Turn to Romans chapter 9. I know I always preach on that. Although I don't. But actually
I want to begin in verse 30. Does that surprise you? Romans 9 and verse 30. I want
to read several verses. But I say to everyone here, as
I read these verses, listen to these words. May it be even above
and beyond that, may it be that God give us ears to hear and
hearts to perceive His truth. Paul is continuing, and he asks
this question in verse 30 of chapter 9. What shall we say
then? that the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even
the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled
at the stumbling stone. As it is written, behold, this
is God speaking here, behold, I lay inside a stumbling stone
and a rock of offense. And whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to every
one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above.
Or who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ
again from the dead? But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the
word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And how then shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish
nation will I anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and
saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all
day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people." My message this morning is the
word of faith, which we preach. Amen. Speak of that before I engage
in that itself Let us consider a few preliminary Observations
before we look at the word of faith. I'll give you ten things
first of all religious zeal alone is never enough never Our world
is permeated by the fact that men just need to be religious
and Paul stomps that into the ground. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. He cared
about his kinfolk. He cared about his kinfolk. For
I bear them record. What? That they have a zeal of
God. Even the one true and living
God. Not Allah. Not Buddha, not Mohammed,
the one true and living God. They had a zeal toward him, but
it wasn't according to knowledge. For they being what? Ignorant
of God's righteousness. Religious zeal alone is never
enough. As a matter of fact, it may well
be damning to the soul. It may well add nothing more
than more condemnation to a man or a woman's state. Secondly
the righteous God demands No The righteousness God demands
must be bowed to Joe mentioned you see it for they have not
what? submitted Subjugated now you
know what that means it means not only to bow to but to be
bowed to Because I want to hear I'm here to tell you that's what
it takes for any man or woman Any fallen son or daughter of
Adam to bow down to God's righteousness is for God to subjugate them
to bring them down as Nebuchadnezzar yeah Proud. Proud king. He was king over
all Babylon. He was as God to those people.
Mason, what he said went. And he didn't have to prove it
to anybody. Because if you crossed him, what did he do? He threw
you, in one case, into a burning fiery furnace. Right? If you
didn't fall out of worship, he's God's. And yet God brought that
rebel down to where He said that everyone that walks in pride,
he is able to abase. So why is it so many thousands
still walk in pride? Not because God's not able. It
can only be because He's not willing to. Because when God
is both, no, since God is able, when He is willing, If He is
willing, He will bow you down. That's the God we're talking
about. That's the God of the Bible. That's the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not just salvation, in
other words, not just bowing to historical facts. It's submitting. Which lets us know there is a
conscientious, willing, lovingness about it though. God doesn't
drag men and women to glory kicking and screaming. He takes them
to glory singing all the way of His praises and His majesty
and His mercy and His compassion and His grace. They're glad to
have it so. Somebody says, I don't like that. If God ever calls you, if God
ever brings you down, you'll love it. You'll love it. This is not just about historical
facts. Thirdly, the righteousness God demands is a person. Amen. Job told us that. See? For Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness. That's the very righteousness
that men bow down to, are subjugated to, that God brings you. God
will bow you to Christ or you've never been bowed to God. Exactly. This ain't about accepting the
facts Jesus historically this is about bowing down at the feet
of Jesus Christ. Yes, sir That's what it about
what it's about for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
But only to everyone that believe it Number four God made this
person a stumbling stone to some yes You read it. We read it right
here behold I lay God's saying put your sights on this behold.
I lay in Zion what a Stumbling stone in a rock of offense Jesus
Christ is not good news to everybody Go tell them about him who he
really is and you'll soon find out They're offended at who he
really is they stumble over who he really is and They trip over
the truth of the person and work of Jesus Christ And here's the
point God meant it to be so No man, no woman has got almighty
over a barrel God is not waiting to see what
men will do with his son God is bowing down a people to his
son and the rest of the rebels. He's letting them go Leaving
to them to themselves and God ordained it that way Number five law righteousness
demands personal perfection of life See that in verse five Moses
describeth the righteousness which is of the law that the
man which doeth those things Shall live by them if you want
to be perfect before God in the law you can't mess up one time The law is not your best shot
It's not your best attempt the law demands absolute perfection
And I don't have that You don't have that. Even if you think
you do. I know better about me and I
know better about you. But thank God some of us know
better than that. And I'm going to put it this
way for the sake of argument. The more I try to keep the law,
the worse off I see myself as. Because God says even remember
the Sabbath day and that was yesterday. And I went to the
pool yesterday. Oh, that's right. I probably
shouldn't mention that, should I? You know, it's been said that
some of you wear your hems too high and your collars too low. You can ask me later about that.
