you're tired, but turn with me
to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. You know, Bruce got through preaching,
and he is a preacher. I mean, there's no if, ands,
or buts about it. Great, great gifts. And I'm reminded
of that Indian, you know, back in the olden days, smoke signals. You want to be on one mountain,
you don't give the smoke signals to one on the other mountain.
One day there's up on the mountain getting ready to send some smoke
signals, and they're off an atomic bomb out there in the desert,
you know. Oh, big old mush cloud, cloud went up, and at the end
he said, whoo, wish I'd have said that. That's the way I feel about food. I don't want to break it, don't make
much smoke. But I feel like it's the Lord's
will for me to bring a message this morning. I hope I don't
take long. Let's look at these first four verses. as many as have taken in hand
to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us." Now, there are some things that's
most surely believed among us as believers. I mean, we believe
some things, and we believe them surely. We really, really believe
them. And look what he said, even as
they delivered them unto us which were from the beginning eyewitnesses
and ministers of the word. God used his prophets, his preachers,
and John and Simon Peter and them, the eyewitnesses and ministers
of the word. They delivered these things to
us that we believe. We believe in things that was
written down and delivered to us. And it seemed good to me
also having had perfect understanding of all things from the first
to right unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus." And
listen to this now, not only we most surely believe them,
they were delivered to us by people who are eyewitnesses,
that thou mightest know the certainty of those things that you've been
instructed in. Surely believe certain of them. Now I want to talk about a man
asked me one time, he said, what is your creed? What's your creed
at your church?" And I said, well, first of all, I don't have
a church. It's the Lord's church. I don't have one. And he says,
what's your creed? What's your constitution and
your bylaws? And he gave me an opportunity
to preach the gospel to him. And I'm going to tell you our
creed. You know, we're out of step with this age. We who believe
the gospel of the free grace of God, we're out of step with
this age. And we ought to step with this
age by what we say. We say things that other people
don't say. They say, join the church. We
say, you must be joined to Christ. They say, come to the front.
We say, come to Christ. They say, stand up for Jesus.
We say, get on your face before the Lord Jesus Christ. They want
to say, stand up and say something for the Lord. We say, be still
and know that I am God. And so we, by what we say, we're
different. And then we're not ashamed, as
Brother Bruce said, we're not ashamed of our message. We're
not ashamed of telling men that they are grasshoppers, worms,
dust. We're not ashamed of the success
of our ministries. Just last week, a man asked me,
did you get anybody saved this morning? Get any sinners to the
front? Well, we're not ashamed of the
success of our ministries. We're not ashamed of the size
of our congregations. Whether we got five or whether
we got fifty, we're not ashamed of it. And when people, when
I notice this, beloved, so rather step, when people are looking
for a church to attend, The last thing they consider, if they
even mention it, is truth. They'll ask you, how many do
you have? What programs do you have for the young people? What
programs do you have for the senior citizens? I need one of
them. I need somebody to follow me
around and keep me out of the fire. But no one will say, well,
what about the singles? You've got a program for the
singles. And what kind of preacher do you have over there? What
does he say? Is he friendly? Does he know
how to make folks feel welcome? Does he recognize visitors? Oh,
they're interested in all that. But let me tell you something,
beloved. What makes us And what is the reason we are the way
we are is because God's taught us the gospel, and the gospel
is as narrow as God is, and the gospel is as immense as God is,
and as Rupert said the other day, I am God, and beside me
there is none other, a just God and a Savior. Therefore, look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. And I
know we're out of step with this age because that God's people,
God's people, God's elect people, they believe a gospel that is
most surely believed among them. The Lord Jesus called them the
sheep. Some told Him, says, tell us plainly if you be the Christ.
And He said, I've told you. I've told you and told you and
told you. And you believe not, and the
reason you believe not, because you're not of My sheep. But the
sheep, He said, hear My voice, and they follow Me. And so, beloved,
there's some things that's absolutely believed among us. Now, I love
absolutes. I've went to a lot of psychiatrists
in my life years ago, and they always got aggravated at me and
said, you see things black and white. And I do. I see things in black
and white. I see it in... I don't see no
gray matter. I don't see no relative moralism,
as they call it. But there's things that we absolutely
believe. They're absolute. No debate about
it, no arguing about it. Whether you believe it or not,
that's your problem. Our problem is to tell it. And the first
is that God, God, is absolutely sovereign in all things. That
God Almighty rules and reigns in this world. David says, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thine may it be glory.
