It's about a nine-hour drive
here. I was really glad that my XM radio didn't expire on
the way, but as I drive in the car by myself and I sing, I try to imagine my voice is that
beautiful. I'm reminded why we call that
a special, because that was indeed special. Thank you. Thank you
for that. Thankful for the opportunity
to be here with you this morning. I'm thankful to stand in this
place. Thankful for your pastor. I know
you miss having him here, but I am thankful for the opportunity
and humbled that he would invite me to come up and preach to you
all. Again, I travel alone. Abby's
usually along for the ride, but again, our youngest one, he was
getting home a day early and we didn't want him coming home
to an empty house, so we were definitely both in agreement
on that. I would ask you, open your Bibles with me to Isaiah
chapter eight, verse 20. Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 20. Not long ago, I had a dear friend of mine call
me. It was late in the evening and
he had a question, a question regarding something he had read
in Scripture. And as I thought and studied
on what he was asking, a few things occurred to me. One, when we respond, when we
respond to a question, particularly about the scriptures, our reply
needs to be according to the scriptures,
according to what's written in God's word. Here in Isaiah 8
verse 20, we read, to the law and to the testimony. If they
speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light
in them. When we respond to a question,
It's also good to have two or three scriptures to back up what
we're saying. Men have taken like a small piece
of God's Word and they've took and ran in some crazy, crazy
directions. God's Word says in the mouth
of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. And finally, an answer. It needs to be the truth from
God's Word. It should be established by two
or three witnesses. And then we need to ask this
question, does that reply give Almighty God all the glory? Does it give him the glory? Isaiah
42 verse 8 says, I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory
will I not give. I will not share with another. Now with that in mind, there
are questions to be avoided. Scripture's clear on that as
well. Paul writing to Timothy, he said foolish and unlearned
questions avoid. knowing that they do gender strife. Things that don't edify the church,
things that aren't clearly resolved by God's word. Scripture says
those are to be avoided. But there are questions that
must be answered. There's questions that we're
responsible to answer, must be dealt with. Back there in Exodus
12, When the Lord established the Passover, Moses spoke to
the people, and he said, when your children say unto you, remember
that? When they say unto you, what
mean you by this service? When they ask you about, when
our children ask us about deliverance, how does God deliver a sinner? When they ask about a blood sacrifice,
is that really necessary? Can't you imagine the children
of Israel? Here they are out there preparing
for the Passover, and they've slain that lamb, and they're
out there, Dad, why are we putting blood on the door? Do we really
need to do that? Yes, yes. He said when they ask. Because they're going to. Children
ask questions, don't they? Why? They ask that a lot. Why?
When they ask, you say this, it's the sacrifice of the Lord's
Passover who passed over the children of Israel and Egypt. When he smote the Egyptians,
God's going to punish sin. When he smote the Egyptians and
he delivered our houses. We rest in Him. We rest in what
He's done. He delivered us. And we read
that the people, when they heard this, they bowed their heads
and they worshiped. So when they ask, and they will,
you tell them. These things must be dealt with. In the New Testament, In 1 Peter
3 verse 15 we read, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and
be ready, be ready always to give an answer to every man, every man that asks you, asks
you the reason of the hope that lies within you, you be ready
to give him an answer. with meekness and with fear. Inhumility. Huh? And we have, brethren, don't
we have every reason to answer inhumility, considering what
the Lord has done for us? Well, there are questions that
must be answered. Answered according to the scriptures.
Answered out of the mouth of two or three witnesses. Answered
in such a way that gives God all the glory. And this morning,
I want us to look at six questions. Six vital questions that must
be answered. Not debated. These things aren't
up for debate. They're not to be explained. but they're to be declared. My sister-in-law, Carrie, she
was preparing for a Sunday school lesson and she was kind of, it's
been a few years back, but she was going over it with her grandma,
with Doris Mahan. And she asked her a few things
and Doris finally said to her, said, Carrie, You don't have to explain it.
You don't have to describe it. You don't have to debate it.
Just declare it. And that's what I pray the Lord
would enable me to do this morning, to declare from his word. And here's the first question.
