local constabulary picked up Paul Crouch Sunday
morning leaving church, fined him $68 for five miles over the
speed limit. So a word to the wise. Yeah, yeah. You know this, to
me this is no joke. To me this is crooked. It's felony perpetrated by law. It's robbery. That's what it
is. Now, I could see a $15, $20 fine for breaking the speed limit
five mile an hour. I could see that. But $68? Besides
that, he was smart. I'm going to show you what it
means to break the speed limit in Maddiscott. See? That kind
of stuff. Well, you know. Allen's the one that talked to
him. I don't know. I think that's outrageous. Well, he's probably already paid
it. He's probably already paid it.
That's the way Paul does things. He'd just pay it. He said he
had two tickets in his whole life. Got them both in Mabscot.
One coming to church and one leaving church. Well, here's the thing. Here's
the thing that is happening right now. This place is becoming a
ghost town right now, so far as anything of any desirability
is concerned. So it's too bad that things like
that happen. You know, breaking the law is
breaking the law. I'll go along with that. But I think $68 is
an exorbitant fee to put on a man. When right out on the West Virginia
Turnpike, they'll stop you for 70 miles an hour and fine you
$10. That's a fact. That's a fine on the interstate
now. $10. So, yeah, David, I would object.
I sure would if there was any purpose in it. I would object strenuously to
that kind of stuff. Well, there's nothing I can do
about it, at least personally. We've been talking for three
weeks now. Every word that I say is taken
down and used against me. When you can go back, when you
can go back and copy what a man said 15 years ago and confront
him with it, why? We've been talking about the
day of the Lord for about three weeks now, and maybe longer. And I think probably that this
will be the last I have to say about that subject. However,
I'm never sure on these things. I trust that I recollect things
a little bit better than Admiral Poindexter recollects things. I trust that I do. I got a little
bit of that this afternoon, and he would be confronted by a note
that he had written in his own handwriting, and he just didn't
recollect. I find it difficult to remember
the situation that prompted that. So I'll try to do a little bit
better than that. We have been talking about the
day of the Lord, and have gone through numbers of passages concerning
this great and notable day that shall come. We began almost every
evening by saying, there is a day coming. We believe that. Peter said that there shall appear
scoffers in the last day and say, where is the promise of
his coming? He said, they're ignorant people. that say that.
For all things continue as they were since the fathers. Nothing's
changed. So where is he? That's what these
scoffers are saying. He said, you don't even know
that a day is what the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand
years is a day. And I think that is saying this, that so far as
God is concerned, time doesn't count. We're the creatures of
time. He isn't. He isn't. So this day
is, it could be an hour. I could just as well say there
is an hour coming. Or there is a time coming. And that doesn't
apply because God is timeless. And so are his edicts and his
decrees are timeless decrees. So he is unassociated with time. The scripture defines time simply
that we might understand. That's all. We might have a reference
to our own existence. I remember a long time ago, the
question was asked in a class that I had, what is time? What is time? And of course,
some of you know the answer as to what time is. If you could
recollect what I told you, And time is a measurable space of
eternity. Erich Sauer, a German theologian, I've read three or four of his
books, he said that now is eternity. Now is. It's not a case of what's
going to come. He was speaking to believers
or writing to believers. So far as the believer is concerned,
now is eternity, for they have passed from death into life.
They are now in possession of eternal life. Right now. So now
is eternity. All right, turn to 2 Corinthians,
the 6th chapter. We'll look at something a little
bit differently now. We've gone on this day of judgment,
remember? Day of judgment. The day of the
Lord is a day of judgment. Right now, all through the things
that we've been talking about. Day of judgment. A day that is
coming when God shall wreak judgment upon the earth and upon the ungodly. And mentioned the passage in
Isaiah, this is he who cometh from Basra with his garments
dyed in blood. This is Christ treading the winepress
of the wrath of God against all ungodliness and the ungodliness
of men. 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 1,
now you're going to say, well, what does this have to do with
anything? Well, let's see if it does. As God's fellow workers,
we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, that
is God says, in the time of my favor, I heard you. In the day,
there's the reference, in the day of salvation, I helped you. I tell you now is the time of
God's favor. Now is the day of salvation. I think King James reads, now
is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. Now, if you'll turn back to Isaiah,
the 49th chapter, you'll see where Paul says, it is written.
