For our scripture reading this
morning, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Paul's talking here along the
same lines as our Sunday school lesson. He's talking about death,
talking about the hereafter, talking about Christ's second
coming. And he said in verse 1, we know
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle, this tent, was
dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with
hands eternal in the heavens. What happens if this body is
destroyed? What happens if I die? I have a house. I have a house. I'm not dependent on this house.
It's just a tent. It's just a temporary dwelling.
For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with
our house which is from heaven. That's my desire. Those who know something about
that heavenly house are not satisfied with this one. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath wrought for us for the selfsame thing is
God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit. Therefore, we are always confident,
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by
sight. We're confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the
Lord. Therefore, we labor that whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone
may receive the things done in his body according to that which
he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the
terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are made manifest
unto God, and I trust also we are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf,
that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory in appearance
and not in heart." What in the world is he saying in that verse? He's saying God has sent you
a preacher. That's what he's telling you.
God has sent you a preacher. You believe that? You believe I just came down
here because of circumstance? Huh? How shall they preach except
they be sent? And that's what he's telling
them. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether
we be sober, that is alert and sensible to what's going on,
it's for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge. What's that word mean? Understand. We thus understand that if one
died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth,
know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh. Yet now, henceforth, know we
him no more. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's the new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. Too wit that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not charging their trespasses
unto them. and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you, and Christ did, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Brother Gene, would you ask the
Lord's blessing on me, please? If you will, turn back with me
now to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. My message this morning is all
things are of God. All things are of God. And the subject of the verse,
verse 18, 2 Corinthians 5, the subject of the verse is reconciliation. Not only is it the subject of
the verse, but it's the very heart of the ministry which he
has entrusted to his church. The last part of the verse says,
and, inclusive in this statement that all things are of God who
has reconciled us, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. This is the heart of the ministry
of God's church. So let's talk a little bit about
these verses that lead up to verse 18 before I get into the
message itself. He tells us in verse 17, therefore. So many times I've told you in
the past, when you see a therefore, look to see what it's there for. There's a reason. There's a reason. And back in verse 14, he said,
for the love of Christ constraineth us, because, here's another reason. Because we thus judge, or we
thus understand, that if one died for all, then all were dead. Is that how this world thinks?
Is that how they reason? Do they reason religious things
from the fact that all were dead? No. No, there's always a little
spark there, and if you blow on it long enough, you can get
a fire going. No. Fire's gone out. I'm going to make a statement.
There are no live sinners. No live sinners. They're all
dead. You, Hathi Quicken, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Isn't that what he said? I built a parsonage down in Louisiana
years ago right beside the church cemetery. And as I was building,
my neighbor come over and he said, ain't you afraid of the
living right beside a cemetery? No, they don't frighten me at
all. It's the living that cause me worry, not the dead. The dead can't do anything. What
can a dead man do? He just lays there, rots. That's what he can do. He rots. Oh, we walk around in a body.
You wake and sleep and work and play, you marry, you're given
in marriage, but that's not life. That's just existing. That's
just having a being in this world. That's not life. Life, eternal
life, is to know God. This world don't know God. They're
not born with the knowledge of God. They have no knowledge of
God. And he said, this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou sent. You hath equipped them who were
dead. How? Dead how? I'm alive. Am I? Not spiritually. not born of Adam, not before
regeneration, I'm dead. I'm a dead man. Spiritually. And so he tells us, you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein,
now watch this, wherein you walked. Well that's a zombie isn't it? A dead man walking? But that's
what it says, wherein you walk, now watch this, according to
the course of this world. What's that mean? That means
you thought like, walk like, reason like this present evil
world. You're just like everybody else.
That's what that means. You walk according to the course
of this world. You reason from their principles.
You live by their philosophy. The Lord helps those who help
themselves. How many times do I hear that growing up? No, we
don't. We walk just like everybody else
in this present evil world, a cursed world, a world of... Do you realize
that you live in a world of temporaries? Everything here is... He uses
the word in the Scripture, temporal. Temporal. 2 Corinthians 4, the
last verse. Everything that you see is temporal.
