Which we read a moment ago. Hebrews chapter four. It's quite clear from the scriptures. that God has an elect people,
a chosen people, that only those whom he has chosen or elected
before the foundation of the world, the scripture says, only
those people will be saved. That is quite clear. from the
scriptures, if you just merely read the scriptures. Ephesians
1. These people, these elect, are
called various names. They are called sheep, as opposed
to goats. They are called wheat, as opposed
to tares. They are called sons of God,
as opposed to children of wrath. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
down to this earth to save every one of those people. That's why
he came. Jesus Christ did not come to
be an example. He did not come to live a good
life as a man, to show us how to live, although he is our example. That's not the primary reason
he came. He did not come to show us the
way to get to God. He came to be the way to God. There's a difference. He did
not come to tell us what to do to get to heaven. He came to
do it for us, to make sure we do get to heaven. He is elect. He came down to earth to save
every one of those elect chosen people. And upon hanging upon
that cross, one of his final words was this, it is finished. He did it. He saved all of his
elect chosen people. All that the Father had given
him were saved. And they will come to him in
time by faith and they will all be saved eternally. And Christ
did that by coming to live for them. The scriptures talks about
it as establishing righteousness. Now I talk about these terms
all the time and I almost apologize because so many people hear these
all the time and so many people know what I'm talking about,
but I don't want to apologize for giving the plain, simple
truth of the gospel to those who may not understand it. So
those who know this, you still rejoice in this. But those who
don't, I'm trying to define why Christ came, what he did. He
came down here as a man, not to just set an example. But he
came to live a life as a man that God would accept. And God
said in Leviticus 22, it shall be perfect to be accepted. God
doesn't require us to do the best we can. God requires us
to do the best he can, which is perfection. He said, Be ye
holy. I'm holy. That means perfect.
But we can't do it. All have sinned and come far
short of that glorious perfection, that holiness God demands, that
righteousness. Well, Jesus Christ didn't know.
He came down here as a man and lived a perfect, holy life for
thirty-three years, and one day God Almighty said from heaven,
said, Now there is a man that I am well pleased with. God never
said that before. He didn't say it about Adam.
He didn't say it about Moses. He didn't say it about Noah.
He said it about one man, Jesus Christ. He said, now that is
a man that I'm well pleased with. That's my son. And Paul said
he's a man approved of God, accepted by God just because of what he
did, his works, his life. And then God took that life.
This is salvation. God took that life that Jesus
Christ lived, and all those elect chosen people that he had purposed to save, he took that
life and imputed it. Don't let that word throw you.
That means charged it to their camps. Made it appear as if they
themselves had lived a perfectly holy life. Every one of those
elect, every one of those chosen people, The Lord imputed that
righteous life that Jesus Christ lived to them. So, therefore,
God now loves them, God accepts them, God justifies them, and
someday they can all go to live with God who is holy in his holy
heaven without sin. Now, there's another thing Christ
had to do when he came down here. He had to die. He wasn't helpless. He said many times, listen to
me, several times, he said, no man takes my life from me. You
see, you can't kill God. Jesus Christ was and is God. And he said, no man takes my
life from me. I lay it down on myself. You see, it's appointed
unto man once to die. Christ was a man. It's pointed
out to you everybody in here will die. Will die. Why? Sin. Sin. Death is a result of sin. And
not only will we die a natural death, but if something is not
done about this sin, that we are. It's nature. It's evil nature
of our. We're going to die eternally.
That's what hell is. But Jesus Christ came down for
those elect people, those chosen people, and shed his blood. He died for them, that they don't
have to. He was punished by God for their
sins. God saw every one of his chosen
elect people in Jesus Christ. And he punished all of their
sins. Therefore, he can be just and
holy, a just judge, you see, and yet justify or let sinners
go free. You see, God is holy. He can't
just say, uh, forgive and forget. You know, boys will be boys.
Sinners will be sinners, you know. Oh, forget about it. No
harm done. Oh, yes, harm is done. Our sins
have to be paid for, OK? That's why Jesus Christ came.
That's why he died. He didn't die at the hands of
men. He died willfully, purposely.
He said, I'm going to die as a substitute for all of God's
love. And then he didn't stay dead.
If he stayed dead, Brother Charles, if this man stayed dead, if there's
some bones in Jerusalem, then he didn't help me a bit. Because
I can die and stay dead. But he's got to rise from the
grave, and the scripture says he did. victorious over death,
and it proves that God accepted what he did. And somehow or another,
God took all the sins of those people and buried them with Christ
somewhere, never to bring them up again. God doesn't dig up
bones. He raised his Son for what he
did. And now he went back to heaven, this God-man went back
to heaven, and he sat down, folded his arms, crossed his legs, Job
well done. What? What was done? What did
he do? Set an example? No, he saved the people. Did
everything that was necessary to save them. God's elect. And he did this only for the
elect. That's what the covenant means.
