What Paul is talking about here,
he starts talking about in verse 28, about what a real Jew is. Now, if I was to go to Israel, I would be more of a Jew over
there unless they were converted than they are. Paul says, We are the true circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh. And a true Jew is a descendant
of Abraham. You know, our Lord said, if you
were Abraham's children, you'd do Abraham's works. And they
said, we're not born of fornication, we'd be Abraham's children. He
said, no, you're not. You're of your father, the devil.
Now, they were natural descendants of Abraham, but this business
of being a Jew has to do with having the heart cleansed, the
spirit made new. And so it's not this outward
ceremony that you go through, the cleansing of the flesh. And
that's what circumcision was, as a token of the covenant. But
he said in verse 29, he is a Jew which is one inwardly. Inwardly. Circumcision is of the heart.
God cleanses the heart. He purifies the heart. He gives
us a new heart. And then he says, and circumcision
is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, not just keeping
the law, not doing what the scriptures, not just doing everything that
the law says, whose praise is not of men. If you keep the law
and you keep circumcision, try to be saved by what you do, then
men's going to praise you. God won't praise you. God won't
say anything about you but curse you. But he says, but of God,
if God makes a man a new creature, Then God gets the glory for it.
God gets the glory for it. Well, then he says, well, what
in the world advantage has a Jew then? What profit is there of circumcision?
He's talking about Israel now. Well, much in every way. And
the reason, the chief reason being, because unto them were
committed the oracles of God. God gave the Bible to them. Gave
them the prophets. Gave them Moses. Gave them the
law. Gave them the sabbatical. Gave them all the rituals, gave
them all the ceremonies. The Lord Jesus Christ came. He
gave them the Word of God. No other nation had the Word
of God but Israel. But then he goes on to say, well,
what if some did not believe? What if some of these Jews do
not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? Well, if they're Jews and they don't believe, does
that mean that their unbelief is going to make God's faith
and God's gives faith in the Word of God, is it going to make
it just null and void because they refuse to believe? God forbid? No. No, no. And that's what some
people do. You know, they say, I just don't
believe like you do. Is that going to change the Word of God?
Is it going to affect my faith? Is it going to make what God
teaches any different? When I was an unbeliever, did
it change God's Word? When people told me about Christ,
and I said, well, you know, He's just a prophet. That's what I
used to think. He's just a prophet, no better than any other prophet. But my ideas of Him, my conception
of Him, did that have any effect on Him? Or anybody else's faith? Anybody
that had faith at that time, whatever I tell them I believe,
did that affect their faith? Huh? And then what he says here,
shall their unbelief make God a liar? That's what he's saying. God forgives, yet let God be
true, but every man be a liar. Will their unbelief make God
a liar? Huh? And that's what they do when
they put their reason and their unbelief in the place of God's
Word. And so Paul goes on down here to say, and that's what
my subject is today, let God be true. But he says, and it
is written that thou mightest be justified, and this is out
of Psalm 51, that thou mightest be justified in thy saying. Whatever
you say is right, and you're going to clear yourself. And
so when you judge a man, you're overcome. And that's what David
said, it's against you and you only that I've sinned, that you
might be clear when you judge me. I'm admitting what I am.
And whether I admit it or not, you're going to be justified
in whatever you do to me. And that's what Paul's saying.
He said, let whatever a man believes. Whatever he confesses, whatever
he holds, God's going to be justified in whatever he does with that
person. Whatever he does with my children, your children, me,
you, or anybody else in this world, Paul says, I don't care
what you say, what you believe, it ain't going to change what
God says. And I don't care how much you reason, what your opinion
is, and what you think of yourself, and what you think of the Scripture.
He says, the thing is that God Almighty will be clear and just
in however He deals with you in this world. That's what He's
saying here. Then He says, but if our unrighteousness, and that's
what people say, they say, well, you fellas, you know, you just,
you believe that just, you know, if you just believe this, that,
and the other, you can live anyway. But if our unrighteousness, to
me, is the righteousness of God, what shall we say? If us living
unrighteous, going back under the law, trying to be saved by
what we think or what we feel, He says, will our unrighteousness
commend the righteousness of God? Is us, really unrighteous,
going to commend the righteousness of God? Oh no, why shall we say then?
