Matthew chapter 7. I'm going to begin reading in verse
28. In Matthew 5, our Lord begins
what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. It says, In seeing
the multitude, he went up into a mountain. And when he was set,
his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth, and
he taught them. He begins the sermon with what
we call the Beatitudes, the blessed are they verses. He deals with
adultery and divorce, on how to treat our enemies and to turn
the other cheek. He taught not to make an open
show of giving or of praying. He even gave us the model prayer. often referred to as the Lord's
Prayer, but is really the disciple's prayer. He told us not to be
judgmental, and give us what we call the Golden Rule, in which
we paraphrase, do unto others as you would have them do unto
you. This sermon covered many other
topics, and was quite long. It began in verse 3 of chapter
5 and continued down to where we begin to read in verse 28
of chapter 7. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, when he had ended the Sermon on the
Mount, the people were astonished at his doctrine. for he taught
them as one having authority and not as the scribes. I remember
when I first heard the gospel, I was astonished at the authority-ship
that the men that I heard spoke with of the one who had all authority
in heaven and in earth. They spoke of a different Jesus
than I had heard of since my youth. They spoke of one that
was a savior, able to save to the uttermost. One who had all
authority, heaven and earth. In these following verses, we
have a display of his authority ship. Verse 1 of chapter 8. And when he was come down from
the mountain, after giving the sermon on the mountain, Great
multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou can make me
clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said unto him, See
thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy. grievously
tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,
but speak the word only and my servants shall be healed. For
I am a man under authority ship having soldiers under me. And
I say to this man, go and he goeth. And to another come, and
he cometh. And to my servant do this, and
he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled
and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto
you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of
heaven. But the children of the kingdom
shall be cast into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion,
Go thy way, and as thou hast believers, so shall it be done
unto thee. And his servant was healed in
the selfsame hour. And when Jesus was coming to
Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and
the fever left her. And she arose and ministered
unto them. When the evening was come, they
brought unto him many that were possessed with devils. And he
cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were
sick. that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities
and bore our sicknesses. Now when Jesus saw great multitudes
about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. Let's skip down to verse 23.
And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed
him. And behold, there arose a great
tempest in the sea, and so much that the ship was covered with
the waves, but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him
and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us. We perish. And he said unto them, why are
you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men
marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey him? Let's pray. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, Father, we're assembled here
this morning to hear of this great savior. We pray that you
would anoint our speaker, that you would give him clarity of
thought and clarity of speech and boldness that he might proclaim
this one who has all authority. Enable us to hear not just a
man, but speak to us through him using your word. Father, I pray that you would
meet with us lest we meet in vain. Pray for an outpouring
of your spirit. Oh, that today may be the day
that new life would be given to someone in this place. Father, I pray for our pastor
that you'd give him traveling mercies. Return him to us refreshed
and revived with a strong desire to speak of your son. Tell us more of him. Father, for the sick and the
afflicted, pray that you would continue to bless. Lend your
hand to them. Restore them to their health,
if it be thy will. Again, Father, I pray that we
would not be just meeting for show, meeting in vain, but oh,
that we might hear of thee. In Christ's name I pray, amen. More than 30 years, and I often
tell him when I run into him, we're just kids. when we met,
didn't know much, didn't know much. But by the Lord's grace,
by the Lord's grace and his mercy unto us, he's been pleased to
teach us the gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Honored
for me to be here. Turn in your Bible to Romans
9, Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter 9. You know, it's a blessing
to be in the Lord's house among the Lord's people where worship
is a serious thing. It's a serious thing. And I'm
glad that you approach it in the way that you do with the
seriousness that it deserves. The Father seek us such to worship
him in spirit and in truth. Spirit and truth. Look at Romans
9. I wanna bring a message to you
today from Romans 9. I know you're familiar with this
portion of scripture. Look at verse 11. I'll give you
the title to the message in just a moment. Romans 9 verse 11,
for the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God, the purpose of God according
to election might stand not of works, not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau, have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth. but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose, have I raised thee up that I
might show my power in thee, that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth, that name above every name. Therefore
hath he mercy, as it is the Lord our God will have mercy on whom
he will have mercy and whom he will He hardens. Now this scripture is teaching
us that salvation is by the will of God. When that leper approached
the Lord, Brother Gary read about it a moment ago, he said, Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. He said, I will, I will. His cleansing was dependent upon
the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, not his will. Is that right?