God's law demands absolute perfection. Absolute perfection where do
I find that? Not in my works not in my efforts. I find that in the personal work
of Jesus Christ That's where I find absolute perfection Joe
he loved his neighbor as his self and that is a tall order
for him. Well. He was God manifest in the flesh
He has the right to hate But Paul you read it We see it even
here in Romans chapter 9. We may read it here in a moment.
Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. And I do recall what Don said
down there at Cape Girardeau. He said that's so simple yet
men confound it, rebel against it. If I told you I love Joe
Glusick but I hate Roy Jr., you know exactly what I mean. And
when God says, Jacob, I love, and Esau, I hate it, you know
God means exactly what he says. And the marvel is not, how could
God hate Esau? That's not the marvel. The marvel
is how could a holy, thrice holy, righteous God love a Jacob? How could he love someone like
me, yet God loves the people who are like that? That is amazing. number six The righteousness
which is of faith is not initiated by human action look at verse
20 I'll let it over in chapter 10 verse 20 of chapter 10, but
he says is very bold He's come right out says it yeah But he
says is very bold and saith I was found of them that what's that
say salt me not man I was made manifest unto them that ask not
after me. Thank God. Whether you can right
now today or not, thank God it don't depend on you putting forth
the initiation. Even though many in this world
that call themselves Christians hate that very truth, that's
their only hope. It means that God Almighty will
initiate this thing. Because Paul has been clear in
chapter 3, there is none that seeketh after God. Seeketh after
religion, yeah. Seeketh after their idea about
God, yeah. Seek to bring their own righteousness
before God, yes. But they don't seek after the
one true and living God. And what? Bow down before Him. So much so that even the beloved
Apostle John Think about this we we say these things, but he
leaned on Christ's breast at the last supper remember It was
like he was just there leaning up against him Joe, and I don't
know this to be a fact But I wonder if laying that close. Maybe he
could even hear Christ's heartbeat That's a close relationship is
it not and yet that very John After Christ is exalted and sitting
upon the throne of His glory, when John sees Him on the Isle
of Patmos, what did John do? What happened to him? He said,
I fell down at His feet as one dead. You know why? Because He's
the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. He's not your buddy,
but you best hope He's your brother. You best hope He's your elder. Brother your representative your
substitute the federal head of all of God's people Number seven
the righteousness which is of faith is not gained by physical
senses. You can't get up to heaven to
get a hold of it You can't go down into the grave to try to
get a hold of it in other words This is not about a physical
thing people actually tell come forward and you can get say that's
a lie. I Christ is found in the Gospel. And only in the Gospel. You don't
find Him at the front of the building. Number 8. The righteousness which
is of faith is attained the same way for all who do attain unto
it. Verse 12 and 13 of chapter 10.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the
same Lord over all. Now He's Lord over all. without
exception, even though they fight against Him, kick against Him,
but He's Lord over all. For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all what? That call upon Him. For whosoever
shall what? Call upon the name of the Lord.