Isn't that what he says? For he says, he doesn't say it
is written, for he says, all right, where does he say it?
In Isaiah 49 and verse 8. He says, this is what the Lord
says. In the time of my favor, I will
answer you. And in the day of salvation,
I will help you. I will keep you and make you
to be a covenant for the people to restore the land and to reassign
its desolate inheritances. To say to the captives, come
out, and to those in darkness, be free. So that's the reference
that Paul was quoting. Now, the question comes to my
mind, Did Paul take the passage out
of Isaiah out of context? Now, I don't know what the heading
in the King James is. I don't pay too much attention
to headings ordinarily. In the NIV Bible, it says, heading
to this portion beginning at verse 8, restoration of Israel. And in the passages just previous
to verse 8, In other words, say verse seven, this is what the
Lord says, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to him who was
despised and abhorred by the nation to the servant of rulers,
kings will see you and rise up. Princes will see and bow down
because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has
chosen you. Now it is my impression that
this passage does not, does not refer to Israel. Despite the headings that may
be in your Bible, I think it refers to Christ. It refers to Him. Now you see
how it is. You say, well, what's a pipsqueak
like you doing disagreeing with these fellows that write these
things? Well, I may be a pipsqueak, but if they're not in line with
the truth, I'll disagree with them on any account. Doesn't
make any difference. But you see, to be a highly educated
and to be an error is worse than to be ignorant and in the truth. See, because ignorant men I didn't
say stupid now, I said ignorant men can know the truth because
they can be taught of the Spirit. And I don't know whether that's
true of the others or not. Not many wise men, that's what
Paul said. Didn't say not any, he said not
many. Not many wise men after the flesh. Now, what does he
say? He says, this is the verse 7
again. This is what the Lord says, the Redeemer and Holy One
of Israel, to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation. Who
was that? That was Christ. He was despised
and abhorred by the nation. To the servant of rulers. That's what he became when he
became incarnate. He subjected himself. He says
to that one, kings will see you and rise up and princes will
see you and bow down. because of the Lord who is faithful
and the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you. Now, this is
what the Lord says in the time of my favor, I will answer you. I will answer you. And in the
day of salvation, I will help you to do what? I will keep you
and will make you to be a covenant for the people. Now again, I'm
sure you have here a dual application in the following verses that
come upon this passage as you read on down. You have a dual
application in as much as when he makes Christ to be a covenant
for the people, he speaks of the people of God. whether they
be Jew or Gentile or whatever. I still, don't you tell him I
said it, Roy, but I still, I told you when he was going home Sunday
night, and when Walter gets to going pretty good, you know,
I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, now that boy's too young. He's
going to miss it. He's going to miss it. He's not going to finish that
out. He's not, and bless Pat, he does it every time. He went
right on through and finished Sunday night just like, well,
dare I say it, just like I thought he ought to. And I sure don't
instruct him. But this is an amazing thing. This is an amazing thing. I can
listen to 40 preachers, Mac, and I'll find something that
gives an uncertain sound. Something. But I have never in
the months that I've listened to Walter heard an uncertain
sound from him. And I appreciate that. Now that
he is gone, I'll talk about him. Don't anybody tell him I said
that. He'll give him the big head and you won't be able to
live with him. Do what? Oh, mercy. See, I can't win. But what I'm
saying, whether it be Jew or whether it be Gentile, because
Jew and Gentile come the same way. He hath made of the twain
one new man. He's taken Jew and Gentile, and
by grace, he has created the church, the body of Christ. Now,
you cannot hammer it out of people's heads that the church is a building. That's what's in their mind.
They think of a church as a church house. I'm going to church. So they go to a building. And you hear it continually that
people do not differentiate from a building and an organization
and the Church of Jesus Christ. And I'm not a Camelite either.
