invite your attention back to
Isaiah chapter 1 verse 20. This morning as I was sitting in front of the TV eating
my oatmeal and having a cup of joe, flipping through the channels,
I ran across this thing on the Today Show where this woman was
talking about the power of words. And it was talking about words
that you can, phrases that you can live by. One lady said she built her business
on no pain, no gain. And there were different mottos.
I've always tried to live by this motto, there's two things
I don't like about you and one of them is the other. But that's
neither here nor there. But that's my motto, it has been
for some time. But she was talking about the
power of the ability of just natural words taking place in
our minds and causing us to be different people. And as she was doing that, I
was thinking, she's talking about refrigerator magnets and little sayings on refrigerator
magnets which do influence people's lives. And we're handling the Word of
God. which always does what God intends
it to do. These words of Isaiah here refer
to the message that he has delivered in verses 1 through 19. These words are a proclamation
of the origin of the message that he has just preached. The
sermon Isaiah preached was not his. It was the Lord's message. It was the Lord's message. And
the voice that the people heard was Isaiah's, but the message
was from God Himself. It was God who spoke. Think about that. It was God
who spoke. You'll notice in our text in
verse 20, the word it is in italics. It can be lifted without doing
damage. And I like it without it. For the mouth of the Lord
has spoken. Has spoken. It was God who spoke. And the
lips that delivered were an earthly vessel attached to the mouth
of a man named Isaiah. But the words spoken and the
message delivered were from God. And they came down as rain from
the heaven. and went to where God sent them
and had the effect that God had ordained and did not return to
God failing in any way. They did
exactly what they were ordained to do. The prophet of God without
fear spoke confidently, dogmatically and with bold authority because
he knew that the message he preached was spoken by God. Spoken by God. The people heard from God that
day and the message was very plain. If you read the first
19 verses of Isaiah chapter 1, you will find that they heard
that though they were religious people, that they were totally
depraved. They were totally depraved. That is what they heard from
this prophet. God had spoken to them and told them this. He
told them that they rebelled, that an ox and an ass were smarter
than they were and more considerate than they were. They were a people
who were laden down, heavy laden with iniquity. They were corruptors. They weren't just corrupt. They
were corrupters. What they did corrupted other
people. They had forsaken the Lord. They
had provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. They had gone
away backwards. which is a word you'll find later
used when our Lord talked about preaching the gospel to them
and telling them of the rest wherein they might find sweet
rest, but they would not. And He said, Yet the Word shall
come upon you, line upon line, and precept upon precept, here
a little and there a little, and with stammering lips and
another tongue I shall teach this people. And the Word will
ensnare you. And the Word will drive you backwards. Why? Because it is the Lord that
spoke. It is the Lord that spoke. The Lord said of these people,
He said, I am not going to whip you anymore. You just revoke
more and more. He said, the Lord said of this
people, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head,
there is no soundness. You're like jellyfish. There's
no soundness. There's no backbone. There's
no life. It's just nothing to you. In fact, you're like this
horrible sore. We don't think of ourselves like
that, but think of yourself like that for a moment. Think about
an angry sore, infected and oozing all sort of corruption and matter. God said, that's what you are
from here to here. And not only that, nobody's bothered
to try to put some salve on you or mollify you or bind you up
at all. You're just oozing corruption
and infection. And that's what you are. That's
the nature. Who in the world would call a
man like that? God has spoken. The Lord has
spoken. Isaiah said, if you refuse and
rebel, You're going to die by the sword. What sword? The Word
of God. That sword. Because the Lord spoke. Because
the Lord spoke. He said, your country is a desert. Is a desert. It's burned with
fire. Strangers possess your cities.
You're overthrown by strangers. That's the report that Isaiah
gave to the people that God had spoke. God also says to this
people that there were some of them who were just like the rest
of them, yet had been elected by grace unto salvation. Think about that. Those whom
God had elected unto salvation, they were running sores, weren't
they? They were sick from head to toe. They were rebellious. They had
less integrity than an ox or an ass. They were rebellious
altogether. And God said, I picked out some
of you because I don't intend to lose all of you. He said in
verse 9, Except the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant,
we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like
Gomorrah. of that other group that he did
not choose, he says in the Revelation that they are the synagogue of
Satan. And they are like Sodom and Gomorrah.
