Thank you very much. Thank you. It's good to meet you. Thank you. Thank you. You know. I'm th th th Thank you very much. and and and and and and and and and I don't know what to do. Well, good evening, everyone.
It's good to see each of you here tonight. I was telling Darwin
when we pulled in, there was already several cars in the parking
lot. And I said, wow, there's a lot
of people here. I said, that's what you get when
you get a big name preacher to come into town. And I am thankful
for the turnout tonight, and I'm thankful that Brother Darwin
and his wife, Yvonne, are with us, and always a pleasure. I look forward to hearing what
the Lord has given him for us tonight. I want you to turn with
me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Darwin asked me to read this
passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning in verse 1. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand. by which also ye are saved, if
you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. and that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures,
and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the 12, and after that
he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater
part remain until this present, but some are fallen asleep. And
after that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And
last of all, he was seen of me also as of one born out of due
time. For I am the least of the apostles
that am not meet to be called an apostle, not fit to be called
an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. but by the
grace of God I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, Whether it were I
or they, so we preach and so ye believe. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank
you again for the opportunity and privilege to meet together
in the name of our Lord and Savior. Lord, we are. Thankful that we
can come boldly into your throne of grace to find help and time
of need. And Lord, we confess our need,
spiritual need. Lord, we're poor and needy and
need thy help. Thank you, Lord, for this privilege
and thank you for sending your servant our way this evening. We ask, Lord, that you would
bless him, give him freedom of thought and freedom of speech
and enable him to proclaim the unsearchable riches of the Lord
Jesus Christ. May your people this night be
comforted. May, if there be any here lost,
be saved. Lord, we know that it's by what
this world calls foolishness, the foolishness of preaching,
to be the means, the only means, that you ordained for sinners,
lost sinners to be saved. And Lord, we thank you that this
gospel, this good news for sinners is preached in this place. Lord,
we know that that's all by your grace and mercy toward us. We
pray for those who are not able to be with us tonight. We lift
up again the Brown family to you and ask that you comfort
them in this time of loss. And Lord, we give you all the
glory because all the glory is yours. And we thank you again
for all your blessings in Christ that you've given us. It's in
his name and for his sake, we ask these things. Amen. Okay, if you would turn with
me to hymn number 67 in the hymn book, 67. O Savior, as my eyes behold The
wonders of thy might untold, The hymns in glorious light arrayed
The best creation Thou hast made And yet to think Thou lovest
me My heart cries out How can it be? How can it be that God should
love a soul like me? Oh, how can it be? As at the cross, I humbly bow
And gaze upon Thy form crowned brown. And view the precious
bleeding form By cruel nails so bruised and torn. Knowing thy suffering was for
me, In grief I cry, how can it be? Bet God should love a soul like
me Oh, how can it be? How can it be? How can it be? Was ever Grace so full and free? From heights of bliss to depths
of woe, In love, in kindness, Thou didst go. From sin and shame to rescue
me, O love me, How can it be? How can it be? That God should love a wretch
like me? Oh, how can it be? Turn over with me to 127, please. Hallelujah. What a Savior. 127. Men of sorrows, what a name! For the Son of God who came,
Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Bearing shame and stopping rude,
In my place condemned He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless free,
Spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! Lifted up was He to die, In His
finished was His pride. Now in heaven they've thought
it high, Hallelujah! What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing,
Alleluia! What a Savior! Thank you, Ms. Shelley. Mr. Darwin Pruitt is no stranger
to you. He's been here to preach for
us many times over the years, and I am thankful to call him
my friend and my brother. And I am anxiously been anticipating
hearing him tonight. And so without any further, he's
pastor of this Grace Baptist Church right in Louisville, Arkansas
now. And I hope that you'll make it
a point to meet his wife, Yvonne, who's also a very dear friend
of Teresa and mine. And we're glad that she was able
to be with him. So, Darvin, you come at this
time, buddy. Good to have you. I invite you this evening to
turn back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. While you're turning to my text, let
me say that it's good to be back in Madisonville. Especially good
to be here tonight with the Saints of God here at Bible Baptist
Church. I want to thank you, Pastor,
for having me and the Lord for granting me the privilege of
preaching once again this evening. It's always a delight to me to
preach His gospel. It's not a labor. I hear men
talk about the labor, and there's labor involved, but it's a delight. It's not hard. I was preaching
on the church that God built, and I told them, a story about
a native and he brought him through the jungle and then came out
in this clearing and showed him this house. And oh, what a house
it was. And I described the house in
detail and then I said when they got inside, all the labor was
being done for them. There were chefs and butlers
and maids and And I said, I know what you're going to ask because
you know what I'm illustrating. What in the world does a man
do if all the work's done for him? And I said, he spends his
days being thankful to the Lord. He spends his days resting in
that bed for weary sinners. He spends his day being taught
of God. and he spends his day anticipating
the meal that's going to be served for him. Isn't it something what
the Lord does? This is what we do. I don't know
what religion they get busy about everything on the sun, but God's
people are interested in Christ. That's what they're interested
in. They're interested in the gospel and the kingdom of God.