When we speak of the Church of Christ, We speak of his body,
flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone, of which he is the head. The simplest form of that organization
is where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them. That's the simplest form of that
body. Two or three people. They could
be gathered together in a brush arbor, in a pasture field, in
a hog lot, in a kitchen, in a barn, a tool shed. It doesn't make
any difference where they are. This is the church. This is the
church. The church is, and my English
is correct, the church is people. It's individuals purchased and
redeemed through the blood of Christ. Okay. Now, here he speaks
in Isaiah of these captives to whom he will say, come out and
to those in darkness, be free. Now let's go back over to second
Corinthians. Paul writes to these Corinthians
and he says, In the time of my favor I heard you, and this is
a quotation, and in the day of salvation I helped you. Now as
I say, I believe that speaks of Christ. But now look, I tell
you now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation. Where is that favor seen? In
Christ. What's Paul saying all through
chapter five? What's he preaching here in chapter
five? We're talking about now, the day of the Lord can be for
the sinner, the day of salvation. That's what I'm saying. The day
of the Lord for the sinner, maybe, can be the day of salvation if
God so pleases. By the way, and I thought I brought
it with me, and I guess I didn't. And I'm sorry that I didn't,
because I had intended to. It may be out in the car. If
it is, it is, and it wasn't. That's just the way things are.
I got the other half of that article I read to you two weeks
ago. And in that article, that same
writer says, You cannot repent, you cannot believe, you cannot
receive, you cannot please God, apart from the gift of life through
the Holy Spirit. Now, what he was saying in the
first part of it, I don't have any idea. But I was going to
write the thing. I was going to say that he come
around to the truth eventually. But what we're saying here is
that Paul is writing to these Corinthians, and he says, now
look, Let's go to verse 11, speaking now of the day of salvation,
which is the day of the Lord, so far as the child of God's
grace is concerned. And we'll get to what I mean
by that in just a minute, in just a little bit. Paul says
in verse 11, since then, we know what it is to fear the Lord.
We try to persuade men. And that's true. I mean, we try
to persuade men. Walter was on a Sunday night
of the people that he talks to, and I talk to people. Joe talks
to people, you talk to people. He said, we seek to persuade
men. What do we seek to persuade men? We seek to persuade men
who Jesus Christ is and what he did. What we are is plain to God. Paul is defending himself. What
we are is plain to God. And I hope it's also plain to
your conscience. We're not trying to commend ourselves again to
you. but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us so that you
can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than what
is in the heart. Oh boy, I like that in the NIV. Did you hear what he wrote? So that you can answer those
who take pride in what is seen rather than that what is in the
heart. And we're surrounded by that.
people who take pride in what is seen rather than what is unseen
they look upon the outward appearance and the scripture is very clear
on that man looketh upon the outward appearance God looketh
upon the heart it doesn't make much difference what appears
on the outside if the heart is right with God now remember I
said if And certainly the heart being right with God has some
bearing upon what appears on the outside. Yet, when I say
that, I have in mind, I hear things
like this, well, what could you expect? Look how he lived. Well, I know people, Cecil, live
like the devil. It seemed to me get along better
than I do. So I can't say that about somebody else. And yet
among God's people, I hear that statement. Well, God's judgment comes sooner
or later. Well, we better pray it doesn't fall on us. See, that's
the point. Because we see only the outside. That's all we see. God looks
upon the heart. And he sees that heart. He knows
the heart of every one of us better than we know it ourselves.
Because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above
all things. Who can know it? God can. Question scripture asks, can
the crooked places be made straight? Yes, they can. God can do it. You can't. I can't. But God can.
He can make crooked places straight. All right. He said, if we are
out of our mind, he pauses, if I'm crazy, it's for the sake
of God. If we're in our right mind, if
I'm not crazy, it's for you. For Christ's love, your Bible
says, for the love of Christ constraineth us, doesn't it?