You know it's so. I'm entitling the message this
morning, free will or free grace. Free will or free grace. Salvation. Talking about salvation.
Salvation that we read about in God's words. Salvation that
we read about that says that salvation is of the Lord. Is
it determined by man's will, man's decision, or by God's will
and God's decree? Now you know the answer, don't
you? Salvation is of the Lord. But I want us to carefully consider
the question, is the salvation of a guilty sinner, is it by
the free will of man or by the sovereign and free grace of God? Or in other words, how does God
justify the ungodly? by the sinner's good works or
deeds or by the Lord's sovereign grace? Well, thank God that salvation
is by the grace of God because this poor vile sinner would have
no hope to stand before God justified except by the sovereign grace
of God. Now, sadly, sadly, this truth
of how God saves sinners in most religious circles today is being
denied. I know in the local paper where
I live there in Pike County, Kentucky, they have every week,
they have a church, in the newspaper, they have a listing of all the
churches. And I counted one time, over 30 free will Baptist churches
there in Pike County. I'm surrounded with them and
I'd say it's probably the same in Cumberland County. Is that
the county we're in, Cumberland County? I thought so. Probably
the same that way in Cumberland County too, isn't it? Now, I
know what has been said and is being said in most religious
circles today. We've all heard their clever
sayings. They would say things such as
God has given every sinner a free will either to choose him and
be saved or to reject him and be condemned. We've heard that,
haven't we? Or they would say something,
God has given sinners a free will to receive him and be saved,
or a free will to reject him. Or they might say, God has done
all he can do, now the rest is really up to you. Or we've heard
them say this, God wants to save you, but you won't let him. You
won't let him have his way. Or we've heard this one, haven't
we? Man is a free moral agent, And God will not interfere or
violate that sacred will. I even had one preacher tell
me one time, well, God is sovereign, but he has sovereignly limited
himself in the area of man's will. You see, man's will is
not free, is it? It's in bondage to his nature,
and his nature is rotten. Man is not a free moral agent. He's not free. He's in bondage
to sin. He's certainly not moral. All
have sinned to come short of the glory of God, and certainly
he's not an agent, one vested with authority to act on the
behalf of another. But did you know the Bible does
not teach those old fleshly fables that men promote? The Bible does
not promote the lies of Satan and that's all it is. Salvation
that says depends upon your will and that the sinner's will is
free is nothing but a lie promoted by Satan and his ministers. Oftentimes, those freewill preachers
will say, or they'll pick out a part of a verse and try to
build a whole doctrine upon one or two words. They interpret
the whole Bible through one verse, instead of using all the scripture,
all the word of God. Hold your place right there and
find 2 Peter 3. Oftentimes, when we talk about
sovereign grace and sovereign mercy, Immediately, this verse
is always quoted this way, 2 Peter 3, 9. God is not willing that any should
perish, but all should come to repentance. They quote part of
the verse. Matter of fact, I had a free
will preacher in my study a couple weeks ago, and I was telling
him about the sovereign mercy of God, the sovereign grace of
God, and he quoted this verse. Well, God's long-suffering not
willing to any should perish. And I said, is that what that
verse says? That's what it says. I said,
that's not what it says. I said, read the verse. The Lord
is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness,
but as long suffering to us word. Well, who's Peter writing to?
The elect of God, the chosen of God, not willing that any
should perish. That is his elect and they won't
perish. He said, all that the father
give it to me shall come to me and those that come to me, I
will and no wise cast out. They cannot perish. but that
all should come to repentance. They're brought to repentance
by the sovereign grace of God, by the sovereign grace of God
alone. You see, the salvation of sinners,
as it's revealed through the scripture, is always by the free
and sovereign grace of God, by the will of God, through the
blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Noah was a
saved man. Scripture said he was. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was saved not because he
built an ark. Noah was saved because the grace
of God through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Noah was called a preacher of what? Righteousness. Noah's hope
was Christ, the same as our hope, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it's
obvious to any honest person that God saves sinners by his
will, not our will. James put it this way. Turn to
John chapter one. John chapter one. James put it
this way. Of his own will, of his own will, begat he us with
the word of truth. Sinners are begotten unto eternal
life by the will of God. Notice what it says here, John
chapter 1, he came into his own, his own received him not, but
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man. The reason they believe the gospel,
receive the gospel, is because they've been begotten of God
by the will of God, by the word of God, by the decree of God.
