C-I-A-R-A. Oh. What's her last name? Lanning. L-A-N-N-I-N-G. Landy? Without the D. Put a N in place
of the D. Two N's. L-A-N-N-I-N-G. Yes.
So you're a Lanny, all right. I guess it's time, right? Yeah. Well, it's good to see
you all out this evening. Head of the parish, Lee Ann Cochran,
Sarah Lenning. And I added the Johnston family
on Sunday. I can't remember who asked this,
but I added the Johnston family, but somebody did. Ethel's doing
good, doing better. She's over at Bryson City Hospital. And she's feeling pretty good
compared to what she was a few days before. She was in a pretty
bad state, so she's still having problems with her safety. I still
haven't got that completely under control yet, but I don't know
why she got it. She never had it before. I guess
it might have been she was having some fear or anguish or something. But anyway, remember her in your
prayers and seek the Lord's help. Sir, Debbie's brother, Randy,
And finally got him on the final drug and got him on morphine.
But he's, has helped with the pain some, but he's in constant
pain. And if you know anybody that's
had that pancreatic cancer, you know that's the kind of, one
of the most painful there is. So remember him in your prayers
and seek the Lord's help for him. Other than that, I can't
think of any announcements, but Sunday is, last Sunday of the
month, I'm at the Lord's table and our big dinner. Remember that if you will. Let's begin our worship service
with hymn number 118, When I Surveyed the Wondrous Cross. When I surveyed
the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory
died, my riches gained, my cap but lost. And for contempt of all my pride,
Lord, be it important that I should boast Shame in the name of Christ
my God! All the vain things that charm
me most I sacrifice! see sorrow me Forthwards on boasts so rich
of crown Were the rim of nature mine, That were a present far
too small. Love so amazing and so divine,
deep as my soul, my life, my all. Number 228, My Faith Around the
Rest of the Planet. I promise you. I need no that Jesus died and that he died
for me. Enough for me that Jesus saves. This is my fear and doubt. A simpler soul, I come to Thee. Jesus. and He died for me. My heart is singing the Word,
the written Word of God. Jesus died for me you. Jesus died. Before we begin, one other announcement.
Deb's going to have to have three more months of injections before
she can be operated on on her eye. The problem that she was
having that caused her to have injections in the first place,
which was going on blood vessels behind the eye, has returned
because she's not going to have any injections because she had
an infection. So she's going to have to have
three more injections, one a month, three months, before they can
then hopefully operate on the eye. The problem is the retina's
got a swelling behind it from the blood vessels seeping into
the eyeballs. But remember her in your prayers
also. Call out her name in the Lord. John chapter 6. I'm going
to read verses 66 through 71. That'll be our text for tonight. We're tied in with verse 65. John chapter 6, verse 65. Therefore
said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were
given unto him of my father. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Jesus answered him, have not
I chosen you twelve, and one of you is the devil? He spake
of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. For he it was that should
betray him, being one of the twelve. Let us pray. Our Father
in heaven, We are thankful that we can read
the words of our Lord as he taught his disciples, as he spoke to
those who didn't believe on him, as he told them the truth about
himself. We are thankful, Father, that you have given us faith,
that we can read these words and say yea and amen. I know
full well that our Lord indeed is the Son of the living God,
the Christ, the anointed one, the one who came into this world
to die in the place of his people and to save them from their sins.
We are thankful that he accomplished that, and the proof of it is
that you've highly exalted him and given him a name above every
name, the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow to things
in heaven and things in the earth and proclaim that he is Lord
to the glory of the Father. Father, we ask this evening that
you might be pleased to meet with us in the presence of your
spirit. We ask, Lord, that you might
take everything away from us that might have given us from
seeing him who is worthy of all praise. Give us a heart of thanksgiving
and praise as we consider these words tonight. We pray for those
who are sick, those who have been added to the prayer list.
