It's good to see you on this
frosty morning here in Cherokee. Beautiful sunshiny day, but it's
really cool. But it's wintertime, so almost
wintertime anyways. We'd like to welcome everybody
here. We want to get right into the
worship service but didn't know if we had any requests this morning
or not. We still want to remember our
brother Fred who's facing some cancer treatments. We know your
heart is with him. He appreciates it. Is there any
others that we need to remember? I want to remember our pastor
this morning, Tim, who's up in Kentucky this morning bringing
the message. Juanita and the Smoky family. Smokers and Tornitas. All right. And they've had a loss in their
family. All right, Loretta. Remember
Loretta. All right. If that's all, Jimmy,
we're going to sing hymn number 212. Is that correct? Yes, that's
correct. All right. You want to get started
now? Yeah. What shall pay my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. How precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my Lord and this I sing,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my King, take this my plea,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, gracious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. for sin atone, nothing but the
blood of Jesus. God of good that I have done,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. How precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. no other felt I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. All right. I'd like to read from John, first
chapter of John, which I've taken my text from
that many times, and many others also have used these wondrous
words of God. starting in verse 1. This is not where I'm taking
my text from, but I will speak on it before I enter
into my text. But St. John 1.1, it said, In the beginning
was the Word, And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of
men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not, There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The same came for a witness to hear, to bear witness of the
light that all men through him might believe. He was not that
light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true
light, which lighteth every man who cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believed on His name, which were born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of the will of God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Our Father, we approach you this
day in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, our dear Savior and your dear Son. And we come, Lord,
thanking you for that awful price that he
paid at Calvary. to redeem poor sinners like us who were vile, unworthy, hell-deserving
sinners. As our great high priest, he
offered himself a sacrifice for our sins, took our iniquities,
our sins upon himself, bore them in our stead, died under the wrath of a holy
God in our place. He suffered our hell. That we might enjoy his heaven. We ask you father today to be
with us and worship. We pray Lord for the request
that's been made here this morning. You know each one, you know the
needs of each one. You know the needs of us all.
So we come before you Lord trusting you. Knowing. Lord, that we always know that
you will always be with us and you will go with us through every
trial temptation. Help us today, oh Lord. To see your glory. In the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we ask it in his name and
a man. All right. Stan, would you got to do a song first? Okay.
Well, this, this part of the service I don't usually do. So
just overlook me. All right, what song we got now? No, I've never got a bill, but
what I receive. Praise to that which thou bid'st,
and I, I believe. Though the cheek is good of it, This is my story To God be the
glory me a sinner, saved by grace. One whose heart's true patience
enrobed my heart, causing my footsteps and God to depart. Jesus, have mercy, let me not
haste. Save my grace, only a sinner. Save my grace, only a sinner. Save my grace, only a sinner. ? This is my story to God be
the glory ? ? I'm only a sinner saved by grace ? ? There's not
a failing, no merit that I ? ? Mercy that saved me or else I would
die ? ? Sin and alarm me ? Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows. Love me a Savior to tell what
he knows. Once more to tell it would I
embrace. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story to God be the
glory. I'm only a sinner. All right. Would Stan, would you and Fred
come and receive the offering this morning? Our Father, we come to you again,
thanking you, Lord, for this day, for this great privilege
to once again hear your word. We pray, oh Lord, You grant us
true worship today. In the spirit, O Lord, we ask
you, Lord, to bless the offering, Lord, that's given. We pray,
O Lord, that you would grant us hearts, Lord, to find it a
great pleasure, Lord, to return unto you that which you have
given to us. For we know, Lord, that All things
are ours in Christ. He has given us what we have. Let us rejoice, Lord, in returning
