Oh my goodness, any improvement
at all? Some improvement, good, okay.
Okay, my old hometown. And Larry Rockle, remember him,
is that right? Did I pronounce that right? Larry
Rockle, I remember him. And Gary Vance, who was pastor
at Dingus, West Virginia, had a serious stroke and he's not
doing well, so remember Gary in your prayers and seek the
Lord's help for him. Also the others who requested prayer.
Like I said, after service, birthday cake. And also, we're going to have
the LP gas tank installed Friday. Hopefully, we'll be able to start
using the porch again because it's getting cold. It must be
32 degrees Wednesday night. So we'll get that done. And also,
if you have anybody, you know of anybody that needs help, After
the flood, financial help and so forth, let me know. We wrote
five or six checks on Wednesday night for folks that need help,
if you know people specifically. And it doesn't have to be a big
thing. If they lost all the food in their refrigerator or fridge,
we can help them replace that. Just let us know. Make sure you
let us know, and we'll write the check. and relief funds for the flood
we received right at $10,000. So we have some funds available
to help folks remember those. All right, let's begin our worship
service with hymn number 45, Ye Servants of God, Your Master
Proclaimed. ? We servants of God, your master
proclaim ? And publish abroad his wonderful name ? The name
of victorious, of Jesus exalt ? His kingdom, his glorious,
he rules over all Almighty to save, and still He
is nigh, His presence we have. The great congregation, His triumph
shall sing, ascribing salvation to Jesus. Salvation to God who sits on
the throne. Let all cry aloud and honor the
Son. ? The praises of Jesus the angels
proclaim ? ? Fall down on their faces and worship the lamb ?
? Then let us adore and give him his right ? ? All glory and
power and wisdom and might ? After scripture reading and prayer,
we're singing hymn number 334, Be Thou My Vision. If you have
your Bibles, turn with me to the 18th chapter of the gospel
according to John. read the first 21 verses, we're
going to take a text from verses 18 or rather 19 through 21 in
the title of my messages. They know what I said. John 18, when Jesus had spoken
these words he went forth with his disciples over the book Kidron
where was a garden into which he entered and his disciples.
And Judas also, which betrayeth him, knew the place, for Jesus
oft-time resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and the
Pharisees, come thither with lanterns and torches and weapons,
Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon
him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? And they
answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said unto them, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. And soon as he had said unto
them, I am he, or I am, they went backward and fell to the
ground. Then ask ye them again, Whom seek ye? And they said,
Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I have told you
that I am. If therefore ye seek me, let
these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which
he spake, of all them which thou givest me have I lost none. Then
Simon Peter, having a sore druid, and smote the high priest's servant,
and cut off his ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into thy sheath,
the cup which thy father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
Then the band, and the captives, and the officers of the Jews
took Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to Annas first,
for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, which was the high priest that
same year. Now Caiaphas was he who gave
counsel to the Jews that it is expedient that one should die
for the people, Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did other disciples. That disciple was known to the
high priest and went in with Jesus into the palace of the
high priest. Peter stood at the door without.
Then went out the other disciple which was known to the high priest
and spake unto her that kept the door and brought in Peter
and said the damsel that kept the door unto Peter art thou
also one of this man's disciples. He said I am not. The servants
all stood there, who made a fire of coals, where it was cold,
and they warmed themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed
himself. The high priest then asked Jesus
of his disciples and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I speak openly
to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort, and in secret
have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them
that heard me what I have said to them. Behold, they know what
I say. Our Father in heaven, we thank
you that in the great scheme of salvation that you have made
your children aware not only of the words that our Lord said
but of the meaning thereof and given them faith to believe. We thank you, Father, for the
shed blood of Jesus Christ, which put away our sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And when he had purged our sins,
he sat down on the right hand of the Father, having accomplished
salvation and redemption for his people. We are thankful that you sent
someone our way to reveal to us what you had done for your
children, and creating us a hunger and
thirst for Christ. We know it's not natural to us.
We had no inclination toward it, no desire for it. But in your grace and your mercy,
you emptied us and stripped us, made us know that we were naked
and hungry and thirsty, and gave us Christ to drink and to feed
upon. Father, we pray for those of our company who are sick.
So watch over them, those who are away for whatever reason.
Pray you'd watch over them. Pray for these who've been added
to the prayer list. We ask Lord your help for them.