They are like Sodom and Gomorrah. They do not mean they are not
religious. It just means they are like Sodom and Gomorrah.
So here we are totally private. He is a priest. Election is priest. Also, these folks have heard,
because God has told them, has spoken, that their religious
efforts were utterly useless. That is what He says in the latter
part of this. �Hear ye the word of the Lord,
ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the law, ye rulers
of Gomorrah.� Who is He talking to? He is talking to His people.
He says, �To what purpose in the multitude are your sacrifices
unto Me?� Why do you do that? I'm full of burnt offerings.
I had plenty of that. Fed up with them is what he said. I'm
full of the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of
bulls or of lambs or of he-goats. All you bring for me, don't do
a thing for me. It just makes me upset. When you come to appear
before me, wouldn't you get the idea that you should? Bring no
more vain oblations or sacrifices. Incense is an abomination. Your
prayers are an abomination. The prayers of the wicked are
an abomination to the Lord. The new moons and the Sabbath,
all those feast days, they don't mean anything to me. The calling
of assembly, the holy assembly, the Passover, don't mean a thing
to me, God said. He said, I cannot away with it,
it's an equity. Even your solemn meeting, even
your solemn meeting, your new moons and your appointed feasts,
my soul hateth. Think about that, soul hate from
God. I am weary to bear them. You
religious efforts, when you spread forth your hands, I'm not going
to hear you. I'm not going to hear you. I'll hide from you.
Yea, when you make many prayers, I'll not hear. Your hands are
full of blood. You're a bunch of murderers. That's what you are. Then our
Lord tells them in verses 16 and 17 that they cannot save
themselves. And they heard of the free grace
of God toward helpless sinners in Christ's substitution in verses
18 through 20 when He said, Come, let us reason together. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. White as snow. If you be willing. How shall they be willing? This
wicked, running sore of a person, rebellious
Always. How in the world can they be
willing? God says, Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. And that is the power of the
Gospel. And Isaiah finishes that message,
or that part of the message, with a powerful Amen. And the
Amen was the mouth of the Lord has spoken. The mouth of the
Lord has spoken. He had spoken, Isaiah had spoken
the Word of the Lord. He, like Paul, was free of the
blood of those who heard him because he had declared all the
counsel of God. And when he had finished his
tasks, he declared to the people that they were accountable for
what they heard. Because he said, the mouth of
the Lord has spoken. mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The Word of God is never heard with impunity. I know men think
that it doesn't mean anything to me, but listen to me, if you've
heard the Word of God, if you've heard the Gospel, it's done something
to your brain, your mind. Somewhere down where you live
where maybe you don't even realize it, no, it's there. It's made its way to where it's
supposed to go. And one day you're going to hear from it again.
That's the promise of Scripture. The Word of God, the Gospel,
is never heard with impunity. Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, because
man is God's creature. He is God's property. And when
the Creator condescended to speak to His creatures, they are responsible
to hear, to obey, and to bow. They are responsible to do that.
And if they don't, What is going to happen? Look
at John chapter 12. Our Lord is speaking. Having established the death
that he should die in the first or the middle part of John chapter
12, He says this in the last part of John chapter 12. Verse 48, He says, He that rejecteth
Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth him. The
Word that I have spoken. The same will judge him in the
last day. The Word that I have spoken. Men talk about hearing
from God all the time. Let me tell you this. God has
spoken. Here it is. God was silent after
he wrote the Old Testament for 400 years. Not one word was heard
from any prophet Not one word was spoken by God. It was as
much as God was saying all those 400 years. When people would
say, Well, where is God? He'd say, You've got My Word.
You've got My Word. Well, God has finished this book. Men aren't hearing extra-biblical
revelation no matter what they say. God said, I've spoken now. Here it is. I've spoken. I've spoken. The mouth of the
Lord has spoken. The next time He speaks, it's
all over. I want to hear from God. Are
you sure? Are you sure? I'll tell you how
you're going to hear from God. You're going to hear what He
has said. That's the only way you're going
to hear from God. That's the only way you're going to hear.
