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. 2nd Corinthians chapter
12 is the testimony of Paul's vision. Now Paul saw a couple
of visions And he heard a couple things
that no other men have heard. Number one, he heard the voice
of Christ. Now if you read the book of Acts,
you'll find that in there, you'll find that Paul was the only one
on the Damascus road, on that experience that he had, that
heard the voice of Christ. And you'll find also that in
Paul's writings as well that he was seen after his resurrection,
the Lord Jesus, of more than 500 brethren after his resurrection
before he ascended into heaven. Now, here's something to keep
in mind. The Bible says he was seen of
more than 500 brethren. He wasn't seen of more than 500
people. He wasn't seen of more than 500
just common folk. He was seen of more than 500
brethren. He was revealed only to the brethren,
to those who were believers. And you know something? Nothing
has changed. This same Jesus that's the same
yesterday, today, and forever is still only revealed to the
brethren and sisters. But to those that are called,
elected, chosen, ordained, appointed heirs of divine grace, he ain't
revealed to anybody else. Oh yeah, they know about him
because of the history of the Christian religion. Many know
about Jesus. It's like the woman that worked
at the store I went to and I was standing in line. And I said, no, no we're not. Not all people are Christians.
She said, oh I thought if you was an American you was a Christian.
I said, no, no. I said it was founded upon Christian
principles, but I said everyone who lives in this country called
America is not a Christian. A Christian is one who believes
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and solely upon him for
salvation alone. And she looked at me with a very
puzzled look. And you'd be surprised how many people were out there
just like that. They're religious but lost. Religious
but lost by the multitudes. But the Apostle Paul in the 12th
chapter of 2 Corinthians, I'm going to start reading here and
read about his experience and what he saw that no other man
had seen at this particular time. in the dispensation of the fullness
of time, at least it was recorded. It says, it is not expedient
for me, doubtless, to glory. I will come to visions and revelations
of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ about
14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether
out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth. Such a one caught
up in the third heaven, he's talking about himself. And I knew a man, he says, that
he says, whether in the body or out of
the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth, how that he was caught
up in the paradise and heard unspeakable words. He heard unspeakable words that
could not be corresponded or communicated by the means of
a human nature. And the Bible says, which it
is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one will I glory. Yet of myself I will not glory,
but in my infirmities. He says, of such a one of which
I heard, which I cannot even speak of the things I heard,
I want the glory in him and what I heard from him. And he says,
the only thing that I want their glory in is nothing but my infirmities. Huh? Infirmities? Now listen to this. For though
I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say
the truth. But now I forbear, lest any man
should think of me above that which he see of me to be, or
that he hear of me. And lest I should be exalted
above measure, through the abundance of the revelations there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh, So what he had heard that was
unspeakable by his intellectual ability, it was such a spiritual
revelation that God had revealed to him, that was spoke to him,
that he couldn't even relate to another mortal. But he says, but rather than
for me to glory in what I saw and what was revealed to me,
there had been given to me a thorn in the flesh, listen to this
now, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. You mean God would
take and send a messenger of Satan, a demon, to buffet an
elect? chosen, called heir of divine
grace to buffet them? He did Paul! He did Paul, it
says so right here! He says that he sent a messenger
of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. He
sent a messenger of Satan to infirm him, listen, with a thorn
in the flesh. He had a physical infirmity. that he had to deal with all
the rest of his life that was brought upon him by God's sovereign
power through a messenger of Satan. Satan is under the divine
control of an almighty sovereign God and can do nothing apart
from what God determines him to do. Now you need to get that
into your mind. Satan ain't out here under every
leaf ready to jump on us and rob us of the victory we have
in Christ. No! Satan is under the divine
power of God Almighty who created him initially and who only allows
him to go a certain distance and can only cause any problems,
issues, and afflictions upon God's people as God determines
by His sovereign almighty ability. The Bible says, for this thing,
listen now, Paul says, for this thing, this thorn in the flesh
I have, this infirmity, this problem I have, that I have,
I sought the Lord, I besought the Lord three times, thrice,
the Bible says. I sought the Lord thrice, that's
three. I sought the Lord Christ that
it might depart from me. I didn't like this thorn in the
flesh, Paul says. I didn't want it. It was anguish to me. It would cause me pain. It would
cause me suffering. It would cause me hindrance at
times, whatever it was. I don't know what the thorn was.
