Verily, verily, I say unto you,
verily, verily. Several times in the book of
John, our Lord uses these words, I believe, indicating a statement
of special importance. Not that all of the Word of God
is not important. It is. But here's a special statement
of special importance. For example, He says, verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. Verily, verily. What do you mean,
verily, verily, preacher? Well, he means this, most solemnly,
I assure you. Some of the translations use
it this way, surely, surely, I say unto you, amen. This is
trustworthy. I like this better, most solemnly. Most solemnly I assure you, except
a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Back
there in verse 19, he said, most assuredly, most solemnly I assure
you that the son can do nothing of himself, what he seeeth the
father do. In other words, there's no division
in the Trinity. What God hath willed, the son
hath purchased, and the Holy Spirit will reveal or will apply. The Trinity is one, the Lord
our God is one God. Trinity is not divided. Most
solemnly, he said, I assure you, this is a fact. And then he said,
most solemnly, I assure you, except you eat the flesh and
drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.
Now, most solemnly, I assure you that life does not, life
does not exist in ceremonies of religion nor in laws. nor
in human righteousness, it's in the body, the broken body
and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, received inwardly by
experience, by faith, most solemnly, I assure you. Better get a hold
of that, the Lord's saying. Better get a hold of that. Verily,
verily, surely, surely, most solemnly, amen. This is a faithful
saying. Paul picked that up. He used,
this is a faithful saying. Not that everything he said wasn't
a faithful saying. But this is of great importance. This needs your attention right
now. Verily, verily, most solemnly I assure you that I am the door. That's what he said in John 10.
Most solemnly I assure you that all who ever came before me are
thieves and robbers. But I am the door of the sheep.
By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Most solemnly
I assure you, better find the door or you burn with the building. Better find the right door, the
door that leads out, the door that leads into the kingdom of
God, not the door that leads to a blank wall and forces you
back into condemnation. So right here in verse 24, you
get a hold of those first two words. Verily, verily. Most solemnly, I assure you. I assure you. What subject's
he introducing? Well, he says, Most solemnly,
I assure you that he that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life. What subject's he introducing,
dealing with? Our possession of eternal life.
That's what we're going to be talking about. We're going to
be talking about deliverance from condemnation and shall not
come into condemnation. We're going to be talking about
a present possession of life. But he's already passed from
death into life. Now, we may have many questions
to ask, and I know you do. But they can all wait till we
get the answer to this question. What must I do to be saved? I
know we've got a lot of questions. I've got a lot of questions.
I know in part and preach in part and see through a glass
dimly. I want some answers. And someday God will, in His
good time, give them to me. But I'll tell you, all the questions
can wait. What's going to happen in the
millennium can wait until this issue is settled. Do I know Christ? Have I passed from death unto
life? Have I been delivered from condemnation? Do I have eternal
life? All these other questions can
wait. Where came God? His wife can wait till I get
the glory. But I've got to settle this matter
of getting the glory. All of these things can wait.
What must I do to be saved? How can I have eternal life? How can I be delivered from condemnation? Peter said, you give diligence
to make your calling and election sure. And if you do these things,
you'll never fail. The rest of it will be all right.
Seek ye first, first, first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and these other things will be added to you. God will take care
of the other things. The other things can be left
to Him. The other things are in good hands. But this issue
I want to settle, for what shall it profit me if I gain the whole
world of knowledge, of intellect, power, fame, religious glory,
and lose my soul. Oh, Paul said that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. Oh, that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection. Let's go back to the first part
of that verse again. Most solemnly, most solemnly,
I assure you, I say unto you, oh, all doubt is removed. We've got a reason to believe
what we're about to say. Why? He said, I say this to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
nothing but truth can come from him who is true. Here's the key. Here's the key to this whole
thing. Here's the key to believing it, to receiving it, to resting
upon it, to finding comfort in it. Christ said, I say this to
you. That's the reason I believe it.
