Forgiveness

Q: What does the Bible say about forgiveness?

The Bible teaches that forgiveness is essential for Christians, rooted in God's faithfulness to cleanse us from unrighteousness when we confess our sins (1 John 1:9). The concept of forgiveness in the Bible is deeply linked to our understanding of sin and the character of God. In 1 John 1:8-10, it explicitly states that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This reflects not only God's mercy but also His justice, as true forgiveness is based on the acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Furthermore, forgiveness implies that we recognize that all sin is ultimately against God, and thus, true reconciliation requires coming before Him with humility and repentance.

Q: How do we know predestination is true?

Predestination is rooted in scripture, particularly in Ephesians 1:4-5, which teaches that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. The doctrine of predestination asserts that God, in His sovereignty, chose certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4-5 states, 'He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself.' This reveals that our election is not based on any foreseen merit or works on our part but solely on God's will and purpose. Therefore, understanding this truth can instill awe and assurance for believers, emphasizing the grace and mercy of God in salvation.

Q: Why is the fall of man important for Christians?

The fall of man explains the origin of sin and our need for a Savior, highlighting the necessity of redemption through Christ (Genesis 3). The fall of man is a pivotal event in Christian theology as it sets the stage for the entire narrative of scripture. In Genesis 3, we see Adam and Eve's disobedience to God, which resulted in sin entering the world and the consequent separation from God. This fundamental event illustrates that all men are born into sin, leading to the necessity of redemption through Jesus Christ. Understanding the fall helps believers comprehend the depths of their sinfulness and the incredible height of God’s grace in providing salvation. Moreover, it shapes our understanding of the human condition and our relationship with God, emphasizing the need for His mercy and reconciliation.

Q: What is the significance of God's holiness?

God's holiness is fundamental to His nature, demanding justice for sin while simultaneously showcasing His mercy through grace (Isaiah 6:3). The holiness of God is central to understanding His character and our relationship with Him. In Isaiah 6:3, the seraphim proclaim, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.' This repetition signifies the importance of holiness in God’s nature, setting Him apart from all creation. His holiness means that He cannot overlook sin and must execute justice. However, it is through this same holiness that God demonstrates mercy, as He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the punishment for our sins. This duality of holiness and grace emphasizes the weight of our sin and the marvelous nature of God’s redeeming love, showcasing the extent of His grace toward undeserving sinners.

Q: Why do Christians believe in sovereign grace?

Sovereign grace emphasizes that salvation is entirely based on God's initiative and grace, not human effort (Ephesians 2:8-9). The concept of sovereign grace highlights the belief that salvation is solely the work of God, who graciously and unconditionally elects certain individuals to salvation. This is grounded in passages like Ephesians 2:8-9 which state, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.' It underscores the idea that human works and merits play no role in salvation, as it is an act of God's will and purpose. This understanding promotes humility and gratitude among believers, as they recognize that their salvation is not something they earned but a gift from a loving and sovereign God.