it to you. In Christ's name we pray and
amen. I'm going to play a little bit. Oh. As we open today with thoughts on our
message, I want to take my text from Proverbs. Proverbs 14, 12. It's one verse. There is a way which seemeth
right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. My mind thinks on this a great deal in
our day. There's so much deception in
our world. And it seems like men just willingly follow after it. But in our lesson today, I read to you the first chapter
of John because it is important to establish
that this book is the Word of God. It's not
the Word of Paul, of Peter, of James, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, The books were named after these
men because they were merely the transcribers of the Holy Spirit's words. These are God's words. And oh, if we could just impress
that on men's minds. It surely would change men's
attitude about the word of God. It's not
called the word of God. It's just a phrase to get your
attention. It is the word of God. That's important. And it's very
irrelevant to seem like to most people in our day or to a lot
of people. So now let's look back at John 1 through 14 and just
emphasize that this word, this word that we hold in our hands,
it is the written word. But this word was made flesh. and dwelt among us. He lived
on this earth over 33 years. We beheld, mankind beheld his
glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. The Son of God, who also was
the Son of Man, who united the Godhead with mankind. Jesus Christ is the Word. That's
what John said. And again, I'll remind you, these
are the words of the Holy Spirit dictated by John, dictated to
John. He is God Almighty in human flesh. He is the written Word, and He
is the LIVING Word. He sits at the right hand of
the Father, which designates POWER. The POWER of God. I Corinthians. Paul tells us
in I Corinthians 124, he said, But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom
of God. He has made unto his people wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He is the power of God unto salvation. 1 Corinthians 1.18 says, For
the preaching of the cross to them that perish is foolishness.
It's evident that it's foolishness to the world because we see every
day the direction of the world. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. Romans 116, Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power, it is the
dynamite, the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. In other words, to the Gentiles and the Jews. Having established what God says
about Himself in His Word, let us now consider man, who is God's
creature, a creature whom God has absolute sovereign rule and
power over because He created all things, and it is all His. in the Lord's day, in Christ's
day, said, We will not have this man rule over us. What is men saying today? We will not have God reign over
us. What we see going on in our world
today is nothing less than open rebellion against God Almighty. They hate God's rule. They hate
God's authority. They hate what this country was
established. The principles that it was established
upon was Christian principles. And men despise it. But God ruleth in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand. Now man can say we won't have
God rule over us all they want to, but let me tell you something.
God rules on earth and in the heavens,
and none can thwart his purpose nor stay his hand. And men hate that. Natural men
hate it. We hated it. Until something
happened to us. It's important to know that God, it all belongs to Him. He created
it all. He rules in it. And no matter
what man thinks about it, he can do with his what he wants
to. And he will. Did he not tell the men in his
day, he says, when he, in the parable of the laborers that
was sent out, some at the first hour, some at the fourth hour,
some at the sixth hour, eighth hour, At the end of the day, he paid
them all the same, and some of them complained. They said, wait
a minute, this man's only worked one hour, and you've paid him
what we started out at the first hour. He said, did I not pay
you what I told you I would? Well, yeah, but that's not fair. Well, what's fair? He said, it's mine. Can I not
do what I will with my own? Now let me tell you something,
folks. We're all, that's the sovereignty
of God. And we've got our little own
sovereignty thing going ourself, don't we? If I come to you and said, I
need for you to draw Most of your bank account, I didn't put
it over in mine. You say, that's mine. You can't take what's mine. Why, because it's mine. You got
no control over what's mine. If I wanna give it to you, I
can, but if I don't want to, I'm not going to. All right,
well, we claim sovereignty over what we own, our property. Why should God be any different?
It's His. He made it all. He created every
bit of it. It's His. He can dispose of it
any way He pleases. A man says that's not right.
Well, tough. That's the way it is. He's God. Are you beginning to see why
the world hates Him or hates His rule? He's sovereign. Men hate sovereignty in God.