For this young child, he's improving, we're thankful for that. For
this Mr. Rockwell and for Gary Vance,
we ask your help. For ourselves this hour, we pray
that you would cause us to worship you in spirit and in truth. We
would hear the words of our Lord and rejoice to know that it is
He who speaks, the same who spoke the world into existence, the same whose words are a lamp
unto our feet and a light unto our path, the same words that
gives understanding to the simple the same words, that is the power
by which he upholds the world. We thank you that we have that
word. As we preach it, Father, enable
me to say right things concerning you. Don't leave me here by myself. Uphold me, uplift my arms, and give ears to those who are
here this morning. to hear and to receive the gospel
that every heart might be blessed and rejoice in Jesus Christ we
ask in his precious holy name amen hymn number three hundred
and thirty four be thou my vision Be thou my vigil, O Lord of my
heart. Not be all else to me, save that
thou art. Thou my best thought by day or
by night. Thy presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my
true word. I ever with Thee and Thou with
me, Lord. Thou my great Father, man's empty praise. Thou my inheritance, thou and
always, thou and thou only, first in my heart. I, King of Heaven, my treasure
thou art. I, King of Heaven, my victory
won. May I reach Heaven's joy, bright
Heaven's sun. Heart of my own. Let us pray. Our father in heaven, we thank
you for mercy and grace. We know that everything we receive
this side of perdition is by mercy and by grace. As we return
to Thee, that which You've freely given us in Jesus Christ, let
us do so with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts. We pray in Christ's
name, amen. Okay. I invite your attention back
to John chapter 18. This is the record of our Lord
being brought before the high priests having been accused of
false prophecy and sedition. This was the beginning of what
our Lord called His hour in John chapter 12 and in John chapter
16 when He says, My hour is not yet come. Judas had betrayed
our Lord with a kiss, the kiss of a friend, and had come where
he knew our Lord would be. That was in that garden where
he often gathered with his disciples. Our Lord was in the garden having
crossed the brook Kidron. mentioned here but it's important
to understand what that's talking about because it's talking about
the substitutionary work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 110
when it talks about Christ being declared by the Lord as the priest
after the order of Melchizedek of God saying he give all power
and authority over all flesh to his son that he went across
the brook and drank thereof. And that's the brook kidron that
it's talking about. Now the brook kidron was a waste
dump. All the carcasses of the many
sacrifices that were offered in the temple were taken and
thrown into that dump. And it was a dry bed, a gully
if you will, for most of the year. It was a trash heap full of every
kind of vile thing you could imagine, and it pictured our
ruination and sin. And once a year, at the time
of the year called Marsh Chauvin, which is the time of the rainy
season, the rain came and cleared that gully clean out. Cleared it clean out. But our
Lord, it says, drank of that root. which is a picture of Him
taking our sins upon Himself and dying in our room instead,
being made sin for us, a new sin that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. And Judas, when he came to arrest
the Lord Jesus Christ after He had betrayed Him for 30 pieces
of silver, he didn't come alone. We just read that he had a band
of men with him. They were not just ordinary gathering
of thugs, though they were thugs. They were the best kind of thugs.
They were just the high muckety-muck of
religion and government. They were Christ-haters who often
tried to kill the Lord, but His hour had not yet come, so they
couldn't. They were said to be officers
of the temple, so they were religious men, chief priests, Pharisees,
and you know the Pharisees, there were eight different types, but
the Pharisees were those who trusted in their own righteousness,
according to Luke 18, and despised others. They came to put God
in jail. They came to put God in shackles
and put God on trial. They came, it says, with lanterns,
which was their own light, to imprison the light of the world.
They came with torches, their own zeal, to capture the Lord,
who is said to be the zeal of God, and who would be baptized with
fire. They came with their own weapons, their own power, to
bind Him, whom He had been given authority over all flesh, to
give eternal life to as many as God had given Him. who would
freely give himself but with a caveat. First, he showed them
who he was. When they asked who he was, he
said, I am. That's the Greek egoime, which
is used many times to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the great I am. He is the being. He is the one
who is and was and is to come. He is the great I am. And he
said, I am, and they fell away backwards. Just his words knocked
them with torches and lanterns and fire and weapons down flat
on their backs, just with a word, I am. And then he asked them
again, who are you looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. This time
he said it in a way, in a manner that they were able to stand
up. He said, but this is the caveat.
