Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. In the epistle to the Romans
chapter one and verse 16, Paul the apostle wrote these words,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek. Very familiar verse to many,
and not so familiar so far as believing it to many. But he
says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. We all have plenty to be ashamed
of in life. Ashamed of our sins. failures,
shortcomings. At times even ashamed of my religion. Ashamed of my ignorance of God's
truth. Ashamed of my pretense and hypocrisy. I'm sometimes ashamed of my conduct
and the conduct of friends. A lot of things to be ashamed
of. But one thing I'm not ashamed of, and can gladly say with Paul
the apostle, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why
am I not ashamed? Why am I never ashamed of the
gospel? Because the verse continues, for, meaning because, here's
why. For it is the power of God unto
salvation. It's not just a path to follow. It's not a program to perform. The gospel is the power. God's
power. It's what gets the job done.
And people think, well, if I could just do a little more of this,
or a little less of that, and yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no.
The gospel is the power of God. And it's the power of God unto salvation. That little word unto,
it means reaching as far as. You remember our Lord said to
the disciples, wants to get in the boat, let us pass over unto
the other side. He didn't say anything about
a storm, there's gonna be one. He didn't say anything about
them being scared out of their wits and afraid they were gonna
perish. They did, they were. But he said let us pass over
unto as far as the other side. Now this gospel is the power
of God reaching as far as salvation. unto salvation. To whom? To everyone that believeth. Everyone that does what? Everyone
that believeth. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek or the Gentile. I am not ashamed of this power
that changes the hearts of sinners. It's the power that changed my
heart. Now a lot of folk are ashamed
of this. A lot of preachers are ashamed of it. They'd rather
give folks a to-do list. You know, a secret list of things
to do and unlock the power, the secret you've been looking for. Quit this, start that, do such
and such, don't do this, that, the other. The gospel of Jesus
Christ is itself the power of God. And we're to believe the
gospel. And power, of course, is authority. It's the authority of God unto
salvation. What Christ did on the cross
is what justifies God in justifying us. Apart from that, God could
never look on the likes of you and I with favor, no. But it's
what Christ did that justifies God in justifying us. So what is this gospel? It's
good news, good news. But obviously, it's not good
news for everybody. Most folks have no interest whatsoever. What is this good news? It's
that God, in eternity past, knowing man would fall, purposed not
to leave all the human race in the awful condition to which
we'd fallen. That's the good news. That's
why you and I are here today. Not because of anything we did,
but because God chose not to leave us where we were. That's
the only reason. He sent his son to live in this
world without sin and yet be condemned to die as a sinner
on the cross. and there on the cross he paid
for all the sin of his people. Not just the few millions you'll
commit while you're here, but the very nature of sin in
us. Sin is not what we do, it's what
we are. We do what we do because of what
we are. So Christ came and he's the savior
of the world. You'll find that phrase in there.
Not in the sense that all the world will be saved, but in the
sense that he's the only savior the world has. You come by Christ
or you don't come. God preserved Noah and his family
through the judgment of a universal flood. And in that way, God saved the
world. Noah and his family, eight souls
were instructed to get on the ark. Not millions, not hundreds,
not nine, not seven, but eight souls, read your Bible. were instructed to get on the
ark. How many got on? The eight that were instructed
to get on. How many survived the judgment?
The eight that got on the ark. God saved all he purposed to
save. You say, well, I always heard
Noah preached 120 years trying to get folks to get on the ark.
Yeah, I know you've heard that, but the Bible don't say that. The Bible says that Noah was
a preacher of righteousness. What does that mean? He's preaching
that God is righteous in doing what he's about to do. God is
righteous in sending judgment. God was fully justified in what
he was about to do. You say, well, how could a good,
and people ask me this, how could a God of love destroy a lot of
good people? Well, that's simple. There were
no good people. Because of sin, there's none
good. No, not one. Paul says this in the third chapter.
There's none good, no, not one. And in our day, it's the same.
