created that way. Well, let's take our Bibles and
turn to the book of Romans, chapter 10. Romans, chapter 10. The Apostle Paul, and we'll start actually this
morning in the 16th verse, In verse 13, Paul revealed through
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, Whosoever shall call
upon the authority, the character, the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Whosoever cries out, bids from
the heart concerning their need, I need some help. Calling, approaching, speaking
to is only by the Spirit of God teaching me that I can call upon
the Lord only in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said in John 14, 6, I am the way. How does a man speak to
God? He speaks to God by a mediator. I don't have any right in and
of myself to speak to God. God is not approached by sinfulness. You know, we think that God can
just be spoken to. You can't do that. You just don't
go into God's presence. Let me ask you this. Do you allow
somebody in the middle of the night, they want to talk to you,
do you allow them just to kick in your front door because they
just want to talk to you? You don't allow that. Why? This is mine. This is my house. You don't just, you know. By the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Way, the Truth, the Light. How? Those that call on the Lord,
verse 14, how shall they call on Him in whom they've not believed? How? Is there any other means
shall they find to approach or to call on Him? How shall they
call on the Lord in whom they've not believed? Whom they're not
persuaded of? who they've placed no confidence
in by faith. And how are they going to believe
in Him of whom they've not heard? The gospel. The gospel is the
only message that God blesses to the granting of faith to believe. The Lord doesn't bless anything
other than the truth concerning His Son. Sovereign saving grace. And how are they going to hear
unless God sends a preacher? Why? Because it's by the foolishness
of preaching, what the world calls foolishness. That's how
God has been pleased to send His Word. This is how the sheep
hear His voice. They hear the truth, and that
truth is powerfully taught. Now, it takes more than an ear.
It takes more than an ear and a brain. with an ear and a brain, but
they don't hear by a new heart. They have the hearing ear given
by the Lord. How are they going to preach
unless God sends them? They will be sent, separated
and placed as it is written, as it is graven in holy writ,
God's Word, as it is written. How beautiful, how timely. Or
the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things in just a few weeks. I plan to continuing
on in the book of Romans. If actually it's it's over in
Romans 11, I won't go there now, but it's coming a time when Paul
is teaching the converts at Rome concerning the first fruits of
the of the church. And I'll deal with that in the
context of that scripture, but it's talking about how when the
Lord was pleased to begin calling out his people out of Egypt,
out of Israel, and how those first converts, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, that was a promise from God that God was going to bless
Israel. He blessed Didn't read of any
converts out of out of, you know, Syria and and all those other
places and no converts. But God did call out some and
their descendants and how it was the promise of the Lord,
the firstfruits. When God would send the firstfruits
of a field, it was a promise that they would take those firstfruits
and wave them before the Lord is thankful because it was God's
promise that the rest of this crop was going to be there. When he pleased God, God raised
up a preacher in this community and sent him to a spot where
he was preaching. And he caused some folks to cross
paths with him. Think about the timeliness of
that. When God was pleased to raise
up at this time And this man and these folks, you know, how
beautiful, how timely, how wonderfully appointed are the feet, is the
direction, the consistency of those that preach the gospel
of peace. And they bring glad tidings of
good things. God's people, God's preachers,
they're consistent. When God is pleased to raise
up a preacher, it's according to God's time. Turn over to Jeremiah
20. Let me show you something, how
God keeps. Jeremiah chapter 20. If you left it up to a preacher,
let me show you what his attitude would be. Thank the Lord it's not left
up to a preacher to maintain the integrity of the pulpit. I realize the responsibility,
Bob, I think. But I tell you this, the integrity
of this pulpit. Who keeps this? You think it's
me? You think it's Brother Scott?
You think we had the ability to maintain the integrity of
this pulpit? Who keeps the church? Who keeps
it? Well, Jeremiah 20. Verse 7, O
Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. Well, that word deceived there,
if you have a column in the middle there, you see the word actually
is enticed. That's true. It is. You've enticed
me. But also it means persuaded.