All the work's done. It's not over. Lest any man should
boast. I think the first time I preached
down in Madisonville, I was trying to think this afternoon driving
down, but I think it was in 1978. That's 43 years ago. Half of my lifetime ago, the
first time I preached in this little church. And I've learned
some things along the way. I was young then. And a lot of
waters run under the bridge. I learned that not everyone who
professes to know the gospel knows the gospel. It took me
a while to learn that. There are a lot of folks out
here who profess to know the gospel, but they don't know it. Peter said, sanctify the Lord
God in your heart. Set Him apart. Know who He is. Sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason for the hope that's in you. And do it with
meekness and do it with faith. I thought I knew the Lord one
time and a man stopped me. I thought I knew the gospel and
he told me I didn't know the gospel. I said, well sure I do.
He said, well if you know it, what is it? And for the first time in my
life, I realized I didn't know the gospel. But I professed to
know it. I've learned that over the years.
It took me a while. You cannot be saved and be ignorant
of the gospel. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. He is what? He is who he says
he is. And that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently Seek him. Not everybody knows the gospel.
Secondly, I learned not everybody who preaches the gospel actually
does. They preach religious experience,
moral reform, decisionism, church history, church structure, church
authority. They preach easy-believe-ism,
the Roman road, legal righteousness, and on and on it goes. Not everyone
who preaches out there who says they're a preacher preaches the
gospel. The gospel, I know some of you
here know this, the gospel's a person. It's a person. What is the gospel? It's Christ. It's Christ. In 2 Thessalonians
2, writing about antichrist religion, Paul writes about the effects, the effects of that antichrist
religion on unsuspecting men and women, and it deceives them
and it's blinding them to the truth. And he says, because they
receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God
shall send them strong delusion to believe a lie and be damned.
Not everyone loves the gospel. Not everyone preaches the gospel.
And not everyone knows the gospel. I recently received a letter.
I don't know if it's a man or a woman. I suspect that it's
a young person and a young female. Because when she wrote the letter,
she wrote little things up the side and put little things on
the side, you know, like you would if you were about 12 years
old. You know, I hope this is not an older woman. But she thought
she knew the gospel and she was trying to convince me of universal
salvation and all the free will Arminian doctrine. She didn't
want any feedback, left no return address. We're warned in the
scriptures time and again about those who will come preaching
another Jesus. Another Jesus. And if you just
sit quietly, especially at a funeral home and listen to folks talk,
their Jesus and our Jesus are two different people. They're
not the same. That's what he's talking about.
The gospel is Jesus Christ, the Lord. It's Him, it's a person. But they'll come preaching another
person. Not the same. And the apostolic command is
to let them be accursed. That is to count them accursed
of God. Don't give them any benefit of
the doubt. If they come preaching another
Jesus, another gospel by another spirit, you count them accursed
of God. John said this, whosoever transgresses
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. You can't know God apart from
Christ. Christ is a manifestation of
God. And if any come unto you and
bring not this doctrine, don't receive them into your house,
and don't say, well, have a blessed day. Don't do that. You're a partaker of his sins. Now having said this, I invite
you again to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15, and my subject
tonight is the gospel that saves. The other gospels don't save.