This is not about merely repeating His name, oh Jesus, even oh Lord
Jesus, even oh Lord Jesus Christ, just save me. He's not a lucky
rabbit's foot. This is not a chant that you
go through. The Muslims are not the only
ones that are chanting. Thousands of so-called Christians
do it too. And they think they're supposed
to say, oh, I asked Jesus to save me. Remember, our Lord said,
there are going to be many who come to me one day and they're
going to say, Lord, let us in. And he's going to say, no. That's
exactly right. That's right. We preached in
your name. We did money many wonderful works
in the game We cast out devils in your name, and he never says
to them. No you were liars He said depart from me you workers
of iniquity. I never knew you that is frightening
to me This thing is not as simple as
people like to make it come forward and make a decision. Oh, yeah,
don't work it Number nine, no believer is ashamed
of him who is God's righteousness. You will be ashamed of yourself. And you will continue even as
a believer to find shame in yourself. You will fail God, not you might
fail God, you will fail God. Micah the prophet said, when
I fall, not if I fall, when I fall, what? God Almighty has me in
his sovereign hand. He will lift me up. That's my
only hope. And I'll tell you this, although
I'm ashamed of myself, although oftentimes I'm ashamed of what
I know, I think I know things. Sometimes in Neal, I've been
trying to preach for 32 years this gospel, and I still really
read things. I think, man, I missed that altogether
for 30 years. But I'm not ashamed of him. I
may sometimes be afraid in front of men because of what I think
they might do to me because of him, because of how I hold to
him. But I'm not ashamed of him. And may it be that David right
if this is true. He'll give me grace to never
be ashamed of him even all the way on the death But he's gonna
have to do it. I don't have the stamina to do
it. I Don't have the ability to do it Number 10 no one ever is saved
Listen to me now, no one is ever saved outside of God's ordained
order. It says, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And it means exactly
what it says. But look, most people quote that,
so-called Christians quote that, so-called preachers quote that,
and they always stop right there. They're trying to get you to
make some decision. What does this say for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved? How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed you got
to believe first? If you call without believing
it's going to add to your condemnation and nothing else Right how shall
they call on him of whom they've not believed and how shall they
believe in him of whom they're not heard I? Everyone here this
morning. You're here because God Almighty
ordained you to be here to hear what you heard this morning Whether
it's your salvation or damnation You're here to hear this message
But anybody who's ever going to believe, God's going to have
to send somebody to you with that message in some form. It
may not be preaching exactly like I'm doing. It may be Neil
preaching through reading a message that a man preached 200 years
ago, and they wrote it down. And you may read that. You may
pick up this Bible and read it and read a message preached by.
That's still preaching, is it not? Yes, sir. But preaching
must take place. But God's not dependent upon
the preacher. But God's ordained to use the preacher. But God
doesn't depend upon it. Ask Jonah. If God wants you to
tell somebody about the truth, bless God, you're going to tell
them about the truth. Just go visit old brother Noah. He'll
say, yeah, that's how it is. You can run all you want. What
you're going to do, you'll never run away from God. You will run
right smack square into God. He will stand in your path, and
he will cross your path, and he will make you say what he
has sent you to say. But there's also some hope here.
If you ever spoke to someone about Christ and then later said,
boy, what a miserable job I did at that. Huh? But your feet are
beautiful nonetheless. Huh? You see it? This is how God sees you. It
ain't about how you see yourself. God uses, what does Paul call
it? Clay pots. And folks, we're not talking
about a clay pot you put up on a on a shelf, put nice flowers
in it. You know the kind of clay pot
he's talking about, don't you? It's the one you kept under your bed
at night when you had to get up and do your business in it.
That's the kind of clay pot. That's what I am. Just a clay
pot. A urinal. Is that too strong? No. That's what we are. But look,
how shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? How shall
they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How shall they
hear without a preacher? Why? Because God has ordained
it that way. And how shall they preach except
they be what? Sent. That's all it takes. It's not
how shall they preach except they go to theology school first.
Right? I'm not being smart Alec. It's
just a fact. The only thing it takes is for
God to send you. It doesn't matter how much you
know you could at least express what God's done for you Right
where you was where he's brought you to who you believe in who
you're not ashamed of who you've bowed before Who you love? No one is ever saved outside
of God's ordained order and how should they preach except they
be sent and is written how? Beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good
things I don't know if I can under explain that with any kind
of illustration, but I'm saying this is the way God sees those
he sins That's amazing Now let me give you a summary
of these ten things before we engage the Word of Faith. I guess
I could have just stopped there, but I'm not going to. We'll summarize these things
with these four statements. There is no honor. There is no
acceptance. There is no salvation before
God by our human actions. Because faith is not a human
action. Faith is a gift of the sovereign
God to an individual. Faith is called the fruit of
the Spirit. Faith is called the operation of God in Colossians.
Faith is the gift of God as you quoted to us, Joe. Faith is not
a human action. It's a divine characteristic.
It's a divine fruit. The faith with which I believe
God is of divine origin, not of human origin. God's not asking
us to work up faith. He sends it down, you might say.
You see, that's the only way it ever happens. There is no
honor, no acceptance, no salvation before God by our human, any
human action. Well, I went forward and believed.
