Greetings, friends, and welcome
to another broadcast of the Old School Primitive Baptist with
Elder Don Martin, Sr. Stay tuned for another gospel
message of God's free and sovereign grace. I'm blessed to be here
this morning. Though it be a dismal, dreary
day on this Saturday morning, and yet there are showers of
blessings. inside the safe haven called
the Little Meeting House at the Empire Church. We're safe from
the droplets of rain coming from the heavens above and we're in
a safe haven amongst those who have that common bond, which
is that faith. that is of Jesus Christ, who
is the author and finisher of that faith which has brought
us together in unity with a common desire to worship the Lord God
omnipotent, omniscient, and who alone is worthy of praise, honor,
and glory. I'd like to take a few moments,
hopefully not to be lengthy, But I'll speak upon a couple
words. I'll speak upon the word justice,
mercy, parole, and pardon. Now the Bible says that God is
a just God. And being that he is almighty
in every aspect, he is sovereign, and that he is in the heavens,
and doeth whatsoever he pleases. And that he rules in the armies
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and really no man
can say unto him, why doest thou thus or that? For He does as He pleases and
accomplishes His divine will and purposes in all things. Now,
He's a just God, meaning that He is a God of justice. But to the depraved sinner, that
attribute about the Almighty God of glory is a attribute that is fearful. Now you said we are not those
that fear, but are those of a sound mind. And when you see the totality
of the redeeming work of Christ, fear begins to take its plight. If a man is looking for justice,
from a just God, that he will find himself in a fearful state
because of depravity's curse upon all of mankind, we are found
guilty before God of sin. And for God to be just and to
deal with sin with and in a just manner, he must condemn it, which
he does, and he must take and cause a penalty
to be paid for that sin, if he's just. And so God being just, he is
also in his sovereign attributes, he's a God of mercy. Now what
do we look for as those who have been revealed some of the revelation
of the word of God regarding the salvation of the believer?
Are we looking for justice or are we looking for mercy? We look for justice, we find
ourselves in a hard place, between a rock and a hard place. We are
in between two entities that are fighting one to another.
There is justice that demands a penalty to be paid, but on
the other side there is the mercy of God. And that is what the
believer in Christ Jesus has been revealed brings comfort
and hope and joy in the experience of salvation, is mercy. And the Bible says in Philippians
chapter 2, excuse me, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4, but God
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us. Even when we were dead in sins, had quickness together
with Christ, and for by grace are ye saved. It's by the mercy
of God that we are saved and sought out among the lot of mankind
under the curse of depravity and brought out of this condemnation
by this just God. It's by His mercy we have been
delivered from His justice. because of love. Love is that
driving factor that causes mercy to be applied. For he loved us
first before we loved him. He first loved us. And so therefore,
in regarding justice and mercy, we plead our case before God,
though God have mercy upon me, a sinner. That's what the heathen
men prayed when they went to the temple, not as a pharisaical
pride religionist of the Judaizers of their day that went up there
and said, Oh God, I am one of the tribes of Israel and I have
given alms and done thus and done so and I've kept the statutes
and laws and commandments. No, no, no. The Bible says, God
heareth not the prayers of that boasting man of self-confidence
and that which delineated trusting in God's salvation, but that
one little heathen man that went up there with a contrite and
a broken heart that smote his breast and said, O God, have
mercy upon me, a sinner. The Bible says, God heareth his
prayer. And God is the sovereign God
that is the one that causes the contrite and broken heart. Man
don't get a contrite heart just because all of a sudden he just
is overwhelmed by being a bad guy. I mean in his own own frail
abilities. Man's not able to even understand
that he's a bad guy. You talk to most people of the
unregenerate world around us, there ain't nobody out there
bad. Well, compared to what? A child molester or a rapist
or something? I ain't that bad of a guy. I
ain't killed nobody. I mean, what is really being
bad? A man will always justify himself
as being good enough. Well, God's bound to have mercy
upon me. I ain't been that bad. I ain't
been on the news as doing some terrible thing as many that you
hear about every day. But I tell you what, there's
none righteous. On the other side of the coin,
there's not one righteous. They've all gone astray. For
there's none that doeth good, the Bible says. In the third
chapter of Romans, Paul spells it out, that for their tongue
is as a poison of asp, and the throat is as an open sepulcher. And the fear of God is not before
them. And Peter swept the shed blood
and on and on is the picture of the state of the depravity
of man and the character of man by nature. We don't need justice. will condemn us forever, but
mercy will come and bring deliverance to us, because the Bible says,
even while we were dead in sins, He has quickened us together,
for by grace are you saved. Oh yes, God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love we're with. He's loved us. I want mercy.
Oh God, have mercy upon me. And in the scriptures, and I
believe, I can't remember which book it is, but in one of the
scriptures there is a, it might have been the Psalms, a psalmist
wrote in one of the Psalms, pretty much most of the chapter, after
every statement of applause in the text, he says, for His mercy
endureth forever. And he'll read on and on and
then he'll say, His mercy endures forever. Let me tell you brothers
and sisters in Christ Jesus this morning, I've come to tell you
His mercy endures forever. I'm glad it does. If it only
went for a short time, Brother Clark, I'm in deep trouble. Because
where am I going to pick up at and try to do anything to keep
it? I can't. I can't keep nothing.