These are familiar. Is Almighty God, is he absolutely
and totally sovereign in salvation? just as he is in creation and
in providence. Is Almighty God sovereign in
salvation? You know most folks will readily
admit and accept that God is sovereign in creation. Scripture says this, in the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without
form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God
said let there be light. Any question in our minds what
happened after he said let there be light? There was light wasn't
there? no doubt about that, his sovereignty
in creation, his sovereignty in providence, in ordering all
things, all things, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that
executes my counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it,
I will also bring it to pass. He said, I've purposed it, I'll
do it. In Ephesians 1 verse 11 we read,
in whom we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated by him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. You know what, you think
about this, a sparrow, a worthless sparrow doesn't fall to the ground. without it being the will of
our Father. A worthless, a worthless bird. He is also sovereign in salvation. God is sovereign in salvation. Now this is what man says. Man
says he wants to save. That's what man says. Man says
that he wants to save. He says this, man will say, if
you will, if you will let him, he'll save you. They'll even
say this, that God has a wonderful plan. What did the scripture say concerning
this? Huh? John 5.21 says, the Son
quickeneth whom he will. He doesn't ask man's permission. He says he quickeneth whom he
will. He gives life to whom he will. That's what Abraham believed. He believed God was able to do
all that he promised. Moses asked God, he said, he
said, show me your glory. Remember that? He said, show
me your glory. Turn there to Exodus 33. Our pastor recently brought a
message from this text. Exodus 33, verse 19. God spoke to Moses and he said
this. He said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. I will show mercy unto whom I
will show mercy. My friends, salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is of him. Moses told the children of Israel. Remember that when Pharaoh's
army was coming after the children of Israel, and there they were
at the Red Sea. Can you imagine the fear that
filled their hearts? I mean, here they are, just a
bunch of folks just fleeing. And here comes this mighty army,
and they look in this direction, and there's the sea behind them. And here's this great army coming
to destroy them. Man would say, I think the religion
of this world would say, well, you better pick up some sticks
and start throwing them, or you better jump in the water and
start swimming. What did Moses tell the children
of Israel? Same thing I'll tell you this
morning, stand still. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. And what happened there? Did
they do anything? No, God delivered them and he
destroyed every enemy. Salvation's of the Lord. Jonas
said the same thing. He said, I'll sacrifice unto
thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I'll pay that that I vowed. Salvation
is of the Lord. He's almighty God. Sovereign. Absolutely sovereign
in salvation. Scripture says this in Hebrews
7.25. He is able to save to the uttermost. them that come to God by him. My second question, are men dead
in trespasses and sin? What happened back there in the
garden? Did Adam just stomp his toe or did he fall? Is man dead in trespasses and
sin? Now, I can say this without hesitation. I know some of you in the room. I don't know everyone in the
room. I think I've met most of you. But I can say this without
hesitation. I don't know how many people
might be watching this broadcast this morning. I can say the same
thing about them. I have something in common with
all of you. Whether man will admit it or
not, We have something in common. What is that? We're sinners. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. I remember, I remember Henry
preached a message one time and he said a fellow ended up writing
him a letter later on. He really was upset about it.
Henry said, I'm a sinner. And he said, the fellow said,
I didn't have no problem with that. He said, it's when you
say you're a sinner, huh? We're dead in trespasses and
sin. Back there in the garden, God
gave Adam, remember that? He gave Adam the garden to dress
it and to keep it, and he told Adam, he said, of every tree
in the garden, thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, don't eat of it. For in the day that you eat
thereof, thou shalt surely die." We're dead, dead, dead in trespasses
and sin. Adam disobeyed God. He knowingly
and willingly took of that fruit and he ate of it. And the result? Spiritual death. Turn to Romans
chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, verse 12. Does that really apply to all
of us? Does that apply to me? I'm a pretty good person, right? Romans 512, wherefore, as by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men for that, here it is, all have sinned. All have sinned. When Adam sinned
and fell, we all sinned and fell. And the result of that sin is
death. spiritual death, physical death,
darkness, disease, enmity with God. Listen, we're sinners, sinners
by birth. How many, you know, we teach
our kids, there's certain things that, you know, we get all these
parents, I remember like, We wanted our kids, like, walking.
You know, so you practice. You know, you hold them up there
and, you know, mom's over here and dad's over here and you have
them go back and forth. We teach them to walk, right?