Well then, how in the world will God take vengeance then, if our
unrighteousness makes Him appear more righteous? God forbid, for
then how shall God judge the world? And here He goes on to
say, and this is what men say, they accuse us of Everything
under the sun. For he says, if the truth of
God hath abounded through my lie unto His glory, why then
does God judge me as a sinner? If I'm lying on God and not telling
the truth about God, and not believing the truth about God,
is the lie that I tell on God going to bring Him more glory?
Huh? Well then, if that's so, why
then is God going to judge me like I'm a sinner then? A lie
is a lie. There's no such thing as a white
one. You know, it's just a little
white lie. No, no such thing. And then he says, not rather,
this is what they slanderously report about us, let's do evil
that good may come. Let's just live any way we want
to. And I tell you, if you preach the gospel clear enough, plain
enough, you're going to be accused. of giving men a license to sin.
But that's not so. That's not so. And now, look
there in verse 4. God forbid, yea, let God be true,
and every man a liar. Now, you know, we've heard it,
and you've often thought this yourself, I'm sure. And we hear
from others, and they've asked us this question, what about
all the religious people? What about the heathens? What
about people in all these other countries that don't believe
like you do? Are they lost? Well, Billy Graham and Robert
Shuler come to the conclusion that God saves people all over
the world just as long as they walk in what little light they
have, whether it's a pagan light, no matter what God they worship,
as long as they're sincere seekers. So they don't have to have a
Bible, they don't even have to hear about Jesus Christ. So when you know, and religious
people, they'll say, what about all religious people? The heathens,
who don't believe like you do, are they lost? A fellow asked
me that question one time, come to church, he said, you know,
the way I understand it, you're the only one that believes down
here that you know the gospel. I said, as far as I know, I am.
As far as I know, I'm the only one preaching it. The very fact
that you're here trying to prove me wrong shows that And then
he started saying all the things that you teach, you know. But
are they lost? A person who does not believe
in God's immutable sovereignty. God is immutably sovereign. He
does what he will in this world for whom he will and when he
will. That he rules and reigns in this world and does according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of earth, and nobody can stay his hand or say unto him, what
are you doing? If a man doesn't believe that,
what about it? What about man's absolute, utter
ruin? If a person doesn't believe a
man is absolutely, completely ruined by sin, born in sin, shapen
in iniquity, drinks iniquity like it's water, born with enmity,
his heart against God. Sins in his bone from his youth,
the scripture says. Can a man be saved who does not
believe in man's utter and total inability to please God in any
way? God just got through sin and
it's written there's none righteous. You reckon God's lying on us?
There's none that do it good. There's none that understand
it. There's none that stick it there to God. You reckon God
don't know what he's talking about when he talks about us? Can a man be saved who doesn't
believe in man's utter ruin? Is a person lost who doesn't
believe in God's purpose in redeeming sinners by Jesus Christ? Can
you believe that Jesus Christ died for every man and now it's
up to man and his faith to accept and make that blood of Christ
affection? Can a man be saved who thinks that his free will
is the determining factor in his salvation? Can a man know
Christ, who believes that Jesus Christ died for every man and
just made salvation possible and opened a door, and if you'll
take your opportunity when it's given to you and walk through
that door, you'll be saved? And that the only difference
in you and somebody that's lost is your faith? Well, I'm going to tell you the
answer to that question about the heathen religious people.
The only answer we have to go by is the Scriptures, the Word
of God. Nothing else. And, oh, let's let God be true
in every man a liar. And, oh, let me show you a couple
of things before I get into this. Look over in Isaiah chapter 8.
Just a moment. Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah chapter 8. All we have
to go by is the Scripture. He said here in Isaiah, verse 19, it says this, And when
they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits. That's going to people who call themselves predictors
of the future, palm readers. That kind of stuff. And I'm the
wizards that peep. And what that word peep means,
they're looking into things that they don't know nothing about.
They say, I can see into the future. I can see this don't
happen for you. I can see that happening for
you. And watch what happens. And that mutter. And that's why these people in
Pentecostal said, wait a minute. Oh, the Lord's telling me something.