He said it. He said it. It's true because Christ said
it. Now you listen to me a moment. This is important. We're never
going to arrive at any confidence or certainty or assurance of
life everlasting or the forgiveness of sin or acceptance with God
until we come to the conviction that Jesus Christ is infallible
in everything He said. Now that's the key to assurance.
You may go around wringing your hands and wiping the perspiration
from your brow and troubled and trembling over whether or not
you're saved. Well, you'll never come to any
confidence or assurance or certainty at all until you can come to
this place, I believe what my Lord says. Every word He says. All arguments must lie down at
His feet. All reasoning, all doubts, all
feelings, good or bad. must lie down at the feet of
Christ. It's enough that Christ said it. Verily, verily, I say
this to you. That makes it all right. I say
this. If you reject His teachings,
you reject the teacher. And rejecting the teacher, you
reject the Father. Let me show you that in John
chapter 12. Let's turn over there just a
moment. John chapter 12. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
it's true because nothing but the truth can come from Him who
is the truth. I say this to you. I say this
to you, verily, verily, most solemnly, I say this to you.
And all arguments and all reasoning, all doubts are to vanish before
His words. I say this. The Lord says this. Now, any time you're arguing
about creation, arguing about salvation, or arguing about doctrine,
anything else, the common denominator is the Word of our Lord. And
if you've got somebody you're discussing some belief with, and he doesn't accept
the Word of God, why don't you just quit discussing it? Because
if we receive not the Word of God, we have no other foundation.
Everybody can do that which is right in his own eyes. Everybody
can believe what his own heart wishes to believe. Everybody
can think what he wants to think. But our thoughts must be in subjection
to his thoughts, and our ways to his ways, and our will to
his will, and our faith to his Word. I say this. That makes it so. And I don't
have to explain it, I just have to believe it. I don't even have
to understand it. I don't understand how this,
I don't have to understand. If I could understand God, I'd
be God. If I could comprehend God, I'd
be God. But I'm not God. And my mind
and my understanding is so infinitesimal beside His. infinite mind and
mentality and wisdom. I can't even comprehend the greatness
of God. David said, the heavens won't
contain Him. And I must subject my thoughts
and will and everything to His Word, this Word. Listen to it.
He says in John 12, verse 44, Jesus cried and said, He that
believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on him that sent Me.
You believe on Me, you believe God. He that seeth Me, seeth
him that sent Me. Look at verse 48. He that rejecteth
Me, Receiveth not my words, hath one that judges him. The word
that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me.
He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should
speak. And I know that everlasting commandment is a commandment,
is a life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore
even as the Father sent him to me, so I speak. Reject his teachings,
you reject him. Reject him, You reject his Father. You can't have God without Christ.
Go back to the text. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life. Now, my friends, there
are those who say that they believe in salvation by faith. They believe
in justification by faith alone. which the Lord Jesus Christ sets
forth in these solemn and clear and plain words. But they say,
we must guard this truth, we must protect this truth, we must
cautiously present this truth. I don't agree with that. If Christ
said it, I'm to preach it. Our Lord did not send me to protect
His word, but to preach His word. He did not send me to explain
His Word, but to preach His Word. And it's useless to talk of being
His disciple if we're not prepared to set aside our reasoning, our
tradition, our arguments, our human logic, and bow to His Word. So that's what I'm going to do
this morning in this message. I'm going to just preach to you
what He says. He says, verily, verily, I say
unto you, I say unto you, and the message falls naturally under
five headings or five divisions. First of all, he that heareth,
hearing, and believeth, believing, have or possesses eternal life
and shall not come into condemnation delivered but already is passed
from death unto life. He lives. So let's take them
one at a time. First of all, he says, surely, most solemnly,
I say unto you, and it's true because I say it, and it doesn't
need to be explained, it doesn't need to be protected, it doesn't
need to be defended, it doesn't need to be cautiously presented
or cautiously guarded, just preach it. I say unto you, he that hears
my word, It doesn't appear from this text
that life is communicated by drops of water on the head, does
it? He says, he that heareth my word hath everlasting life. He that heareth the word. It
doesn't appear by the text that life is communicated by beautiful
religious ceremonies. He that takes part in processionals
and ceremonies and candle lighting services and Oh, we had such
a beautiful service. Did you hear any gospel? No,
but it was a beautiful service. He that heareth my word. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word. I don't read
here where life is communicated by visions and dreams. I don't read here where life
is communicated by having a church that is properly structured. I don't read here where life
is communicated by having the right baptism or the right kind
of communion service, closed or otherwise. Verily, verily,
most solemnly, I say unto you, he that heareth my word. My friend turned with me to Isaiah
55, verse 3. I don't know how in the world
that I can emphasize, as it ought to be emphasized, the importance
of hearing God's Word. Isaiah 55, verse 3, he says,
Incline your ear. Those who come to Christ, we're
going to read some more of this verse, but listen to me. Those
who come to Christ, those who come to everlasting life, those
who come to faith, do so first. The first thing is by hearing
the gospel. Did you know that? Hearing the
Word of God. Of His own will beget He us through
the Word of truth. We are begotten again unto a
living hope by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever.
