Now, I know this sermon tonight
will fit because I've tried it on, like the one this morning. I always try them on first, and
if they fit me, I kind of figure somebody out there wears my size.
And tonight I'm going to bring a message on a word of assurance. You'd be surprised how our own
personal experience enters into the message if we are interested
in two things. Before Brother Sweeney left here
yesterday, Frank is a wonderful man with a lot of talent. I think
God's going to use him in days to come. And before he left yesterday,
we spent a little time in the study talking. And I said, now
Frank, you've got a lot of talent, and you've got a lot of zeal,
and you've got a lot of color. And I said, you're going to be
tempted by these high-pressure evangelists. When one of them
gets a hold of your record, he's going to want you to sing for
him. You're going to be tempted in days to come to promote yourself,
promote your talent. I've seen singers and preachers
do it. I've seen them seemingly devoted
to this gospel of grace and devoted to the glory of God. until something
better comes along. And the world waves in front
of them some popularity and some recognition, a little bit more
money, and a little bit of praise, a little bit of coddling to the
flesh, and pretty soon the old-time gospel of Jesus Christ is not
their uppermost object and goal. Keep two things in mind and you
can never fail. I believe this is true. The first
is what I do and preach, let it be, to the glory of God. That's
the first thing. When I stand up here and sing
or lead the singing or give my testimony or pray or preach or
whatever I do here on the radio or on the mission field in a
revival meeting or a Bible conference, wherever it is, Don't let the
thought run through your mind, wonder what people think of me,
or wonder what they think of my talent, or wonder what they
think of my message, or wonder what they think of my song. Let
your thought, your main object be, let the Lord Jesus Christ
be glorified in what we're about to do or what we're doing. You
cannot fail if you do that. His glory, His glory, His glory,
His glory, always uppermost in our mind. And then secondly,
that the people who hear you, listen to you sing or preach
or whatever you do, let your message be aimed at bringing
those people to know Christ and to love Him. Not to praise us. not to recognize us, not even
to be our followers, but that they might come to know Christ,
whom to know is life eternal. And I know that cannot fail.
I know those two things God will bless, for the Lord Jesus said,
He that honoreth me, him will my Father honor. Now, tonight
I want to speak to you on a word of assurance, and I believe my
main object. In the first place, I wanted
assurance myself. I want it, let's put it that
way, not past tense, I want it. And I want you to have it. I'm
not like some ministers whom I know, one in particular, who
just does not care whether his people come to any definite assurance
or not. He gives me the impression that
he likes to keep them hanging out there somewhere between salvation
and damnation, somewhere between knowing Christ and seeking Christ. I want you to land. I want you
to know Christ. Now, here are two things, two
things that every sincere worshiper wants to know. Two things. First of all, every sincere worshiper,
if you're here tonight to worship God and you mean business, Barnard
used to say, honest people don't wind up in hell. And if you're
honest tonight, if you're not here just for show, if you're
not here just to please somebody, if you're not here just to act
religious, if you're here tonight sincerely and honestly seeking
to worship God, you want to know, first of all, you want to know
Christ, don't you? You want to know Christ because
you know you're a sinner. The Bible says, all we like sheep
have gone astray, all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. There's none that doeth good, no, not one. All have sinned. There's not a person here without
sin. We know that. And we know that
works won't save us. The Bible said it's not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he hath saved us. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh, no flesh, no flesh be justified. So we know that. We know we've sinned and we know
works won't save us. And we know that Christ is the
only Savior. The Word of God says there's
one God and one Mediator between God and men. Billy Graham is
not a Mediator. He can't save himself, or you,
or his wife, or anybody else. The Pope over in Rome is not
a Mediator. He can't save a flea, or himself,
or anybody else. Mary is not a Mediator. She can't
save herself. She said, My soul rejoiceth in
God my Saviour. If she needed a Saviour, how
in the world is she going to be your Saviour? The only Mediator,
the only Saviour, is Jesus Christ. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved except the name
of Christ. He's the only Saviour. It's by
His blood that He redeems. You're saying, just a few moments
ago about the mediator, the one who represents us before God. And it's just one way to get
to God, and that's through Christ. He said, I'm the door, by me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I am the way, the truth,
and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me. Christ
is the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for
the sheep. So we want to know Christ. We don't want to know
a preacher. We don't want to know a cardinal or a pope or
a bishop or a priest. We want to know Christ. Christ
is the only one who can open the door to glory. He's the only
one who can forgive sin. He's the only one who can give
eternal life. He's the only one who can make
us acceptable to the Father. He's the only one who can give
us fellowship with God. So I want to know Christ. The
Apostle Paul said over here in the book of Philippians chapter
3, he said, Oh, that I may know him. In Philippians 3 verse 8,
he talked about all that he had done in his early life. how he
was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, chapter
3, verse 5, Philippians, how that he was of the tribe of Benjamin,
how that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, how that he was as touching the
law of Pharisees, zealous, persecuting the church, as touching the righteousness
of the law. I was blameless. But these things
that I once counted gain, I counted loss. that I might win Christ. Oh, I count all things but loss
for the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom I suffered
the loss of all things, that I may win Christ and be found
in Him." So we want to know Christ. All right, second thing quickly.