And we teach them to do this. We want to teach them to eat
and use a fork and a spoon. But I tell you one thing. How
many of you took time to teach your kids to lie? It's already
there, huh? Who ate the cookie? Crumbs on
their mouth, right? The jar's busted. Who ate the
cookie? Not me. Not me. We're sinners. We're born sinners. We're sinners by choice. We're
sinners by practice. It's who and what we are. Romans
3.23. Again, here's this word all.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In Romans 3 verse 10, it says there's none righteous. What do we automatically ask
when we hear that? None? He anticipated that question,
didn't he? There's none righteous, no, not
one. dead in trespasses and sin. And like Lazarus, we'll lay there
in the grave, dead, until the Lord is pleased to speak in mercy,
to give life to a dead sinner. Third question. Here's my third
question. Did God elect a people in Christ? Is that a five-letter word? Can
you imagine a five-letter word that gets so many people so stirred
up in religious circles? Did God elect a people in Christ? Now, again, we're talking about
things here that upset the natural man. A God who is sovereign in salvation,
a God who orders and directs all things A man who's completely
dead in trespasses and sin. A God who elected a people unto
himself. Scripture says, for whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son. In whom he predestinated, he
called. In whom he called, he justified. In whom he justified, he glorified. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians
in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, he said, we're bound to give thanks to
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath, after
you made a decision, did something? No. God hath from the beginning
chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. Man says this. Man says, well,
he looked down and he saw those that would be righteous and those
who wouldn't. He looked down and he saw those
that would obey him and those who would not. Those that would
do good works and those that would not. Is that what he did? Is that
what he did? Again, what do the scriptures,
what does God's word say? Not what man's out there yammering
on about. What do the scriptures say? Turn
with me to Psalm 53. beginning with verse 2 of Psalm
53. I guess we could give man partial
credit here, right? But that's not going to cut it.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if
there were any that did understand, that did seek after God. And
what did he see? Look at verse three. Every one
of them. We can throw that word all in
there again. Every one of them is going back. They are together
become filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Does that make God unrighteous?
God forbid. God forbid. Neither one of those
boys had even been born. They hadn't done anything good.
They hadn't busted the cookie jar. They hadn't done anything
good. They hadn't done anything evil.
What was the purpose of that then? Scripture says that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. He is elect people, those chosen
in Christ from before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. Question four, is Christ's blood
sufficient? Is Christ's blood sufficient?
Brother Tom Harding, there was an article in your bulletin this
morning written by Tom Harding. I always love it when Tom asks
this question. He said, is Christ's blood sufficient?
He said, did it get the job done? That's how he interprets that
verse. I think that's good. Did it get the job done? I hear men say this, almost,
almost. I hear him say this, God cast
his vote and the devil cast his vote and now it's up to you. Where's that found in scripture? These things that men say, where
are they found in scripture? They're not. They're not. Men say this, he's done all he
can, and now it's up to you? You know there are at least a
couple problems with these kind of statements, and I say at least
a couple, okay, for sake of time. Our Lord speaking to a group
of Jews there in John, he said this, he said, He said, you will
not come to me. You will not come to me that
you might have life. What happened when our Lord was
crucified and Pilate come out there and said, the Lord Jesus
Christ or Barabbas? Barabbas. They cried with a loud
voice, Barabbas. If I'm left to my will, There's a way that seems right. The way therein are the ways
of death. The in there are the ways of
death. He said, you will not come to me that you might have
life. And here's another issue. If it's up to a dead man to make
a decision, the clock's going to be ticking a
long time, right? A dead man can't do anything. When men say
these kind of things, we're giving man far too much credit. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. Scripture says this, He is able
to save to the uttermost. We read that just a little bit
ago, didn't we? He is able to save to the uttermost them that
come to God by Him. Scripture says this, the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son,
God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. They've all been taken away. He laid down His life his sheep. We sing that hymn. The vilest
offender who truly believes that moment, all that very moment
from Jesus, a pardon receives. Saul of Tarsus. Think about Saul
of Tarsus. What a wicked man. He was going
around imprisoning folks that preached the Word, that believed
the Word. There was a self-righteous Pharisee, and I was thinking
about this. Remember that poor woman there
in John 8? Remember that? The scribes and
Pharisees, they brought this woman before our Lord, a woman
taken in the very act of adultery. Huh? And they said, the law of
Moses says stoner. Interesting, they never said
anything about the man that she was with, right? But that woman,
they said the law says stoner. What a horrible place to be in. Any sin for that matter. But
this woman, again, taken in the very act, and this group of men
drag her to the Lord, say the law says stone her. Is Christ's blood sufficient
to save her? Our Lord said this, He said to
these men, He said, He that is without sin, let him cast the
first stone. The place emptied out pretty
quick, didn't it? They left, from the oldest to
the youngest. And listen here, verse 10 of
John 8. When Jesus lifted up himself
and saw none but the woman. We've got the Savior and a sinner. That's it. When he saw none but
the woman, he said unto her, Where are thine accusers? Hath
no man condemned thee? And she said, no man. No man has condemned me. Listen,
she's still standing before the Lord of glories. She knows of
her sin. Can you imagine the relief when
our Lord looked to her and said this? Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Is Christ's
blood sufficient? Did it get the job done? There is therefore now, right
now, no condemnation. to them that
are in Christ Jesus. And listen, He is dependent on
us. And boy, this gives me great
comfort. He is dependent on me for nothing. Huh? Nothing. Nothing in my hands
I bring. I cling to Him and Him alone. Hebrews 1-3, when he had by himself
purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. And listen, all for whom he died
shall be saved. Fifth, does the Holy Spirit regenerate
and call God's elect? In Psalm 110 verse 3, We read,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. He makes
his people willing. You know, there were two thieves
that hung on the cross, one on each side of our Lord, both guilty,
both deserving of death, Both of them had mocked the Lord.