It don't say. It can't say. But there is a
gospel that says. And in the first 11 verses of
1 Corinthians, Paul gives the church five irrefutable declarations
concerning the salvation of everyone, which is... These declarations are denied
by most. I'll put it that way. They're
denied by most. They're ignored. They're removed
from their preaching and denounced by the religion of this world.
You're going to run into a brick wall when you start talking to
them. I hope you'll listen to these
things and go home and search the scriptures and see if what
I'm telling you is not so. There are five things that I
know that make up the gospel that say, You got a piece of
paper, write them down. Here's the first thing. The gospel
that saves comes to chosen sinners by way of a gospel declaration. That's how it comes. I hear people
talk about reading the scriptures, I was doing this, I was in my
closet and heard a voice and on and on and on it goes. That's
not how God saves sinners. God saves sinners through a gospel
declaration. Isn't that what Paul said here?
Look with me at my text here in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Moreover brethren, I declare, I'm not throwing this
out as my opinion, this is not a theory, this is not some idea
that I conceived and hope that I can share with you. It's a
declaration. If I can't stand here and tell
you this is so, then I shouldn't stand here and say it at all. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, now watch this, which I preached unto you,
Which also you received, and wherein you stand, by which also
you are saved." Surely he didn't mean to say
that. Yeah, he did. Which also you are saved if you
keep in memory what? What I preached to you. Somebody
stood up, David, and said, this is the gospel. It's a person. It ain't a plan. And this person
was ordained of God. And he was appointed to certain
offices. When did he do it? Before the
foundation of the world. God appointed him mediator before
he ever created anything. From all eternity. Chosen people
in him made provision for that people in him. There's a person. And we preached that. And he
said, you've received it. And listen, until you talk, that's
where you stand. And he said, you keep standing
there, God's gonna save you. How's he gonna save you? Through
the preaching of the gospel. Oh, I believed 25 years ago. What do you believe tonight? Huh? That's how God says. He just keeps on saving. Way back yonder in the beginning
of 1 Corinthians, he said, unto them which perish. Now let me
tell you how that actually reads. To them who are perishing, the
gospel's foolishness. But unto them which are being
saved, it's the power of God. And it continues to be, continues
to be, if you hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the whole firmament
to the end. That's what the scriptures say. The gospel is a declaration.
It's a dogmatic, bold, irrefutable declaration. Paul was a man called
to God to preach the gospel. He was a man who knew in his
heart of hearts that apart from the preaching of the gospel,
nobody was going to be saved. He was a wise man. Paul was no
dummy. This man was educated. All you
got to do is look at the scriptures, and I know that they're inspired
by the Spirit of God, but you can see this man was a talented
writer. This ain't the first thing he
ever wrote. He was a talented writer. He could have wrote a
bunch of tracts and passed them out. He didn't. What'd he do? Preached. Preached. Yeah, but what about them places
where they beat him? He kept on preaching. What about
when they stoned him and left him for dead? He got up, by the
grace of God, and kept right on preaching. Why? Because nobody's
gonna be saved without him. That's why. It's necessary. This whole generation's been
convinced by antichrist religion that the preaching of the gospel's
not necessary. Anybody can be saved. A, B, C,
D, that's it. You saved. Sign the card. Walk
the aisle. Join the church. Get in the pool. Be sprinkled. That's not how
God saves sinners. They hear the gospel and they
say, that's it! And God confirms His testimony
in their heart. Read 1 Corinthians 1. Confirms
the testimony in their heart. And then it says he keeps on
confirming it to the end. If any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. But, now listen, we're not up
there to draw back under perdition. We may draw back for a season,
but we don't draw back under perdition. God saves sinners
by a gospel declaration. That's what it is. God convinces
a man of this gospel convinces him that this is the means that
God's going to use. And let me tell you something,
God's not changing His mind. Every good gift, every perfect
gift cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no bearableness,
neither shadow of turning. He chose the means of preaching
to save sinners, and He ain't changing. That's just it. I told him the other night, I
said, a man called me, he's now a member of my church, but he
called me and he said, nobody up here is preaching the gospel.