If you'll read it in the scripture, that's what covenant means. It's
an agreement between God and the Holy Spirit and the Son of
Covenant. God didn't make a covenant with us. No, we weren't around
when that covenant was made. It's called an eternal covenant.
All right? Now stay with me. Stay with me. It would be a mockery
of God's wisdom to say that Christ didn't know who he was going
to save when he came down here. So he just shed his blood for
anybody. And he died for everybody. That's a mockery of God's wisdom.
To say he didn't know who he was coming to save? Oh yeah,
he knows all things. It would be a mockery of God's
love to say He loves some people, but yet they didn't make it in
the end. To say that God loves everybody, yet He can't help
some people? I don't want that kind of love. I don't need that
kind of love. I need love that can do something
for me. I love my daughter. I love my friend. And if necessary,
I would lay down my life for them. I do whatever was necessary
to help them, to save them, right? That's the true definition of
love. Love provides for its own. Love helps. Love sacrifices itself. And in order to save somebody
from death, I'd lay down my life if necessary. God did that. Did he get the
job done? Yeah. Yeah, he did. effectual. Now election, listen to me, election
is proof of God's sovereignty. He says, cannot I do with my
own what I will? We do with our own what we will,
don't we? We have homes, we go to an automobile
dealership, OK? And in spite of the pressure
put upon us by that salesman, He said, Do you want this car?
No, I don't. Yeah, you've got to buy this
car. This is a going thing. This is a car you need. This
is just, or a clothing salesman. They're the worst, aren't they?
Pardon me, I hope nobody in here. Clothing salesman, there are
some good ones. But most aren't. They try to sell you something
you don't need. You know, this, that's you. That's you. No, that's not me. This is me.
You want this. You need that. That's what you
know. No, it's my money, and I want
to do with it what I will, and I'm going to buy the suit of
clothes I want. I'm going to buy the car I want.
I'm going to buy the house I want. I'm going to paint it the color
I want. I'm going to bite over who I want to invite. You do
with your own what you will, don't you? That's not unreasonable,
is it? Well, God says, cannot I do with
my own what I will? God is the creator. He created
all things. He is the potter with the clay.
Cannot he do with his own what he will? Yes, and he does. He does. He makes one vessel
the vessel of honor and one the vessel of... Right? Election is proof of God's wisdom. Proof of God's wisdom. Election
is proof of God's love. Everyone God chose, everyone
God elected and Christ died for and the Holy Spirit calls will
be saved. Every one of them. That's what
Christ said in the book of Hebrews when he finally presents the
family, the heavenly family, God's people, unto the Father
someday. So he's going to present them
to the Father. Here are your babies. Here are your children. He's going to say, Behold, I
and the children which you gave me, the sheep, here's the foal,
here's the sheep, I'm the good shepherd, I give unto them eternal
life, none of them perish, they're all here, Father, every one you
gave me in that eternal covenant, they're saved, every last one
of them. And Satan's not going to be able
to stand over on the side and say, you couldn't get this one,
he was too weak, you couldn't get that one, he didn't want
to, didn't he? No, God is going to have total
victory. It's a certain death, not far
from arguing the election. I love it! You see, if I'm elected,
I'm going to be saved. And I like that. I don't want
this possibility of salvation. I don't want this, God loves
me, but he can't do anything for me unless he lets me. No,
I want this, God loves me, Christ died for me, I'm going to heaven,
buddy. That's what I want. Salvation,
sure. I want a sure thing right. If
you got a surety that's his name and surety you got a surety you
got a sure thing. Your salvation is only as sure
as your surety right. Well here's the argument and
I always hear this well if I believe that what if you believe in election
and what's the sense in preaching. If only the elect are going to
be saved, why not preach to the elect? Spurgeon said, if you'll
put a big E on their forehead, I will. I won't preach to anybody
else. Right? But the fact of the matter
is, only the elect are going to hear the gospel. Let me give you an illustration,
a very simple illustration to bring this, give you an answer
to that question, why preach? I like to fish. Now, let me rephrase
that. I like to catch fish. I don't
like to buy two or three dozen worms, you know, and go out and
drown those poor little fellers and not get anything and come
home all embarrassed, my manhood defeated. I like to catch fish,
you see. I don't, there's other things
I'd rather, I'd rather golf than go and sit on the bank and not
catch anything. See, I catch birdies, not a lot,
but a few here and there. Buggies, I'll catch a lot of
buggies when I go golfing. But when I go fishing, you see,
I want to catch fish. What if I went to a lake, went
to a lake, and somebody said there's no fish in that lake?