Well, it says, for Christ's love compels us. It's a compelling
force. Not our love, but Christ's love. You see, you get this love preaching
all the time. Joe showed me that wretched paragraph
in that wretched book that comes from interfaith. whatever it
is. It's up there on the corner,
you know. There used to be one called Interfaith Varsity, but
that's not what it is. It's Interfaith Church is what
it is. And in that thing, in that book, this fellow had a
vision. And the Lord Jesus Christ came,
Cecil, that's what the fellow writes. I read it with my own
eyes. the Lord Jesus Christ come and kneels before him and says don't don't ask what
you can do for me don't ask how you can serve me ask me how I
can serve you you talk about blasphemy that's
blasphemy Paul says the love of Christ constrains us. Paul
said, I'm out here preaching, not because I particularly love
you. Now, I don't mean that to be
a harsh statement, but this is what Paul's saying. I'm, but,
but perchance Christ does. And it's the love of Christ for
sinners that compels me and drives me. That's what he's saying. It compels us because we, here's
why, we're convinced, here's good Arminian scripture, that
one died for all and therefore all died. And your King James
Version says if one died for all, then we're all dead. I think
that's correct. See, I memorized one book and
I read none of another. The idea that Christ died for all men
is not contained in this verse. If it is, then we might as well
close up shop and quit preaching and quit trying to educate men
so far as God is concerned because everybody is saved according
to this verse. If that's what it means, but
that's not what it means. But if it is as some would teach,
That's exactly what it says. Let me read it to you again.
And he died for all. How many times I've heard that?
People say to me, well, the scripture says he died for all. But there's
a comma there. There's a comma there, not a
period. I've told you before, the scripture
says that Judas went out and hanged himself. You can go over
and find another passage that says, go thou and do likewise.
And you can put them together and you're in trouble. This is a comma. He died for
all. That's what it says. Now look at it carefully. One
died for all. And therefore, all died. All died. That means that if Christ died
for all men, then all men have died in Christ. That's what it means. If, that's
what it says. But that's what Walter's mentioned
so many times. Take one verse and try to build
a doctrine on one verse. And I've said it over and over
again, you can't do it. You can't do it. What is he saying? He's
saying that one died for all. That is all of his own. Therefore, all of his own died
with him." Now, can I prove that rather as an accurate statement
rather than my interpretation? Yes, I can. And he died for all,
see, he died for all that those who live, there it is, that those
who live should no longer live for themselves
but for him who died for them and was raised again. Now he goes on in a strange vein
and we could stop there quite quite lengthily but I may come
back to it. He goes on in a strange vein
here. Difficult. Difficult. So let me read it out of this
version and that's why I've got this with me tonight. So from
now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. We know
no man after the flesh. Is that what it says? Henceforth,
no, we know man after the flesh. All right, here it is. From now on, we regard no one
from a worldly view. In other words, we're not looking
upon men just as men. Though we once regarded Christ
in this way, and he did, he did, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation. Now yours reads, if any man be
in Christ Jesus, he's a new creature. The old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new. Here's what it really says.
And I've checked this. Here's what it really says. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, not a new creature,
a new creation. What is, how is he a new creation?
He is created in Christ Jesus unto good works. How's he, how's
that happen? By the workmanship of God. That's
what Paul puts it in Ephesians 2. 8 through 10. For we are His
workmanship created in Christ. Where was the child of God formed? In Jesus Christ. And in Him alone. I can't make that strong enough. The child of God's sovereign
grace was formed in Jesus Christ as Christ was born. I don't think
I'm going too far. As Christ was born, so his people
were born. As he lives, so his people live. This is what the Christian scripture
says. Because he lives, he shall live also. And when he died,
his people died. It's all in Christ. It has nothing
whatsoever to do Now this that I'm talking about has nothing
at all to do with anything that I am, was, or can be by works,
ambition, or any other motivation. Has nothing to do with it whatsoever.
Nothing. Nothing. By God's sovereign decree,
every child of God was created in Christ when Christ took upon
himself the form of sinful flesh. Well, you see, I thought we were
chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. We were. But I'm
saying the actuality, the coming to pass, that day was when Christ
came forth. He said, Father, shall I say,
save me from this hour? He said, nay, for this hour came
I into the world. what hour? To travail, to give
birth to the church. That's why he came. And in as much as that passage
that I stayed with you so long in Isaiah, he shall see the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. Every one of them. Well, look
at this. Therefore if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation. Now your KGV says that the old
things have passed away and behold all things have become new. Well
you know and you've heard me say it many times, you know how
that's preached. That once you're a Christian, once you come forward
and accept Christ and pray the prayer, and are baptized, You're a Christian
and everything in your life is new. You don't have the old hatreds.