I can't keep nothing. Faith is the only substance that
I have of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen that
keeps me going, and that is by Christ. And that is a gift of
God, not of works of less than dimension, folks. All right,
we talked a little bit about the just God and the justice
of God, but yet beyond the justice of God comes the sweet and the
wonderful good news message of the mercy of God towards undeserving
sinners, okay? Now let's talk a minute about
parole. And the reason why this was brought up, I heard this
recently and I hear on the news a lot about so-and-so is up for
parole. So-and-so has been in prison
for 15 or 20 years and he's coming up for parole. You know, parole
is a letting out of one who has been imprisoned. and charged
with doing a wrongdoing in society. And now that he is satisfactorily,
if the board so agrees, he has paid the price for a certain
length of time and he's now up for parole. But let me tell you
something, the parole does not deliver him from the charge that
is against him. For he has to do certain things
and works and obligations that continue on in that parole state
even though he be a free man. But listen to me this morning,
I don't want parole by the God Almighty for the sins and the
things that I've done in this wretched mortal frame over the
years that I've lived as an unregenerate character, let alone the sins
that I do as a believer in Christ Jesus. The things that I would
do, I do not. The things that I do, I would
not. how to perform that which is good I find not within me,
but oh, but I've got one that is within me now. His name is
Jesus Christ, and He is my performer. He's come to live in me both
to cause me to will and to do His good pleasure. For He that
has begun a good work in you shall perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. That's my hope, and that's my
help, and that's what gives me of a sound mind. No, I do not want to have a parole. I don't want God to put me on
parole and then me have to go out here and try to do some duty
works to try to continue on being good enough to merit my parole. Let me tell you what, I stand
here today before you on the merits of Jesus Christ and His
merits alone. I stand here before you as a
messenger of the gospel of Christ if I am anything at all. because
of the merits of Jesus Christ, upon all that He has done and
accomplished in this sinner, this poor mortal body, this wicked
man by natural nature. If I am anything at all, it's
by His merits. And to Him be the glory. And
I take nothing that I can boast of in any natural way or form. No. I do not want to be on parole,
but you know there's a gospel being preached by many over the
centuries of Christianity that has given people the indication
that they're on parole. You know that? Well, you just
do this and do that. Yet, once you begin this work
of taking and making your decision for Christ, you have to keep
up. doing duties and works. Brother
Clark, nearly you're on parole if they teach that kind of stuff.
If that's the kind of gospel that people are under many, many
Sundays in meeting houses around the nation and the world, They're
under a gospel that if you do this, you'll get this, but then
you've got to continue on with that. Well, I've got a gospel
that says that if Christ has done this for you, and if he's
blessed you to come and believe it, as Brother Mike said, if
he's blessed you to believe the gospel, which brings life and
immortality to light, and you've seen that, And you've seen all
of it. And you've seen the finish work
of it. You've seen Christ on the cross. You've seen Him suffering
for sinners. You've seen Him dead. You've
seen Him resurrected. You've seen Him coming back again.
And it's all completed in God's determined purpose from the beginning
of time as He has predestined it to come to pass. And so shall
it be. Yes, we're not on parole. It ain't up to me and how I act
according to what I'm going to get in eternity. It's been established. For if our names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life, when? Before the foundation of the
world. My goodness, so what can we do to alter that? Can man
change that? To those who God the Father has
given Christ to come and die for on the cross as the elect,
the appointed, the chosen, called heirs of divine grace, adopted
into the family of God by God Almighty before the foundation
of the world, what can man do to alter that? He cannot do nothing
to alter that. You say, well, brother, we still
fall short of being perfect and living the life that we want
to live. Yes, we do. That's because Jesus Christ has
come and has justified us and paid for it all on the cross
of Calvary. And there's nothing we can do
to alter that. Yes, we sin. But yet, with that sin, our hearts
just does not merely fluff it off. You see, the heart of God's
elect children is grieved over sin. And if a person professed
to be a Christian and a believer in Christ Jesus, and he's not
grieved over sin when he becomes guilty of it in this mortal time
realm, oh, I warn him, Make your calling and election sure, brother
and sister, lest you be not in the family of God. It's a warning. I'm not judging anybody. I'm
saying judge yourself, and if you do, then no man can judge
you. And judgment must first begin
where at? The house of God. And among the people of God.
You know, that's one thing that has been a low-keyed and low-preached
thing in the last probably a hundred years, and that is church discipline. I believe in church discipline.