Well, there may be, there may not. But I'll go fishing. And I'd go reluctantly, you know.
I'd go, I'd get my stuff, and I wouldn't really put my heart
into it. cast one cast this is quit I've
done that before but what if somebody said to me there's fish
in that lake I know there are I've seen them there's fish in
that lake what's the man who owned the lake said I put fish
in that lake last week I put a thousand bluegill I put five
thousand small mouth bass there's fish in that lake buddy I'm going
fishing I'm going fishing And if you use this bait, that, you'll
catch fish. God has an elect people. Why
preach? Because somebody's going to be
saved. I don't know who they are, but God says, go fishing
with the gospel. Preach. Paul said that. He was
down in Corinth for a while. He said he was getting discouraged.
And God said, you stay right there, buddy. I've got much people
in this city. Preach. But, Lord, we've cast
our nets. We've been fishing all night.
Cast it over here. I'm not going fishing with no
fish, but if I know for a fact there's going to be fish, I'm
going fishing with the expectancy to catch something. Now, keep
casting, keep casting until I catch something. And the fact that
God has a people means go preach. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. I've got a people. I've got a
sheep. My sheep will hear my voice.
You preach the gospel, I'll call them out, not like you'd like,
masses coming down to the front, you know, great flowing revival,
but one here and there. A sheep heard his voice, and
you'll rejoice. We say, well, what about faith?
What about faith? What about this call to repent
and believe? Huh? What about it? What about
faith? What about repentance? Huh? Everybody
that God elects, everybody that God chose, will in time hear
the gospel. They will be convicted of their
sin, every one of them. They will see their need of Christ.
They will repent. They will believe the gospel.
They will come to Christ to the saving of their soul, every single
one of them. Everyone that believes is elect. Now, they're not elect because
they believe. They believe because they're
elect. Don't get the cart before the horse. God is first. You get God before the sinner,
you see. You get election before the faith. That's the proper
order. Everyone God elects will believe,
right? Everyone believes because God
causes them to do so. Ephesians 2, hey, it says, by
grace are you saved through faith, and that is not of yourself. It is a gift of God. Faith is
the gift of an electing God. He said, I've chosen this person.
They're going to believe. They're going to hear the gospel. I'm going to send them a preacher.
They're going to hear the gospel. They're going to be convicted
of their sins. They're going to see their desperate need of Christ.
They're going to repent of their sin. And they're going to believe
Christ to the saving of their souls, every one of them. That's
the wisdom of God. That's the power of God, isn't
it? That the purpose of God, he said in Romans 9 verse 11,
that the purpose of God, listen to it, these aren't my thoughts,
this is God's word, that the purpose of God according to election,
verse 11 of Romans 9, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. You see, God's got a people,
a multitude which no man can number, but he can number them. He's got them all numbered, doesn't
He? He said, I know my sheep. I know
them by name. And He put them in a Lamb's Book
of Life. Isn't it? Every one of them sealed
the Book of Life. And that the purpose of God,
according to election, that every single one of that number will
be saved, it's not of works, but it's of Him that calleth.
See, if it was of works, God would have no control over it.
Huh? If it was up to me and you, God
would have no control over it. He'd be wringing his hands, Henry,
like they say, looking over the ministers of heaven, hoping,
oh, I hope Henry lets me into his heart. I hope Henry will
exercise his free and sovereign will and let me into his heart.
I hope he'll let me save him. That's not the God of the Bible! God says, Henry's going to believe. Henry's going to repent. Henry's
going to see his need of Christ. Henry's going to worship Christ.
Henry's going to be saved. Why? Because I said so. And I
give him the power to do so. I give him the faith. I give
him the repentance. The goodness of God leads you
to repentance. Faith is a gift of God, and the
gifts and callings of God are without repentance. He'll never
take it back. He's saved eternally. He can't fall. I like that. You like that? I like that. I
like that. No possibility of me falling.
Oh, I could fall temporarily, but never eternally. Never eternally. So then, it is not of him that
will it. nor of him that runneth," Romans
9, 16. It's not of him that willeth
or of him that runneth. Well, how do we say? Can you
quote the rest of that verse? But it is of God that showeth
mercy. Well, here's the question. I
hear this too again. What if I'm not one of the elect? What if I'm not one of the elect?