Five things I want us to look at this morning quickly. These are the five things. The
mouth of the Lord hath spoken is a declaration of the inerrancy
and infallibility of the Scripture. These are not the words of men. of the Lord has spoken it. He cannot lie. Therefore, the
words are infallible and inerrant. Secondly, the mouth of the Lord
has spoken is the authority that backs up the gospel that we preach. Thirdly, the mouth of the Lord
has spoken is the foundation upon which we declare to sinners
the necessity of faith and repentance The mouth of the Lord is spoken
assures us that when the gospel is preached, it is a matter of
some urgency, isn't it? Finally, the mouth of the Lord
is spoken is the basis and foundation of our faith. What is your faith? God is spoken. Well, don't you
have something else to go on? Don't you have some works you
can look at, some evidence that you're really a child of God?
No. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. That's the whole matter
of faith, the basis of it. First of all, the mouth of the
Lord has spoken. It is a declaration of the inerrancy
and infallibility of Scripture. is inspired by God the Holy Spirit
and is therefore the infallible record, the inerrant revelation
of that which has been spoken by God Himself. That is what
Paul told young Timothy. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction
and instruction that the man of God might be truly furnished
unto all good works. When Peter wrote his general
epistle to the church, here is what he said about the Scriptures
in reference to seeing something absolutely fantastic. He is talking
about the Mount of Transfiguration and seeing Christ shining like
the sun. I mean, that must have been something.
That was a big deal. There is no doubt about that.
There is no doubt about that. in 2 Peter chapter 1, recalling that incident, he says
in verse 16, he said, Now listen, this ain't no story. This ain't
no fairy tale. He said, What I'm about to tell
you ain't no fairy tale. I was there, bud. I was an eyewitness. I seen it with my own eyes. We
are not following cunningly devised fables when we made known unto
you the power and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. We have seen it up close and
personal. Peter could say, I even saw men,
two men, go across the time-space continuum
and land right there on that hill. Moses. How did he know who Moses
was? He knew. And Elijah. How did
he know who Elijah was? I saw two men. You know what
they talked about? They talked about abortion rights. They talked about political things. They talked about prayer in school
and putting the Ten Commandments on the wall. What did they talk
about? Peter said, I was there, let
me tell you what they talked about. They talked about the decease
which Jesus Christ should accomplish at Jerusalem. They talked about
what His death would do. That's what they talked about.
Why? Because that's what they've always
talked about. The law and the prophets gave witness of Christ.
That's what they've always talked about. And so they just kept
on talking about it when they came back from yonder. into the
present day, viewed by Peter. He said, I have seen some things,
bud. How many of you? How many of you would jump up
and down if you saw a ghost? How many of you would jump up
and down if suddenly someone whom you knew to be a biblical
character appeared before your eyes? How many of us would just
go hog-wild? We would probably sell tickets
if we saw Christ's transfiguration on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Face brighter than the noonday sun? Robes glistering white,
so white that no more white than any fuller or bleacher could
ever make them? Well, we'd probably be like Peter,
I just want to build a couple of tabernacles, maybe three here,
one for the law and one for the prophets and one for you. Peter
said, I've seen it face to face. And remember, Peter's the one
who said that. So part of what he's saying here is relating
to something that happened after he said, let's build three tabernacles.
He said, ìFor we have not followed cunningly devised fables when
we were made known to you the power of the coming of Jesus
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received
from God the Father honor and glory when there came a voice
to him from the excellent glory, ìThis is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased.î You reckon Peter was remembering, ìI never
thought about you, Lord, how stupid I was.î Now look what he says, ìNow all
of that great and glorious thing I saw, we have a more sure word of prophecy.î
ìA more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn, and your day star rise in your heart.î Well, whatís
he talking about? Look at verse 20, ìKnowing this
first, that the prophecy of the Scripture, no prophecy of Scriptures
by private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old
times by the will of man, but the holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. What's he saying? Here's the
real thing. God's spoken. And it's written
down for us. Not seeing stuff. Believing stuff. Believing stuff. There is no
other book like this book. It stood the test of time. It
is still my number one bestseller. Thirty-five hundred years. Men
have read this book. Men have heard this book preached. Only this book is infallibly
inspired by God, written by men who were, as they penned the
words, infallibly directed by the Spirit of God to record exactly
what God had said. You say, only a fool or a Christian
would believe that. what we hold in our hands, what sits in our laps even now. God wrote. God spoke. I'll tell you, sometimes when
I think about it, it sends a shiver up my spine. God spoke. He, the Sovereign Maker, is the
author of this book. The substance of this entire
book is the truth. The truth. This book alone is
the means by which the God of all glory reveals Himself to
His people in mercy and in grace. This book alone reveals the person
and work and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this magnificent
tome, spoken by the voice of the Almighty, contains nothing
but absolutes and certainties. This book just has no ifs, ands,
or buts in it. Do you notice that? Have you
read it? It just talks about what is, and what is going to
be, and what has been. That is it. This wondrous book. Isaiah said, The Word of our
God shall stand forever, shall stand forever. And the opinions
of men are manifold, and pass off the scene when they pass
off the scene. I know we like to look at, I
love to read Shakespeare. I just find him fascinating the
way he spoke and read. You know, and people talk about
Shakespeare that he's eternal. No, he ain't. His words ain't eternal either.