The first epistle of John, chapter
1, and read with me three verses. First John 1, beginning with verse 8, verses 8, 9 and 10. We deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Charles Spurgeon said years ago
that if you are wrong on the fall, you'll be wrong on it all. You know what I mean by the fall?
I'm talking about Adam's fall. I'm talking about the Garden
of Eden when man fell into sin. If you'd be wrong on the fall,
you'd be wrong on it all. What happened in the Garden?
is the first question we need to consider, and all ignorance
and the source of all error can be traced to that question. If you are ignorant about that,
you will be in all error. The very heart of the truth of
salvation starts right there. When you think of forgiveness,
what is the first thing that comes to your mind? When you
think of forgiveness, what do you first think of? The first
thing that comes to mind, when someone says, I forgive you,
what do you think of? Well, you think that that person has been wronged,
don't you? When someone says, I forgive
you, That implies that someone has done something to that person,
right? That someone is guilty of wrongdoing,
right? And it's against that person.
This is very elementary here, a childlike concept or understanding,
principle. Forgiveness. The scripture is
full of talk of forgiveness. What does that imply? It implies
that somebody has done something wrong, and someone has been wronged. Right? Someone has been wronged by someone
else. Someone has been offended, and
someone has done the offender. Right? Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Now, a better word, or a scriptural
word for wrongdoing or for offense, It's sin. Sin. Wrongdoing. Every transgression
of the law is sin. Sin. What you do wrong, you sin. When you do wrong, you sin. Right? When you offend someone,
you sin against that person. Right? You sin against them. You've offended them. Did you
remember a recent sin survey in the Roanoke newspaper? The most absurd thing I've ever
heard of. But do you remember that? A sin
survey. It was very revealing, actually,
the things that people said were sins. You know that there was
never one mention of the name of God in all of that. cussing, drinking, smoking, chewing,
adultery, whatever. No mention of the name of God.
There is no mention of offending a holy God. No mention of it.
No mention. You see, all sin is against God. All sin is against God. All wrongdoing is against a holy
God. All sin, all wrongdoing, every
transgression is offensive to a holy God. Now turn back to Genesis 1 with
me. Let's look at the fall of man. Genesis 1, and the word of God
will clearly explain itself, what I'm trying to say. All sin
is against God. Listen now, if you miss this,
If you go wrong on the fall, you'll be wrong on it all. If
you miss this, you'll be in error about the love of God, you'll
be in error about the death of Christ, you'll be in error about
everything concerning salvation. You yourself may be in error,
period. You may be lost. Lostness implies what? Salvation
implies what? That somebody is lost. And forgiveness
implies that somebody has done something wrong, and it's a whole
lot deeper than eating a piece of fruit. Now, God created this world.
This is God's world. Nobody would deny that except
an absolute fool. Scripture says a fool would say,
No, God, that all of this just came into being, you know, big
bang theory, big explosion, and all of a sudden we have, well,
But God created this world, and he said it's good, didn't he?
Whatever God does is good. He created the plants and the
animals, and he said they're good. They were all created by
him and for him, weren't they? Before man was on the earth,
God created it all for his pleasure, didn't he? God enjoyed himself
in his creative work. He looked and he spoke it. He said, That's good, that's
beautiful. He created something else and
said, Oh, that's good, that's good, look at that, isn't that
good? If there were any angels around, he said to them, Isn't
that good? That's good, that's good. And it was all created
for his glory, for his pleasure, for his own enjoyment, yes, for
his own enjoyment. Plants and animals? They all
lived and acted according to the glory of God, for God's good
pleasure, according to his rules and his will. Right? Everything
God said when. There he is. Right? There he is. Then God created
man. Look at verse 31. God created man. Look at verse
26. Look at that verse. God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them,
man and woman, have dominion over the fish, and so forth.
Let us make man in our own image. In other words, man was created
holy. The image of God is one of holiness.
Right? God didn't have a body, people. God's Spirit. So we talk about
the image of God. character, the person of God. That's holiness, goodness, just,
righteous, purity. That's how man was created, pure,
holy, just, righteous. Look at verse 31, And after God
created everything, God saw everything he had made, and, behold, it
was very good, very good, very good. As long as everything was acting
and moving according to God's rule and His will, good and holy
and right, it's good, that's good, that's good. A man walking
on the earth and talking with God and thinking holy and pure
and good thoughts, good, that's good, he's a good man, that's
a good man, holy man, righteous man, Adam. Chapter 2, verses 16 and 17,
the Lord God gave the man and the woman everything their heart
could desire. All the goodness of God He gave
them. But He made one restriction,
one restriction upon them. Verse 16, God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.
You know how many species of trees there are on the planet
Earth right now? I don't know either, but there
are thousands. There are literally hundreds
of thousands, right? And back then, I'm talking an
apple tree was an apple tree. bananas tree, it wasn't one rotten
banana in a bunch. Cherry tree. Perfect. Everything
was beautiful. God said, very good. Man, he
didn't have to do anything. Just eat and enjoy himself. Eat, drink, and be merry. Enjoy
God. God said, one restriction. You can have anything you want. with that one tree in the middle
of the garden. Verse 17, "...of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it in the
