All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia, Galatians
chapter one. I am in a sense looking forward
to this series on this book, but at the same time, I have a great fear because there's
so much in this book. And I don't want to gloss over
it. It's short compared to Romans, but it's still just as rich as
Romans is. And I'm only gonna read a couple
verses, but I'll give you my title. My title's this, Paul's
Authority, Paul's Message. Paul's Authority, Paul's Message. Now, Galatians chapter one, verses
one and two. Paul, an apostle. not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father who
raised him from the dead, and all the brethren which are with
me unto the churches of Galatia." Now, unlike letters like Romans,
1st and 2nd Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and
1st and 2nd Thessalonians, for that matter, those were all letters
written by Paul to an individual, one local assembly. Now, for
instance, in Rome or Corinth, they may have met in different
places. They may not have had a church building as we think
of today. We do know, according to Paul
in Romans, as we have seen, that some people had the church in
their own house. They met in certain people's
houses. But be that as it may, all these other books were written
to one local assembly. This letter here was written
to at least two because it says, unto the churches of Galatia. Now, this is important, but it's
certainly not vital for us to know, but there is no such thing
as the church, or the Roman church, or the Galatian church, or the
Corinthian church. There is the church at Rome.
There is the church at Corinth. There's no such thing as the
Baptist church. I will even go so far as to say
there is no such thing as white churches and black churches.
You hear that a lot today. Only people of religion talk
like that. Now again, I say, those other
letters were letters to individual local assemblies in particular
cities. Galatia was a region in what is now North Central
Turkey, and that just boggles my mind because as far as we
know, there is no gospel in Turkey anymore. I mean, it's all Islam,
it's all Muslim. Any church that is there is probably
underground, Mac, at best, so to speak. But Galatia, as I said,
was a region in what is now north central Turkey. It was a Roman
province in Paul's time. At least two churches, but probably
more than just two. Now Paul, according to verse
Chapter 4 and verse 13 and according to chapter 4 verse 14 Paul was
the instrument through which these people heard the gospel
You'll see that verse for 13 and these people were overjoyed
with the Apostle Paul You'll see that in verse 14 of chapter
4 But a very serious problem had taken hold in the region The very fact that Paul writes
this to all the churches of Galatia, these Judaizers, as some people
termed them, these law men, but they weren't just law men, but
we'll deal with that later. I'm not gonna deal with that
this morning. They had evidently spread through all these churches.
This gives me one lesson of thought. What we hold to here can affect
people in other places who fellowship with us and know us. As Earl
used to quote, no man is an island. No man is an island. But this
serious problem had taken hold in the region, even or especially
in the churches. But here's an amazing thing.
Paul does not begin this letter by railing against them, does
he? Mm-mm. Look, it goes on. Next
verse, verse, grace be to you and peace. You see it? In spite. of their having given over to
this error. Now that's an amazing statement.