I prayed the prayer. That's not what this says, is
it? You don't even have to be in
a church building for this to take place. You know where you
gotta be? In the path of that person that
God sent to you. And God's gonna make sure y'all
cross paths. And you'll hear that message and something will
change about you. You'll begin to see yourself
in light where you begin to say, I, wherefore I abhor myself. I repent in dust and ashes. But you'll also say I've heard
of you with the hearing of my ear. But now mine eye seeth. In other words, I'm starting
to really get it now. Who you are. Everybody thinks
they already know about God. But they don't. It says chapter
3, there's no knowledge. No fear of God. Right? Here's the second thing. To seek
such is an affront to God's Christ. He is God's righteousness. We
are accepted in the Beloved and nowhere else. Yes, God's people
are called unto good works. We're zealous of good works. God before ordained the very
good works that we walk in, but they are the result of God's
salvation. They are not the grounds of it. Human action and even
good works are neither the grounds of justification or sanctification
or holiness. All of that is found in Jesus
Christ. Here's the third summary. God
accepts only the righteousness of His Son. That's right. It's the only kind
that God can accept. Perfect, absolute righteousness. Our problem by nature is we hate
what God accepts. We don't want to bow down to
submit to who God accepts. He says, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. And even our Lord had the right
to say, I do always those things that please the Father. There's
someone you can lean on. Remember the beloved and son
of Solomon. I think it's chapter 8 who is this that cometh up
out of the wilderness Still in it still in the wilderness, but
coming up out of the wilderness what leaning on her beloved When
you lean on somebody it means you got to be pretty close And
what does that woman do she leans on her beloved? Number four God
saves only those who believe in his son and God saves only
those who submit to his son. God saves only those who are
not ashamed of his son. Now that's a whole lot more than
just coming to the front and praying a prayer. Now is it not?
But that's what this teaches. And these lying preachers and
lying churches will give you little pieces and parts trying
to make, and what they do, they're making merchandise of your soul.
They're getting you to do that, you know why? Because they want
you to put money in their box. Or in their plate. That's what
they're doing. The book says they'll make merchandise
of what you're sold. I'm not preaching this to anyone
here because I'm angry with anyone. What did you say? I am a debtor. Right before the passage, I'm
a debtor. Why? Because God saved me by
His free reigning grace. And I know I am no better even
right now than anyone else out there that even doesn't believe.
I may be different now. But I'm still no better than
they are. Listen to me, God saves only
those who believe in His Son. Only those who submit to His
Son. Only those who are not ashamed
of His Son. Those three graces go together. There's a lot of people who believe
in Jesus. But He's just the fire escape. Just my way to get out
of hell. Isn't it amazing? You got some
people who want to go to heaven and be with Christ and God's
people forever, but they don't want to be with Christ and God's
people in the assembly, and yet they still want to talk about
how they're a child of God. Really? I mean, you want to live with
the world and be like the world and feast upon the world now,
but yet one day I want to go to heaven and be with all those
people. You're deceived. Because everybody who's going
to be with them then wants to be. They may not can always be,
but wants to be with them now. We'll strive for it now. We'll spend money on it now. We'll put forth effort for it
now. Why? Because they're not ashamed
of Christ. They believe Him and they bow to Him. These, again, these three gracious
gifts of God to His people comprise the word of faith. Believe, submit,
rejoice in it, not be ashamed. See it now in its detail, the
word of faith. The word of faith is manifested outwardly as confessed
by the mouth because Christ is believed in the heart and adored
inwardly. It's not about accepting Jesus. It's about bowing down before
Him, submitting to Him, loving Him, adoring Him. If your belief
is anything short of that, it's nothing more than human belief,
and you're damned. You're still damned in that. This is what he says, look at
it in verse 8 and 9. But what is it? That is this word of faith.
But what is it? The word is thy, even in thy mouth and in thy
heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth. Who? Not Jesus. The Lord! Jesus That word Lord Encompasses
the whole gamut. He's on the throne. He is absolutely
sovereign He has not only in control of everything everything
that ever happens. He ordained it good or evil Nothing
can come to pass in this world what God Almighty in the person
of his son didn't ordain in the sovereign purpose of God You
remember remember Joseph's sons or Joseph's brothers. Some of them were going to kill
him. But one of the brothers said,
no, let's not do that. And they put him in a pit and
was going to let him die on his own is what was going to happen.
But then, guess what? Some Muslims come along. Maybe they weren't that yet,
but some Ishmaelites. That's what they became later.
900 A.D. as we call it, whatever. Some
Ishmaelites come along and say, let's make a little money off
this thing. And after all this is said and
done, when Joseph has his brethren before him, Joseph stands in
the place of Pharaoh. They don't recognize who he is
right at this time. But once he finally reveals himself
to them, what did he say? You meant this for evil. God
meant it for good. Not God turned it around. No.
No, it's more than that. God meant it for good. God's
in control even of Satan himself. Satan can't spit unless God says
so. And he spits out his behemoth's
trash all the time. And he's got preachers that look
very much just like me, this very moment, out there lying
for him everywhere. But I say that for this point.
