I invite your attention back
to Mark chapter 11. As a beginning point, the title
of my message this morning is Christ the Preacher of Doctrine. Christ the Preacher of Doctrine. When men and women are brought
to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it is by the Spirit of
God through the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of the
doctrine of Christ. Doctrine does not save them,
but they are not saved apart from doctrine. The only thing
we know about Christ, and can never know about Christ, is what
God has taught us. And what He teaches us is doctrine. In fact, the word teaching, when
it says in John 6.45, everyone that hath learned of the Father,
Everyone being taught of the Father, the word taught is didaktos,
teacher, doctrine. When Isaiah said, Who hath believed
thy report? If you look in the marginal reading,
the Hebrew word is doctrine. Who shall we wean? Who shall
we wean from the breast? Those who we teach doctrine to.
Those who we teach doctrine The mark of the child of God is that
he loves doctrine. He loves doctrine. Being taught
of God according to what God is saying. This book is the doctrine
of God. God's teaching. Now the world
would much more prefer experience palpable emotions and feelings,
invisible behaviors that can be called evidence of salvation.
But the believer holds to and cherishes the doctrine of grace. For it is grace that has saved
him. It is grace that has brought
him thus far. And he believes that grace will
bring him home. Because the believer's faith
is based on words and not on outward visible things, for we
walk by faith and not by sight. For it is written, the just shall
live by faith. Because the believer holds and
cherishes the doctrine of grace, because his faith is based on
words and not outward visible thing, religion feels its duty
to diminish the concept and principle of doctrine. They say things like, don't tell
me doctrine, just preach the Word, which is a stupid statement,
because the Word is the doctrine of God. Don't preach doctrine, just tell
me about Christ, which is a stupid statement, because Christ is
the subject of this book, therefore Christ is the doctrine of God. He is what God teaches. God spoke
to the fathers by the prophets in many and various ways, in
diverse manners it says. But in these last days He has
spoken to us, and if you look at the real wording there, in
Son. He has spoken to us in Son, Hebrews
chapter 1, verse 1 and 2. In these last days He has spoken
to us in Son. That's God's language. When he
said in Zephaniah, I will turn them to a pure language. He was talking about turning
them to Christ. He's the language of God. He's
the explanation that God has of Himself. And the description
that God has of Himself, for in Christ dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Many times I've preached and
people who don't like the doctrine of God's grace have come to me
and spoken of doctrine in derogatory terms, saying, that's just dry
doctrine. You ever heard that? Dry doctrine. Well, we know that God's doctrine
is not dry, it's moist. It's damp. According to Deuteronomy
32, my doctrine shall distill as the dew, and fall as the tender
rain. Even theologians, so-called,
in efforts to diminish the importance of doctrine, and especially the
doctrine of God's grace, refer to it as Pauline doctrine. I
read that a lot. That was Pauline doctrine. What
do you mean? What men call Calvinism? What
men call the doctrine of grace? They say that's Pauline doctrine. They mean that's what Paul taught. Suggesting that it didn't come
from Christ or that Christ was not the preacher of doctrine.
This is what Paul taught this. Christ didn't teach this. That's
what men say. This can be a subtle way of saying
that Paul was more interested in these things than was Christ. The other writers of the scripture
were interested not so much in these things as Paul was. This
also has the effect of asserting that Paul's doctrine was different
from that of Christ, which for all practical purposes is a denial
of the divine inspiration and calls into question the veracity
of God's word. If Paul wasn't preaching the
gospel, Paul wasn't preaching what Christ preached. And Paul
was a false teacher and a false preacher. And you can just throw
away 90% of the New Testament. Paul's doctrine was the doctrine
of Christ. He was personally taught it by
Christ on the back side of the desert for several years. Christ
taught him that. That's what he said in Galatians
chapter 1. I didn't get this from men or by men. I was taught it by Christ. I
was taught it by Christ. He wrote to Timothy that all
Scripture was inspired by God. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for, what's the first thing mentioned?
Doctrine. Reproof, correction, and instruction
that the man of God might be truly furnished unto all good
works. John wrote that we were to abide in the doctrine of Christ,
and if we do not, it only proves that we have neither the Father
nor the Son. He said that if you don't abide
in the doctrine, the teaching of Christ, you don't have the
Father or the Son. But if you abide in the doctrine,
you have both the Father and the Son. Living there, dwelling
there, this is your home, and this is your house. I like my
house. I like to stay in my house. Sometimes
I go outside and do things like mow the yard and trim the bushes,
but I like my house. I'm a house kind of guy. I really
am. My house is the doctrine of Christ.