You see that? It's by the will of God, isn't
it? Salvation is by the sovereign will of God. It's not of him
that willeth, back to our text, Romans 9. So then it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God. Salvation is of God. But of God. You know that little
word there, B-U-T, is a big word? It's a big word in scripture.
I often think of that verse over there in Ephesians chapter 2,
where it talks about everything we are by nature. And then he
talks about what God has made us by his grace. But God, who
is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us even
when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. Aren't you glad for that little
word? B-U-T, but God. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. So then, salvation is not of
him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God, it's of
God, that shows mercy. God our Savior saves sinners
by His grace, not our works, by His grace. Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. He
saved us. God saves sinners by His grace. God our Savior saves sinners
by His choice. Not ours, it's his choice. Remember John 15, he said, you
didn't choose me, I've chosen you and ordained you that you
should bring forth fruit. God has, from the beginning,
chosen a people unto salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is by God's choice, not ours. Salvation is by God's grace,
not ours. God our Savior saves sinners
by his performance, his faithfulness, not ours. Not ours. Let's look
at that in scripture. Find Galatians chapter 2. Not
ours, but His grace, His faithfulness. I like that Psalm where it says
in Psalm 57, He performeth all things for me. The salvation
based upon your performance, your faithfulness, is it? Or
upon His faithfulness, the faithfulness of Christ, the performance of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it says here in Galatians
2, 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. By the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. not by
the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified." We are justified based upon His faithfulness,
the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, based upon His
obedience, His faithfulness, even unto death, even the death
of the cross. God our Savior saved sinners
by His performance and His faithfulness. God our Savior saved sinners
by His righteousness, His righteousness, not ours. Blessed is the man
whom the Lord imputeth righteousness. without works. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ is made unto us. He's made unto us our wisdom,
our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. Everything
that God demands of a sinner to stand before God wholly accepted
is in the beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Now, the believer is no longer
going about to establish a righteousness of his own, are we? No, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. We're
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our righteousness. We are accepted in the beloved. God our Savior saves sinners
by his blood sacrifice, not by any sacrifice we bring. People talk about sacrificial
giving. Well, I'm glad that God's people love to give. But my friend, we are not justified
by any sacrifice we bring, by any work that we do. We are justified
only by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He obtained for
us eternal redemption with his own blood. When he had by himself
purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of God. Why'd
he sit down? Well, He justified us. He was
delivered from our offenses and raised again because He did justify
us. How did He do that? By His blood. He put away our sin and He justifies
us by His grace. We are redeemed with the precious
blood, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God saves
sinners on purpose. Purpose. Purpose. That was the
one word that the Lord used to teach Brother Henry Mayhem the
gospel. Purpose. Purpose. God doesn't save sinners
by accident. If you're loving the gospel of
God's sovereign grace in Christ, it's no accident. God met you
on purpose, and he unhorsed you on purpose, and he put you in
the dust on purpose, and he saved you by his grace on purpose,
and it's an eternal purpose that he purposed in the Lord Jesus
Christ before the foundation of the world. That's what the
book teaches. God saves sinners on purpose,
his purpose and purpose. Grace you ever notice those two
words are married together. I think it's over here in 2nd
Timothy chapter 1 Let's see if we can find it 2nd Timothy chapter
1 verse 9 his purpose and grace I Know this is one of your pastor's
favorite verses Pastor Donnie tells about how the Lord used
this verse to teach him the gospel. I Look at verse 9, 2 Timothy
1, 9. It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose. There's that word, purpose and
grace. God's grace has a purpose, and
that is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. God saves sinners
on Purpose. Now, some folks might take issue,
none of the Lord's people would, but some might think, well, why
make this an issue? How God saves sinners. Can't
we just speak in general terms and can't we just get along?