I said, why are you up there? Huh? If you know that, why are
you still there? If you know somebody preaching
the gospel, go sit under them. Listen to them. That's how God
saves sinners. Gospel preaching is necessary
for the faith of God's elect. And I don't know where the idea
of self-regeneration and self-teaching and self-revelation come from,
but there's hardly anyone in our day that hasn't bought into
it. The first epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians, he sits down and pens out this letter, and
it's full of the teaching, of the means of preaching. He just
keeps going over and over. And I thought, well, why does
he keep going over these things? Now I know. Now I know. You have to keep going over.
You have to keep going over. He says in chapter 1 that he
thanked God for them knowing that the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in them. The testimony of Christ being
the gospel. He tells them in verse 18, the
preaching of the cross, the substitutionary death of Christ is to them that
are perishing foolishness, but unto us which are being saved,
it's the power of God. And then in verse 21, he said,
for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. Oh, but they say they can. God
says you can. And their cannot is by the wisdom
of God. Isn't that what this is saying?
The world by wisdom knew not God, but it pleased God through
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed. But
it doesn't stop there. It tells them in chapter 2, verse
4, that his speech and preaching were not with enticing words
of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of spirit and of power. Why? That your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Where'd they
get that from? It came to them through preaching. He goes on to show us that the
Spirit of God and His inward work of grace accompanies the
preaching of the gospel, and that the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. If you won't have gospel preaching,
You won't receive the things of the Spirit of God, because
that's one of them. And then listen to how he follows
that up. Neither can he know them, for they are spiritually
discerned. But there's more. In chapter 3 he tells us that
both he and Apollos are ministered by whom the Corinthians believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man. That is every man for whom
Christ died and for whom preachers have sinned. How shall they preach
except to be sinned? In chapter 4 he said, without
apology let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God. Oh my soul. Every now and then the Lord will
open something up to me and I'll just I don't even know what to
say. I just said in my study and we... A mystery that you can't even
find the information on it anywhere in any book. You can't find it.
I preached up in Danville one time about that spiritual formula. I couldn't find one thing on
that anywhere by any writer. I asked Don, he as studied as
a man can get, I asked Don, I said, have you ever read it? No, he
said, I never have. But the Lord revealed it to me.
Because that potion, it would, if this woman was accused of
adultery and she took that potion, if she wasn't guilty, she didn't
die. But if she was guilty, she died. And that's what happens when
you hear the gospel, isn't it? Huh? You're guilty and you're
justified. Both. And that potion is the
gospel. That's exactly what it is. In
James 1.18, 1 Peter 1.25, you'll find the same things. You can find them in Romans 10,
14, and 15. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14 and you can go on and
on and on. The Bible is full of this teaching. Salvation comes through gospel
preaching. You say you're leaving Christ
out. No, I'm not. He's the gospel. He's the gospel. And preaching is a declaration. And the gospel that saves comes
from a man's sin of God to a chosen sinner by the declaration of
Christ and him crucified. The second thing I see is that
the gospel that saves declares a full and total ruin of mankind
in action. There's nothing in man to build
on. All have sinned. That's what
Paul said, and come short of the glory of God. In verses 21
and 22 of our text, he tells us, by man came death. You going
to build on that? You want to study man? You want
to look into man and see what's in there? By man came death.
And that death passed upon all men. In Adam, he said, all die. There's no hope in man. Man,
the scripture said, is of a few days and full of trouble. Man drinks iniquity like water,
Job said, and man at his best states altogether vanity. That's
what the scripture says about man. Well, what about the overview
of mankind? That's what he's talking about. That's what he's talking about.