I like to live in my house. And as long as I'm able to stand
here, if God will give me grace and not make me lose my mind,
I'll tell you about my house. It's built on the foundation
of the apostles. speaking of what the law and the prophets
spoke of, the Lord Jesus Christ. John also said, He that hath
not the Son hath not life. So then, he that has life is
he who has the Son, and he who has the Son abides in the doctrine
of Christ. Those who hold and preach that
the gospel of God's sovereign grace in Christ are often accused
of preaching something new and different. Where'd that come
from? They'll either tell you it's
new and different and tell you it's the devil's doctrine or one or the other
if you preach the gospel of God's grace. They usually add in that
they did not see the declaration of such terms as predestination
or election or particular redemption spoken of by Christ. People say
Christ didn't talk about that. They told me that a lot. They're
liars. And they don't know what they're talking about. But there
is a divine connection that binds together the Son, spiritual life,
and the doctrines of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord
expressed it this way, It is the spirit that quickeneth, the
flesh profiteth nothing. My words, they are spirit and
they are life. I don't fully understand that,
I can't begin to comprehend it, but I've seen it work. I've seen
it work in the lives of people. I've seen people suddenly interested
in one thing, and you can't tell them enough about Jesus Christ.
When you sit down, that's what they want to hear about. When
they come to church, that's what they want to talk about. Why
would they do that? Something's happened to them,
because they didn't get that by nature. They didn't get that
by nature. There's life in these words.
It's kind of scary when you think about it, isn't it? That's why
Paul, when he said, you know, When the gospel is preached,
it smells good to God, and to some people it's life, to some
people it's death. I'm not sufficient for these things. I feel exactly
the same way. I'm glad the result of this thing is not left up
to me. Aren't you? Because I'd mess it up. First of all, if you was my enemy,
I would never tell you the truth. I can't handle that. God can.
He's fair. He's equity. That's what the
word righteous means. But what does the Scripture say
in John 7 and verse 15 and 16 concerning Christ and doctrine?
It says, And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man
letters? And that is learning and understanding. Having never learned. He never
sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He never went to any of our synagogues.
He never went to the prophet's school. How does he know what
he's talking about? And Jesus answered and said to
them, My doctrine is not mine. but Him that sent me." It said
that in John 7. It says if you know Him, you
know His doctrine in the same chapter. In John 18, verses 19
and 20, it says, The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples
and of His doctrine. Jesus answered him said I spake
openly to the world I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple
whether the Jews always resort and in secret have I said nothing
Why askest thou me ask them that heard me? What I said unto thee
behold they know what I said They know what I say, and that's
what I tell people to what do you believe ask them that I preached
to I? I'll tell you what I believe. Because I've been preaching the
same thing to them for 32 years. I can tell you exactly what I
believe. They don't have any problem with it. Unless it asks them
to heard me. What is hearing the gospel? It's
hearing the doctrine of God. Hearing the teaching of Christ. 2 John 1.9 says, Whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. Those
are tough words, aren't they? That ain't nothing to toy with.
That ain't no religious play pretty. That ain't no foot in
the door deal. If you don't abide in the doctrine
of Christ, you're a transgressor and you don't have God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. There's no play
here. That's serious business. I don't want to be in this world
without God. I don't. I want to have God. And I want
Him to have me. And the only way that's going
to happen is if I abide, live in, dwell in the doctrine, the
teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my only hope of salvation.
These verses that I just read to you say something very clearly. Christ had a doctrine. He had
a doctrine. And He taught it. He had a doctrine. And that doctrine He received
from the Father. Therefore, it was God's doctrine that Christ
had. This is God's teaching. Secondly,
those who do not abide in the doctrine don't have the Father
and the Son. They really don't have anything to do with God
or the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father or God the Son.
And thirdly, the doctrine of our Lord, the doctrine of Christ,
was what Christ preached. It was what Christ preached.