There's been many speculations and many assumptions, but I'm
not going to even try to say what it was. I don't know! But
whatever it was, it was something that greatly hindered him as
far as being in the flesh. But he says, I sought the Lord
about it three times, that it might depart from me. And listen
to verse 9. And he said unto me, here's what
the Lord said to him, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness." Now listen to that, folks. Jesus
Christ said to Paul that he says, my grace is sufficient for thee,
and his grace is sufficient for you as a child of God. And he says, for my strength,
God's strength, the power of Almighty God by the Spirit is
made perfect in weakness. I have said this so many times
that I hear myself echoing it. That when we are at our best
in the natural, when we feel our best and our bodies are free
from any kind of pain or suffering, we are usually the furthest from
God. Now you think about it. that
when we have an affliction come upon us, or we have some anguish
of mind or heart come upon us, whether we lost a loved one or
someone has departed to us unexpectedly we weren't prepared for, and
it breaks our heart that we just fall and weep in anguish, whatever,
the Bible says that whatever it might be, that even in those
times and experiences, That God's strength is made perfect in weakness. Because them are times when,
of all times, we call upon God Almighty to help us and to come
and deliver us from our anguish and our sadness and our grief.
The Bible says and Paul says, I would rather, listen to this
now, are you ready to say this? I would rather glory in my infirmities. Would you rather glory in your
infirmities? Your pains and heartaches and sufferings and problems you're
dealing with? I would rather glory in my infirmities
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Oh brother, that's
some spiritual depth that Paul was talking about. That was really
some depth of revelation to be able to say, oh I'd rather glory,
I'd rather thank God for my infirmities that the power of Christ might
rest upon me. Oh dear brothers and sisters,
May we have such an experience of God's Spirit that even in
our affliction, whatever it might be, that the power of Christ
might rest upon us. And then Paul goes on to say,
verse 10, Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities. You mean to tell
me he liked them? Compared to not having Christ?
the power of God upon him and within him? Yes, he did. He liked his infirmities because
if it took the infirmities to have the power of God and the
grace of God and the love of God and the mercy of God, then
it was worth it all. He goes on to say, Therefore,
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in the necessities,
in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I
am weak, then am I strong." Oh, brothers and sisters, in my 68
years of living, I have come to conclude that is a true thing.
When I am weak, then am I spiritually strong. I told you all ago, when
we're at our best, We feel the best emotionally, we feel the
best physically, we're usually the furthest from God. But the
Bible says, as Paul said, he said, but when I'm weak then
am I strong. When I'm weak in body, When I hurt, when I'm going
through a distressing situation emotionally, and I'm just beside
myself, I'm depressed beyond understanding, I feel like there's
no hope for me at all. Then, then, grace does this perfect
work. It comes. And it comes in waves
that God disperses to His children and causes us to lay hold upon
Christ and look to Him and behold Him who has suffered all the
reproaches that man could ever experience on the cross of Calvary. He who was taken by the wicked
and cruel hands of men, as it was determined of God Almighty,
and put upon the cross of Calvary, nailed his hands to the crossbar
of the cross, and nailed his ankles to the vertical beam of
that cross, and then took, and with a sword one of the soldiers
took and swapped across his belly, and his blood and his guts had
come flowing out of his mortal frame. Oh, has any suffered like
it until our Savior went through? No. No. If you read the 53rd
chapter of Isaiah, you will find the sufferings of our Savior. Oh, He took upon Himself all
of those sufferings for us. And the Bible says, He who knew
no sin, He became sin for us. How did he become sin forced?
God laid upon him on the cross of Calvary every one of the sins
of God's elect family on the body of Christ Jesus. On his
body he carried our sin and he suffered there and his blood
atonement once and for all paid for all of the sins of God's
church down through the ages of time. Then Paul says, He says in verse
11, I have become a fool in glorying. In other words, it appears that
I've become really foolish in glorying. But he says, ye have compelled
me, for I ought to have been commended of you. For in nothing
am I behind but the very cheapest apostles. Though I be nothing."
In other words, he's really nothing. And though he's been exalted
by many as the cheapest of apostles because of what he had been revealed,
and his Damascus Road experience and conversion, And from where
he came from, from being a rank rebel Judaism advocate to being
a Christian believing on the person of Christ after that Damascus
Road experience, he says, you know, now people look at me like
I'm the cheapest of the apostles, but I'm really nothing. He says
in verse 12, Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among
you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.