There's none good, no, not one. Your sweet grandmother was just
like my sweet grandmother with a heart deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. God said some bad things about
us. But he said nothing about us
that wasn't true. You can agree with him or you
can hate him for it. And because of sin in you, you can do nothing but hate a
God like that, unless he melts your heart to agree with him
about what you are. Most of your religious folk,
I'm trying not to use that word good, because I just got through
saying there ain't no good. But most of your religious folk,
and would say, well, I'm not as bad as some. God's standard of judgment is
not some. It's one. The sinless one. The perfect one. Neither you,
I, or anyone else can survive the judgment of God standing
beside that one. He's too perfect, we're too imperfect.
Here's what I want. I don't want to be standing beside
that one. I want to be in that one. In that one. That's what Paul
said in Philippians 3.9, that I may be found in him. In him. I don't want God to look at me
outside of him. And only fools would. but in Him, in Him. It's not
me and Jesus got our own thing going. Got a good, no, no. It's He's got something going.
And I'm represented in Him. That's the good news for me of
the gospel. Christ is all my refuge. He's
all my righteousness. And you know, this sissified,
fleshly religion Build my mansion next door to Jesus. No, no, my
dwelling is in Jesus. Build me a cabin in the corner
of glory land. No, my stay is in Him who sits
on the throne. You can have the corners. I want
to be found in Him. Well, okay, halfway. I'm just getting started here.
Who and what is this gospel about? It's about the glory due to the
Son of God for what he's done. The Lamb of God who laid down
his life for his sheep. He was not a victim on the cross.
He was a victor. He wasn't there against His will. He wasn't there against the Father's
will. And people say, how could God
let something like that happen? God decreed it to happen. Matter of fact, it was God it
was happening to. I shall call His name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. Some religious folk of another
line of thought that says Jesus was the Son of God, but he wasn't
God. No, he was God. He was Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. Oh my. He laid down his life
for his sheep, the very ones given him by the Father. from before the foundation of
the world. In John 17, if you read carefully, there's not less
than seven times Christ referred to those whom the Father hath
given him. And he said from the beginning
of that chapter, these are the ones that I've come to give eternal
life. If he came to save humanity,
he's the biggest failure this world's ever seen. But he came to save his people.
And save his people he did. John 6, 37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. That's who's coming. And every
one of them's coming. Nobody else. And when they come,
he said, I will in no wise That is, not under any circumstances
ever will I cast them out. I don't know about this part
of the country, but where I live, I hear the last part of that
verse quoted 500 times and never hear the first part of the verse
quoted. Him that cometh to me, I will
know I was cast out. That is true. But here's who's coming. All that the Father giveth me.
Not might or hope to or wish they would or ought to. But shall
come unto me. Watch that word shall when you
read the New Testament. That means it's for certain.
It's for certain. John 6, 44. No man can come unto
me. except the father which sent
me draw him. And the key word there is draw,
draw. Some of you can remember going
out of the house and drawing water. You go out to the well,
you let that bucket tied on the end of a rope, you let it down
into the well. And when you get close, you let
it plop so it'll sink and get full of water. I've done that
at my grandmother's house many times. Matter of fact, that was
what I wanted to do when I got there. She was glad to let me. But you know what? You never
got a drop of water by inviting that bucket to make a decision
and come up. It has to be drawn up. And there's
resistance. There's resistance. And I was
just a little boy. You better stay out of the way,
because if you let go of that handle, you get your head knocked off. There's
resistance. Why? There's nothing down there
to help. And we're in a world where there's
nothing here to help. All the drawing power comes from
above. Because of sin, we were all down
in the well with no hope, no will even to come up apart from
the power from above that successfully does the drawing. God never lets
go of the rope. The rope never breaks. If he
draws you, you're coming. You're coming. He gets the job
done. How blessed that is. And we're
desperate without him. People don't believe that. Heard
an old preacher say once that somebody hollered down to Jonah,
down in the fishes. Said, hey Jonah, why don't you
make a decision? And he said, I did. That's why
I'm here. That was our decision. We all
did what our father Adam did, represented in him. We all shook
our fist in God's face in the Garden of Eden, and it's brought
us to where we are now. Romans chapter eight and verse
30, moreover, whom he did predestinate. Don't be afraid of that word.