Now, if you hear men talk today, they try to talk about a social
gospel, and they talk about Christ preached to do this. Christ preached
the gospel. Christ preached the gospel. That's
very important. Our Lord was a preacher. He went
about preaching the gospel. He went about teaching and preaching
the gospel. It says in Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, it says the same thing. He went about preaching and teaching
the gospel. That's what He did. He was the
prince of preachers, you see. He was the king of preachers. Never a man spake like this man.
That's what they said when they heard Him. Nobody ever spoke
like that. Nobody's ever spoke like that. He spoke as one having
authority, not as the religious men, the scribes and the Pharisees.
They spoke. They wanted authority. But when
Christ spoke, He was speaking His own words which He had written.
What He set down for us to be taught, He was speaking His own
words. I remember when I was a little boy watching the Ed
Sullivan show on Sunday nights. They'd have poets like Robert
Frost and Charles Sandberg. What was his name? Charles Sandberg.
Carl Sandburg. And he'd come on there, you know,
and I'd read, I like poetry, and I'd read Frost, and I'd read
Sandburg. But then when Frost got up there and read Frost,
it was a whole different ball game. And when Carl Sandburg
read Carl Sandburg, I was going, oh my goodness! That's what that
means? You know? It's different because
it's his words. He knew what his words meant.
He knew where to put the inflection and the expression. Can you imagine
what it was like? to sit and hear the Lord Jesus
Christ teach His Word. That's why men were astonished
at His doctrine. One man said God only had one
Son and He made Him a preacher. And that's the truth. Are those
who preach and believe the doctrine of sovereign grace preaching
some new thing? We have but to look at what Christ
said and find out what He preached. We'll find out, as we sang a
while back, the old story. The old story. What did Christ
preach? I'd like to know, wouldn't you?
You can read the Gospels and find out, but we're going to
look at them this morning. Actually, these are actual words. So get your
Bibles out, put them on your lap. We're going to be looking
at some Scripture. Luke chapter 4. Our Lord comes home to His
hometown. First time He's preached back
home. Pretty famous, been healing folks, and they wanted some of
that action too. Come to our house, come to our
town and have one of them healing crusades. You know, them healing crusades
are a big deal. People like that healing business. That's why
Benny Hinn and other nuts such as him make a lot of money and
wear them fine looking silk Meru suits. He's a goofy looking guy.
Lost in the sixties tonight. That's all I can say. Luke chapter
4, our Lord comes home and they've been hearing Jesus of Nazareth
going around doing good. He's healing folks and He's healing
in Capernaum and places like that. Why won't He come back
and heal here? So, in Luke chapter 4 verse 18 it says our Lord opens
the book of Isaiah and this is what it says, The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to do what? to preach
the gospel. He has anointed me to preach
the gospel, and that's what anointing will always be. I know people
talk about anointing today, and they're talking about silly,
foolish, fleshly things that people really enjoy. I mean,
it's entertaining to watch these clowns, you know. It really is. But if a person is anointed or
chosen of God or given the gifts that God gives that are without
calling, without repentance, those gifts are singular for
preaching the gospel. Our Lord said, the Lord hath
anointed me to preach the gospel, to preach the gospel to the poor,
that is, the poor in spirit. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
those whose hearts are broken by the will and power of God
and through the Word, and preach deliverance, preach deliverance
to them that are captive. and recovering of sight to the
blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord." That is to preach about his coming
and his return. In between is the acceptable
year of the Lord. And then he closed the book and
he gave it to them, again to the minister, and he sat down.
The eyes of all of them were fastened on him and he began
to say, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your eyes. He just
read out how I say it. 61. And all bearing witness and wondering
at his gracious worship proceeded out of his mouth, and they said,
Is not this Joseph's son? We know who he is. What is he
talking about being this preacher that Isaiah talked about? Isaiah
was that preacher. No, Christ said, I'm the preacher
Isaiah was talking about. I'm the preacher. And he said,
you were surely saying to me, this proverb, physician heal
thyself. What do you mean? You've been doing all these works in
Capernaum, come home and do them. Once wherever we've heard of
Capernaum, do here in that country. And he said, verily I say unto
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. He said, but
I'll tell you the truth. Now here we go. I'll tell you
a truth. Have you read Preacher? He's
done stopped preaching and started meddling. That's what he's doing.