The Lord's telling me something. Wait, wait, wait, wait. You just
do tell me and I'll tell you what He said. Pentecostals doing
that all over this world right now. That kind of stuff. And
that matter, should not a people seek unto their God for the living
to the dead? Living people don't go to a dead
God. What? To the law. And the law here
means all the word of God. Yes. To the testimony. What testimony? God's testimony. If they speak
not according to this word, whoever you go to, whoever you seek counsel
from, Whoever you want understanding from, if they speak not according
to this word, it's because there's no light in them. Look in Isaiah
65 with me just a moment. Isaiah 65. And I don't want to be hard,
I don't want to be mean, but we've got to deal with this.
We've got to face these scriptures, you know, and answer these questions
for ourselves and according to the scriptures. Talking about
the Word of God, believing the Word of God. Let God be true
and ever man a liar. God said here in Isaiah 65, I
am sorrow of them, that ask not for me. No, Isaiah 66, I'm sorry. Isaiah
66. Because I read that verse, I
know that wasn't right. Isaiah 66 and verse 1. Thus saith
the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that you build unto me? Where is the place of
my rest? For all those things that mine
had made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord." Always
have been. But look what this says. But
to this man, I'm going to look. I'm going to look to him. I'm
going to keep him. I'm going to preserve him. He's mine. Even
to him that is of a poor and a contrite spirit, and trembles
at my word, scared to death to ever say anything about it other
than what it says, to trust my own opinion, to trust my feelings.
All right, back over here in Romans 3. He says there, But
oh, shall our unbelief make the faith of God of none effect?
Just because they say, well, God wouldn't do this, God wouldn't
do that, I don't believe this, I don't believe that, is that
going to change anything? Yea, let God be true in every
man alive. And I know according to the Word
of God, talking about people saved or lost. I know whether
they're in religion or out of religion, whether they're heathen,
whether they're pagan, wherever they're Jew or Gentile or bond
or male or female, according to the Word of God, no one is
saved who is not born again. Ain't that right? If a man cannot be saved according
to the Scripture, he is not saved until he's born again. Ain't
that right? Look in John chapter 3 with me.
John chapter 3. This is probably the only service
we'll have today, so let's take our time. Until a man is born again. And
I tell you, beloved, in the Scriptures, it talks about the new birth
over and over and over. The Old Testament's full of the
new birth. Full of the new birth. Noah,
when he come out on new ground, that's typical of the new birth,
come through the storm, come through the wrath of God, come
through the judgment of God, come on a new earth, only person
there. Started worshiping, that's evidence of a new birth. But
look what he said here. Our Lord Jesus said here in verse
3, Jesus answered, said unto him, verily, verily, talking
to Nicodemus, except a man be born again. And if you look in
the margin, it says born again means born from above. born from
above. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he
is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb?
Now here is a fellow who does not believe. Here is a fellow
who is questioning the Lord Jesus himself. Is that going to change
what must be done for him? And that which is born of the
flesh, Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. You come from your mother's womb, a natural man,
you'll live a natural man, and you'll die a natural man. And
that which is born of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, becomes spirit,
a spiritual person. And marvel not that I said unto
thee, you must be born again. The wind blow us, and this is
the way it works, it's just something that God does. The wind blow
us where it will. You hear the sound, but you don't
know where it comes from and where it's going. It's coming
and going. So is everyone that's born of the Spirit. And all Nicodemus,
how can these things be? You mean to tell me you're a
master of Israel and you don't know these things? So, beloved,
I don't care who you are, where you're from, or anything else,
until a man is born again, just let God be true in every man
alive. Like that infant that was cast
out. That baby was cast out for the loathing of its person. Was
not washed, was not swaddled, was not salted, was not purified,
just throwed out in the field. Mama didn't love it, Daddy didn't
love it, and just bloody and nasty, rushed straight from the
womb, and throwed out in the field. God said, I saw you. I saw you in your pollution.