day that thou eatest thereof. Dying thou shalt die." Thou shalt surely die. Dying
thou shalt die. You will die and you will start
to die. You will die that day real death
and you'll start to die, physically. Now, one day the man and the
woman, started with the woman, this is the reason the woman
is in subjection to the man from this day forward, because the
woman, in ignorance and being deceived by Satan, This is the
very reason for this, that the woman is considered the weaker
vessel and the woman, they complain today about it being a man's
world. God said it a long time ago. This is not so that man
may be macho over women and that he may domineer women and abuse
women and all that, but this is just the fact of the case,
is women are weaker vessels and men are the stronger and men
dominate and rule this world because God said it would happen.
The woman was deceived in the transgression. She listened to
Satan give his spiel. And she said, well, maybe God
wasn't telling the truth. And she grabbed the fruit. And
then she took it to Adam. Now, the scripture doesn't say
Adam was fooled about it, does it? No, Adam knew. He knew better. But out of love or preference
to that woman. There's a real type of Christ
right there. But out of preference to that woman over God, out of
love to that woman, and to join with her in this thing, he said,
we shouldn't be doing that, but I'm going to do it anyway. What happened then? What happened
in that little, as men would say, that little fall, that little
transgression there. What happened? Eating the fruit,
that seemed like such a little thing. Seemed like a little thing.
A little tree, a little piece of apple. Men make light of this
day, don't they? You see these commercials and
all that, people making light of what happened in the garden.
They make fun of it. That which brought sin and misery
and all of the barbarism and heinous crimes and wickedness
and perversion and all of that upon the human race, men make
light of it. They think it's funny, you know.
They have a picture of this man, this woman, naked, and they kind
of, you know, what? What happened? What's it all
about? Seem like a little thing to you?
Does that seem innocent to you? Does that seem like an innocent
transgression to you? Just pick that apple. God should have,
you know, smacked him on the hand and let him go, shouldn't
he? You miss it here, you've missed
it all. So you think that way about God, you'll think that
way about God from now on. It was rebellion against God
Almighty. It was rebellion against God Almighty, is what that was.
An offense against the Holy God. It was a willful rebellion against
the absolute rule and authority of God Almighty. You see, Adam
and Eve did not like the fact, what was it that Satan tempted
them with? God knows that when you eat that
fruit, that you'll be like him. Right? Isn't that what they were
tempted with? You'll be like God. You don't
have to answer to God. You don't have to be under the
rule and the control of God. You'll be God. Isn't that what you want? You don't
want anybody ringing in the room over you and telling you what
to do, do you? He's been unfair to you. You'll be God. So the man and the woman said,
that's right. He doesn't have anything. Who does he think he
is, telling us we can't have this tree? We own our rights.
This is what happened in the garden, people. And this is the
principle in what rested within the bones and the blood of every
single son of Adam that came from his lawn. We own our rights.
I've got my free will. Who does he think he is? And
we put that on the top of our church building. If Adam would have built him
a church house, he would have put free will on Adam's church, if
they would have. Free will. Why, who does God
think he is? Well, if that's as much our tree
as it is his. This is exactly what happened
in the garden. It wasn't some innocent transgression. Adam
didn't like the thought of God being God. So he wanted to set his own rules.
So God had told Adam, the day you do that, you're going to
die, didn't he? The day you eat of that tree,
you'll die. Now, Adam didn't know what death
was, people. Adam didn't know what death was.
He'd never seen it, never heard of it before. This was a new
word to him. But that's no excuse, is it?
Ignorance? Die? That's no excuse about when we
transgress the Word of God, because we don't know what it says, and
it says it, so don't do it. Oh, and die? What's die? Oh,
well. I tell you what, after it was
all over, he might have thought twice about it before, didn't
he? When he walked out of that garden one day and saw his son
laying on the ground with his brains coming out of his head,
he thought, Didn't they? They were sooner than that. Before
he walked out of the garden, he saw a deer, a beautiful, lovely
deer that walked up to him one day, and they were patting, they
were good buddies, you know. Might have been big enough to
ride on his back. Some animal of some sort, beautiful,
lovely, innocent, eyes of a doe, you know, lovely, beautiful little
animal. laying there with his gut slit open and his skin ripped
off his body, and he's hovering in that skin. He's thinking,
Oh, my God! Die! Look at Genesis 3, verse 7. It says, After this happened,
the eyes of them were both opened. The moment Adam decided against
God, something came over him. A radical change took place.
Now, this is what happened in the garden, people, and it's
with us now. It's in us now. Genesis 3, verse 7, "...the eyes
of them both were opened, and they knew they were naked, and
they sewed fig leaves together." Naked! There wasn't nobody around
but them! What's wrong with being naked?
What came over them? Oh, shame, their nakedness. What's wrong, Adam? Nakedness
is beautiful. God made you beautiful. They
were naked and they were ashamed. They were ashamed of themselves.
They were ashamed of themselves. It says, "...they sewed fig leaves
together, making themselves apron." In verse 8, they heard the voice
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of day, and
they hid themselves from the presence of God. They were proud. It might have been Christ there
coming. the voice of God walking in the garden. They heard God,