Lord, now know us and encase them. Yes, Lord, you be with
them, comfort them, strengthen them, fix their hearts and minds
upon Jesus Christ. We have nothing, no one else
but Him. All our friends and foes will
pass off this earth and we'll pass with them. What we have
in heaven is the presence of our Savior. And we'll sing praise and thanksgiving,
too, for as long as eternity lasts. And he's all we have on this
earth, and he's of eternal value. Father, thank you for making
him real to our hearts through faith. Thank you for causing us to believe
your word and rest fully in the work of Jesus Christ. Help us
now, Lord, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. After our Lord had declared to
these men that were listening, not only his 12 disciples, but
also the 70 other disciples and the multitude that had gathered
around him because of the miracles that he was doing, He spoke to
them of things that were impossible to perform in the flesh, and
also declared that the only way that men could understand was
through the spirit and life, and that was by his spoken words. And they were offended. They were upset by that, and
when he told them that that they couldn't believe and they couldn't
come to Jesus Christ because the Father had not given them
to come to Him. They were even more offended
and the language here says that they left Him. You see, it's
the truth that offends those who are still in the flesh. Spirit
and life are things beyond the scope of natural understanding.
This book began in that way in chapter 3 when our Lord was speaking
to Nicodemus. He told him that he couldn't
understand. Now if this was an educated man,
a religious man, a man who had spent his life in this book,
and our Lord looked him square in the eye and says, you can't
understand these things. He said to him, verily, verily, I say
unto you, except a man be born again, or born from above, he
cannot see. And that word is Edo. Perceive,
grasp, even begin to understand the kingdom of God. And we know
the kingdom of God is Christ's sovereign rule on this earth.
Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born again when he's
old? Can he enter again a second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man is born of water, that
is the word, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. Now this, he was talking to a
man who thought he was in the kingdom of God. But he was being
told that he wasn't. That which is born of the flesh,
Nicodemus, you were born of the flesh. Like all human beings,
they're born of the flesh. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. And he didn't understand what
was being said, because our Lord said, you're a master of Israel,
you don't receive, you don't believe, and you don't understand
what I'm saying. Says that to Nicodemus. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again,
or born from above, or born by the Spirit. The Spirit's like
the wind. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound of it, but thou canst tell whence
it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. And Nicodemus is responsible.
How can these things be? Why? Because he was in the flesh.
He couldn't understand. No man can. These things are
found only in the revelation of Jesus Christ and through the
preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. is how Christ is described
in the very first chapter of this book. He's described, if
you'll read chapter 1, verses 1-9, he's life, and he's light,
and he's understanding. That's how he's described, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Word, the Word made
flesh that dwelt among us. The offense of the Gospel is
that it removes natural ability, removes natural ability as having
anything to do with the salvation of a man's soul. What you possess
and I possess at birth can never draw us one iota closer to God. As we are born in this world,
we have no interest in it to start with. We think the things
of God are foolishness. We despise God by nature. We
drink sin like water. This is who we are. And Paul
says over in Galatians chapter 5, in verse 11, He was talking about the offense
of the gospel. I know what men call the gospel
today is not offensive to anyone, but the true gospel is, because
it removes man from the equation. To say to a person who has intellect,
a mind, a will, emotion, and a conscience, to say to that
person who can read this book just like you read this book,
to tell them that they have nothing whatsoever to any degree, to
do with their salvation. That's offensive. That's offensive. Paul said this in chapter 5 verse
11 of Galatians. He said, I brethren, I, if I
yet preach circumcision, they would say, you preached the law.
He didn't. If I preach circumcision, why
do I yet suffer persecution? I would not be persecuted. I
would not be despised if I would just give men something to hold
on to for salvation that they had something to do with. If
I just give them something, well let's talk, let's give them a
free will, let's talk about their free will. I'll be okay, nobody
can hate me for saying that. If I tell them they make a decision,
nobody's gonna hate me for saying that. Paul said, if I just preached
the law, I wouldn't suffer persecution, but I'm suffering persecution,
how come? He says, why do I of the cross revealed, or rather
ceased. He said, if I preach something
for you to do, the offense of the cross is ceased. So what
is the offense of the cross? You had nothing to do with it.
You had nothing to do with salvation. That's the offense of the cross.