But why should the heathen say unto them, Where now is thy God?
And David said, Our God is in the heavens, and He does exactly
as He pleases. And so you see, beloved, God
is absolutely creation. And in creation, people, there's
a thing going around now that you can believe in creation and
evolution at the same time. That's an impossibility. Either
God created things or He created nothing. And you know how God
made this world? He said he spake and it was done,
he commanded and it stood fast. There was nothing and then God
said let there be and there was. That's how things change and
the things that we look at right now. We understand that the worlds
were framed by the Word of God. We understand that this world
was made by God. He took nothing and He made this
world. He took no sun and He put a sun
in the sky. There were no stars, He put them
in the sky and He called them all by name. There was no moon,
He gave that to us to look at at night. And beloved, everything
that God made, He spake and it was done. And I made it out of
nothing. And when He runs out of nothing,
He can make some more nothing to make something out of. And
you know what He... Look at us. He took a bunch of
nothings and made something out of us. Huh? He certainly did. And He didn't
have any help. Didn't need any help. Didn't
ask for any help. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the creation. And you know the Scriptures talking
about creation? Let me tell you something. I'll
tell you something He created. The Scripture said in Proverbs
16 and 4 that He made the wicked for the day of evil. He even
made the wicked. And I tell you, not only is He
sovereign in creation, sovereign in providence. What that means
is that God orders this world that He made. He controls this
world. He works all things out to His
own counsel. He says he does what he will
in the heavens, in the earth, in the sea, in all deep places.
And let me tell you something, beloved. If we, if God is not
ruling this world, what alternative do we have? What's the alternative? Luck? Chance? Karma? Accidents? Destiny? Fate? You've got to
be left to something. Somebody's got to rule this world.
Somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to control the
affairs of this world. Somebody's got to raise up nations
to set down nations. Somebody's got to control the
diseases in this world. Somebody's got to control the
people in this world. Somebody's got to rule this world.
And if it's not God, who in the world would it possibly be? And
I love the fact that God's ruling this world. You know, he raised
up bad kings, he raised up good kings, he raised up false prophets,
and he raised up true prophets. Every false prophet that's out
there is lying on God. God sent him that strong delusion
that he should believe that lie and tell it. They were ordained
to this condemnation. And oh, they declared the end
from the beginning. The only way you can do that
is if you know the end before you start the beginning. And
oh, this is what I like. You look with me now in Romans.
I'm going to get to this. I'll try not to take too long.
But look here in Romans 9 with me just a moment. And this is
what, in creation, that's wonderful. Folks don't mind God ruling in
creation. They don't mind Him governing
His own world. But now when it comes down to
me, governing me, taking control of me, taking my will, Taking my power,
putting his hand on me, breaking in on me. That's another story. But look in Romans 9 and verse
11. For the children being not yet
born, oh my, listen to it now. having done any good or evil,
they hadn't done anything good, they hadn't done nothing evil
yet, that the purpose of God according to election might stand
not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said to the elder,
you shall serve the younger. Now listen to it, as it is written,
I have loved Jacob, he shall have I hated. Oh, wait a minute,
that's not fair. That's what folks say. They hardly
miss this other thing. Whenever people start hearing
about God's electing grace, that God chooses the people, hates
some, loves others. That God sets His affection on
some and despises others. He hates the workers of iniquity.
He's angry with the wicked every day. And I mean, God's not standing
by me standing there waiting for folks to come up and say,
I want that Jesus in my heart. No, no, no, no, no. They say,
well, that's not fair. What about the Indians over there?