Now I do agree with what Don Fortner said. He preached a series
where he preached one message from every book in the Bible,
and he said you can detect Paul's anger in this letter. You could
detect his anger, but his anger is toward those who had bewitched
these people, not the people themselves. I know this world
says we are to love everyone, but you cannot. You cannot. Dare I say, we even dare not. Paul said, if any man loved not
our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. Let him
be accursed, the Lord is coming. It's amazing. You don't hear too many places
teaching that, do you? But again, I say Paul does not
rail against them, but rather gives straightforward warnings
and exhortations. Now, as I've already pointed
out, I just have two thoughts this morning. Paul states his
God-given authority, and there's a reason for this. And then Paul
states his message. So first of all, his God-given
authority, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man. but by Jesus Christ, God the
Father, who raised him, that is, Christ from the dead. Now,
first of all, let me just, this is basically just lesson right
now. Apostleship, there were only 12. And I will go so far
as to say the disciples, after Christ's ascension, picked Matthias,
but you remember how they picked him? This is a illustration,
I don't know exactly, and they rolled the dice. Now we know,
I am sure that one of them probably thought, you know, the lot is
in, they'll cast into the lap, but the whole disposing there
is of the Lord, but Matthias was not the 12th, Paul was. Now how do I know there was only
12? Because Christ said there would be only 12, and I'm not
going to read it, but you could read it later, Matthew 19, 27,
28. 12 apostles, 12 apostles. Paul was directly ordained of
God to be an apostle. He was the 12th, but an apostle
is this, one who is, this is the literal meaning of the word,
one who is sent out. one who is a special emissary,
an actual eyewitness with personal instruction from Jesus Christ
himself. And Paul alludes to that, though
he doesn't say it to where I could be dogmatic about it, but he
said in verse 15, but when it pleased God who separated me
from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his
son in me that I might preach him among the heathen, that's
the Gentiles. Immediately I conferred not the
flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that
were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned
again into Damascus. Christ taught Paul himself. There is a real sense in which
none of us can say that. Now yes, God is our teacher,
but he uses means. He uses means. Now, so we see
that as apostle. Now think about this. According
to the scripture, the gospel was their sole message. Our Lord told the 11, go ye into
all the world and preach, what? The gospel. The gospel, now there
are many other, as I've said before, there are many other
topics in the scripture, and they must be dealt with, but
they must center, or have as their center, Jesus Christ and
him crucified. Must be. Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized, be saved. Believe what? The gospel. The
gospel. Secondly, they had authority
to insist on Christ's doctrine. Turn to Matthew 28, I wanna read
that. They had the authority to insist,
to command obedience to Christ's doctrine. Matthew chapter 28,
verse 17. And when they saw him, they worshiped,
but some doubted. Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, Paul's already quoted, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations. Now, I want you to think about
that. Right now, he's already told them. He's told them the Gentiles
are gonna be included. I don't think they got it. Peter
didn't get it at first, did he? He didn't get it for months,
or at least, or weeks at least. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen. Now, how do I put this? I'm gonna
state it like I've got it here, but then I want to deal with
it a little more. An apostle was a special ascension
gift of Jesus Christ himself. When he went back to glory, he
gave gifts unto men. Now turn to Ephesians four, we'll
read that. We'll read where that is stated.
Ephesians chapter four. Now, before I read those verses,
let me say this. because error has to be exposed. It must be exposed. I'm sure
there are certain denominations, certain ilks of so-called Christianity,
when they think about ascension gifts, what do they think about?
Tongues? Healing? Yeah, prophecy? All
of these things in which everybody can be involved, right? It's
not what the Apostle Paul wrote. Look at Ephesians chapter four.
And let's just start at the first of the chapter. I therefore the
prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the
vocation with which you are called. Don't let anybody ever tell you
that your walk doesn't matter. It does matter. But it doesn't
gain you one ounce of merit before God. But it still matters. with
all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love. Why? Because we're hard to bear
with. We're hard to bear with. You see it? Endeavoring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Keeping it, not
make it. If we make it, it could be broken.
Let me go so far to say if we make it, it probably ought to
be broken. But this is peace isn't a piece. This is that peace
that is established by God in the person of Jesus Christ. There
is, how many? One body. You remember that guy
sang the song, Pity, this morning we was listening to? Very beautiful
singing, but he talks, talked about that John Newton pastored
several different Christian bodies. No, it's the wrong choice of
words. Maybe several different Christian
assemblies, local assemblies, but there is how many bodies?
One. Whether they meet at Crow, or
they meet down in Rocky Mount, or they meet in Dingus, there
is how many bodies? One. There is one body and one
spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who
is above all and through all and in you all. But look at it,
but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure
of the gift of Christ. You have exactly the amount of
grace that you need in any specific time. Now we ought to seek more
grace. We ought to cry out for more
grace, but he'll give it. He'll give it, but look. Wherefore,
he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts to the poor. unto men, do you see that? Now
that he ascended, what is it? But that he also descended first
into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill
all things. So that's in parentheses. Now
it continues. What is these gifts? And he gave
some, what? Apostles. And they're at the
top of the list. Why? Somebody said, but why?