It is at this point that false Christianity rears its ugly head
with its man-centered, anti-God teaching. False Christianity
teaches, yes, we must preach. But we must use whatever means
is possible to get people to believe, right? Now God says
preaching's all it takes. Isn't that what he says here?
When it comes to that. Preaching is all it takes. But yet, religion
says we've got to go beyond preaching though. We've got to beg, or
maybe we browbeat. Or maybe we threaten. We threaten
with hell. Men are never told to follow Christ by the threat
of hell. They are warned about hell. They're
warned about God's judgment and wrath to come. But never, here's
the reason, you ought to just flee from the wrath to come.
Even John the Baptist, a bunch of guys come to him one day and
said, who warned you to flee? You bunch of snakes. That's what
he called them. And you're a bunch of dead corpses.
What a great, lovely, friendly preacher he was. No, I'm saying false Christianity
says this. We use emotional tactics to get
people to make decisions. Because after all, it's whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, right? Yes,
but it has to come with all of it here. God's got to send somebody
to you to preach the gospel of Christ to you. And He's got to
cause you to believe, bow down, and love the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's at this very point
where they say, well see, it says confess with your mouth
first. and believe in your heart. Do you now know why they say,
well, if we just get them forward, or if we can just get them to
make that decision, you take the first step, God will meet
you halfway. Right? So just say it with your
mouth. And this is what they preach out there. You know this
is true. If you'll just do that, if you'll come forward, pray
the sinner's prayer, ask God to forgive you, tell Him you
believe in Jesus, then God will come in and do a work in your
heart. Is that not exactly what they're teaching out there? But that's not what Paul's talking
about. Why does he mention the mouth first? He gives the actual
order in verse 10. For with the heart men believe
with unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. So why does he speak about the
mouth first in verses 8 and 9? Here's why. Because out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. But you don't know
what's in here until it comes out here. You see? But it's got to be down
in here first. I mean if you say it out here
and it ain't already down in there, it's just words. It's
just words. And that little simple detail
is what they love to leave out. You know why? Because it puts
God in absolute charge of who's saved and who's not. Well how
do I know that? Well look at what Proverbs says.
Proverbs chapter 16 verse 1. The preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue. See the order? is from the Lord God's got to start this work
if you look at I'm sorry if you look at Proverbs chapter 20 and
verse 9 Solomon said who can say I've made my own heart clean
I You can't do that work. You can't clean up your own heart.
The heart is abominable and filthy Wretchedly desperately wicked
God gives according to the testimony of scripture. He gives a new
heart Remember the book of Acts and Lydia that seller of purple
She was from Thyatira. She wasn't in Thyatira right
at that time, but she was down by the riverbank where prayer
was wont to be made. And what does it say? Whose heart the
Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken
by Paul. That's exactly what he's talking about right here
in chapter 9 and 10. That's it. Paul's detail is this. It has
to start in the heart before saying it up here makes any difference.
But it's manifested first here to people around and everything
else. The only way I know what you believe about Jesus Christ
is if you tell me. Because if I follow you around
long enough, I'm going to see things that's going to make me
wonder, do they really believe in Christ? And the same thing goes
with me if you watch me very long. You're going to say, ding,
there's a red flag. Red flags all over the place.
I thank God Christ bore every red flag. You know? Does it really matter? Yeah,
it matters. Christ said the tree is either what it is. You know
a tree bites fruit. But the fruit don't make it what
it is. It is what it is. But you recognize the tree by
the fruit. If it's an apple tree, it don't
bring forth pears. Right? If it's an apple tree,
it will bring forth apples. If a person is a believer in
here, Then we'll talk like a believer out here Perfectly no that's not the point
that's not what he's talking about but one thing they gonna
do they will bow down to Christ They will believe him and they
will love him. They'll not be ashamed of it What takes place what comes forth
from the mouth that manifests what we believe in the heart
The heart work must come first and that is God's work in God's
work alone. Yeah the preparations of the
heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is where? It's
from the Lord. What is it about Christ that
every believer believes, confesses and loves and adores? That He
is Lord. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, what? The Lord Jesus. Listen to your radio. Find those Christian preachers
on the radio. Listen to people you work with
who are religious, who are Christians, and they always talk about Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Don't they? But rarely do we
ever hear them say what? The Lord Jesus. Now they'll say it on occasion,
but the devils know that. They know he's Lord. Remember
that time Christ confronted several of them? He cast them out of
that one man? We know who you are. Jesus, thou
Son of God. Did they not? Yeah. And they
had to bow to Him. They said, give us leave. If He cast them out and they
had no place to go, guess where they got to go? To hell. That's
right, to hell. And they said, put us over there
in peace. And He suffered it to be so.