Christ said, He that heareth my word. Listen to it, Isaiah
55, 3. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Hear! Hear! Hear! And your soul shall live. Hear
what? Beautiful music? My word. Hear my word. I don't know how that I don't
know how that we relegated preaching to the scrap heap. I don't know
why we did that, because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. No man's ever going to be saved
unless he hears the Word of God, unless he hears the truth about
sin. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed, and how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And they haven't heard. And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Men who come to everlasting life,
first of all, come to that life by hearing. Hearing. Life comes
through the ears. Did you know that? That's right. I read a little silly poem one
time, and I know what the person meant, but these little old clichés
just take, they're the devil's subtle crafty way of taking us
away from God's truth. Somebody said, I'd rather see
a sermon than hear one any day. That sounds pretty, doesn't it?
Not me, because he that heareth my word hath everlasting life. Not he that seeth some person
going about a task of doing good works. Let me tell you something. People saw Jesus Christ perform
miracles. They saw Him hang on a cross. They saw His blood drip from
His hands. They saw Him taken down dead. They saw the Son hide behind
God's dark cloud of wrath. They saw the ground break open. They saw Him come out of the
tomb. They saw Him when He walked this
earth after the resurrection. And they weren't saved. I don't
believe you could get a vision any better than that, or a dream,
or experience anything else, but they didn't hear his word. There was a man in hell. And
he saw Abraham by God's providence and special revelation, or our
Lord giving this story said, the rich man saw Abraham and
Lazareth in his bosom. He said, Father Abraham, send
Lazareth down here that he may dip his finger in water and cool
my tongue. I'm tormented in this flame.
And Abraham said, son, remember that on the earth you had good
things. You had all you needed and wanted.
Lazareth had nothing. Thou art tormented and he's comforted.
Besides, between us and thee there's a great gulf fixed, and
no one can come from him to us or from us to you." Well, he
said, Father Abraham, he said, I've got five brothers on the
earth. Send Lazarus back and let him tell them about this
awful place lest they come here. Abraham said, well, they have
the Word of God. They have Moses and the prophets, that is. They
have the Word of God. And the rich man thought he could improve
on God's way of saving sinners. And he said, no, but said, now,
if one rose from the dead, if they saw one who had risen from
the grave, if they saw it, one risen from the grave, they'd
believe. Abraham said, no, they wouldn't. One rose from the tomb,
and they didn't believe. They saw Him. If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, if they hear not the Word of God, they
will not be convinced, though one rose from the dead. I want
to tell every so-called television healer and every preacher going
around grabbing people by the head and shaking their heads
and breaking crutches and pushing wheelchairs down the ramps and
all this foolishness and calling names of people in the audience
and reading their social security number, that never would save
a flea, let alone a human being. It's not by seeing miracles. The men of Egypt turned their
shepherd staffs into snakes too. They did miracles too. The devil
can perform miracles. But men are saved by hearing
God's Word. You better listen to me. Hearing
God, they hear what the Word says about sin. They hear what
the Word says about God's righteousness. And we talked about that in our
Sunday school class this morning. God's righteousness. I'll tell
you the truth, my friends. I don't care if you're a little
sinner or a big sinner or a pretty bad sinner or a terrible sinner.
