Will you turn in your Bibles
this morning to the 10th chapter of Romans? There's a statement
here that many of you are very familiar with, and we're going
to look at this statement again. Our Lord says, go ye unto the
world and preach the gospel. The good news. Well, what is
the good news? The good news that this book
talks about from cover to cover is that there is a Savior. who
saves. There is one and only one who
satisfies the justice of God against sin. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. This statement that we read here
is a very familiar statement, but let me read from you before
we look at this from Joel 2.32, a similar verse that will sound
very similar to what we're about to read here in Romans 10. And it shall come to pass, It
says in Joel 2 verse 32, and it shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion, in other words,
because those who call, those who truly call upon the Lord,
They shall be delivered, why? Because of this, in Mount Zion
and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. On Mount Zion, in Jerusalem,
in the people of God, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant
whom the Lord shall call. Now, if you would look at verse
13 with me here in Romans chapter 10. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall Be saved. Don't you like the
word, child? You know, if I tell you that
Kathy and I are going to get in the truck over here, we're
going to take the trailer, we're going to get it all hooked up,
we're going to go camping this afternoon. You know, I've got to be honest
with you, something could come up between now and then. The Lord could take me. I could
walk out that door and the Lord would say, okay, that's it. Boom,
John fall over, die of a heart attack or something. Or anything,
anything could stop but when the Lord. Remember that. See, that's who we're calling
on. That's who we need to call on. Not a Lord, not some Lord,
but the Lord. There's only one Lord. There's
only one who has all sovereign power under his complete Will,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. We were looking at that in our
Bible study earlier. He's sitting on the throne at the right hand
of the majesty on high. He's sitting on the throne in
the true tabernacle. That's in heaven. All authority
belongs to Him. He is the Lord. That's who we
must call on. And He tells us those who call
upon Him shall be saved. Isn't that what we just read
there? For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. That means that there's a people.
That means that there's somebody. That means somebody in this world
is going to call upon Him. He has a people. Jerusalem. is
a picture of God's people. Remember in Jerusalem, now He
favored them. Did He not go out and win the
battle for them in many, many cases? Oh, absolutely He did. He went out and won the battle.
He does that for us spiritually as well. The battle between the
Spirit and the flesh, between the sin that is in this flesh
and the Spirit that is in Him. It's won. Lay down your weapons. Pick up the weapons of Christ,
the armor of God. For the battle is won in our
Savior, the Lord Jesus. He has a people who shall call
upon Him. He says it this way. He says,
all the Father giveth me. Well, did God the Father give
God the Son every... I mean, He does have all authority
over all men. But was the whole world given
to Him, was all mankind given to Him in the covenant of grace? No. What about all those Hittites
and all the different names, the Amorites and all of those
people, were they, was God gracious in saving them? No, He saved
eight people. Why am I making such a point
of this is because, folks, this is the point of grace. God saving a people who don't
deserve it. A people who actually deserve
His wrath. A people who have earned the
wrath of God, yet He sent His Son to take our wrath upon Himself. He is the just and the justifier
of His people. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. What we read there in
Joel is somewhat of a shorter version of it, but we get the
picture, don't we? Whosoever calleth. Kathy and
I had, in our travels, had many a time stopped at cemeteries. Have you ever done that? You
ever stopped at a cemetery? There's a really, really neat
cemetery just down the road here. And if you go through some of
the folks and just read some of the headstones in there, number
one, we'll see Joyce Devers. But there's many in there that
go back long, long time ago. I guarantee you, you go down
to that cemetery, and you're not going to hear anybody in
that cemetery calling upon God. Dead people can't do that. Once
you've gone through that doormark death, it's over, folks. It's
over. Judgment is the only thing next. I was a delivery driver, truck
driver. And some of the things that we
would deliver were chemicals for embalming. And I remember
one time going into the morgue in downtown Sacramento. Have
you ever, I got to tell you something, that was about the scariest thing.
