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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
Himself to man since the very beginning.
It's important to note that as well.
It's not the case that the Hebrews writer
is saying that God only revealed himself
to man during the law of Moses.
No man has always known about God.
Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 20,
the Apostle Paul makes that case as he
talks about both the Gentile and the Jew,
starting in chapter 2, talking about the
Jewish nation.
But he refers first to the Gentiles,
and he says that they are without excuse.
Why? Because God has revealed himself.
He says, For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Now the four there connects to verses 16
and 17,
where he says that everyone must obey the
gospel of Christ.
Why? For the wrath of God has been
revealed.
Everyone must obey the gospel because God
has shown man how he feels about sin.
God has shown man what sin does.
God has shown man where they will end up
if they do not obey the gospel.
And so he says, the wrath of God has been
revealed unto all men who hold
the truth in unrighteousness. In verse 19,
he says, Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them,
for God it showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seeing,
being understood by the things that are
made,
even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse.
And so there are two forms of revelation
mentioned here in this text.
It says that of creation and the spoken
word.
God has revealed how he feels about
unrighteousness,
but not only has God revealed how he feels
about unrighteousness.
The apostle Paul goes even deeper and says
that he is also revealed himself,
and that revelation can even be seen in
man.
That revelation can be seen in us when we
look around and we look at creation,
when we look at ourselves, and we see the
inalienable fact that there
is design that has been revealed.
And so Paul says, There is no excuse.
You have had revelation from the very
beginning.
You have known what God wants.
And then also God has shown Himself
through also creation.
There has never been a time when man had
to wonder what God wants.
Ever since creation, from the very
beginning,
man has known what God wants. Man has
known what God is like.
Man has known what he should do in
relation to God.
Now, man may have forgotten it.
Man may have misplaced that information,
man may have ignored that information,
but everyone knows that there is a God and
what he is like,
and they can know that because God has
spoken.
But exactly how important is God's
revelation to men?
How important is that statement?
God has spoken. I submit to you this
evening that its importance is seen
in two things.
Number one, its importance is seen in the
singularity of Revelation,
but then also it is seen in the
significance of Revelation.
Number two. Let's consider first the
singularity of Revelation.
When we consider the singularity of
Revelation,
we have to consider this a polemic
statement.
What is a polemic statement? It is a
statement that will generate controversy.
It's a statement to say that the Bible is.
The revelation of God, meaning not a
revelation of God,
but the revelation of God is certain to
raise the ire of those who
may have other revelations or who have
written other books and say that
it is from God. That's what we mean when
we say it is polemic in nature.
It may be a controversial statement to say
that the Bible is
the only revelation from God. That may be
a controversial statement,
but it is not an incorrect statement.
It is a true statement. It can be said of
no other book.
No other book even comes close to the
Bible.
The singularity of Revelation is
undisputed when we consider
the proclamations made in the scripture
about the Bible itself.
Now, when we read these proclamations,
we have to understand they are either true
or they are not.
They cannot be in the middle. Because it
is very emphatically written.
Notice what 2 Timothy chapter 3,
verses 14 and 17 says. The Apostle Paul
Writing to his son in the faith.
He speaks to Timothy and he says,
But you need to continue in the things
which you have heard and have learned
and have been assured of, knowing from
whom thou hast learned them,
and that from a young age you have known
the holy scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
What can you tell us about the scripture,
Paul? All scripture is given by the
inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect.
Thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Notice what he says. He says, All
scripture is given through neustos.
It is God breathed. It's a compound word
there,
God and new stos to breathe. And so the
verse can correctly read
all scripture is God breathed.
All scripture is God breathed.
Paul makes an emphatic statement that the
scriptures were not of man,
but of God.
The scriptures were not of man but of God.
Some people will start talking about,
well, that's what Paul said, and that's
what Peter said,
and that's what Jude said. No,
that's what God said. When you start
talking like that,
when you start talking, well, that's just
what Paul said,
you have missed this point that Paul is
making.
You have missed the emphatic proclamation
that is set forth in Scripture that what
we have in this book does not come from
the mind of men.
It comes from the mind of God.
Yea, it is the mind of God. And so that's
not what they said,
that is what God said through them.
And so the Apostle Paul makes an emphatic
proclamation that all scripture
is given by the inspiration of God.