You're a sinner. And a sinner is a sinner. And
missing the mark of God's holiness, whether you miss it a half inch
or a half a mile, you missed it. And you'll go the same hell
Adolf Hitler's going to if you don't have Christ. It won't be
a nickel's worth of difference. You'll be separated from God
just like him. We need to hear about God's righteousness,
God's holiness. We need to hear about man's inability. We need to hear what the Word
of God says about God's grace in Christ. You say, those words
are foreign to me. I know, but you know the song,
Let's Have a Little Talk with Jesus, and that hasn't helped
you any, has it? We got to hear His Word. We got
to hear about God's grace in Christ, regeneration. justification, sanctification,
righteousness, accepting the Beloved. We've got to hear what
the Word says about Christ, His mission, His person, His office,
His suffering, His victory. I know God speaks in creation,
but men aren't saved looking at trees. I know God speaks in
the conscience, but men aren't saved by being convicted that
they've betrayed innocent blood. I know God speaks in providence
and God speaks in the law, but men must hear Him speak in the
gospel! Good news of Christ. He said, this is my Son, hear
Him! My sheep, hear my voice. Turn
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, just a moment. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. Listen to the Apostle Paul writing
to the Thessalonians. He said to them in 1 Thessalonians
1, He gives us the mark of the redeemed. He gives us the evidence
of God's elect. He says in 1 Thessalonians 1,
verse 4, Brethren, I know, I know, brethren and beloved, your election
of God. How do you know that we're elected
of God, Paul? Because our gospel, the good
news of Christ. His substitution, His sin offering,
His sacrifice, His resurrection, His ascension, His intercession,
our gospel came not to you in word only, but in power. But
it did come in word, in power in the Holy Ghost. That's the
first evidence that a man saved. He hears God's Word. He hears God's Word. That's what
our Lord is saying most solemnly. I say unto you, And it's true
because I say it, he that hears my word. The word is the seed
of light. The word is the seed in the hands
of the Holy Spirit. The word is the instrument used
by the agent, the Holy Spirit, to quicken me into life, to beget
repentance and faith in the hearts of sinners. It's the word of
God. I know I'm a sinner because His Word tells me so. I know
I'm unable to redeem myself. His Word tells me so. I know
that Christ is the only Redeemer because His Word tells me so. I know Christ loves sinners.
His Word tells me so. I believe His Word. Well, let's
go to the next part. He that heareth my Word and believeth. Hearers don't stop with being
hearers. They become believers. Hearers don't stop with being
hearers. They become believers. Abraham! He heard God. And he believed
God. How do you know he believed God?
I have all the evidence in the world that he believed God. He
acted on what God told him to do. He did what God told him
to do. Evidence. In other words, God said, leave
your father's house. Get out of there! And go to a
land I'll show thee. His father was an idolater. Abraham
lived among idol worshippers, and he left. He left, not knowing
where he was going, but he believed God. Now brethren, I know Christ
said in John 14, 1, if you believe in God, believe also in Me. I
know that we're taught to believe on Christ, but let me tell you
something. The Bible doesn't say Abraham believed in God or
believed there is a God or believed on God or about God. It says
Abraham believed I wish I could convey this. I
wish I could get across what I'm thinking right here. Abraham believed God. He believed
God to the extent that he left home not knowing where he was
going. God said, I'm going to make of you a great nation. He
didn't know when, but he believed it. There was not one evidence
outwardly that he would be a great nation. There's just a handful
of them. Just a handful of them. And God
said, Abraham, all nations of the earth are going to be blessed
because of you. Because of you. And you're saved.
