Had you played that song before? I would have said no. I'm not
doing it. And nobody could have done a
better job than that. Right, Jeanette? I'm thankful for her. Thankful for him, too. These
are thankless tasks, thankless jobs. It's a necessary part of
worship, isn't it? I enjoy that piano so much. Boy, we had a faithful song leader
for so many years, didn't we? Irreplaceable. But I'm thankful
for you. I'll tell you what he told me.
Our former song leader told me when I replaced somebody before
me, he said, you don't have any shoes to fill. I'll never forget
that. You don't. You're not going to
fill anybody's shoes. All right, let's go to Colossians
1 again. Colossians 1. We've been looking at these first
few verses of this chapter and a few words that sum up the word. Verse 5, the last line, the word
of the truth of the gospel. Words that make up the word of
the truth. of the gospel and gave asked
me are you going to get to faith love and hope this morning I
hope so but then again. We're going to look at the first
word again and how could you say it without. Saying something
about you know the word you ask me a word to sum up the gospel
one word. Without hesitation I would say
grace The good news, the gospel, is
by grace you are saved. If you ask me to give you a name,
I'd say Christ. And the two are synonymous. But
in a word, salvation is by grace. Grace, as we said before, so
say I now again. Grace means gifts. It means a
gift bestowed. A lot of people use the word
and look at verse. Six, the apostle writes in the. Last part of that verse, he says,
since you knew that since the day you heard of it, that is
the gospel and knew the grace of God in truth. Peter wrote the same thing. The
next to last verse in his first letter, he said, this is the
true grace of God wherein you stand. This is the true grace. People say grace, and there are
men standing up there and women standing up right now saying
grace. But they don't mean grace the
way God's word says grace. True grace. This is this is true
grace. What I'm about to preach and
declare one more time is that I got to. I got to deal with
it. Is the true grace of God where in you stand? As opposed
to this other grace that won't do anybody any good grace, that's
an offer. They talk about grace like it's
an offer, don't they? It's something God offers all
men invites all men throws out there for all men to accept or
reject to do with it what they will if they'll just if they'll
just. Do something with this offer that God. Has money. One simple illustration will.
Do to put all that to. Rest. All the world is guilty before
God and on death row. That's what the scripture says
death row we're all a bunch by nature as much a death row criminal. Is freedom and pardon and offer. You can offer it all day long
but they can't they can't get out. And One fellow argued with
my pastor one day about that. He said, here's what I believe
about this thing. He said, I believe God, he said, I believe God offers
salvation to all people and he opens the door and if they'll
just, they're all prisoners, but he opens the door and they
go out if they want to. And my pastor in wisdom said,
he said, there's a big problem with that. Should you show me
a jail anywhere that's taking in borders. That was his answer. You show
me a jail is a prison that's taking in borders. In other words,
the doors open and come and go as they will. These are people that are guilty
of breaking the law, and they're going to serve the sentence according
to the judge, and they just can't come and go as they please. Somebody's
got to pay the penalty. Somebody's got to go in. Barabbas
had to go, didn't he? Barabbas had to go. His crimes
had been paid for. His penalty had been paid. They're
not going to take him as a border. Grace is not an offer. Grace
is something done to you, for you. God's salvation is by grace. That is a gift an operation of
God upon dead guilty center. God salvation salvation in this
book through salvation the true grace of God. Is God Almighty
purpose this thing of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ purchased
this thing of salvation and the Holy Spirit comes and applies
this thing of salvation to everyone whom God purposed to save whom
Christ purchased the Holy Spirit. regeneration applies. Somebody
said this simply, God thought it, Christ bought it, Holy Spirit
brought it. It's all of God. It's all the
work of God. Grace. Grace meaning a gift,
something we don't deserve, something he does for us, to us, in us,
simply because he would. A gift, if the gift, you bestow
a gift on somebody, it's yours to bestow on whom you will. Every gift is sovereign. That
means it's up to the person giving it, not the person receiving
it. God said, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. Everybody doesn't deserve a chance
to be saved. That's not in the Bible. People don't deserve to be saved.
We deserve hell. But God, in mercy and grace,
chooses to save some. Sovereign grace. and he purposed
to save a people, and he sent his son to this earth to save
them. To live for them, that is, to
fulfill God's law, they broke it. To die for them, they broke
the law, and the soul that sinneth must die, so Christ took their
place. The penalty that they deserved,
he took it, he died in their stead. And God raised him from the dead
three days later, proving that he accepted what he did. And
Scripture says we were raised with him. And then the Holy Spirit
comes. Christ went back to glory and
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Now I'm
talking about all that God did. We do nothing. We've done nothing.