Much as I love Him, I'll tell you, when I get to glory, I ain't
going to remember a thing He said. I'm not going to be quoting
Shakespeare to Christ. I'll guarantee you that. Neither
will you. The Word of God shall stand forever. Look around
you. Look at the people you love. Look at the things you love.
Look at the things you've invested yourself into. All that stuff
is gone in a blink of an eye. The Word of God will abide forever. Science, so-called, varies with
every new discovery. I can at least name five times
in the last three or four years that coffee has either been the
worst thing in the world for you or the best thing in the
world for you. We're talking about global warming
now. A fellow said the other day,
by 2016, there may be no more polar bears. Well, okay. If that's the way it's got to
be, that's the way it's got to be. That's the way it's got to be. I don't believe
that, but it sure sounds good. It's all speculation, but it
sure makes people spend a lot of money. You think of global warming,
I'll tell you when it's really going to get hot. One day. Philosophies dance on
the winds of change. God has spoken. That's what this
says. God has spoken. And His Word
is immutable, unalterable, and fixed forever. The plague of
humanity is to ever Find some new thing. A lot of times it's
the plague of theologians to try to get some new nuance, some
new thing. This book is not a hard book
to understand. It's a hard book to swallow.
It's spoken in very plain language. Very few words are more than
three syllables in this whole book. Except for names, sometimes
they run on three or four. It's a plain book. People just
want it to be more than that. They want it to be something
else. This is what God spoke to dumb asses. so that he could
understand it. Not to geniuses, to people who
are dumb as a box of rocks, dead as a bag of hammers. God Almighty
speaks in terms that we can understand. And he spoke. God spoke. I'm so glad John 1 doesn't say,
In the beginning was the silence. It says, In the beginning was
the Word, the divine Logos, the communication of God communicated. God has spoken. Religion thrives on new ways
while discouraging old things and discounting old things. Every
preacher of the Gospel has been told that what he preaches is
outdated. One fellow said to a friend of mine who died recently,
who was a preacher, he said, you believe that old predestination
stuff, don't you? He said, yeah, it's old. It's
old. It's as old as God. It's as old
as God. The impudent count God's Word
as impertinent. The believer loves things that
are as old as God Himself. Seek out the old paths, God said,
the old paths. The Word of God is power, unstoppable
in its course to fulfill all the things that God intends for
it to fulfill and has purpose for it to fulfill. It is sharper
than any two-edged sword. It divides the very joints and
marrows and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. If
God ever gives you a spiritual mind, awakens you through this
Word by His Spirit. You're going to feel like when
you read this book, somebody wrote down your very thoughts
and intents, that it's discovered. It's discovered. The Gospel is
the power of God, the dunamis of God unto salvation to everyone
that believes. And this book has been the conversion
of paupers and princes. In fact, it's made kings to sit
down beside hoodlums and rejoice in each other's presence. This
made whores feel like they could sit down with the very Lord of
Glory and be welcomed in His presence. The poor and the rich. This word
doesn't mean anything. It's not affected by whether
you're poor or rich. It doesn't affect you that way. It has moved the hearts of kings
as well as slaves to bow before the Maker. Though we are all
unable to explain it, this Word is the means and instruments
of life. And it ain't because I ain't
tried to figure it out. I've been trying to figure it out
for 30 years. I ain't got it yet. How I can stand here as
a sinner saved by grace and speak the Word of God to you? And God,
by His Spirit, can make it live in your soul. And only He can. And that's just amazing, to give
you birth into His Kingdom through the foolishness of preaching.