What about the people in Africa? What about you? What about you? What's God going to
do in you? I can understand that God would
hate Esau, but the fact that he would love a Jacob? Who am I that he should bleed
and die for? Amazing love! Oh, listen to me,
beloved. And then he goes on, well, that's
just not fair. Paul says, I'll tell you what's fair. You just
keep your mouth shut. This is God doing this. He said,
God forbid the word, just keep your mouth shut. God's talking.
You don't like the way He does things, just keep your mouth
shut. He's going to do what He wants to do, whether you like
it or not. And that's what I like about Him. He shut my mouth one
time, but once I learned the gospel, it ain't stopped since.
But it goes on to say, now here it says to Moses, he said, I'll
have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Oh, thank God that he
has mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion, so it's not of him that will
it. Oh, listen, are you willing to be saved? Please come to the
front. Raise your hand for Jesus. We
want you to be saved so bad. Oh, won't you be saved? It's
not of Him that's running. I'm going to run, and I'm going
to tell everybody I can. Please come to Jesus. His heart
is so open, and He wants to save you so bad. Oh, no. But at least one says, but God,
this shows mercy. Oh, my. For this the Scripture
says, That God, for this same purpose, raised up Pharaoh that
He might show His power. And you know what He done to
Pharaoh? Bound him in the Red Sea. Somebody said the Red Sea
is not deep enough to burn him. God can bound a man in a teaspoon,
if He wills to do it. Oh, beloved, I'll tell you
something. Salvation, listen to me, is what God does for the
sinner, not what the sinner does for God. What could you ever
do for God, that God would have to turn around and say, I owe
you something? It's not what you do for Him, it's what He
does for you. And you see, beloved, Jonah, he got down in the belly
of hell in that great fish, and he cried out, he said, oh, I'm
in the hell itself, and the bars of hell are about me. How am
I going to get out of here? And then, oh, beloved, he said,
salvation's on the Lord, just as quick as he heard that. That
fish come up and spit him about a hundred yards from the land.
He said, now you get there the best way you can. No, no, when
he brought him up out of there, when he said salvation to the
Lord, they took him and set him on dry land. And that's what
God does. He takes you right out of hell
and he'll set you on a And, oh, listen, I tell you,
this is His glory. This is His righteousness. This
is His nature. And, oh, beloved, God is in complete
control. And I'll tell you something,
I want Him to say, I'm glad salvation's in His hands. If it was in my
hands or your hands, who would be saved? If it's in your will,
how would you be saved? And I'm going to tell you the
second thing that's absolutely. Men are absolute sinners. Absolute
sinners. And I'll tell you a language
we're going to have to quit using. And I heard somebody said the
other day, we're going to have to quit using this language. I'm
telling you, outside the pulpit, in the church, wherever we go,
quit saying he's a good fellow. Quit saying he's a good man.
But there's none good, no, not one. Just say, I like him. Say, he's my neighbor. But you know, anybody outside
of Christ, the Scripture says they've got not good. And we
go around telling folks that they're good, and beloved, they
think they really are good. We say, boy, he's a good feller.
And next thing you know, everybody's running around saying, oh, he's
a good feller. And then when you've been told that enough
times, he decides he don't need Christ, he don't need the church,
he don't need a preacher. The only time you'll ever need
a church or a preacher is when they got him in a casket and
turned him to the church, and then they'll need a preacher. And I mean, man is totally, absolutely
ruined. And what I mean by that is, beloved,
total depravity means this. Everybody's not as bad as they
can be, but everybody is exactly as bad off as they can be in
the sight of God. There's some men that are absolute,
corrupt, despicable sinners. There's other people that you
know They, they, what we would, as you guys are saying, don't
call them good, but there's people that are not, out now sinners,
like we, you know, go out and do prolificacy. But in the sight
of God, that woman, Mary Magdalene, seven devils, Mary, the mother
of Christ, that took the same grace in the sight of God, they're
both just as lost as a blind goose in a snowstorm. And it
took the same grace, the same Christ, the same blood, the same
power to save Mary Magdalene as it did Mary, the mother of
Jesus. Now, ain't that right? You take
the lowest, you take the highest. And this is what the gospel does.