Is it really that important that we declare the truth? Can't we
just compromise and get along with this religious world? Can't
we just tone down and compromise and speak in general terms and
No, we can't. Can't we just speak in general
terms? Somebody might say, well, God loves everybody without exception. Didn't we just read, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated? Well, we call that sovereign
love. Sovereign love, sovereign mercy. I preached a message a
week or two ago from Genesis 6, 7, and 8 about Noah. Folks often say, well, God loves
everybody. What was the love of God demonstrated
on that day when God saved Noah and his family and destroyed
everyone else? The love of God was in that ark. And my friend, the love of God
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember years ago, some
of the older folks may remember this, there was a big fad that
went around for years and people had on their bumper sticker,
you remember, smile, God loves you. You remember that? Any of
you remember that? Everybody thought it was so clever, so
cute. You reckon on the back of that ark in Noah's day that
there was a bumper sticker on the back of that ark that said
to all those folks that were dying under the wrath and judgment
of God, smile, God loves you. You see, the love of God's in
that ark. And my friend, the love of God
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Its key
data to him. Salvation is found in Him. Oh,
to win Christ and be found in Him. So can't we just compromise
and say God loved everybody without exception? No, we can't, because
it's not true. It's not true. God loved His
own in Christ. We only love Him because He first
loved us. Can't we just speak in gentle
terms and say that Christ died for everybody without exception?
Well, that's not true either. That's not true either. The Lord
Jesus Christ laid down his life for the sheep. The Lord Jesus
Christ made atonement for the sin of Jacob and not for Esau. He had made atonement for the
sin of Peter and not for Judas. You see, it's sovereign redemption,
sovereign love, sovereign mercy. Thursday, they would say, well,
can't we just speak in general terms and compromise and get
along? They would say, God, the Holy Spirit's trying to save
everybody. Can't we just say that? God trying to save you
but you won't let him? No, we can't say that because
it's not true. God will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He said, no man can come unto
me except the Father which sent me. Draw him. You old timers,
when you used to go down to fetch a bucket of water, and you'd
fetch it down the well, and you'd draw that water up. You didn't
stand at the well's mouth and say, hey, water, come on up here. No, you had to, by purpose, drop
down a bucket and draw that water. Thank God that he draws us. or
we'd never come. You see, the carnal mind is enmity
against God. By nature, we love darkness,
not light. If any man's a lover of thee, Lord Jesus Christ, it's
because God has drawn you with that everlasting love. And he's
loved his people with an everlasting love. And with everlasting love,
he draws us to himself irresistibly. He draws us with irresistible
grace. How does he draw us with irresistible
grace? It's real easy. It's real simple
to understand. He makes himself irresistible. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. How are we made willing? Gary,
he makes himself irresistible unto us. Doesn't he? Irresistible. We must have Christ. Give me
him or else I die. You see, God's saving his people.
He irresistibly calls them by his grace. You see, my friend,
this is not just theological hair-splitting. You see, the
truth is the truth, and no lie is of the truth. I've said this
for years and I'm going to keep on saying it. God does not use
the lies of Satan and of men to set sinners free. It's the
truth that sets us free. It's the truth that our children
need to hear. It's the truth that our neighbors
need to hear. Don't compromise. Don't back
up. Don't backpedal. Tell the truth. God will bless the truth. He
won't bless a lie. He won't bless a lie. God does
not use the lies of men to set his people free. He uses the
truth. You see, free willism is a complete
denial of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matter of fact,
if you read Galatians chapter 1, Paul said it's another gospel. Though we are an angel from heaven
preaching any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let him be. And the word there is very strong
in it, let him be damned. Let him be damned. You see, the
gospel that's according to men, according to the flesh, that
depended upon them, their will, their decision, their way, doesn't
render all the glory to God. And God determined to have all
the glory and all the honor. God forbid we should glory save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Free willism is a denial
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember a story Brother
Mahan told us some years ago. Many of you remember a missionary
that we supported for years, Brother Bill Clark. Gerald, you
remember Brother Bill, don't you? From England, Brother Bill
Clark. He came over, this is the late
70s or early 80s, came over to Ashland, Kentucky to visit with
Brother Mahan. Brother Mahan's church, 13th