He's going to get involved with these people's lives. Because
these people believe he's Joseph's son. These people who gather
at this temple every Saturday, they believe that they are entitled
to God's goodness and God's grace. Because they are, after all,
good people. They are good people. They don't
run riotously. They don't spend their money
foolishly. They're good stewards of things. They don't drink,
smoke, chew, and mess around folks who do. They wear the right
kind of clothes and cut their hair the right kind of way. They
all look just right, smell right, act right, and talk right. All
of them are just what a person ought to be. In society, they
would be looked at and said, now that's what I want my son
to grow up to be like. My daughter would be like that
person. That's a good person. He said, I'm here to tell you
something, good people. You think I should come and heal
you? You think the great physicians
should come and leave Capernaum and come down here to this temple
where all of you believe you ain't sick anyway and heal you?
Let me tell you how that works, he said. How does that work?
Well, if you pray through, you'll get a blessing. I don't think
so. You can't pray through. What
is that anyway? If you put feet to your prayers, that's just
stupid. If you can put feet to it, you don't need to pray. Those
things are silly. Those are inventions of men to
try to involve themselves in the workings of providence. Our Lord says this is how it
is, folks. Now you imagine this. Here they are, in their righteousness,
in their goodness. And humanly speaking, they're
the best. They are at temple every Saturday. They read the
scriptures. The scribes, they pay the scribes
to copy the scriptures so they can have them take them home
and read them. These are holy and righteous people as far as
the world is concerned and they believe. We're God's people. You shouldn't be coming to us
because we're God's people. You shouldn't be going out there
to crazy bunch of people in Capernaum. They're crazy. Come in here to
us. We're God's people. What does
he say? I'll tell you the truth. I'll tell you the truth. There
were many widows in Israel in the days of Elias. That is Elijah. When the heaven was shut up three
years and six months, when great famine was throughout the land,
and they all knew about that. Oh, a lot of men died and left
their wives, widows. God's people. Israel. God's people. He said, but to
none of them was Elijah's sin. saved to erect the city of Sidon unto a woman,
a Gentile, that was a widow. Wait a minute, that ain't right.
Can you imagine how they started Stir a little bit. He said, you
see, you say I'm supposed to come to you and save you. I'm
supposed to come to you and do what you want me to do. Well,
I'm telling you this. I went to Capernaum instead of
you. I purposely went to heal them
and purposely didn't come here and heal you. Of course, that's
what God does. God is the author of His grace
and the giver of His grace. We can't demand anything from
God. We can't demand anything. And then he goes on to say, And
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet,
and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman, a Syrian, an enemy
of Israel. And I tell you, there's some
shouting going on that day that said, boy, there wasn't a dry
eye in the house. Holy Ghost was there that day. And they
all in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled
with wrath and anger. And rose up and thrust Him out
of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill where unto the
city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong. But He,
passing through the midst of them, went His way. Well, how
do they react to the fact that God does as He pleases? I'll
kill you, preacher, for saying that. That's what they said.
I'll kill you. We're going to toss you off a
cliff. That's what we think of that. We know we're God's people.
We're good people. We deserve to be recognized for
what we are. He said, No, you don't. He said,
I'm going to leave you right where you are in your self-righteous
delusion. I'm going to go over here to
Capernaum to a bunch of Gentile idiots and I'm going to heal
them. I'm going to take care of them.
Can you imagine what that would do? Now here's what I'm here
to tell you. I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm going to tell you the truth. God saves who He wants to. God saves whom He pleases. That's how God works. He don't
owe you anything except what you've earned and what you've
earned is an eternity in hell. The wages of sin is death. That's
all you've earned. Who does God save? Whoever He
wants to. He might come to Cherokee. He might save your brother or
your sister. There are families here who know
Christ and their brothers and sisters have no interest whatsoever.
Have no interest. In fact, despise the truth. They'd
cast you off the brow of the hill if you tell it to them.
How does that work? Why you? Well, I was a good person. You've missed it. Why you? I will be gracious unto
whom I will be gracious, and whom I will, I will harden. That's the language of the Lord.
Our Lord declared His doctrine to them, preached to them the
gospel. What did Christ preach? He preached the absolute, unquestioned
sovereignty of God and being gracious unto whom He would be
gracious. He said, there's a whole lot of you fine people that were
with us when Elijah shut up the heaven for three days and God
didn't come to a one of you. And he went over to Sarepta to
an old woman, Gentile. She said, you got some oil and
bread? Oil and meal, yeah. Make me some biscuits. And there
he sat while Israel died in the stench of a three and a half
year drought. And he sat there and ate biscuits
made from oil. from that lady. Where's the preacher? He's over at some Gentile woman's
house eating biscuits. But don't he know we're in trouble?