It's not because of them. It's because of God. This is
the way God ordained it. This is the way it is. And he
gave some apostles and some prophets. And by my understanding, what
I see from this, from the scripture, these were not men that simply
foretold about the future. but men who were given special
gift and understanding of the Old Testament and how the Old
Testament spoke of Christ. They had a gift from God, but
they were also a gift from God. Now that's what I'm pointing
out. And some evangelists, now that is not the preacher who
comes and preaches a weak meeting. I was always brought up, the
evangelist comes at least once a year, preaches a revival meeting.
This is not an evangelist, this is a person who takes the gospel
where the gospel was never preached before. Look at it, and sons
what? Pastors and teachers. Now that boggles my mind. And I do not mean this as God
is my witness. I do not mean this in a boasting
way. But men who are sent of God as pastor teachers are a
gift from God. Treat them that way. Treat them
that way. Do you like to be encouraged
in what you do? God's men need to be encouraged in what they
do. When they come here or any other place every Sunday, time
after time after time, and people just walk out that door, it makes
them wonder, are they really hearing what God's given me to
say? Have they heard it so long that
it no longer affects them and moves them? God, help us. I'm talking about me too, because
we have two other men that stand here almost every Sunday and
preach to us. God help us. We need encouragement. And somebody
said, but if I brag on them, it may swell their head. Their
head's swelled already. It's already swelled. I mean,
the very fact that I know that if God truly sent me, I am one
of the ascension gifts of Christ, it swells my head. But God brings
me low nonetheless. You see, do you see the magnitude
of this? And I think about this, this
is for us. and maybe for other places. We have three men that
can ably preach the gospel, and we know of some of our sister
assemblies, they're struggling to find just one. And I say this
not to be mean or overbearing. We've got a lot of younger preachers,
but they refuse to take a pastorate. I don't, Mac, I don't understand
that. What did God put you in the ministry for? To be an evangelist
and preach five-day meetings? No, mm-mm. What do we see now? The only thing I know we have
now is this, evangelist, pastor, teachers. That's what we got.
Now the apostles are gone. We don't need prophets to have
special insight into the Old Testament. We have the New Testament
that explains the Old Testament to us. But we do need evangelists. Men that God will send, I think
of, I can't even think of his name now, that went down to Mexico.
I mean, he had five or six kids, Walter Groover, went down to
Mexico, had five or six kids. One of them was just an infant.
And he was so impressed to go to preach to the Mexicans in
Mexico. And there were people who were
criticizing, you don't love your family. You don't love your children.
You don't love your parents or your wife's parents. And for
almost a year, they suffered. I mean, his wife got down to
92 pounds, I'm told. Why? Because God meant to send
him to Mexico to preach to the elect that were there. And we
ought to thank God for being like that. We ought to thank
God for men like Earl Cochran that comes into this county years
ago, Ellen. and preach the gospel, the gospel,
the gospel. But look, but there's a reason
for these gifts, see it? What? For the perfecting of the
saints. You are not your own pastor. I am not my own pastor. Earl
Cochran was my pastor, and Joe and Paul still pastor me today
as they preach the truth. For the perfecting of the, you're
not your own pastor. You're not your own brother or
sister. You're not your own leader. You're not your own guide. You're
definitely not your own authority, and neither am I. But these men
God sends out, they have an authority. Now, for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying or the building
up of the body of Christ, do we all come into the unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God and to a perfect
man and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cutting
craftiness whereby they lay in wait to deceive. And there are
thousands of them out there. And some of them are really good
at what they do. You can listen to some of them preach and you
think, man, I think he knows the truth. But when you listen to
him for very long, you find out, just like old Oral used to say,
even a blind hog will find a nut every once in a while. There
are hucksters out here. You remember what Paul told us
to do about these hucksters, don't you? Avoid them. Avoid
them, okay? But speaking the truth in love. Now it does not say speak your
mind. We don't need you to speak your mind. You don't need me
to be speaking my mind. If I spoke my mind, you'd probably
put me out of here. Because you don't want to know
what I always think, do they, Penny Jones? She answered that
one in the affirmative quick. But speaking what? The truth.
