I hope you know, each of you,
how very important this congregation is to me, to Shelby, to our congregation
in Danville. We pray for you regularly and
have prayed for you regularly since you first started meeting
together. That being said, I've come here to preach to you and
I believe God's given me something to say. With all the hundreds
of churches there are in San Diego County, why another church? That's the title of my message.
Why another church? Specifically, why this church? Why here? And the reason is very
clear. The gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace in Christ, to my knowledge, and I stress to
my knowledge, is not characteristic of any other church in Southern
California. I'm not saying there's not another
church where the gospel is preached. I am saying I don't know of another
church where the gospel of God's grace is preached. Some of you
will recall my first words to you when you were thinking about
meeting here and gathering as you do now. They're exactly the
same words I spoke to the folks in Danville the first time I
went there to preach to them, and they were thinking about
calling me as their pastor. I said, if there is a place in this town,
or within a reasonable driving distance of this town, where
the gospel of God is preached, where you can go, hear the gospel,
and worship God, don't start another church. Don't call me
as your pastor. And I said to you, don't call
a pastor. Why have another church here?
It's because there's no other gospel church here. If there
is, I urge you disband and go join them. If there is, I urge
you disband and go join them. Now let's look here in first
Timothy chapter three and I'll show you what a gospel church
is. I pray that God the Holy Ghost will graciously inspire
your hearts with renewed desire and determination to faithfully
build a gospel witness in this place, holding forth to eternity-bound
centers the light of life and salvation by, in, and with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verses 14 and 15 here
in 1 Timothy 3. In this passage, the apostle
Paul, by divine inspiration, is instructing us about the work
of the ministry. And the work of the ministry
is not the work of a man. It is the work of a local church
under the guidance and direction of a man. First Timothy chapter
3 verse 14. These things write I unto thee,
hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth. The Lord God graciously, wisely
established two institutions in this world for the happiness
and holiness of his people. First, he established the family.
Before sin entered into the world, The Lord God saw that it was
not good for man to dwell alone, so he made Adam a wife, a help
meet for him, a woman to be his companion. And God himself brought
Adam and Eve together as husband and wife, and the first home
was formed. He didn't bring Adam and Larry
together, and he didn't bring Eve and Mary together. He brought
Adam and Eve together to form a household, a home. Therefore
it is written, marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled. I preceded that reading of Hebrews
13.4 with what I did because in this day of insane religious
blasphemy, Sodomites try to justify male marriage to male and female
to female, saying marriage is honorable in all. God said so.
Marriage is honorable among all men, not in all circumstances. Marriage is honorable among all
people, rich and poor, believing and unbelieving, black and white,
educated and uneducated. Marriage is honorable and the
bed undefiled. It was ordained of God for the
happiness of men, for the moral stability of this world, and
for the propagation of our race. Among men in this world, nothing
is sweeter, nothing more delightful than a house in which a family
lives, a home. A home is not four walls. I had a friend, Brother Harry
Graham, who all his life built about three houses a year to
supplement his income as a preacher. And he said to me, I called a
place he was building. I said, this would be a nice
home. He said, oh no, Brother Don, a home is not made out of brick
and mortar. A home is not four walls. A home
is a family. The house is where the family
resides. The home is the family. Home
is not a geographical location. But people who live there make
up a household. And wherever those people are
together, that's home. Shelby and I spend a lot of time
away from the house in which we live. But last night we slept
over here on Hotel Circle, and that was home. And just as much
home as if we'd been at 2734 Old Stanford Road, we're together. That makes the home. I pity the
man who doesn't enjoy the blessedness of a happy, peaceful, loving
home. Second, the Lord established
his church, the Church of the Living God. When Peter made his
confession, he said in Matthew 16, thou art the Christ, the
son of the living God. And our Lord Jesus said to Peter,
upon this rock, not upon Peter, but upon what you just said,
upon this confession that you have made, I will build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The second
institution, the church of the living God is even more precious,
more needful, and more important than home. Now that may seem
strange. I know it does to some. It may
be offensive to some. I'm sure it is. But the fact
is, dear as my family is to me, and my family is dear to me,
dear as my family is to me, the church of God is more important. The church of God has priority. Our Lord taught us this by example.