What if some—and they ask this—people ask this asinine question. I'm
sorry, it is. It's this foolish question. What
if somebody wants to come, but they can't? They're not one of
the elect. That's ridiculous. Everybody that wants to come
can. Everybody that wants to be saved
will. It's just not according to their
will. It's according to God. You see, the want-to comes from
God. The will-to comes from God. Everybody that wants to come
is elect. Everybody. Election doesn't keep
anybody from being saved. It makes sure somebody does get
saved. Doesn't it? If God hadn't chosen a people,
nobody would have been saved. Isn't that what Christ said?
You didn't choose me. I chose you. Didn't he say that,
he said, no man can come unto the Father but by me. He says you will not come unto
me that you might have life, but if he is willing, you will. What if I'm not one of the elect? millions of people every day
get out their hard-earned cash and go down to Riverside Minute
Market or 40 West Food Fair and put down their hard-earned cash
trying to buy a lottery ticket. And the chances of winning the
lottery, the chances of winning that $6 million, however many
it is, is something like $150 billion to one. Time to win. Every day, you know, a dollar,
five dollars, go big today, ten bucks. Every day, they spend
hundreds, some even thousands. How am I going to win that lottery?
Who says so? Only one person's going to win
that lottery. God says, I have a people as the stars in the
sky and the sand in the seashore, elects from every nation. They
come from the north, south, east, west, elect, millions of people. I don't see anybody lining up.
I'm going to be elected, I'm going to be elected. No, sir,
that's not the way it's done, you see. They'll put down their
hard-earned cash for a foolish chance at one in 17 million,
but God says it's 17 million to one. There's no chance involved
with God's salvation. Salvation, everybody ought to
have a chance. No, salvation's not by chance. It's on purpose. God says, I've got a people.
Everybody that believes will be saved. What am I going to
do? What are you going to do? I'm going to believe. You leave the election with God.
OK? Leave the election with God.
Don't argue the point. Thank Him for it. The fact that
He has chosen so many people. There's twelve let us's in Hebrews
here. Twelve let us's. Let us's. Let
us's. I'm going to give you six, maybe.
I'm going to give you six this morning and six probably Wednesday
night, six later. You can call them invitations.
You can call them offers. Call what you will. I call it
commands. I call it commands. Remember,
whatever God commands, with that command, he gives the power to
perform it. If you want to call an invitation,
with the invitation, he gives the power to respond. All right? Look with me now. Twelve let
us's in the scriptures. Hebrews 4.1, it says, Let us
therefore fear. All right? Let us therefore fear. Fear, that is, awe, being awe
and respect and worship and reverence for God Almighty. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The story here is, he
says, Therefore, you see that? Every time we say we'll see therefore
or let us we're going to see a therefore. Every time. And he says, therefore, let us
fear. Why? Because the Israelites didn't. The Israelites of old, you see,
they went 40 years in the wilderness. God provided for them. Gave them
food. Gave them water out of a rock. Gave them clothing. Gave
them shoes that never wore out for 40 years. Barbara, you'd
be out of business if they made shoes like that today. Forty-year
shoes, guaranteed. God did. Never had to buy another
pair of shoes, never had to make new clothing, rain bread out
of the sky, open up a rock with water in it, quail, smoke their
enemies on every side, lead them through the Promised Land, but
they didn't leave. They didn't. Thank God. One day,
Moses was gone for about a month. Their fearless leader was gone
for about a month. They started dancing naked around a cave.
Worshiping other idols, going the way of the world, back to
their Egyptian roots, you know. And God got angry. So he said, you're not going
in the promised land. He didn't fear me. He says to us, God has
provided for us. Some of us are 40, 50, 60, 70,
even 80 years old. God has provided for you all
your clothing, all your food, all your drink, your shoes, your
home, your jobs, your family. God has given us everything,
every good gift, and every perfect gift comes from above, from the
Father of lights, with whom there's no variable, there's no shadow
attorney. James said, didn't he? Everything comes from God.
with some people walk forty fifty sixty years of that given got
up. Right. He said there's salvation in
Jesus Christ some people walk forty fifty sixty years not even
given the name or the thought of thought to Jesus Christ except
to curse with it. Let us therefore fear. Let us. We're hearing this right now.
You are hearing the gospel. That's what he went on to say.
Unto them was the gospel preached. Moses preached the gospel. And
I'm preaching the gospel. Let us fear therefore. If you don't come to Christ,
whose fault is it? God's? Let us fear God then. Let us fear missing Christ. There's
salvation to be had. Let's fear that we don't miss
it. All right? Let us. Call it what you will. All right, now look down at verse
11 of Hebrews 4. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest. Now, he's talking about rest
here in Hebrews 4. He's talking about eternal rest.