For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches? Except it be that I myself am
not burdensome to you, for give me this wrong. He says, Of all the things I've
been through, of all the places I've been imprisoned. He says,
I've suffered, what does he say up here? He says, I have suffered
reproaches, I have been through persecutions, I've been through
great distresses, and all of these things. And he says, I
did so, but yet I made it through. And I can glory in nothing but
Christ. in Christ Jesus. Now in Romans, I invite you to
the 9th chapter of the book of Romans, 8th chapter. Romans chapter
8. I want to pick up here in Romans
chapter 8 along the same topic that Paul talked about here in
the 11th chapter of 2nd Corinthians. And that is in reference to infirmities. We all have infirmities. We can't
escape this life without infirmities. I'm going to start reading, let's
see here, verse 22 of chapter 8 of Romans. Romans 8, 22. For we know That the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they,
but ourselves also. which have the first fruits of
the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting
for the adoption to it, the redemption of our body. Now, Buddy, you
mentioned this earlier, that those who have been afflicted
with a stroke, for instance, that cannot even speak, of which
I know a sister right now that can't speak other than just utter
some noises like uh, uh, uh, uh, and that's about it. She
can't swallow anything but ice from water that melts in her
mouth. But the Bible says that even
the whole creation groaneth and even we ourselves groan within
ourselves. In other words, there are times
when we are in such despair and such pain in our mortal realm
here that we don't even know what to say. But yet we groan. And groans in regard to the spiritual
realm come from the heart. and soul. God will cause you
to groan when you can't speak. And the Bible says that we groan
waiting for the adoption to with the redemption of our body. We're
waiting for the redemption of the body. Now what does that
mean? Redemption of the body. That means that our body is going
to be transformed from mortal body to an immortal body. likened unto that which Jesus
had after his resurrection. Paul goes on to say, for we are
saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. If you can see hope, that ain't
hope. Okay? Because hope can't be seen. Hope
is the substance of things hoped for, or that's what faith is,
the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things
not seen. If you can see it, it's not of
faith. If you can see it, it's not of hope. Hope is hope. Hope is looking for something
that has been promised you and we have the earnest of that expectation
by the Holy Spirit that is given within us to believe on Christ.
We have a portion of that which is yet to come when our whole
body will be transformed. And Paul goes on to say, for
we're saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For
what a man seeth, why doeth he yet hope for? In other words,
if you saw Christ standing here today, it doesn't take faith
to believe upon him. You see him as he is. When we
get to heaven, beloved brethren, in immortal glory, faith is no
longer going to be used in the realm of eternity. We don't need
it then because we're going to see him as he is. We need it
now to see him as he is with the spiritual eye from the heart
and soul of the inward man. But the Bible says, Paul said
in verse 25, but if we hope for that which we see not, then do
we with patience wait for it. Oh, I have a hope in Jesus and
for what He's done for me and what He's going to do for me
yet to come. I'm hoping because I haven't
seen it yet. But I'm waiting to have it experienced. And then when it's experienced,
brother Bobby, it ain't going to be hope no more. We're not
going to hope and we're not going to need faith. Those elements
will be gone. We hope and have faith in this
time world only. For the Bible says in verse 26,
likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Now he said,
as I read to you in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, about he says, when
I am weak then I am as strong. He says right in here, he says,
for it says the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. And it does.
In our infirmities comes that blessed power of the grace and
the mercy of God to help us in the times of need. For we know
not what we should pray for as we are. You know, people say,
and I know they mean well, I've said it, I know you've said it,
well pray for me, or pray for them, pray for so and so. Well,
how do you pray? What are you supposed to say? Do we say, Lord, heal them, raise
them up? That is our desire, that is a
selfish desire. If we was just to say, Lord,
in regard to so and so's situation, may they be reconciled to that
and may your will be done, and nip it right there. That's enough. That's enough. But we as mortals
are sensitive and a lot of times sentimental of heart. We get
into deeper prayers and say, Lord, just touch her body and
raise her up and so forth. Well, maybe it ain't God's will
they be raised up. Maybe they got to be afflicted
with that stroke that they've encountered the rest of their
time in this world. Who knows, but God Almighty.
I'll be truthful, I don't know how to pray often. People say,
well pray that so and so might be healed. I'll be honest with
you, I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but I'll say to the person that
would say that to me, well maybe God don't want them healed. And
then they look at you like you're some stupid maniac. They said,
oh, well, God wants all his people to be in good health. And then,
of course, that goes down the same line if God wants all his
people to be prosperous. Everybody's supposed to have
a nice new home and drive Cadillacs. I mean, that's a lie of the devil.