He said, some men came to him and said to him, your mother's
wanting to see you. And he said to them, according
to his disciples, behold, my mother, my brethren, my children,
this is my family. This is my family. You see, the
house of God is to be preferred above our own households. The
cares and needs of God's church should take priority over the
cares and needs of our families. Why? Why? Because the church
of God is forever. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. Christ married the church. Christ made the church his body. There's a couple. There's another.
There's another. Here's another. We are families,
husbands and wives. But this relationship, dear as
it is, will soon end. Folks ask me, do you think you're
gonna know your wife in heaven? I know her here, I expect I will.
I don't think I'll be any dumber there than I am now. Yes, I'll
know her, but the relationship won't matter. What will matter
is that she is one with me in Christ the Lord. That's what
matters. This family, This earthly family
will soon be dissolved. This family, this family, this
is forever. This is forever. When we think
about the church, the family of God, we should particularly
think about the local church of which we are members. That's
the subject of our text. Paul's purpose in First Timothy
was to instruct this young Pastor Timothy and us in the affairs
of the church. Not the church universal, though
certainly it's applicable in that regard. But he's instructing
us in the affairs of Sovereign Grace Fellowship, San Diego,
California. He's instructing us in the affairs
of Grace Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky. He's telling us how
to discharge our work honorably. He's telling Timothy and every
preacher how to discharge the work of the ministry honorably. Would to God I could get the
ear of every man who's slightly interested in preaching the gospel
of God's grace. Every man that I influence, I
try by example and I do by word. Emphasize to them the necessity
of giving himself wholly to this work. holy to this work, no matter
what the cost is. No matter what the cost. No matter
how it costs him and what he does with his family or doesn't
do. No matter what cost him and his time he spends with his family
or doesn't spend with his family. Doesn't matter if he has to stay
up all night. Give yourself holy to the work. Let nothing interfere
with it. And he's instructing churches
like this one. as to how we are to conduct our
affairs as the church of the living God in this generation
in which we live. He's telling us how to behave
as the house, the family of God. He's telling us what every local
church should be. Every local church. This church
right here is the house of God, which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The Church of God
is a spiritual kingdom, a royal family, whose one purpose and
design in this world is to uphold, maintain, and set forth the truth
of God. Now, let me make a practical
observation. You may ask, Pastor, what should
the church be? Let me first answer with this. I draw this observation both
from the word of God and from experience. I've been preaching
for a while now. I've been pastoring in Danville
for 39 years. I'm in my 40th year. It's an
observation which both pastors and church members need to learn
and remember. Are you listening? There is no
such thing as a perfect church. in this world. It doesn't exist. If you should find it, I suggest
you leave it because you'll mess it up. There is no such thing
as a perfect church. There never has been and there
never will be. So a pastor, everybody knows
that. I wish they'd start acting like it. I often see people going
from one church to another, seeking a church which measures up to
their ideas of a perfect church. Over the years, I've had a good
many to decide that they needed to move to Danville, they'd find
a perfect church there. Two or three have hung around.