And he believed God. And he believed God, though he
knew not how. He said, you're going to have
a son. Here this old man, a hundred years old, and his wife ninety-some-odd. And God came and said, you're
going to have a new little bitty baby. And Abraham believed God. See, this goes further than believing
in God and about God and on God. Just believe in God. Abraham believed in God. And
God, He finally got that little boy, and when he got to be 114
years old, and the boy was about 14, the Lord came and said, Abraham,
yes, Lord, take that boy whom you love. Now, you think you
love You young mothers and daddies, you think how a 114-year-old
man would love an only son. Now you just comprehend that,
how much he loved that boy, his boy. God said, take him and put
him on an altar and cut his heart out and sacrifice it to me. Abraham believed God. He didn't
know why, but he believed God. That's what I'm talking about.
Christ said, he that heareth my word. Abraham, Abraham, speak,
Lord, thy servant, heareth! Do this. I believe in God. Just one way you show it, and
that's to do it. That's right. That's to do it.
He believed God. That's the reason I don't have
a whole lot of confidence in a whole lot of people's so-called
faith. Because they're not doing what
God said. Abraham believed God. He did what God said. He proved.
Was not Abraham justified by works, James says? Was not Rahab
justified by works, James said? Yet Paul says no man is justified
by works but by faith. James is saying that faith is
justified by works. That faith is proved to be genuine,
to be faith. People talk about having faith
in a personal Savior. I don't care much for that comment.
I don't think it's faith in a personal Savior at all. I think it's personal
faith in the only Savior. There's a whale of a lot of difference
there. It's not just faith in a personal Savior. There can't
be any other kind of Savior than a personal Savior. If He saves
you, He saves you in person, in His person, in your person.
But what I'm interested in is this. He is my personal faith
in the only Savior. Do I believe? I know we all believe,
but do I believe? Abraham believed God. Christ
said, that person that hears my word and that person that
believes. And they believed Christ to the
extent that they received Christ. Paul said, I've committed it
to him. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed. I've
committed. What have you committed? To Christ. And I'll tell you this, they
keep on believing. They keep on believing. These
all died in faith. That's what it says of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. They not only believed God, and
their belief in God was revealed and evidenced by their actions,
but they died in faith. In faith. He that heareth my
word and believeth. We'll believe if it doesn't cost
us anything. We'll believe if it doesn't require
anything. We'll believe if it doesn't demand
anything. We'll believe. No, we don't believe. He that
heareth my word and believeth. on Him that sent me." I tell
you, what about these folks? He says they have everlasting
life. That's it right there. Most solemnly,
I say this. This is not reported to be true,
this is true. This is not what the old fathers
taught, this is what I say. This is not the tradition of
the Mother Church, this is what I say, Christ said, here's my
word, here's my voice. Here's my gospel. Here's it.
Here's it, not just with the outer ear and word only, but
with the heart and the power of the Holy Spirit. Here's my
word. And believes. He believes. Not because he saw miracles,
not because he ate the loaves and was filled. He believes. He believes God. Brother Barnett asked a young
lady one time, said, Are you a Christian?" She said, no. He
said, why aren't you a Christian? She said, I'm afraid if I become
a Christian that God might send me to China. He said, I'd heap
rather go to China than go to hell, hadn't you? That's something
to think about, isn't it? He might send you to China. He
might, I don't know. I don't know what he'll do with
you. But those who believe God really don't care what He does
with them, just so they have Him. That's believing. Believe in God. Believe in God.
We have all these illustrations, but He has eternal life. That's a present possession.
We were dead. You who were dead in trespasses
and sin, hath He quickened? Now He lives. The fact that we're
here indicates we live. Listen to me. The fact that we
hear. Dead men don't hear. The fact
that we hear God's Word indicates we live spiritually. The fact
that we see. We see Christ. He that seeth
the Son. See Christ in His redemptive
glory. See Christ in His substitutionary
work. This is a mystery. You know why
the Gospel is called a mystery in the Bible? Why it's called
something that's here is because the natural man doesn't understand
it. You can explain it to him till
you are worn out, and he's tired of listening, but he cannot understand. He's always got an argument.