Street Baptist Church, was located there on the main highway, Route
60. But just coming into town, you
went by another church that had a big sign across the full length
of the roof, as long as this building. Freewill, 13th Street
Freewill Baptist Church. And Bill Clark and Brother Henry
were riding past that church, and Brother Bill looked at that
sign, and you know what he said? He said, I can't believe they
advertise their heresy so boldly. Free Will Baptist Church. Oh,
just down the street is 13th Street Baptist Church, where
they preach the salvation by the will of God, the grace of
God, the purpose of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, free
will doctrine is the free will doctrine and the free will gospel
is nothing less than heresy. It's heresy. It's a damning heresy. Don't have anything to do with
it. Don't compromise. Be done with it. Cut the ties. Put it behind you. Walk away
from it. It'll pull you down. It will
not save you. It'll condemn you. Now let me
give you four reasons how free willism is a denial
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one is this, free
will works salvation. Free will works religion is a
denial that God is God. It is a denial, a complete denial
that God is God. Our God, God of Scripture, is
absolute sovereign and ruler over all things. Free willism,
Arminianism, however you want to say it, the gospel of works. denies the Lordship of Christ,
denies the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the
God of Scripture that we read about, He does according to His
will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of this earth,
and none can stay His hand, or none can say unto Him, Lord God
Almighty, what doest Thou? God is God, and beside Him there
is no other. Free willism is the denial of
that. They say God wants to, you won't
let him. You see what I'm talking about? Free willism says God
cannot do what he wills to do unless we choose to let him. That's a denial of the gospel,
isn't it? If that's the case, thank God it's not. But if that's
the case, who's God? Who really makes this thing work?
The puny creature trumps the will of Almighty God. That cannot
be. The Supreme Court of our country
may trump the vote of the citizens of Tennessee, but I tell you
this, the will of the creature will never trump the will of
God. God's will is absolute, sovereign, and eternal, and his
will will be done. A God that cannot act without
our permission is no God at all. It's nothing more than a, nothing
more than pagan idolatry and vain superstition, is it not?
A God who wants to intent. You know, the only place a sinner
will really worship, like that leper, came to, who'd he come
to? Sweet Jesus who wants to, and
he's trying, but you won't let him. No, he came to the Lord.
Says that several times in that chapter. Lord, if you will. That
centurion said, Lord, help me. You see, it's the Lord Jesus
Christ that saves sinners. The only place a sinner will
truly worship is at the throne of Almighty God, the Sovereign
God, who is King of King and Lord of Lord, who is Sovereign,
the Sovereign Lord over all things. I remember another story Brother
Mahan told years ago in 1950. 1950. I was just two years old. No, 1950. I wasn't even born. It's before I was born. When Brother Barnard came, Roth
Barnard came to Ashland, Kentucky preaching the sovereign grace
of God in 1950. And Brother Mahan, a religious
person, lost according to his own testimony. And Brother Mahan
came, Brother Barnard came preaching the lordship of Christ. And in
that first meeting, the folks there in that congregation, We're
singing a song, oh Jesus save, Jesus save, Jesus saves. And
the old preacher got up behind the song leader after he sat
down. He said, not a word of truth in it. Folks about fell
over. He said, it's the Lord Jesus
Christ that saves sinners. If you ever find that out, you'll
find out who he is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ that
saves sinners. You see, he's Lord over all things. He's Lord in creation, he's Lord
in providence, and he's Lord in salvation. He will have mercy
on whom he will have mercy. Our Lord prayed that, didn't
he? Father, you've given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given to me. He is sovereign in salvation,
in providence, and creation. And free willism is the denial
of that. They deny that God is God. The
second thing is this, free willism is a denial of the total depravity
of all men. They deny total depravity. That is what we are by nature,
our sinful state by nature. Freewillism is the denial of
what happened in the garden when Adam sinned against God. When
Adam sinned against God, what happened? Death, judgment, and
guilt. In the day that you eat, you'll
die. In Adam, all died, right? In Adam, all had Adam's guilt
and depraved nature charged to every one of Adam's race. We're
all by nature dead in sin, dead in trespasses and in sin. You
see, when it really gets down to this business of the sinner's
will, the sinner has a will, but it's in bondage to his nature.
His nature is always self-ward and downward. It's never God-ward
and upward. Man's will, I like to give this
illustration, man's will left to himself is like free-running
water. Free-running water runs which
way? What's its nature? Downhill,
isn't it? That's us left to ourselves.