Two or three have. But most of them didn't hang
around very long. And usually wound up, I was glad
to see them go and they were glad to be gone. The fact is,
the pursuit of a perfect church is a vain pursuit. Preachers,
pastors, often are frustrated and depressed and they move from
one church to another because the church doesn't measure up
to their expectations. This is what I expected it to
be. The fact is churches are made up of sinful human beings
just like Cass and Don. Sinners saved by the grace of
God, that's all. And I'll tell you the one thing
you can expect from Don Fortner is sin. And the one thing you
can expect from Cass Hodgson is sin. That's the one thing
you can expect. Don't be surprised when you see
it. Don't be surprised when you find it in yourself. Churches
are made up of people that have faults, lots of faults. Most of you folks I know live
in a city area. We live in the country. I've
never visited a sheep farm, but I have been by some. Man, they
stink. They just stink. They're the
stinkiest, dirtiest creatures you ever saw. You get a dozen
of them together, huddled up, you can't stand to be around
the place. It stinks. That's a pretty good reason why
the Lord Jesus calls his people sheep. That's our nature. Weak, helpless, defenseless,
dirty creatures. In the kingdom of God, There
are tares and wheat growing together. Wherever the Lord Jesus sows
his wheat, Satan sows his tares. Wherever you find grain in the
field, you'll find chaff. If you cast a net, you're gathering
good fish and bad fish. That's the way things are in
the church of God, and that's the way they've always been and
the way they will be as long as time shall stand. Now, people
have the idea they're going to purge the church. We're going
to have a pure church. And they exercise discipline
and all those things. I knew a congregation years ago.
A friend of mine started a church. And before they did anything,
they drew up a constitution, a book of discipline. And the
book of discipline was that big. It didn't have any members. They
was trying to figure out how to get them out before they got
them in. I thought, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. That
doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The church of God is not
to be purged by you and me. Our Lord tells us plainly, let
the wheat and tares grow together. There's a good reason for that.
Every time you go to trying to jerk up the tares, you'll pull
up the wheat and fertilize the tares. That's just the way we
are. Every time you try to distinguish
sheep from goats, you will hug the sheep or hug the goats and
drive the sheep away. Our Lord says, let us grow together
until the harvest time. And I will send forth my angels,
gospel preachers, who by the preaching of the word will bind
up the tares for the burning and gather my wheat into the
garner. Our judgment is so poor, we don't
have the ability to make the church clean, to purge the church
of tares, of goats. Our judgment is horrible. We
ought not seek the power to do so. Leave them alone. But what are we to do with folks
who don't act right? Try loving them. Try being good
to them. Try being kind to them. Try being
gracious to them. The fact is the churches of the
New Testament had many, many problems, just like churches
do today. People talk about New Testament
Christianity as though it were some ideal thing. Let me remind
you of a few things. The first church had Judas for
its treasure. And the Lord Jesus ate at the
table of communion, bread and wine, with Judas. He did it for
a reason. It wasn't because he didn't know
what Judas was doing. He told him while he was eating
the bread and wine with him what he was about to do. It was to
teach us something. We aren't to sit as judges over
anybody. We preach the gospel and watch
God work, that's all. The church at Jerusalem was horribly
prejudiced racially. They had a tough time. They had a tough time embracing
Gentiles. They just had a tough time with
it. They had a hard time with it right up to the end of the
existence of that church. The church at Corinth was plagued
with strife, division, incest, pride over spiritual gifts, disorderly
worship, and even drunkenness at the Lord's table. That was
the church at Corinth, to whom Paul said, the saints, which
be at Corinth. Didn't he know what they would
do? Of course he did. Didn't he know there were lost
people among them? Of course he did. He was addressing the
saints. presuming saints would hear it.
Presuming saints would pay attention. The Church of Galatia was nearly
destroyed by legalism. All the early churches of the
New Testament were assailed constantly by false doctrine and false brethren,
false prophets from within and from without. And all of those
early churches were made up of sinners, saved by grace just
like us. Every local church today will
experience the same kind of troubles from time to time. You too. You too. Well, I can't go to
church with Mike Smith. I may have to live with him in
a while. I can't go to church with a man like that. How come? Well, you don't know him like
I do. What's that got to do with anything? He doesn't behave like
he ought to. Please forgive me. I'm picking
on you a little bit. How come? How come? Our business, our business
is to love and care for folks in need. The needier, the more
the demand. And I'll tell you what you do
with family. When the family has trouble,
faithful members of the family don't run from it. They run to
it. and faithful believers don't
abandon a local church with trouble, they rally to the need. Now I
say this to every one of you, every one of you, see to it you
let nothing and no one, no trouble, no strife, no difficulty drive
you from the blessed fellowship of the gospel of God in this
place. Paul's doctrine is clear. He
tells us that this is called the Church of the Living God. Every congregation of believing
men and women gathered in the name of Christ by the power of
God the Holy Ghost to worship God, hear his word, and follow
his will is the Church of the Living God. It's a spiritual
family. It's not a denominational organization.