That garbage you hear on television about the prosperity gospel is
the devil. And let me tell you something
right now. You ain't never been to church. until you go to some
of the third world countries where they ain't got nothing
but a tin shack and a thatched roof over their head with no
windows except for just an opening cut in the side of the metal
shack building. And when they gather together
to have church underneath an old building that's a pole barn
with a thatch roof on it, and they begin to sing in more a
cappella hymns that they had been taught down through the
years in the islands over there in, say, St. Vincent, Martinique,
Granada, Trinidad, and some of the places. I know some brethren
down there, and when they go to have church, bro, they have
church. It ain't fancy, but it is spiritual. Because they don't
have nothing to glory in. What they have is a hope. What
they have is a faith that's in a Christ who promised to seek
them and save them and bless them with the knowledge of that.
And they're looking forward to being delivered from this world
here below. And Paul goes on to say, He says,
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. Oh, the Spirit. The Spirit of
Christ within us. Even when we cannot, I've been
so sick sometimes. I remember one time I was sick,
I had the flu. I mean, I was sicker than a dog. I laid there in bed, and I just,
I didn't know what to say and how to pray. I just laid there
and went, oh. Oh, my whole body hurt. I was throwing up. I had diarrhea. I had a temperature. I was kind
of delirious. I didn't know how to pray and
couldn't. But I could just go, oh. And the spirit within me,
I believe, groaned. And the Bible says, with groanings
which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for us, the saints, for the saints, according to the will of God. Not according to our will. Not
according to our will. But he makes intercession for
the saints of God according to his will. And he still does that
today. And he's going to do that until
the end of time. He's going to make intercession
for us according to His will, and it's His will that is going
to be done whether we like it or not, and sometimes we don't
like it. You think Paul liked the thorn in the flesh? No, but
he said, hey look, as far as having this thorn in the flesh,
I'd rather have it and have Christ be upon me and in me than be
without it and not have Christ. I was at a nursing home one time
and there was a young man in there that was about 25 years
old that was in an automobile wreck and he was paralyzed from
his neck, let's see, pretty much from his chest down. I believe
he had the use of one arm. But the rest of his body, because
of a broken back and spinal injuries, he was a paraplegic on the most
part, except for just, he could talk, he could swallow, and he
had the use of one arm because he used to run an electric wheelchair.
And I saw this young man in there, and I talked to him one time,
because I was there visiting somebody, and I had my Bible
with me, and he asked me if I was a minister, and I said, yes I
am. And we got talking there, and he said, well, I'm a Christian.
I said, well, praise the Lord. I said, well, how are you doing
in your situation? He says, well, I'm doing okay,
considering, you know, I'm hindered, of course, with my body. But
he says, you know something? I'll never forget this. He says,
you know something? I'd rather be in this wheelchair,
with my body like it is, and know Jesus Christ, than to have
a whole body unable to walk out of here like you're going to
do in a few minutes. I'll never forget that! What a sacrifice! You say, sacrifice? But it's the Spirit of God that's
within him that caused him to say such a thing. It ain't something
he desired. Every mortal wants to go walking
out and do things that they normally do in natural life. But he can't. Never will. Had to wear a diaper. Have nurses wait on him hand
and foot. But he said, I'd rather be like
this and know Jesus. I'll never forget that. Paul
goes on to say, in verse 27, He that searches the hearts knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit, and that's God. He searches the
hearts. You know, we don't know the hearts
of man. You know, somebody would say, would have said to me when
I was about 25 years old, there ain't no way that guy's ever
going to be a Christian. He's as ornery as a snake, got
a foul, nasty mouth. He'd steal anything he could
get his hands on. He just, he drinks and everything else. That
was me. And here I am standing up here
reading out of God's holy word. and preaching wherever I had
opportunity and wherever doors open I'd go. And for 40 years
almost now I've been trying to preach out of this book because
of God's transforming grace and loving mercy upon a sinner like
me. You don't know the hearts of
men. Those who seem to be the least candidates to be a Christian
often times are some of the strongest Christians that God's put breath
in, in time. Look at Paul! Here's an example
of that. Verse 28. This is probably one
of the most popular verses, but misunderstood verses there is
in the Bible. Listen to it. And we know that
all things, how many things? All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Now let me break this down a
little bit. Now we know that, number one,
all things, not some things. I had a woman challenge me on
that one time at a Pentecostal church. Because I said that I
believed all things were together for good. Do you mean that all things work
together? What about a child that's born
with some kind of a physical infirmity or somebody who gets
sickly? has a stroke, all these things
were together. I said, I believe that just like
the Bible says, all things work together for good. We may not
like it, we may not understand it at a particular time, but
in time I believe we will understand that it has and will work together
for our good. Paul said, I don't like the thorn
in the flesh, but I'll tell you what, it's working together for
my good. And therefore I'll glory in it.
