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. Well, brother and I, sisters,
I covet your prayers on behalf of my attempt to stand before
you this morning, or this afternoon, or quite this afternoon, getting
close. But I'm thankful again that God
has given Brother Michael and I the blessed privilege and safety
to travel up here to Empire Church and be with you again and see
all of you. See Brother Dale who's traveled
probably at least a couple hours, and America's to be with us here
this morning as well. And you know, I think about the
traveling and the distance and time to come into a little humble
meeting like this, Brother Clark. And why? What is it? What is it that's that would
drive a man's desire, will, and want to, to do this today. On a Saturday, a beautiful sunny
day, a crisp, cool day, a cold day as a matter of fact, in southern
Georgia, to drive a couple of hours and even further and longer,
to be with a small little flock of folks and sing the songs of
God's grace and praise as we did. I thought the singing this
morning was exceptionally blessed of God. It was worshipful to
me. It provoked in me a desire to
say, oh dear Jesus, thank you for just having mercy upon me
and giving me the opportunity one more time to listen to the
voices of the children of God that lift them up before Thee
in adoration and praise. And I was greatly blessed by
that. But you know, I've thought about
the last day or so, and it's been on my mind, as Billy Clark
says it from time to time as he gets up, he'll say, something's
been on my mind. Boy, when something gets on your
mind, you can't get rid of it unless you just declare it. And something that's been on
my mind recently and it keeps coming back is the promises of
God. The promises of God. Do you know
that if you stop and think about the promises of God, upon that
subject hangs all of our hope. We say we're saved by hope. And
we have a blessed hope, but it's all hanging upon the promises
of God. If his promises are not so, and
he does not fulfill what he says he shall do, then our hope is
in vain, Brother Dale. And our salvation is in vain,
and we have a real reason to wonder if it be so. But because
of his promises being steadfast and sure, our hope is as well
assured to be valid. Because it is that which is brought
about by the faith of Jesus Christ, which is the gift of God and
is prompted and brought about by the Spirit of God Almighty. So therefore, the promises of
God, I look upon them as I have recalled scripture. I recall
the promises of God that He told the children of Israel. This
is the laws, commandments, statutes, ordinances, and testimony that
I have set forth before you. And if you refuse to do what
I've set forth, then you're going to have to pay the penalty. If
you rebel against that which I've said before you, you're
going to pay the price. Chastening is coming. And they
were taken by the Babylonian nation and a group of the Assyrians
on another occasion. They were kept captive and kept
prisoner. and made slaves by these folks
who now we know as those that are of the Arab world have taken
Israel captive and used them as slaves. But in all of that,
and God promised that there was going to be a price for the rebellion,
He said, I'm going to send you a deliverer. He promised it,
brother, I'm going to send you a deliverer. And it took that
man Moses, that which was laid in the bulrushes there in the
river, that was found by the daughter of Pharaoh, that was
taken into Pharaoh's kingdom and nourished along until a man
of statute and become the prince of the kingdom of Pharaoh. And
then, as you know, the record of the message of what I call
the gospel of the Old Testament, and that is the good news to
us. We look back on it now, and for our examples and understanding
and the record of God's dealing with God's people, how that he
said that I'm going to take and send a deliverer, and it was
Moses, a man who had left the kingdom of Pharaoh's large kingdom
and went out for 40 years, tending sheep. And after that 40 year period,
God had came and spoke to him in a bush that was burning, but
never was annihilated in the burning of that bush. And he
spoke to him and said, take off your shoes, you're in holy ground.
He took his shoes off and God Almighty spoke to him and said,
I want you to go and I want you to deliver my people. Oh, I can't
go, I can't do it! I said, you're going to go, I'm
going to send you a helper as well. I'm going to send Aaron
with you down there. Let me tell you something, that's
just one of the hundreds and hundreds of promises throughout
the Old Covenant, Old Testament, that God has got set forth in
the record of the Holy Writ. He said he was going to complete
and have done. I'm going to send a deliverer
to deliver my people. He went down there and he confronted
Pharaoh and Pharaoh, the Bible says in more than the 17 places, that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God Almighty will harden the
heart of anyone of any of the human race as it pleases Him
to this day, if it so be, that they are not able to perceive
the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it pleases Him to do
so. But at the same time, He promised
that there will be a remnant. according to the election of
grace, that he will not harden their heart, but that he will
soften their heart and give them a fleshy, not fleshly, but a
fleshy heart, Paul says, that it may be manipulated by the
Spirit of God to be able to endorse and believe the truth of the
gospel that Jesus Christ has come to seek and save sinners. And when one is manipulated by
the Spirit of Almighty God to receive that glorious message
and endorse it into the heart, mind, and soul, it is an experience
that is never to be undone. It is the new birth that comes
about by the spiritual work of God's Almighty sovereign work
of grace. And it is never to be undone.
