I believe I have some things
to say to you this morning that will be glorifying to the Lord
and will bring great good in your life if the Holy Spirit
of God is pleased to open your ears to hear them, and your hearts
to understand them, and your eyes to see the glory of them.
I'm going to talk to you on this subject, walking in the light
revealed. Walking in the light revealed.
Now, my friends, I confess. willingly, honestly confess that
there are many things in the Word of God that I don't understand
and that you don't understand and that no other man understands. There are many things in God's
Word that are difficult to understand. I hear people saying all the
time, the Bible is just hard to understand. You are right.
And let me tell you this, the very fact that it is the Word
of God Almighty limits my ability to understand it. The very fact
that the Bible is the Word of God limits my ability to comprehend
it. It being the Word of God, of
course no man can understand it all or comprehend it all or
enter into all of it. It's impossible. It's God's Word.
God's Word. The very fact that we are men,
finite men, we cannot understand all the words and will purposes
and plans and writings of an infinite God. Listen to the writers
of scripture themselves. In Romans chapter 11, verse 33,
Paul said, Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, his ways pass
finding out. When Paul was taken to the third
heaven, he came back and said, I saw some things I can't even
tell you about. It's not even lawful to utter.
It's not possible for me to put into words what I saw. You couldn't
understand it. I don't understand it. Listen
to Deuteronomy 29, verse 29. The secret things belong to the
Lord. But those things which are revealed
belong to us and to our children, that we may do all the words
of his law. The secret things belong to God.
They don't even belong to us. But the revealed things belong
to us and to our children. Paul, writing in 1 Corinthians
13, says, we know in part. We prophesy or preach in part. We see through a glass dimly. Someday we're going to know as
we have been known. Someday we're going to understand.
But right now, due to the limitations of the flesh and the mind, we
know in part. We preach in part. Nobody has
all the answers about the Bible. Nobody comprehends or understands
all the Word of God. We accept it by faith. We receive
God's Word by faith. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians
8 verse 2, If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth
nothing, yet as he ought to know it. Now you think about that. If any man think that he knoweth
anything. I always get amused at these
preachers that have questions programs, you call in, ask a
question, they just answer it like that, you know. Any question,
they answer it like that. That's impossible. A man can't
answer all of my questions. God can. And God, I have answered
all my questions in God's Word, but I cannot, with a finite,
fallible, foolish, and fleshly mind, comprehend an infinite,
immutable, almighty, eternal, incomprehensible God Almighty,
whom the heavens won't contain. How can my simple, limited mind
contain the greatness of God? But my friends, our difficulty,
now let's come on down to where we live, let's get down to real,
honest, heart-searching. Our difficulty is certainly not
with the secret, unrevealed mysteries of the Scriptures. That's not
our problem. That's not our problem at all. I challenge you. I question
your honesty if you say that that's your problem. The fact
that you don't understand certain things in the Bible, you say,
that's my problem. That's not your problem. Your
problem is with the things that you do understand. Now, that's
where your problem is, and that's where everybody's problem is.
and difficulties, not with the secret, unrevealed mysteries
of Scripture. Our problem is this. We have
difficulty with those things in the Word of God that we perfectly
understand, but we don't like. And it crosses our wills, and
it crosses our desires, and it crosses our own flesh, and that's
what we have difficulty with. For example, Herod, King Herod,
who admired John, the preacher John the Baptist, He understood
what John said when John said, Herod, it's not lawful for you
to have your brother Philip's wife. He understood that perfectly. His problem was not with the
secret, unrevealed mysteries of the scripture. His problem
was with this difficulty right here. He understood what John
said, but he wasn't willing to part with it. He didn't like
it. And the same thing's true of the rich young ruler. He understood
what the Lord Jesus was saying. His problem wasn't with the secret
mysteries of the millennium, or the mysteries of prophecy,
or who came married, or where this came from. That wasn't his
problem. His problem was with our Lord said to him, your riches
are your God. Sell your riches. Part with them. Take up your cross and follow
me. And you'll inherit great riches. You'll inherit life eternal. He understood that, but he didn't
like it. And our problem, your problem,
I challenge you, I say that the problem today, the difficulty,
when people start talking about it, I don't read the Bible, I
just don't understand it. There's some of it you understand, and
it crosses your will and your flesh, and it crosses your own
ambition, and that's what we don't like. The religious leaders,
they understood what Christ said when he said this, it's not what
you put in your mouth that defiles you, it's what comes out of your
heart. He was exposing their sin. They looked around and said,
he's a sinner, and she's a sinner, and somebody else is a sinner.