You've opened wide my mind. It says deceived. It doesn't
mean what you think. It says the Lord You deceived
me. You persuaded me. I was deceived. Thou art stronger than I." You
are able, Lord, to accomplish what You pleased to accomplish
and has prevailed. Lord, You are the one that has
kept me. And I am in derision daily. Everyone mocketh me. I am a laughingstock. They make fun of me. They laugh
at me. Verse 8, For since I spake, I
cried out. I cried violence and spoil, because
the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision
daily. I announced the wrong and the
oppression and the disrespect toward God Almighty. But because
the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision,
My fateful discharge of You and Your Word made me ashamed, a
derision, a ridicule. But actually, Jeremiah was saying,
it wasn't me. It wasn't me personally they
were mad at. They were mad at Your Word. You
know, I think about this. At times I'll step out of this
pulpit and I begin thinking about some of the things I said, and
boy, I think sometimes, you know, oh boy, you know, that was, man,
that was pretty straightforward, wasn't it? You know, that was,
I mean, it was just so direct. It was just, you know, right
there. But I think, you know what? If I don't say it, did it change
anything? If I didn't preach, if you didn't
preach that God Almighty was sovereign, And that he was pleased
to choose one and pass by another. That God Almighty is ruling and
reigning. And God said to Pharaoh, for
this reason I raised you up. And I hardened his heart. I left
him to himself. If a man didn't preach that,
would he change it? No. I mean, I understand. I understand these things are
so But you know what it makes a believer realize? God is God. He's doing as He will. Then Jeremiah
said, this is where I ask you, who keeps the integrity of this
pulpit? Then I said, I will not make
mention of Him nor speak any more in His name. I'm not going to preach any more
to those that mock me. That's what Jeremiah said. I'm
not going to take pains to continue anymore. They're mad at me. They're mad at God. And I'm just
not going to do it. I'm just not going to do it.
I quit. That's it. That's it for me.
I quit. But His Word was in my heart as a burning fire shut
up in my bones. It was in my will, in my heart,
like a consuming flame that was ruling in my body, and I was
weary. I was disgusted with forbearing. Jeremiah said, I just couldn't
hold it in anymore. I couldn't stay. God's purpose is to send a preacher,
and the reason that God's preachers stay and continue is because
God keeps them. I'm glad for that. I'm glad that
God maintained preachers and sends them and gifts them. I mean, there was a time when
I heard the gospel. And I guarantee you, most men
that I heard it from for the first time, I guarantee you some
people have made fun of them, laughed at them and talked about
them. According to this scripture,
the world wasn't worthy of them. They just, you know, oh, be careful
what you say about God's preachers. They're men. They're frail. They're
frail creatures. But what they preach, encourage
them. Well, OK, here we go. Verse 16.
But have they not all obeyed? But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed thy report? The preaching of the gospel. It is to all men. Jew and Gentile
in accordance with the will of God. They hear. And the promise
that whosoever hears that gospel, whosoever believes that gospel,
whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved is absolutely
so. There's no doubt about that.
But they've not all obeyed the gospel. And you know this is
most apparent. to everyone that the Lord has
given a new heart to. Those that God has given a new
heart to believe, this is what Paul said, you know, quoting
Scripture. He says that they have not all
obeyed the gospel. Isaiah said, Who hath believed
our report? Who hath believed the truth of
Christ? Who has? believe the message
of hope and of good tidings of great joy, that message of life,
it's obvious to those that God's given a new heart that all have
not believed the gospel. Because that message, the life
imparted by that message, the holding to, the consistency of,
is evidenced. As I've said before, Believers
act and talk like believers. I've told somebody, somebody
asked me to say, well, how do they act? How do they? I don't
know how to say that. I don't know how to describe
that. But it's just there's a consistency about a believer. That's right,
isn't it? They're consistent. They talk,
they speak. And when they speak, it's the
Spirit of God in them bearing witness with you. I don't know
how to explain that, but I do know it so. Who hath believed
our report? There's a demand. Repent. Repent. But do you know I don't
have any ability to cause anybody to repent? What is repenting? To think differently. That's
what it is, to think differently about how God has justified His
people. It's not by works of righteousness
that I've done, but God by grace saves His people. So then, verse 17, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This is the reason
men don't believe. Who hath believed, I report?