And here's the, when I was young, I didn't know much about that.
I knew about speaking the truth, Ellen, but I don't know how much
love was in it. I don't know how much love was
in it. I don't now, but I've listened to some of my older
messages and said, I don't know how in the world Earl Cochran
put up with that young whippersnapper behind that podium for all that
time. And I understand why you couldn't put up with me now,
because I know a little bit about me. But speaking the truth in
love may grow up into him. Notice that. It's not just grow
up. All of so-called Christianity
talk about growing, growing, being better. This is grow up
how? In him. Miss Penny and I were talking,
we were listening to some songs this morning. You know, this
world, wants God to reward them. They want to serve God for God
to reward them. They don't understand that God
himself is the reward. That he would reveal himself
to such despicable creatures as who are his enemies by nature. And to him to open my eyes, so
here I am. Look at this book, I've showed you who I am. That boggles my mind. I don't deserve it. Jack, I don't
even deserve to even see it, let alone have the responsibility
to stand here and declare it to others publicly. And that
weighs upon me deeply. The older I get, the more forgetful
I get. Red, it weighs upon me even more deep. And I remember
our dear Pastor and brother Earl Cochran telling me, he said,
Walter, I'm afraid to get behind the podium. This was in his last
months or years, whatever it was. I'm afraid to get behind
the podium because I'm afraid of what I'll say. That takes
the grace of God. He realized his mind would wander. I mentioned that to Don Fortner,
of course, before Don died, of course. And I said, If he'd have
said something wrong, how would I have told him, Earl, that's
not right? You know what I'm saying? How would I have told
him? And you know what, Don looked
at him and said, you couldn't. Thank God, God did it the way he did
it. That man and every other man that stood here, whether
they're your personal pastor or not, is a gift from God. Yeah, let's just move on. But
speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly,
think about it, fitly joined together, and compacted by that
which every joint supplies. How do I put it? If I don't say
this exactly right, you forgive me for it, and Paul or Joe could
correct me the right way to say it later, but we feed on one
another. as well as feeding on Christ.
Our fellowship together, though it may be a small one, is for
our spiritual good. I shudder to think if God killed
all of y'all and left me here by myself. You understand what
I'm saying? Oh yeah, I could go somewhere
else, but that's not the point. from whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies
according to the, but aren't you glad it don't depend on us?
You see it, look. Look, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body
and the edifying of itself in love. God is having his way with
us. And if you feel like you don't
know much, Listen to me, be glad. Be glad. Because none of us,
none of us, me included, knows anything yet as we ought to know
it. I don't even, Penny and I talked
about this as well, I don't even know the true depth of my depravity. I think if I did, Jack, in this
state, if God really showed me what I'm like in his sight, I
couldn't breathe. I couldn't live, I couldn't function.
I have a difficult time knowing what little bit I do know about
myself. Let's move on. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord that she henceforth what? Walk. But here's the negative. Walk
not as other Gentiles walk in the emptiness of the mind. Boy, don't we see that today.