This is all something they did for us, to us, and now in us. The Holy Spirit comes. Christ
is on the throne, the Holy Spirit comes, and everyone whom God
loved, everyone whom God elected, everyone whom God chose, everyone
whom God purposed to save, everyone whom Jesus Christ died for, everyone
that's got the blood on them, just like the children of Israel
back in the Passover, everyone that had the blood over the doorpost
and mantel, every single person whom Jesus Christ died for, the
Holy Spirit finds them. He knows who they are, the foundation
of God stands sure, the Lord knoweth them that are his, yes
he does, they've got blood on them. And the Holy Spirit comes through
this right here, through the preaching of the gospel, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. That is what the world calls
foolishness, this foolishness of election, this foolishness
of God's will, this foolishness of so forth. It's not foolishness,
it's wiser than man, stronger than man. power of God,
the wisdom of God. And God, through this thing of
preaching, what I'm doing right now, inexplicably, mysteriously,
God, the Holy Spirit, takes this just declaration of who God is,
who Christ is, and what He's done. That's it. Not begging,
not pleading, not anything. Just declaring the message like
old Ezekiel to those dry bones. And God, in sovereign power and
grace through the Holy Spirit, quickens dead sinners. All of
a sudden gives them life they never had before. Spiritual life.
Eyes to see who God really is. Eyes to see who Christ really
is. Ears to hear the glory of God
in the person of Christ. And a heart that just breaks
because of their sin. It didn't before. It didn't before. A broken heart. A heart of flesh. And to love this gospel that
they once hated. The Holy Spirit does. It's by
grace. It's all by grace. It's all great, something done
to us, for us, through us, in us, in us. An act of grace, a
work of grace. Salvation is a miracle of God's
grace. That's what it is. He didn't
have to do it for anybody, but he does it for a people as the
stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. And then the next word, all right.
He says, Grace be unto you, verse 2, that is to the saints, those
set apart, those full of faith in Christ, faithful brethren
in Christ, grace be unto you, sovereign, saving, keeping, powerful,
generating, quickening, grace be unto you, and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We looked at that Wednesday
night. Peace, didn't we? God's angry
with the wicked every day. That's right. Psalm 711. God hated all workers of iniquity.
It's on five, five, may have gotten the two mixed up. Well,
yeah, that is right. God hateth all workers of iniquity,
and God is angry with the wicked every day. That's what the Bible
says about the God of the Bible and what he says about people. But here it says, God is our
father. Whose father? Not everybody's
father. To the saints and the faithful
brethren. Grace and peace from our father. Peace. God is not
angry with his children. The wrath of God doesn't abide
upon his children. God doesn't hate his children.
He loves his children. I say to the children of God,
whoever they be, God loves you. And whoever God loves, buddy,
he saves them. Peace. Why how how come I'm you
know I'm standing it's God just like everybody else right. But
God. Sent his son down here who had
not sent in whom is no sin. And he swapped places with this
death row criminal. I'm Barabbas John aren't you.
No good fellow doesn't deserve to live but God sent Christ to
take his place. And so Christ went to Calvary's
cross and God poured out his wrath on that sinner. You say
he wasn't a sinner, he was me and I was hanging there and God
killed him. Who wants to argue about that?
Why would anybody argue about that? But God almighty killed me and
killed Christ. And I have peace with God. God
should be angry with me, but he's not. God loves me. I have
peace with God. Why? What have I done? Nothing.
He did it all. He made peace by the blood of
his cross. The chastisement, the whipping
that God should have given me by his law, Christ endured it
all. The wrath of God, God's rod of
justice that should have slew me, slew his son. Now that's a God. Grace and peace. You see, God,
he did it all. He did it all. God thought it. God purposed it. Christ came
down here and performed it. And the Holy Spirit comes through
this preaching like this and says, now let me tell you about
it. Not let me ask you, not let me plead with you, not if you
if you not if you anything. But here it is. And God says
now. Kiss the son, you do love him,
don't you? You do need him, don't you? Yes,
I do. Grace and peace. You see, it's
all from him. By him, from him. Didn't he say
that? That's what, oh, I love that passage, Romans 11 says,
of him, through him, of him, through him, to him are all things. And here it says, by him, for
him. How much plainer can you get?
Salvations of the Lord. And it's by grace. Grace and
peace. All right, look at this. Verse
4, verse 3. We give thanks to God. And the
father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you, we give
thanks to God. Since we heard verse four of
your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have all the
same, we give thanks to God since we heard that you believe. Oh, Paul says, Timothy said,
we thank God since we heard somebody told us that you actually believe
the living and true God. that you turn from idols to believe the living and true
God. We give thanks to God for that,
because if God hadn't done this, you wouldn't have done it. You
wouldn't have turned. If God hadn't in sovereign grace
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of spirit and
belief in the truth, you would not believe the truth. Isn't
that what he said to the Thessalonians? Same thing. We're bound, I love
this verse, say it all the time, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, we're
bound to give thanks to God, beloved of the Lord, for you.