Listen to this, our Lord said, out of the heart of man proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witnesses,
blasphemy. That's what comes out of his
heart. Search your heart, or you won't have to look very
far, I can tell you that. It's a cesspool of iniquity,
that's what it is. You hath equated who are dead
in trespasses and sins. Parsonage I built in Ball, Louisiana
was a... It was right in front of a cemetery. I didn't preach to anybody in
there. Never did. I never had a conversation
with them. I never left in my car
and said, well, Lord bless you. Why? They're all dead. They passed
hell. And God tells us, He took old
Ezekiel out in the Spirit of God, took him out and said, what
do you see? Bones. A preacher, what do you see when
you look out at the congregation? When you look out at an assembly,
I see bones. Can they live? Oh Lord God, thou
knowest. I don't. But if he speaks, I
can. You know what he told that man?
Looking at those bones, dry, no skin, no nothing left on them. He said, there's very many and
they're very dry. And he looked at them and he
said, oh Lord God, they'll know us if they can live. Here's what
the Lord told him. Preach to them. Isn't that what
he tells us? Why? Because that's how I'm going
to raise them. I tried. One thing I never saw in that
cemetery the whole time I lived there was any saving activity. Never did. They were all dead. The ministry of God is to sinners
and there's nothing in the book of God for self-righteous man.
The whole need not the physician. That's what our Lord said. This
declaration goes out to chosen sinners. God's going to save
somebody and that's good news because nobody can save themselves.
Now how they get that's not fair because God's going to save His
elect, I'll never know. The sinnerhood of man is not
somebody's opinion or somebody's evaluation or somebody's experience. The ruin of man is the plain
declaration of the gospel. And somebody's going to have
to stand up and tell them that they did in trespasses and sins. Paul said, I have before proved,
this is what he told the church at Rome, I have before proved
that both you and Gentile are all under sin. The gospel that saves is a gospel
that declares plainly that man's lost and undone without God or
his sin. That's what it says. None righteous,
none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God, none
good. And twice in those four things,
he says, no, not one. I could, if time would permit,
go on for hours concerning the sinfulness of man. The gospel
declares the total depravity of man. It doesn't appeal to
men because there's nothing in him to appeal to. We simply declare
it and wait on the Holy Spirit to convince men of it. That's
the best we can do. All right, third, the gospel
that saves. I don't need a gospel that don't
save. I'm just interested in one thing, the gospel that saves.
I'm a sinner. I need saving. and he kills me,
he saves sinners through the preaching of the gospel. And
the gospel that saves is a gospel that declares that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures, not according to
how men think. Well, I just think. Who cares? Who cares? They can't do anything
for me. God's only one to do it. Why
don't I find out how God saves sinners then? If there's going to be any reconciliation
with God, sin must be dealt with. Years ago, I had a preacher in
a Nazarene church. He had a big blackboard back
here. I had no idea. They'd write all kinds of stuff
on there. But one time he said, here's how God saves sinners. Making marks up there about sin.
I stole something. I done this. I done that. Now
he said, here's salvation. He got an eraser and erased all
them marks. That ain't salvation. Sin has
to be paid for. God has to be satisfied. He don't compromise his character
for anybody. He didn't compromise his character
to save his son. And he sure ain't going to compromise
it to save me. Religion talks about God as though
he has this big eraser. He simply wipes away the handwriting
on the wall. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
1. Sin must be paid for. Justice must be satisfied. Righteousness must be manifested. Colossians 1 verse 20. Look at this. And having made
peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all
things to himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven. They're chosen sinners on earth.