It puts them on the same level. You quit saying, I'm not as bad
as that fellow over there. You're as bad off in the sight
of God as that fellow over there. You say, I'm not near as mean
as he is. I know you're not, but you're as bad off in the
sight of God as you'll ever be until you get to Christ. As he
sung this morning, accepted in the beloved. That's the only
place we're accepted in. And you know where we've become?
We're dead in trespasses and sins. And where did we die at?
How did we die? These men's told us, as by one
man sin entered into this world, and death passed upon all men.
Who was that man? That man Adam. Now, I'll tell
you, man's not physically dead. He's not like this here. He's
not mentally dead. But what it means is that he's
spiritually dead. You know why you can't understand
the scriptures? You know why you can't understand
the gospel? You know why you don't like the
gospel? You know why you don't understand
the Word of God? You don't know why these preachers
always say the things that they do? I'll tell you why. Because
you're a natural man. And you're unable to save yourself.
You're unable to do anything for yourself. You're unable to
come to God. You're unable to even think a
spiritual thought until God in His sovereign mercy opens your
heart. and gives you the understanding
of the gospel. He says, you will not come to
me that you might have life. And you know what our righteousness
are? They're as filthy rags. And I tell you, people say, well,
what about my will? What about it? Are you willing
to come to Christ? Well, you're going to get that
will if you do. There's no such thing as a freewill
gospel. No such thing as a freewill gospel.
It's a contradiction in terms. You see, the gospel is good news,
and there's no good news in Sinner Save Thyself, except Jesus. And, oh, beloved, no good news
in Sinner Save Yourself. You make your choice. You made
your choice. We all made our choice, and we made it in our
Father Adam, didn't we? And I tell you, beloved man,
we have a God-willed gospel. God said, I will and you shall.
I will and you shall. I shall and you will. You know,
me and Bruce talking on the way of service this morning. The
covenant of God runs like this. God said, I'll be their God and
they'll be my people. That's the long and short of
it. I'll be their God and they'll
be my people. Now let me tell you something,
beloved. We could be good if we would, but we won't. Oh, wretched man that I am. Oh,
wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Man's born a sinner. He's born
lost. He's born in rebellion. If any
of y'all ever taught your children to lie, Have you ever taught
them to steal? Did you teach them how to say
no? Did you teach them to throw fits and lay on the floor and
kick their feet? Did you teach them how to be
a rebel? Did you teach them how to be
selfish and go over and take something away from them? A child
takes something away from another child. Did you teach them all
that? Did you teach them how to, well, listen, I want that,
so I'm going to take it away from them. Catch them in doing some hoot.
I didn't do that. And they're the only one there. Did you teach them to do that?
Of course you didn't. Why? You didn't have to. You
didn't have to. They know how to lie. Born with
it. They're born selfish. They're
born a rebel. That's why they say no when you
say yes. That's why they throw fits. And
we don't ever get over that until God in His sovereign grace tumbles
us down and causes us to quit throwing fits. Because if things
don't suit us, we want to throw a fit too. We want to get angry. We want to say, I don't like
what's happening. I don't like what's going on with my life.
I don't like what my others... I just don't like... And then
they start throwing fits. But our beloved, I'm telling
you, do you know that man's born a sinner? And this idea that
there's an age of accountability? A weight of accountability. No,
no, that's a falsehood. And let me tell you, beloved,
I got to hear it. I know that. If man isn't dead, if he isn't
dead in trespassance and sin, then he doesn't need life. But
our Lord said, you must be born again. You must be born again. The Holy Ghost must come upon
you. God has to come into you and
He has to come into your heart and take out that old fleshly
heart and He's got to put in that old stony heart and put
in a fleshly heart. He's got to come in your mind
and He's got to take that darkened mind and take it out and put
one custom light in it. He got to take out your will,
that's so stubborn and rebellious, and he got to take that out,
and he got to put a will in there that's willing to say, yes Lord,
whatever you say is right, whatever you do is right. I want to bow
to you, submit to you, your will be done, not mine. And he got to get you by the
neck, and if he don't get you by the neck, you never will get
on your knees. Is that too hard? I know from God, you know, it's
God who chooses you and causes you to approach Him. There's
an old myth, Catholic myth, talks about a priest, and Catholics
got lots and lots of myths. They find not even the church
really. But anyway, they have this myth about a priest who
walked a thousand miles carrying his head. I could believe he'd walk a thousand
miles carrying his head if he could take that first step. And that's what you are. If you
could take the first step toward God, you could take all of them.