They like it in themselves. It's important to know that God
made two people, and the first man was a representative of all
his children who came after him. That God made a covenant of works
with him, that if he obeyed God's command, he would live, and if
he broke it, he would die. It was only one command. But he broke it willfully. Being separated from God, that
day he died. He died spiritually. His spiritual
connection, his life connection with God was gone. He was alive
physically. And his children are alive physically,
but they have no connection with God anymore. It's broken. I laugh at people. They say,
well, God owes everybody a chance. I've heard that said, you probably
have to. No, when you rebel against God,
God don't owe you anything. And the first man, Adam, our
father, he rebelled against God. God owes him nothing. If he receives
anything from God, it is going to be by the pure mercy and grace
of God only. So, where does that leave man? That leaves man dead in trespasses
and sins and he has no way to get back to God unless God in
mercy and grace grants him permission to enter into his presence, just
like the king. If you read the book of Kings,
no one could approach the king unless he stretched forth his
Scepter. You know who the scepter is?
Jesus Christ. The scepter. If a man approached the king
without the king extending his scepter toward him, he was a
dead man. Unlawful to approach the king. And men who tries to come into
God's presence without the scepter being stretched forth to him
will perish. And that scepter is the Lord
Jesus Christ, his son. So he could not, man cannot approach
God, but God in mercy and grace made a provision for him. And
his provision was made by the shedding of blood. The only way
into the presence of God is through the blood. Adam was totally dependent on
God's way to approach him. No other way was given. Man has tried to invent ways,
and he's invented many ways to go to God. And thousands of pulpits
this morning are filled with men telling you that there is
other ways of getting to God. How so? Be a good person. Live a good life. Treat your
fellow man good. Obey all the rules. and in the end you'll be okay.
Now they don't say it like I just said it, but covertly that is
exactly what men are hearing in so many places. So how then can a man approach
God? Job asked that question this
way. He said, how then can a man be justified with God? How can
a man be justified with God? How then can a man be justified
of God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of woman? In Job 15, he said, what is man
that he should be clean? And he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous. Behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. That's man's
condition by nature. How can he approach God? The
natural man cannot approach the living God, nor can he receive
anything from God. Because he is dead, he's dead
in trespasses and sins. He has no communication with
God. Because when our father died,
we died. We are totally dependent on God's
communication with us. If God had not intervened and
made a way for his creature to approach him, It would have been impossible,
but God made it possible through His Son. He covenanted with His
Son to bring His people to Him. 1
Corinthians 2.14, He said, But the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. Well, if a man's dead spiritually,
he can't discern anything spiritual. There are so many who the world would consider
good people in all outward appearance or everything they seem to be.
Most folks, whether they attend church or not, believe by all
accounts that they are good people. and that they have a sort of
faith. They believe in God and Jesus and even pray when they
have trouble in their lives. They even have a zeal of God. Men are zealous in the service
of God, they say, and they seem to be. But just like Paul said
of the Jews, he said, I know they have a zeal of God,
unto God, but it's not according to knowledge. Because they going
about working, they going about doing, they go about This righteousness that they
call their own in a zeal of God, but it's not according to knowledge.