Things have to be reconciled. But there's things in heaven
that has to be reconciled to, the justice of God, the righteousness
of God. Yet now hath He reconciled half
in the body of His flesh through death, that we might be saved. No, that
ain't what that says. No, it ain't. in the body of
his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable
in God's sight. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and set, and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel which you have heard." That's the gospel that's saying
Christ died for our sins according to his The Gospel saves, declares that
the death of Christ satisfied the justice of God. Isaiah said,
he, that is God, shall see of the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied. Boy, he can't be satisfied with
me, but he is in Christ. He can't find anything to correct
me for in Christ. I'm perfect. The whole world believes Christ
died for their sins. Believers believe that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. And the scriptures
declare his death to be vicarious, effectual, sufficient, and acceptable. We're accepted, he said, in the
blood. Accepted. By his own blood, it
said, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
Eternal redemption for us. I like that word eternal, don't
you? Everything God does is eternal. Christ said to the Pharisees,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life to the sheep. And you're not going to find
peace with God having a universal offering for sin. The redemption
he accomplished is particular and it's effectual. Once, he
said, in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself at one time. By the accomplishing of his redemptive
will, Paul said, we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. And by that same offering, all
that is sanctified are made perfect. That's good news, ain't it? It
is, if you're a sinner, it's good news. Oh my soul. And then fourthly, the gospel
that saves declares, 1 Corinthians 15, 4, that Christ was buried. Why'd they bury him? Because
he's dead. They stood around and looked. He wasn't breathing. If anybody on those crosses was
still breathing, They took a stick and broke his bones until he
quit breathing. And they came to him and they
didn't use it for two reasons. One, Scripture said not a bone
of him should be broken, and the other reason, because he's
already dead. He was buried, and watch this,
and rose again. He's dead. They knew he's dead.
And he rose again on the third day. On the third day, he sat
up on that little slab they laid him out on, and took that linen
off, and folded it neatly, and laid it in a pile. And God rolled
that stone back, and he walked out of that town. He was delivered,
the scripture said, for our offenses. Every chosen sinner, every man
chosen of God, and put in cry. put into eternal covenant union
with Him. They died when He died. But God was satisfied with His
death and on the third day He raised Him. He was delivered
for our offenses. Now listen, He was raised again
for our justification. How do you know you're justified
with God? Christ ain't in the Talmud. God
raised him! I know better than to use that
word. I just do that so you understand what I'm saying. Oh, my son. The gospel that saves is a gospel
that declares the justifying righteousness of Christ. And
Jesus Christ was set forth as a representative man. Did you
know that? That's my representative. He's the head of the body, the
church, the federal head. And he says in 1 Corinthians
1 21, for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. How do I know that? Because he ain't in the time.
And let me tell you something else, that same Christ that God
raised from the dead, He sent angels down and they carried
Him up into glory and put a crown on His head and He sat down at
the right hand of God and believe it or not, He's running things. And when things look like they're
upside down, they're not upside down. They're exactly the way
He arranges them to be. He's Lord. And people know Him,
call Him Lord. He's Lord. Won't you make Jesus
your Lord? You couldn't make Him Lord. He's
already Lord. God made Him Lord. He's Lord
of the dead and Lord of the living. He's Lord. The heart of the king
is in the hand of the Lord. Just like those rivers and waters.
And he turns at it, and where shall I be with you? The Lord. And the Scripture said, He raised
me up with Him. Huh? Isn't that what it says?
And made me to sit together with Him in heavenly places. Where are you sitting this time?
On the throne. Huh? Seated with Him in the heavenlies. Where's He at? On the throne.
On the throne. He chose us in Christ that we
might be holy. You can't look yourself in the
mirror and say, He's holy. You can't do it, can you? But
you are in Christ. Holy. Holy. No offense to the character of
God. He chose us in Christ that we
might be holy and without blame, and I love this, before Him in
love. That means before Him being loved. Put that little grandbaby out
on the floor, you love it, don't you? We sit before Him in Christ,
the love of God is sealed. and we're always before him in
love. And who's gonna separate you
from that love? Huh? Nobody. And no family. Yeah, but you
can separate yourself. Huh? Both religious, both. Predestinated, he said, under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, whom said. You say God loves everybody.
If he did, his love made no difference whatsoever. If he loved Esau, then scriptures
make God have to be a liar, because he said he didn't love Esau.
He hated Esau. He loved Gabriel. If he died for the sins of every
man, then his death made no difference. A universal gospel gives all
the glory to man, but Christ as a representative of his elect
gives all the glory to God. That's right. Of God are you
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. What else do you need? In Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We're complete
in Him. That means you don't need anything. The righteousness of the saints
is an imputed righteousness in Christ. And all those chosen
in Him have been put into a saving union with Him, and He's the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. No
such thing as a self-righteous believer. Somebody told me that the other
day. I used that in a sentence. I sat there and scratched my
head for a minute. There's no such thing as a self-righteous
believer. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Him, whom God has set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare
His righteousness. It's all about His righteousness,
His glory. And the death of Christ is the
crowning work of His righteousness. And what faith sees is the sufficiency
of His death to put away sin and honor the character of God.