Is that not right? If you can take that first step,
you can go all the way by yourself. But you can't take that first
step because you're like that priest. You're dead. And I'll
tell you, here's the third thing, and I've got to hurry. God has
elected a people in Christ, chosen them in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Oh my, what did you talk about
election? God, he says, thou hast not chosen me, but I have
chosen you. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. God who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling. God whom he foreknew, him he
also called, him he called, he also justified, him he justified,
he also glorified. Oh, God chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Oh my, we're in the condition
I just described. Unable, no ability to save ourselves. How in the world will a man be
saved and in whom will they be saved? I'll tell you when a man
will be saved, when it pleases God. When it pleases God. Ain't that what He said, our
Lord Jesus? Oh, I love that. He said, I thank
Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent. Hid your grace? Hid your righteousness? Hid your
blood? Hid your death? Hid your sacrifice? Hid your holiness? Hid your special
calling? You hid everything that ever,
the salvation and all that you got first, you hid it from the
wise and the prudent. Those that got know everything.
Those that know all I need to know to be saved. Knows how to
live for Jesus and knows how to get in the church and knows
what it is to Bill's Christian. He said he ain't hidden them
from them. Then he said, oh, good Lord, you turn around and
took a bunch of babies. You know what a baby is? Some
of y'all got some. He said, can that baby do anything
for itself? I said, it revealed it to me. And oh, beloved, it pleased God.
That's when a man's good. Paul said it like this. When
it pleased God, He separated me from my mother's womb. and
called me by His grace." Look in John 6.37. I know you, John 6.37. Our Lord Jesus says
that in John 17, He says, "...Thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast
given Him." And he said, and I pray, not
for the world, but for those that have given me out of the
world. Bruce used this just a minute ago, but just look at it. Talking about God's elect. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Every one of them
that God gave to Christ in the covenant of grace, they're going
to come to me. And him that cometh to me, there's
nothing they'll ever do that'll cause me to ever cast them out.
Nothing. You can't say nothing, you can't
do nothing, you can't act a way that will cause me to cast you
away. But if the Father gave you to Christ, you're coming.
You're coming. Now let me ask you three questions.
Three questions, and answer these questions by the Scriptures.
Did you choose God or did God choose you? Huh? God has beginning chosen you
to salvation. No, you're not. You've not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. And the second question is, when
did He choose you? Bruce answered that question
very well. Don't need to say another word about that. When
did He choose you? And the third question is, and
answers Scripturally, why did He choose you? It pleased Him. Even so, Father,
sin good in your Son. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. Huh? And here's my fourth point. I've told y'all to hurry up. That the Lord Jesus Christ, effectually,
effectually, redeemed the elect. When our Lord Jesus Christ, when
He was born, He was living for a particular people. He rendered
obedience for a particular people. He says, Father, they were Thine,
and I gave them to Me. And I manifested my word to them,
your word to them, and Father, he says, when he went to that
cross, he said, you know, it was those people and those people
alone that were given to him that he went to that cross to
die for. He says, take their sins and
put them on me. Take their guilt and charge it
to my account. Take everything that's against
them and put it on me. And when he died, beloved, He
died only for his elect, only for his sheep, only for the vessels
of mercy. He said, I'll lay down my life
for who? The sheep. Oh my, just the sheep. No, he
died for a particular people. And he, by his death, I tell
you, he didn't make a gallon effort to save somebody. He actually
saved his people. My sins were taken care of two
thousand years ago. He, by the sacrifice of himself,
put away sin once in the end of the world. Here God calls
us to judgment. And when God calls me to judgment,
and right now if He called me to judgment, I'd have one plea.