I actually went in with the first load on the hand truck, dropped
it off, set it where he wanted it to, and then I walked out
and I said, I'm not going back in with the rest. Up here, the morgue up here,
I probably didn't visit very many. You go into the morgue
down there, and there's bodies. There's a lot of people down
there. And there's bodies in there. There's dead people in
there. I told the guy, I said, I'm not coming back in. He's
like, really? Come on. They're not going to
get up off the table. And they didn't. I know. I kind of say that in a jokingly
way. But I was scared. I'm not going
back in there. Folks, the whole point is, when
you're dead, you're dead. Lazarus was dead in the grave
for four days. He was beginning to stink. But
God. But God came to John Reeves when
he was 40 years old, in dire whatever, my heart was broken,
my mind was torn apart, I came here to cry on my brother's shoulder. And what did the Lord do? He
said, live through the preaching of His Word. Look here at verses
14-15. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? How was I going to call? How
was I going to call on the true and living God, Jesus Christ,
the Lord, if I didn't believe in Him? And I didn't believe
in Him. Not at least in this one. The
one that's talked about from cover to cover. The one who is
God in the flesh. The very one who created everything
there is. How am I going to believe in
him? I had never heard of him. Oh, I'd heard about a Jesus who
supposedly created the worlds and saved the people. I'd heard
about a Jesus, but not one with power. As far as I know, it was
just some good guy who walked around like Mother Teresa. quiet
and humble, did all these nice things. I had never heard that
He was my Savior. I can't tell you that Jesus is
your Savior. Only He can do that. Only God
can speak to the hearts of men. How am I gonna call on somebody
I've never believed in? How am I going to believe in
somebody I've never heard of? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? We're dead, trespassers in sin. How are we going to hear anything
until God passes by and sees us in our blood and our dirt
and our filth? and says live. You can't call
on somebody if you're dead, if you don't know who they are. When you look back upon those
days before the Lord called you, before the Lord gave you life
to call upon Him, could you see how dark your light was? Can you look back now and see
how dark what you thought light was before? I got three points
I want to make. In Ephesians 2, we'll get to
those three points in a moment. In Ephesians 2, verse 1, we read
these words, And you hath equipped, means made alive, who were dead
in trespasses and sins. Do you see that? Do you see what
you were before God gave you life? And you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sin, wherein times past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation. in time past, in the lusts of
this flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and whereby nature, the children of wrath, even as others." Does
that describe you? Can you look back into that time
before the Lord gave you life and see your condition before
Him? Folks, we must worship God in
spirit and in truth. You can't just have a half-truth.
That's what Christian religions would like you to think. They
want to give you half-truth. Yes, Christ prayed the sins for
His people, but you can't be one of His people until you get
into the baptismal waters. You can't be one of His people
until you have decided or turned your world, turned your life
over to Him. What they've done is they've
elevated man above God. Do you see that? Christ can't
do something is what they're saying. That sign out there as
you walk up past the fellowship hall, if your God is trying,
Your preacher's lying. How are you going to call upon
the true God if you don't hear about who the true God is? Jesus
Christ is God Almighty. All the fullness of God, the
Godhead dwelleth in Him and He has full authority. All sovereign
authority is in His hands and nothing, nothing can separate
those whom He loves from Him. That's what it says in Romans
8. Chapter 8, verse 30-something. Does it not? You know which one
I'm talking about. Is there anything that can separate
you from your God? Then He's not God. That's the
difference between what God's preachers preach, Christ and
Him crucified, and those who preach, if you'll just do this.
God is who He is, if you'll just do this. I'm telling you, if
He wants to be your God, He will be your God. Turn us, our Lord says. No, the
people of God say, turn us, and we shall be turned. We must preach Christ and Him
crucified, that's our responsibility. There's only one gospel and God
has sent sinners to preach to sinners about the only one who
can save sinners. Today my title is this, All Him. This book is all about Him. It's
for Him from cover to cover and every true believer will come
to see Christ Jesus who He is. Every true believer will be brought
to see what He did for His people. Every true believer will see
Him for what He is doing right now. This is a hymn book. It's
all about Him. He has told us to go into the
four corners of the earth and preach the gospel and Jesus Christ, I've got three points that I
want to make that are seen here in chapter 11, verse 36. Turn
over to chapter 11, verse 36 of Romans. What do we see here? For of Him, of Him, and through
Him, and to Him are all things. to whom be glory forever. Amen. It's all about Him. You know, Pastor Gene's always
told me, he said, John, whatever you're reading in God's Word,
you just talk about Him and you can't go wrong. When you're going
to listen to a preacher, There's only one thing that satisfies
God's people, and that's Him. It's all about Him. If we just
get on the boat to Him, everything else will come into place, won't
it? If I just get on the path that leads us to Him, everything
else will fit right into place. Oh, He makes it so easy when
all I gotta do is talk about Him. The first point I want to
bring you to this morning is of Him. Of Him. Turn over to Colossians chapter
1 if you would. Our text says, for of Him are
all things. The Lord Jesus has always been
the Lord Jesus. He had just not been a man until
a couple of thousand years ago. The great three are eternal.