Not only do we want to know Christ. Now that's, I want to sit right
there. I want to know Christ, to know
Him, whom to know is life. Our Lord said over here in John
17, in John 17.2, He said, This is eternal life, 17.3, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast seen. And Jesus, if you know Christ,
you know God. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, Christ said. Philip said, show us the Father,
and it'll satisfy us. He said, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. I am the Father of one. The Father
is in me. So I want to know Christ. And
secondly, now watch this, and here's the message tonight. Every
true, honest, sincere worshiper wants to know Christ. He's moved
all these other things aside. He's counted these things but
lost. He's counted them but done, that
he may know Christ. And then secondly, He wants to
know that he knows Christ. I don't want to guess about this
thing. To be uncertain about your health is one thing. We
get a little pain here or there, and it kind of wrinkles our brows
a little bit, you know. We think, well, it could be heart
trouble. It could be gallbladder trouble. It could be something else. It
could be something else. And we're a little bit concerned
about it, so we run down to the doctor to be sure. To be uncertain
about health, is pretty difficult to bear, to be uncertain about
material things. Some of you men wonder about,
will your job hold out, you know? Will the plant keep on working?
Can I keep my job? Will I keep my health? Will I
keep my job? But nothing can compare to being
uncertain about your relationship with God. This is the important
thing, that I may know Christ and know that I know Christ,
and know that my health is dangerously, if I'm dangerously sick and I
may die tomorrow, if I may die and stand before God in the judgment
to know everything's all right, makes death all right. That's
the reason the Apostle Paul could face the future without fear,
because he said, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
whom the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me, and
not to me only, but to all them who love his appearance. Now,
it's clear from the Scripture that God intends for believers
to have assurance. Now, when preachers try to keep
people in an uneasy state, they're not following the Scripture.
It is clear from the Word of God that God intends for believers
to have confidence and assurance. I want you to listen to some
of them. David said, The Lord is my shepherd. He doesn't say,
I think the Lord's my shepherd, I hope the Lord's my shepherd,
or I just sincerely hope the Lord's my shepherd, or perhaps
when I wake up in glory I'm going to find out the Lord is, he says,
the Lord is my shepherd. And Job said, I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and I know that he shall stand on this earth,
and I know the worms destroy this body, in my flesh I'm going
to see my Lord. and not another, I'm going to
see." Listen to Paul. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him. Listen to the Apostle Peter.
We know that we're not redeemed with corruptible things, such
as silver and gold, but we know that we're redeemed with the
blood of Christ. Does that sound like perhaps, or maybe, or there's
a possibility? John says, we know that we have
passed from death unto life. Look at 1 John 5.20. This is
the book of assurance I'm talking about, I'm reading from tonight.
1 John 5.20, look at it. John says, we know that the Son
of God has come. We know that the Lord of glory
has come to this earth, and was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
and that which we have seen, and touched, and handled, and
heard, we declare unto you." We know He's come. We don't. And we know that He has given
us an understanding that we may know Him. That is true. He hath opened these hearts of
ours and shined into these hearts to give us the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." We know that. And we
know something else. We know that eternal life, we
know that we're in Him. That is true even in His Son,
Jesus Christ. And this is the true God, and
this is eternal life. And I want that assurance. I
want that kind of assurance right there. I want to know Christ.
and I want to know and know Christ. So let's look at this book for
just a few moments tonight and answer three questions. First
of all, to whom is it written? Now we've got to find that out.
1 John 5, 13, I said is our text. These things have I written unto
you that believe. These things have I written unto
you that believe. You know I believe I believe
one of the secrets, and I don't say this is the secret of interpretation,
I don't say this is the secret of finding the mysteries of the
Word of God, but I say it's one of the secrets. Find out when
you read something in the Word of God to whom it is written. Now, you may be reading somebody
else's mail. You may go down to the courthouse,
say you're your uncle has passed away, and he was a rich man.
And you go down to the courthouse, and you slip in a room, you see
the sign over the door here, reading of wills. And you look
in there, and there's a bunch of people sitting there, and
you open the door and go down and sit down, and they've already
started. And you're the only nephew. And
in a few moments he says, and to my nephew I leave a hundred
dollars. And your face frowns, and the
corner of your mouth turns down, and you think, well, now that's
not very much to leave me. He was a wealthy man. I'm his
only nephew, and he didn't leave me anything. Well, you may be
listening to the wrong will. You may have gotten in the wrong
room. He may not even be talking about you. He may be talking
about George Jones over here. So the first thing to establish
is, who's writing and to whom is he writing? And if we'll look
carefully, turn back here to 1 John, chapter 2. Let's find
out to whom he's writing. Well, let's go back to chapter
2, verse 1. Chapter 2, verse 1. To whom is
he writing? John is writing to somebody here.
He says, These things write I unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God. This whole book is written to
believers. There's nothing in this book
to an unbeliever except judgment and wrath. An unbeliever cannot
sit down and read the book of 1 John and claim one single promise,
not one single evidence, not one single blessing. He says
in chapter 2, verse 1, look at it, "'My little children, these
things I write unto you, that you sin not.'" My little children. Look at chapter 2, verse 7. Brethren,
I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which
you had from the beginning. That old commandment is the word
which you've heard from the beginning. Brethren, now look down at verse
18 of chapter 2. Little children, it is the last
time. Now look at verse 28 of chapter 2. And now little children
abide in him. Look at chapter 3, verse 2. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. John just keeps saying, brethren,
my little children, beloved. To whom is this written? Read
on. Chapter 3, verse 7. Little children. Chapter 3, verse
13. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hate you. Chapter 3, verse 18. My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and truth. Look at chapter 4. Chapter 4
starts out, verse 1, Beloved, believe not, have a spirit. Verse
4, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them. Verse
11, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to so love one another. Verse 19, We love him because
he first loved us. Now chapter 5, verse 2, By this
we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep
his commandments. So this whole book is written
to believers. It's written to people who believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Verse 13 of chapter 5,
our text, These things have I written unto you that believe. That believe
on the name of the Son of God. Now the second question, to what
end is it written? Now look at the next line. We've
established, first of all, to whom it's written. These things
are written unto you that believe. If you don't believe on Christ,
this is not written. You can't have assurance. You
can't have any confidence. You can't have any assurance
that you belong to Christ, because you don't belong to it. These
things are written unto you that believe. Now look at the next
line. That you may know that you have
eternal life. That's why John wrote this book.
He wrote it to those that believe that they might know that they
have eternal life. Charles Spurgeon was writing
on this chapter one time, and this is what he wrote. These
things are written unto you that believe on Christ, that you may
know that you have eternal life, not in your works, not in your
deeds, not in your charity, not in your alms, not in your prayers,
not in your church membership, but in Christ. that you may know
you have eternal life in Christ. Oh, that old law shines in terrible
glory with its Ten Commandments. And there are some who love that
law so much that they can't go through a Sabbath without reading
that law, accompanied by the mournful petition, Lord have
mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law. And
some are so foolish as to enter into a covenant for their children
that these children shall keep all God's holy commandments and
walk in the same all the days of their lives. Thus they early
wear a yoke which neither they nor their fathers could bear,
and daily, groaning under that awful weight, they labor after
righteousness where it can never be found. It can never be found
in the law. Over the tables of the law in
every church I would have conspicuously printed these words, By the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified. The true believer,
the one who rests in Christ, the one who knows he has eternal
life in Christ, the true believer has learned to look away from
the killing ordinances of that law. He understands that as many
as are of the works of the law are under the curse of the law.
He therefore turns away from that law, takes all his trust
and his confidence, and lays hold upon Christ, and puts his
trust and confidence in the Son of God. This is the commandment. This is his commandment, that
he believes on the name of the Son of God. Oh, when will all
professors and especially all professed ministers of the gospel,
learn the difference between the law and the gospel. Most
men preaching today make a mingle-mangle and serve out deadly portions
to their people. Often their sermons contain one
ounce of gospel to a pound of law, whereas even a grain of
law spoils the whole message. My dear hearers, it must be the
gospel and the gospel only. It must be Christ and Christ
only. It must be the blood and the
blood only. If salvation is of grace, it's
not of works. If it's of works, it's not of
grace. These things are written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have life. All right, John, what have you
got to say that'll help us know we have life? We know that we
believe on the name of the Son of God. We know that we're in
Christ. We know that Christ is our only
hope. What have you got to say to strengthen
our assurance? Well, I can't give you a summary
of this whole epistle in the next ten or fifteen minutes,
but I can give you a few highlights. Now he says, and get this, these
things, these five chapters, are written to you that believe
on the name of the Son of God. Let it be established that you
believe wholly and solely and completely on the name of the
Son of God, not on anyone else or anything else. You're not
depending on the law or your works or your merit. You're believing
on Christ alone, Christ and nothing else. Okay, these things are
written that you may know you have life. All right, now let's
see what they are. First of all, John gives us several
evidences of life. In 1 John 1, let's look over
there a minute. Now, we can't go into this third
point unless those first two are established. We are believers,
therefore we claim this book. And we're believers in Christ,
not in our goodness, not in our church membership. The only thing
we can write Across the law of God is guilty, guilty, guilty. We know that. All right? Now
then, the first way that a man knows he has eternal life, God's
Word is enough. He says, in Christ you have life.
But these evidences help us, help us to measure, you know,
ourselves and our testimony, our experience, because the heart
is deceitful. 1 John 1, verse 8 through 10.
The first thing that a believer in Christ will do, he'll truthfully
deal with God in the matter of sin. Now, I believe that. I believe the first thing that
any man, woman, or boy or girl in this congregation, if he's
truly a child of God, he'll deal truthfully with God in the matter
of sin. And John says in 1 John 1.8,
if we say we have no sin, We deceive ourselves, and the truth's
not in us. To claim to be without sin is
living a lie, it's claiming a lie. It's not so, so we're honest
with God. Secondly, if we say we have not sinned, if we say
we have not sinned, verse 10, we make God a liar, and his word's
not in us. To claim no identification with
Adam, To claim no identification with Adam in the fall, in the
temptation, in the attempt to dethrone God, is to claim a lie. And he says in verse 9, if we
confess our sins, I don't believe we're to confess our sins to
one another, I do not. Over here in James, if you'll
look, turn to the book of James with me. Over in the last part
of the book of James, it talks about praying for the sick. In
James 5, I believe it is, chapter 5, verse 15, verse 14, "...any
sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord." and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the
Lord shall raise him up. And if he have committed sins,
they shall be forgiven him." Verse 16, "...confess your faults
one to another." And I think the translators of the Scripture
use that word, faults, deliberately to keep from using the word,
sins. Now, John Wesley used to have some what he called prayer
bands. And one of the rules of the prayer bands were, one of
the rules was, that when they met together, they would confess
their sins to one another. Sit around a circle and confess
their sins. They'd confess what they wanted
to do, they'd confess what they thought they'd like to do, they'd
confess what they did, and then would confess that they withheld
absolutely nothing from the circle. Nothing that they thought, nothing
that they did, nothing that they imagined, nothing at all. Well,
now the Bible doesn't teach that. That wouldn't be good for you,
that wouldn't be good for me, that wouldn't be good for anybody
in the circle. But what he is saying here is, confess your
faults one to another. And meaning by that, our potential
to sin, our temptation to sin, our failure. Let us say with
the Apostle Paul, we're less than the least of all the saints.
Sure, we have sinned. Sure, we fail God. Sure, we're
far from perfect. We're less than the least of
all the saints, and that's what confessing your faults is. But
our sins, our sins are to be confessed to God. So the very
first thing in determining our sureth is dealing truthfully
with God about this matter of sin. If we say we have no sin,
we're deceived. If we say we have not sinned,
we make God a liar. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive. Now, secondly, in I John 2, verse
3, another trait or characteristic of a man who is redeemed is obedience. Obedience. It says in I John
2, verse 3, And hereby we do know that we know him, if we
keep his commandments. Now, brethren, we cannot claim
identification with Christ and live constantly, daily, in rebellion
against his Word. I like to say what E. W. Johnson
used to say in his messages on this subject, that the bent of
the will and the tenor of the life of a believer is holiness
unto the Lord. We'd be the first ones to admit
that we fail. It says over here in chapter
1, verse 8, we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. So
this doesn't mean that we're without sin. We keep his commandments,
we keep his law, but we do not keep them perfectly. But the
bin of the will and the direction of the life and the tenor of
the life is holiness under the Lord. It's in that direction.
And then 1 John 3 now, 1 John 2, rather, verse 9, he gives
us another characteristic of the believer. In 1 John 2, 9,
he says, He that saith he is in the light and hates his brother,
he's in darkness. Do you hate people? You cannot
claim to love God if you do not love your brother. Look at 1
John 3, 14. In 1 John 3, 14, we know that
we have passed from death unto life because we love the Brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Do you hate
people? Are you unforgiving? Are you
seeking revenge? Is that the bend of your will?
Is that the direction of your life? Is that the tenor of your
life? Is that the attitude of your heart? Love is the principle
of spiritual life. The Apostle Paul said we may
have all these other things, the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not love, we're nothing. Love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God." Then in the next place, if you
look at 1 John 2, 19, and here he tells us that a characteristic
of a believer, the redeemed man, is a continuance in faith. A
continuance in faith. Now I've said this so many, many
times, but I'm going to repeat it. Faith is not an isolated
act that took place back when we were twelve years old in the
junior department during a revival meeting when we walked down the
aisle and professed to believe on Christ. That's not salvation. That may have been the time when
God worked in our hearts and brought salvation to us, but
that in itself is not salvation. Faith is a continuance. Faith
is a continual state. Faith is a state of being. Faith
is believing. Faith is trusting. I have trusted
Christ. I am trusting Christ. I shall
trust Christ. I have believed. I am believing.
I shall believe. Christ was my portion. Christ
is my portion. Christ forever shall be my portion. In 1 John 2, 19, he tells us
this, they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. If they ever had been of Christ,
they would be of Christ now. If they ever had been of us,
they would be of us now. If they ever had loved the Lord,
they would love him now. If they ever had been devoted
to Christ, they'd be devoted now. I would, God said, that you were
hot or cold, either hot for Christ or cold against Christ. But you
are lukewarm, God said, and I'll spew you out of my mouth." He says, "...they went out from
us, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us."
So brethren, the marks of salvation, the marks of redemption, is dealing
truthfully with God in the matter of sin. It is obedience, the
bent of the will, the tenor of the life, holiness unto the Lord. It is love, the principle of
spiritual life. It is a continuance in faith. And it is a sincere effort and
desire to be pure. Look at 1 John 3, verse 3. Or
read verse 2 first. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we are going
to be like him. But we shall see him as he is,
and every man, every man that hath this hope of being like
Christ, every man that hath this hope of being one with him, every
man that hath this hope of living forever in the presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ, purifieth himself. Wherewithal shall a
young man cleanse himself by taking heed to the word of God.
He purifies himself even as Christ is pure. He's never satisfied. He's always hungering and thirsting
and hungering and thirsting after righteousness. He's never satisfied
with the status quo. He always wants to be more like
Christ. More like Christ. My soul panteth
after thee, hungereth for thee, as the deer panteth after the
water brooks. That's what David said. It's
a panting after holiness. It's a panting after sanctification. It's a panting after purification. It's a desire, an insatiable
desire to be like Christ. Somebody asked Charles Spurgeon
one time, said, Mr. Spurgeon, if God would give you
anything you wanted, anything, absolutely anything you wanted,
what would you ask for? Well, Spurgeon didn't even think
for a moment. He just answered like that. Could
you answer like that? Just like that. He said, if God
would make me just like the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what I'd
ask for. That's what David said. I shall
be satisfied when I awake with his likeness. And the believer
pants after holiness. And then last of all, and I quit
with this. In 1 John 4, verse 6. These things
are written. These things are written to you
that believe, that you may know you have life. And these are
the things that he wrote, what I just read to you. That we deal
honestly with God on the sin question. Come on, let's face
it. Let's face up to it and deal
honestly with God on the sin question. That we obey God's
law. His law is the rule of life.
That we love one another. that we continue in the faith,
that we pant after holiness, that we hunger and thirst after
righteousness, and last of all, that we, by faith, accept divine
truth. In 1 John 4, 6, look at it. We
are of God, and he that knoweth God will hear us. He that knoweth
God will hear us. He that is not of God us not. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error." How do you know the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error? He that is of God will hear us. He has an open heart to the Word
of God. He has an open heart to the truth
of God. He's like a spoon. He just soaks
up the water of the Word. He just reaches out and gets
it. Somebody mentioned Brother Henry Breedlove, who sat over
here on my left during the Thanksgiving Bible Conference. About him,
his exclamations, you know. And of course, I guess that to
a stranger, come in the service and sit down, Henry sitting over
there and Ferrell up here preaching, or somebody else, if they would,
wonder, well, is that phony or is that real? He just says, That's
the truth, and bless God, and he'll chuckle, and then he'll
laugh. Well, I've known that old boy for almost twenty years,
and he's always that way. He's that way in church, he's
that way at home, he's that way out in the bar patch, he's that
way out in the peanut patch, he's that way out by the barn.
You start talking about Christ and about the gospel, and he
starts laughing and rejoicing and praising God. He has a heart
that just reaches out and soaks up the gospel. He loves it. But
a man who has saved—Bradman, he—somebody said, I'd walk a
mile for a camel. A man who's saved will walk a
mile to hear the Word of God. He loves that book. He loves
that book. He just loves to hear it read.
He loves to hear somebody preach from it. He loves to take his
Bible and turn and follow with you and read what God has to
say. He soaks up the Word of God.
He that is of God will hear me. And he that's not of God's not
going to hear me. I don't care if you beat him over the head
with it, if you make him sign a pledge card, if you twist his
arm, put him in thumb screws, get him down to the church by
nagging him and begging him and put—don't you beg anybody to
come to this church. You invite them, but don't you beg them.
We're not—God's not a beggar. My Lord's not a beggar. He's
a king. And his sons will listen to him.
His sheep will hear his voice. And the rest of those goats,
they're going to stay away. But if you're sheep, you love
his word. If they are, that's what John says here, that's one
of the marks of a believer, he loves the word of God. If they
are of God, they'll hear us. If they're not of God, they're
not going to hear you no matter what you do. You can sound it
on the housetop and they're not going to hear you. But all the
believer loves the word. And I'll add something to that.
The minister of the gospel can take the word of God and lay
stripes across a believer's back and he'll thank him. That's right. You can rebuke him. You can show
him where he's wrong. You can show him where he's failed.
You can show him where he's disobeyed. He's not going to get mad. He'll
say, thank God for being honest with me. Thank God for being
truthful with me. He'll take it. He'll take the
rebuke. He'll receive it in good faith. Our Father, give us a
knowledge of Christ. Reveal thy Son to our hearts.
And, O God, give us a knowledge of that knowledge. Help us to
know that we know him. Help us to be able to say, with
Job, I know my Redeemer living. I've failed him, but he'll never
fail me. I don't love him like I ought
to, but he loves me. He died for me on the cross,
and he's my only hope. And I'll go through life clinging
to Christ, and I'll stand before the Father at the judgment, confessing
Christ and Christ alone. In his name we pray.