That was Mason at his sovereign discretion. Exactly. That was
his sovereign discretion. He is the Lord Jesus. Go back
and read chapter 9. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It is that God who showeth mercy. And I thank God it didn't depend
on me. Amen. And as long as we're in
our blinded state, we think, but I can do something. You can't
do this. That's right. That's it. Can you bow to Christ? Show me. you have to be bowed to Christ. Even when we bow and God crushes
our pride into powder, you know what? Every particle of that
powder still reeks with pride. And isn't it amazing that one
of the ways that the Scripture describes this believing and
loving and not being ashamed is to what? Submit. Submit. Who do you submit to? A king,
a lord, a sovereign. Right? That's who you bow down
before. He is the Lord over mercy and
compassion. Do I believe that? Do I bow to
that? Am I ashamed of that? There is
you an answer. That's where it's at. If you
believe that in your heart, then your mouth will confess that. And also says what? And that
we believe that what God hath raised Him from the dead. This
is not a historical fact. Go back and read Peter's message
in Acts chapter 2, specifically 21-40. The resurrection is proof
that Jesus Christ was made Lord and Christ by God Almighty. That's
the resurrection. That's what it was about. To
prove who He really was. And who is He? That that same
Jesus, whom He crucified, God hath made Him to be both, what? Lord and Christ. If you've got
a Jesus that ain't them two things, you've got a false Jesus. You've
listened to a Jesus out there from anti-Christ religion. It
may call itself Christianity, but it ain't Christianity. The
resurrection confirms that Jesus of Nazareth is both Lord and
Christ. The devils know he was raised
from the dead, don't they? The word of faith which we preach,
what is it? It's all about Jesus Christ the Lord. Jesus Christ
the Lord. It ain't about eternal salvation
or once saved, always saved. It ain't about that. You bow
down to Jesus Christ, you'll quit worrying about whether He'll
always be so or not. You'll realize He's Sovereign
Lord. If He wants to have me in glory with Him, He'll have
me in glory with Him. And if He don't want me in glory
with Him, I won't be in glory with Him. And He'll be right
either way. He'll be right. If He sends me
to hell, Joe, even though I preach about every Sunday, You still
be right my preaching don't gain me not one ounce of merit before
God We're preaching his merit that song we said in his merit. That's the only stand I know
That's a good stand You see believing God bowing to Christ submitting
to Christ not being ashamed loving him adoring him. That's a good
thing That's a good thing. It's to honor God's Son and It's
all about Christ Jesus the Lord. It's about believing in, bowing
to, and loving that Jesus. There are impostors out there. You're preaching the same Jesus
as some of these other folks. No, we're not. It's not the same
one. It's about believing in, bowing
to, and loving Jesus Christ. Listen to those radios, TVs,
see if they're preaching all of Romans chapter 10. know that
pick out little portions, just little verses, and say, now,
just call on Jesus, everything will be fine. It just ain't so. And everyone who has been brought
by God to believe in, to bow before, and to love Jesus Christ,
they, every one of them, rejoice that it's that way. Once it happens
to them, they think, you know what, I used to hate that, but
you know what, I love that now. That's my only hope. That's why
it's called good news. But Joe read the scripture. I
didn't even have it in my notes, but Joe read the scripture. The
good news we preach, and we ourselves, Joe was right, we ourselves,
it's not good news to everybody. Because those who hate it or
are ashamed of it won't bow to it. If they die in that state,
you know what I'm saying? If they die in that state, they
will perish. And justly so. God will be honored
just as much in that He will be in the salvation of war his
grace will be honored in one his wrath will be honored in
the other And at the end there will be a group of people that
when the great whore which rides upon a beast It tells as many
watered its people and when those people are cast into the lake
of fire. You know what it says we'll sing Hallelujah the Lord
God omnipotent reign That's hard to say right now when I look
at people, some people I care deeply about. And I want God
to save them. But then I realize it may not
be His purpose to save them. I may have a hard time, David
Wright, saying that right now. But I still know it's true. I
still know it's true. And one day, one day Mason will
sing it with glad hearts. Hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent
reigns. Let's stand and sing number 180.