We're God's people! I wasn't sent to you. I didn't
come for you. Do you know that God? That's
the one Christ preached. People say, well Christ didn't
preach doctrine. I'm telling you, He preached the absolute,
solventive God in salvation. Our Lord preached that. It ain't
something new. It ain't something some theologian
come up with. Christ taught that and that's
what He taught to Paul on the backside of the desert. Look at John chapter 5. So the first thing we see that Christ
taught? The absolute sovereignty of God. John chapter 5. Verse 40, He said to the same
group of people, You will not come unto Me that you might have
life. John 5, 40. They searched the Scriptures,
they thought they had eternal life, but they spoke of Christ.
And they wouldn't come to Christ to have life. You will not come
unto Me that you might have life. Then look over at John 6, verse
44. No man can come unto Me, except
the Father which has sent Me draw him, and I will raise him
up again in the last day. Now who's he addressing? Religious
folks who believe that they're entitled to God's goodness. People
believe that. You say, people don't believe
that. Ask them. They do believe that. They believe if they do
good enough, and they pray enough, and read enough, and attend enough,
that God's bound to bless them. They believe God owes it to them.
They believe that God is some kind of spigot. He's there so
they can, when they do good, they can turn on the tap. Our Lord said, none of you religious
people will come to Me for life. You'll go to the book, you'll
go to the scriptures, you'll go to your life, you'll go to
your so-called righteousness, you'll go to everything but Me. And then He said, you can't come
to Me unless God Almighty draw you. And if He does, I'll raise
you up again in the last day. Now He's addressing religious
people again. Bible reading, scripture searching, Bible thumping,
unbelievers. Our Lord preached to them the
total depravity and inability of men to, of their own power
and volition and will, come to God. He told them they couldn't
come to God. So that don't seem right. I don't
care. Christ, that's what Christ told them. In the first instance,
when He says, You will not come to Me, He spoke of the will of
man. That's the big gun. That's the big gun. Jimmy Swigert
said this several years ago, he says, the cardinal doctrine
and the basis for all preaching in salvation is the free will
of man. Forget it, Jimmy. Go back to
your hotel, to your hotel ministry, motel ministry and prostitutes,
that's where you belong. Because you're a whoremonger
and a liar. Free will doesn't exist. doesn't exist anywhere in the
universe. You say, God's got a free will. Will
God do what he won't do? No. Of course not. Neither will
you. The concept of freedom means
without any compulsion, without any leading thing, without anything
behind it, controlling it, moving it, directing it, that's what
freedom means. Ain't none of us know, we talk
about being free in America, we are freer than most nations,
for a while at least, we're freer than most nations. We're not
free, we're bound by laws. We're talking about freedom without
talking about any outside factor directing our choice. That's freedom. I'm sorry. There
ain't no free will in the universe. God's will's not free. Your will's
not free. God's will is powerful. That's
where men foul up. They think when they say it's
free, that means it's powerful. Your will ain't nothing. God's
will is power. whatever he says he'll do. But
the first one he's talking about, you will not come to me that
you might have life. This does not address ability
here to come because there is no inclination to come here.
Ability does not even enter into the picture in John 5, verse
40 when he says you will not come to me. Ability doesn't even
enter into the picture. When you're talking about will,
you write down these two words in your Bible, somewhere on the
front page and the back page. You're talking about will. These
two things have to be considered. Inclination. Inclination. And what's the second one I'm
trying to think of? Affinity. Write them down. Anytime you see the word will
in scripture, think of those two things. Inclination. And affinity, because that's
the two realms that the operation, the will operates in, always.
It's inclined because of nature. It has an affinity towards something
because of nature. Inclination and affinity. These
things are absolutely necessary. So when he says, you will not
come to me that you might have life, he's not talking about
inclination. Not talking about that, or rather ability. Because
there is no inclination to come, they're quite satisfied where
they are. Ability does not enter into the picture. But in the
second instance, in John 6, verse 44, he addresses the inability
of men to come, stating that they cannot come. You can't get
much clearer than that. You cannot come. Well, I'm coming.