Now, I might as well say this. I mean, when you can go to the
job site and tell your boss that you identify as a cat and you
want a litter box to do your business in, that's an empty
mind. Huh? And you say, that don't
really, that's really happening. It's really happening. And the
emptiness of their mind, here we go, having, The understanding,
darkened. You see that? Being alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them
because of the blindness of their heart. Oh, brothers and sisters,
apart from the grace of God, that would be me. That would
be me. I'd be one of those unbelieving
wretches. But thank God, Even though I'm
wretched, bless God, I am a believing wretch. Look at it. Who being, past feeling. Now wait, don't think of all
you see out there as a recent development. It's always been
there. And in certain ages, especially
in Paul's day, there were people that practiced such lewd things,
and it was out in the open. And in certain countries, those
things are suppressed. But even in our own country now,
what is it? They're pulling back the walls, pulling back the rules,
pulling back the laws. And men and women begin to show
themselves for what they really are. And by nature, I am just
like them. Although this frightens me, I,
apart from the providence of God Almighty, could be a Charles
Manson. Penny sees that on the road. Think God is not legal to shoot
people you don't like. We're the same way, it's just
God Almighty didn't let us turn us over. He didn't let us go.
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness. Do you see it? I
will have my way. Let's give you a case in point. Now, maybe I don't have the right
words. A male who identifies as a female is allowed to go
into whatever restroom he wants in his school, 13, 14, 15 year
olds. He, this male who identifies
as a female, goes into the female restroom and sexually assaults
a young woman, and the school covers it up. and it comes out
in the board meeting, and the father of the girl is upset because
people's covering this up, and they haul him off. And put him
in jail, arrest him, put him in jail. And were it not for
the governor of Virginia pardoning the man, he probably would still
be in jail. Now you tell me if this world ain't topsy-turvy.
Hmm? Topsy-turvy. But ye have not
so learned Christ. Now if you think that's the way
even a believer can think, you're dead wrong. You're dead wrong. But ye have not so learned Christ.
If so, be that ye have heard him and been taught by him as
the truth is in Jesus. Put off all that stuff. Isn't
that what he says? Everything that has to do with
the old you, put it off. And you got to do that over and
over and over and over and over. You'll never win the battle in
this world, but you still keep putting it off, putting it off,
putting it off, right? If you don't, it'll consume you.
that you put off concerning the former way of life, conversation,
it's not just what you say, it's how you act, no, how you conduct
yourself, better word, that you put off concerning the former
conversation, the old man, what, which is corrupt according to
deceitful lusts. And that doesn't have to be just
immorality. Even our righteousnesses are
filthy rags in God's sight. and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. There is some
good in us, but there is no good in our flesh. Now I don't know
how to explain that, but it's simply a fact. I am both old
man, but thank God I am also new man. And I've mentioned,
this only dawned on me in the past few years, and I've been
preaching for almost 40 years. What I have in the new man doesn't
need improvement. It's the very thing I'll have
when I get to glory. I'm just gonna drop this flesh.
I won't be better than I am now in Christ. When I get to glory,
I'll just drop this flesh in the old man completely. Isn't
that amazing? It's there in us. No, even more,
he is there in us. And then Paul goes on, wherefore,
put him away. And he tells us, he says, this
is, you know, it's not an exhaustive list, but we're so forgetful,
we gotta be reminded that lying is wrong. Yeah, I mean, it's so easy for
my tongue to utter a lie. And I look back and say, why
did I say that? You ever done that? Wasn't even intending to
jack a lion and still lie like a dog as they say. But aren't you glad God gave
us these gifts to keep telling us and telling us and telling
us. And I have to keep reminding
myself and reminding myself, but move on. Paul had authority. What Paul said went when it came
from Christ. What Walter says, what Joe says,
what Paul says goes when it comes from this book. It goes, it stands,
no matter how much I may chafe under it. Okay, Paul now states his message,
that God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We don't preach just Christ crucified. We preach Jesus Christ, a living,
reigning, ascended Lord. We preach Jesus Christ and him
crucified. Now, hear me now, think about
this. Oh God, help us to put on this, being renewed in what
the Spirit of your might think about this. Christ's birth and
life only is not the gospel. But there are people who think
they're saved because they believe that Christ was born and lived
in this world. Listen to me, Christ's death
only is not the gospel. You can believe in the birth
and life and death and still not be saved. Here's another