He's talking about belief in Christ. Trust, rest. And when
you rest, you sit down. You relax. You rest. I don't have to teach you how
to rest, do I? Now, y'all, I'm going to give
you a lesson tonight on how to go home and rest. You just flop
on the bed, don't you? If you're tired enough, if you've
labored hard enough, if you're weary enough, you'll rest, right? You'll rest. Christ said, Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you
rest. What is this labor he's talking
about here? Labor. Well, Christ said several times,
He said, Strive to enter in at the straight gate. Strive to enter at the straight
gate, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that
leads unto life, and few there be that find it. All of His sheep
will find it. He said, I'm the door of the
sheep. I know them. I call them by name. They'll
find it. But in relation to population and large, few seem to be looking
for it, right? He says the kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force, didn't they?
He says since John the Baptist, the prophets, the gospel's been
preached, the kingdom of heaven's been preached, and men press
into it. Press into it. The man or the woman or the young
person who's truly interested in salvation, in eternal life,
in knowing God, will do anything and everything it takes to know
this God, to have this salvation. to find this God. As Mary said
to the disciples, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. You
want to know God? Hear the gospel. Come and hear
the gospel. That's what he says. That's how he says you're going
to know the gospel. Come and hear it or know God.
Who will be saved? He says everybody that calls
on the name of the Lord. gospel and you'll be saved. Whatever
repenting means, I'm going to try to do it. He says, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Lord, I
believe. Help thou my unbelief. He says,
Ask, seek, knock, Ask, and you'll receive. Seek, and you'll find. Knock, and it'll be opened unto
you. The very gate of heaven itself will be opened unto you." He says some people don't have
it because they're asking. Who are we going to blame for
not being saved? Let us, therefore, labor. Let
us labor. Like old Jacob. We need to be
like Jacob. I will not let you go until you bless me. If I can
find one person in here that will say that with Jacob, I'll
show you a son of Jacob. And God says, therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consigned. Because I am the Lord, I change
not. Everybody that calls on me will be saved. What if everybody
that buys a lottery ticket will win it? Huh? Well, the lines
would be a million miles long, wouldn't they? There'd be nobody
in church this morning. There ain't none of you, I guarantee
you. He said, well, I'll give it to the church. God says everybody
that calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Joe, whose
fault is it then if I'm not saved? Huh? I'm not one of the elect. It's my fault if I don't call.
Zacchaeus climbed a tree. Mary went in the men's meeting. Horrors! No women allowed. Well, the Savior's in there,
and I've got to get to Him. And I don't care what anybody
says or does. I want to get to Him. Peter walked on the water. Why, you know a man can't walk
on the water. He did. Why? He had to get to Christ. Blind Bartimaeus couldn't see.
He walked straight to Christ. Well, I can't. What if I can't
believe? Just do it. A man with a withered hand, you
know. The Lord said, stretch out your hand. It was withered.
I can't stretch it out. Do it anyway. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and doubt shall be saved. Is this a hard thing? Is this
a hard thing? Didn't the Lord say if it was
a hard thing, would you not do it? And that's what men and women
are doing today. They're trying to crawl up steps
on their knees, kissing bloodstains, counting rosary beads, you know.
Going through all of these things to try to get... God says, Believe! Believe! Believe what? On the Lord Jesus Christ. What
I told you to begin this message off with. Who He is. What He
did. See your need of Him. Say, Lord, I need that. I need
you to save me. I can't do it. I believe. I believe Christ died for sinners.
I'm a sinner. I believe He died for me. Is that a big thing? It's a big
thing, because God did it. But it's not a hard thing on
our part. Let us, therefore, let us. Look at this, verse fourteen. Let us, verse fourteen, seeing
then we have a great high priest who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Let
us hold fast. Therefore, seeing then that we
have a great high priest, once Christ is found, Should I rephrase that? You remember
Peter, Philip one time, came running to his brother Nathanael,
was it Nathanael? Came running to him and said,
we found the Christ. Who found who, Peter? Doesn't that sound
like a typical Arminian statement? The Lord found him, but he was
ignorant. He was just a child. He didn't
know much, you know, and out of his mouth spewed all kind
of ignorance. Nathanael, we found the Christ. No, he found you.
And he called you, but you'll have a straight map real soon.