Well, those that God has given faith. does not believe our report? Well, those that don't have faith
from above. If someone does not believe the
gospel of God's salvation, they don't believe the gospel of Christ,
sovereign grace, the reason they don't believe it is because God
has not given them a heart to believe it. That's the reason.
It's not because it doesn't make sense. It's not because it's
too hard to understand. It's not because the only reason
why a man or a woman does not believe the gospel is because
God hasn't given them faith. There's no other reason. Who
hath believed our report? Those that God has given faith.
Then Paul said, Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word
of God. Faith is that grace. You know, what is faith? Well,
I know this. It's a gift of God. I know this. 2 Thessalonians 3 says that we
may be delivered from the unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have
not faith. So obviously, men are born lacking
something. What is it? Life? Faith? Hope? Peace? Comfort? They are dead. They are dead. Faith cometh. How does it come? God sends it. How? By His Spirit. The Spirit of
God blows as He will. What is the Lord doing this morning?
Whatever He is pleased to do. Who hears this morning? Those
that God has given faith. How did it come? Preaching. Preaching somewhere along the
line. Every person here this morning that believes, somewhere
along the line, a preacher was standing and he was preaching
Christ and God's sovereign saving grace, God's purpose, God's will,
God's... And all of a sudden, you realized,
hmm, you know, I believe that. When did you start believing
it? I don't know. I'm convinced that a man goes
from darkness to light. I understand that. But boy, there's
times that I'll think back on him and think, when did I believe?
I don't know. When did I know I was alive?
I don't know. I don't know. I don't remember.
I remember, I remember some things. I remember, I told my dad one
time something that happened. I remembered. Mama, you remember
when I told him that I was standing beside a chair and we was in
an old house and I heard something upstairs and I asked my dad,
what was that? He said, I don't know, it may have been an elf.
I told my dad that later in years. And he said, Marvin, there's
no way you could have remembered that because you were only When
we lived in that house, you were only so bad. I said, Dad, I mean,
I can remember. I remember you said I remember
the chair. I remember the stairs. It was just something that just
touched me. And was I alive before that? Well, obviously I was. But when did I realize it? When
does a man realize he's alive? Sometime after God. Gives him
life. One day I looked at my fingers.
I said, I've got some fingers. When did I get them? Before I
knew it. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing. Hearing by the Word
of God. And God's people believe. Faith evidences that there's
life. When do you know it? Somewhere
along the line. Verse 18, But I say, have they
not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Faith is dependent, and the coming of faith is dependent upon God's
pleasure to grant it. When God is pleased to grant
it. I remember one time riding down
the road. Talking to a guy. And I. I was so convinced that if there
was ever a passage of scripture that was going to just absolutely
prove. There'd be no doubt in his mind.
Because he he he didn't he didn't like what I was saying concerning
the Lord's sovereignty. And I quoted 2 Thessalonians
2.13 that I quote here so often. We are bound to give thanks to
you for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit, setting apart by the Spirit of God and belief
of the truth. There it is. There is no possible
way that you're not going to believe that. And he didn't believe
it. How do you not believe that?