and before, before this happened, when they hear God walk, hey,
Lord! Hey, good morning, precious Lord. Oh, it's a lovely day you've
created. Oh, bless your holy name, God. Oh, as it is, bless your holy
name. Thank you so much for everything. Let's sit down. Let's talk. Let's
have, let's enjoy one another. Good to see you, Lord!" Now,
they hear the voice of the Lord coming, "'Hide, Eve, hide! It's Him! Hide! It's God!' And Adam and
his wife hid themselves. They hid themselves. Look at
verse 9. The Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him.
Now, the Lord knew where Adam was. He can see through you. He can see your heart. He can see your thoughts before
you think of them. You know what God is saying here?
He said, Adam, where art thou? What he is saying there is, Adam,
Where are you now? What have you done now? Adam, look at you now. Adam said, verse 10, I heard
your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked.
Adam. Adam. Who told you you were naked? What does it matter that you're
naked? Adam, have you eaten up the tree? God knew he did. He knew it was going to happen
a long time before it happened. He knew before the council house
returned, it would happen. But the man was still responsible
not to do it. Adam, verse 12, and the man said,
that woman, that woman, it's her fault. fear, shame, blame. He loved that woman before Roberta.
Bone of my bones, flesh of my, oh, my lovely, pure wife. That's
the reason you men treat you right like scum at times. It's
because of what happened then. Adam, it started with Adam, and
it's filtered on down. They treated him right. That
woman! Do something about her, God. It's all her fault. And more than that, if you hadn't
created her, you're fine. Adam, he says all the way through
with Jeremiah, what have I done? God says this, what have I done
that you should sin against me? He says that all the way through
with Jeremiah, every sin is against God. And God says over and over
again, what have I done? Given you all your heart's good
desire. You see, sin now had filled the
man up. It was filled full of sin. You
see what happened in the garden, people? I wasn't eating a piece
of bread. Sin, that man was now a sinner,
full of hatred, full of belligerence, full of impudence, full of lies,
full of shame, full of hatred and blame, full of mollusk. Filled him up, didn't it? of
which we are full of now. If you take somebody and just
dart across in front of us in a car, we're willing to commit
him to hell. Right? Damn him. That means let him
go to hell. Let him burn forever for darting
out in front of me in an automobile. How dare him do such a thing?
I've seen believers do this. What? Just come over me. This principle of sin. You see
what happened in the garden? This principle of sin. Hating God, hating to be ruled,
that's where it started. Hating holiness, hating goodness,
loving sin, and loving self. Do you see what sin really is?
The Scriptures call it the exceeding sinfulness of sin. It's against
God. Henry Eppermitt was against God. against the holy and good God,
and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, for
all have sinned." We read that in Romans 5, didn't we? All have
sinned. It's in us. It's in us now. And death has passed upon all
men, for all have sinned. And from Adam's first transgression
until now, turn over to Romans chapter 1 with me now. Romans
chapter 1. I did something in the course
of this message that I don't normally do. I took a subject
and looked at various scriptures regarding it, because this is
the heart of the truth here, what I'm saying this morning.
It's the heart of the truth, and we need to understand this. Romans 1. Death has upon all
men, for all have sinned. And from Adam's first transgression
until now, all manner of sin and iniquity has been unleashed.
And man has just grown steadily worse. It's been a downward spiral
and into a pit of corruption, and every vile affection that
can be known is practiced. And men and women, including
us, are like brute beasts. Look at Romans 1, verse 29. It says, "...being filled with
all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, Malignancy, whispers,
backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedience to parents, without understanding,
covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, that is,
unmovable, won't even hear of anything, unmerciful, who knows
the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death. Not only do them, but have pleasure
in them that do them." brazenly and blatantly shake your fist
in God's face and say, You have no right. Who do you think you
are? That's a long way from Genesis
1. Oh, this thing is black. One sin turned paradise into
perdition. One sin turned heaven into hell.
And God hates it. God hates it. And that's why
scripture says God hates all workers of iniquity. He hates
the people that do it. Because God's holy. God loves holiness. He loves holiness. That's his
essential character and his essential attribute, first and foremost,
is he loves holiness. Don't let anybody tell you any
differently. Don't let anybody tell you, God hates sin, but
loves a sinner. That ain't so. You can't separate
them. David said, My sin, that's what
we read in 1 John 1, 8, if any man say hath not sin, hath no
sin, that he is not sin itself. I am sin. Are you? What I do, I do willfully. And
it's against God, and God hates it. I know he hates it so much,
he bloodied his son on a cross because of it. That's what it
took to put it away. Ask the angels. People, you know,
ask the angels which fell the first time. You see, Adam was
not the first man or creature to fall. It happened a long time
before that, didn't it? And we don't know when this was.
Some say this is a big gap theory, that that's the way the angels
lived on this earth, and that when the earth became without
form and void, they say that after Satan and his angels fell,
that the world was darkened by God, became without form and
void because of that fall. I don't know, it may be so. But
at any rate, there was a race of beings called angels before
a man ever came on the scene. And they fell. And these angels,
every one of them, there wasn't a one of them that was saved.