He's always got a question. He's always got something to
put forth. He just can't see that God, just
and justifier, imputed righteousness, representation, federal headship. He cannot see and understand
these things, blood atonement. He cannot understand these things.
It's a mystery. If they had known who He was,
they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. The natural
man receiveth not the things of God. The gospel to them that
are perishing is foolishness. They cannot know them. It's mystery
hid. It's hid to men who are blind.
I don't care how much light you have. If a man's blind, he's
not going to see. You can have a candle or you can have the
full revelation of the sun. If he's blind, he's blind and
he can't see. And the very fact that we see
indicates we live. The very fact that we believe
indicates we live. The very fact that we love Christ
indicates that we live. Whosoever is born of God loveth him that is forgotten
of God. You don't love till you're forgotten
of God. Whosoever is born of God overcometh
the world. You don't overcome till you're
born of God. He that believeth on the Son
is born of God, the Scripture says. You don't believe on the
Son until you're born of God. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying this. These things are written unto you that believe
on the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life. You
have life, or you wouldn't be believing. Huh? I don't know which comes first,
repentance or faith. I know they come together. I
don't know which comes forth, the begetting, or the birth,
or the life itself, or what, or the Word. I just know they
got to be together. In order to believe the Word,
I've got to hear it. In order to hear it, I've got
to have life. In order to have life, I've got
to have Christ. If I have Christ, I have life.
If I have not Christ, I'll never see life. Christ is the incarnate
Word. He is the living Word. He is
the written Word. He is the revealed Word. He is
the Word that was from the beginning. We have everlasting life. We
have everlasting life. We have the life of the eternal.
That's what eternal life is. It's the life of the eternal.
Eternal life is not how long it lasts. It's the life of the
Eternal One, and it'll last as long as He lives. That's how
long it'll last. You say, how long is eternal
life? It'll last as long as the Eternal lives, for it is eternal
life. He that heareth my word, not
what some preacher says about it, but here's my word. He that
heareth my word and believeth with a saving faith, with a living
faith, with a loving faith, with a committed faith. With a faith you might have to
die for, with a faith you might have to be poor for, with a faith
you might have to be tried for, with a faith you might have to
be stoned for, I don't know. With a faith that may cause you
to leave mother and father and husband and wife and brother
and sister. Paul said this, If a man's got
an unbelieving wife and she's content to live with him under
the direction of the gospel, let her live with him, but if
she's not, kiss her goodbye and walk with Christ. That's the
kind of faith I'm talking about. If a man's got an unbelieving
father, Christ said, I'll come between them. I'll come between
them. I didn't come to bring peace
to this earth. I didn't come to enable you to get along with
the enemies of God. I came to enable you to love
them. I came to enable you to forgive them. I came to enable
you to show mercy to them. I came to enable you to preach
to them and pray for them, but not walk with them. You see what
I'm saying, John? I came to divide, Christ said,
a son-in-law from his mother and from a mother-in-law and
a daughter from her mother and her father. Be not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. What fellowship can Baal have
with God? What fellowship can darkness
have with light? One of them is going to change
pretty soon, unless they do some parting of the ways. I'm talking
about saving faith. I'm talking about he that hears
my word and becomes a slave to it. He that hears my word and
believeth on him that sent me. He believes to the point that
Christ is his life, his love. is everything. Christ is all
and in all. And who has to go, has to go.
But Christ lives. That's faith I'm talking about.
Well, that man has life. That man has eternal life. And he's delivered. He shall
never come into condemnation. Listen to me. A better translation
is this. They shall not come into judgment.
As soon as a man believes on Christ, he receives the benefit
of Christ's substitution, and he's no longer under judgment.