How do you not? Faith cometh by hearing. But I'm telling you, that hearing
is by God's pleasure. That hearing is by God's purpose,
God's will. That's the only way it's going
to come. If anybody hears this morning, it's going to be because
God sent it to you, and it's going to be through the preaching
of the gospel, Paul wasn't ashamed of it. Paul asked, have they not heard? Hadn't everybody heard? Well,
the apostle answers this question by giving a spiritual meaning
to this passage in Psalm 19.4. Let me read this. Their line,
their direction actually, is gone out through all the earth
in their words to the end of the world. When the psalmist
was writing that psalm, that passage that I just read was
actually in that portion of Scripture declaring by the heavens, the
heavens have declared his handiwork. The Scripture sets forth that
the gospel, God's power, God's sovereignty, God's will to organize,
God's will to keep, God's will to maintain is proclaimed by
the heavens. Have they not heard? Yes, they
have. But let me ask you this. Can
man by himself look and declare the handiwork of God and know
anything about God's sovereignty and power? No. Why? Because he's blind. He's dead. But let me ask you this. Have
they heard? Have they heard? The Scripture
says they have, and it doesn't matter what man says. Man says,
no, wait a minute, the Gospel has not gone out into all the
world yet. We're still trying to get men
over there, you know. We're trying to get on the Internet,
and we're trying to do this, and we're trying to... And there's
never been preachers down in, you know, Bangladesh and over
there in the Philippines. The Scripture says it has. And
so, therefore, let God be true, and every man a liar. Has God
sent the gospel? Have they not heard? Here's what
the Scripture says. Yes, verily their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, verse 19, Did not
Israel know? Verse Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people. And by a foolish
nation, I will anger you." Didn't Israel know? Did God ever tell
them that they were going to be rejected as a nation? Did God ever tell them that?
Turn over to Deuteronomy 32, 21. You know who penned the book of Deuteronomy? Moses. Moses. Deuteronomy 32. Thirty-two, twenty-one. They
have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have
provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will move them
to jealousy with those which are not a people. Talking about
the Gentiles. I will provoke them to anger
with a foolish nation. Now God sent that word in absolute
truth through the prophet. God told them, I'm going to allow
you to do what you want to do. And I'm going to provoke you
to jealousy by those that were not of this nation. You know,
mercy declared and rejected is a damnable sin, heinous for men
to hear. And to say, at least, you know,
in their heart, and they may say it outwardly, but especially
they'll say it in their heart, I'm not going to have, I'm not
going to hear that. I'm not going to hear that. I'm just, I'm just,
you know. What the Jews had done was actually to give their heart,
their love, their affection to others, to themselves, actually. So God in His infinite wisdom,
in his purpose, in his pleasure, he gave that which he had always
purposed to do, his word to the Gentiles. As I've said before,
as far as I know, there's not one person sitting in this congregation
this morning that has their descendants that goes back to Israel. Jews
by nature, Jews by natural descent. So that makes all of us here
Gentiles. Aren't you glad that God sent
the gospel? Aren't you glad that God had
a people that was out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue?
What if He would have not sent the gospel to you? You'd have
been justifying what you're doing. You'd have been doing just exactly
what you wanted to do, and it would have been okay. And you'd
have thought in your heart, I'm just as good as anybody else.
And so, therefore, when I stand before God, God's going to understand.
Have they not all heard? God Almighty sent the truth. He sent His Word. He sent it
to the Jews. And the Lord, by and large, not
all of them, there were some of those firstfruits. There was
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God did call out some. But most
He left to themselves. They said, I'll not have this
man to rule over me. Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap." Back in Romans
10 verse 20 and 21, But Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was
found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me, but to Israel. He saith all day
long, I have stretched forth mine hands unto a disobedient
and gainsaying people. You know what Moses alluded to
back in Deuteronomy when he wrote in Deuteronomy 32? What Moses
alluded to, that is, that God was going to be found of those
that didn't seek Him, the Gentiles. What Moses alluded to, Isaiah
was perfectly clear on. You know, left to ourselves,
there's none that seek after God. You know that. The Lord
made manifest or He caused a great light, the light of Himself to
shine in the heart of those that never sought after Him. This
is the miracle of conversion. Conversion is a work of God's
grace, power. It's a work of God. I'm not trying
to convince anybody. Here's what's going to happen
if God saves somebody in here. You preach and you declare who
God is. And God Almighty, and I'm not
trying to appeal to anybody's senses as far as trying to convince
a dead heart to do something that I know it can't do. But
I do know this, if the Lord is pleased to, He will impart an
ear that hears what I say and a new mind and a new will and
a spirit, and you'll say, I believe that. I believe that. And you'll never not believe
it again. If God ever gives a man a heart
to believe, the gifts of God are without repentance. That
means God doesn't take them back. Kept by the power of God. There's the distinguishing grace
of, I was found of them that sought me Let me tell you something. I
have just enough sense to know that I was not seeking for God.