Not one single angel was saved. So I don't hear anybody complaining
because God didn't elect any of them. He didn't give them
a chance. I don't hear anybody sticking
up for the angels, you know, they're glorious, beautiful beings, you
know, they fail. They fail, they sinned against
God, so don't they deserve, doesn't everybody deserve a chance? Salvation is my chance. It's
my grace. Ain't nobody deserving to be
saved. Huh? Ask the angels, and they'll tell
you, God's holy. That's the ones that didn't follow.
They're hovering around the throne night and day, twenty-four hours
a day. What are they saying? God is love, always love, love, love,
love, love, love. He's just so lovely. What are
they saying? Holy! Holy! Covering their faces. Holy! Holy! That is holy! That's what they're saying, night
and day. Why? They saw those angels that
fell, cast into a pit, never to be heard from again. Oh, he's
holy. God is holy. God's just. God's
just. God's just. He's holy. He will
punish sin. He will by no means clear the
guilty. He's holy. The soul that says
it will die, it will die. The day that this happened, Adam
and Eve, what do you think the angels were thinking? Huh? The angels. They were watching
this. They were watching the whole
scene, you know. They were watching that man and
woman, and they were thinking, oh, don't go near that tree. What are you
doing? Why are you talking to him? Don't
talk to Lucifer. Oh, don't do this. Don't do this. I see him. I see him. Don't you dare! Don't you know
they were saying that? You dare! God won't turn the
guilty! He won't do it! And they waited orders to go
down and smack the planet Earth. Step it out. God's just. God's just. He'll kill them now. But God. But God is rich in mercy. And they saw these angels, or
they saw God Almighty walk down there. I don't know, it's a mystery. But God walked down there. Instead
of saying, get the man and woman, bind them I said, Adam, where are you? What have you done? Why'd you
do that, Adam? Oh, Adam, you don't know what
you've done. You don't know what you've done. What you've dashed yourself and
all of those millions of people going to come from your lawn
is what you've done. You don't realize the depth of
sin and degradation and misery and horrible death you've brought
upon your own race of people. Adam, what have you done? But
Adam, I'm going to be merciful to you. I'm not going to kill
you. What do you think angels thought?
What is going on here? What is this? They poke one another, they'd
be poking one another with their wings or whatever. What? We've
never seen it like this before. We've never heard of it. What
is this? And if they would ask the Lord, well Lord, what is
this? What do you mean? And God said, mercy! I've never
shown it before. This is a side of me you've never
seen before. You've seen holiness. You've
seen my justice. Behold my mercy! I'm merciful! Love. Love? I'm going to take
that man who shook his face in my face and would have been God,
would have torn me down from the throne. As a matter of fact,
someday he will get his hands on me. Joy! He said, I'm going
to go down to that earth and he'll get his hands on me, and
he'll wring the blood out of me! But I'll love him anyway,
and I'll save him from eternal death. Glory to God in the highest! Mercy! What a glorious attribute
of God! Nothing don't deserve this, but
you've done it! Oh, you're glorious! You're merciful!
You're love! You're God! Do you see this? I've never seen it like this
before. Different attributes of God. I've seen it. Have you? He's a just God. You see, they've
just seen Him as a just God. He said, I'm a just God. And
a Savior. A Savior. Not first. Get it right, 20th century. Get it right. Not a savior, and
then someday your Lord, he's Lord. Just God by no means clearing
the guilty, angry with the wicked every day. This is what's missing
in present-day preaching. They missed it at the top. Except a man see his utter sinfulness
before a holy God and bow down and pray for mercy! Have mercy
on us, O God! God will be a consuming fire. Justice will be poured out. Wrath. He'll get what he deserves. But here's the glory of it all.
All this man or this woman has to do is say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I've sinned. against God. Lord, forgive me. Okay. Okay. Done. That seems like a simple thing,
doesn't it? You can't find me. Find me a
sinner somewhere. Find me one. Go out on the street
and find me a sinner. I mean the kind I'm talking about,
the kind I just described to you this morning, that Adamic,
Adam, Adam's seed, Adam's son, that principle in here. It's
in us, it's in everybody. Everybody's a sinner, just like
Adam. Find me one. If you find me one,
I'll tell them God loves them and crossed out for them. That's what this one man said
to me on the phone. I said, Are you a sinner? He said, Well,
you know, I've got my faults, but... You know, this is how
they get around. We, you know, we all have sinned. Yes, we. That publican in the
temple, you know what he was saying? You know, a Pharisee
came in there and said, I thank thee, O Father, that you delivered
me. I don't smoke and drink and touch
and chew anymore. I was a sinner. But the publican in the back
was beating on his chest. He just said, I'm the worst! I'm a sinner! God said, that
man's justified, that sinner. The other one's going straight
to hell. This faith will say, if you're
no sinner, there's no salvation. No salvation. I'll tell you what,
I think I hear the fallen angels protesting. That ain't fair,
don't you? Not fair! The fallen angels in
heaven have kept not their first descent. Deborah, I think I hear
them saying, That ain't fair! God can't save men and save us!
Oh, yes he can. God can save whoever he pleases.
He said, Can I do with my own what I will? Moses said, Lord,
show me your glory. He said, O Cal, show him I'll
be merciful. Oh, that's glory, to whom I will
be merciful. The glory of God is at stake
here. He said, I'll be merciful. Now, that's glorious in and of
itself, and that's unbelievable in and of itself, that God will
be merciful. He wasn't to the angels. Are you following my
thought here? Are you following me? He wasn't to the angels.
He's just, he's holy, but he raised from this man a woman