But then also consider not only the
proclamation of Paul,
consider the preaching of Peter in
relation to this fact.
Second Peter chapter one, verses nineteen
and twenty-one.
It says, we have also a more sure word of
prophecy,
whereunto you do well to take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place.
He said, You need to listen to the word of
God.
How do you need to listen to it?
When you're in a dark place and you cannot
see,
how much do you appreciate the ability to
shine a light,
to turn on a light? He says, That's how
you need to consider the word of God.
As a light that shines in a dark place,
until the day dawn and the day star arise
in your hearts,
knowing this first.
That no prophecy of scripture is of any
private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man,
but holy men spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit.
And so Peter makes an emphatic claim as
well.
He says, No scripture is of any idios is
that word there in the Greek.
It means one's own, that which pertains to
the individual.
No scripture is of any private or one's
own.
Interpretation that is epileusis to loosen
to solve to interpret.
What is Peter saying? He says,
when you read the prophecies of scripture,
when you read scripture, this is not the
interpretation of Ezekiel.
It's not the interpretation of Isaiah,
Jeremiah. You go through the list of all
the prophets,
both written and non-written. These are
not their interpretations,
these are not their private musings.
He says, These men were born.
They were born by the Holy Spirit.
They were carried along. We'll consider
that in a later sermon.
Not one piece of scripture came from the
private interpretation of the
men who wrote them. You are not reading
the opinions of Paul,
Isaiah, and Jeremiah. You are reading the
Word of God.
I don't know that I can say that more
emphatically.
I don't know that we understand the
concept of this.
This is the Word of God. This is God's
mind given to us.
How if we want to know what God is like,
He's already told us. I don't have to
wonder.
I don't have to speculate. But not only do
has he already told us,
we see in Scripture that the writers of
the Bible understood that it
was God's word that they were writing.
First Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 37,
the apostle Paul writing, he says,
If any man think himself to be a prophet
or spiritual,
let him acknowledge that the things I
write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord.
If you are a prophet, if you have been
inspired of God,
then you need to acknowledge that what I'm
saying comes from God.
Why? Because God is not going to
contradict Himself.
See, Peter could acknowledge the words of
the Apostle Paul.
Peter could say, This is the words of the
Apostle Paul,
and it comes from God's. Why? Because I've
received the same thing.
I've received the same thing. There is no
difference.
The Apostle Paul would also say in
Galatians chapter 1,
verses 11 and 12.
Galatians chapter 1, verses 11 and 12.
Let me get back there to the text.
There we go. It says, But I certify you,
brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man.
That the gospel which was preached,
he says, is not after man, for I neither
received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the
revelation of Jesus the Christ.
What is it?
He says, you need to understand that when
I preach the gospel,
I didn't get this from my grandpa and now
I'm telling it to you.
He says, it is not after man. I didn't,
I wasn't taught this. I didn't go to
school and then somebody taught me the
gospel.
You see how we learn the gospel is we have
to learn the gospel.
Somebody has to teach us the gospel.
The apostle Paul says, No, that's not what
happened to me.
I received what I'm telling to you
straight from God.
I received the revelation.
Of Jesus the Christ. And so the writers of
the Bible they understood that what they
were receiving was the Word of God.
What they were receiving was not the Word
of Man.
But not only did the writers understand
it,
we find in the New Testament that the
readers understood it as well.
We can go into the Old Testament and we
can look at all what the prophets said.
You know, people respected the words of
the prophets because they understood that
when a prophet spoke, he was speaking for
God.
And so they may not have liked what the
prophet said.
At times they killed the prophets,
Jesus says in Matthew chapter 23,
but they at least understood that what the
prophet said came from God.
But here in the New Testament we have the
same example.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13,
notice what it says. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2 and verse 13.
For this cause also, Paul says,
We thank God without ceasing, because when
you receive the word of God,
Which you heard of 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.
He says, When we were preaching,
you didn't sit in the pew, so to speak,
and say, Well, that's just mourning.
Well, that's just his opinion.
You didn't do that. You heard us,
and you recognize that this is the word of
God.
And so he commends the Christians in
Thessalonica for recognizing that when
the apostles preached, they received it as
the Word of God.
And so we have the writers who are saying
that they gave the Word of God.
We have the readers and we have the
listeners of the Word of God
who received the epistles, who sat in the
audience when the apostles were preaching.