Of His own will beget He us with the Word of Truth, it says. It gives faith. Faith is a gift of God. He gives
it to whomsoever He will. How does He give it? Through
His Word and what He spoke. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Hearing by the Word of God gives
us spiritual direction. It's a lamp unto our feet and
a light unto our path. It opens our mind. It gives understanding
to the simple. This blessed book convicts, convinces,
destroys and gives hope, slays and comforts all in one fell
swoop. We do not apply to our opinion
or poll of the masses. We believe because the mouth
of the Lord has spoken. The mouth of the Lord has spoken
is the authority that backs up the preaching of the gospel.
We are nothing. Preachers are nothing. The Word
of Isaiah is nothing. The Word of Paul is nothing.
Who is Paul and who is Apollos? We are just people who sow seed.
It is God that gives the increase. We speak the Gospel and the Gospel
is something, though we are nothing. The Gospel we speak is something. It is really something. We bring good tidings and glad
tidings of good things. Our message is simple. Thus saith
the Lord." Because it is the Lord's Word,
we as Paul come with fear and trembling, careful to utter what
God is saying, to say right things concerning God. We seek to be
plain because we want any result to be attributed to God alone.
We repeat the same note over and over again because God does
not change, but because we preach the gospel. God's Word to you. God's Word. We do so with boldness
and confidence. When I tell you what I think,
I preface it with a disclaimer and do so apologetically because
my notion, even if it's correct, carries no weight whatsoever. But when we declare God's Word, We bow to no authority, no government,
no nothing. God has spoken. God has spoken. God has spoken from His throne
where He reigns. You know, the only independent
person in the world, owned by world standards, is the believer. He answers to nobody but God.
He really doesn't. That's not to say he's a lawbreaker. He's not. But he answers to God. Where did you get your thoughts
from? God has spoken. Well, don't you have anything
to say? One man said, hang the quotations, man. Tell me what
you know. I'm sorry. Got to do the quotations. God
said, God has spoken. The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. That means that dogmatism is the order of the day and men's
opinions are of no value whatsoever. Well, here's what I think. I
don't care and God doesn't care what you think. If you've heard
the truth, any thought you have other than the thought of absolute
bowing to the truth is heresy. The root word for heresy is opinion.
Check it out. The believer declares the gospel.
Paul said, Necessity is laid upon me. I've got to preach the
gospel. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. We preach ruin by the fall and redemption by the
blood and regeneration by the Holy Spirit. And God will honor
His Word. He said, I'll send it out. It
will do what it's supposed to do. It will not come back to me void.
In the building of God's kingdom, nothing is of value but gospel
preaching. That's how the kingdom is built.
The preaching of the glories of Jesus Christ. And those who
hear you are responsible to receive the Word of God as if it was
God Himself speaking. Our Lord said to those disciples,
He said out, He said to them, If they won't hear you, they
won't hear Me. If they won't hear you, they won't
hear Me. Look what Paul said to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. when he talked about the Word
of God being preached to them and how they received it. In
verse 13, he says, ìFor this cause also thank we God without
ceasing.î And God is to be thanked for it because thatís how it
happened. Without ceasing. Because when you receive the
Word of God, which you heard from us, you received it not
as the Word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God.
which effectually worketh also in you that believe." You heard
it as if God Himself spoke it. If the only voice you hear is
my voice, you are in trouble anyway. You better pray, God,
the Spirit, by Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep,
speaks to your heart and says, follow me. You better hope He
does. I can tell you all day long, it's just my words. But
what would it be like if you heard the words I speak to you
as if they were God's words Himself? That's what we do. We tell folks
the gospel. The Lord has spoken. You and I are accountable for
what we hear and what opportunity we have to hear it. Take heed
of what you hear our Lord say. Thirdly, the mouth of the Lord
is spoken. It is the foundation upon which we declare to sinners
the necessity of faith and repentance. The gospel preacher does not
appeal to men upon the basis of human reason. Human logic,
human experience, or human learning. That is not how we appeal to
be. The preacher of the Gospel comes with the Holy Scripture.