who deserved the same thing they got. But if God said, I'll be
merciful, I'll be merciful to them, I will be to them. Well,
you can't do that. Yes, I can, I do. Be still and know that I am God,
not you. I decide. Sovereign mercy. Sovereign grace. It must be sovereign, because
there's none righteous. No, not one. None that doeth
good. No, not one. God loves only holiness. It must be sovereign mercy. There
ain't none holy. He says he looked down from heaven
on the sons of men to see if there were any. Right? Now turn to Ephesians 1, and
I'll wrap this thing up. Ephesians 1. Where does modern
man get off, Rick? Where does modern man get off
arguing with God? Who out there is a man that replies
to God? You know, Paul said, I read through Romans, especially
Romans 9, they say, well, if God's will, if he chooses one
in will, if he saves one in will, if it's Father, Mercy, and Grace
and he'll save one in will, then who can resist his will? Then
we're going to be saved, we're going to be saved. Who do you
think you are, man? That's what Paul had to argue. Oh man, he's God, don't you understand? He's God! That's what God said
all the way through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Don't you remember? I'm God! From the rising of the
sun to the burning down of the flames, I'm God! I can do what
I will with my own. I don't have to save anybody. Thank God he does, he saves some
people. That's the God I worship. And
like that man said to me on the phone, he said, we worship two
different Gods. What I said, I worship the God of the Bible,
you worship a God of your imagination. Find me a God that will just
forgive sin. That's bygones be bygones. Find
me somewhere in the scripture where God did not punish sin. where one single cent of transgression
went by unchecked. Find it for me. Find me somewhere
where it says an apostle or a prophet went up to everybody saying,
God loves you. I'll find you where it says that false prophets
and false apostles went up to people saying, God loves you,
no evil shall befall you. He has a wonderful plan for your
life. He has a plan, but it might not be wonderful. But this God. You see, men and women have to
behold this God. This is what Isaiah said. He
said, What shall I cry? The Lord told Isaiah, Go preach,
Isaiah. Get on the housetop. Get up there
and cry loud. I'm trying to speak loud this
morning. I'm doing a good job over there. I told you I was
going to. He told Isaac, get on the hostel
and cry it loud. Spare not, don't spare anybody's
ears. P.A. is going out. Cry it out,
spare not. What do I say, Lord? What do
you want me to say? Say, Behold your God! Capital G, capital O, capital
D. Creator, we're in his hands. What else, Lord? What is anything
else? Oh, flesh is brass, fit for the burning. God is a consuming
fire, too. Then let's say, bow down and
repent before me. This is called fire and damnation
preaching this morning. are your ears." They're hearing
this. This is what people are missing,
people. See, we've smoothed over this. We've smoothed over this, taken
the rough edges off, and everybody's accepting Jesus, and ain't nobody
repenting to the Holy God! Right? Ain't nobody! You don't
see anybody in these The Bible is coming down to the front and
says, Oh, what shall we do to be saved? Do you see my weeping
and crying over there singing? We're singing against God! I'm
going to hell! Do you? Jonathan Edwards preached
that sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and it said
people were holding on to the Jews for fear a flood would drop
out from under them. God is gone. You see now? He's gone. Where am I, Adam? I have sinned against him, and
he is going to cast me out of his presence, but God." Now, here is the question of
all questions. How can this holy God just up
and forgive me? He didn't go to the angels. Every
transgression must receive a just recompense, as the scripture
says. The soul, it says, must surely die. Now, what it says,
must surely die. He will by no means clear the
guilt. How? You see, unless you start there,
you can't ask that question, can you? And nobody's asking
it. But one, I heard a man the other
day, that's what I got so excited about, Stan and Rick, I tell
you about that man over in California. He talked about how the God died
for himself. God didn't die for me, and he
died for himself. Do you understand what that's talking about? He
said the blood of Christ wasn't for man's sake, really, it was
for God's sake. Isn't that so exciting? About here and about
there, he said God had to satisfy his own holiness and righteousness.
I couldn't believe my ear. Is this a religious channel? I couldn't believe my ears. The
key word, how is God, this holy God, going to be just? We don't have any justice today. The reason man can't have any
conception of this justice thing is because there isn't any today.
Do you know what? The average murderer walks the
street in seven years. Do you know that? The average
murderer gets out of prison in seven years. That's not justice. There a man will go before the
court system of the United States, and they'll say, I sentence you
to life! And that man, he laughs. Life? What you mean is six years actual
and three years probation, don't you? Well, no, that's not what he
meant. We'll give you two life terms. There. What that means is twelve years.
Actually, six years probation, that's what you mean, isn't it,
Judge? You don't really, you're not going to send me away forever,
are you? And if he was honest, he'd have
to say, no. No justice. Right? No justice. Ain't nobody
gets what's coming to them. Nobody. Nobody. God is just. God said, everybody
gets what's coming to them. Every single person gets justice. Gets justice. Well, how can this
just God who said, I'm going to damn and kill every sinner? This may sound hard, people,
but this is the way it is. I just gave you the whole story
of how sin entered into the man, and he really shook his fist
in God's face, and it's within us all. We don't want God to
reign over us. You just say it. Just say in the newspaper, this
is what God said. Just write a letter in and say,
this is what God said. They'll gnash their teeth at
you, won't they, buddy? Oh, no, that's not right. We'll show him. Right? The key word here is redemption.