I know I wasn't. I know I wasn't. Church was to me nothing more
than just really, to be honest with you, it's an inconvenience. It was an inconvenience. Because
I had to show up every once in a while for it. Alright, I'm
going to go, because if I don't go, then they're going to think
I'm a heathen. So I'm going to go. Man, how long is he going
to preach? I've got stuff. It was nothing
more than an inconvenience. I was found. I was found. I was found of them that sought
me not." I wasn't looking for Him. And when Almighty God revealed
Himself to me, I'm thinking, this is a miracle
of God's grace. It's a miracle of God's grace
that I'm standing here again. It's a miracle of God's grace
that I came back since last Wednesday. that I desired to have any kind
of heart to be here. I was found of them that sought
me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me." That is salvation of the Lord. That
is salvation by grace. But to Israel, there is how the
Lord was gracious to those Gentiles and a few Jews. But to Israel,
He saith all day long, I stretch forth my hands unto a disobedient
and gainsaying people." Let me ask you this. What did
God not give to Israel? What did He not? They had the
prophets. They had God's law. They had
the sacrifices. Whose fault was it for their
disobedience? It was theirs. It was theirs. Stretched out, he set his hands. Someone says, but now I thought
if the Lord was pleased to save somebody, it sounds like to me
He's wanting to save them. If God's pleased to save them,
He's going to save them. Let me give you, in closing,
as good an illustration as I can think of. I think you'll be able
to relate to this. I got to looking at the register
of this church. One day, Glenn, you showed me
that there's a book and it goes all the way back. 1955, I think.
Well, Scott, records, you know. From 1955 or somewhere in the
mid-50s there, there was a consistent maintenance of the preaching
of the gospel. For over 50-something years,
Almighty God has maintained a witness in this place, in this Fairmont,
Katie, Rachel, Mannington area right here, the middle part of
this state. Almighty God has said and can
truthfully say, because of the consistency of the gospel that
was preached here, All these many years, I've stretched forth
my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Now, let me
ask you this. How long would it be for God
to send the gospel and leave it to someone to finally make
a decision? They'd die. They would die if
God didn't give them a new heart, if God didn't cause them to find
Him. I was found. That's what He said.
I was found. Them that sought Me not. But how long has the
Lord extended the hand of the Gospel in this place? Over 50 years. You say, I can't believe those
Jews didn't believe. How many didn't believe here?
A bunch. Over 50-something years? over 50-something years. And
how many was God pleased to call out? All that He had everlastingly
loved. And He called them out. And here's the amazing thing.
As scarce as apparently it is to find some of the remnant of
God's grace, finding a believer, finding a sinner. Brother Scott,
finding a sinner that needs Him. And I'm telling you, here's a
miracle of God's grace. that I'm sitting and looking
at a goodly number of them, that all are here by God's grace.
I mean, do you realize how wonderful it is just to be able to be here
and see that here was the Lord? And all these years that the
gospel has been preached in this place, and it hasn't been silenced. I know that. I mean, people know. They know what was preached here.
That's what I've heard, you know. They know what has been preached
in here. But Almighty God was pleased to call out some. All
day long I stretched forth my hand unto a disobedient, gainsaying
people. Whose fault is it that all that
heard the gospel didn't believe? Whose fault was it? It was theirs. Whose fault or to whose praise
is it, let me say it like this, is it that some believed? by
God's grace. If you're sitting here this morning
and God's given you heart to believe this and to love this
gospel, to love it, to love it, to love it, that is a miracle
of God's grace. And I tell you this, we don't
understand it or we don't perceive how wonderful it is yet. But
the Scripture says there's coming a time when the four and twenty
elders, the representatives of all of God's church, will fall
down before Him casting their crowns before Him and say, Lord,
You're worthy to receive all praise and all honor and all
glory because You redeemed us. You paid the debt. You everlastingly
loved us. And when it pleased You, You
called us out of darkness. Thank You. Thank You. Thank you. All right.