And because if a man or woman is living in an ungodly manner,
it is a reproach not only upon the local church, but on Jesus
Christ himself. Think about it. It's a testimony
that people round about say, oh, my goodness, they're living
over there together. They ain't even married. They're
going to that church, and they just go in there, and they're
accepted. I mean, there needs to be discipline. of moral character
of Christ-like people that meet in the assembly of God's people
and live like Christ had called them to live. To be different
people, peculiar people, zealous of good works. That's the evidence
of salvation. Not that good works is what saves
us. Good works, listen, is the evidence
of salvation. We are not getting blessed because
of good works. We are blessed to do good works. That's the difference, Brother
Michael. When God revealed that to me some years back about how
the blessing of God was upon those of his elect family, the
blessing of God is upon them to do good works. It just opened
my eyes and turned on a light bulb I never saw before. I tried
to do all kinds of duties. I tried, I was, I had a time,
I'm going to have a devotion, every morning. You've probably
heard me say this before. Every morning before I start
my job, I'm going to get up and I'm going to sit down and I'm
going to read so many chapters of the scriptures. I'm going
to do this. I'm going to set this time apart to do. They went on pretty good for
about three or four weeks. And I got up one morning, I was
dead tired. I said, oh me, oh gosh. And I didn't want to have to
admit it, but oh, I have to look at that book this morning and
read. I just don't want to feel up to it. And it got to where
it had become a laborious thing. Oh, I was, my intentions were
good. And my devotion was one that
I began with as a heartfelt desire to please God. But it was me
that was trying to do it. And it was me that had made a,
more or less, a obligated decision to keep it up. And I proved to
myself I couldn't keep it up. I just couldn't keep it up. Well,
I found out later on that I did more reading of the scriptures
in the evening time. It was easier for me. They try to do it in the morning.
Now a lot of brothers study scriptures in the morning. They feel fresh,
they're awakened. For me, it just didn't seem to
work, especially when I had to be at certain places for meetings
and so forth. So what I'm trying to say is
that I tried So many times to do so many duties and obligations
that I felt had to be done in order to demonstrate that I was
a Christian. But when I was blessed with the
revelation that Jesus Christ by His Spirit is that which works
in me to will and to do this good pleasure, and that it is
Christ within me by His Spirit that motivates me to do the things
that are pleasing in His sight, and I am blessed by that. work
of grace to do those things, then I began to have peace in
mind and heart about it. And I was able to rest. Like
Jesus said, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, you know,
come unto me. And what's he going to do? He'll
give you rest. The writer of Hebrews says, Are they that have
entered into Christ's rest ceased from their own labors? Oh, may
God help me cease from my own labors that I might do that which
Christ initiates in me to do. And only that. The rest is wood,
hay, and stubble, Brother John. Oh yes, I don't want no parole.
I don't want to be taken and let out on certain means and
rules and regulations and have to be here and there at a certain
time to prove myself worthy. I want somebody that pardons
me. I want somebody that pardons
me totally. And Jesus Christ is the only
one that can pardon a sinner and set him free without no strings
attached to it. Isaiah had penned a number of
things about the pardoning work of God. And he says, first of
all, let me read about three verses here, and I'll conclude.
In the 43rd chapter, in the 25th verse, he says, I, even I, am
he that blotted out thy transgressions for mine own sake. God Almighty has said that I,
even I, is he that blotted out thy transgressions for my own
sake. He's blotted out the transgressions
of his elect family, those adopted heirs of grace, for his sake.
We get blessed by it and through it, but it's for His sake, because
we are His remnant. We are His church. We're part
of His bride. We're witnesses of His grace
and loving mercies. For the Bible says in Acts chapter
1, for when the Holy Ghost comes upon you, shall be witnesses
unto me. It does not say you shall try
to be witnesses. He says you will be witnesses. That is a passive explanation
that Jesus said is going to occur in all that be in Christ Jesus. They shall witness of the truth
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Further on, 44th chapter of Isaiah,
verse 22, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions,
and as a thick cloud thy sins. Return it to me, for I have redeemed
thee. Oh, we've been redeemed. We've
been redeemed and pardoned. When somebody is pardoned in
the judicial aspect of this government in which we live, when a pardon
is granted, they are set free, no longer condemned of what they
were convicted of, but are free with no strings attached, no
parole, no nothing. They are free, and we as well
that are pardoned by the blood of Christ are free indeed from
sin's condemnation. And then thirdly, Isaiah 55 7,
let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. Oh, I love that word pardon.
I don't want to be on parole. I want to be pardoned. And Jesus
said, that all will come to me, I shall no wise lose none, but
they that come to me, I am going to pardon their sins, because
I am going to grant them mercy, and they shall have life eternal,
and sins forgiven, forever and ever. You say, what about sin? Is that all sin? Every sin, past,
present and future. No, we can't get by with future
sins and just scuff it off and say that God is sovereign and
therefore He's predestined our sins to be forgiven, which He
had, and we can just get by with it. No, if you're a child of
God, You'll be vexed in heart, and you'll be chastened by God,
because whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and every one
of God's children shall be chastened by the Lord. But he says, all
shall be partakers of that chastening. So therefore, all of us are going
to fall short of the glory of God as time goes on, and we're
not going to get by with it. We're going to be dexed, and
we're going to be brought down, and our hearts are going to be
broken, and we're going to repent, and God is going to bless us
with that wonderful grace that comes and gives us the peace,
the understanding, and joy unspeakable that Jesus Christ has paid it
all, and all to Him I owe. God bless you is my prayer. Thank
you for your kind attention.