And the Lord Jesus Christ would stand up for me, and I'd say,
Christ died for me. He bore all my sins. He bore
all my iniquities. He bore all my punishment. He
bore everything. He bore my curse. And He redeemed
me from it. Everything that was against me,
He took care of it. And I believe the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself would stand up and say, here's the evidence.
Here's the evidence. Oh, he didn't make an effort.
People say, well, he just made salvation possible. No, he actually
saved these people. Now, I'm going to give you a
history lesson, if I can. If you stir yourself just a minute,
I'll give you a little history lesson. There's three views that
religion views how men are saved. Three views. And you believe
one or another of these. Pelagius was a British monk. And plagiarism, what it does,
it denies the fault. It denies that man became sinners
in Adam. He says that the only thing we received through Adam
was a bad example. That Adam just gave us a bad
example. And in being good, we can save ourselves. And if you
notice now that there's a whole group of people all over the
world, they're in buses, they're putting signs up, putting them
on there, and they say, be good without God. You can be good
without God. And that's their whole purpose is to get God thrown
out of the equation and you can be good people without God. Well,
that's Pelagianism. If you're good enough, you can
save yourself. And semi-Pelagianism is this. It doesn't deny the
fall. Yes, we became sinners in Adam.
But they deny the totality of the fall. And there's a preacher
that I used to run with, and he says, you know, this is the
difference between me and you now. He says, You deny the power
of man's free will, and I don't. And I said, you're exactly right.
See, the semi-Pelagianism don't deny the fall, but they deny
the totality of it. They said we were just injured.
And if we can get the shove in the right direction and get somebody
to patch us up and put some sag on us and give us some aspirin,
we can be all right. And they say that, you know,
the will of God and the will of man, they work together, they
cooperate, and the will of man, that's the dominant factor in
salvation. And the third one, and this is where we're at today.
John Wesley. John Wesley. He believes in the
totality of the fall. Yes, we're utterly and absolutely
ruined, unable to save ourselves. But he taught, as a result of
the atoning death of Christ, that universal and sufficient
grace is given to all men. And if you'll cooperate with
that grace when God gives you your chance, then you can be saved. You reckon your chance is today? Oh, beloved, I say this, if Christ
died for all men, then I'm telling you that everyone, then all men
will be saved. Has to be. Because of the worth
of our Lord Jesus Christ, you know the value of Christ, the
merit of Christ, His person and His sacrifice. If He died for
all men because of who He is, then all men must be saved. But
I say this, that if the Lord Jesus died for Judas as the same
He did for me, then I may end up in hell as Judas did. Huh? And I tell you, I know why men
don't like and despise particular effects of redemption. It's because
they don't know Jesus Christ. They don't know His worth. And
if you deny particular redemption, you deny who Christ is Himself.
That's right. They don't know who God is. They
don't know what He demands. And they don't know how to ruin
man is. Oh, listen, I'll give you another one right quick.
The Holy Spirit. This is our creed. I'm talking
about this is our creed. This is what we believe. This
is what we hold dear. This is what we, by God's grace, are
going to live by and die by. You know, we're not ashamed of
this. I'm not ashamed to tell that. Isaiah said, what shall
I cry? All flesh is grass, and the glory
of men withers and fadeth away." And then he turned around and
said, but yes, behold your God. Oh my. You see, and here's the
fourth thing. The Holy Spirit effectually calls
those for whom Christ died, those that were chosen, God's elect,
Those for whom Christ died for, those that God put in the covenant
of grace, the Holy Spirit comes, the Holy Ghost effectually brings
men, first of all, to the truth, and that truth as it's made known
in Jesus Christ. Ain't that right? Oh my, you effectually, those
whom God chose, those for whom Christ died for, there are ever
one brought to the Lord Jesus and made acceptable to Him. How
have they done it? He said, In the day of thy power,
thy people shall be made ready. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causes to approach unto thee. You see, when the
Holy Spirit comes, He regenerates them, gives them new heart, teaches
them of Christ, He keeps them. There was a fellow who climbed
a tree just to see Jesus, didn't have a clue that he was one of
God's men. The Lord looked up and said,
Come down. knew his name. What happened
to Zacchaeus? He came down. Lazarus! Oh, Lord, leave him
alone. He's been dead four days. He's
stinking so bad. Please don't open that door with
my brother's door. He stinks so bad. Tear away that
stone. Lazarus! Come forth. And he that was dead came forth. That people on the cross, I'll
meet you another night. Today, today, today, you're going
to be with me in paradise. Oh, bless His holy name. And
this is why I love the gospel. These men love the gospel. We're
going to preach the gospel, and God's going to use the gospel
to save His people. The Holy Ghost is going to bring
His people to Christ. He's going to open that heart.