It belongs to God. He chose it. He bought it. He saved it. It's not my church,
the pastor's church, the denomination's church, or even your church,
or even our church. It's the Lord's church. He loved
the church. He gave himself for the church.
Bob, that ought to make it precious to me and you. That'll make it
precious to us. Our Lord Jesus washed it with
the water by his word and washed it in his blood. It's the church
of the living God joined to God in the person of his dear son,
just like these members are joined to this body. Every member of
God's church, every true member of the church of the living God
is a living member drawing life from Jesus Christ by faith. The
church of God is the church of the living God. What the church
needs is more than a creed, more than a proper form of worship.
We need and must have the spirit of God. And here, where the spirit
of God gathers God's people, God meets with us. That ought to make the gathering
of God's saints the most precious thing on this earth to us. Phil,
you said you drive about two and a half, three hours? That
ain't nothing. That ain't nothing. How could you say that's nothing?
That ain't nothing. The only place on this earth
where God promised to meet with a man is right here. The only
place on this earth. He never promised to meet with
you and your family when you kneel at your table. He never
promised to meet with you when you kneel out in the field. He
promised where two or three are gathered together in my name.
Two or three folks come believe in Christ, seeking the glory
of God, seeking to worship God. There am I in the midst of them. Sometimes he makes it obvious
that he is. Sometimes he hides his face,
but he's always with his people when they gather. The Apostle
Paul said, you are the temple of the living God. First Corinthians
three. And he's not talking about individual believers there. He's
talking about the gathered church, the local church. You are the
temple of the living God. And he said, the spirit of God
dwelleth in you. I don't know how to state that
as emphatically as I know the scriptures teach it. On Sunday
mornings, most every Sunday morning I do this. I don't Sunday night
and Tuesday night because we meet in my office and read scripture
and pray, the men and I do before services. But on Sunday mornings,
Unless the wind is so cold, I can't stand it. I always get to the
church building earlier than anybody else, because I ought
to, I live right behind it. But I get things done, go over and
about 9.30, go out on the front porch. And I just wait for folks
to come, and I see them drive up. And as they drive up, I pray
that as they come, they've come seeking the word from God, and
that they bring the spirit of God with them. Paul's doctrine
in 1 Corinthians 3 is this, when you come into that door, this
building here, this building, you come in that door to worship
God as the saints of God come together in the name of Christ,
God the Holy Ghost comes. So that the church of God, Ephesians
chapter 2, is called an habitation of God through the spirit. So
the spirit of God beats with us here, revealing Christ to
us. The church is a spiritual house. It's a spiritual family. It's the house of God, the house
he builds, the house for which he provides, the house he protects,
the house in which he delights to dwell. Are we the house of
God? Then let us always be obedient,
reverent, and grateful, a worshiping, loving people. Let us, the house
of God, above all things, honor God our Savior. Above all things,
honor God our Savior. Next, Paul tells us that the
church is the pillar and ground of the truth. The local church
is the pillar that upholds maintains and sets forth the truth. The
local church is the ground which is the undergirding, the stabilizing
force of the truth. In San Diego County, this huge
county, in Southern California, I looked up, I think I told Mike
this a few weeks ago, I was shocked to find this out. Just from San
Francisco down to The Mexican border. Almost one-tenth of the
population of the United States lives here. That's astounding.