The key word is redemption. All that sin and come short of
the glory of God, the soul that sins must die. Wages of sin is
death. What we've earned is death, judgment,
separation from God. Death is the price that God must
pay us. Verse 3 says this, But blessed
be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Blessed be God. He's the one who decided to bless
us, not vice versa. He decided to bless us. God just
up in one day said, I'm going to save. This is what's going
to happen. Now, that's what happened to
the angels there. I snuffed them out, never to be heard from again. Adam is going to do the same
thing, but I'm going to save. I'm going to show forth my glory.
I'm going to reveal myself. I'm going to damn some of them
just to show that I'm just. That's what they're getting.
That's what they deserve. That's what they'll earn. Everybody
in hell today is exactly what they earned, Sammy. They can't
charge God with unfairness. They got what they earned. The
way it is, it's bad. But God says, I'm not going to
give the Son what they've earned. I'm going to give them what Christ
earned. Blessed be God. Blessed be God, John Davis. You
bless God to the top of your lungs, buddy, from this day forward.
You're not getting what you deserve. That's how a believer can say,
blessed be God, salvation of the Lord. This way they'll be
saying it till eternity. Blessed be God. Blessed be God. God has saved us. He hasn't decided
to do so. Verse 4, how'd he do it? Well,
he just decided to choose people. Wherefore, according as he hath
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world." Yes,
that's the e-word, election. You see, Rick, we don't want
to go into that. But the whole mass of humanity
is heading toward hell. All has sinned. It's one big
bloody system. Let's go to hell, and let's shake
our fist in God's face while we're doing it. Let's raise hell! Let's raise it up to meet us!
Right? Every man, woman, boy, and girl
born on the topside of this earth says, I'm God, and who does God
think I am? I'm going to hell! But God says,
no, that one's not. Yeah, you and the green jacket.
That one's not. Oh, I'm going to have mercy on
her. She's mine. Mine. There you are. You. Right there. You run. Just wait and you see
what I'm going to do about you. There's one. Black jacket. Come
here. Come to me. OK, here I come. There you are. And he does that. He hand-picks them. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with that? I see
everything right with that. Huh? If God just told them, why? Do you see? Here's not the problem. Esau
had a hatred. He's a hateful dude. He saw no
good palm. He got hungry one day, John.
The hunter got hungry, and his brother came and commanded him,
and he said, Give me your birthright, give me everything that's dear
to you. Give me your spiritual rights and so forth, your place
in the home. Give me your heritage and all that. Esau said, What
do I need for that stuff? It's God anyway. Go ahead and
take that. Just give me a bowl of that soup.
You see that? God said, I hate Esau. Jacob,
that I love. If God just chose one, just one,
wouldn't that be mercy? That one man would be standing
in heaven for the rest of his days. One man, can you imagine? One man, standing in heaven for
the rest of his days, hovering at the top of his lungs. Blessed
be God! As he's watching all of his comrades,
his brothers, his sisters, his fellow man, perishing in eternal
wrath, holy, holy, holy, blessed be God! But God says, I've got a will
to do it. No man can number it. Bless the big God. Of course,
he has chosen us. Who does he choose? All that
believe on him. They say, there you are, preacher,
there you go. There you go. Who says, will? No. No. Come on. Not of the will
of the flesh. not of the will of man, but the
will of God, chosen of God." That's what 1 Thessalonians 4
says. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy. You see, the reason for salvation,
not just to spare us hell, Jesus Christ not just to fire escape
from hell, is that we might be holy. God can't have anything
to do with anything but holy things. You see that, don't you,
Sam? You see that. God is holy. He
loves holy things. God is not going to love you
unless you are holy. He can't. Don't we see that? We see that. He can't. He's holy. He can't love sin. Oh, he wouldn't
be God. He wouldn't be holy. And it says
he predestinated. Yeah, there's the P word. Predestinated,
predetermined the outcome of every on the head of every one
of his people. Thank God, Violet Byrd! Thank
God he did that! If I could fall, if one child
of God could fall away, I would fall. I've already fallen. He predetermined everything about
me. I like that. I like that. And the adoption of children.
He says he's my little child. He's my baby boy, and I love
him. And it's all, verse 5, because
he just decided so. Are you reading that, verse 5?
It's all according to what? Our works, according to our will,
according to our decision for Jesus, according to our being
baptized, according to our making our rededication and consecration,
according to the good pleasure of his will. And it's all for
this ultimate end, to the praise of the glory of his grace. And that's what heaven is going
to be all about. From now until doomsday and beyond,
that's what heaven is going to be all about, to the praise of
the glory of his grace. Why can't we praise him now for
this grace? Why don't men believe this grace
now? They don't believe what happened in the garden. They
don't know what's within here. They don't know who God is. Right? They don't know who God is. He's
holy. He's just. They don't know what
this is all about. This is more than eating a piece
of fruit. This is more than stealing a watermelon. This is shaking
your fist in the face of God. And it's all going to be according
to the praise of the glory of his grace. And this is what heaven
is going to be all about, and men are going to be singing,
Oh, grace, grace, what a charming sound. I never did think it was
before. Did you? Stan, you heard about
sovereign grace before? It didn't make much of a difference
then, did it? Why? You didn't know anything about a holy God?
You didn't know anything about the exceeding sinfulness of your