No, you can't. Well, I'm coming. No, you can't
come. I can do what I want to do. No, you can't. You might want to, but you can't
do it. You say, well, that seems so
restrictive. It's not restrictive. It includes everybody whom God
has called. But if you can't come, you can't
come. That is, within your natural ability is not the possibility
for you to come to God. It's not there. Because your
mind, your will, your emotions and your conscience are all driven
by a sinful, depraved, carnal nature. You love sin and you
hate God. Those who hate God, will they
choose God? Of course not. They hate Him. I don't choose what I hate. And
neither do you. You never will. You will not
do what you want to do. Get over it. And you will not do what you
can't do. Men cannot come unless God draws
them, drags them, brings them to Christ. And men cannot come
and are not inclined to come because they are controlled in
mind, heart, and word and deed by their depraved, God-hating
nature. What did Christ preach? He preached the sovereignty of
God and salvation. And secondly, He preached the
total depravity and inability of men. Sovereignty of God. Total depravity
and inability. Our Lord taught that. The third
thing, look at John chapter 6 and verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Look at John chapter 17, his
high priestly prayer. John chapter 17. In verse 9,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me, because they are thine. I pray for them. I
pray not for the world. Now does that mean anything?
Do you hear those words there? Do you hear what he's saying?
I pray for those you gave me. I don't pray for anybody else.
What does that do to this idea of this universal love and universal
salvation and universal desire of God to do something? Christ
said, I ain't going to pray for them. I'll pray for the ones you give
me. But I'm not praying for any of them. And all you give me
are going to come to me. And when they come to me, they'll
never be cast out. They'll never be cast out. Our
Lord frequently spoke of those who were given to Him in the
covenant of grace, in the covenant of love. He spoke of them often
in Scripture. Look at a few passages with me.
Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. Our Lord
says in verse 14, For many are called, that is the general call
of the gospel, but few are chosen. If you are chosen, Mark chapter
13 and verse 20. And except the Lord had shortened
those days, no flesh should be saved but for the elect's sake.
Our Lord taught election. Elect's sake. Whom He hath chosen,
He hath shortened those days. John chapter 15. John chapter 15 and verse 19. If you are of the world, well
let's look at verse 16 first. You have not chosen me, I have
chosen you and I have ordained you that you should go forth
and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. And
whatsoever you ask my name, of my Father, I'll give it to you.
He said, I've chosen you and ordained you that you'll bring
forth fruit. And not only that, whatever you bring forth in fruit
is going to remain. It ain't going away. You're going to break
forth fruit. He's ordained it. Look at verse
19. If you were of the world, the world would love his own.
But because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of
the world. Therefore, the world hateth you. There's an element
here that says the world hates God's elect and God's people
because God chose them. That's why they hate them. That's
why they hate them. Some would say that the gospel
does not involve the preaching of election. I've heard people
say, well, you know, that's one of those confusing things. You
don't have to preach. You have to preach the gospel. Our Lord preached it.
And He's the example of what preaching is. He preached it.
Our Lord was anointed to preach the gospel. That's what it says. And He continually made distinction
between those who were His and those who were not by referring
to His as chosen and elected and those who were not as disregarded. Why do you teach them parables,
His disciples said? Because dearly beloved, it's
given unto you to understand the kingdom, the mysteries of
the kingdom. I didn't give it to them. I gave it to you. My beloved,
don't worry little children, it's the Lord's pleasure to give
you the kingdom. What did our Lord preach? He
preached the sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and
unconditional election. That's what He preached. Unconditional
election. Look at John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. He giveth His life
for the sheep. Look at verse 15 of the same
chapter. As the Father knoweth me, even so I know I the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. Who's he talking about? Those whom God has given him.
He'll go on to say that. God gave him the sheep later
on in this very same chapter. But over in that same high priestly
prayer in John 17, verses 1 and 2, he said he lifted up his eyes
to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son,
that thy son may also glorify thee, as thou hast given him
authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. They're going to get eternal
life here, didn't they? I lay down my life for the sheep."
