come. The Redeemer has come. Do you
know that? You know how I know it, first of all, by instruction.
Now, let me take you through the Old Testament. Now, I wish
you'd use your Bibles this morning. Turn, first of all, to Genesis
22. I want to show you some prophecies and promises in the Old Testament
concerning the Christ, the Messiah. And here's what I'm saying. I've
preached here through the years that salvation is by looking
to Jesus of Nazareth, who lived on this earth, who died on the
cross, who was buried and rose again. Well, who is Jesus of
Nazareth? Who is? I'm saying that Jesus
of Nazareth is the Messiah. And that's the reason I call
on you to believe in him. I'm saying that Jesus Christ
is that prophet of whom Moses wrote. I'm saying that he is
that Christ of whom Isaiah wrote. I'm saying that he is that king
of whom David prophesied. I'm saying he's that priest,
that priest which every Old Testament priest typified. I'm saying that
Jesus of Nazareth, that infant that was born from Mary and laid
in a manger, Grew up grew in wisdom and knowledge in favor
with God and men who walked this earth who died on the cross was
buried I'm saying that that's the Christ. That's the prophet.
That's the priest. That's the king. That's the Redeemer
That's the consolation of Israel. That is the one God promised
throughout the whole Old Testament Now look at Genesis 22 verse
18 He spoke to Abraham and he said,
in thy seed, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. Now over and
over again God spoke to Abraham and talked about a seed, a seed. Who was that seed? Alright, turn
to Galatians, if you will, Galatians chapter 3. Now I don't want to
weary you turning back and forth through the Bible, and I know
some of you are a little slower finding some scripture, but I
wish you'd turn to some of these. Genesis 3 verse 8. Now when Abraham,
God promised him that he would have a seed, and in that seed
all the nations would be blessed. Paul says that that seed was
not Isaac, that seed was Christ. Jesus Christ look at Galatians
3a and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying
in thee shall all nations be blessed look at verse 16 now
now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made he didn't say
and to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which
is Christ which is Christ Now turn to Isaiah 7, verse 14. Isaiah
chapter 7, verse 14. Now what I'm showing you is this,
that throughout the Old Testament, throughout the Old Testament
there are promises and prophecies of Christ the Messiah, the Redeemer
coming. There are pictures of him. They're
types and shadows of Christ. And I'm saying that Jesus of
Nazareth fulfilled every one of these prophecies, every one
of these promises, every one of these pictures, every one
of these types. Now Isaiah 7, 14, listen. Therefore the Lord
himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Now turn to
Luke. with me, or Matthew that is,
Matthew chapter 1. And here is the message that
the angel brought to Joseph, Matthew chapter 1, regarding
the pregnancy of Mary. She was engaged to Mary Joseph.
Before they came together she was found with child. And Joseph
was going to put her away privately, going to hide her, keep her from
being stoned by the law. In verse 20 of Matthew 1 says,
While he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
don't be afraid to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call that son's name Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their sin. Now all this was done,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet Isaiah, saying, A virgin shall be with child, and will
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which
is being interpreted, God with us. See, that's instruction.
I know that Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary, and Joseph, directly
from the house of Jesse, from the tribe of Judah, from the
kingly line of David. And they said, well, where is
this child going to be born? They said, in Bethlehem. How
do you know? Malachi 5.2 says he'd be born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem. That's where the Messiah is coming
from, Bethlehem. I believe that Jesus Christ,
Jesus of Nazareth, is the Messiah. We know that the Son of God has
come. We're not looking for a Messiah. He has come in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth. All right? Turn with me to Isaiah
9. Isaiah chapter 9. And let's read
verse 6 and 7. Isaiah 9, verse 6 and 7. And
it says here, Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. Now we're
still talking about these prophecies and the fulfillment of them in
Christ. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. I told
my class this morning, that's not saying the same thing. A
child is born whose name is Jesus. Born to Mary. A natural birth
without a father. The Holy Ghost conceived him,
but he's born in a natural way. And that child is born, that
body is first time that body's ever been on this earth. the
body that God made for His Son. But a son is given. The Son of
God wasn't born. The Son of God is the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And He inhabited this
body. He inhabited this child's body.
So unto us a child is born and the Son of God is given. And
the government shall be on His shoulders. His name shall be
called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Now turn to Luke chapter 1. And
the writer of the book of Luke says that that fulfillment of
that prophecy is in Jesus Christ. In Luke 1, let's read verse 30
of Luke 1. Here's the angel talking to Mary
about Christ's birth, about Jesus' birth. And the angel said to
her, Luke 1, 30, Fear not, Mary, you've found favor with God.
You found grace in the eyes of the Lord, like Noah of old, David. Behold, I shall conceive in thy
womb and bring forth a son, call his name Jesus. Now watch, he
shall be great, he shall be called the son of the highest, and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David,
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end. Mary said, how can this be? I
don't know a man. The angel said, the Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee. The power of the high shall overshadow
thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God. Let me show you a few
more prophecies. I'll move quickly. But let's
turn to Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2. I could give
you this morning hundreds of Old Testament prophecies and
pictures of Christ. In Psalm chapter 2, listen to
this, Psalm the 2nd chapter verses 1 and 2. And I'm going to find
the full film over here in the book of Acts so I can read it
to you right after I read this. It's in Acts chapter 4. All right,
listen now. Why do the heathen rage, and
the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed, saying, Let's break their bands asunder and cast
their cords from us. Listen to Acts 4. Peter says
this, The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were
gathered together against the Lord, against his Christ, for
of a truth against the holy child Jesus, whom God hath anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the people were
gathered together to do whatsoever God's hand and counsel determined
before to be done. David, writing in the Psalms,
says, all the heathen, the kings of the earth, and the rulers
will take counsel and set themselves against the Lord and His anointing.
Who is His anointing? Jesus of Nazareth. Let me show
you a few other verses. Turn to Psalm chapter 22. I'll just be brief here and not
take so awful long, but in Psalm 22, you have the crucifixion
of Christ. Now, David wrote this hundreds
of years before Christ came. And how much David understood
of what he was writing, I do not know, but listen here to
the cross. Psalm 22, 1. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? And why art thou so far from
helping me and from the words of my roaring? I cry unto thee
in the daytime, and thou hearest me not in the night season. You
say, how long was he on that cross? Day and night? Yes. But
while the sun didn't shine, he was in the dark. Night and day. Look at verse 16. Dogs have compassed me about,
the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my
hands and my feet. Verse 18, Psalm 22. They part
my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. Turn to Psalm 69. I'm saying
that all these Messianic Psalms and all these Messianic prophecies
are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 69, look at
this. Psalm 69, 21. They gave me gall
for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
The whole life of Christ, from his virgin birth to his betrayal,
it tells about Judas selling him for 30 pieces of silver,
tells about Judas committing suicide and they bought the potter's
field with that money, it tells about him cashing lots for his
garment, it tells the very words you say from the cross, the piercing
of the hands and feet, tells about the plucking of the beard,
all of these things about the Messiah. And then you take the
Old Testament tabernacle. Now that tabernacle is fulfilled
by Christ in every jot and tittle of its sacrifices, its priesthood,
its sin offerings, everything is Christ. Now turn if you will
to Luke chapter 24. Luke 24. What are you saying
preacher? I'm saying this and we know that
the Son of God has come. We know that God's Messiah has
come. We know that God's Christ has
come. We know that God's Redeemer has come. And we know that that
Christ, that Messiah, that Redeemer is none other than Jesus of Nazareth,
who was born of Mary 2,000 years ago, who lived on this earth,
who suffered, bled, and died, who was buried, and rose again,
and ascended to glory. He's the fulfillment of all the
Old Testament prophecies, pictures, promises, and types of the Messiah. And talking to his disciples
before he went back to heaven, in Luke 24, he said in verse
26 or 25, he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ
to have suffered these things and to have entered into his
glory, and beginning at Moses, that is Genesis 1, And all the
prophets, Isaiah, David, all the rest of them, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Now turn back to my text in 1
John 5. Let this first point be established.
As far as knowledge and dogmatism and confidence, I'm saying this. The Son of God has come. The
Messiah has come. We don't look for the coming
of a Messiah, we don't look for the coming of a Redeemer, we
don't look for the coming of the Christ. He has come and He
is Jesus of Nazareth. And we know that by instruction.
He's fulfilled every promise and picture and type of the Old
Testament. When Paul was writing to the
church of Corinth, he said, I've preached the gospel to you. I've
declared the gospel to you. And that gospel is that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried
and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
Now, here's the second thing. In verse 20 of 1 John 5, we know
that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding. He has given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true. Now, my friends, the natural
man doesn't understand the gospel. Turn to 1 Corinthians, if you
will. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We're
talking this morning about, we're talking about God coming to earth
in human flesh. We're talking about God in human
flesh honoring his law and satisfying his justice by his death on the
cross that he might be just and justify. We're talking about
mysteries of redemption and to the natural man that's foolishness.
Look at 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18. "...to them that are perishing
foolishness. Unto us who are saved, it's the
power of God." Look, if you will, at verse 20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Had not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified unto the Jews, the religious a stumbling block to
the Greeks' nonsense, but unto them that are called, unto them
that have the gospel revealed to them, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ is the power of God and Christ is the wisdom of God.
We have an understanding. Look at chapter 2. I want you
to read this in chapter 2 verse 8. Verse 7. Let's begin with verse 7. When
we're talking about Almighty God justifying sinners through
the death of his son, when we talk about Almighty God redeeming
sinners by the obedience and sacrifice of his son, Paul says
we're speaking the wisdom of God in a mystery. Verse 7. Even
the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory,
which none of the princes of this world knew, that is, the
leaders and the philosophers and the kings, had they known
it, had they known God's wisdom in Christ, had they known God's
purpose in Christ, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory.
They wouldn't have nailed Him to the cross. If they had known,
say, this is the Messiah. Wait right there just a minute.
Let me read you something from John. Now keep that passage. Over here
in John chapter 10. There was some of them came to
Jesus Christ here in verse 24 John 10 now listen to it Then
the Jews came round about him crowded around Jesus of Nazareth
And they said how long do you make us doubt if you be the Christ? If you be the Redeemer if you
be the consolation of Israel tell us tell us plainly they
say Jesus answered I told you I told you, plainly, and you
didn't believe me. You see that? And you believe
not. Verse 26, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, they
follow me, I give them eternal life. I go back to 1 Corinthians
2. None of the princes of this world knew he was the Christ.
Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. Verse 9, 1 Corinthians 2, but
as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have
it entered into the heart of man the things that God's prepared,
God's purposed, God's provided in Christ for them that love
him. But God hath revealed unto us by his Spirit, God that we
know the Son of God has come and given us an understanding."
And we're not talking about just comprehending doctrine or comprehending
Bible facts. or comprehending laws, he has
given us a heart understanding of who he is. He said to the
apostles, whom do they say that I am? And the apostles said,
well, some of them say you're John the Baptist, some say you're
Elijah, some say you're one of the prophets. He said, whom do
you say that I am? Who am I? And Peter said, you're
the Christ, the son of the living God. We believe and assure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He said, blessed
are you, Simon. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father which is in heaven. I know the Son
of God has come. He's fulfilled, Jesus of Nazareth
fulfilled every prophecy, every promise, every picture, every
type, every priest of the Old Testament. The scriptures are
fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Totally fulfilled, all in Him. And God has given us an understanding. Read on in 1 Corinthians 2, verse
11. What man knoweth the things of
a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the
things of God, the redemptive glory of God, no man knows but
the spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we may know the things that are freely given to us of God. Verse
14, but the natural man, The worldly man, the logical
thinker, he receives not the things of the Spirit of God,
the foolishness to it. This is what you're talking,
preacher, a verbally inspired Bible. You're talking about God
making himself known or revealed in a baby. The ancient of days
becoming an infant of days. He who made woman being made
of woman. That's foolishness. A man walking this earth as a
representative and thereby by his obedience imputing to us
a perfect righteousness. A man going to a cross and there
God pouring out all his wrath and judgment upon that man as
a substitute and sin offering, fulfilling every lamb and sacrifice
and sin offering of the Old Testament and scapegoat. And then taking
him down from the cross dead. How can God die? God didn't die,
that body died. and putting him in a tomb, and
then him coming out of the tomb, and ascending to heaven, and
sitting at the right hand of God. That's not sensible, logical,
understandable. That's foolishness. That's exactly
what the natural man said. There's foolishness to him. He
can't know these things. But verse 15, he that spiritual
judgeth all things, he understands. The word judge is discern. He
understands, but he's understood of no man. He understands. That's what he says over here
in 1 John. I know the Son of God has come. I know the Messiah
is Jesus of Nazareth. I know the Redeemer is Jesus
of Nazareth. And he's given us an understanding
that we may know him. Now briefly, let me show you
something in Romans. Romans chapter 3. What kind of
understanding are you talking about? Will you go over to Romans
3 just a minute? I'll try to be brief. beginning
with verse 19. Now this is some of that understanding. This is what I'm trying to preach.
I'm trying to preach so that men and women will have some
spiritual understanding of God, of ourselves, of God's holiness
and righteousness, of Christ's person and work, of God's redemptive
process and purpose. You've got to have some understanding.
You can't believe what you don't know. And you can't call on him
in whom you haven't believed. And you can't believe in him
in whom you haven't heard. And you got to call on the right
person. Romans 3 verse 19. Now we know. What do you know? That what things the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth they
be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Now listen to me a minute. This
is what I know. We're guilty, Bill, before God. Now we've got to be careful when
we go out here and say there's not a good man on the face of
the earth. Now you've got to make sure that that man you're
talking to understands what you're talking about. There are some
good people compared with people. You with me? There's some people
who are generous and they're kind. The United Fund will tell
you that. There's people who give their
money to feed the poor. There's some people who cook
and work and visit the sick. There's people down here at this
hospital who are laboring to help people. People compared
with people, there's some good people and there's some bad people.
But when we say there's none good, no not one, we're saying
there's none good before God. Before God. I'm talking about
in the light of our concept of goodness, there's some good people.
But in the light of God's concept of goodness, there's none good,
no, not one. God is perfectly holy, perfect
love, perfect truth, perfect honesty. See what I'm saying?
Before God, we're guilty. I'm not guilty before you. You're
just like me. See what I'm saying? But before
God we're guilty. That's what the law, the law
speaks to those who are guilty before God. And God's the one
we gotta stand before. Not the counsels and judgments
of men. Men aren't gonna judge. Somebody
said the other day, well I'm good as anybody down at your
church. I expect you're right. I don't prove nothing. That's
like one worm saying I'm just as good a worm as you are. Yep,
you're both worms. You're both wiggling magnets,
you see? One maggot might be prettier than another. I don't
know. I never studied maggots. But before God, we're guilty. That's what we've understood.
Do you understand that? All right, read on. Therefore,
by the goodness of the law, by the deeds of the law, by the
works of the law, by the doings of the law, there's no flesh
going to be justified in his sight. See what I'm saying? In
his sight. Yes, you can justify yourself
in the sight of others. Ye are they which justify yourselves
in the sight of men. But that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God in his sight. By the law is the knowledge of
sin, not the cleansing of it, not the redemption of it, the
knowledge of it. But now I understand something
else. The righteousness of God, the
holiness of God, the perfection of God, that which God requires.
Not that which God is, not his essential righteousness, but
that which he demands and that which we have to have. Suppose
you ask a man this. Let's just get with it just a
minute. I come up to Bob Coffey, and assuming he's a natural religionist,
he's nice, I say, Bob, What's your hope of eternal life? Well,
he said, he says, I've changed my way of living. I go to church
on Sunday, and I give my time. I try to treat my neighbor right,
and I try to treat my wife and children right, and try to pay
my honest debts and these things. But here's my next question.
Will your God be satisfied with that? Now, you're satisfied with
it. And men are satisfied, and your
preacher's satisfied with it. But now what I'm asking is, with
your God, is that what he requires, huh? The God of glory ain't satisfied
with that. See what I'm saying, men? The
God of glory requires perfection. And I don't care how high your
deeds are, how well thought of, how good, they don't, they come
short of, here's what, glory! And your God may be satisfied
with that, but this God's not. See, Charlie, what I'm saying?
This God's not. This God stood and said, if your
righteousness, your holiness, your goodness, your works doesn't
exceed the works and goodness and holiness of the best man
on this earth, you won't enter the kingdom of God. That's what
your God would be satisfied with. But the God of the Bible says,
I've got to have a perfect righteousness. And so his son came down here
and did it. See, but read that verse again. I understand now
that the righteousness, the perfection, the holiness of God, without
the law, without my obedience to it, without my works, is manifested. It's revealed. There is a righteousness
to be had. And it's witnessed by the law
and the prophets. Where is it? It's in Christ. Even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe. There's no difference for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But we're justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ.
Is that clear? We know the Son of God is coming.
We know the Messiah, the Christ, the Redeemer, the promised one,
the prophesied one, the pictured one, the typified one, the foreshadowed
one. He'd been here. He's Jesus of
Nazareth. He fulfilled every law, every
jot and tittle of the law, every promise and prophecy is fulfilled
in him. And I have some understanding.
I have some understanding of why he came, because God is perfectly
holy. And no matter how wretched we
are, how close up here we come, or on what degrees, we're still
far below the glory of God. Far below the perfection of God.
And he requires a perfect righteousness, a perfect holiness, a perfect
obedience in birth, life, and thought, and word, and deed.
And he can be satisfied with no less. So Christ as a man fulfilled
all this. I have an understanding of this.
And God can be just and righteous and justify me. He can be holy
and pure and accept me. Turn back to my text a minute.
Alright, here's the third thing. We know. I know that He's come. Do you know that? I believe He's
come. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah. Verse 1
of 1 John 5 says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ. I believe
that, Joe. I believe He's the Christ. And
He has given me an understanding, spiritual understanding, not
just facts and doctrine, but an understanding that I may know
Him that is true. Now watch this. And I'm in Him. And I'm in Him. That's personal
experience. I'm in Him. I'm in Christ. Now God can receive
me because I'm in Christ. God can love me because I'm in
Christ. God can bless me because I'm
in Christ. God can accept me in the beloved. I'm in Christ by personal experience.
I'm in Him by His eternal decree. I'm in Him by His eternal design. He chose me in Christ. I'm in
him as my representative. In Adam I died, in Christ I'm
made alive. I'm in him by divine calling.
I'm in him by faith. Now then, some of us have come
up through some experiences. Back years ago, we got in the
church by a decision. We got in religion by tradition. We got into this, that, and the
other. But some of us, by God's grace, and by revelation of his
spirit, have been stripped and broken on the wheel. We've been
shattered, we've been put in the dust, and we've been enabled
by God's spirit to turn our eyes upon Christ, and believe on him,
and look to him, and trust him, and be in him by faith. I tell
you as strong as I can tell you, a man's not saved by religion.
He's not saved by a decision. He's not saved by religious affiliation. He is saved by the grace of God
and the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. And that's, he appropriates
that by faith. That's his by faith. That's his
through a vital living union with Christ. Now you can be associated
with the apostles or associated with preachers or associated
with a denomination or associated with a church or associated with
an ism like Calvinism or Pelagianism or some other ism or Catholicism
or Protestantism and perish. But salvation is to come to look
to, to trust in, to believe in, to rest upon Christ and Christ
alone. I was preaching this last week
up in Bud, West Virginia. I started last Sunday night.
I preached here Sunday morning, went down there Sunday night.
Pretty good-sized congregation, about half the size of this congregation. And up in the mountains of West
Virginia, got a fine pastor. He was here at the conference,
he and his wife. I preached Sunday night, I preached
Monday night, and Tuesday I had a great deal of liberty. And
my whole emphasis last week was redemption by Christ. Redemption
by identification with Christ. as opposed to religion and decisionism
and false piety and outward pretense and all of this thing we're plagued
with today. See, we've substituted a decision
for the new birth. We've substituted church membership
for identification with Christ. And so I finished preaching and
I asked the song leader, I said, let's sing a closing hymn. And
he had everybody stand. We started singing, just as I
am, with the pastor's wife. She's about 32, I think, 31 or
32, was sitting right down front. And the pastor was standing up
here. He's a young man, about 34, 35, been a pastor there eight
years. He was standing up front. We
all stood to sing. And she left her seat and came
down and just fell across her husband's neck and wept and wept
and wept. I stood, I was standing in the
pulpit watching. And she was talking to him, he
was weeping, she was weeping. And after we sung the verses,
he turned to me and everybody said, you all sit down, I want
to talk. And we all sat down. He said, now, he said, this woman,
my wife, I love her very much. She's the mother of my children.
She shared my home all these years. And he said, I rejoice
to tell you tonight, that she has come to know Christ as her
Lord and Savior. And she has come publicly to
confess that she's tired of sham religion and pretense and hypocrisy
and decisionism and all these things. And God has brought her
to know Christ. That church was stunned and shocked. And one woman said this, well,
if the pastor's wife's not converted, where does that leave me? Well,
my friend, I don't know where that leaves anybody. I'm simply
saying that every one of us, preacher, pastor's wife, elders,
deacons, preachers, whoever, we're going to have to come to
a living, vital, personal union with Christ. Now you can go back
there to when you were 12 years old and walked down an aisle
and shook a preacher's hand if you want to. You can go back
to that time when you were sprinkled or confirmed or catechized if
you want to. You can go back to that feeling
or experience you had in the old time gospel meeting if you
want to. But I'm telling you salvation's
in a person. It's in Christ. And if you've
never been brought to see that and to rest in him, I mean sink
or swim to turn to Christ. sink or swim to go to him, to
look to Christ. Christ is my Lord and Savior,
my master, my refuge, my foundation, my hope, my everything. Christ
is my Redeemer. Can you say that? I'm scared
to death of people that tell experiences instead of telling
about a person. Salvation is not in it. It is
an experience, but it's not in an experience. Christ is salvation. And it's identification. I don't
know how to explain that anymore. I don't know how to set it forth.
I just say that verse 20 says, and I know that the Son of God
has come. And I know that he's given me
some understanding of God's holiness and of my wretchedness and of
Christ's representation. And of his sacrifice, I have
an understanding of who he is and what he did and why he did
it and where he is now. I have an understanding, a hard
understanding of that. And I have taken all that I am
and have and ever hoped to be and given it to Christ. Committed
it to him. It's his. It's in his hands.
I'm on his hands. Sink or swim, I go to him. can
but perish if I go. I am not talking about salvation
being an identification with a church or a denomination or
a doctrine. I'm saying it's identification
with a person. Christ is my Lord. Lord and master. That's what that dear woman was
saying. I know what she did. She's raised, she told us she's
raised in a holiness home where she couldn't drink coffee and
couldn't drink tea and couldn't go to the movies and couldn't
do this. She's a good little girl. She joined the church, she's
12 or 13 years old, grew up, married a preacher, and raised
some children with goody-goody, you know, and all this sort of
thing, and resting in that for salvation. Well, salvation's
not in that stuff, it's in Christ. Because there's no goody-goodies
here, you're all baddy-baddies. That's all sinners, guilty sinners. That's so. I'll tell you something
else happened up there too. I admire that pastor. I admire
his wife. I know what they're going to
get. There was a big cross hanging
up here behind me preaching, about four feet high and three
feet wide, a bronze cross hanging on two chains. One of the ladies
at the church had bought it and paid $300 for it and hung it
there. And I got to preaching one night and plum forgot that
thing was back there. And I got to talking about crosses
and rabbit's foots and all that sort of thing, you know, and
I said the more you had on the outside, the less you had on
the inside, and the more you had on the inside, the less you
needed for these superstitious idols, and I said, as Aaron made
an idol, and the people worshipped it, we got our crosses hanging
around everywhere and pictures of Jesus, and we're bowing before
them, I went over to the restaurant
after the service that night and the pastor, that was the
last night of the meeting, he came over to the restaurant and
we were sitting there waiting on him and I said, well, here
comes the bishop. He said, the bishop might get defrocked next
Sunday. I said, what'd the bishop do?
He said, the bishop took that cross down. I said, you didn't. He said, I did. He said, after
the service, I went and took that thing down. She's down.
They're going to be down tomorrow night for the meeting. Well,
you know, I was worried about that. Oh, I knew they was going
to split that charity. Because the song leader and the
head deacon and his wife, his wife bought that thing. Three
hundred dollars. And it was pretty. Fancy. And so he called the other night
and he said, you know what I did? He said, I got to thinking about
that cross all night. And so the next day I called
this lady. He called her name. And he said, I told her what
I'd done. He said, I took your cross down. You know what she
said? Now, I'm pessimistic. I thought she'd blow a gasket.
You know what she said? She said, you did the right thing,
Pastor. She said, I heard Brother Mahan what he said, and he told
the truth. That thing ought not even be
there anyhow. Why are we surprised when God works? I don't know
why. But we, by personal experience, you say, what's wrong with crosses
and pictures? But let me just say it this way, when you come
to know and love Christ, He dwells in your heart, you'll know. Is
that good enough? And I can't explain it to you
otherwise. Because when He lives in here, you'll lay down all
these, all these idols. You just lay them down. Last
of all, let's quit. Verse 20, we know He's come. He's given us an understanding
We know Him that is true, we're in Him, even in His Son, and
this is the true God. My friends, if there's any gospel,
Paul, this is it. Why do you say that, preacher?
I say it for four reasons. It's true to the Word of God.
It's true to the character of God. See what I'm saying? It's true to my need. It meets
my need. I'm empty. I've got nothing to
pay. I've got to be free. And it's true to God's glory.
I know, I'm cocky and confident on this, nothing else but on
this, who Christ is and what he did. I'm as sure as I'm standing
here, this is the true God and this is eternal life. What I've
just been talking about, the Son of God has come, he has given
us an understanding, we know him that's true, we're in him
and this is the true God and this is eternal life. I know
it for four reasons, it's true to the word, It's true to the
character of God. He can be just and justifier.
It's true to my need. I'm an empty-handed sinner. I have nothing to bring. Christ
did it all. And it's true to God's glory.
It gives Him all the glory. And I tell you this, if something
doesn't give God all the glory, it's not of God. Now you stand
up and give your little testimony, what you did, and I say it's
not for God's glory, then it's not of God. This is it. And that's,
Eddie, what we was talking about last night. That's my hope right
there. And I can say, I don't care who
you are here this morning, chief of sinners or a high-muckety-muck
in religion, I don't care how you are, what you are, who you
are, the way of the cross leads home. There's no other way but
this. You'll never get sight of the
gates of light if the way of the cross you miss. You come
just like everybody else at the foot of the cross. Our dear Lord,
bless the message. Make it effectual to our hearts.
We know that the Son of God has come and he has given us an understanding
that we may know him that is true and we're in him. That is
true, and this is the true God, the living God, the eternal God,
and this is eternal life. Amen.