He's going to open that understanding. He's going to bring them to Christ.
People say, well, I've done my part, now let's get God to do
His part. If God's done His part, it's
up to you to do your part. There's nothing to that. And
let me say this, and I told you it wouldn't take long. All those
for whom Christ died, All those elect, those the Holy Spirit
brings to Christ, those that are affectionately called to
Christ, every one of them will persevere. There is no danger
of them ever falling away. There's no danger of them ever
quitting. There's no danger of them ever
going back to the Word. They're every one going to die
in the faith. How do I know that? Because they're kept by the power
of God through faith. You see, it's God who begun the
good work in you. Now, if you start it, or the
church starts it, or your will starts it, it won't work. But
if God hath begun a good work in you, he shall perform it unto
the day of Jesus Christ. Is that not right? Our Lord Jesus
says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
They shall not, no man able to pluck them out of my hand. And
he says, no man's able to pluck them out of my father's hands.
Now, that's double salvation. If you're in the Father's hands
and you're in the Son's hands, how in the world are you going
to get them out of them hands? No man's able to pluck them out.
And I'll tell you why they persevere. Well, let me show you this. Look
in Luke 22 real quick. I know it's hot. You smell that ham? Oh, my. Luke 22 and verse 31, talking
about persevering, being kept. And I'll tell you why they'll
persevere. It's because salvation is God's work. It's the Son's
work. It's the Spirit's work. And the
Lord said to Simon, O Simon, you know, He said, I'm going
to die with you. I'm going to jail with you. I'll
do whatever is necessary. And the Lord said to Simon, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired you. that he may sink you as
wheat. But now listen, but I've prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not. That's the only reason why
we persevere. Christ prays for us, takes up
our case and calls. And all of God's people will
persevere. Now, when we talk about persevering, that's exactly
what it means, that there's lots of things against us. Our will's
against us. Our nature's against us. The
world's against us. Sin's against us. Our flesh is
against us. Troubles and sorrows and trials
is against us. But we'll just keep on keeping
on. You know why we'll do it? Because God started the work
and He'll finish it. Now, sometimes you'll say, there's
no way in the world I'm gonna make it. I ain't gonna make it.
Oh yeah, you're gonna make it. You're gonna make it. You're
gonna make it. There's folks in here I'm so
convinced that God's work is so good and so complete and so
perfect that I believe that when I get, I'm going to stay right
here until somebody in this place buries me, and I'll be already
in glory when they carry me to the graveyard. You know, I don't have no confidence
in me, but I have confidence in what He did. If He lets me
go, I'll be like this book right here. Fall that quick. But he ain't going to let me
go. His hand is big enough to hold
all of us at one time. And then, let me say this. Men say that that kind of preaching
will kill the church. Oh, I was told that years ago,
wasn't you Bruce? Oh, it'll kill the church. Folks just won't
believe that. A man told Todd Niver one time,
he said, there ain't enough people to get in the phone book and
believe what you preach. But oh, I tell you, Savior, you
know this kind of preaching will kill the church. Well, I'll tell
you what it will kill. It'll kill self-righteousness.
You can't stay around this gospel if you trust in your own righteousness.
Can't do it. And you little kid will cry down
in the dust who make it you to differ. It'll destroy human praise
and human glory. You'll never glory in your flesh
or anybody else's ever again. You'll never glory in yourself
or anything you'd think, say, or do. And it'll destroy the
works of the flesh. Want it? I know that in me, that
is in my flesh. But it's no good thing.