They believed and they asserted that this
is the word of God.
And so we have the Bible saying
emphatically,
proclaiming
That they are preaching the word of God.
Not their opinions, not their views,
but the word of God. But here a fair
individual will raise an honest objection,
maybe, not knowing the scriptures,
and they would say, Well, Brother Mornay,
Paul and Peter claimed that they wrote
what they wrote came from God,
while we claim the very same thing.
Muhammad also claims that what he wrote
comes from God.
Joseph Smith also claims that what he
wrote comes from God.
There are many others today who also say.
That's what they have comes from God.
So, how do we distinguish? How can you
claim the singularity of the Bible when
we also have revelation? That is a genuine
claim,
and it deserves a genuine answer.
And the Lord did not leave us without the
ability to defend the scriptures
and the singularity of it. Consider the
facts of God's argument.
John chapter 14, verses 25 and 26.
I believe this is the most powerful
argument.
That we can render to anyone who says,
while we also received revelation.
Consider John chapter 14, 25 and 26.
Let me give you some background about this
situation.
If I give you some background about this
situation,
while I do that, let me chide these jokers
back there for changing my slide.
Y'all need to stop ch stop touching the
computer.
We're having computer issues back there,
and so it's it's messing everything up.
In John chapter 13, 14, 15, and 16,
and 17, the Lord is with his disciples.
It's a beautiful moment. The Lord is about
to be crucified.
He's having that last moment with his
disciples.
And he thanks the Father, very important.
He thanks the Father for them.
He thanks the Father that the Father has
given him these men whom
he has now trained for the last three
years.
And so the apostles were not just guys who
loathed and fished,
if you will. they were trained by Jesus
for the specific purpose
of being the ambassadors of his church,
for the specific purpose of receiving the
keys of the kingdom.
That's why they were trained. And so
that's the setting.
Jesus is talking about the men who God
gave him to train to be in charge
of his church. What does he say to those
men and about those men?
Notice it.
In verse 25 and 26 of John chapter 14,
Jesus says, These things have I spoken to
you,
to the apostles, being yet present with
you.
But the comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you, underscore it,
all things, and bring to your remembrance
whatsoever I've said unto you.
So he's telling them, the men that God
chose to be over his church,
to represent him, to be his spokesman.
Those men, he says, the Holy Spirit is
going to come,
and he's going to reveal all truth to you.
That's the promise he made to them.
He didn't make that to anyone else.
All truth will be revealed to you.
John chapter 16. Go with me to John
chapter 16,
verses 12 and 13. John chapter 16,
verses 12 and 13, it says, I have yet many
things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now. How be it
when he,
the spirit of truth, is come,
He will guide you into underscore it all
truth.
For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall
he speak,
and he will show you things to come.
What is the Lord promising his apostles?
He says, When the Spirit comes,
he's going to guide you into what?
All truth. Now, if someone says,
I'm going to give all of it to you,
how much of that is lacking? Nothing's
lacking.
So, what has Jesus said about his own word
here?
He said it would be revealed to who?
To the apostles. His word would be
revealed to the apostles first and
foremost.
On the day of Pentecost, they were all in
the upper room,
and they were in that baptism of fire,
as they said. Like cloven tongues of fire,
they received inspiration and they
preached the gospel.
Now, afterwards, others were able to
prophesy.
But how were they able to prophesy?
Only by the laying on of hands of the
apostles.
The apostles are the only ones who can
impart that.
And so the apostles are set on high by God
as those individuals who will
be over his church and who will receive
the revelation from God.
Not Joseph Smith, not Muhammad,
not a council, not a committee,
his apostles. His apostles would receive
what?
They would receive all truth. Not some of
it,
not part of it.
Not the beginning of it, and then later on
in the 21st century,
later on in 2026, that somebody else is
going to come along and give the rest of
it.
No, all truth does not leave room for more
truth.
All truth does not leave room for you to
come with more revelation.
If God said He gave all truth to His
apostles,
it is either true or it is not.
It is either the case that we have all
things or it is the case that we do not.
Either Jesus was wrong in his statement,
the spirit failed in his assignment,
or the person saying he received
additional revelation is lying,
at best, mentally unstable. At best.
And I say that in all sincerity.
When you start talking about the fact that
you heard someone talk to
you last night and gave you revelation and
you think it's God,
brethren, that's not normal. That's not
normal.
I don't mean to poke fun at them.
I don't mean to say that's not something
that happens.
Why? We know it doesn't happen because the
age of miracles is gone.
The age of miracles is over. And so if if
it is so,
if that is so, then every book that claims
to be the revelation of
God must be submitted to a test.
Now we'll put those books to the test in
another sermon.
But we need to consider this tonight.
66 books make up the Bible, and it is the
only written communication
we have from God.
It's the only written communication we
have.
We don't have any other written
communication.
This is it. There is no other book.
The Bible says and testifies to itself
that it is singular in nature,
and this fact, in and of itself,
highlights the significance that the Bible
plays in our lives.
Since this is the only book that we have
from God,
there is great significance. And so
When we consider the significance,
when we inventory the Bi the Bible's
relevance,
it should cause us to appreciate its
presence and its preservation over
thousands
of years. Here we have it. And the
unmistakable power it still wields in our
lives.
How powerful is this book? Well,
you just open it. Try opening it in
certain places.
That's how powerful it is. Try walking
into certain places and just opening it.
You can't even carry it into school and
open it without causing a big royal.
It'd be on the news. You brought the Bible
to school.
He read the Bible in school. That's how
powerful it is.
The Bible, if it was like Little Red
Riding Hood,
if it was a bunch of fables, as some
people have it,
a bunch of Jewish fables, if it was a
bunch of fables,
if it was a bunch of stories that couldn't
be verified,
why are you so upset about it?
Do you get that upset about Little Red
Riding Hood if somebody walks in
and has a Grimm's fairy tale book in his
hand?
Do you get that upset about that book as
well?
No, you don't. Why not? Because you know
that's not true.
But you can't say the same of this.
That's why you get upset with this thing.
Why? Because it's significant.
And so consider this: in contrasting the
wisdom of man with the wisdom of God,
the Apostle Paul wrote and elaborated on
the great significance this book
has for us. Consider what he says in 1
Corinthians chapter 2,
starting in verses 4 and 5. The Apostle
Paul,
as he contrasts the wisdom of man versus
the wisdom of God.
He talks about our dependence upon the
revelation of God.
He says, and my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom,
but in demonstration of the spirit and of
power,
that your faith should not stand in the
wisdom of men,
but in the power of God. He says,
When I preached unto you, I wasn't
preaching my opinions.
I was giving you the word of God.
Why? So that your faith should not rest in
what some man said.
So that your faith should not rest what
Joe down the street said,
so that your faith rests in the power of
God.
We understand then that the Bible,
the Word of God, is the catalyst of our
faith.
You can't have faith without the Word of
God.
You can live your entire life and you can
walk around,
and you might very well believe that there
is a designer because you see what
is in creation.
But you cannot have biblical faith without
hearing the word of God first.
Because faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God.
No revelation, no faith. If there is not a
revelation of the promises of God,
of the commandments of God, how could you
have faith in it?
You could not. And so Romans chapter 10
clearly says that the catalyst
of our faith indeed is the word of God.
And what does the Bible say that that
faith accomplishes?
Notice what the faith accomplishes.
He that believes and is baptized will be
saved.
Faith is salvation, Mark chapter 16,
16. But without faith, it is impossible to
please him.
Faith is living a life pleasing to God.
Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6.
And this is our victory that overcomes the
world,
even our faith. First John chapter 5 and
verse 4 says.
And so we have all of these things in
Christ.
Why? Because of faith. And how does faith
come?
Faith comes by the word of God.
Faith is critically important to our
salvation,
but if our faith rested in the wisdom of
man,
at its very best, it would be infallible,
it would be unstable, it would be
irrational,
it would be temperamental. Because what
would happen is if your faith,
let's just say we had a council here at
the Longmire Church of Christ,
we do not, for the record. If we had a
council here that decided doctrinal
matters
every year, guess what your faith would be
based upon?
What we decided.
But then what happens is someone comes in
and says,
Well, you know what? I don't think we
should be doing this.
I think we should be doing that.
And now we have a different doctrinal
stance.
Now we're your faith now has to do what?
It has to shift to something else.
And three years down the line,
four years down the line, someone comes in
and thinks up a different thing
and comes up with a different way.
And now your faith is constantly doing
what?
Constantly shifting. I guarantee you,
you will start losing faith. I guarantee
you,
you would not.
Hold on to that. Why? Because everything
you believe,
everything you hold to, constantly
changes.
Why? Because man is fallible. Because man
is not like God.
We make mistakes. We sin. And because we
do those things,
we're liable to make mistakes when it
comes to writing down rules and
regulations.
We might make a mistake and then have to
come back and say,
sorry, we got it wrong. We thought we were
supposed to have an organ,
but we, you know, we read it wrong.
You see, that's what happens when man
comes up with the things that builds
our faith. But Paul says we have received
God's revelation,
so that our faith is built upon the wisdom
of God.
And so Jesus is the author and the
finisher of our faith.
Our faith is placed in him. He is the
catalyst of our faith,
but also the Bible is the cultivation of
our faith.
Our dependence is seen in it.
Acts chapter 20 and verse 32 says,
And now, brethren, I commend you to God
and to the word of his grace,
which is able to do what? Build you up?
How are you going to be built up without
the word of God?
It's the only thing that can build you up.
Not only will this book give you faith,
but also it will build up the faith that
it gave you.
It's a good book. It's a good deal.
God says, if you read it initially,
you can have faith, you can garner faith,
you can believe.
But not only if you continue to read it,
it's going to build up your faith as well.
And so that's why it is filled with
commands to get into it,
to study it. But not only is it the
catalyst of our faith,
not only do we see its dependence as the
catalyst,
the cultivation, it is also the comfort of
our faith.
Notice what Peter says in 2 Peter chapter
1,
2 Peter chapter 1 and verses 2 and 4.
Second Peter chapter 1, verses 2 and 4,
it says, Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you.
Notice it. Grace and peace.
Are those things you want? Do you want the
grace of God?
Do you want the peace of God? He says
these things are going to
be multiplied unto you. How, Peter?
Through knowledge. Through knowledge,
it expresses a more thorough participation
in the acquiring of knowledge
and the part of the learner. The word for
knowledge in the Greek is gnosis.
Means to know. This knowledge here is
epigenosis.
It is the idea where the learner is
actively seeking
and acquiring something. And so it is,
he says, grace and peace be multiplied
unto your acquiring the knowledge,
to you bringing in the knowledge of who?
Of God and of Jesus our Lord.
He says, according as his divine power has
given us all things.
That pertain to life and godliness through
that knowledge of him that hath called
us unto glory and virtue, whereby we are
given us unto us exceeding great
and precious promises. That knowledge,
there's precious promises in there,
that by these he might be partakers of the
divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.
Grace and peace and all things pertaining
unto life and godliness are found
in the pages of holy writ. That's what
Peter is saying.
That's where it's found.
He says, I pray, he says that grace and
peace be multiplied unto you.
When you get into the book, you're going
to read about his grace,
you're going to read about his mercy.
You're going to read about the knowledge
of Jesus the Christ,
and it's going to give you the comfort
that you deserve in this life.
Not deserve rather, but you desire in this
life.
The Lord says, it is the cultivation of
our faith,
it is the catalyst of our faith.
It is the comfort of our faith.
And so we have a dependence on it because
without the Bible,
we don't have any of those things.
But not only is it a dependence,
we have a disability without it.
Notice what Paul says further.
Read on in 1 Corinthians chapter 2,
verses 9 through 11. He says, But as it is
written,
I has not seen nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of
man the things which God has prepared for
them that love him.
He's talking about salvation here,
he's not talking about heaven.
He's not talking about heaven.
He's not talking about the things of
heaven.
The context is salvation. He says,
no man knew exactly how this was going to
happen.
Not even the angels. Peter would say they
desire to look into those things.
They don't know. They're not omniscient
like God.
God is purposing and planning the
salvation of mankind.
But he says they haven't heard it,
they haven't seen it, but verse 10.
But now what has happened? God has
revealed them unto us by what?
By his spirit.
Go back to John chapter 14 and John
chapter 16.
That's what Jesus was talking about.
The Spirit is going to reveal all things.
And here the Apostle Paul affirms,
he says that God has revealed them unto us
by his spirit.
Why? Because the Spirit searches all
things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what man
knoweth the things of a
man save the spirit which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man,
but the spirit of God.
He says it was the Holy Spirit that came
and revealed unto us the things that
God has prepared. And why did the Holy
Spirit have to do that?
Because how else would we know?
How else would we know what God wants
unless God tells us?
You cannot know the mind of another.
If you drive down here 45, if you look to
your left,
there's on the on the left, I've seen it
once.
~ I don't know it's it was in a strip mall
or something like that,
and it was a psychic reading or something
like that.
Somebody's gonna read your palm.
Somebody's gonna tell you what's gonna
happen to you.
Somebody's going to tell you what is on
your mind.
I guarantee you they're lying.
I I guarantee you they're lying.
Nobody has the ability to read the mind of
another.
And even more so, to the nth degree,
we do not have the ability to know the
mind of God.
We wouldn't know what God wants unless God
told us.
And so we could not know his character,
what he is like, whether he is holy,
whether he is careless, whether he is
near,
whether he is far, whether he is one,
three, or a thousand. We wouldn't know
anything about God.
We could not know his commandments,
what he wants from us.
How to approach him, how to worship him,
how to please him. We wouldn't know
anything without the revelation from the
Spirit.
We could not know his consolation.
Is there salvation available for me
because of this problem of sin?
We wouldn't even know what sin is and that
there is a problem.
In fact, we would be so hopeless and
helpless,
we would be on our way to hell because of
sin and not know that there was sin.
And when we get there, we're like,
I didn't know. I didn't know.
And here I am burning in this eternal
fire.
I wish I had known. We would be wandering
aimlessly,
bewildered and full of questions.
Without revelation, man is not merely
uninformed.
He is in the dark with no lamp to light
the path that leads to hope.
There is nothing without the revelation of
God.
We are wholly disabled. We would not know
our own condemnation.
Romans chapter 6 and verse 23,
Romans chapter 3 and verse 23,
we wouldn't know anything about what sin
does.
And so our lives would be lived in abject
ignorance of the fact that
our ankles are on fire and the fact that
soon our souls would burn for all
eternity.
We would know none of that. But through
God's mercy and through
his magnificent grace, we have discovery
through it.
Our discovery through it is this.
Notice what Paul says in the very next
breath in verse number 10.
He says there, when he gives it in in
verse number nine,
he says, We have it has not been revealed.
Man does not know, but in verse 10,
he makes this grand switch. He says,
We didn't know anything, but now he says
God has revealed it unto us by his spirit.
If you look at verse 12, he says,
Now we have received not the spirit that
is in the world,
but the spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God.
Notice what he said, that we might know.
Not that we might guess, not that we might
hope.
In the worldly hope, not that we might
feel,
that we might know. You can know whether
you're saved or not.
You can know whether you've been forgiven
or not.
You can know whether you are going to
heaven or not.
You can know all of those things.
How? Because God has revealed it to us.
And so the apostle Paul says, We have this
grand discovery because of revelation.
Without revelation, we have nothing.
But now we can know his character.
I can know that God is light and in him is
no darkness at all.
1 John chapter 1 and verse 5. I can know
that God is light,
that he has no dealings with
unrighteousness,
that he is not going to be unfair,
unkind, or unjust. I can know that without
a shadow of a doubt,
God is gonna treat me right. I don't have
to wonder about it.
I'm not guessing at it, what God is like.
He told us what he's like.
But not only can I know his character,
I can know his commandments. John chapter
12 and verse 48,
Jesus said, He that rejects me and
receives not my word,
as one that judges him, the word that I
have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day.
And so the judge is the standard here,
the word that he has spoken. He says,
That's going to judge you. And so I can
know what's going to judge me.
I can know his commandments and how to
live.
And we do know his consolation.
The same consolation he gave to his
disciples.
In my father's house are many mansions,
he says, if it were not so, I would have
told you.
I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go to prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you unto
myself,
that where I am, there you may be also.
John chapter 14, verses 1 through 3.
I have grand consolation in Christ.
I can know about that consolation.
Why? Because it's in the pages of
Scripture,
but not only can I know his character and
his commandments and his consolation.
We do know the remedy for our
condemnation.
First Peter chapter 3 and verse 21.
The like figure unto aware unto baptism
doth also now save us.
I want to be saved from my sins.
Baptism saves us. Saves us,
not to the putting away of the filth of
the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience
towards God by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead.
John would then later on say, if any man
sin,
we have an advocate with the Father.
He says, You need to confess your faults.