You realize who found who. But once Christ is found, once
Christ is believed, hold fast. Don't let go. Paul said, cast
not away your only hope, your confidence. Don't cast it away,
your only hope, your only grounds, your only firm confidence in favor of anything else. You
know, we have got, we don't believe in an easy believism. We don't
believe, you know, you accept Jesus, you believe some facts,
accept Jesus as your personal savior, and then you can live
like hell or do what you want to, you know, you're safe. We
don't believe that at all. We believe it takes a supernatural
work of God the Holy Spirit. It's an absolute miracle of regeneration
that God Almighty must perform. And he does it mysteriously through
the preaching of the gospel, through the preaching of the
word, and it goes into the heart of somebody who's not interested
otherwise, and all of a sudden they're interested. He opens
their eyes to see what the word is saying, opens their ears to
hear what God is saying to them, opens their eyes to see Christ,
the beauty and glory and excellencies of Christ, their desperate need
of Him, to see that they're a sinner for a holy God. It's a mysterious
thing. It's a complicated thing with
God. I mean that it's a it's a complex thing that God Almighty
has to do is a miracle it's a miracle of God's Holy Spirit powerful
thing but as far as we're concerned all he says and does. Believe. Believe. Believe. And once believing he said well
isn't there something now I've got to do to be saved I've got
to keep the king's commandments and all that well you will but
you don't have to be saved. Is that right? Huh? Oh, you mean
I can go out and live like I want to? I didn't say that, did I?
Huh? I didn't say that. I said you don't have to keep
the Ten Commandments to be saved. Because you can't. That doesn't
eliminate you from trying. But just don't think you can
keep them and God's going to look at you and say, well, you
kept that, therefore you're going to be saved. I'm pleased with you. That's your reasonable service,
Stephen, isn't it? That's what you're supposed to do. You don't
get salvation for that. There's no merit in it. God won't
give you a merit badge. God won't give you a little crown
and glory for doing what you're supposed to do. He's not going
to give you a special seat in heaven just because you start
being obedient. Have you ever done that? Have you ever thought,
well, I didn't sin. I overcame that sin. You feel real good
about yourself because you didn't sin? Huh? Have you ever done that? Well,
I have. You know, some temptation, bisection,
and you, by God's grace, you don't do it, and you think, well,
I'm something, aren't I? Because you just didn't sin? God's supposed to reward me for
doing what I'm not, what I'm supposed to do, and I'm supposed
to do? We're saved by grace. We're saved
by the blood of Christ. We're saved because of what Christ
did. Not because I quit my drinking. Why would I do that? It's ruining
my liver. It's ruining my marriage. It ought to do that, surely,
but it ain't going to save my soul. And if I slip up every now and
then and take a little drink, it's not going to damn my soul. If I stay drunk and lie in the
gutter, it'll prove that I never was saved to begin with, you
see. But one fall doesn't mean that I've lost it all. Or Peter
would have been lost, Noah would have been lost, Moses would have
been lost, he'd name it all. David would have been lost, it'd
all been lost. If one child of God could fall away, I'd fall
a thousand times a day. But it's by grace that it might
be sure to all the seed. I like that. That doesn't make me want to
go out and sin. That makes me want to praise God. Elect. I like that. Hold fast. You know the reason I hold fast?
It gives me the hands of faith to hold fast with. I'm going
to hold on to Christ. You can have your religion. You
can have your baptism. I've been in that place more
than anybody. It doesn't do any good. You can have your baptism. You can have your profession
of faith. You can have your religion. You can have all your works for
Jesus. I'm just going to hold on to one sure thing. There's
a man in heaven. That's what he says there. See,
and we have a high priest. Look at it. Verse 14. We've got
a high priest. There's a perfect man in heaven.
God accepts him. Not me. Him. He says, come unto
me. Believe on me. I'll get you right
in. I'll take you there. God. I'm
laying hold. How about you? Buddy, you talking about somebody
going to hold on to some apron strings. And I ain't talking
about my mama. I'm talking about my savior.
I'm holding on to his robe of righteousness. I'm not going
to let go. I'm resting. Don't upset me. Don't disturb
me. Don't tell me you're going to be lost if you do. Don't tell
me that I'm resting. Put a sign on your spiritual
door that says, Resting! Do not disturb. Why, you've got to do this now,
brother. If you'll show me that in the word of God, I'll do it.
Otherwise, you just leave me alone. Let us hold fast. How are we
going to hold fast? Well, we're kept by the power
of God. He keeps us holding. You know why a child of God keeps
on keeping on? Because God keeps on keeping
on. Because he about is faithful. Because great is his faithfulness.
Because he said, I will not let thee go there in the palm of
my hand. Didn't they say that, John? In John's end, wasn't it? hand, and they're in my Father's
hand, and we will not let go of them." And I won't let go of him, because
he's got hold of me. All right, hurry. Verse 16, "...let
us therefore come boldly." Boy, you're talking about a good let
us now. Come on, let us, everyone in here, read this. Come on,
let us. What if I'm not one of the elect?