thought, the facts, the facts of Christ's birth, life and death
Death and resurrection only are not the gospel. But yet that's
what I was raised to believe. In that religious place I was
basically born and raised in. If you believe in the birth,
life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, well you're
a Christian. That ain't so. Look at Romans chapter one. Now
you know this. Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God. Now,
move on to verse three. What is it? Concerning his son,
Jesus Christ the Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. As I've said over and over again,
with all the conflict in the world, all of that conflict and
hatred toward Jews that is over there in the Far East right now,
you will bow to a circumcised Jew or you will perish. That's
right. You're gonna bow to a circumcised
Jew or you will perish. And he was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh, but look, and declared to be. Do you see it? He wasn't made
this one. He already and has always been
this one. He was made. You see, he was
made of the seed of David according to the flesh, but and declared
to be the son of God with what? Authority and might. The Christ
of God is not this weak, sissified, effeminate Jesus that is pawned
off on men and women in this day. You believe in that Jesus,
I don't care what you believe about him, you are lost. You
are lost. Declared to be the Son of God
with power according to the spirit of holiness, his holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead. The very fact that God raised
him up from the dead, God said, that man's holy. My only hope
of such a resurrection is to be where? In Him. In Him. Look at 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse one, moreover brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel. Now we're about to hear something
now, aren't we? Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I have preached unto you, which also you have received
or wherein you stand, by which also you're saved, if you keep
in memory that which I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. So there is a vain believing.
All believing's not good. Some believing is empty. It's
still believing, but it's empty believing. I'll go so far as
to say you can be a five-point Calvinist and still not know
the gospel. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, here it is, how that Christ died
for our sins, and here it is, according to the scriptures. In the Old Testament, when a
sacrifice was offered, what had to take place next? The sin must
be forgiven. Isn't that what all the Old Testament
teaches? The sin must be forgiven. What
are men teach about Christ today? Well, he died for your sins,
but that's not good enough. You've got to make it worthwhile. You've
got to make it effectual. You have to make it apply. You
can't. It's not about you seeing the blood. It's about God Almighty. about God the Father seeing the
blood. That's the Old Testament scripture, isn't it? When I pass through Egypt, I'll
slaughter the firstborn of every male, cattle, horses, dogs, cats,
everything. I'm gonna kill the firstborn.
And God said, and when I see the blood, I will pass over Egypt. Aren't you glad God saw the blood?
Because I don't always see the blood. Do you? He ever sees the
blood, though it was shed but one time. Now look, we're not done. And
that he was buried and that he rose again the third day, notice
the emphasis, according to the scriptures. and that he was seen
of Cephas, then of the 12. After that, he was seen of about
500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto
this day, to this present, but some are falling asleep. After
that, he was seen of James, and then of all the apostles, and
last of all, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due
time. Now look at him, for I, this
is Paul, Paul knew this. He's an apostle, right? With authority, had the daily
care of the churches. Not one church, not just one
church like me or you, Paul, Joe. For I am the least of the
apostles, that I am not meet, not qualified to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. but by the
grace of God, I am what I am. You see it? And his grace which
was bestowed upon me, what was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not in vain. Paul refuses to take one percent,
even a fraction of a percent of the credit, right? I labored
more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me. Therefore, Whether it were I
or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Now if Christ be
preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you
that there is no resurrection of the dead? And he goes on to
this thing about the resurrection. You see, here's, now turn to
Romans five. This is, I have to confess, this
is one of my favorite passages. This, in 2 Corinthians chapter
five, the last part of it. Turn to Romans five, I'll read
a few verses. Here we're gonna talk about the gospel. Okay,
the gospel, what is the gospel? The gospel is this. It is the
certain results of Christ's birth, life, and death. death, resurrection,
and ascension. It is the certainty of what he
accomplished when he died on that tree and God raised him
from the dead. And this is what Paul gives us
in Romans chapter five, verse six. For when we were yet without
strength. So how much strength did we have?
Let's see. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for who? The ungodly. You see, ungodly. Now, there's
a lot of sinners in this world, but not too many of them are
ungodly sinners, are they? Them people I talked about when
they identify as a cat, oh yeah, of course they're ungodly, no. because only ungodly people have
hope in Christ. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to what? Repentance. In due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. I thank God for that. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. But God commended his love
toward us in that while we were yet what? Sinners. Christ died,
He didn't die for us because we deserved it. He died for us
in spite of the fact that we had merited His wrath and anger.
Christ died for us, much more than, being now justified, how? By His blood. And somebody would say, well,
I need more justification than that. You can't get no more than that.
There is no more than that. Well, I need to be justified
in my own actions. You better stop. You better throw it off,
that's the old man. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. And I
love that the spirit of God moved, because now he's going to explain
exactly what he's saying, so you can't twist it around. Although
men still try to, nonetheless. For if, when, we, were, what? Enemies. Not believers. Not regenerated and converted.
For if, when, we, were what? Enemies. We were reconciled to
God, how? by the death of his son. Now you ever get to that point,
you'll say Christ died for just some people. Because some people
die and go to hell not reconciled to God. Those for whom he died,
he reconciled them to God when he died. That's the truth. Whether that's Calvinism or any
other ism, I really don't care what the ism is, that's the truth. You see it? For if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more being reconciled, and in the actual Greek, you could
put it in having, being reconciled. Being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life. He lives to make sure everyone
he died for will be with him in glory. He prayed that, according
to John 17, correct? He prayed that. Look, and not
only this, not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the reconciliation. That's the actual word. We've
received it. Paul, you're right. Aren't you
glad God didn't just have his son die for you and you have
to wait till you get the glory to find out whether you want
his or not? Wouldn't that be a miserable existence? It would
drive you mad, wouldn't it? So who'd he die for? ungodly
people, sinners. And if you're hearing me preach
this message, if you know you're ungodly, I have the right to
tell you Christ died for you. But if you don't think you're
ungodly, you've got no right to think Christ died for you.
And that's just the way it is. Just the way it is. But thank
God if he died for you, one day you will receive the very reconciliation
that he's already wrought when he died. I like that, don't you? Folks, that's how God saved me. One young preacher asked me at
Penny's dad's funeral, or actually his actual committal, wasn't
the funeral, we just had the committal. He buried his body
in the ground. And he said, you can always tell
a Calvinist when you hear one. But he asked me these words.
He said, well, when do you start believing these things? I said,
when God saved me. wouldn't God save me? Why? Because he thinks you don't have
to believe the truth of Jesus Christ to be saved. Now he wouldn't
put it that way, I know that. He don't believe those things,
but he considers himself to be saved. Do you believe that when
Christ died, those he died for, he reconciled? Do you believe
that those he reconciled shall be saved because he lives? It's
one or the other, Jack. You can't have it both ways.
You either believe that or you don't believe the gospel. You
can believe in the, Birth, life, death, burial, resurrection,
ascension, you can believe in all that and still perish if
you reject the truth about what he actually did when he died
on that tree. Because that, my brothers and
sisters, is the gospel. Jesus Christ and him, what? Crucified. And it means more than just he
died there, it's what did he do when he died there? He saves
some people. He saves, he reconciles some
people. He justifies some people. He
sanctifies some people. So what's my conclusion? Amen. That's what I say. Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for
the food we're about to partake of. The fellowship we seek to
have. Lord, thank you for your son.
Be with Joe and Debbie and others. When we think of Paul the neighbor
of Mack and Sandy, Lord, we just do, give them comfort. Lord, we don't know whether to
ask for healing or what, Lord, but just give them comfort. May
their eyes, may their ears, may their hearts be stayed upon Jesus
Christ, in his name, amen.