Over 27 million people. That's astounding. And here God
sent the gospel to you. It is your privilege and your
responsibility to be the pillar upholding the light of truth
in this dark world. It is your privilege and your
responsibility and yours alone to be the undergirding, stabilizing,
steady force of truth in this dark, dark generation. The whole
church, not just the pastor, not just the deacons, not just
teachers, the whole church, every member, men and women, young
and old, the pillar and ground of the truth. The one purpose
for our existence as a local church, the one purpose is to
be a sounding board for the gospel. That's all, that's all. There
are lots of good, noble things to be done, but there are doctors
and hospitals that do those things, and there are moralists and philanthropists
who do those other things. There are educators to teach
the young. We have limited resources. And
we have a great responsibility. I say limited resources, limited
only to what God puts in our hands. But the responsibility
is the preaching of the gospel, to just be a sounding board for
the gospel. Not a place of social entertainment,
not a place folks go and have fun, not just a place to get
together and have some fellowship with friends, but a place where
the gospel is preached. And you hearing the gospel, carry
it with you by every means God gives you into this world in
this generation, using everything at your disposal for the furtherance
of the gospel. I say to you, make it your business
to maintain, defend, and publish abroad the truth of God with
every fiber of your being as the pillar and ground of the
truth. Any church which ceases to be
a pedestal of the truth of God ceases to be a church. That means
the church must never tolerate any attack upon the gospel. Church
must never tolerate any violation of the gospel, any compromise
of the word of God. The Bible alone, this book alone,
is the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God. It is our only rule
of faith and practice. That means we do things as they
are set forth in this book. We do things as they're set forth
in this book. And we insist that they never
be violated, neither in doctrine nor in the ordinances. The church
has one door of entrance. It is Christ the Lord. The church
has two windows. They're the ordinances of the
gospel. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We baptize folks by baptizing
them. Folks say, we baptize by immersion. There ain't any other way to
baptize. That's what the word means. We baptize folks by baptizing
them. A portrayal of redemption by
Christ. The fulfilling of all righteousness
by his death, burial, and resurrection. More than that. by our death,
burial, and resurrection in him as our substitute. The Lord's
Supper, we observe very simply. I'm sure some of you have seen,
some of you probably have been in Danville when we had Lord's
Supper. At home, and it's not a rule, the word of God doesn't
say it ought to be done this way. This is just the way the
New Testament, this way we do it. Every Sunday night, we observe
the Lord's Supper. After the conclusion of the message
on Sunday night, We sing a hymn, and at the end of the hymn men
come, we observe the Lord's Supper, and I don't do anything. I just,
I sit right there. If I see folks there who obviously
are ignorant of the things of God, I will say some, make some
comments about this being for believers only, but we make no
effort to fence the table. I don't ever look to see who
takes the bread or who takes the wine. It's none of my business. I never look. I refuse to look
up. Matter of fact, I usually don't
even pray, have somebody else do that, because I want there
to be no sense of priestcraft. The bread, the unleavened bread,
represents the holy humanity of the Son of God, his perfection,
his holiness in his manhood. The broken bread speaks of his
body crushed under the wrath of God as our substitute. The
wine separated from the bread speaks of the separation of blood
from the body, certain death. The wine, it's not grape juice,
it's wine, the fruit of the vine, representing the holy, perfect
blood of him who is God in our nature, by whom we're redeemed.
Well, don't you think it's all right to use soda crackers and
grape juice? No, I won't do it. I won't do it, not for you or
anybody else. Well, some folks take offense
at it. Well, they just have to take offense. That's the way
it is. That's the way it is. We do things God's way, not your
way, not my way, God's way. That's the way you do things
here. We must never tolerate any violation of or compromise
the word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, all scripture. from Genesis to Revelation. And the whole of it is profitable,
everything in it. Brother Marvin Stonerker called
me a few weeks ago, and there was something that came up, caused
him to call and make the statement to me. He said, brother Don,
you might not remember this, but 35 years ago, you made a
statement to me I've never forgot. I said, what was that Marvin?