It's all downhill. It's never God-ward and upward.
He must draw us to himself. We know that sinners have physical
life, mental life, even emotional life, but they do not possess
spiritual life. We are born in sin, shapen in
iniquity. That's why salvation must be
by the grace of God alone. If God just leaves us to ourselves,
we're gonna perish, gonna perish. We're born dead, spiritually
dead. with no spiritual senses, no
wisdom toward God, no ears to hear him, no eyes to see his
glory, his beauty, no appetite for the truth, no feelings toward
God, dead in sin. How dead? Graveyard dead. Graveyard dead. That's just dead. as dead can be, graveyard dead,
without God, without hope, without life, and without Christ. We'll
shut up to God's sovereign mercy. We'll shut up to his sovereign
love and his sovereign grace. Because of this totally depraved
condition that all of us have by nature, sinners may lie by
the quickening power of God the Holy Spirit or will never believe
the gospel. Now, oftentimes, when I talk
to folks, and I've talked to a lot of folks over the years,
they say, well, sinners got to believe the gospel. Sinners got
to repent and believe the gospel. That's true. but left to himself,
he'll never savingly believe the gospel. If you read the record
in Ephesians chapter one, we only believe according to the
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead. There's a resurrection power.
God must raise us up and give us life or we'll never believe
the gospel of Christ. Whosoever believes that Jesus
is the Christ, he's born of God. Our Lord told Nicodemus, except
a man is born again, he can't understand, he cannot see, he
cannot embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. You must, the Lord said,
you must be born from above. You see, free willism is a denial
of that, isn't it? Well, just walk along and make
a decision. You know, I made my decision for Jesus. That's
not salvation, my friend. Salvation is of the Lord, through
the Lord, and it's in Him, in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Here's the third point. Free
willism, a works gospel. Now, I know a lot about works.
I know a lot about a works gospel. A lot of you folks as well. A
lot of you probably grew up in what we call false religion,
didn't you? I did. Some of you know this, maybe
some of you don't. I grew up out in Rocky Mountains. I spent
a lot of my youth in northern Utah. You know what's in Utah?
Mormons. Mormons. I cut my teeth on works
religion. I know what works religion's
all about. That's where I came from. That's where God found
me. That's where God brought me. That's where he brought me
out of works religion unto himself by his grace. So I know what
free willism is about. You know what it's about? It's about creature glory. It's
about creature glory. That's what it's about. If you
look, just think about this verse over here. Turn back to Romans
1. You see, the gospel of Christ is the power of God and the salvation.
But look what it says down in verse 25, Romans 1, 25, who change
the truth of God into a lie and worship and serve the creature
more than the creator. What they do, they turn the truth
of God, who change the truth of God into a lie, and they make
the whole thing revolve around the creature rather than the
creator, the almighty sovereign, the almighty God. Third point
is this, free willism is the denial of the effectual atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ was not an attempt to put away sin. We don't call it
an attemptment, do we? We call it an atonement, an atonement
for sin. It's a particular redemption.
Free willism says that Christ died for all the sins of all
men everywhere without exception, or that he died to make salvation
a possibility for all if they will meet certain conditions,
such as repentance, such as faith, such as baptism, such as church
membership, such as good works, on and on and on it goes. It's
an endless list. You see, salvation is not conditioned
upon you. The blood atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
listen to me. It's not offered unto you. The blood atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ was not offered to satisfy you. This is the blood of the Lamb
of God. This is God's sacrifice for sin. The blood atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ is offered unto the Lord. It's to satisfy Him. Oh, He makes us satisfied with
it. But you see, it's offered unto
the Lord, not unto us. It's not up to us whether we
accept it and make it successful. Do you think the greatest redemptive
work of the Lord Jesus Christ stands on success or failure
based upon what you do? That's a horrible thing, isn't
it? The success of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is based
upon who he is and what he did. God bought the church with his
own blood. Preacher down the road from me
stopped one day, shoveling snow last winter and winter before.