It cannot be altered. It cannot be changed. Salvation
is sure of God's elect because God promised it. Jesus said,
I've come to seek and to save them which are lost. Is he doing
it? Yes, he's done it. Is he doing
it? Yes, he's doing it. And he's going to do it until
the last one be brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son
and to the bright church of Jesus Christ. He's doing it to that
very time. And then he shall call all things
to an end. And he shall come with vengeance
upon those who have been not elect, those of the goats, those
of the pairs. And he shall come with deliverance
again, oh, the great deliverer. The deliverer of all deliverers,
Jesus Christ himself is going to come and he's going to deliver
from this world of sin and woe and wickedness here below his
remnant church. And he's going to be a bride
without spot or wrinkle, Brother Dale. It's a beautiful bride
he's preparing. It'll be dressed in a white raiment
of the robe Indicating and manifesting the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God Himself, and His precious blood. Oh, where
else can it be that the precious crimson red blood of Christ can
cleanse things so white as snow? Other than in the mystery of
the word of the living God, that He can take His blood and cleanse
us as white as snow. as if sin had never tainted us
in any way at all in time. Then He removes it and takes
our sin and casts it behind Him and He takes it and casts it
to the sea of forgiveness, never to be brought to our account
ever again. Oh listen, in my early experience,
oh I was told about, oh there's going to be that time Oh, when
there's going to be like this big movie screen here, and your
life is going to be reflected back, and all the things that
you did, and how you're going to stand there and give account.
How can I give account? When you realize that you are
taught that there is the sovereign work of God, in Jesus Christ
to seek and save sinners and redeem them. And once and for
all paid that ultimate price for their sin on the cross of
Calvary. And it removes every benefit,
it eradicates every judgment according to it and everything
else that has to do with it is God. We are reckoned as righteous
before God Almighty. He who knew no sin became sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's the gospel. And woe unto
me if I preach not the gospel of Jesus Christ, for that is
the only gospel that is of any That's the only message that
can cause the wayward little sinner to find any kind of peace
and hope and joy. That's the only good news that
can bring the wayward one here in this time realm here below.
any peace and happiness. When we sing about it in the
Psalms, that's what's so wonderful about the old Lloyd's hymn book
and the Gatsby and the Governor and the old hymn book. Those
writers were not all caught up in the charisma of this world
and all of the busy-bodiness that goes on with it, all the
recreation that they were caught up with. They were men of old
that wasn't taken and used up with the time of watching television
and doing this. They were men that meditated
in this book and they read it. They didn't have a Strong's Concordance. They didn't have a Vines Dictionary.
They didn't have anything, any helps like that. They read this
Word of God and as God illuminated the truth to their mind and gave
them the ability and the gifts of recall, they wrote as they
were given by inspiration the things such as some of the great
writers of the times past, of the old past, that are a blessing
to us even today. of the glorious grace and salvation
of God in Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ. His promises are sure and steadfast. And all that he said he would
do, he has done. Yes, that one that Mike talked
about, that even when he spoke, the winds had ceased to blow
and the sea became calm. Oh, and as I said, brother, what
manner of man is this that even the winds obey his voice? I'll tell you what manner of
man he is. He's that ultimate deliverer I was telling you about.
He is what Moses was just a type of. He is the one that came to
demonstrate the ultimate Savior for those who needed salvation's
work of grace. And that's to us even today in
the New Covenant and New Testament. Yes, the Bible says, Paul, he
writes in the book of Romans chapter 1 verse 16, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God
unto salvation to them which believe. Now, verse 17 is a verse
that I personally have read over many times and never really took
on the perception of really how it works with verse 16. For it
says in verse 17, in verse 16, he said, I'm not
only ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I'm not ashamed
that that gospel pushed the power of God into salvation to them
that believe. But in verse 17 it says this,
For therein is the righteousness of God. Proclaim. For therein Any message that
says it is a gospel and it excludes the righteousness of God is a
false gospel. For the true gospel is a gospel
that expresses and is that which declares the righteousness of
God and that is only through and by the sacrificial, vicarious
work of Jesus Christ himself on the cross of Calvary to shed
his holy blood and save sinners through that redemptive work.
of His Holy Blood being offered in our behalf. And He did it
once and for all. He did it once and He did it
for all of the elect of God, chosen, ordained, appointed,
and called heirs of grace down through time. He did it one time
and paid for every one of them's sin. I can stand before God Almighty
upon the promise that Jesus said, as my high priest sitting at
the right hand of the Father even right as I speak according
to the Holy Scripture, make an intercession for me and I can
speak and say, I can stand before God one day and in His presence
stand there all because of my intercessor and my mediator,
my propitiation, Jesus Christ. So to Him be the glory, to Him
be the praise, to Him be the honor, for He is due all of our
praise, devotion, and honor. I love Him. I love Him, dear
beloved brothers and sisters. I do not say that boastfully.