Most of the preachers I know would rather handle a rattlesnake
than to use that word in the pulpit. Moreover, whom he did
predestinate. It simply means that the God
of this Bible is bigger than you are. He's all wise, he's
all powerful, he's in control, and from eternity past, he predetermined
he predestinated that all he'd given to his son would be conformed
to the very image of his son. And it's nothing but rebellion
and pride that won't ascribe to God the right to do as he
wills with whom he will. And this book says he's gonna
do it anyhow. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Effectually called. Effectually. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Speaks of God's work as already
completed. And certainly it will be. The
book of Isaiah said that he declared the end from the beginning. And I had a fellow one time,
so dumb, he asked me, he said, how can God say what's gonna
happen when it hadn't even happened yet? Because he's God, that's
why. He declared the end from the
beginning. And this speaks of God's work is already completed.
You say, well, what if he predestinated someone who says no to his call? Everybody says no to the general
call. We're instructed to preach the
gospel to every creature. But if it comes from nowhere
but our lips into their ears, a general call, the answer is
no, not interested. Not interesting. But those whom
he's predestinated as his children to be conformed to his son are
brought through repentance and faith to submit to and embrace
this effectual call. He makes it effectual. And here's
the big question. Have you been effectually called? Has the good news of the gospel
had any effect in your heart and life? It's not like, as we hear so
much today, it's not like you can back God in a corner anytime
you please. You're not in charge here. He
is, he is. I know many, many false prophets
in our time telling folks you can blackmail God and get your
ticket to heaven when you're ready. The problem is you're
never ready. It's always later. Yeah, I'm
gonna change before I die. Well, when is that? It's always later, later. And
if you have no heart for the Lord today, don't listen to this religious
lie that you've left God out. You ought not leave God out of
your life. The truth is he's left you out. And there's no reason in you
that he shouldn't leave you out. And if you have no heart for
the Lord today, what makes you think you ever will? It'll only be so if He does the
work, not you. And if He doesn't, you'll perish
in your sins. My daily plea is, Lord, have
mercy on me. I don't need justice, I need
mercy. And He is rich in mercy. I have no time really to tell
the Lord how wonderful I am and how much I don't need Him and
neither do you. That was the situation in Luke
18 with the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee came to
tell the Lord how much he didn't need him. And the publican came to tell
the Lord how much he did need him. Which side are you on? That's the question. That's the
big question. I come telling him what a miserable
wretch I am. Every day that dawns and how
much I do need him. And I suggest you do the same. For this reason, it is God who
says and who said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. We're at the mercy of God, folks,
if you but knew it. So then it is not of him that
willeth. So much for free will, so called. Nor of him that runneth. Your religious works won't get
it done. But of God. That does what? Decide your good has outweighed
your bad? No, no. But God, who did what? Saw that you turned over a new
leaf? You didn't have a new leaf to turn over. Your leaf's filthy
on both sides. But it's of God that showeth
mercy. That's the good news of the gospel.
God does show mercy. He is rich in mercy. Don't go telling him what you
deserve. You don't want that. You'll find no favor with that.
But plead with him for what you don't deserve. That's the blessed
part. And I bless his holy name that
he is rich in mercy. and that His grace is free and
anything that's not free grace is not grace. It's the only grace
there is, is free. Wasn't free to Him, cost Him
everything. But it's free to us because He
loved us before He ever hung the stars. I delight in that. I rejoice in that. I'm encouraged
in that, Brother Joe. that he was doing stuff before
I got here. A lot of folk think God couldn't do anything till
they got here and he sure won't be able to do much when they're
gone. Oh my soul, I'm glad he's running right on track. He's
on plan A and he don't have a plan B. Bless his holy name.