I saw you in your blood. I saw you that nobody pitied
you. Nobody loved you. Nobody cared
for you. You was in your blood. You was
in your pollution. And I tell you, it was the time
of love. And I passed by you, spread my
skirt over you. And listen, I said unto thee,
live! Lazarus? Oh, Lord, leave him
alone. This is Mary and Martha, his
brothers, his sisters. Lord, leave him alone. He's stinking. He's been dead
four days. He's swelled up. He stinks. He's
corrupt. Oh, he stinks. He's awful. He's
dead. He's always... Don't open that
tomb. Whatever you do, don't leave him. Just let him go. Lazarus, I say unto thee, live. And he that was dead, I
love that, he that was dead came forth. And we were dead in trespasses
and sin, and God said, passed by us one day and said, live. And we're sitting there, it's
just lost as a white goose in a snowstorm, and then all of
a sudden we hear with ears we never heard before, see with
eyes we never seen before, have a heart that desires that never
desired before. What happened? The wind blew
where it lifted. And like Ezekiel, over there
he said, took him down to a valley of dry bones. That's why he says,
you mean to tell me you're a master of Israel and don't know these
things? He says, see all them bones, Ezekiel? Oh, I see them.
A valley full of bones. That'd be like going down Sequassie
Valley, and you turn the corner there at the top of the mountain,
and a valley, that whole Sequassie Valley, full of bones about that
deep, stacked on top of one another, bleached out. Can these bones live? Oh, listen. Ezekiel had sense enough to say,
Lord, you're the only one that knows that. And he said, I'll
tell you what, you start preaching to them. Start preaching to him. And I'll tell you why. He never
backed up a hair of his breath and said, Lord, that's the dumbest
thing I ever heard till now. He said, you start preaching
to him. And boy, he began to preach. Bone began to hook the
bone. Bone began to hook the bone.
Next thing you know, there's a whole bunch of skeletons standing there. That's right. Then he said, I'll
tell you what else you do. You prophesy on the wind and
say, wind blow. The wind blow it. And you tell
them the flesh to come upon them. Tell the wind to blow. The wind
blow. Life came into them. Oh, dead bones live when God
speaks to them. Ain't that right? And that's
what I'm telling you, beloved. Let the man be born again. And
that's something you can't do for yourself. You can't do that
for yourself. Baptists, you get up here and
I can duck you in this water once a year from now to the time
I'm dead, you're dead. That won't wash away one sin.
That won't change your nature. That won't change your mind.
That won't change your will. Only God can change your mind,
change your will, change your nature, change your heart, change
your reason, change everything. Only God can do that. And I'm
grateful that He does and He can. And you know, as old Scott
Richardson said all the time, he said this so many times, he
says, you know, you can come to Christ without moving a muscle.
But I tell you what, if you start coming to Christ, it's because
Christ already give you life. The minute you start to Christ,
you're already there. And the only reason you start
coming to him is because he's already give you life. Dead men
don't come to Christ. Dead men don't call on Christ.
Dead men don't understand the scriptures. God's got to give
them life before there's ever belief, ever faith. It's got
to be life. Before there's repentance, it's got to be life. Before there's
ever prayer. It's like a baby when it's born.
That baby comes out of there and got all that mucus and all
that stuff in his nose, and he starts sucking his sweat and
cleaning his mouth out. That cry didn't mean that it
was alive. It just gave evidence that it
was alive. It was alive in his mama's womb. It just comes out there and the
crying gives us evidence that it's alive. It's a healthy baby.
And that's the same thing that God does when He brings you out
and gives you that new birth. You start crying. Whoa! And I'll tell you something else.
Let God be true and ever made a liar. Talking about folks,
what they think. Nobody is saved who does not
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody, huh? Our Lord Jesus himself
said, except you believe that I am. I am. Who is I am? Moses, go down and
tell Pharaoh to let my people go. Well, who am I going to say
sent me? Say, I am that I am sent you. Self-existent, eternal, God of
all glory and power. I am! Not I was, not I will be, I am,
the eternal I am. Tell them I sent you. Our Lord
Jesus said acceptably that I am. You'll die in your sin. Huh? Therefore being justified by
faith we have peace with God. How? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? Look here in Romans 3.20
with me just a moment. Oh listen, he says, therefore
by the deeds of the law, by I mean trying to be saved by what you
do, there shall no offence be justified in his sight. For all
the law gives you is a knowledge of sin. But now, watch this,
I love this, but now the righteousness of God without the law, without
the Ten Commandments, without the ceremonial law and ritual,
but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested
being witnessed The law and the prophets gave witness to it.