And he said, you going to have service today? I said, yeah,
I'm going to have service today, Lord willing. We're going to plow
this snow off. We're going to have service this afternoon. He said, well,
I think we're going to meet this morning. I asked him, I said,
what's your text this morning? He said, John chapter 10. Verse
15, I said, oh, you're going to preach about how the Lord
Jesus Christ laid down his life for his sheep. Oh, no, I'm not
going to preach that. Well, that's what the text is.
I'm going to preach a universal amnesty. I said, my friend, that's
not what that chapter is all about. And then I asked him this
question. And he looked at me so strange.
I asked him, I said, is there anybody in hell for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ died? Is there? He couldn't answer
me. He couldn't answer the question. My friend, there's nobody in
hell for whom the Lord Jesus Christ paid their sin debt. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who were in the Lord Jesus Christ. If he paid my sin
debt, then it paid. Well, I have found a ransom,
God said. Let him go. There is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ, who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect. It is God who justifies. Who
is he that condemns? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, he's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. You see, freewillism is the
denial of the effectual blood atoned of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm glad. One of my favorite verses in
all the scriptures, Isaiah 42 verse 4, where it says that he
shall not fail. Behold my servant, my elect,
in whom my soul delighteth. You know, it's the first time
that word's used in scripture. Elect. Talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that says of him, he cannot
fail. He cannot fail to put away sin. He cannot fail to bring
in an everlasting righteousness. He cannot fail to justify his
people. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things in Christ? You see, freewillism
is a denial of the effectual blood atonement of Christ. They say some might perish if
they don't exercise their will toward the atonement. I have a radio program back home
I've had for 18 years or more. And there's a preacher that follows
me, and one precedes me. Both of them are Free Will Works
preachers. And the fellow behind me said,
after I'd preached my message on salvations of the Lord, he
said, your eternal destiny is in your hands. What a sad thing. What a sad state we're in. The
destiny of God's people is in his hand. And no one can turn
his hand, or no one can stop his hand, or change his will.
God will have his people. Now, you ladies, I often think
about an illustration how to illustrate that the Lord's going
to have his people. He's going to enjoy his people
forever. You ladies, when you make a grocery list and you go
to Walmart, you pick out what you're going to buy, you choose
it, don't you? You write it down. You write
the name down. You go there and you buy it.
You pay for it, you bag it up, and then what do you do? You
don't leave it in the store. You don't unbag it and go back
and put it on the shelf, do you? What do you do with it? You take
it home. Why do you take it home? You
bought it. It's yours. You're going to enjoy
that. Don't you know that the Lord
Jesus Christ, he chose us, he bought us, he called us, and
he's going to take us home and enjoy us forever? He's going
to have what he bought by his grace. You see, freewillism denies
that, the effectual blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
deny that. They deny that altogether. Here's
the last thing. Freewillism is the denial of
a true meaning of faith and repentance. They have made faith the repentance
of work of man rather than the gift of God. They have made faith
the product of the flesh rather than the gift of God. But we
clearly find in scripture that both faith and repentance are
sovereign gifts of God given to whom he will. For by grace
are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is
a gift of the preacher. It's a gift of the church. Does
Donny give you faith? Preaching them the gospel through
that, God does give faith. But faith is the gift of God,
is it not? Repentance is the gift of God.
Faith and repentance is not something that's a product of the flesh.
It's not the fruit of the flesh. It says in Acts chapter 5 that
the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted to give repentance. And he grants
us faith. You know faith in scripture?
You know what it's called? There are several things that
are called precious. We're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
But you know what else Peter called precious? Faith is the
precious gift bought with the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. And faith is something I don't
have. Faith is something I cannot produce. Faith is the gift of God. Faith
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of the Lord. We clearly read in scripture
that faith and repentance are both gifts of God. Faith in a
true and living God comes from Him alone. I thought
about this. True saving faith. How do I know
if I have true saving faith? Now think with me. How do I know
if my saving faith is true? and not false. True saving faith
always looks back to the giver. It always looks back to the giver.
He is called the Lord Jesus Christ, is called the author and finisher
of faith. It starts in him, it continues
in him, and it ends in him. Saving faith always looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving repentance always looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Free willism has belittled faith
to a simple, silly decision, to an easy choice. The truth
of the matter is apart from the sovereign will of God, the sinner
will never embrace the Lord Jesus and lay hold on eternal life
unless God grants faith and repentance. Oh, it's so precious. Precious
faith. to believe the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. The psalmist said, blessed is
the man to whom the Lord chooses and causes to approach unto him. True faith trusts a person. You see, salvation's in a person.