In the name of God, for the sake of your immortal soul and for
the glory of Christ, he demands, he demands in God's name that
you bow to the Word of God. Do it now. You are commended. You are commended. This is the
report that God has given of His Son. If you don't believe
it, you make God a liar according to 1 John chapter 5. This is
the report. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. The gospel is not a request.
It is not an offer. It is not an invitation. The
King does not invite. He issues a summons. And you've
got to show up or find yourself in rebellion to the King. The
Gospel is a commandment. The Gospel is not Ripley's Believe
It or Not. It is the Word of the Lord. Believe
it or perish. Believe it or perish. This is
the condemnation that light has come into the world. And men
love darkness more than light because their deeds are evil.
God has committed all men everywhere to repent, commanded them to
repent. This is the commandment that
we speak unto you, said John. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
that you might have life. Fourthly, the mouth of the Lord
has spoken, assures us that when the gospel is preached, it is
a matter of supreme urgency. It is backed up by authority.
I don't know how to illustrate this very well, but I'm going
to do the best I can. If you were walking down the
street and I said, stop, more than likely you wouldn't stop,
would you? And if I said, stop in the name
of Tim James, it wouldn't do much good. But if I said, stop in the name
of the law, and you turned around and saw a badge on my chest and
a gun on my hip, you would know that I was not speaking in my
name. I was speaking backed up by the full authority of the
Constitution of the United States of America. If you don't stop,
you're going to have to pay for not stopping. You're going to
have to pay. Our Lord says, if you refuse
and rebel, you shall be devoured. ye shall be devoured. Be not
deceived, we all stand or fall by this word. God, the God who
holds your breath, your destiny in the palm of His hand, has
spoken. He has spoken. And any response
other than bowing is heretical and damaging to your soul. The collective composition of
all human wisdom gathered since the beginning of time is of no
value and is utterly impotent to the salvation of your soul.
We are in the wisdom of God. God said, He fixed it so by a
man's wisdom he could not know God. Know of a surety God is not too
good to punish sin. Men like to say that God is too
good to punish sin. Listen, God is too good not to
punish sin. Know of a surety your righteousness will not save
you from the wrath of God. Know of a surety that religion
cannot save you from the sword of justice. God does not make
idle threats. What He has spoken will come
to pass. The Lord has spoken. Finally, the mouth of the Lord
has spoken is the basis and foundation of faith. Faith is subjective. When I say that, don't misunderstand
me. It has an object. The object is Jesus Christ. But
faith is based on what is written, not on experience, not on what
you can prove, not on evidence. Faith is based on God said it. God said it. God has spoken. How do we know we are forgiven?
How do we know? The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. How can we be sure that Christ
will never leave us nor forsake us? The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it. How do we know that we will persevere
and overcome? The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. How do we know that goodness and mercy shall follow us all
the days of our life? Because the mouth of the Lord
has spoken it. Those who believe Christ have
eternal life because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. It
does not say, walk an aisle. It does not say, show me something. It does not say, prove that you
are a child of God. It says, believe, trust, and
you are saved. It can't be that. Oh yeah, it
is. Why? Because the mouth of the
Lord has spoken it. the mouth of the Lord has spoken. John chapter 17. We'll finish
up with these two verses and we'll go on home. John chapter
17. I preached a little long today
so I could make my wife wait a little longer to leave. John 17, verse 14. Christ said, ìI have given them
that word.î What a gift! And the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
thou shouldest keep them from evil. They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. Thy Word is
truth. I Peter chapter 1. Now, we don't
know much. We're looking through a glass
darkly. We're stumbling about in this world. But the believer
knows some things. I mean, he flat knows some things.
Scripture says he has an unction. He knows all things, and he understands
all things. And I believe what that means,
he understands all things as to their purpose, as to how they're
going to turn out, as to their reason for existence, including
himself. But Peter says this in 1 Peter
1, verse 18, ìFor as much as ye
know that ye are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
father, ye are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb without spot and blemish.î who barely was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times unto you, who by him do believe, in God that raised
him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and
hope might be in God. Seeing ye purified your souls
in obeying the truth, that is, believing, through the spirit
of unfeigned love to the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart, fervently being born again. not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, born by the
word, which liveth and abideth forever. For as far as our flesh
is, all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is the flower
of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth
away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. The Lord has spoken. Let the heavens rejoice. Let
the saints sing the song of glory. The Lord has spoken. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen. God bless you.