They always said this. That a man couldn't be justified
by the law. That's why they had sacrifices
for sin. Because they knew that man couldn't
keep the law. And that's why they had a priest.
That's why they had an author. That's why they had bloodshedding.
It's because man couldn't keep the law. Now listen, even the
righteousness of God What is this righteousness of
God? I want that righteousness. I need to know what it is. That's
what I want. Whatever God's righteousness is, that's what I need, it tells
me. If I can't have a righteousness by my doing, I need someone else's
righteousness, even the righteousness of God, which by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. And there
ain't no difference in Jew or Gentile, bond and free. And oh,
beloved, that's why if a man doesn't believe in the Lord Jesus,
and I'm not talking about just some historical facts, but in
a living person, a living Lord. Someone who's alive, someone
sits at the right hand of God. Now, a person, we come to a person. We don't come to a work, we come
to a person who did a work. We don't come to facts, we come
to a person. We come to someone who has all
power, all authority. Someone, beloved, though he lived
on this earth, that's historical fact. He was crucified outside
Jerusalem a little over 2,000 years ago, that's a fact. He
was buried, and on Friday evening, Early Sunday morning, He arose
from the dead. He appeared for forty days and
forty nights to a multitude of people. And then one day, at
the end of that forty days, He ascended back up into glory,
and He set out the right hand of God after He had put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Those are facts. But I'm telling you, beloved,
facts don't save me. A person saves me. A person bore
my sin. A person died on the cross. A
person satisfied God. A person's blood was what was
shed. Ain't that right? We've come
to a person. I've got a historical fact that
I'm married. I've got a wedding ring to prove
it. I've got a license to prove it. But I don't want to go to
bed with my wedding ring and my license. I want to go to bed
with a person. I want somebody, a living person,
to hug up to and keep me warm when it's cold. I want to drink
coffee with a person. I want to sit down and have a meal
with a person. And so what I'm telling you is we come to a person,
not fact. And, oh, beloved, and I tell
you, fly to Him. Fly to Him. Oh, my. Run to Him. Plead to Him. Call on Him. Beg Him, fall before
Him, and say, Lord, I'm nothing in Your everything. I'm nobody,
but You're everybody. I have nothing, but You have
everything. Would You please have mercy on
me? And I tell you, you'll fly to
Him for refuge, and it'll be inevitable if you ever see Him.
If you ever see Him, if you ever see Him, you will come to Him,
and once you start coming to Him, you'll always, always, always
be coming to Him. Huh? That's what our Lord says,
come unto Me. No man comes to the Father but
by Me. And I'll water what anybody says.
Nobody's saved who's not born again. Nobody's saved who does
not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know that fellow
that come talk to me, he said, I said, well, was your experience
the Savior or was it Christ? Because he told me this wild
experience he had. Lights, things that happened,
and I said, well, was it your experience the Savior or was
it Christ the Savior? He said it was both. I said,
it can't be both. It can't be both. And you know,
I've had experiences, man, a lot. Oh, I've had experiences. But
I do not trust in one feeling I've got. Sometimes I feel down, sometimes
I feel up, sometimes I feel lifeless, sometimes I feel like I'm on
fire. I don't trust in any experience I've ever had. And I had them,
and I will have them again. I'm trusting in one person and
what God said about him. I said, I'm trusting you. And
oh, let me tell you this. Yea, let God be true in every
man of iron. A man does not know and is not
saved who has not heard the gospel. Now, I want you to understand
this right here. A man is not saved who has not heard the gospel.