That's what it does. They see God as just and justifier. That's what that scripture in
Romans 3.25 is talking about. And then lastly, the gospel that
saves is a gospel that declares salvation in the person of Jesus
Christ. Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ arose. Christ must reign
until he put all enemies under his feet. And so he ends the
chapter saying, but thanks be unto God, which giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all in him. So what are you doing in the
preaching of the gospel preacher? I'm trying to point you to Christ.
I'm trying to say, leave this other stuff alone and look to
him. Everything God has for sinners
is in Christ. It's all in Christ. Now if a
man ain't saying that, he ain't a preacher. He's just not a preacher. I don't know what he is, but
he ain't a preacher. Well, I do know what he is. He's
a liar. He's made God out to be a liar. Religion without actually saying
it leads people to believe that salvation and the gospel is in
the motions of religion. Walking down the aisle. I remember
25 years ago, I walked down that aisle. I prayed at that altar. I had that feeling. I had that
experience. I made my profession. I went
to the pool. The Gospels are setting forth
of the person and work of Jesus Christ. May the Lord enable this
poor sinner to do just that. As long as he gives me breath
to talk. Look to Christ. Bow to Christ. Everything's in
Him. Look to Him. Rest in Him. Huh? Oh my soul, you can rest
in Christ. Oh, but my enemies are out. You
really think? Old Caleb said, they come back,
said, man, we can't go. There's giants over there. They
got walled cities, got walls built around. They got weapons
like you never. Caleb said, what are you talking about? This is
like a tale already told. Our sufficiencies appeal. We don't need an army. That's
what he told them. Said, you got too many men. When I first went to Arkansas,
I looked at that little group, and I looked at that, oh, it's
so depressed there in the South, whole cities just vacant. And I told them, I said, this
is exactly the kind of place where Christ raised up His church. Out of nothing, make something. Oh, the Lord helped me look to
Him. This afternoon, I asked Darvin,
what are you preaching on? He told me the text. He said,
just meat and taters. I like meat and taters. I do. Especially in preaching. And
there are some of you tonight, and there will be others that
hear this message, and they'll say, what a message. And there
will be some that hear this message and say, what a Savior. And that's
the difference. That's the difference. Thank you. Thank you. Turn with
me to 231 in the hymn books. I ask you to stand if you're
able. 231, let's sing. And Brother Gene, if you would,
at the end of this hymn, dismiss us in prayer, please. 231. We have heard the joyful sound
Jesus saves, Jesus saves Spread the tidings all around Jesus
saves, Jesus saves Bear the news to every land Climb the steeps
and cross the waves Onward, tis our Lord's command Jesus saves,
Jesus saves Walked it on the rolling tide. Jesus saves, Jesus
saves, Tell to sinners far and wide. Jesus saves, Jesus saves,
Sing the islands of the sea. Echo back the ocean caves Earth
shall keep her jubilee Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing above
the battle strike Jesus saves, Jesus saves Now He's there in
endless life Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing it softly through
the gloom When the heart for mercy craves Sing it triumph
o'er the tomb Jesus saves, Jesus saves If the winds of mighty voice,
Jesus saves, Jesus saves! Let the nations now rejoice,
Jesus saves, Jesus saves! Shouts our nation full and free,
Highest hills and deepest caves. This our song of victory. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Our Father, we thank you for what
we heard tonight. Your Word plainly declares that
this man who sipped from heaven will be called Jesus, for he
shall save his people from their sins. And we rejoice in this
great salvation that's given to us freely by your grace through
the merits of Christ our Savior. Thank you for your servant who
preached to us the gospel this night. We with him and his wife
get on the safe trip back to their home in Arkansas and dismiss
us with Help us to ponder these truths,
to take them home with us, and to rejoice in Christ as we continue
to look to Him, the author and the finisher of our faith, in
whose name we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. Welcome.