For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, are going about
to establish their own righteousness. That's what men are hearing today,
this very moment in the pulpits. Many are faithful church members who confess that
they believe in God and Jesus. They go through the motions of
religion. They give their time, their money, their effort to
promote good work as proof to themselves and to others that
they're real believers. We have loved so many of them
that have gone into eternity hanging on to a hope that in
the final tally, their good works and their profession of faith
will merit them a place in God's heaven. They have come their
way. There is a way that seems right. It's just natural men. It is a man's fallen nature that
inclines him to believe this lie, and it is Satan's tool to
deceive men and women with a false hope. It's very logical for natural
men to follow this way. They say, I know my heart. But
God's word says the heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked. Who can know it? You see, all men died in Adam
and all men by nature are sinners and need to understand that they're
not good people in God's eyes, but are his enemies. Any man who tries to climb up
another way is a thief and a robber, God said. Men don't see themselves as God's
enemies. What did he tell the people one day when they
approached him? He said, if you're the one, If you're the Messiah, tell us
plainly. He said, I've told you. You believe me not? My sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. You're not my sheep. That's why
you can't hear me. You're not mine. The world hates
that because he's sovereign. Every day men live in God's earth
and enjoy the wondrous things He supplies. What a wondrous
world it is that God has made it so wonderfully that everything
living reproduces. So we have food, sustenance,
clothing that never runs out because it's always reproducing. God made it that way. What a
wondrous provision. Besides all the beauty that God's
created on this earth, yet men never look up and give God any
thanks for anything. It's all took for granted that
it just happened and we're going to enjoy it as long as we can
and we're going to save it. No, we're not going to save this
earth. This earth's going to be destroyed. Man doesn't take advantage of
the wondrous things because he does not give God glory and therefore
he's an enemy to God. They say, I know. They never give God a thought
unthankful, unholy, and thought word and deed. Some men even enjoy Wealth and fame in this world, but they think they don't need
God. Thinking only of gaining more of this world's goods, but
not realizing that all the eyes can see are temporary. Everything
in this world is temporary. It's going to go away. You're
going to be taken from all these things, or all these things are
going to be taken away from you, but this world will perish, everything
in it. But men are trying to grab all
of it they can, as long as they can. It's hopeless. But men won't look to God. There was a time when we were
there. You and I were there, loving this world, striving for
more of its supposed riches, striving for our own pleasures
and gain. We know. But God intervened for his people because they heard
his voice. They hear his voice. The natural
man will always try to serve God in natural ways. That's why he invents ways to
worship God as Cain when he offered up the fruits of his labor to
God. Religion puts great emphasis
on beautiful buildings and stained glass and golden crosses and
candlesticks, religious imagery, glorious robes and hats, As far
as pomp and pageantry is concerned, there's no limits. And men think
that they are honoring God by these things. People who attend these beautiful
church buildings drive by our little place here in Cherokee
and laugh at us. That's all right. Because we know God. He's not in these big beautiful
things, these big beautiful buildings. Well, that's man's ways. A way to come to Christ. Man's
way shares the glory with God and no man's going to share his
glory. Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is a way that seems right
unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Some toy
with thoughts of getting their life in a condition or a point
that God might look more favorable towards them, but that's just
idolatry. Christ came into the world to
save sinners and not good people. He passes by good people every
day to save people like us, the worst of us, poor sinners, poor
lepers. Paul said, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. For you see, 1 Corinthians 1, he said, for you see, your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish
things of this world to confound the wise. God has chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and
the base things of the world, which or despised hath God chosen
yea and things which are not to bring to naught the things
that are. Yes, he came to save sinners. Men don't see themselves as sinners,
they see themselves as good people. Why do you think that's so? Verse
29 tells us that no flesh should glory in His presence. You see,
God's glory is in His grace. He will not share His glory.
Men rob God of His glory in their religion because they want to take credit
for part of their salvation. Well, I know God Christ died for me, but it's
my decision. That's why preachers are saying,
Make a decision for Christ. How pitiful. No, if you make a decision for
Christ, you're trying to share some glory with Christ. Them
whom God, them who hear God's voice, those who hear His voice,
fall on their face like dead men. and say, God have mercy
on me. It's not about a decision, it's
about seeking mercy. But the natural man don't seek
mercy because he don't believe he needs mercy. How can a man enter into glory? when he leaves the world. A man
or a woman must stand before God in absolute, perfect righteousness. In Leviticus, he said, it shall
be perfect to be accepted. The sacrifice was watched for
set time. It got so bad in Israel at one
time that men began to offer their lame lambs and their blind
goats They'd go to their herds and they'd pick out the worst
of them that would not be profitable to them and bring them to be
sacrificed. And God said, your offerings, your sacrifices are
a stench in my nostrils. It must be perfect to be accepted. Your righteousness must be perfect
for God to accept it. And you don't have it, and I
don't have it, and no man on this earth ever had it except
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who answered all the demands
of God's holy law for His people. And as our great high priest
went to the cross and died as our substitute, So we, the sinner, need a righteousness
that we are totally unable to produce. We need the very righteousness
of God because He can accept no less than perfection. Well,
how can that be the case? Why does that leave the sinner?