He said, you said, brother Marvin, if God says it in his word, Don't
ever be bashful about proclaiming it from the pulpit. That's a
pretty good statement. If God says it in his word, never
be bashful to proclaim it. No matter who it upsets, no matter
who it offends, what God says, we believe and we bow to it.
To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there's no light in them. It's profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished, and do all good works. The word of God alone, then,
is our creed. The word of God alone is our
confession of faith. I've done a good bit of writing.
God's allowed me the opportunity to do it, provided the way for
things to be published, and I know many of you read things I've
written. You read something I have written or hear something I've
said, contrary to this book, bow to the book. You bow to the
book. I don't write confessions. I
don't write creeds. I simply declare to you what
God has taught me. But our only creed, our only
confession of faith is this book written by God, by divine inspiration,
the infallible, inerrant Word of God. To the law and to the
testimony, Jeremiah said, stand ye in the ways and see and ask
for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein. The old paths, the good way,
and you will find rest for your souls. Let me make a few statements,
very brief statements. a very distinct statement. Turn
it over to just a couple of pages to 2 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy chapter
1. Paul is writing his very last
epistle, and he knows he is about to be sacrificed for the faith.
That gives this maybe a little special meaning. He's writing
it to his son in the faith, Timothy, a young preacher, young preacher. Mike was present for Brother
Mahan's funeral the other day, and he and I were dear friends.
I loved him, just loved him dearly. Loved him dearly. And I cherish
the memory of our times together and the things he taught me.
Here is Paul's last word to Timothy. This is what it says, verse eight.
First Timothy, second Timothy one. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but
be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling. This is the gospel he's talking
about. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle, a teacher of
the Gentiles, for which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him
against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words
which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. Now, let me wrap this up by summarizing
the message of the gospel for you in these seven statements.
You've heard me make them many times. Number one, either God,
either God, You were asking me whether or not you were a believer
when you were baptized. Listen carefully. Either God
is absolutely sovereign. I mean, he controls everything
all the time. Every thought of men, every thought
of devils, every deed of men, righteous and wicked, every deed
of devils, vile as they may be, God Almighty controls everything
absolutely according to his purpose of grace in sovereign predestination
before the world began. This is what the book says. Of
him, through him, and to him are all things. Either God is
absolutely sovereign or there's no such thing as God. There is no God. There is no
God. I prefer the idiocy of atheism
to the idiocy of Arminianism. Any God that bows to you, any
God that can be manipulated by man, any God who can be changed,
any God who lacks power, determination, absolute will, is no God at all. You may as well set up that stump
and call it God. That's no God at all. The God
of Arminian religion is no more God than Buddha is God. Either
God's sovereign or he's not God. Number two, either man is totally
depraved. As the book of God says he is
dead in trespasses and in sins. Dead. Dead. Now you go up and down the roads
here, wherever you find the church, I don't care whether it's a Baptist
church or a Papist church or a Protestant church or Presbyterian
Church, Methodist Church, I don't care what kind it is, go find
one. I'll guarantee you this is what you're gonna hear. Man's
dead, but he's got to do his part. Man's dead, but he's got
to make a decision. Man's dead, but he's got to take
the first step. If a dead man can take the first step, what
does he need God for? Man's dead, and there's nothing in him but
sin. And nothing comes from him but sin. except what God puts
in him and works in him by his grace. Either God Almighty chose
to save a people, some of Adam's fallen race before the world
began, as this book says he did. God has not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation. You have not chosen me, the Savior
said, but I have chosen you. He said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. He tells us plainly, it's not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. Salvation, Bob, begins with the will of God.