Who's preventing you? He says, let us. Joe, do we keep anybody out of
heaven? Do we keep anybody from coming
to Christ? No. You keep yourself from coming
to Christ. Because he continually says 12
times in the book of Hebrews alone, let us. Verse 16. Therefore, come boldly. confidently, expectantly, to the throne of
not Sinai, not law, not judgment. You don't want anything to do
with a just God. That's what Martin Luther said,
I don't want anything to do with a just and holy God. I want something
to do with a merciful and gracious Savior. Not Mount Sinai. We don't come to Mount Sinai,
the law, which cannot be touched. You know what the law, every
time you see something written about the law, it says, don't come
near. Didn't it then? The Mount Sinai said, don't touch
me. If man or beast touches me, you've
defiled it. You're going to die. The law
says, stay away. Christ keeps saying, come. I'll pick you in my arms. And
we'll walk right up Sinai and we'll talk to God personally. The only reason Moses could get
up there, Henry, is because God put him in a rock. What's a rock?
What's a rock for you? Christ. Christ. Come boldly, sinner. Come boldly. Not because you have any rights.
Not because you're worthy, not because you've cleaned up your
life, not because you've started living life right. Come boldly.
Why? Therefore, seeing, verse 14,
we have a great high priest. There's a man in glory. He's
touched with a feeling of your infirmities. There's a loving,
caring, merciful, gracious Lord. A man. A man in glory. And he says, Come. Come to me.
I'll take you to God. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need." When's that? All the time. I need it now. His mercies are
new every morning. I need it tomorrow morning. After
I would lay in bed and think the most seamy, wicked thoughts
in my dreams. You don't even have any control
over your dreams. They're so wicked. We're so sinful, right?
Come on now. Huh? Anybody got sinful dreams?
Well, you've got your self-righteous in your sleep, man, if you don't.
Right? Will anybody in here admit that
they never woke up thinking unpure, wicked thoughts, huh? Then what
do we need? Mercy. That's the reason the
Word of God says His mercy are new every morning. You can come
to Him again. They were, mercy was sure the
night before. You're going to need them tomorrow
morning. You wake up and have mercy on the Lord. And you're
going to need them at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. And you're
going to need it till the day you die, His mercy on you. That's
the reason the Scripture says on and on again, His mercy endureth
forever. Therefore, come boldly, sinner,
to the throne of grace. You may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. You see, I'm going to fall, and
it's going to break my heart, and I'm going to feel so ashamed,
and I'm not going to feel like a Christian! But Jesus Christ is on the throne,
and he says, Come! But I'm falling. Come anyway! I'll never leave thee, no forsaken
thing. But Lord, I left you. Who said
anything about it having anything to do with you leaving me? He
said, I'll never leave you. And I'm going to need his mercy
first thing in the morning. I'm going to need it tonight.
I'm going to need it right now. I'm going to fall. I'm going
to sin. I'm going to deny my Lord, but blessed be God, he
remains faithful. And that's where my salvation
is. Keep coming. That's what Peter
said to whom coming keep coming. I Didn't stay you don't make
your profession one time, you know, I went down to the mourners
mention I pray through I Need to pray through all the time.
No, no, that's not it. He needs to pray through Didn't he say that to Peter Terry
Peter You're gonna deny me buddy and you're gonna feel like hanging
yourself like Judas. You better think you're no better
than Judas and you aren't Peter, before the cock crows twice,
you'll deny me Christ! But... Peter's salvation's in a but.
But I pray for you. Let your faith fail not. Peter,
you're not going to. You're going to fall. You're
going to deny me. You're going to be sorry for
it. You're going to feel ashamed.
It's going to bring you down to dirt. You're not going to make any
strides. You're going to be groveled in the dirt, and you're going
to feel like an awful, wicked, wretched, vile sinner, but this
is the faith to save. Christ came into the world to
save sinners, and you can be the chief. Come on. Come on. Let us come. I am right now. Where? Down here? No. In my heart,
by faith, right there! Jesus, I come. Just as I am. But you've been
married five times. So did the woman at the well.
She came. But you're a sinner and no good.
But so was Zacchaeus, a publican. He came. The Lord forgave him. But I backslid. I'm afraid I'm apostate. So did
Peter think he was. But he came, didn't he? Go tell
the disciples, and you be sure and tell Peter, come boldly,
confidently. You see, where does your confidence
lie? You say, I'm afraid I'm going to fall. You are. I'm afraid
I just won't believe. You won't. I'm afraid I won't
act right. You won't. You know where my confidence lies?