It means temporary. Just here for a short time and
gone. Temporary joy. Temporary peace. Temporary satisfaction. Temporary
being. Everything you see around you
is temporary. And we think we're normal because
we're just like everybody else. Spiritual death is being just
like everybody else. That's what it is. You walked
according to the course of this world. Now listen to this. This
is Ephesians chapter 2 that I'm quoting from. You walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. What does that mean? It means
that your walk is set by deceived mind and heart. That's what it
means. Paul told those converted Ephesians. He said don't walk
like you used to in the vanity of your mind. The walk is set by deceived mind
and heart. Satanic influence is influenced
by the religion of this world. was spoiled by their philosophy
and their vain deceit after the tradition of men and the basic
principles of this world. All these things are set by satanic
religion. They're all influenced by satanic
religion. We walk in a spiritual death
in the lust or desires of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind. Are you listening? And we're
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. We're not born
in good standing with God. They always talk about that age
of accountability. Everybody's going just like this,
they're innocent, and all of a sudden they come to the crossroads.
No, you come forth from the womb speaking lies. You went astray
as soon as you'd be born. Living to ourselves. Now you
think about this, how do you live? Who are you trying to suit? Yourself? Living to yourselves is spiritual
death. Isn't that what he's saying here? After the desires of our flesh,
isn't that what we go after? I want this, I want that, constantly. If you live that way, that's
spiritual death. And that's the same way we were
before we believed. You, Hattie Quicken, who were
dead. Believers are men and women raised from spiritual death to
life everlasting. And they know who did it. They
know who did it. And they know why. They know
why. They now know, at least in part,
where they were, how they were, and who intervened. And they
know that they were raised not to go on living like before,
not to continue walking in the vanity of their minds, but rather
to live unto Him that died for them and rose again. 2 Corinthians
5.17. Now those who know that, See,
he's building here, he just keeps building. Verse 17, therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Something different
from what he was, something different from his former self, and something
different from this world. Something happened. Old things
are passed away. What things? Old inabilities. Huh? Old inabilities. Christ looked
at his disciples and he said, without me, you can do nothing. We're born with that inability.
You can't do anything. If God don't intervene, you're
gone. Because you can't do nothing. What are you going to do? You're
going to raise yourself from the dead? You're going to teach
yourself? Old inabilities are gone if you're
in Christ. Old circumstances. Oh boy, my
whole life based on circumstances. One day I found out there was
no circumstances. It was God's providence. It was
on purpose. Old church, all that stuff gone.
Old ideas and concepts of God. God loves everybody. No, he don't. Can you prove that? Yeah. He
said, I hate Esau. Old ideas and concepts about
God, old ideas about mankind, old principles, I tell you the basic principle
of religious folks is greed. That's what it is. They're always talking about
reward, reward, reward. That's the only way I can get
anybody to come in and sit down. Talk about reward. God's going
to reward you. He's going to give you this. You give a dollar,
he'll give you a hundred dollars back. Old affections. Old means. One man said he was 12 years
old, playing with toys in his closet. God called him to preach. Old means. All that goes out
the window when you learn the truth. Old motives. How about that? Old things are passed away. These
things are gone now because you're in Christ. You're in Christ. Old things are passed away. Now
watch this. Behold! Here's a wonder. Here's something to look at.
Here's something to stop and pay attention to. Behold, all
things are become new. New abilities. The scripture
said, I hath not seen nor eared heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, mankind, the things that God hath prepared
for them that love him. He hath revealed them unto us. We can see. Blessed are your
eyes, they see. Blessed are your ears, they hear.
New abilities. Everything's new. Justified freely
by His grace. I'm not trying to earn a seat
in heaven. Somebody talk about their work
sending up lumber to build a mansion for them when they die. That's
nuts! What kind of God do you got?
It's crazy. And men believe that. Everything's new. We're justified
freely by His grace. You had the quickened who were
dead. That old curse, that old condemnation, old ways and means,
our old master's been dethroned. He's not in charge. And we've been translated into
the kingdom of His dear Son. All things are become new. We're
new creatures in Christ. Nothing like the believer in
this world. Nothing. You can't compare Him
to anything except Christ. There's no other creature that
you can compare a believer to. He's a new creation. Now if we have time, I have three
things I want you to see. I don't know if I'm gonna have
time, but here's the first thing I want you to see, that in this
text is everything a fallen sinner needs. Everything a dead sinner
needs, all things are of God. Not one thing is left to you
that God has purposed to do, nothing. Now God's done all he
can do, now it's all up to you. No. Can you imagine somebody
thinking that God has done all he can do? He spoke the universe
into existence out of nothing. And then he's going to rely on
you to finish what he couldn't do? All things are of God. They're
of God. They're not of us. They're of
God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. You mean I'm already reconciled?