You see my disciples over here? I came to die for them. I chose
them and myself before the foundation of the world. I came to save
them. You can have me. I'll give myself
to you voluntarily, but you can't have them. That's the choice
you have. If you're going to take me, you
can't have them. That's a picture of substitution.
And our Lord makes that clear. He said that the scripture might
be fulfilled, that all that God has given me, I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again in the last day. And He gave Himself
voluntarily to these men. These people had imagined a vain
thing, according to Psalm chapter 2, to cast the cords of God from
them and not have this man to reign over them. It was proven
with just two words that our Lord laid them down like fallen
dominoes. Acts chapter 4 says clearly in
the words of the church, this is the words of the church, in
unison, one mind and one heart and one accord, against thy holy
child Jesus, both Pontius Pilate and the Jews and Herod and the
Gentiles gathered together for to do whatsoever thou had before
ordained to be done. They imagine a vain thing. They're
going to put God out of business. No, they're going to be the instruments
by which God goes to the cross of Calvary and saves his people.
They don't know that. Had they known that, they probably
wouldn't have done it. They probably wouldn't have done it. then the
Sovereign Lord Voluntary gives Himself. He gave Himself. When our Lord Jesus Christ came,
He didn't come to set up a world kingdom. He didn't come to die
as some martyr. He didn't come as some expression,
a hallmark expression of God's love. He came for one purpose. He came to die. He came into
this world to die and by His death secure the salvation of
His people. So they were instruments imagining
a vain thing, but they were doing exactly what God had ordained
to be done, predestinated to be done. And they took him before
Caiaphas, first to Annas, which was Caiaphas' father, and then
to Caiaphas, the high priest. It was a kind of a kangaroo court,
and the questions that were asked of our Lord were actually moot,
because the high priest and the gang had already decided to sentence
him to die. They did that back in chapter
14 and verse 11. And also verses 47 through 53,
when Caiaphas will make the statement that one should die for the whole
nation, they said we need to put this man to death. So they
already had what they was going to do. So this is just a kangaroo
court. Now the use of a kangaroo court
is to make a person convict himself. To make a person say something
that will reveal his guilt, that's the whole idea of it, is to put
himself in a bad position. There's an interesting little
bit of jurisprudence. They had already arrested Christ
and bound him and sentenced him to die for what he had said, but they
had no evidence against him, no accusers, no witnesses, so
the courtroom consisted of a judge who was seeking to get the prisoner
to condemn himself. That was the idea here. This
is always the way of the enemies of Christ to catch him in some
way that they might accuse him and then gain or manufacture
evidence to put him to death. That was always what they did.
When they failed, as they always did, they decided that homicide
was the next and best way to do things. now they have him
and want him to give up evidence against himself. They might charge
him and they will be thwarted again and once again the thirst
for blood will rise in their gullets. Caiaphas asked about
our Lord's disciples. He wanted our Lord to name names.
That's what he wanted to do. They had already accused Peter
at the door and he denied the Lord Jesus Christ and they ended
up denying him two more times. There are a couple of reasons
for asking this question. Caiaphas wanted some more prisoners to
accuse before Pilate. He wanted a whole bunch of them
to make them enemies of the state because, you see, the Jews couldn't
crucify a man. They couldn't put a man to death
except in the face of two or three witnesses, and that was
a rare indeed thing. They couldn't do it. The laws
wouldn't allow it. They had to have the state do it. So we have
religion and the state getting together. They wanted to cast
their disciples out of the synagogue because he knew that many had
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but because they feared censure,
many of them, they would not profess Christ. But he wanted
to discover who they were, who are these people. Another reason
was to mock Christ concerning the loyalty of his disciples.