own heart, did you? You thought you were a pretty good guy, and
you weren't very good by man's standards, weren't you? And the
rest holds truth of the rest of it. But when you see God,
like Isaiah, high and lifted up. That's all I tried to do
this morning, is lift and exalt God to where he is. High and
lifted up. His tree filling the temple.
And the cherubs and the seraphs cried, holy, holy, holy. And
you'll do like Isaiah, you'll fall down and say, woe is me.
Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm undone. I'm a
donor. But then, but then, but God,
you'll hear the voice, not until then. Not until then, but then. You see God like that, see yourself
like that, you'll hear the voice come from God Almighty saying,
but I've loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness."
You know, God's ways are our ways, aren't they? Our idea of
lovingkindness is not yelling at somebody. You know, I love my daughter
so much sometimes that when she gets out of whack, sometimes
I go, What is wrong with you? I just want to yell it out of
her. I want to yell the sin out of
her, the thought out of her. If I could get it out of her,
I would. If I could teach you, sometimes
I think you'll never learn. Don't do it. If I could get it
out of her, and God says, get up there and yell at her. Yeah,
he did. That's what Solomon said to the
loud boys. He said to the loud boys, maybe I preached this morning,
horse, cry aloud, spare not one. Their souls are at stake. don't mind their ears, their
souls are at stake. And now after they've heard that
God is God, they will by no means clear their guilt, they sit them
down and say, now listen, you've sinned, and God's angry, but
God didn't comfort them. Comfort you, comfort you, but
God had chosen you. You don't have any problem with
that, do you? Accepted in the Beloved, he says,
he's made us accepted in the Beloved. There ain't nothing
acceptable about me, even now. Nothing acceptable about me.
In verse 7, I left out the whole key, because Key Burdage, verse
7 says, he's made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have
redemption. In whom we have redemption. through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins." You know, that's my text,
but I didn't even read it. Forgiveness of sins through redemption,
through his blood. You see, Christ came down here
and paid for those sins. The soul that sinned, God chose
a people. Is this clear? Is this clear
to us? God chose a people, and he said they must die, they sinned
like everybody else, but God said, Son, you go down there
and die in their place. You get what's coming to them,
and you give them what's coming to you. Holiness, acceptance,
righteousness, the love of God. See that? Yeah, you do. And Christ came down here, and
that's why Christ died on the cross, not because the Romans
killed him, but because God killed him. God said, saw me. God saw every one of his elect
people, all these sinners, and said, You've got to die. You've
got to die. That's the reason God, and separation
from God is death. When Adam died in the garden,
that's when God put him out. He lost the life of God. He didn't
love God anymore. He loved himself. He hated. He was full of all this sin.
Separation from God. And while Christ hung on that
cross, that's you and me. And that's the reason he cried,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Because, Stephen,
that's what you and I deserve to cry one day. Every soul in
hell is crying that out at this very minute. My God, my God is
forsaken. They didn't realize it, but God's
restraining and constraining grace was with them all the days
of their lives. But now it's unleashed. God's
removed himself, like that world that became void and darkness.
God removed himself, and now they're crying, Oh, where's God?
Where's God? And that's where Christ cried
on the cross, and at my place, John, I don't have to cry some
day. I'm going to see him face to face. I'm going to stand with
God and be with him forever, and there ain't no possibility
of ever leaving again. Because Christ died. Because Christ was
separated. Because Christ paid for my sin,
I am redeemed. He said, I've got the receipts,
paid in full. Sins are paid. Do you see what
particular redemption must be? Justice demands it. I just started
this thing out with the justice of God. Justice demands it. The
law of God comes to a sinner that Christ died for and said,
paid for. Doesn't it? The law of God. Who
shall condemn me? Huh? The law? No. The law of God comes to every
sinner who cries out for himself, paid, no sin. I don't see any
sin in him. No sin. He just looks red. He just looks red to me. Red,
red. If he sees blackness, you're
a goner. If he sees red, you're safe. I've put about twelve sermons
into one. So if I never preach again, I've
preached it. I've preached it. God high, man
low. Christ came to redeem him, and
he did it. He did it. And blessed be God,
every one of those people he died for is going to be saved. You have God's word on it. And
what's our response to this? Do you believe this? Do you believe
everything I've said this morning? This is for you, and you can
rightly call yourself a son or a child of God. All right, stand with me. Dear Lord, we ask your forgiveness. through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood of the everlasting
covenant that's ordered in all things and sure, by which, through
which, because of which we've been called by your mercy, by
your grace. We've been called by this gospel,
this same very gospel that came from a vain babbler. Yet this
is the truth.

Forgiveness

What does the Bible say about forgiveness?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is the fall of man important for Christians?

What is the significance of God's holiness?

Why do Christians believe in sovereign grace?

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Forgiveness

What does the Bible say about forgiveness?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is the fall of man important for Christians?

What is the significance of God's holiness?

Why do Christians believe in sovereign grace?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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