All over this world today there are con men standing up thanking
people for doing something for Jesus, doing something for God.
And the whole shooting match is going to hell thinking they've
done something for God, how God is well pleased with them for
accepting their sign. Honestly! Christ said that. William, Christ said that. Many
will stand in that day and say, Lord, Lord, we did this for you.
We did this for you. And he'll say, get out of my
sight. Everybody in heaven that's there
today is talking about what He's done for them. Here's the whole
difference. Nobody in heaven is standing
before Christ saying, look what we've done for you. Look how
we accepted you. Look how we let you into our
heart. Everybody in glory right now is saying, thank you for
letting me into your kingdom. Thank you for breaking my heart.
Not knocking on my heart's door. Thank you for knocking the door
down and coming in. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? I can't preach any other way,
folks. I'm so sick of this. The zeal
of God's house and God's glory is just eating me up. I don't
know how much more I can take of this God-forsaken religion
today. I don't know how much worse it
can get. Made a beggar out of God. You know, God can't do anything
without somebody baking something for Him or doing something for
Him. God can't do anything. Needs everybody's money and needs
everybody's apple pies. Needs to have a yard sale or
His kingdom won't stand up. Making a fool out of God. It's
time somebody stood up and gave God all the glory and declared
God as He is. Isn't it, Ron? Maybe we ought
to open all these windows. Maybe somebody passing by. We're
trying on the radio, aren't we? To declare God as He is. What
happens? You just try to declare that
God is alive. We're trying to give God all the glory. Really?
Really? Trying to give God all the glory.
You don't see my name everywhere, do you? Huh? I don't even put
it on the bulletin. I don't care if anybody knows
my name. Our radio program used to start
out, and Central Baptist Church invites
you to listen to it, and now Paul Mahan. I have to take that
off. Sounded too dramatic. Take that off. And you just try to declare who
God is, giving God all the glory. Tell him what his word really
says, who Christ really is, what men really are, the truth of
what men and women are facing and young people. They're not
under the love of God. They're under the wrath of God.
That God is going to destroy this place. He doesn't have a
wonderful plan for it. He's going to burn it up just like Noah
said in his day. And people hate you for it. They
hate you without a cause, Nancy. They hate you without a cause. But is there not a cause? Didn't
David say that? Is there not a cause? Yes! What
is the cause? We say this over and over and
over and over. We're like a broken record. The
cause is God's glory. That's why He created this whole
thing, Sam, isn't it? The whole ball of dirt spins
because God created it for His glory. And these pinhead ants
called human beings are sharing it. Number one, they don't believe
God created them. Number two, they don't believe
He has any control over this thing. Number three, God sent
His Son down here to do something, and it all failed. It's all up
to them. Number four, they crown man's
will and man's power and man's everything. They crown it with
the crown of power and sovereignty. They make man a sovereign being,
and God's going to burn it up. And every creature on it, except
those he by mercy and grace reveals himself to and does something
for them, to them, in them, every creature on earth running around
thinking there's something when there's nothing, proud of themselves. And God has had it. He's had
it. And religion's a word. Religion
does it in God's name. But they're still sharing God,
stealing God's glory. And they're doing it in His name,
and that's worse. That's why Christ said the harlots will
get into heaven before you bunch of Pharisees, before you bunch
of preachers. The harlots are going to go in. It's going to
be easier in the judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than average
Southern Baptist preacher. That's right. At least they're
not out on the street blaspheming God, but men in the name of God
standing up in the pulpit telling men what how much God needs them.
And he can't do a thing without them. And he loves them. Telling
God-haters, God loves them, when he never said such a thing. And
he's going to burn it up. It's a lot sooner than we think. But he says to us, and some of
us, all of us, believers, who were by nature children of wrath,
even as others. It's just like that. Peace. All God's people know who chose
who, don't they? They know who's sovereign, who's
not. They're trusting one person.
Every one of them know if they get the glory, it's going to
be 100% by the grace of God Almighty through Christ. Christ is in
it. They're going to get the glory and say, yes, there he
is. That's my substitute. That's
the one. I've never seen him before, but
I've heard him right there. I knew I'd know him when I saw
him. Because he looks like a lamb that had been slain. This thing of faith, what I'm
trying to say is far from an act of the human will. Believing
this, believing this God, believing the truth like this, the true
grace of God, believing that, people hate it. People hate it.