You don't have the old desires. You don't have the old lust. You don't have the old... That's
a lie. That's a lie. That's an Arminian
lie. And I don't care if a four-point
Baptist preaches it. It's an Arminian lie. That isn't
what Paul says. Here's what he says. The old
is gone. The new has come. What old? The law. The law is gone. The new has come. What? The new creation. That
which the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh
condemns sin in the flesh. That's the new. That's come. That's the new day. That's the
day of salvation. When a man can come into that
inheritance, that's the day of salvation. All this is from God. That's what Paul says here. All
this is from God. In other words, it is a gift
of God. Gift. Now I know that some of
my And Calvinistic brethren get real upset with me when I say
this. And I don't care if they do. I'll go on and say it because
it's valid. I won't do it because he'd take
it. But if I'd take $10 and say to Joe, here's a gift, Joe. Now
if I do that, he'd snatch it. Don't kid yourself. Don't kid
yourself. He'd take it. So I'm not going
to do it. But if I would, and he'd say, no, I don't want it. Has he been given a gift? If
he says I don't want it, has he been given a gift? He has
not. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. That which God gives, he gives
sovereignly. And it is received. Or it's not given. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I said that one night here and got accused of being an Armenian.
That's right, I did. Said that's the oldest Armenian
statement in the world. That's not an Armenian statement. When
God gives, he gives sovereignly. And that is received. If you don't receive Christ,
he's not being given to you. He's not been given to you. You
don't want him, he's not offered to you either. And I've had my
share of upsets on that one too. I just heard a nationally known
preacher. I listened to him two and a half minutes. It took me
that long to get my books laid down and get to the television
to turn it off. Our purpose is to offer Christ.
to the world, nonsense. I'm not offering Christ to anybody. God didn't give me a warrant
to offer Christ to anybody. Well, what about this that follows?
We'll see. All is from God, who reconciled
us to himself through Christ. See, God reconciled us unto himself. It's past tense. Every child
of God is reconciled to God. There is no war between us. We
are not in rebellion against God. You say, well, what? I mean, the child of God is not
in rebellion against God. Does he sometimes rebel? Yes. Does that make him a rebel? No. Because he's his father's son,
she's her father's daughter. God then exercises discipline
in his family and brings us where we ought to be. For whom the
Lord loveth, he chasteneth, scourgeth everyone that he receiveth. And
what does it say? If we receive not the chastening
of the Lord, then are you bastards and not sons. If God doesn't
whip, I don't whip another man's son. I don't whip anybody anymore.
But I did once whip another woman's son. I did that. I did that.
By mistake, thought it was Neil. And he was running down the aisle
of the church just to fly in. And he was a blonde-headed kid. And I reached out and grabbed
him and raised him up to the floor and cut him in three right
across the backsides, just as hard as I could let. That kid
turned around and here it belonged to another woman in the church.
And she was standing there and saw me do it. Well, I laid it
on him. I thought it was Neal. I mean,
I poured it to him. My hand burned. And that kid looked at me and
squalled. Rosene said, do it again. But I mean, I put it to that
young'un. But you don't chastise, ordinarily
speaking now, you understand what I'm saying. No illustration
holds up forever. You don't go around chastising
other people's children. God chastises his own. I'm glad
he does. I'm glad he does. I want to stay
in the way. I want to stay there. Well, this
is the day of salvation we're talking about. I got to hurry
to get to what I want to get to. Well, he says, who reconciled
us to himself through Christ and gave to us. Now Paul's speaking
apostatically. He said, gave to us, to me, the
ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world. Do I believe that? Sure I do.