In Christ, we've been judged, we've been condemned, we've been
punished, we've been executed for all our sins, and they don't
exist anymore. God said, I cast your sins into
the depths of the sea. I blocked them out. I cast them
behind my back. I'll remember them no more. They
don't even exist. He shall not, and I disagree
with anyone who proposes any kind of future judgment for the
believer. It's not so. Romans 8 and 1 says there's therefore
now no judgment, no judgment to them who are in Christ. Paul
said in Romans 8 and 1, who can lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? There's
no charge, there's no curse, there's no condemnation. If our
surety has answered every charge, who's going to bring me a charge
against me, huh? Who, when, where, and how? I've
been justified by the highest court. There's no other place
to appeal. That's right. Now, you can do what you want
to with what they call the judgment seat of Christ, but I'll guarantee
you this, it's not a future judgment for the believer after death.
It's not there. So you can make it here on earth,
and you can make it when our works are tried by fire, anything
you want to. But you can't bring me into judgment
because Christ has already been judged and executed, and I've
got nothing to answer for. Father, deal with me as a child.
You're chasing me as a child. He'll afflict me according to
His will for my good and His glory. He'll deal with me in
this life, but He's not going to bring me into judgment. That
is to make a mockery of my Lord's death. And God the Father will
never do that. There is no judgment. No judgment! They shall, listen to this, he
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, he has life,
he has the life of the eternal one, he shall not come into judgment. No such. Brother, I tell you,
our Lord's already been judged, and the wrath of God forever
fell on Him. And I'm free, I'm free. And Martin Luther King says,
thank God Almighty, I'm free. And the fifth thing, he says,
we've passed from death unto life already. Now notice where
judgment is. Let me show you something here.
Here's death. Here's death, the fall of Adam, judgment, death,
sin, condemnation, the wrath of God, all these things. Here's
regeneration, here's resurrection and glory and life, life with
God forever. What's between the two? Judgment. Somebody's got to answer for
sin. Somebody's got to deal with God's justice and holiness and
law. Here I am, a natural fallen son
of Adam. Here I am nothing but flesh,
and in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. And God is not pleased. And in the flesh, no man can
please God. And the very thought of foolishness
is sin. And God has to judge me. And
the soul that sinneth shall die. Yonder is life, freedom, joy,
love, mercy, grace, all these things. What's between me and
them? Judgment. I've got to deal with my sin.
That's what's between me. All right. If Christ comes down
here and becomes me and meets that judgment, And it falls on
him, and he's brought to court, he's brought to trial, he faces
the charges, and he stands there as a sheep before her shearers
as dumb, and opens not his mouth, and the court says, Guilty! Guilty! Heaven says, Guilty! Earth says,
Guilty! Hell says, Guilty! Crucify him! And they take him out there and
nail him to a cross, and God turns His back on him. And all
of God's judgment and charges and condemnation is laid on Christ,
and our sins are laid on Christ, and He satisfies them and pays
the debt, and they take Him down from the cross and stick Him
in a tomb, and He lays there. And on the third day, by the
power of God in heaven, by the power of the highest court, by
the power of the Supreme Judge of the universe, by the power
of Him against whom all sin is committed, the power of God. He comes out of that grave. He
comes out of that dungeon. He comes out of that prison without
sin. And the highest court in the
universe is the Heavenly Father. Remember who He is. He's me.
He's you who believe. He's us. He's our righteousness.
He's our surety. And the highest court says, come
up here. and sit on my right hand. I accept
you. I receive you. Brother, I tell
you, I've passed already from death to life. I've already passed
over judgment. I'm not here anymore. I'm living
out some time here, like our Lord lived out some time in the
tomb. But brother, work was done on the cross. The debt was paid
by the blood. And whatever time he spent in
that grave is like my time spent here in this grave, in this pig
pen, in this hog wallet, among the dead, among corruption. But I'm not corrupt. I've already
passed. That's what he said. He that
hears my word Not he that has a dream, or a vision, or sees
some water on his head, or joins a church, or is baptized, or
goes through the motions and the forms, shakes the preacher's
hand, promises not to do it again. He that hears my word and believes
has everlasting life, has the life of the eternal one, and
he shall never come into judgment because he's already been to
judgment. He's perished from death to life.