Basically saying, where are they now? Where's your disciples now? It seems to me that your ragtag
bunch of followers couldn't run, and they did. Even Peter, who
had wielded the sword to protect his master, was now in the process
of denying the Lord three times. But the Lord would not rat them
out or give them up because he was their substitute. He would
die in their room instead. God had given them to the Lord,
and if Caiaphas got Jesus, the other had to go free, and that
prophecy was fulfilled, as I said a few moments ago. also because
they were indeed scattered as according to prophecy this is
the way God had said it was going to happen in Zechariah chapter
13 and verse 7 he said when he takes that sword of justice out
of the scabbard the sheep will be scattered the sheep will be
scattered and they were scattered they wouldn't know where to be
found and Gaius also asked our Lord concerning his doctrine
Our Lord does not call them names or mock them, but the words He
speaks condemn them for what liars they are. They have brought
Him here because they know what He has preached. Now that's the
key to understand. Our Lord said this. He said in
verse 21, They know what I said. They know what I said. They know what He's preached,
and they hate it, and they want to condemn Him for it. This reveals
the unrighteousness of iniquity. Psalm 581 says, Do you indeed
speak righteousness, O congregation? Or do you judge rightly, O ye
sons of men? to declare the fact that they
were holding a kangaroo court on our Lord, asserts that he
is not the head of some secret cult or covert society. He said,
I spoke openly. Our Lord said that to Isaiah
45. He says, I'm not hitting these things in the corner. I've
showed them openly. I've spoken them openly. That's
what our Lord said in verse 21. I have spoken openly to the world. everywhere he went. He sat on
a rock or sat on a hill or sat beside a creek or by the river
or from a boat and told everybody. Everybody got to hear. He said,
I preached in the synagogues and in the temple and wherever
the Jews were gathered and I didn't hide the truth from anyone. Tertullian
said, truth fears nothing but concealment. Truth, fears, nothing
but concealment. Our Lord is saying, you know
very well my doctrine. Do you know what I say? Ask them. They know what I say. They know
what I say. What is the real reason you're
asking me this? Why do you ask me what my doctrine
is? You've heard me. You know what
my doctrine is. Our Lord then answers with these
words concerning his doctrine. Why do you ask me? ask them which
have hurt me." Now he does not refer to his disciples or those
that have followed him because everybody knows they had hurt
him. They had already proven that
because they believed on him, but rather he refers to the public
in general who had heard him preach. In John 47 the public
said, and they were astonished at his doctrine. For he spoke
with authority, and not as the scribes." The scribes were out
talking, too, and so were the Pharisees. They were preaching
to everybody, giving them a hard time. But our Lord spoke differently,
and the crowds heard him. He asserted that he spoke in
such a manner that was plain and was singular that if asked,
those who heard him could tell him what he had preached, could
tell him what his doctrine was. Now, there are some preachers
that seem to take pride in subterfuge. You want to take the truth of
God and say it in a manner that men are awed in confusion. I remember hearing of a preacher
one time who said he liked to put the cookies on the top shelf
so people have to work to get to it. The preacher of the gospel,
he preaches in the short grass so the lambs don't have to bend
over far to get to it. The preacher of the gospel preaches
in a manner that people understand what he is saying. He doesn't
play with words. He doesn't try to make the gospel
some kind of wondrous mystery where folks can't figure it out.
If you leave here this morning, you're going to know what I said.
You're going to know what I believe. You're going to know what I preach,
even if you don't believe it. You're going to know it. And
that's what our Lord is saying. That's what our Lord is saying. Our Lord said, when he spoke,
the language was so plain, so single, that men immediately
reacted with favor or hatred or disdain. They said, some said,
he's wonderful, he's astonishing. Let us hear more. Sirs, we would
see Jesus. Others said, he hath a devil.
Nothing good ever came out of Nazareth. Ask them which heard
me, he said. Then he captured off with a profound
statement. They know what I said. They know
what I said. They weren't confused or misled
or offered some dissertation that was a call for debate. They
know what I said. He answered their unbelief by
teaching them election. My sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. I lay down my life for my sheep.
He taught them the gospel that was only understood by his elect.
He said to his disciples, it is given to you to know the mysteries,
but not to them. His doctrine was plain and easily
understood. Even those who did not believe
were not confused about what he said and walked away from
him knowing exactly what they did not believe. Scott Richard
used to say that many times. He'd tell the people, he'd say,
if you leave here and unbelieve, I want you to know what you don't
believe. I want you to understand what you don't believe. I want
to be clear enough so you'll know exactly what you're rejecting,
what you have no use for. They walked away from Him knowing
exactly what they did not believe. Didn't they? Our Lord in John
chapter 6 preached about the blood, His blood and His body.