In Him. Right? In Him. In Him. Because He says, Come. You know, and I'll quit on this. I had some more. He says to us, you know, have you ever read
how much more is in the scriptures? How much more? If you then, being
able to know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more? And there's several verses that say how much more.
If you want a good Bible study, look that up. How much more?
Talks about where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Much more. Christ, Peter one
day, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother if he sinned
against me? Seven times? Or should I say seventy times? Four hundred and ninety times? You get where I'm coming from?
How much more? Shall he forgive you? Huh? Four hundred and ninety times
a day? How much more in the. Do we try to exclude anybody
from the kingdom that we preach a gospel that says it will not.
Do we deny the whosoever wills of Scripture. Did I actually
everybody take this tape and spread it in Franklin County.
Hey they're preaching up there whosoever will. Yes I believe Revelation twenty
seventeen. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely." I believe that. But I do believe that the
Spirit and the bride say, come. That God Almighty has to say
to them, come. And because God's got to elect
people that he chose from the foundation of the world, they
will come. And I also believe he says, you
come. You come. You want to? You want Christ?
You want to be saved? Come. What's stopping you? Who's
stopping you? I'm not elect. Well, you can argue that all
you want. I'm going to just come. Right? Right. And I'm going to
praise God Almighty for His electing, sovereign, saving, electing grace. Grace. Praise Him for electing,
choosing me. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for, Lord, that could not be. If thou hast never chosen me,
I would never have chosen thee. Saved by His grace and grace
alone. Sovereign electing grace. And He, by His grace, gave me
the will and the want to and the spirit and the desire and
the need and the faith to come to Christ. And I came one day. Not me. Nevertheless, I live,
but not I. It's Christ in me. Without Him,
I could do nothing. Nothing. I'm holding on to Him. Let us.
Let us. Let us. Let's go Joe come up and sing
that. What number was it. Two forty two. Yeah two hundred
forty two sing the first second and last verse two hundred and
forty two and I'm not pulling a Billy Graham. We're not having
an altar call here. I'm not telling you to come down
here. I'm a man, right? We're supposed to play the music
softly while every head is bowed. That's trickery. That's tomfoolery.
That's a gimmick. That's a trick. That's trying
to get people into religious feelings, you know. Make them
feel religious and put up some pressure on them. Come on now,
I know your mama's praying for you. That's abomination to God. Trying to trick people into thinking,
no, that's not what we're doing here. This is the message, you
see. If the message has touched your
heart and you feel like, I believe that. I see my need of Christ. Come. Not down here, though. Old Bo Scott says, you've come
to Christ, but don't move a muscle. Explain that. I just did. For 45 minutes. You come in your
heart. But you'll want to come, you'll
tell the preacher, prior to the preacher, the Lord has saved
me, and it says be baptized, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. It
says confess him and be baptized. You'll say, I want to get up
there, I want to confess him. Okay? And we'll stand down here
and we'll say, the Lord revealed himself to so and so, and they
want to be baptized. And you'll be baptized. That's
the way to confess Christ. You're not going to come crying in the
morning down here. Not to just preach or not to listen. It's
nothing. We're nothing. But Christ is coming in. Go with him. That
was another. The next one in line is let us
go. You go home and get in your closet and come to Christ. But
the message is, out of my bondage, religious bondage, I was trying
to be religious a long time. You don't have to try to be religious.
Come to Christ. Out of my sorrow and my Jesus
Christ I come. In that I preach the gladness
of the sight, verse two, out of my shameful failure and loss,
been a failure at every thing, into the glorious gain of thy
cross. Verse four, out of the fear I
dread the tomb, into the joy and light of thy home, out of
the depths of ruin untold, into the peace of thy sheltering fold,
ever thy glorious face to behold Jesus Christ, that comes not
to taunt, but to preach it. And not while every knee is,
and every head is bowed. And we're not going to sing 25
verses of this, just so somebody comes when we go home. It's a
message. It's a message. Come to Christ in your heart
by faith, and then confess Him in baptism. All right. Stan,
sing the first, second, and fourth. Round about this sorrow and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come, Here's my freedom, glad and light. Jesus, I come to Thee. How much sickness in the head. Thou my hope and into Thy will,
Thou my spirit and into Thyself, He that I come to Thee. have my faithful friends and
love. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love
you. In your glory, In the glorious name of thy throne,
Jesus, I come to thee. And I follow in thy footsteps. And here do I go, clad in the
dress to do the show. Kings, I come to thee. While the clear and gray of the
dunes, Dreams like woes, dreams like woes, I know, Jesus, I come to Thee. Now the lips of the wounded know,
in the peace the children know. Jesus, I know, Thank you and your distance