I am if I'm in Christ. If he chose me before the foundation
of the world and made provision for me, he reconciled me on that
cross 2,000 years ago. He brought me into full favor
with God. And if he didn't, he'd still
be in the tomb. All things are of God who hath
reconciled us to himself in Jesus Christ. What's that mean, all
things? It means all things. That's what
it means. It means all things. Is a man cursed in Adam? There's
another head. and Adam all die, and Christ
shall all be made alive. Christ is the head of the body
of the church, and though I be cursed in Adam, yet provision
was made for me in my Savior. And His headship predates Adam,
don't it? He's the head of the body of
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. And even though
we were by nature children of wrath, even as others, but God
who is rich in mercy, and for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, quickened us together with
Christ. He made us one with Christ. It's the only reason we're not
still dead in our sins. Is He cursed in Adam? He's blessed
in Christ. Blessed with all spiritual...
Did something happen last night? No. No. Everything that God blessed
him with from the beginning, he's been blessed no matter what. He's blessed. Everything included. And it's all according as he
has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Is he
condemned by the law? By the offense of one, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation. He that believeth not, our Lord
said, is condemned already. He's condemned. Am I condemned
within? All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But listen to this. Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus.
I'm justified in Christ. Yes, I'm condemned by the law,
but He satisfied the law. He exalted the law and made it
honorable by His death. And Paul said he preached the
gospel. Listen to this, that the righteousness of God without
the law had been manifested. No law. The righteousness of God without
the law. What in the world can that be?
That's Christ. That's Christ. He was manifested.
And he's witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith, or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all, and upon all
them that believe. There is no difference. Jew or
Greek, religious or heathen. Well, what are you saying, Preacher?
I'm saying salvation is for sinners. That's what I'm saying. Isn't
that what Paul is saying here in 2 Corinthians? fallen to pray helpless, hopeless
sinners. If he's condemned by the law,
he's justified in Christ. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who's going to charge you with
anything? He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. Am I lost in my inability? Oh,
Paul said, thanks be unto the Father which hath made us meet,
given us the ability to be partakers of the inheritance of saints
and light. John said, as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Am I left in a helpless nature?
Provision has been made for intervention. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians
1.21. For after that in the wisdom
of God... He's the Creator isn't He? He
made everybody just like they are. He's God. After that in
the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. They had a conscience. gave some
witness of God. They got creation, that bears
witness of God. That tells you there's an almighty
power in heaven. He established His power, His
right to rule in creation. After that, in the wisdom of
God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them from belief. Preacher, are you saying? No.
I do say, but I'm telling you what God said, and that's what
He said. Please Him. Now we want to go
through and find all these alternatives. We want to find the one thing,
the one person, the one thing, you know. That way we can justify
all these old means and concepts that don't amount to a hill of
beans. What I want to know is what pleased God, because that's
what's going to happen. He did all He pleased. That's
what Scripture said. So why don't I find out what
pleased Him? Please God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them from sin. How does God intervene in the
sinner's life? Well, He intervenes, first of
all, by an act of providence. What brought you to hear the
Gospel the very first time? Was that something you planned? No, it's the providence of God.
He arranged it. He arranged for you to be there.