They always have been. And they are one. He who spoke
all things into existence is the Son of God. He who required
the milk from his mother's breast formed his own mother in her
mother's womb. The Word of God speaks of the
three as one throughout Scripture, and let me give you a couple
of those if I can. I'll join you here in Colossians
in just a moment. Let me just read for you from a couple of
other places. Genesis 1, verse 26, we read
this, and now remember, we're talking about God the Son before
He became flesh. God said, let us make man. This
is in Genesis 1, 26. When God was talking about the
creation of the world, he said, and God said, let us make man.
Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Now folks,
there's only one God. There's only one God. Well, John,
you're confusing me. How can there be one God, but
yet you're talking about three different distinct persons? God the Father, God the Son.
I don't know how to explain that to you. I just know that God's Word says
it so. I didn't write these words. I don't know how to explain this
to you, but God's Word says it so. He says, let us, that's plural,
make man in our, that's plural, image after our likeness, that's
plural. This is what He says over 1 John
5-7. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. I told you a moment ago that
the Lord Jesus, He's always been the Son of God. He just wasn't
flesh until a little over 2,000 years ago. Well, listen to John
1, beginning at verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. So we see
here, this One, the Word, the Word of Jesus Christ, the Word
about Him, was with God and was God, but
then we see over verse 14 of that same chapter, and the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. In John 1, verse 10,
we read these words, He was in the world, and the world was
made by Him, and the world knew Him not. In John 14, verses 6
and 7, He says this, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth, from right
now, from now on, you know Him, and have seen Him." That's Jesus
Christ talking. He's telling those people right
there in front of him, you should have known my father and from
here on you know him because you've seen him right here in
me. John chapter 10 verse 30, I and my father are one. If that's not enough to make
my point for you, if you need more, look at verses
12 through 19 of Colossians chapter one. giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us neat, made us fit to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints and the like who have delivered us
from the power of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom
of His dear Son." Now did you notice that? Who is it that has
translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son? Was it something
you did? Was it something you could do?
No, it says, it's speaking of the Father. We give thanks unto
the Father, which hath made us meet fit to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints and the like, who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his Son. Verse 14, in whom his Son, now
we're talking about his Son, in whom we have redemption We
have redemption, we've been redeemed to God, a people have been redeemed
to God, through what? Through His blood, through the
blood of the Son, even the forgiveness of sins. We were talking about
this in a Bible study. What do you think, why are there
so many religions? What is this? I mean, you go,
not so much here. Almost, I mean, you can go and
see, what, three or four churches between here and the stoplight.
In Kentucky, every corner has a church. And some of them, all
four corners have a church. And they're all different religions.
And you might think, OK, well, there are all these different
Christian religions. Folks, I'm talking about everything. There's
a Buddhist temple across the street on the hill. Why? What do we need religion for?
Everybody knows they're sinners. You just don't know how much
a sinner you are. There's only one place, folks,
where forgiveness of sins is, and that's in the blood of Jesus.
Verse 15, who is the image? We're talking about three in
one. We're talking about Him. Him who is God, who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him, were all things created that
are in heaven and that are in the earth. By who? By who? By Him. Christ Jesus the Lord. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in the earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
of the dead, that in all things He might have preeminence. For
it pleased the Father that in Him, in His Son, in our Savior,
in God, in the God-man should dwell, should all the fullness
dwell. We see that our Lord is God Almighty
in the flesh. That's why every knee will bow. Folks, you may think that you're
not bowing to God now, but you will. If you go through that
door, mark death. And you don't belong to Him.
If you belong to Him, you shall call upon Him. And He shall save
you. But if you don't, you say, you
mean somebody doesn't? Did Pharaoh belong to him? What
was Pharaoh raised up for? You know, you know the answer.