We're not sinners, you see, we fast and pray, and we're not
adulterers, and we're not extortioners, and we're not this, we're not
that, and we don't do this on the Sabbath, and we don't eat
without washing our hands, we go through all these things.
All you other fellows are sinners. You do these bad things, you
know. And our Lord, they understood what he was saying, and they
were offended. He said, what comes out of your
heart defiles you. That's the adulteries and fornications
and evil thoughts and murders and blasphemy and profanity comes
out of your heart. That's what defiles you. And
they got mad. And the disciples said they didn't
like what you said. He said, leave them alone. They're
blind leaders of the blind. They were around here asking
all these unanswerable questions about when the woman arose in
the resurrection, you know, who's going to be her husband? She
had four or five. Or is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar? Or
this, that, and the other? Which is the greatest law? They
want to deal with these difficult parts of the Word of God. That's
what preachers want to do a lot of times to attract attention,
you know. But our problem is not with the difficult portions
of God's Word. It's with just plain scripture
like this that we know, we understand, but we don't like. The religious
gathering in Nazareth, you remember that crowd in Luke 4? They tried
to kill the Lord. They want to take him off. and
throw him off of a cliff, because they understood what he said.
They didn't have any problem whatsoever in understanding his
message. He said, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. He hath an order of me to preach the gospel to
the poor, and release the captive, and give sight to the blind,
an acceptable year of the Lord. And then he came down and told
them this, God is not obligated to any man, because he's a son
of Abraham or a son of anybody else. God is not obligated to
any man because of his heritage, his background, or his work.
God Almighty will be merciful to whom he will be merciful.
He'll be gracious to whom he will be gracious. That salvation
is in the hands of God, the gift of whomsoever he will. And they
understood it perfectly. And they tried to kill him. Yes,
the scriptures are the word of God. The words of God. And the scriptures are deep.
They're deep. What can you know? What can you
understand? How deep, how vast, how broad,
how high? Who can attain to it? It's higher
than the heavens. What can you know? It's deeper
than hell. What can you find out? But I'm telling you this,
my friend, they'll be debated till the end of time. They'll
be argued and debated till the end of time. But if you walk
in the light that God Almighty has given you, in walking in
the light of those scriptures that you do understand, God will
give you more light. I believe that. If you walk in
the light revealed, God will give you more light. Now let
me go to some of the scriptures, about four or five scriptures,
which are made by our Lord Jesus Christ. Statements in clear,
plain language that men understand, and yet they're clear-cut ultimatums,
too, that concern you and me personally. But these are scriptures
that cause so much difficulty. And it's not that people don't
understand them. They understand them. They're too clear and too
plain not to be understood. If they were said by your mother
or father, you'd understand them. If they were said by your boss
where you work, you'd understand them. But they're said by the
master, and we're just not willing to bow. Now listen to these scriptures. First John 19, verse 10. You
may have never heard a message on this scripture, but here's
one. Here's part of a message. Pilate said to the Lord Jesus,
speakest thou not unto me? He had asked the Lord a question,
are you a king? Are you a prophet? Christ didn't
answer him. He stood there silent. Didn't
answer a word. Pilate got angry and he said,
speakest thou not unto me? He said, don't you know that
I have power to crucify you or to release you? Now don't you
know that? And the Lord Jesus answered and
said, you could have no power against me at all. except it
were given you from above." Now, that's pretty plain, isn't it?