I'm going to glory in this thorn in the flesh. I'm going to glory
in my poor eyesight. I'm going to glory in the fact
that I've got some disease in my body that I've got to take
medication for the rest of my life. I'm going to glory in it
that I might have Christ and His Spirit rest upon me. We know
that all things work together, together. A number of things
come together to work together for good. For good. It ain't for bad, it's for good. All things work together for
good to them that love God. Now that is the key right there. Do you love God? This is not
written to the world. This is not written to the unregenerate
masses that make up those out here today riding motorcycles
and jet skiing and out here hunting instead of being in a church
meeting where God's people are meeting. This is written to God's
children. He says that all things work
together for good to them that love God. And let me tell you
something, I'm convinced that they that love God ought to be
where God's people are at when it comes time to meet. I don't
get tired of saying that and you can run me off if you get
tired of hearing it. I believe when it comes time
to go to a meeting to where it's been designated that we ought
to meet together to divinely attempt to worship God, we need
to be there. Where else is more important
to you? Well, what else is a priority to you? You answer that question. I can't answer it for you. I
can't answer it for those who are not here present today that
are members of this church. Why aren't they here? I can't
answer their question. Do they love God or do they not?
I don't know. God only knows the hearts. It
appears to me that if a person loves God, they need to be where
God's people gather. Because where God's people gather,
the Bible says, God will be in their midst. I want to be where
God is going to be. And I believe that's where God's
people are going to be gathered. Don't you? He says, for them that love God. That's the prerequisite to things
that are working together for good, is that they love God. Okay, don't forget that. That's
not to the world. It's to God's people chosen,
called of God, that believe in Christ by divine mercy and sovereign
grace. They believe and love God. To them who are, listen to this
now, this is the second thing, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Now it's one thing to love God,
but are you called according to His purpose? You say, well,
can people love God and not be called? I believe there's a lot
of people that are religionists that say they love God, but ain't
called. Well, what happened? Well, Jesus said, many are called,
but few are chosen. What do you mean by that? In
other words, when the gospel goes out, wherever it might go
out, and though it be proclaimed to many mortals. Only those with
hearing ears, spiritually, are going to believe it and endorse
it and embrace it. Because the Bible says, they
that be of God, heareth God's word. They that be not of God,
heareth not the word of God. It's just as simple as that.
It's just as simple as that. And those that are called according
to His purpose are going to hear His Word, they're going to believe
it, and it's going to be received into the heart, and it's going
to be the evidence of the experience of salvation. You say, what is
the evidence of salvation? Number one, you love and you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Number two, your priorities have
changed. The Bible says that if any man
be in Christ, he's become a what? New creature. He ain't the same
old person he used to be. He's a new creature. And he says
that old things are passed away. Behold, old things become new.
That means that the things that the old guy used to do, like
me, I used to smoke, but I quit doing that before I become a
Christian believer, thank God. But I don't have no time for
them cigarettes. Everybody knows they'll kill
you in time. They're not good for you. It's
poison to you. But anyway, I drank. I drank like a fish. I used to
work in construction as a young man. We'd get off, go to the
bar, play pool, get drunk, and time after time. But when Christ got a hold of
me, I didn't want to do those things no more. And what I wanted
to do was learn more about this Christ that had come in and transformed
my life and changed my heart and my mind. I became a new creature
and old things passed away and behold, all things become new.
I become a new daddy to my children. I become a new husband to my
wife. I wasn't the same old husband who would come home drunk and
want to argue and be arm-wreaking and tankless. I got in more trouble
because of alcohol than anything I ever did in my life. Those that are called of God,
according to His purpose and the evidence of it, I say, is
that they're a new creature. They're changed. They're transformed. And Paul goes on to say, verse
29, "...for whom He did foreknow." Paul says, "...for whom God Almighty
did foreknow." You say, well, don't He foreknow everybody?
Yes, He does, but He foreknows especially those whom He has
called and chosen, appointed and elected unto His church bride. And he says, for whom he did
foreknow, he also did what? He predestinated. He said, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers. We're going to
be, you say, what's the evidence of salvation if you've experienced
it? You're going to be what? You're
going to be changed. You're going to be conformed.
Conformed is a progressive work of God's grace in the believer.