It leaves him without hope in himself. It leaves him without
hope in his decision. without hope in his keeping the
law, without his good works, without his doings and not doings,
just like our Lord told Nicodemus, you must be born again. In other words, there must be
a resurrection from this death, from this death of the natural man. He must be born again. He must
become a new creature in Christ Jesus. The new birth is the sovereign work of God
performed on a dead sinner by the workings of the Holy Spirit
through the preaching of the gospel. James 1.18 says, Of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. That's God's method
of grace. That's how God redeems or saves
His people, by revealing unto them and giving them a new heart
and life and eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to receive
the blessed Savior. 1 Peter 1.23 said, Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever." How then do we attain this faith,
this saving faith? See, there's faith and there's
saving faith. Romans 10, 17 says, So then faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Well, you're
sitting today under the Gospel. You're hearing. And if you don't
hear the voice of God this time, keep hearing it. Because if God's
going to say anything to you, you're going to hear it through
the preaching of the gospel. If God's going to reveal anything
to you, He's going to reveal it to you through the preaching
of the gospel. For whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on
him who have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Those are known as the five golden
links. They all go together. Who is the preacher? Well, he's
just a man. He's no better or no worse. He's
just a man. He's a nobody as far as the world
can tell. One writer said this, he's just
a dying man preaching to dying men. That's it. Another said
he's just a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. He's nobody, just a voice crying
in the wilderness, like John the Baptist said, was said of
him. The preacher can't save you,
but you can't get around him, because that's God's way of,
that's his method of saving men, through the preaching of the
gospel. In the new birth, poor sinners
are quickened, raised from the death, imputed to them by their
first representative, dead in trespasses and sins. They are
given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only
hope of redemption. It is a miraculous work of the
Spirit of God. Even more so. Then when the Lord
raises the dead naturally, that was just a figure of men being
resurrected from this death that they're born into by their father
Adam. John 5 said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. That's the death he's talking
about. Our Lord lived on this earth
over 33 years, during which time he went about
doing good, many miraculous works. He preached the gospel. He healed
the sick and lame. He raised the dead. That proved
that he was who he said he was, God in human flesh. He was taken
and beaten, whipped and scourged, shamed and nailed to a cross.
He fulfilled every jot and tittle of the demands of the holy law
of God, and there he died as our great high priest and accomplished
the salvation of all his people from the first man Adam to the
last man in our future. On the third day he rose victorious
from the grave and ascended back to the Father. to heaven and
His glory with the Father. By His resurrection, it was proof that God accepted
His sacrifice for the sins of His people. Well, how can this
be? We were born into this world
with Adam's curse upon us. The Scripture tells us that in
Adam all men died. We are all guilty of Adam's sin
by imputation. But bless God, the Gospel tells
us of a second Adam. This Adam is Jesus Christ. He
kept the demands of all the law perfectly as our great high priest. He offered himself as a sacrifice
upon the tree where he died as a substitute for all his people,
paying all the sin debt that they owed. God has cast away
their sins never to be remembered again. How can this be? If my sins were
laid on the Son of God and He died as I substitute and He paid
all my debt that I owed God, God will never look to me for
a second payment. Romans 4 says, Even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
or charges righteousness without work, saying, Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute or charge sin. Who are these people that the
Lord will not charge sin? It is those who have been washed
in the blood of the Lamb. It is they who have been born
again, born of the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. That's it. Hopefully that's God's message
and not mine. I thank you this day. Father, we thank you again, Lord,
this day for thy Word. Thank you, Father, for your Spirit
who guides and leads us, help us to always look to you, for you are all our hope. In
Christ's name we pray, and amen.