Salvation's not a position. Salvation's not a persuasion.
Salvation's not found in a pool. Salvation's in a person. A person. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. What has the sinner,
saved by God's grace, committed unto the Lord Jesus Christ? Everything. Everything. He's the Alpha. He's
the Omega. He's all my salvation. True faith trusts a person, not
a decision. True repentance looks to the
Lord Jesus Christ right now, not back to an experience, not
back to a feeling, not to emotion. True repentance looks to the
Lord Jesus Christ right now. True saving faith is always coming
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter writes about that, to whom
coming. True saving faith and repentance is not some isolated
act. It's present tense. It's ongoing. I am believing. I am repenting. I am looking unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. What did Paul say in Philippians
3? Forgetting those things which are behind. Let's count all things
but loss for Christ's sake for the excellent knowledge we have
of God Almighty in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder
he said, I count everything else lost that I might win Christ
and be found in him. True saving faith is always coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ for assurance, hope, comfort. It
doesn't look back. It doesn't look back. How do
I know if my saving faith is real faith and my repentance
is real? Both saving faith and genuine
repentance, how do I know if I If I'm repenting, I am repenting,
I am believing. Both saving faith and true repentance,
saving repentance, both acknowledge the truth. They acknowledge the
truth. We can find that in scripture.
Let's see if we can find it. Titus 1, turn there first. You see, true saving faith acknowledges
that God is God. Beside him there is no other.
True saving faith acknowledges that the Lord Jesus Christ, he's
all and in all. In him grows all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily and in Christ we stand complete. True saving
faith acknowledges God's salvation that's of the Lord. Titus 1.1,
Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to
the faith of God's elect, Acknowledging of a truth which is after godliness
that glorifies God. True, saving faith gives God
all the honor and glory in salvation. Same as repentance. Turn back one page, 2 Timothy
2, 25. 2 Timothy 2.25, in meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves if God perventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, of the truth of
who God is, the truth of who man is, the truth of who the
Lord Jesus Christ is and what he accomplished, the truth of
salvation. How does God save sinners? How
does God save sinners? by what he has done, not by what
we do. You see, that scripture open
first or Philippians chapter one, being confident of this
very thing, that God who has begun a good work in you, God
who has begun a good work in you, he will finish it. Is that right? What begins in
grace will end in glory. Mark it down. You can write that
down. What begins in grace will end in glory. God forbid we should
glory save in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now aren't you glad and
thankful that salvation's of the Lord? By the Lord's free
and sovereign grace, by his unchanging will and eternal purpose in the
Lord Jesus Christ. God has determined to give all
the honor and glory unto the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Alone. That's the bottom line. You see,
creature, salvation that they talk about that's no salvation
at all, that depends upon the sinner's will, really doesn't
work unless you let it work, unless you want it to work. Well,
who gets the glory in that scheme of things? Well, the sinner does. The grand design of redemption.
is the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
bottom line. Who gets the glory? The song of the redeemed throughout
eternity, and it's our song right now, too. Unto him who loved
us and washed us from our sin in his own blood, to him be all
the honor and glory both now and forever. And then you know
what it says? Amen. Amen. You say amen, aren't you glad
that, I mean, you know, when you know what we are by nature,
you know that salvation has to be by the grace of God. You know,
when you start out wrong, you end up wrong. If you don't understand
what happened in the fall, you won't understand what happened
at Calvary. If you're wrong on the fall, as Brother Henry used
to say, you're wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all. Salvation
is of the Lord. Look to Him. Look to Him. Oh, what a privilege it is to
look to Him. Look to Him. Don't look to yourself. Don't
look in here. He said, look unto Me. Look unto
Me and be saved. All the ends of the earth. I
am God. Beside Me there is no other.
Sinner, look to Him. Look to the Lord right now, right
now in your heart. Come to Christ in your heart
by faith. Don't move a muscle. Look to
him. God bless you. Thank you. Let's stand and dismiss with
a couple of stanzas of amazing grace. How sweet the sound. Let's stand. Back there. amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me But now am found, was blind,
but now I see. was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed