by Brother Larry Lafferty
by Brother Larry Lafferty
John Chapter 1
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
I want you to notice a number of things from our text. First of all, I want you to notice the writer of the book. Sometimes there are so many Johns in the New Testament you will forget who is writing. This is not John the Baptist, as some might suspect, but this is the Apostle John, the one that laid on His breast and said, ‘Lord is it I?’ Now, if you will remember on the night before the crucifixion He told His apostles, ‘One of you shall betray Me.” And when He made this statement, you know, our attitude would be ‘Lord, it’s not me!’ That was kind of Peter’s attitude. But John, knowing he had no confidence in himself, laid his head over on the Lord’s breast and asked ‘Is is I?’ He had more confidence in what God had to say than in what he thought. That is where we need to be this morning. I’ll tell you why our churches our so changed today, and why there is a church on every corner, and a different brand for everyone that has a new thought, is because they don’t have that attitude. They are not dependent on the Word of God. They want what their thoughts mean. I want you to see what this John has to write, this John the apostle, he also received the Revelation and wrote the three little Epistles of John. (1In the beginning was the Word) Now, I want you see that the first thing that we get here is the eternal quality of the Word of God. You know, a lot of people want something new. You know I had a man at work recently tell me, ‘Well Larry, it’s just so hard to understand.’ If you get in this Book everyday, the King James English will not throw you after a month. You get in this Book and study it everyday; the King James language will not trouble you after a month. It will be just like you reading an everyday book. So, I want you to see that the eternal quality of the Word of God does not change. It is just like God’s characteristic that He Himself has. Malachi 3:6 says ‘I am the Lord, I change not.’ So this Book can’t change. We don’t need a new translation. We don’t need something softer for the ear. We need this Book. It’s an eternal quality of God. In the beginning was the Word. I want you to see in your text that the ‘W’ is capitalized, indicating that it is the very Christ of the Book. Meaning this is the very thoughts of God. Then he says, (and the Word was with God,). In this beginning time, the Lord Jesus Christ was with the Lord God of Heaven, Jehovah. He was by His side and They ruled together. That is where He was located. And lastly it says (and the Word was God.) Now, that becomes a little bit different. Now, those other attributes of the Scripture you can live with, but when it says (the Word was God) it takes on a whole new meaning. That means if the Bible truly teaches it then you had better follow it. If the Bible sincerely says it, then you better do it. See, we don’t value the Scriptures nearly like we should. So, then we see that it should be respected and reverenced and treated as the very God of Heaven. (2The same was in the beginning with God.) Meaning, the Word of God again, and the immutable, unchanging characteristic the Bible possesses. Then it says of the Lord God (3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.) Now I want you to think very quickly with me about whenever Creation occurred, how did it occur? He said ‘Let there be light’ and there was light. Now that is the Word we are speaking of. It is the very same thing recorded for our benefit, and for our help, and for our learning. The Word of God is exactly that – the very WORD of God. And whenever you begin to live your life, and you study this Book under those terms, it will be a difference to you. I want you to look in the Gospel of John chapter eleven. I want you to think about the power of the Word of God. Could you imagine the power of the Word of God. ‘Let there be light.’ And even the children know the rest of that verse, ‘and there was light.’ What an amazing thing, that His power is so divine and so powerful, that it happened just that way. That is the thing with evolution and this big bang theory; they want to reduce what God has said. I have a Bachelor of Science degree, and I still believe the Book. There is nobody that could convince me of that foolishness and I have heard it my entire life. I have seen a bumper sticker saying ‘The big bang theory, God said it and Bang! it happened.’ That is the big bang theory. That is a lot more accurate than two asteroids running together and exploding and all that foolishness. You know, this is the thing that my science study has taught me, things move from order to disorder; not from disorder to order. Things get worse and worse. So if the big bang theory is true, then why does it not follow the other laws of science? It was so disorderly that it became order? That is foolish! That doesn’t even follow what they teach themselves. It’s crazy! So we see the power of the Word of God. Now, John Chapter eleven. This is the raising of Lazarus. If you read the whole chapter this week in your private study, the Lord said to them plainly, trying to get across to the apostles, that Lazarus was dead. Now that teaches me something about this flesh; that nine times out of ten that we are going to need to hear it plainly. He can’t give us the smooth version, the It’s going to be easy on the ears version, because of our natural make up, plainly is the best way you can get it.
John Chapter 11
34And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35Jesus wept.
Now a lot of people will say that He was weeping because He didn’t get there quick enough, but He had already told His apostles that this death was for the glory of the Son of God. So, He knew it was going to happen. He wasn’t even a little bit late. He knew exactly how it was going to be, but He wept because He knew the pain and anguish that Martha and Mary was in.
36Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? 38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave…
Now this is the second time that groaning in the spirit is mentioned here, and you will find that that groaning in the spirit is true prayer. There have been very few times that I have experienced it, but I have experienced it, and when you get down to doing business with God, that will occur. And that is the second time, as He comes to that grave, that that event occurs, and He prays.
38… It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Now, Martha had just earlier said ‘Lord, I know you can do anything’ but not understanding the power of God she says ‘he’s gonna stink! He’s rotting already! Don’t open that door!’ That was Martha’s attitude. She did not believe in the divinity of God.
40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Now let me show you something here, Martha did not believe logically. She said ‘He’s going to stink, Lord! He smells! He’s rotting!’ Her belief had nothing to do with it. Now, there is a false salvation out there that says if you believe this then everything is going to be good. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Martha did not believe it. But he was raised. It had nothing to do with what Martha believed, it had everything to do with what God said.
41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Now, I want you to know something interesting about His prayer. It said that He said it aloud, but He knew He had already heard Him. When did He hear Him? When He was groaning. When He was coming up that hill, He had two separate circumstances when He groaned in the spirit, and the Lord God Jehovah heard Him, and knew what the need was.
43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
What a wonderful, wonderful time! Did you see that power? It simply took Jesus saying ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ I have no doubt if He had simply said ‘Come forth.’ every dead person in that grave would have run out of there. That is the power of the God we serve. He had to specify ‘Lazarus, you come forth.’ That is the God we serve. It gives life. Anywhere in our text do see Lazarus saying ‘ Lord, please let me out. I want to be alive again!’ No, because Lazarus was dead, he couldn’t. It takes the power of God. You know when people will get genuinely redeemed? When God speaks to them, not the other way around. You are dead in your trespasses and sins is what Romans says. There is no ability to pray. When God speaks to your life, and you know that He has given you life, that is true redemption. That is true salvation. So we see that very first thing in the power of the Word of God is that it gives life. If you have not been redeemed, then you get in this Book. If the Lord has not saved your soul, then you begin to look through the pages. This is the Word of God. It is the very treasured Word of God. Everything that you need to know to run a home, everything that you need to run your life, it is all right there. It’s not hard to understand. I was once told that this Book is written on a third grade level. And you know what, I believe it, because my daughter reads it. I believe that. It’s not difficult to understand. Now, I want you to see again the power of the Word of God. In the Gospel of Matthew. This one is a little more sobering. The story of Lazarus is always a pew walker. This one is not so much as, but should be.
Matthew Chapter 21
19And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
Now I want you to see here, the power of
the Word of God brings death. Now,
that’s not one people want to whoop and holler about, but it is just as true
as the story of Lazarus. He walked
up, examined the tree and said ‘Wither away.’
And it was gone. That is the
Word of God. That is His power.
It brought death just like it brought life.
You know what that should make us glorify in?
The mercy of God. He could
have walked by you and said ‘No more fruit
henceforth and forever’
and you would have died immediately.
But because of His goodness and His mercy and His grace He goes on and
endures with us and waits with us and gives us more time.
That is the God we serve. But
the power of the Word of God can speak death.
The Bible says honor thy father and thy mother, that is the first
commandment of promise, that it might be well with thee and that thy days might
be long upon the earth. You know you
have to assume that conversely is true. If
you do not honor your mom and dad, that you do not respect them, that you will
die soon. I have seen that come to
pass. I have seen that to be true.
I have seen that as a reality in my own lifetime.
That you can shorten your days. The
power of the Word of God. I believe
if we would get a hold of the power of this Book, that we would respect it.
But you know where you find them, most of the time?
On the pew. Or if they make
it home you know where they are? In
the truck or the car. Or if they do
make into the house they are on the coffee table, till next service time.
If that is your approach I want you to go without eating till Wednesday
night, and after we have feasted on the Word of God, then we’ll go get a
pizza. Then I want you to go without
eating till Sunday morning, and after service time we’ll go get us something
to eat. The Word is what you are
feeding your spirit. You know what,
you would soon starve to death. So
we see the power of the Word of God is something that we really don’t grasp.
Psalms Chapter
89
7God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
The psalmist here makes this statement. He begins to talk about the greatness of the Lord. He tells them two things: He is to be feared in the assembly, and He is to be reverenced. Those two things are to occur. You see very little of that today. We know that many people will not say anything against the Great God. Most people will not say anything to belittle Christ. That is tradition, mostly, but people won’t do that. But, you know the very text of our service states the Word was God. So, do you reverence this Book? If this is the Word of God, the enamored Word of God, the very thing that will tell us about His being, do you reverence it? How frequently do you study it? How often do you get in it? Do you reverence it as God? Do you know why many people don’t get into the truth? When they hear the truth they don’t recognize it and it doesn’t become part of their lives? It is because they don’t reverence it. They don’t see this as the Word of God. They don’t reverence it. I have no doubt that if God the Father came down and met with us this morning that we would fall out, we would be in the presence of God. We could do nothing else. But we are in the presence of that Book daily, and nothing. We don’t reverence the Word of God like we should.
Nehemiah Chapter 9
1Now
in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of
Now, first thing I want you to see is these people had a desire to worship, they had a desire to hear from God. People today know nothing about fasting. That is a New Testament doctrine too. Fasting is biblical, it is carried over into the church age. It is something that God’s people are to do.
2And
the seed of
Now they were a mixed group. When they began to get right with God they began to excuse those slaves, and those false so-called wives that they had intermingled with. And they began to separate themselves to the service of God.
3And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day;
Nehemiah came up, stood on the platform and began to read the Word of God. And when he began to read the Word of God, God’s people stood up in reverence to the Word of God. Now it says one fourth part of the day. That meant the daylight hours. So they stood and listened to him simply reading the Law of God for three hours. I’m going to try that on yall one Sunday. That is how they reverenced the Word of God. That is how they cherished and loved the Word of God. You know, they hadn’t heard from Him in about seventy years and they were glad to hear from Him. You know when they restored the temple, and they cleaned it out and they brought it to Ezra and they said ‘We have found the Word of God, we have found the law!’ And they prepared and made ready for it, they were excited about it. They were happy and glad that the Word was going to be read again. And they reverenced it. They stood up to show their respect. They stood up to show how much they love that Word of God. When you think of the Word of God do you think that is really what we have? Do you really believe we have a hold of the World of God exactly as it should be? Look with me in the book of Proverbs. I want you to see the value in the Word of God.
Proverbs Chapter 25
11A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. 12As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. 13As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.
Now, I want you to notice of a number of things. Now this is simply speaking of man’s word. If I go by and see Adam is not like he should be I say ‘Son, what’s wrong?’ That is a word fitly spoken. Do you think God is not better than that? If we have the ability to sense when our children are not right, then think about the Lord God of Heaven. What do you think He is able to do? The Word says these words are like apples of gold. Now, I’ve not seen a gold hunk as big as an apple, but could you imagine the value of it? The Word of God is like a apples of gold sitting in pictures of silver, or a big tray of silver. That is the value of that Word. That is how good it is. It goes on to say. (As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover (that is God) upon an obedient ear.) Now, this process is not complete if the ear is not obedient. I remember when I was a kid when my own ideas left me high and dry. When Mama said ‘Larry, don’t you do it!’ I went ahead and did it anyway. See, she was a wise reprover and I didn’t listen. One time there was some backwater beside our house and I had seen a very interesting episode of “Little House on the Prairie” and I thought ‘I’m gonna cross that water like they crossed it. I got my wagon and across I went, but when I got to the other side, Mama was waiting for me. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. She was a very wise reprover when she said ‘Larry, don’t you do it!’ But there was no obedient ear that went with it. The two have to be there together. The Word of God will mean nothing to us if we do not value it. If we don’t say, ‘Yes, this is the Word of God.’ And then it says when the messenger comes he refresheth the soul. We are refreshed by preaching. I’m not saying every time, because I know the reality of it. I know the truth of sitting in a church service and every one is not refreshing. Some are. The value of the Word of God. What kind of value do you place on this Book? Do you really believe that is the Word of God? Do you have you a good King James Bible? Let me tell you something about that translation. To the 1600’s there was no common everyday English translation. They were done in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Those were the three languages this Book was in. I don’t even know one of those languages. Now you talk about the mind of God and the power of God, Lancelot Andrews who headed the translation team spoke fifteen languages fluently. That is the God we serve. He wanted to be sure that this Book is accurate. If you get your other translations that are out there today and tell me if just one of them had a man that headed it up that spoke fifteen languages fluently. That is the power of God. This is the Book folks. This is the right one. John Boyce translated most of the Greek, the New Testament portion, could read Hebrew fluently at age five. That is the power of God. That is like a kindergarten child speaking English and Hebrew fluently. What about the Greek? He spoke Greek at age seven. That is the God we serve. This is the accurate Bible. I will take no other. Some say they’ll use another version as a study help. I don’t need their help. We’ve got the very best. I don’t want to look in a different bible, I don’t want to hear a man’s comments about what he thinks the passage means. I want this. That is the Word of God. That is what we desperately need. There was another translation into the English language before this one. Very few people know about it. The Tynedale Bible, William Tynedale finished his work in translating the Scriptures from Greek and Hebrew into English in 1526 he was strangled and burned at the stake for his work. Because at that time people were very unfriendly to a common Bible. They wanted it in Greek and Hebrew and Latin because they didn’t want us to know what it taught. They didn’t want us to know that there was not a universal church, they didn’t want us to know there were not rosaries, they didn’t want us to know that there was no baptism for salvation. They did not want us to know those things, so they stopped people who put forth effort to let it be. They stopped them. People have died for this Book. It is on your coffee table? Is it dusty? And so we see that the value of the Word of God is far greater than what we understand.
John Chapter 8 The trueness of the Word of God.
31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
So, a measure of your salvation is how much do you love this Book? He says (If ye continue in my word) Now, if you continue in it and read one verse every six months that is not much. That is not continuing in the Word the way I see it. That is not being enamored in the beauty and the trueness of this Book.
32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Now, do you know that this Bible is true? You know how I found out that it is true on every hand? I studied it. I looked at it line by line and I saw the trueness of it. That is a true Book. You can depend on it. You can depend on that more than anything. My very first nursing book was “Fundamentals of Nursing’ by Potter and Perry. It was a good book, it taught me a lot about nursing, but this one will teach you about the Lord God of Heaven. This is the one you can depend on. It is true stuff. Therefore, if you have embraced this as the Word of God, embraced it as true, then if this Book teaches it, then you had better do it. You know this book teaches that the Lord created a church in His personal ministry. That is a true teaching. It teaches that the churches are local and independent and there is not this big universal church that we all make up, it is individual. That is basic. That is the Word of God. Do you believe it? What do you think of the Word of God? Where is your Bible at right now? Do you have one?
Romans Chapter 3
1What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
If you remember, the Roman church was a mixed church. There were some Greeks and Jews and they all came together and formed a New Testament, Bible believing church and that often caused problems with this group. He said their advantage was that they had the Word of God. Now, you live in a nation where this Book is allowed and you can read it every minute of every day if you wish. That is a protected freedom, something we ought to praise God for. We should be into this Book on a daily basis. It is a blessing. You see he said that they had special blessings because they had the oracles of God. Well, we do too. I have heard of missionaries that would go into countries and rip this Book up and leave a portion of the Bible with each work. They would come back, maybe forty years later, and they were still going through that little portion of a Bible they had. See, other people do treasure it, do love it, believe it is the very Word of God.
3For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Now I want you to notice a couple of
things. First I want you to see that
God’s Word should come first. Let
God be true, what He has written, and let us be liars.
Then it says ‘For as it is written.’
God doesn’t come down and say ‘Larry, go to church today.’
It is written. The Bible says
to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,
and so much more as you see the day approaching.
As it is written. So, this
Word is His. Do you study it?
Do you know it. When the Lord
led me here to do a new work, I wanted to be exactly as the Bible taught.
That is why the Lord gave me that name –
Acts Chapter 8 The Reception of the Word of God
14Now
when the apostles which were at
Now, I want you to notice a couple of
things. First of all that the
apostles, that were first set in the church, were still at the main church in
Acts Chapter 11
1And
the apostles and brethren that were in
Now we have a Gentile group, not a mixed breed, but an entirely Gentile group. And they received the Word of God. Paul wrote back to them later saying that they that know not the law do the things of the law by nature. You know why? They were truly redeemed. It was in their soul, it was in their heart. They began to know those things. They received the Word of God. What about you? Have you received it? Do you know where you’re at? Spiritually, do you know where you are at? Are you redeemed? Do you know that you are saved? Do you know that you are born again? Can you say ‘There is where the Lord spoke life to me, there is where he made me new’? Can you do that this morning? His word is life giving, just as it was to Lazarus. Do you know that you are saved? Maybe you’re backslidden. Maybe you’re not serving the Lord like you should. Where are at this morning?
1 Thessalonians Chapter 2
13For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye 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 compliments the church at Thessalonica and Paul says ‘When you heard me preach, you didn’t take it as just as a man preaching, but as the Word of Truth.’ Do you receive this Book as truth? Do you believe it is accurate and right from cover to cover? Do you believe it has the words of life contained within and do you treat it that way? Do you really? I love this Bible dearly. My wife bought me a very expensive nice new Bible, and I like it, but I’d rather build a new house than change Bibles. I love this Book, and when I get used to the way one is laid out, it is just a hard thing to do. But, I love the truth in it more. If I lost this one, and I had to use the new one Donna gave me, you know I would open it up I would find that same blessed truth. It would still tell me the same things. It would still tell me I was a sinner on my way to Hell separate and apart from the goodness and grace of God. It would tell me that the Lord started a church. It would tell me that one was sent from God whose name was John, speaking of John the Baptist. It would tell me all of those wonderful truths. I ask you how do you receive those Words? As words of men, or as Words of Truth? (13…ye 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.) Now I want you to see something very sobering there, that it works in those that believe. You know why people develop as Christians? It is because the Word is working in them. You know how people go to church all their lives and never seem to rejoice in it, never seem to be happy in it, never able to praise God, just sit there year after year after year, it is because the Word is not working in them. It said it would work effectually in those that believe, so conversely unbelievers are not developed by the Word of God. Again, it is just like pouring water off a duck’s back, it means nothing, it will just roll right off. Have you received the Word of God? Do you know that you know that you know that you have been redeemed. Lastly, in the book of Revelation, this is not necessarily a pew walker either, but it is Bible.