He preached about leaving men and they had to eat his flesh
and drink his blood. He wasn't going to be there to
do it. Speaking of the Lord's table. And he said, this is a
hard saying. And after that, many disciples
departed from him and never came back. You think they didn't understand
what he said? No, they understood perfectly
what he said. But they could not take it. They
could not swallow it. That was the problem. This exposes
the lies. This exposes the lies of those
who've heard the true gospel and do not believe. They stand
in pulpits declaring that some things are hard to understand
and confusing. I can't tell you how many preachers
I've heard say, I don't preach predestination because it's confusing.
God said it, it's not confusing. Predestination is not a confusing
thought. It's a very easy to understand
principle. I guarantee you, before you got here today, you predestinated
at least 500 things. Predestinated what time you was
going to get up. Predestinated what you was going to cook for
breakfast. Predestinated what you was going to wear. Predestinated
where you was going to go. Predestinated the transportation
you were going to use to get here. Predestinated to open the
doors to the car. You predestinated everything.
You say, I don't understand predestination. You're a liar. You're a liar. if you don't understand predestination.
You understand it. Well, here's what God says. I
predestinated whom I'm going to save. He said that in his
word. We are bound to give thanks always
to you, for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief in the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You understand that? Election. Everybody understands
election. Now, we're going to have an election
here in this country pretty soon. I'll be so glad when it's over with.
We'll find out who God puts on the throne, and both sides will
probably be mad about something. We'll find out who God puts on
the throne, because He's the one that does that, and then we're
just going to have to learn to live with whatever it is for
the next four years, and I guarantee you that. we understand the election
the problem is the election that God made had nothing to do with
two parties God chose his people on his own
before they even existed in the world he'll have chosen them
I know some men like to talk about election I remember Jerry
Falwell said one time I noticed when we get a lot of people come
down front that more election takes place no Jerry Falwell
said, well, here's what election is. The devil cast a vote, and
God cast a vote, and you to cast a deciding vote. No, the problem
with that, you wasn't old enough to vote when that election was
made. That election was right before the foundation of the
world. Do you understand that? God chose, selected, elected,
severed out of a fallen race a number innumerable number of
men and women that he would save, that's election. You say, well,
I don't understand. Yes, you do. Might not like it,
might hate it, might despise it, might say, you know, might
say, well, I just hate, that's not my God. Well, I agree, it's
probably not. But you understand, our Lord
taught these things. He taught these things. And men
understood what he said. They lie and accuse the Lord
of saying things that are not clear. They do this to protect
their own paycheck. Because if they preached the
truth about Christ, they would be out of a job. A person told
Larry Perman that one time. He said, if I preach predestination,
they'd fire me. Get fired. Get fired. I remember I told you about that
church out there in California. Pastor got saved, they fired
him. Pastor heard the gospel, started
preaching the truth, they got rid of him. Why? Because they
understood what he was saying. They understood what he was saying.
Churches with tons of members tell folks to steer clear of
little assembly because they preach predestination. A fool
fleeth when no man pursueth. They do so because they know
what the Lord said. Caiaphas knew. The Jews, the
Gentiles, Pilate and Herod knew. The chief priests and the Pharisees
and Judas knew. Everyone who has heard the truth
knows what they've heard and it's proved by the fact that
many want to kill the Lord. Why would you want to kill Him
unless you know what He said? You must be offended, I reckon. Confusion
might cause folks to wonder and to seek and find an answer, but
only the truth will cause men to seek the death of one who
declares it. Those who heard him knew
his doctrine. Those who hear the gospel of
God's sovereign grace today know exactly what is being said if
it's being preached clearly. John wrote in his second epistle
to the elder lady of the church, abide in the doctrine, the teaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He told her, He told her to turn
a deaf ear to anyone else but the gospel. To receive no one
into her house who denied the truth. He was even told not to
bid them Godspeed. Don't say have a good day. Don't say have a blessed day
like they say today. Because if you do, you are a
partaker of their evil deeds. They know that Christ sent men
as to pray. They know that. They know that God has elected
some to salvation. They know that Christ died to
save the elect and no one else. That the Spirit calls the elect
to inform them of their salvation, and those for whom Christ died
will persevere because they've been preserved in Jesus Christ.
They know that. They understand that. If a person
says he's confused about it, he's just lying. He's not confused, he refuses
the truth. Our Lord, when asked what his
doctrine was, said, They know what I said. Anybody be confused
about what I said this morning? Okay. God bless you. Father, bless this understanding.
We're praying Christ's name.