I say that because of this, because He first loved me. Brother, if
he had not of first loved me, if he had not of first loved
you, you could not love him today. I can assure you of that. That's
a promise of God. The promise is, is that we love
him because he first loved us. And he gave himself for us. That's
a promise of God. And it's a promise of God that
all that believeth on him shall never perish but have what? everlasting
life. That's a promise. God is not
wavering with His promises. God is sure and steadfast with
all of His promises. His promises, that is, like I
said, upon the premise of promise is what hangs my hope. And it's
based on nothing less than Jesus' blood and His righteousness. I dare not the sweetest spring,
but pour it late on Jesus' name. And as a little lamp of God that
often wanders around, as a songwriter put it, prone to wander and leave
the Lord I love, He comes after me as a chastening, loving shepherd
and picks me up and puts me to his sweet breast and embraces
me and says, come child, that is not the path you need to travel. Come, I want to make you a testimony
of my power, love and grace and mercy. where he says when the
Holy Ghost, he promised those in Acts chapter 1, shall come
upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto me. He didn't say I'm going
to give you an opportunity to try to be a witness. You know
how the evangelicals are working today. You need to learn how
to witness. That's the problem. We ain't
seeing an influx of folks in the church meeting house because
you ain't learning how to witness. How are you going to learn how
to witness? You've got to go to some of these seminars, and
you've got to start talking about things about the person's house
when you go visit them. You've got to get a conversation
moving around, and you've got to talk about things that they
can relate to. And then you kind of sneak in
there and give them a little bit about, well, what about your
position before God spiritually? What if he was to die? Are you
going to go to heaven? Is heaven going to be your home?
Well, a lot of folks say, I hope so. Well, I want it to be. Well,
you can be sure today. All you have to do is say this
prayer with me. Well, let me tell you something.
The Bible doesn't say there's going to be a seminar of means. and ways that a person is going
to learn how to be a witness. The Bible says that when the
Holy Ghost comes upon you and Christ abides within you, you
shall be. You can't help but be, brother.
You can't help but be a witness of Jesus Christ. When somebody
says something offensive to your Jesus, it becomes offensive to
you, and you can't stand it. You're a different person. You're
a new man. The Bible says any man of being
Christ, he's a new creature in Jesus Christ. Amen? If you're
not a new creature, you need to make your corner less than
sure. You need to examine yourself and see where you're at. New
creatures are those that are made up in the remnant of God. New creatures are those that
are in the pride of Christ. New creatures are those that
are going to be caught up and be taken as the angels of God
are sent to the four winds of the earth to gather his left
flock together. There are new creatures that
are going to be transformed. And then we're going to be ultimately
that which experience salvation's total completeness. You see,
we are being saved. We are saved in the purpose and
the mind of the Almighty in His sovereign design, but we are
being saved daily. He is saving us from the rows
of sin and the travail of things that we could be caught up in
if it were not for Him. for the regenerating power of
God Almighty withinside us and living in us, causing us to will
to do this good pleasure. Yes, we are being saved daily,
but when we get these bodies shed and we put on Salvation
then by the clock is going to be ultimately complete. And that
is when the salvation of body and soul is going to be brought
in the presence of God Almighty in an incorruptible state, in
an immortal state, to be with Him forever in eternity in glory,
to worship His and adore His glorious name forever and ever
and ever. I'm going to quit there. But
what would it mean if I preached not the gospel of Jesus Christ?
That's the only message I know. That's the only message that's
ever made a difference in this poor sinner's life. That's the
only message that still gives me that blessed assurance that
Christ has sought me out and caused me to be one who desires
to walk after Him, to follow Him. Because in my heart, And
in my soul, I have this longing from He that says, come, follow
me. For my sheep hear my voice, and
they shall follow me. Folks, don't try to follow Jesus. If you're here today and you're
trying to follow Jesus, then quit it! If you're here today and you're
trying to perform good deeds and obedience and obligations
to satisfy Christ, stop it! Because if Christ is not working
in you to will and to do good pleasure, and that He has begun
that good work, is not going to complete it, then His promise
is no good for you. But I'm here to tell you today
that He is working in you, causing you to both will and to do good
pleasure. And He that has the gut of good
work in you is completing it, performing it, and accomplishing
it to the day that He comes again. And we have that blessed assurance
that that promise is going to be accomplished. And that's my
blessed hope and my blessed, just earnest, what can I say,
is where my faith find security at in the promises of God. For he who has called you shall
be faithful to also do it. And for his promises stand sure,
they're immutable, unchangeable, and they shall do all that he
has promised to do. And we can rest in that. Thanks
be unto Jesus. I appreciate your kind attention.