Contrary to popular belief, our Lord did never say anywhere in
His book that He came into this world to make salvation possible
for all men, or that He died for all men. He never, ever says
that. He rather declared in no uncertain
terms that He came to save them that were given Him by the Father.
given him by the Father. He says, I give my life, I lay
down my life for the sheep. Our Lord was given His earthly
name Jesus by heavenly edict, and that earthly name was a declaration
of what He would accomplish and for whom His work would be accomplished.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. And of that work for which He
was named, the salvation of His people from their sins, our Lord
declared that He had accomplished that work. I have finished the
work. which thou gavest me to do, I have revealed you unto
all that you have given me." John 17 fold. What did our Lord
preach? He preached limited atonement
for particular redemption. I laid down my life for my sheep. For my sheep. Who are His sheep? Those that were given to Him.
Those over whom He is the good pastor or the good shepherd.
Those who know the shepherd. And those He knows. They'll not
follow a stranger. They'll follow Him, Scripture
says. Fifthly, John chapter 3. John chapter 3, verse 7 and 8. He says this to Nicodemus, marvel
not that I said you must be born again. The wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every
one that is born of the Spirit. Born of the Spirit. Keeping that
in mind, turn back over to John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, verses 26
and 27, He describes who those sheep
are and how they will react to the gospel. He said, but you believe not
because you're not my sheep. Do you hear what he's saying
there? And look at that real close. Look at it. He doesn't say believing makes
you my sheep. He said, the reason you don't
believe is because you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. Because you're not my sheep,
as I said unto you. And how do we know the difference?
He said, my sheep. Who are they? He said, I lay
down my life for them. I lay down my life for them.
I die for them. I give my life for them. The
sheep. Who are the sheep? My sheep. Hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. That's right there. It's as clear
as that. How'd they become a sheep? They
didn't become a sheep. A sheep don't become a sheep.
A sheep is a sheep. It's always a sheep. Say, well,
I thought a goat became a sheep. Well, you're wrong. Just forget
that. A goat's a goat and a sheep's
a sheep. Never the twain shall meet. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. That's a set thing. Whoever his
sheep are, the ones he laid down his life for, the one he died
for, Whoever they are, they hear His voice. He knows them. They follow Him. None of those
terms are given to any interpretation but an actual true accomplished
fact. These things are not probabilities
or possibilities or maybe it could be or should be. These
things are absolutes. I know them. They follow me. They hear my voice. Who? My sheep. What else does He say? And I
give them eternal life. Now do you see an iffy in that? Do you see a contingency here?
Well, I give them eternal life if they will to have it, if they
want to have it, if they come down front, if they make a decision
for Jesus. Is that what He said? My sheep
hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me, I give them eternal
life. And they, they, those sheep for whom He died, for whom He
laid down His life, who hear His voice and follow Him, those
sheep are given eternal life and they shall, shall never perish. Now if one of these perish, for
whom he died, he's a liar and a fraud and we need to shut this
place down or turn it into a barn and start having some fun. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, my father, which gave them me is greater than
all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand,
I and my father alone. And once again speaking as he
was, they took up stones to kill him. It goes on to say, Our Lord said to those Pharisees
in Matthew chapter 9, He said, I didn't come to call you. I
came to call sinners to repentance. I didn't come to call the righteous
but bring sinners to repentance. The prince of preachers made
it plain that those whom he came to save would be called by an
invincible, invisible power called the Holy Spirit, the very third
person of the triune Godhead, and they would be called through
the preaching of the gospel. In John chapter 17, and I preach
the praises, I pray not for them, I pray for them, but I also pray
for them who shall come and receive me because of their words. Because they pray. He told Nicodemus
that he had no ability in himself to understand the things of God.
in order to perceive the things of God, he must be spiritually
born again, or born from above, born of God the Spirit according
to the Spirit's sovereign pleasure, and that through the preaching
of the Word of God. I don't try to figure it all
out because it's too big, but I'll tell you this. You don't
begin to commence to start to understand anything about God
until you're spiritually made alive by the Holy Spirit of God.
And he don't do that apart from the declaration of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul met Christ on the road to
Damascus, was knocked flat down in the dirt by the power of that
great light in the sky. They knew he was in trouble.
He was going out to persecute the church and put them out of
business and had the church behind him for it. Had the whole outfit
in Jerusalem behind him. Got knocked down and put in the
dirt and he lifted up his eyes and said, Lord, what would you
have me do? Who are you? The Lord said, isn't it hard
for you to kick against the prey? He said, I've had you on these
rails. Had you in between these two poles, these two lines here
and they're just goads all sticking out there. He said, in all your
life you've just been running into this and that, running into
that. He said, aren't you tired of that man? Isn't it hard to
kick against the pretty? Who are you? I'm the Lord. Lord,
what would you have me do? Go down to this fellow's house
and stay there, because you're blind and you can't see. Go and
stay down there. Well, what's going to happen?