And there ain't but one gospel. Paul said, I marvel, told the
Galatians, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him
that called you. under the grace of Christ unto
another gospel, which is not another gospel. He said it's
a perversion of the gospel. What was the perversion of the
gospel? Adding anything to the gospel, anything to Christ, I
don't care if it's a hair on a... If it's as fine as a frog
hair on the scale, if you put it in there with Christ, you
don't know Him. That's right. And that's what
the gospel teaches us. And that's why Paul said, if
I or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than I've preached,
let God curse that man. Let God curse him. Look over
here in Ephesians with me right quick. Ephesians chapter 1. Oh, we got to know something
about this gospel. And why I know is because I can
talk about these things because I've been back there. I've been
back there when I said, well, God wouldn't be fair if He didn't
do this, and God wouldn't be fair if He didn't do that. And,
oh, my, well, surely, surely my prayers is carrying some weight
with God. I get off on the hillside and,
you know, they can hear me praying two miles away. Oh, you know, people can hear,
what's a man praying down there, down there in the heart of the
woods? Anything wrong with him? No, he just up there praying. Stuck her praying. Y'all know,
y'all know exactly, y'all been through this yourself. Y'all
been through this yourself. Look what he said here in Ephesians
1 and verse 12. That we should be to the praise
of the glory of Christ, praise of His glory who first trusted
Christ. Now watch this. In whom ye also
trusted. After, after, after that you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Now
I'm asking you, did you hear the word of truth? And when you
heard that word of truth, did it become the gospel of your
salvation? You see, the gospel, Paul said,
it's my gospel. Everybody says, you know, all
of us say the gospel, my gospel. There was a gospel that came
to me one day, and I heard it, I heard the Word of Truth, and
that, when I heard it, that gospel became my gospel, became the
gospel, the good news of my salvation. And watch what he says. And whom
also, after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Huh? So you see, and I'm telling
you something, beloved, the gospel is definable. The gospel is called
the gospel of God. Not the gospel of man plus his
free will. Not the gospel of man's love
is best he's doing. The gospel of God. The gospel
of His grace. The gospel that gives Him all
the glory. Anything that takes away from
the glory of God in any way is not the gospel. And it concerns
His Son. Look back over in Romans chapter
1 just a moment. And this is, you know, this gives
me some hope when I hear these things and see these things and
know these things, that what I believed and all the things
that I've done with all my legalism and all my fundamentalism, it
did not change the truth of God whatsoever, did it? Uh-huh. I remember talking to preachers
who believed this stuff. And I say, well, what about this?
What about that? Not asking questions and stuff
like that. Did what I believe, I never will forget. Maybe just
answer me. My belief and what I was trying to convince him
of did not change their faith, what they believed, or the Word
of God at all. And that's what they're singing. Well, let God
be true, and you're the liar. God certainly ain't gonna be
a liar. If you don't believe what He says, you're the liar. Huh? The Scripture said over
1 John 5, it said over there, we have the witness, he that
trusts Christ has the witness in himself. He that receives
not the testimony of God, who does not believe on God's Son,
hath made him a liar. Made God a liar? Look here in
Romans chapter 1, verse 4. 1, excuse me, Romans 1, 1. Paul, A servant of Jesus Christ called
of God to be an apostle. What's this? Separated under
the gospel of God. Separated under the gospel of
God. That's how important it is that God separates a man to
preach that gospel. What is this gospel? It's the
gospel he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. You know, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, how that He was buried
according to the Scriptures, that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures. Now, what is this that He promised
by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures? Well, it concerning His Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what the Gospel concerns.
The Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one
Son of God, which was made the Son of David according to the
flesh, raised up to be on the throne, the rightful King to
the heir of David, the throne of David, and declared to be
the Son of God with power. What power? The Holy Ghost power,
the Spirit of God in the Scriptures, in God's Word, according to the
Spirit of wholeness by the resurrection of the dead. So you see, beloved,
the gospel concerns his son. And that's what he says down
in verse 16. Listen to this now. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of it. Why ain't
you ashamed of it, Paul? Because it's the power of God
unto salvation to everyone who believes. Why is it the power
of God? For therein God reveals how he
can be righteous, and the righteousness of God you've got to have. And
it's written that the just don't live by law, don't live by deeds,
don't live by flesh, don't live by what they think, feel, say,
or do. They live by faith. And, O beloved, I tell you, the
gospel of God is how God can be just. And there's three points
to the gospel, and let me just mention them real quick. Three
points. And these three points right here will tell you what
the gospel is. Sin. Man is lost, helplessly
lost. He's a sinner from the top of
his head to the sole of his foot. How are you going to deal with
that sin? Who's going to put it away? God, if He's just, He's
got to punish you for that sin. He will not clear you. All right,
well then, somebody then has to bear your sins. Somebody has
to take your place. That's substitution. Christ bore our sins in His own
body on the tree. The just for the unjust. God
made Him to be sin. And so, you see, Christ was the
Lamb of God. So our sins was put on Him. Not
just to do that. Because Christ willed to do it. Christ delighted to do it. God
covenanted. Christ covenanted to do it. And
then that substitution, that lamb that was offered, that blood
that was shed, that one who stood in our place with sin on him,
Now, do you reckon he satisfied the justice of God with the sin
that was put on him when he died and God poured out His wrath
on him and justly condemned him to death for bearing our sins
on him? Did he satisfy God's justice? If it was, is God's
justice then put back in his sheep and all for whom Christ
died? Now God looks on them and says,
I justify them because my son put their sin away. And they
look to Him for everything. Three words. Let me ask you, have you heard
that gospel? Or another one? Let me tell you this. Let me
look at Romans 10 right there. Romans 10. And I know this in
regards to what people say. I never will forget it. And I'll tell you who it was.
When we began to learn the gospel and understand the gospel, Billy
Mitchell was at my house one time. And him and his wife both said,
well, watch you all believe now. There ain't no hope for no heathen.
There ain't no hope for no people in these foreign countries. He
said, but God couldn't... God is not... He cannot be God
if He don't give a man a chance, no matter where he's at on the
face of this earth. He said, you all are making God too sorry. And he had claimed to believe
this for a long time. And out of the mouth of the babe
says, how in the world can God be too sovereign? How can He
be too sovereign? And you make a man too dead. If a man's dead, I mean, this
is the moment the life leaves him, he's as dead as he'll ever
be. He may not be cold yet, but his life's gone. What we believe gives God all
the glory. Now, did his ideas and his sayings
and that, did it change the faith of God? Did it change what God
had already told me? And we parted ways that day,
and didn't part ways for all them years. And he gets up and
says, I feel sorry for that poor old preacher over there. I done
him so much good. I helped him so much. And he went off the
deep end on distillation and predestination. If I went off
a deep end, buddy, I tell you what, it's a wonderful place
to be. I'm just as happy as if I had good sense. I'm swimming
in it. I'm like old Barney. Just dive in and soak your soul
in this. Because it gives God all the glory. I don't have to
get up here and tell you what you need to do. All that. No, no. And all right, I tell
you, nobody's saved who believes, who is ignorant of the righteousness
of God. Now, what do I mean by that? Man's not saved until he's
born again. Man cannot say he's saved until
he believes the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust Him and Him alone. A man
cannot be saved who does not believe the gospel and heard
the gospel. He's got to hear the gospel. And fourthly, a man
is not saved who is ignorant of the righteousness of God.
Look here in Romans 10. Brethren, my heart's desire And
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. He just
got through sin over there that they had a lot of advantages
in being a Jew. But here he is, he's praying
that they might be saved. For I go on record before God,
before them, and in the Word of God, that they have a zeal
of God. But their zeal is based on ignorance. It's not according
to knowledge. How do you know, Paul, that they're being ignorant
of God's righteousness? How do you know they're ignorant
of it? They're going about to establish their own. Well, I know I was
saved. I went to that altar, and I felt
this goose bumps run down me, and I saw this light, and I quit
my sinning. I quit smoking even. I threw
my tobacco away. I changed. I took off my... I
heard one woman say, I know I saved preachers. I took off my bridges. That's an awful thing to trust
in. I got saved. I went from wearing
pants to wearing skirts. But that was a time we all felt
like that, didn't we? Boy, we know. You could always
tell who was religious and we was religious enough. Remember
years ago, we'd go swimming and you girls would wear skirts and
you'd pin them in here so you wouldn't even put on a bathing
suit. You reckon we knew anything about
God back then? Couldn't have had a clue. Couldn't
have had a clue. Couldn't have. Ignorance. Ignorant of God's
will. How do we know? We was doing our damn little
best to build us a house. A house that God can look on
and say, boy, that's a fine building. I'm working on a mansion. I'm
building a bridge. I'm building it strong and I'm
building it wide. If anybody makes it to heaven,
Lord, surely I will. Oh, ignorant of God's righteousness.