The cross is where all salvation and redemption and righteousness
was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and imputed to the
account of His people. The flesh cannot abide having
no part in the salvation of their soul or being presented with
things they cannot perceive. Only by grace do the elect understand
what it is to be shut up to the sovereign mercy of God. Men don't
like that. You tell them, if God don't show
you grace, you're not going to be saved. If God don't show you
mercy, you're not going to be saved. Because He shows mercy
and grace to whom He will. They don't like that. But believers
love it. The elect think that's just the
finest thing that's ever come down the pipe, but unbelievers
despise it. And when these men were told
that they could not come to the man who was standing right there
for them, that they could not believe on the man that had just
spoken to them, unless the Father gave them faith to do it, they
said, well, we're done with you. They were offended and they walked
with him no more. They just walked away. They just
turned away. Left the outfield. It doesn't have the account that
from that time, the time when Christ was revealed, had revealed
their inability. Many of his disciples walked
no more with him. These disciples were not the
12, as he will prove in later verses here. But probably of
the 70 or Others who had aligned themselves with him. This is
the definition of apostasy when you think about it. It is leaving
the truth after professing to love and believe it. These people
followed Christ. They liked him. They liked what
he did for them. He fed their bellies. He did
wondrous things that they were fascinated by, amazed by. But
when he opened his mouth and began to tell them the truth,
they turned away. That's what Peter said. He said,
after hearing the truth, tasting of the power of the truth, if
you turn back again, it's like a dog returning to his vomit
and a pig returning to his vomit. That's what it's like. But that's
what they did. When our Lord asks a question,
He asked it of his disciples who were left. I guess it's just
the 12 of them and Jesus Christ standing around. So probably
this Mahavishnu is pretty well dispersed. He was not seeking
information when he asked this question. Will you also go away? Will you also go away? He knew
the answer. He'll tell them, I chose you
12. He'll tell them that in verse 70. He was addressing the situation
and using it to teach a lesson. to these twelve men. Before he
could teach the truth that the disciples were to learn, Simon
Peter answers his question with his usual zeal. You can count
on Simon Peter to speak up. He's always speaking up. He said
to the Lord, right before his crucifixion, others would have
known he would not be Lord, how long? When the Lord said he was
going to the cross, he was going to be crucified, he was going
to be harmed and hurt there in Jerusalem, Peter said, no, you're
the Lord. That's not going to happen to
you. He said, get thee behind me, Satan. Peter was one who always spoke
out of the ear. He speaks out, and he speaks the truth. But
he's Simon Peter. I'm glad Simon Peter's in the
Bible. Because as much truth as he spoke, he was one revealed And I'm glad he's there, because
I can find some comparison with him. When I look at other saints,
I don't have a great deal in common with them. They seem much
better people than I. I don't think I'll ever be with
them. I'm sure I'm glad Peter's there. But he said this. He said
this. Simon Peter answered and said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure.
And what you've been talking about thus far, to all these
people, that you are the Christ. That's the anointing. The one
spoken of way back in Psalm 2. The one promised in Genesis chapter
3 and verse 15. The one who built up the scripture
from Genesis to Malachi. We know you're the Christ. You're
the Messiah, the Son. of the Living God, the Son of
the Living God. And His response is full of Gospel
import. His first words are a banner
of every believer. Since Christ's words are spirit
and they are life, there is no life outside of Him. I know religion
says, take Jesus into your life. You don't have a life. And the
life you do have, this natural life, which will soon pass off
the earth, nobody wants to be in that life. Nobody wants to
be in that life. Invite Jesus into your life.
Jesus Christ is life eternal. Eternal life. A believer's life
is said to be hid in Jesus Christ. That's what it says in Colossians
chapter 3. In Colossians chapter 3 it says
in verse 1, sense, and that word if is chi, it means sense. If
ye, since ye then be risen with Christ, so he's talking about
those who are risen with Christ, believers. Seek those things
which are above. Born from above, the word of
God comes from above, like the rain coming down from heaven.
where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Why is He there?
He's there because He finished the work of salvation. So that's
where you seek. That's where you set your affections.
Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth,
not on things here. For you are dead. You are dead. What does that mean? What Paul
explained, God forbid that I should lower the Savior and cross with
Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I am
crucified unto the world. I'm dead to the world. And the
world is dead to me. You are dead and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. I've thought about that for years,
and I'm serious. Every time I think about it,
every once in a while, I think there's something new I can think about
in that particular. In with Christ. Our life is in. I think it means this to start
with. Don't try to find your life. Don't try to look for your
spiritual life. You ain't going to find it. It's
hidden with Christ and God. I know religion says you got
to have some kind of evidence of salvation. You got to produce
something. The only evidence given is scriptures in Hebrews
chapter 11. That's faith. By faith, faith
is the evidence of things hopeful and the substance of things not
seen. But your life is hidden. Your life is hidden with Christ
and God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. He's
our life. He's our life. For the believer,
there is nowhere else to go but to Christ. David said that in
Psalm 73, whom have I in heaven but thee? And who on earth do
I desire but thee? I don't have nobody else. This is what I have. Peter's
second words declare the source of what a believer receives by
faith. He's probably alluding back to verse 63, when he says,
thou hast the words of eternal life. I remember what our Lord said
after he said, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood, you
must feast on the bread from heaven. He said, I'm not gonna
be here for you to do it in my words. They are spirit, and they
are life. He may be referring back to that
because he said that thou hast the words of eternal life. He's declaring a wondrous truth
here, Christ's words. What are Christ's words? What
you hold in your lap. His book. His book. His words are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ and they are spirit and they are life. There
is no explanation of that. There is no theological way of
saying to anyone's true understanding what they believe, how that works,
because nobody knows but God himself. These words are spirit and they
are life. And all that pertains to eternal
life, because he said these are the words of eternal life, are
found in Christ's words. The new birth. Is that found
in Christ's words? Of course it is. You were born
not a corruptible seed, but incorruptible. Even the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever. This is the Word of God, which
by the gospel is preached unto you in 1 Peter chapter 1, verses
23 through 25. The existence of saving faith.
How did that come about? It comes about through Christ's
words. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on Him
and not believe? And how shall they believe on
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
to be sinned? So faith comes by hearing. And hearing comes
by the Word of God. The origin of understanding.
The origin of understanding. Spiritual life. Understanding.
How does that come? The entrance of thy word, according
to Psalm 119, 130, the entrance of thy word giveth light and
understanding to the simple. That's eternal life, these words.
The words of Jesus Christ. It's the reveal of stumbling
blocks. Our word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our
path. Reveals where the stumbling blocks
are that we can avoid. It's a guard against sin. David
said, I've hidden thy word in my heart that I might not sin
against thee. These are words of eternal life.
The third thing Peter asserts is that Christ's words, words
that are the source of faith and assures the believer. He
said, we believe and are assured that thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. This is where assurance comes.
This is where assurance relies. It doesn't rely on anything you
can see, or measure, or record, or put down on a piece of paper. It can't be done. How do I have
assurance? I have assurance because the
wonder of wonder, God has given me faith to believe His Word. Believing, for the child of God,
believing is seeing. Seeing ain't believing. Believing
is seeing. What's the source of our assurance?
Faith. What's the object of our faith?
Jesus Christ, the Inclusive Man. What do I look for for assurance?
I don't look for it. If I believe on Christ, If I
trust Christ, even though sometimes I'm filled with doubt. You don't
know what it sits on the couch sometimes. I don't know if I'm
a child of God or not. Every one of us do. Every one of us
think thoughts like that. But my assurance comes from this.
At the right hand of the Father, according to this Word, sits
the one person who completely accomplished my salvation by
his death on Calvary's tree. And the lesson our Lord teaches
concerning election My Lord says to them, have I not chosen you
twelve? And one of you is of them. The lesson is that many will
follow Christ who are not elected to salvation. But we've already
seen that many of His disciples departed from Him and walked
with Him no more. They were with Him for a while.