Both of them had questioned His power, questioned who He was.
But you know, at some point, at some point during that day,
as those men hung on the cross, something happened. Something
happened. As one questioned and said, if
thou be the Christ, save thyself, and us, right? But the other one said this.
He said, don't you fear God. Don't you fear God knowing we're
in the same condemnation and we indeed justly, we're getting
what we deserve. But this man, he's done nothing
amiss. This man has done nothing wrong. And then he looked. He looked
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Todd Nyberg was bringing a message.
I'd never considered this before. Our Lord was beaten and scourged
like no man ever. It's very likely that he was,
by the natural eye, unrecognizable. Some time ago, there was a man
in our, actually a couple men in our community, had broke into
a home and stolen some things. And to their surprise, there
were some people in the house. And they didn't handle that well. And they put pictures of these
men in the paper. Their eyes were just swollen
shut. I mean, it was a horrific sight. Isaiah says this, as bad as that
looked to me, Isaiah, speaking of our Lord, said, His visage
was marred more than any man. Any man. More than the sons of
men. And yet, that thief was given
eyes of faith to see Him. He revealed himself to him. And that thief on the cross,
he said, Lord, remember me. Remember me. He sees the Lord and he cries
out to him. He's made willing. He's made
willing. Every one of his people that
he's pleased to say, he makes them willing in the day of his
power. Not on a date I can go back and
identify when He was pleased. Just as He was pleased in creation
to speak light, and there was light. Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of thy power. Well, here's my last question,
question six. Will all of His elect persevere? Turn with me to John chapter
6. John chapter 6, verse 39. And again, these are the words
of our Lord. These are the words of our Lord.
Look at verse 39. He says, this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Will all of his elect persevere? The same thing we said this morning,
right? Here our Lord declares it to
be the sovereign will of His Father. The sovereign will of
God that all elected by the Father, all redeemed by the Son, all
called by the Spirit of God will be raised from the grave
unto eternal glory." And not one. Lord, do you know how wicked
I am? Lord, do you know anything of my sin? He says not one. Not one is going
to be lost. Our salvation, our peace, our comfort, our hope
is this. God's sovereign. God is absolutely
sovereign. He elected a people unto himself. His son shed his blood on the
cross for the sins of his people. The Holy Spirit comes and regenerates
and gives life to a dead sinner and not one, not one, not even the chief of
sinners, not one will be lost. I hope the Lord enables us to
take comfort, to take rest, to take hope in knowing this, it's
all of Him. It's all of Him. And I ask you
this again, who gets the glory in that? God gets the glory. To God be the glory. Let's go
to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father which art
in heaven, Lord, we thank you for this thy word. Lord, we thank
thee that salvation is of the Lord. Lord, cause us to look to thee,
to rest in thee, knowing knowing that thou doest all things well. Lord, forgive us our sin, our
sin, which are many. And Lord, I pray that here in
this place today, Lord, in all that, Lord, in the reading of
scripture, Lord, in the public prayer, in the singing of hymns,
in the preaching of thy word, that, Lord, it would be for thy
glory. Lord, that you would get the glory in all things. Pray for this congregation. Lord,
thank you for it. Pray you'd give Brother Clay
safe travels as he returns home. And Lord, continue to bless this
congregation. Lord, that it might continue
to be a place where men and women and young folks could come and
hear thy gospel faithfully preached. Lord, bless your people. Bless
your word. Bless us. For Christ's sake we pray, amen.