As we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, we become more
in desire to be more like Jesus. I want to be more like Jesus
every day, but yet I fail. And we will fail as long as we
have this flesh and blood body in here that are walking around
in because of the depravity of Adam's curse is still upon this
flesh. It still has desires to do things
that ain't good. But yet there's something in
us that has dominion over that which we once had. The Bible
says that they that be in Christ are no longer a slave to sin. And sin shall not have dominion
over you. That's the key. It ain't that
we're not going to sin no more. It's that sin don't have dominion
over you. That means that sin don't reign.
Sin don't have its total work. Sin don't rule your life. It
is those things that we do that are minimal in the regarding
our behavior as people in this time world as believers in Jesus
Christ. Sin don't rule us no more. And that's the evidence of being
those that are called, chosen, and elect of God, and predestined
to be conformed to the image of God's Son. In verse 30, moreover,
whom he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom he called,
then he also justified. Now let me tell you something.
We've got a justifier that takes and justifies us totally and
completely. Paul said, as he writes earlier
in the book of Romans, he says Christ is the justifier of the
unjust. We are not justified in our natural
state. We're unjust. We're depraved. We are born under the curse of
sin because of the nature of Adam in us. Even those that are
not yet born, still, when they are born and come from their
mother's womb, they are sinners from birth. Somebody says to
me, well, when does a person come to the age of accountability?
Well, I'll tell you what. When they come out of their mother's
womb and they're a living, breathing human being, they're accountable.
You say, how could they be? Because they're a sinner. They're
a sinner. You say, well, you mean all babies?
How can they believe on Christ? Let me say this. I'm not going
to do this. I've heard preachers say this,
and I've been accused of it. But I want to set the record
straight. I do not believe that babies are going to hell. because they can't profess Jesus
Christ as Savior, or they have not been baptized by mercy. But
I believe this, that every elect baby that God has chosen before
the foundation of the world is going to be in heaven's glory.
Whether they're aborted or whatever, if they're elect, they're going
to be in heaven's glory. Now, I believe that with all
my heart, because only the elect of God are going to go to heaven.
And I cannot tell you and find scriptural support to stand on
to say that every baby is going to go to heaven. But I can say
this, that I believe that every one of God's elect are going
to heaven, whether they be a baby or 90 years old, they're going
to be in heaven. And I can tell you where that's
in the Bible, as I'm reading it to you right now. Everyone
that he has called, everyone that he has foreknew, everyone
that he predestinated, everyone that he has justified, I don't
care how old they are. There ain't no age group here.
They are the ones that are going to be, listen, and whom he justified,
then he also glorified. He's going to glorify every elect
baby, every elect 90-year-old person that makes it to heaven's
glory as an elect of God. They're going to be there among
that number. The Bible says, what shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? I'm going to stop right there.
If God be for us, who can be against us? I don't care if the
whole world says they don't believe the Bible and believe that Jesus
Christ is who he says he is. I don't care because it don't
change it one iota. And the fact that Jesus Christ
came to seek and save sinners is the truth of the matter no
matter who believes it or how many. But I do know this much. As many as God has chosen and
has called out of this time world to be his church, to be the elect
and appointed heirs of divine, free, and sovereign grace that
are able to hear with a hearing ear and believe with the intellectual
mind, they're going to profess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I'm persuaded of that. But
to those who are mentally incompetent and those who are newborn, I
leave it in the hands of God that his election shall stand
sure and never be altered. His elect shall be in immortal
glory. I thank my soul on that and on
the word of God and leave it at that. And as far as assumptions
and speculations on other aspects of what about this and what about
that, if the Bible don't say it and it's not backed up by
scripture, I want to leave it alone. Because a lot of stuff
is speculation. It's like Brother Buddy was saying
about the analogy of Esau and Jacob. You can take many, many
things from scripture and make analogies of them. And there's
nothing wrong with that. You can draw analogies from them
as types and shadows of a spiritual truth, but that does not make
what that particular text is saying applicable as the fact
of the matter in that particular text. And I won't debate them. If that ain't clear, what's the
sense of debating them? Neither one of us have a scripture
to back up scripture. I might as well shut up. We're
wasting our time. And if anything, somebody's going
to go away mad. I mean, I've been into those
arguments before. I refuse to get into them. The
scripture is able to interpret scripture. And if it don't, leave
it alone. Because God ain't been pleased
to reveal it to you yet. Yet. He's the only revelator
that's going to give you an understanding of the truth. Not me, but the
Holy Spirit. May God bless you.