Revelation Chapter 10
9And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 11And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
Now, the Word of God doesn’t always make you feel good. You know that is the problem today with most churches. They want that high time every Sunday and it is good, but listen, John ate it up, very Godly man, and it made him bitter. It said he ate it up, he was very anxious to get it, he was anxious to receive that Word because he was God’s man. He was the only apostle to live to old age, and he ate it up and it still made him bitter. Sometimes the Word of God will make you sick, you’ll see yourself as a sinner and on your way to a devil’s hell. You’ll see yourself backslidden. You’ll see yourself desperately in need of studying this book. What do Baptists believe? Could you answer that. I’ve made this comment more than once. My desire is to train this church well enough, that if the Lord ever called me somewhere else, they would call a man to continue the work. That they would at least know what to ask the man. What does he believe about this, about that? That is sound teaching. Has the Word made you sick this morning? Do you take this Book literally. There is very little of this Book written figuratively, even in the Revelation. It means what it says, and it says what it means. Do you love the Word of God, do you know about it this morning?
Ephesians Chapter 2
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Grace simply means the unmerited favor of God. If you merited it, or earned it, then it is no longer grace. You’ve worked it out on your own. The Bible says for by grace are ye saved. That is the method of salvation. That is the means of salvation. The unmerited favor of God. When He speaks life to you it is because it is His decision, not yours. This stuff of decisional regeneration, getting little kids together and saying ‘Now, do you want to go to Hell?’ is foolish. They don’t all say ‘Yeah, we’d love to go to Hell!’ Decisional regeneration is stupid. What is wrong with it? God is not within a thousand miles of it. What God does is speak life to people whom He will. And the sad part is that there are people He doesn’t speak life to. You know the Bible says that He gave His life for many, not all. That is not a truth that a lot of people like either, but it is true. He did not lay down His life for all, the Bible says He laid down His life for many. As sad as it is, everybody is not going to be saved, and that is what makes grace more precious to me. And I praise God that He spoke life to me. (8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:) Now, a gift is no longer a gift if you ask for it. A woman at the nursing home told me she didn’t have a Bible to read. I took the stuff out of mine and gave it to her. She didn’t ask for it, she didn’t know that I would give her one. That was a gift. She said that one that she did have didn’t have print big enough to read and I could sympathize with that, so I gave her my Bible which has the biggest print you can buy. When someone asks for something, it is no longer a gift, but a response to a request. A gift of real salvation is a gift. He gives it to you of His goodness and grace. Not of works. Not of works. Not of works. Baptism is a work. Living right is a work. Kissing the rosary and repeating a prayer are works. Lest any man should boast. And brother, you believe it, it that was the terms, we would. We would be ‘Man, let me tell you what I did last night. I called three people that were sick and encouraged them. They sure felt good after I got off of the phone with them.’ We would boast. (10For we are his workmanship) That means created product. Yall remember when the Dover Products plant was open. I don’t even know what it was they made back then. But whatever their product was, that was what he was talking about us, we are His workmanship, we are just what He created us to be. Very humbling statement, when all we are is what He created us to be. If you are in rebellion to God, He made you that way. And if He gives you the mercy and the grace to see it, then praise God for it, He made you that way. We are His workmanship. We are His created product. We are right exactly where we are supposed to be. (..created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.) Notice good works come after redemption. Truly redeemed people will have good works in their life because it says that He ordained that we should walk them. When God ordains something, it happens. It’s not like something I say. Like over at the nursing home I tell them I want yall to do it this way each time, but as soon as the door is closed they are doing it their own way. I’m not that foolish. But when God ordains something, I guarantee it is just like it should be. And it says that people that God has ordained will have good works in their life. The Bible also says in the Gospel of Matthew chapter seven that ‘ye shall know them by their fruits.’ So, an apple tree has apples on it and a redeemed person has good works in their life. Do you treasure this Word of God? Men have died for it. Do you love it? Do you study it? Do you see it as the infallible Word of God? Very humbling to me when I think about how lax I am in my study, and I have the very ordained Word of God sitting on my desk. How lax I am. Do you love it? Do you understand it? Amen.