And there are many who follow Christ. There are those in Scripture,
according to the parable in Matthew 13, that there are tares among
the wheat. Tares are darn ale. The sower
came out and sowed good seed. The devil came and sowed bad
seed. The bad seed was Darnell, not wheat. But when they're growing
up together, Darnell and wheat look exactly the same. You can't tell the difference.
Tares and wheat look exactly the same. And so the disciples
said, well, we ought to just get to the tares and mow them
down. The Lord said, don't do that,
because you can't tell the difference between them. Leave that to the
time of harvest when Christ comes again. He'll bind up the tares
and cast them in the hills That's where the separation can be. Following Christ, the tarists
do. Not to the salvation of their
souls. But they're in churches. They're sowed right beside the
true seed. Right beside the true seed. They
grew up just looking just like the wheat. And they aren't separated until
the judgment. Where are they until the judgment? They're in
church. And they're supporting the gospel, because God has them
doing that. There could be no doubt that
those in Matthew chapter 7 were followers of Christ, but he never
knew them. Many shall say unto me, he said
in Matthew chapter 7 verse 23, 21 through 23, many shall say
unto me, Lord, Lord, didn't we preach in your name? Didn't we
do many wonders in your name? Didn't we do great things in
your name? Didn't we cast out devils in your name? And he said,
he'll look them right in the eye and say, depart from me,
you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. They were followers
of Christ. But like these, ultimately, they
turned back. Now the works of righteousness,
you'll know, may not be justified, saith the Scripture. Secondly,
being chosen to service can mean being chosen to oppose Christ. And being fitted for destruction
and reprobation. Some people who like to talk
about God's sovereignty don't like to talk about this subject,
but you better talk about it because the scripture is full
of it. Judas was chosen by Christ to be a disciple. Not only that,
he was the church treasurer. He carried the bags when he said
scripture. He carried the bags. He was church
treasurer. He was chosen by Christ to betray. Christ chose him to betray him. Judas was chosen for the purpose
of betraying Christ. Christ chose a devil. He said,
one of you is a devil. The word is Diablos. Deceiver,
devil. He chose a devil as well as the
11 saints. Chose them all. Our Lord said
that to the believer Christ is precious in 1 Peter chapter 2
verse 7. Christ is precious. But to the
unbeliever, he's a stumbling block because they're appointed
to it. They're appointed to see Christ
as a stumbling block. Jude said there are those that
were foreordained to this condemnation. Foreordained. Determined beforehand
that they're going to be condemned. They're going to be condemned. Our Lord said, look over at John
13. Christ said, I chose you to betray me.
Here's the way it took place. Verse 21 says, when Jesus had
thus said, he was troubled in his spirit. and testify saying, verily, verily,
I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. He hasn't told them except one
of them is going to betray him. In fact, when he said, I'm going
to be offended by the day they sat around the table and said,
Lord, is it I? Is it I? Because everybody who knows Christ
knows that they're capable of such a thing. Then the disciples
looked one on another, doubting whom he spoke. They didn't know. Now, there was leaning on Jesus'
wisdom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved, that's John.
Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who
it is of whom the Lord spoke that would betray him. He then,
lying on Jesus' breast, said of him, Lord, who is it? Jesus
said, he it is whom I shall give sop or dip my biscuit in gravy. Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him. Then said Jesus unto him, Thou
that doest, do quickly. Go ahead and do what you gotta
do. What you gotta do. And no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto him. No man knew. The Lord said, go
do what you intended to do, what I chose you for. What I chose
you for. I imagine when our Lord said
those words back in John chapter 6, and Judas is here, Judas had
no idea it was him. He didn't know he was chosen
for that purpose. But he was. He was. Was he a saint? I don't think so. Went out and
hung himself. One account of it was he hung
himself and his bowels spilled out on the ground, his guts spilled
out on the ground. I don't know how that happened.
Maybe some days later his body exploded after filling up with
those gases from putrefaction. But to the 11th and the 12th
disciple, Paul, who was chosen out of season and born out of
season, Christ said the words of eternal life. This is what Peter's saying. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Father, bless
us to understand and pray Christ's name.