Not with the will of man, not with the power of the preacher,
not with the church. It begins with God's sovereign election,
the election of sinners by the will and purpose of God according
to his everlasting love before the world began. God Almighty,
wrote the names of his people in the Book of Life of the Lamb,
and they shall never be erased from it. Either the Lord Jesus Christ
actually redeemed and saved his people when he died at Calvary,
or I'm a false prophet and you're yet in your sins. And this book
is not to be believed. One of the two. To say that Christ
died for folks who are in hell is to say that Christ is a failure.
To suggest that Christ died for some folks who go to hell anyway
is to declare that God is unjust. To say that Christ paid our debt,
and you still have to pay it, is to declare that God's a liar.
No, no, no. The God of Arminian freewill
works religion no more resembles the God of this book. The Christ
of Arminian freewill universal redemption no more resembles
the Christ of this book than a gnat resembles an angel. No,
sir. Folks who believe a false god
are lost, they don't know God, that's the reason why we must
stand as the pillar and ground of the truth. Sinners are either
regenerated, born again, given life and faith by the irresistible,
effectual, omnipotent power and grace of God the Holy Ghost,
or there's no such thing as salvation. Dead sinners live only when God
gives them life. I find it marvelous how God graciously
intervenes and orders the affairs of the world to bring his elect
to be crossed with the path of a gospel preacher, to hear the
gospel by the effectual power of his grace at exactly the time
he's prepared you to hear it. at exactly the time he's preparing
to do it. Isn't that amazing? I was just telling some of the
men here a little bit ago, I learned something at Brother Mahan's
funeral the other day. I heard Paul say this, and Hendricks
told me a lot about his life before God saved him, but he
went in the Navy, and he was part of the D-Day invasion. He
was 17 years old. He was a gunner on the ship,
and the ship in front of him sunk. And the ship behind him was sunk.
And the ship to the left was sunk. And the ship to the right
was sunk. His ship got through fine. God
saved the whole crew just to preserve the life of a man and
bring him through all that he brought him through. So that
in 1949, after God had prepared him to hear it, after God had
made him a candidate for his grace, showed him his sin. He
came to Ashland, Kentucky and heard a fellow named Ralph Barnard
preach the gospel of God's free grace. I'm asked by people all
the time, what does it take to save a sinner? Let me tell you,
let me tell you, Mark, what it took for God to save you. Are
you listening? Everything that has been. That's all. That's all. Everything
that is. and everything that shall follow.
God does nothing wastefully. He manipulates the affairs of
the world for the saving of his elect so that thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. It is the spirit that
quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest and calls us to approach unto thee. And those
sinners, every saved sinner, Every sinner saved by God's free
grace, every sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ will
persevere in faith. They will endure to the end because
they're kept by the power of God. Not because they're strong,
not because they're mighty, not because they make the right choices
and decisions, no. God saved me 52 years ago. Almost 53 years ago. And here
I am. And I've seen a lot of more promising,
better, more hopeful men come and go. And here I am. Why? Why? For just one reason. God won't
let me go. He won't let me go. A friend
by the name of Jim Jemczyk, one of these days I'm going to meet
him, lives in Tempe, Arizona. I've been hearing from him for
years. I love the way he signs just about every note, in his
grip. That's where we are, in the grip
of omnipotent mercy. And in the grip of omnipotent
mercy, Everything's just perfect. It's all right. It's all right.
Being in Christ, one last statement. Believing on the Son of God,
every believer has already fulfilled all that God requires of righteousness
and satisfaction. We are free from the law. It's
curse, it's rule, it's covenant, it's challenges. Free from the
law. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Do you remember
what I read to you in Jeremiah 6 16? You seek after the old
paths and walk in the good way and you shall find rest unto
your soul. I'm a man at rest. I'm a man at rest. I really am. Because God, my God, rules this world. God chose me. God redeemed me. God called me. God saved me. God holds me in his hand, and
I'm going home. I'm at rest. How about you? Believe on the Son of God and
He says you shall find rest unto your soul. Oh God help you to
believe. Amen.