How do you know? All you've got to do is read
the Scriptures and look at people. And have not submitted themselves
under the righteousness of God. They haven't bowed down, submitted,
and said, Lord, I want Your righteousness. I don't want mine. I don't want
anything to do with myself, my flesh, my deeds, my doing. And
they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
What is the righteousness of God? Christ is the end, the fulfillment,
the goal for righteousness. Now watch this. To everyone that
believes. Believes. Belief. Righteousness don't have anything
with doing. It has to do with believing.
It don't have to do with working. It has to do with resting. It
don't have to do with being busy, it has to do with standing still. Ain't that right? Have you heard
that? That righteousness that God's
given us. That's why Paul said, If righteousness come by the
law, and this really, really got me when I understood it clear
as a bell. If righteousness come by the
law, By anything we've done, if God could have given a law
that would have given us righteousness, he says, then Christ would have
not died. And if righteousness comes by
the law, by us doing, then Christ is dead in vain. You come to
God with anything other than Jesus Christ, and you're saying
that the death of Christ is in vain. There was no purpose in
the death of Christ. That's what you say if you come
by your own righteousness. Well, and I'm done. I'm going
to say one more point. The Lord wanted to say, I don't
care if you're religious, pagan, heathen, black, white, I don't
care where they're from, China, Russia, wherever they're from,
who doesn't continue in the faith. Not born again, don't believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, who have not heard the gospel, who
are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and who doesn't continue
in the faith. If you can quit, you will one
of these days. If you can walk away from the
gospel one of these days, you will, won't you? We've seen it
happen too many times. He said, they went out from us
because they were not of us. For if they were of us, there's
no doubt they would have continued with us. Now that's a pretty
strong statement. That means that a man really
believed in what he taught, what he believed, and what he taught
his people. And what John taught those folks was, he said, what
I'm telling you is the truth, and you believe that. And if
you believe what I'm telling you, and you believe the gospel,
and you believe the truth, you'll continue right in that same gospel.
You'll continue right in that truth. You ain't got no place
else to go. And he said, if you don't continue
with us, that's because you were never of us. Oh my. Look with me in John chapter
8 real fast, and I'll be done. That's why, you know, we are
them that believe to the saving of the soul. We are them that
believe to the saving of the soul. And I've said this a hundred
times. I know I've said it at least
a hundred times over the years, that if I quit, if I quit, If
I go to another gospel, if I quit, and I leave the gospel, and I
decide to stay home, I don't have to go back to the world,
just decide to stay home, twiddle my thumbs, pump up my feet, whittle
and spit, enjoy my kids, enjoy my grandkids, what if I decide
to do that? And not attend the gospel anymore.
Not attend where the worship is. Not attend where somebody's
telling the truth on God. You know the first thing you
ought to say about me? Donny Bell quit. He don't believe the
gospel. And if he don't believe it now, he never did believe
it. That's our life. Christ, who is our life. This
is not just facts I'm trying to tell you. This is not just
a little outline I'm trying to give you. And oh, look here in John 8,
verse 30. As he spake these words, many
believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, If you continue in my word, are you
my disciples indeed. Oh, well, you know, I don't believe,
listen. Folks leave and they'll, you
know, they'll leave because they're mad at somebody. They'll leave
because their feelings get hurt over this, that, or the other.
Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. No matter what the reason is,
if you leave the gospel, you leave Christ. Because Christ
and the Gospels, one and the same. And I... These disciples, they said, you
know, Christ said, no man come unto me except the Father, said
he was drunk. They turned around and said, Lord, that's a hard
saying. Who can hear it? And among two disciples turned
away and walked with him no more. You know what he said? Turned
to the twelve and said, you're going to walk away too? Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words. Continue
in my words, you have the words of eternal life. And we believe
and are sure, sure, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. I'm sure of that. I'm sure of that. Our Father, in the blessed holy
glory...