Nothing hard to understand about that. There's not a thing in
this world hard to understand about that. Pilate said, I have
the power to accept you or reject you. I have the power to crucify
you or let you go. I have the power to put you to
death or release you. Christ said, you don't have any
power over me at all, except it were given you from my Father.
When men, when natural men boast of their power and their ability
and their free will, they talk about what they can do and what
God can't do, and what they are expected to do, and what God
would like to do but can't do, it's time to set the record straight,
just like our dear Lord did right here. He was silent for a long
time. But when Pilate boasted of his
free will and his free agency and his free action and his free
power, our Lord set the record straight. He said, Mr. Pilate,
you have no power at all against me, over me, except it will be
given you from above. You don't have the power to raise
your hand right now, my friend, without God. Not a sparrow falls
to the ground without your heavenly Father. He numbers the hairs
of your head. That's right. It's time to set
the record straight. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. That's what Scripture says. And
we either take the Word of God or throw it all out the window.
There's nothing hard to understand about that. A man can receive
nothing except it be given him from above. That's what God's
Word says. Listen to 1 Samuel 2, 6. The Lord killeth, the Lord
maketh alive. There's nothing secret about
that. The Lord bringeth down to the grave. The Lord bringeth
up. The Lord maketh poor. The Lord maketh rich. The Lord
bringeth low. The Lord lifteth up. Daniel said
the Lord rules in the armies of heaven. He rules in the kingdoms
of men. He giveth it to whomsoever he
will. All power is of God. Your birth
is in the power of God. It's by God's decree. Listen
to what God said to Jeremiah. Before I formed thee in the belly,
before you came out of your mother's womb, I sanctified you and set
you apart. I formed you in the belly. Your
talents and your gifts are of God. I hear people talk about
self-made men. The Word of God says, who maketh
thee to differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Now if you received it, why do
you glory as if you didn't receive it? One man is able to sing,
another's not. One man has a gifted, brilliant
mind, another man does not. Who gave that man the gift? Who
gave that man the talent? Who maketh thee to differ? Your breath is in the hands of
God, that's what Daniel 5 says. Your ways are in the hands of
God. Your death is determined by the will of God, Job 14. Man's
days are determined. Your salvation is of the Lord.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Even, my
friends, salvation is of the Lord. A man is lifted from the
dunghill and he is set by the grace of God with princes to
reign forever. Who does that? Scripture says
God does. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. So we talk about power. It's
God's power, not your power or my power. We lost our power. We lost everything in the garden.
We talk about the will. Listen to the scripture. It's
not of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth, it's
of God that showeth mercy. Listen to the scripture. To as
many as received him, to them gave he the right, the privilege
to become sons of God, which were born not of blood, not of
the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.
The Lord quickeneth whom he will. Moses says, Lord, show me your
glory. And God said, all right, I'll cause all my goodness to
pass before you. You see, the glory of God is
the goodness of God. God will be glorified in his
justice. He'll be glorified in creation. The heavens declare
the glory of God. But God's chief glory, his greatest
glory, is redemption, his goodness, his mercy, his love. That's God's
greatest glory. And you see, Moses says, show
me your glory. And God said, all right, I'll
cause my goodness to pass before you. And I'll be merciful to
whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. You see, my friends, we're shut
up to the mercy of God. We're shut up to the power of
God. We exercised our will, and we died. We exercised our choice. We made the wrong choice. We
exercised our power, and we lost it in the Garden of Eden. Now
if there's any power for good or mercy or grace, exercise in
our direction, God will have to do it all because spiritually
we're dead. You have to acquit them who were
dead in trespasses and sins. I'm trying to tell you the truth.
Just what our Lord told Pilate. He stood there and he took all
that abuse and he took all that ridicule and mocking and finally
Pilate declared, I've got the power. to put you where I please
or to let you go." And our Lord set the record straight. He didn't
answer any more after that. He said, you, let's understand
something and make it clear. You have no power over me at
all. That's right. Everything's from
God. And if you exercise any faith
toward Christ, It'll be with the power of God. His people
are made willing in the day of His power. You look that up.
Psalm 110, verse 3. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. He drew me and I followed. He
loved me and I loved Him. He sought me and I was found
of Him. Listen to this scripture. And
I see no problem here at all. I see no difficulty. And you
walk in the light, you walk in the light that God gives you,
and he'll give you more light. Listen to John 6, 44. No man
can come to me except my Father which sent me draw him. That's
pretty clear. I don't see any problem there
at all. No man, whatever his talent or ability or natural
understanding, no man can come to me except my Father which
sent me draw him. Now, what was the cause of this
statement? Well, our Lord had declared in verse 37, John 6,
that the Father had given him a people. He said, all that my
Father giveth me shall come to me. He declares that the Father
from all eternity had given him a people. Paul says that in II
Thessalonians 2.13 and Ephesians 1.3, in Romans 9.10 and 11, in
John 17, the Lord's priestly prayer, God gave the Son a people.
And the son says, they're going to come to me. I'm going to have
a people. I'm going to redeem them. I came down here to do
my father's will. Look at John 6, 38 and 39. And
he said, this is the will of him that sent me, that of all
which he had given me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the
last day. And the people began to murmur. They understood what
he was saying, though. Just like you understand what
I'm saying. They understood what he's saying. He's saying, my
father, I and my father are one. And my father, from all eternity,
gave me a people. And I'm redeeming those people.
I'm going to raise them up at the last day, and I'm not going
to lose any of them. Not one of them. And they're
going to come to me. They're going to come willingly.
They're going to come in repentance and come in faith. They're going
to come trusting. They're going to come loving
and receiving me. They're going to come. And I'll never cast
them out. And these folks got to murmuring
and complaining, and they said, well, this man's a carton man. We know him. We know his... Daddy,
and we know his mother, and we know his brothers, and we know
his sisters. How come he says he came down from heaven? And
that's when our Lord said this, John 6, 44. He was rebuking these
murmurings. He was rebuking these folks that
were finding fault with what he had just said. All that my
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven, not
to do my will, but the will of my Father which sent me, and
this is the will. of my Father which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up
at the last day." And they said, we don't believe you. He said,
well, no man can come to me. Now what is it to come to Christ?
What is it to come to Christ? Well, it's not to physically
come to Christ. That was easy. They'd just walk
right up and touch him. He was here in person. It was
not coming to his church. Thieves and robbers went to the
church. It's not coming to the ordinances. Plenty of people
came to the baptismal pool, even to the Lord's table at the church
in Corinth and got drunk. It's not just coming to the law.
Coming to Christ is comprehended in three words which all together
make up faith. Number one is to believe Christ.
Coming to Christ is to believe Christ. is to believe the record
that God has given concerning his son. That's what Paul said
to the Philippian jailer. Believe, believe, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ now shall be saved. We believe the record
that God has given concerning his son. We believe that Christ
is the substitute, Christ is the redeemer, Christ is the son
of God, Christ is our high priest, Christ is our mediator. We believe. Secondly, to trust him. To trust
him. To cast ourselves upon him. To
rely upon him. to leave everything with him.
Like Paul said, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he's
able to keep that which I've committed to him. I've given
my soul to him. I've committed it to him. I rest
in Christ. And it's to receive him. To as
many as received Christ, to them gave he the power to become sons
of God. To receive Christ is to receive
him as prophet, priest, and king. Prophet to reveal the Father,
priest to satisfy the justice of the Father, make a sin offering,
a perfect atonement, and King to reign over us. And he says,
no man can come to me in this fashion, coming to Christ, is
to believe on him, to trust him, to receive him. No man can come
to me except my Father, which sent me to draw him. No man's
capable of this spiritual commitment except the Father by his purpose,
by his will, by his determinate counsel, call that man to Christ. Because sinners are quickened
from the dead by the Holy Spirit, you have to be quickened who
were dead. Sinners are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sinners are called In Galatians 1.15, Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb, call me by his grace. And sinners
are saved by the grace of God, for by grace are you saved through
faith. And sinners are kept by the power of God through faith.
And sinners are raised from the grave by the power of God, the
same power that raised up Christ from the dead. So you see, this
plain language, it's not the difficult scriptures that we're
battling. It's those scriptures that you
understand, and I understand, and these people here understood,
and they didn't want. You see, it destroys man's dignity
to call him a sinner. It destroys man's wisdom to tell
him God has to reveal the truth to him. It destroys man's pride
to tell him that God will save whom he will, that he's a beggar
at the back door of mercy. That's right. And it destroys
his love for sin and self to tell him he has to walk with
Christ in holiness. Now he just doesn't like those
things. And there's so many scriptures, I could go and listen to this
one in Luke 13, verse 3. Our Lord said, except you repent,
you'll perish. Now that's pretty clear. I don't
see any problem there. Except you repent, you'll perish.
Here's what the Lord's saying. He's saying it's impossible to
come to Christ without leaving the things that oppose Christ.
He's saying here that it's impossible to walk with Christ and walk
with the enemies of Christ. You can't do it. Except you repent,
you're perished. He's saying it's impossible to
serve God and serve sin and sell. You can't do it. No man can serve
too much. It's an impossibility. So, except
you repent personally. What is repentance? Well, it's
a change, somebody said, but what a change. Somebody said,
well, it's a turning, but what a turning. Let's see, somebody
said one time, if you define something, you ruin it. Well,
maybe we will, but I'm going to try to define repentance.
In Isaiah 55, 7, I believe there's a pretty good definition of repentance.
Let the wicked forsake his way. Let the unrighteous man forsake
his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he'll have
mercy. So repentance is a change of
manners. We forsake our ways and walk
his ways. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. This is the fruit of the Holy
Spirit, love, joy, peace, faith, longsuffering, meekness, temperance,
gentleness, kindness. We forsake our way and go his
way. Let a man forsake his thoughts.
That's a mind, a change of manners and a change of mind. Thoughts
about what? About himself. Instead of what
a good man I am, what a wretched man I am. What a sinner I am.
About Christ, he's my Lord and my God. About righteousness,
not mine but his. Peter, do you love me? Lord,
you know I love you. Then feed my sheep. And I tell
you, if we love Christ, we'll feed his sheep. It's a change
of mind about Christ. And then it's a change of masters.
Let him return unto the Lord. Lord, what will you have me do?
My life, my love, I give to thee, thou Son of God, who died for
me. Oh, may I ever faithful be, my
Savior and my God. Now, one more scripture. And
this is what we're talking about. It's not the mysteries of the
Word. It's the plain truth of the Word that men despise. that which they do understand,
which crosses their will. And this scripture says this,
our Lord said in Matthew 5.20, I say unto you, accept your righteousness,
now we're talking about holiness, we're talking about goodness,
we're talking about holiness and goodness and righteousness,
we're talking about the beauty of holiness, unless yours exceeds
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, who were they?
religious leaders of that day, the most moral men, the most
respected men, the men who were looked upon as being the best
men in the community, the religious leaders. Now, except your righteousness,
holiness, goodness exceed theirs, you're not going to enter the
kingdom of heaven. That was a shocking statement to those disciples.
Why did the Lord say this? Because their righteousness was
all outward. Inside they were full of dead
men's bones, evil, corruption. The righteousness of Christ is
an inward righteousness. Their righteousness was to be
seen of men. God looks on the heart. And their
righteousness was their own, worked out by their deeds, which
was seen in God's sight. Ours is worked out by Christ
himself, by his obedience to the law of God.