You need to repent of sin. So not only
initially does God forgive sin,
but also here he says, as Christians,
God will continue to forgive if you
repent.
To say this book has significance to us is
an understatement.
We would be hopelessly lost, lost in this
world without this book.
And brethren, let me tell you,
there are people today, right now,
who are. They're lost. And they don't even
know they're lost.
They're lost because they don't even know
the path and that they don't even know
that their ankles are on fire and they're
going to burn in eternity
if they don't turn around. Who's going to
tell them?
Who's going to tell them that there's a
book?
Who's going to tell them that there's only
one book?
If only a group of people knew that?
If only a group of people have experienced
the blessings of having that book
and understanding it, if only there were a
group of people who were charged
to go into all the world and to tell the
people listen,
there is a God, He has a Son, He died for
you,
and you can have salvation that He
promised.
Isn't that us? That's us.
We have to tell them God has spoken.
The question is, are we listening?
You wouldn't know hope if it weren't for
this book.
You wouldn't know the depths of comfort if
this book had not revealed them.
You could not know true peace except by
the reading of its pages.
You wouldn't know the riches of his grace,
the power of forgiveness, or the promises
of eternal life without this book.
Without this book you would not know why
the cross was raised,
why the tomb was emptied, or why the king
is coming again.
This book gives light to the wandering,
strength to the weary, conviction to the
sinner,
and courage to the saint. It is bread when
your soul is hungry,
water when your spirit is thirsty,
a lamp when the road is dark, and an
anchor when the storm is raging.
When the world lies, this book tells the
truth.
When the world changes, this book remains
the same.
When your heart is broken, this book still
speaks hope.
We do not merely hold this book in our
hands,
this book holds our lives. Read it,
believe it, obey it.
For heaven and earth shall pass away,
but the word of God shall stand forever.
God has spoken.
Heaven's invitation is extended tonight.
Maybe it is the case that you have ignored
the sixty six books in your life.
Why not tonight make the change?
Why not tonight recognize that He has
spoken?
Maybe it's the case that you have not
taken the time to get into the book that
has spoken to you specifically.
He didn't give it for the walls,
he didn't give it for the animals,
he gave it to men. Maybe it's the case
that you've not been studying it
the way you ought. Ask God's forgiveness,
whether publicly or privately tonight,
and do better as we seek to know God and
who he is.
Through the revelation of his will.
But allow me tonight to do this thing.
God has spoken on salvation. You don't
have to wonder what you need to
do in order to be saved. God has spoken on
it.
He has shown us through scriptures,
and we want to be able to show you.
And so allow us tonight, just very
briefly,
to know, to know to you that the Bible
says that in order for you to be in
Christ,
you must have faith. But how does that
faith come?
It comes by hearing and hearing by the
word of God.
That's the only way you're going to get
faith.
You're not going to get faith through a
dream.
You're not going to get faith through a
vision.
Faith only comes by the word of God.
But then that faith, when you hear the
word of God,
when you believe, when you acquire that
faith,
because you have heard this and you now
believe in the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus
Christ to the salvation of your soul.
If you believe that, the Bible says what
you need to do is repent of sins.
Acts chapter 17, verses 30 and 31.
God commands all men everywhere to repent.
But then the Lord also says you need to
confess his good name before witnesses.
What a beautiful example, as we heard a
number of weeks ago,
about the Ethiopian eunuch who was riding
along and he made that great confession.
Now, how did he know he was supposed to
make that great confession?
It was taught to him from the book.
The book that was in an earthen vessel at
that time.
That's how he knew, and tonight you can
know that you have to make that great
confession because the book still says the
same thing.
Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10 says,
with a mouth confession he's made unto
salvation.
And then be immersed in water to have your
sins washed away.
Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.
That's what God set up. You don't have to
speculate about it,
you don't have to wonder about it.
He who believes and is baptized will be
saved.
Clearer than that, the Bible cannot make
it,
but it did. 1 Peter 3 and verse 21,
the like figure unto baptism doth even now
save us.
You can't argue with it. It's plain and
simple,
can't get around it.
Can get over it, there is water in the
plan.
And so tonight, God can add you to his
church,
the kingdom that he built through his son.
His son's kingdom, the church of Christ,
Acts chapter 2 and verse 47, Romans
chapter 16 and verse 16.
He will add you to that church if you are
willing to listen to what
he has said while we stand and as we sing.