What was he raised up for? He was raised up to show God's
power to the world. This is he who has all power,
the one who would raise Pharaoh up to be a God himself among
men. To have all the power of the
earth at His fingertips and to be destroyed by water. Picture
of the Gospel. To be destroyed by water. God's people shall come to Him. But if we don't belong to Him,
when we go through that door marked death, we will still bow
to Him then. Only we will bow to Him in judgment. Every knee shall bow to Him,
because every knee was created by Him and for Him, including
the wicked. God raised up Pharaoh in all
of Egypt and then destroyed him, that his name would be declared
in all the earth. The same God who raised up Pharaoh
also brought famine into the land where Jacob dealt. Remember
that? What was it that caused the people
of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel. What was it that caused them
to leave the land that God had given them to go down into Egypt? Was it not God who caused that
famine to come upon the land? Folks, we're responsible. Don't
get me wrong. I am in no way trying to express
to you that God is responsible for our wickedness. I am responsible
for my wickedness. I know. I know who is the cause
of all my troubles. It's me. It's the sin that dwells
in this fleck and will until the Lord takes me out of it and
takes me to heaven that is the cause for my wickedness. My sins are my own. I know it. I can see the love I once had
for it. I can see the darkness that I
once walked in and how it ruled over me. I can see because He
who is life gave me life to see. I can see the wickedness that
is within me because He who is life gave me life to see what
I was. That poor guy who was blind all
of his life. And the Lord walked by and healed
him. The religious folks said, who
is it that's done this unto you? For a long time, all I could
say was, I don't know what's going on. But I know this. I'm
a sinner who deserves the wrath of God. And there's a Savior
named Jesus Christ who says he has saved his people. And he says his people shall
call on him. And He brought me to call on
Him. I'll bet He's done that with
you. That's what He does. He brings us to call upon Him.
My second point, and I'll get through these next two real quick,
is through Him. Turn over to Romans chapter 5,
and while you're turning there, allow me to read from Ephesians
2. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, raised
us up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places
in Christ, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace do you say through faith, and that not of yourselves,
but of the gift of God, not of worth, lest any man should boast."
So when we read, whosoever, that means all of those who have been
given the gift of faith. Remember, our next point is through
Him. We've looked at of Him, now we're
looking at through Him. We're saved by faith through
Him, not of works, lest any man should boast. So then in Romans
9, 16, it says, so then it is not of Him that willeth, not
of Him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Our faith,
our belief, is God's gift to us, not our gift to Him. Our faith comes from Him. That's
why He tells us even when our faith is small as a mustard seed,
it's still efficient. for it is from Him who is all-sufficient. Our God is a holy God. He cannot
even look upon sin, yet through the sacrifice of His Son, His
only begotten Son, we have peace with the Father. Through His
blood that was shed on that cross, we are redeemed. When He who
knew no sin was made to be our sin for His chosen people, He
perfectly paid the price. Saving his own to the uttermost,
as Pastor Don Fortner brought out in one of his messages, who
is perfectly, he who is perfect in every way, left all sins,
all the sins of his elect, there in that grave. Yes, Paulie, all
of our sins. Every one of them. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. God's
people. God sees His people just as though
they had never sinned. He sees the blood of His Son
and is well pleased. Look here at Romans 5. Look here at verses 1 through
10, Romans 5. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope,
in the hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulations work with patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope make
it not a shame, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man would one die, yet preadventure for a good man some wouldn't
even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son. Remember, we're talking about
through Him. This is all about being through
Him. For we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Because He lives, we shall live
also. And that brings me to my last
point in Him. No man comes to the Father but
by Him. In Ephesians 2 verse 18, for
through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. To God be the glory, great things
He hath done to Him. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter
5. 1 Peter chapter 5. Folks, I'm here to tell you this
morning, our God will not share His glory with another. See,
that's the problem with the religions of this world. They glorify men. When you say, I made a decision,
when you say, I turned my life over, When you say, I, God in
the waters of baptism, you are sharing the glory with God, and
He will not share His glory with you. Our Lord, who thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, said this in His priestly
prayer over in John 17, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. Our Lord brings salvation
to His chosen by the preaching of His gospel, as we saw back
there in Romans 10. The gospel is His Son, Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. This is He who is King of kings,
Lord of lords. He rules over all dominions,
as we read. He rules over all principalities. He rules over His creation. All power is His to give. Yet he who has all power became
a servant, didn't he? He humbled himself and became
a man that he would save his people. That's why you call him
Jesus. His name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people. Look here at 1 Peter chapter
1. Chapter 5, look here at verses
6-11. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober, it says in verse 8,
be vigilant, because your adversary the devil has a roaring line. He goes around making himself
known among men, but he can't do anything to them. Can't do
anything to God's people, he can only roar. A roaring lion,
walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Verse nine, whom
resist the steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world, but the
God of all grace, who has called us into His eternal glory by
Jesus Christ. After that He has suffered a
while, make you perfect, established, and strengthen you. To Him be
glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. To worship the Father,
you must worship the Son. He is the only one able to save
to the uttermost. I ask you this morning, is your
faith in Him Are you trusting in anything that you may have
done or even will do? Turn away from that which is
of the flesh and turn to Christ. We cry out to the Lord, turn
thou me and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord my God. To God be the glory. Great things
he hath done. For of him and through him and
to Him are all things, to whom be the glory forever.