Christ said that. He said, you're going to be hated
by all men for my namesake. You name a modern preacher that
people hate other than me. Name one. Nobody hates any of these fellows. They're too sweet. They're too
kind. People will love and fawn over
Pope John Paul and call him the greatest spiritual leader of
our time and take John the Baptist and cut his head off. People love and fawn over Mother
Teresa or whoever it may be, Billy Graham, and they hated
John Knox, John Bunyan, John Calvin, John Newton. You fellas named John have a
good name. Charles Hayden, one of them,
did. That's true. Our Lord said that
he came, he said, you brag on the prophets, but your fathers
killed them all. And the apostles came and they
killed all them, the son came, killed him. He's not begging men to do anything. He's sitting down on the throne. And human beings need to be begging
Him to please have mercy on them. I saw some silly little
girl yesterday with a description of her God all over her t-shirt.
It says, God who cares, God who's kind, God who does this, God
who does that. Not one mention of mercy. She doesn't need mercy. God's people do. Every one of
them know it. Mercy. Those that David said,
hope in thy mercy. David, who represents every sinner,
he said, God, what's the first thing out of his mouth, Kelly,
in Psalm 51? You know, all the old martyrs went to the cross,
or went to be burned at the stake, or whatever's quoting this psalm. The psalm, every sinner loves
to quote first words out of his mouth, God be merciful. According
to the multitude of thy tender mercy, blot out my transgressions
against thee and thee only by sin. Everybody who says that,
by his grace, they won't do it but by his grace. God says, I
have. blotted him out. Comfort ye,
comfort you, my people. All those who hope in his mercy,
tell him, I have. I have blotted him out like a
thick cloud, blotted him out. The warfare is gone. I am at
peace. Ah, boy. You see why he says, Oh, we thank
God when we heard you believe. We thank God when we heard that
you believe. of your faith. It's called your
faith, not because it began with you, not because it came from
you, but because nobody's doing it for you. You're believing,
but it's not of yourself. Did he say that? Ephesians 2,
faith by grace you save through faith. Yes, no one's going to
be saved apart from believing. But he went on to say, by grace
you save through faith. And that's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. You don't
understand, you understand, you in here understand. I was a young
rebel against my parents, against God, and I told all my friends, I told all my friends at one
time, 19, 20 years old, I told them that I reject everything
my father preached. I told them all that. My best
friend in particular, I told him I can disprove everything
Dad has ever said. Do you think that haunts me to
this day? But, Stan, I got an opportunity later on to recant. I did. The Lord allowed me to
face that fellow again. I'm so thankful. And that's when we parted, when
I told him, you know, what I used to hate, what I used to say I
didn't believe. I believe with all my heart. all my heart. I was a fool. I
professed myself to be wise, but I had become a fool. And
we parted ways. I never seen him sin. Never seen
him sin. I heard he went to prison for
selling heroin. Faith is a miracle of God's sovereign
grace and power. Grace is not something God offers,
it's something he does to you. for you. In. Peace we have peace
because Jesus Christ because God Almighty poured his wrath
out on Christ and he's not angry with me. And this faith that we have oh
thank God for it. Blessed is the man whom God has
chosen and caused to approach under this. Come unto me you
will not come my sheep will. All the Father gave me will,
and all whom I send the Holy Spirit to will. I'll make them
willing in the day of my life." And they'll believe what they
once hated. They'll love what they once hated. They'll believe
of God they once hated, believe the truth they once despised,
and follow the Christ they once gave and didn't give a thought. Now do you see why he's thanking
God for them? We don't thank people for coming
here. We're not going to thank human
beings for coming to thank God for keeping them out of hell.
Isn't that blasphemous? We're bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved, foreloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning God has chosen you, set you apart
through belief of the truth, this truth of the gospel. We'll
get to the next word, okay? Always accompanies faith, always.
When God operates on somebody, this thing of love is shed abroad
in their heart. Number one, love to God. All
things work together for good to them that love God. Who's
that? Everybody quotes it. Everybody says it. Everybody
says they believe that, don't they? Who does love God? Who
really loves God? It's what we were talking about
a while ago, those who really, really love God's glory. They
love God being God. They love God being God. They
wouldn't dare share the glory with God. You know what I'm saying,
don't you? They love God's rights, God's
will being done and not theirs. They love that. Aren't you thankful,
believer? Rebecca, aren't you glad that
you don't have free will? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad God's will is
being done, will be done, always has, always will be? Aren't you
glad you're in God's sovereign hands? Aren't you glad? Don't
you love the fact that you're God's puppet, for lack of any
better word? That's what they say, look, I
believe that man's a puppet. Folks, if God's got me on a cord,
Scripture says He's drawn them with cords of love, cords of
a man, cords of love. If God's got a hold of me, I'm
in good shape. If He cuts the cords, huh, what'll
happen to you? If He lets go of me for a minute, I'll, like old Pinocchio, I'll
fall in a pile of nothing. God showed that to all his people.