You'll find out. And he went to that man's house and stayed
there in that man's house, blind as a bat. He couldn't see a thing. He had had an experience. A lot
of people have experiences. Saul had had an experience. Then
God sent him a man named Ananias, a preacher. And he said, Brother,
Brother Saul, Brother Paul. Brother? Brother? Who are you? I'm a Christian. I'm one that
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. God has chosen you so that you'd
see the just one, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has chosen you and
ordained you to preach the Gospel and be a witness for Him throughout
all the world. Now rise up and get busy. Rise
up and get busy. When the man God sent preached
the Gospel to Saul of Tarsus, the scales fell off his eyes. Now you may be under the gospel
many, many years and have numerous experiences and emotional upheavals.
You may want in your heart to be the kind of person you ought
to be. But I'm telling you this, until God sends you somebody
to tell you the gospel and the Holy Spirit takes that word and
strips your cornea of your blindness, you'll remain in darkness even
under the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nicodemus, you can't know anything
unless God gives you life from above. And that's through the
Word of God, according to 1 Peter 1, verses 23-25, James 1. He declared unto the unbelieving
Jews who surrounded him on Solomon's porch that they did not believe
because they were not his sheep, setting them aside in the purpose
of grace. That's what he did. You're not my sheep. I came to
die for my sheep. I live for my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice. They know me. I know them. They follow me.
I give them eternal life. No man is able to pluck them
out of my hand. And you're not them. You don't believe me because
you're not them whom I came to die for. You're not Thee. John 6, verse 45 says, All that
the Father teaches comes to Christ. And again, He said to those without
ability or inclination toward Him, You're not My sheep. What did our Lord preach? Sobbing
to God? Total depravity of man? the unconditional election of
grace, the particular redemption of
His people, and the irresistible grace of God. I call my sheep
by name when I call them. They come. Everyone that the
Father teaches comes to me. Everyone. Sixthly, John chapter
10 verse 28. We just read, I give to them
eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. No man. John 6, All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in a
wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not to do my own
will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is my Father's
will which is in me. Of all he has given me I shall
lose nothing, but raise it up again in the day. I will, he
said in that high appreciative prayer, that they be with me. And that they know that you love
them just like you love me. And you love me from the foundation
of the world. I will that they be with me.
We'll be perfect, perfect in one. I in them and thou in me. In John chapter 10, he was still
speaking to the same unbelieving Jews on Solomon's porch concerning
his sheep. And our Lord proclaimed that
their eternal destiny, the sheep's eternal destiny, their final
glorious estate of bliss was sure. I give them eternal life. They shall never perish. Speaking
of those who were given to Him in an election of grace, our
Lord said, And this is My Father's will which is sent Me, that I
lose not one of them, but raise them all up again in the last
day. Speaking of the work that He
had finished, our glorious Savior said in John 17, I will that
they be with Me. It's going to happen, folks.
What did our Lord preach? Some new thing? He preached the
sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, unconditional
election, limited atonement, and preservation of the saints. That's what our Lord preached.
Nothing new here. The prince of preachers, the
only begotten of the Father, the one and only to preach the
gospel, preach the gospel of God's sovereign grace. Why? Because that's what God's grace
is, it's sovereign. The reason we put sovereign on
it because so many people talk about grace like it's some kind
of anemic thing you can suck up a little bit of every once
in a while. God's grace is sovereign. If God graced you, you got graced. Completely graced. Our Lord preached
the sovereignty of God, total depravity of man, unconditioned
election, limited atonement, particular redemption, irresistible
grace, and the preservation of the saints. Old stuff this. Nothing new here. Don't come
looking for something new. Because it ain't going to find
it here. How old is it? Old as God himself. Old as God
himself. I'll tell you what I'm going
to do. I don't know about you, I hope you will too. I'm going
to pitch my tent right here. And I'm going to stay at this
campsite until the day I die. Because this is the doctrine
of the one whom God sent to preach the gospel. And I won't be like
him. In the preaching, I won't be
like him. Father, bless us to understand and pray in Christ's
name. Amen.