Reconciling the world to himself in Christ. Is God going to save
the world? Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Not counting men's sins against
him, and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors. As though God were making his
appeal through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf. Instead
of Christ, we implore you be reconciled to God. Is he offering anything? He is
not. He's saying, will you be reconciled
to God? Mack, that's what he's saying.
We implore you to be reconciled. Will you be reconciled to God?
I can ask that of any group of people in the country. I can
ask it of a young man, of a young woman, of an old man, old woman,
middle-aged, fat, skinny, rich or poor. Will you be reconciled
to God? Will you do it? They said, well, no. I thought
a lot about religion. Well, I know where he's coming
from right now. He's lost. He's lost. Where was I reading that? No,
I can't tell you another story. Time won't permit me to do it.
But he says, as though God were making his appeal through us.
Be reconciled to God. Why? God made him, Christ, to
be sin for us. Who? God's children. So that
in him, we might become the righteousness of God. KJV, he made him to be
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's why he did it. Not that,
you see, this is not, I had a, there was a lady that attended
here and she said, well, all Earl does is deal with words.
He really don't preach anything, he just deals with words. If
you don't know the words I'm using, you're not going to know
what I'm saying. That's a fact. I mean, you get up here and jump
up and down to holler whoopee who shot John and throw your
coat in the corner and wipe sweat and scream and holler about the
Holy Ghost and whatnot. And you'll have people out here
that fill the place up saying amen, and they don't know one
thing about what you're talking about. And I know that to be
the truth. I know it to be the truth. Anyhow, we deal with words. Be reconciled
to God, because God made him to be sin, who had no sin. He knew no sin. To be sin for
us, that we might become not try to become see that's important
you're not as a child of God you're not trying to become something
you are already you are now at this moment if
you're in Christ you are at this moment clothed in the righteousness
of Christ He is made unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Righteousness is yours. As the
prodigal left the pigpen, as he left the pigpen and journeyed
back to the father's house, the scripture says the father lifted
up his eyes and saw him afar off. There's nothing there that tells
me that the son saw the father. The father saw him. You know
why? That's all he had eyes for. That's
right. So he comes. You see, here's
the beauty of that parable. He didn't say, where have you
been? You smell like a hog. Got pork chops on his breath. Now we smile at that, but listen,
that's the natural reaction. No, no, that's not what he did.
He set them to preparing a feast. He sent out to the best ring.
What's the ring? Seal of authority. Place of the first son. This
was the younger one. See, he wasn't the first one.
I keep telling Mason, Mason keeps after me all the time. Preach
something on that boy that stayed home all the time. He's always
getting, every time I mention the prodigal, he hits me with
that. But he put the best ring on it, put the ring on his finger,
and he put the best robe on him. He clothed him in his own authority. The best robe in the house went
on him. That didn't belong to the oldest son. That belonged
to the old man. That belonged to the father.
And God the father, in the person of Christ, through sovereign
grace, places his robe upon his people by his grace and his grace
alone. And we're clothed in His righteousness
and stand before God at this moment as righteous as Jesus
Christ Himself. Because of grace. Now that's
grace. You say, well that's pride. No,
that's grace. That's what God did. That's what
God did. Well, you say, where's the day
of the Lord in all this? I've got about four or five minutes.
Where's the day of the Lord? Where's judgment? Oh, there's
judgment here. Mercy, there's judgment here.
Judgment like you never would want to even see. He made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin. That's the day of the Lord. See,
judgment in that day of the Lord will fall upon the ungodly and
upon the earth. That judgment, falling upon the
ungodly and upon the earth, is because of that judgment that
fell upon the Son. You see, He bore in His own body
our sins upon the tree. I don't think that we understand
yet And I endeavor to, but human
words can't put it into expression. I don't think we understand yet
what it means over there in Lamentations where it says, look, behold, all ye that pass
by, and see if there is any sorrow like unto my sorrow. wherein
the Lord hath afflicted me in his severe anger, in his wrath
you see that same wrath against sin and against evil that the
Holy God pours out upon the reprobate That wrath was poured out upon
Christ on behalf of his people. Amen. Exactly. I said it here one time. I said
it down at Ashland another time.