He shows it to all his people, doesn't he? He showed it to David.
He showed it to Peter. He showed it to all of them.
Abraham, if I let go of you, just for a minute, even though
you're a king, this thing's about grace, the
sovereign power of God. We're kept by the power of God. through faith, that is, trusting
Him. God's people love God as God,
don't you? They love each other. They love
these people that love that God. The world doesn't. The world doesn't. Now, here's
a miracle, folks. You love me. I can tell you do. I know you do. You show it. You
prove it. You tell me all the time. One dear lady the other
day said, we don't tell you enough how much we love you. Yes, you
do. You tell me all the time. I know you do. But Jenny, the
people in this town don't love me. They utterly hate me. And why is that? Granted, you know, I got this
old Adam nature and it's still in me you know and I. It's an evil thing called mayhem.
I still got it in me I know that. But honestly they hate me without
a cause I'm not I try my best to be nice to people I really
do treat them with the same respect I expect to be treated I really
do. I never defrauded anybody. I
pay all my bills and all that. Why do they hate me? Because of what I say. Truth,
what I say about God. You love me. You love me. And you love all the brethren.
And if you had an opportunity, I didn't mean to bring me up,
but if you had an opportunity to stand up like me. See, I'm your spokesman, aren't
I? I'm saying what you would love to tell everybody are not
you give them take say here this is what I believe. I'm your spokesman. And if we swap places, they'd
hate you too, hate you with a passion. And some of them do, Brother
Henry, some of them do. But what they think really is that you're
in a cult, especially you're in a cult. I've deceived you. That's what they think. And you and I know who the deceivers
are. I've never asked you to do anything,
have I, Wesley? Have I ever offered you a $10
bill for anything? Nobody else has either. All we've
ever done, Brother Wesley, is just one thing, stand up and
declare God's will. Would you go anywhere else? Would
you hear anybody else? You'd hear somebody telling them.
Your love for the brethren, this is a miracle. By this shall all
men know." Now, he said, Christ said to his disciples, listen
carefully now, in the context. Christ said to his disciples,
you shall be hated of all men for my namesake. I told you about
that woman locally that told my wife, I hate your God. And Christ said, you shall be
hated of all men for my namesake. He said that to his disciples.
He says, not you they hate, it's me. But you will be the object
of it. They can't get to me. But they
can get to you. And they hate you. And you're
hated. But you love one another. I mean,
you really do. This love of the brethren. By
this shall all men know you're my disciple. Love them that love
thee. Isn't that what John said? Yeah,
you need to know this, that he that is begotten of God, love
with him that begat, love with him that is begotten. Whoever
loves God, loves those that love God, and they love each other. And they think alike, they talk
alike, walk alike, act alike, sons of God, love each other.
Now this shall all men know, and this is how you know you
pass from death unto life. Well, now about faith, hope,
and love. The greatest of these is what? Love. He's talking to his people. He's talking to his people. That's 1 Corinthians 13. He's
talking to his people, the saints at Corinth, the saints at Colossae. Hope and love we're going to
look Wednesday night hope. I hope. You know that's providential
though I had a message prepared on just the subject of hope about
four or five weeks ago and never felt. Just didn't just didn't
strike. The deal with hope. But love is now about faith hope
and love he said that to his people. And though the world
abuses that, love, love. But to his people, what he's
saying there, now by the faith, hope, and love, the greatest
of these is love, meaning that faith will cease someday. We won't live by faith someday.
When we leave this earth, we will not live by faith, but just
live by faith now. But someday we'll live, we won't
need faith. will be with him. Sight. Hope. We hope. We have a good hope. Come back Wednesday if you want
to hear about it. But hope is a desire for something you expect
to receive. That's what hope is. And we have
a good hope because of His grace. But someday that won't, we won't
have to hope anymore. We won't have to hope anymore.
We're going to stand there with him, arm in arm with our hope. I gave myself away. We're going
to stand with our hope in Jesus Christ. But love has never failed. We love people
now, but we don't love them like we ought to. We love God now,
but we sure don't love him like we ought to. We will then. Perfect. Perfect love. Love is
all going to continue. Perfectly. Forever. Okay. Brother Gabe, come lead
us in something. Jerry knows. 221.