He arranged for His man to be there. That's how God saves sinners. He intervenes by an act of providence. Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace. When? When the police go. When
the police go. God arranges His providence to
intervene in the lives of His elect. And then secondly, God
intervenes in their lives, in the lives of His chosen, by way
of a preacher. I'll never forget the first Sunday
Larry came in here. He was mad and wet on it. He
heard what I had to say. He was mad, stomped out, went
home. Gene said, well you've only listened
to him once Larry, why don't you go back and give him another
shot. So he did. And pretty soon he's
eating that meat and drinking that. Oh my soul. He intervenes in the lives of
his chosen by way of a preacher. Who then is Paul? That's what
Paul said. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? People bragging on how they say
what man and all this, as though that had something to do with
it. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? But ministers
by whom you believed, now listen to this, even as the Lord gave
to every man. Is there an exception in there? even as the Lord gave to every
man. We said Paul didn't hear the
gospel, did he? He heard it from Christ himself. And then thirdly, God intervenes
in the lives of chosen sinners by a powerful working of the
Holy Spirit. I can sit up here and talk all
day long and anything I can talk you into, somebody else can talk
you out of. The only effectual work that's
ever going to be done in God's building by his preacher is when
the Holy Spirit accompanies that message and presses it into your
heart. It's irresistible when he does.
Irresistible. Paul wrote to the Philippians
and said, Wherefore, my beloved, As you have always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence." What
a statement. Work out your own salvation in
fear and trembling. How on earth is a sinner going
to do that, Russell? For it's God that worketh in
him, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You know,
I like in faith, it's the gift of God, but you believe. Jubilee. I liken that unto the miracles
that God did with his apostles. Took that man by the hand. What's
that got to do with anything? I don't know, but that man stood
up. Our Lord took the hand of that
maiden. Rise up. And she did. She was dead and
adorned. I will be thou clean. That leprosy disappeared. He
couldn't do that, but he did. He did. And you can't believe,
but you will. You will. When God gives you
the power of faith. I'm telling you right now, the
Holy Spirit alone can empower that message. And when he does,
there ain't no getting away. You ain't going to go away. Oh, work out your own salvation
in fear and trembling based on gospel principles and based on
the Word of God. It's God that worketh in you. Well, here's another question.
How can a poor, helpless, ignorant sinner know if what he's hearing
is the gospel and know that this man who's preaching it is sin
of God. How can he do that? My nephew
asked me that question many years ago, and here's what I told him. You never will, apart from God
the Holy Spirit. You never will. Listen to what John said. Ye
are of God, little children. You're God's people. You're His
elect. You're His chosen. You're His beloved. Ye are of
God, little children, and have overcome them, these false prophets,
these false preachers. This influence has swallowed
up the world and after whom the world wanders. You've overcome them because
greater is He that's in you than He that's in the world. They are of the world, therefore
speak they of the world, and the world hears them. We are
of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit
of truth and the Spirit of air, the Holy Spirit. That's how you
know. I knew that when Henry Mahan stood up and preached to
me, I knew that that message was of God. How? I didn't have any experience
in it. How did I know that? Holy Spirit of God, that's the
only thing I can tell you. Everything he said made perfect
sense. Nothing I heard before made any sense. Peter said, we're elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit, a setting apart of the Spirit of God unto obedience. God saves the man he obeys. Yeah,
but you know, there ain't no buts. He obeys. He obeys. It's unto obedience
and the sprinkling or applying of the blood, born of the Spirit. And the Spirit works in conjunction
with the preaching of the gospel. Paul said our sufficiency is
of God. who hath made us able ministers
of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.
The letter killeth, the Spirit giveth life. Dead sinners were reconciled
to God by Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1.20 he says, and
having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him, to
reconcile all things to himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to
present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight."
If you continue in the faith, grounded. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners, and all things involved in that salvation are
of God. All of God. And then secondly,
reconciliation is in the person of Christ. There's no reconciliation
outside of Christ. And then lastly, we have the
ministry of reconciliation. What's that? I'm going to tell you what it
is. The ministry of reconciliation is beseeching you to be reconciled
to God's reconciliation. That's what it is. God's reconciliation is in Christ. It's not in your works. It's
not in the world. It's not in your gifts. It's
all in Christ. And you're going to be reconciled
to that. You're going to be reconciled to the fact that only in Christ
you can be saved. He hath made him, and that to
be, you can throw that to be out the door. He hath made him
sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God looks on you, Larry, if you're
a believer. When God looks on you, he sees
a righteous man. Hast thou considered my servant
Job? There's none like him in the world. He's a righteous man. In himself? No. But in Christ,
he's a righteous man. When God killed his son, did
he kill a righteous man? No. He killed the sinner. The sinner. I was one with him. We have the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. not charging their trespasses
unto them. Does that mean God has reconciled
the whole world in Christ? You know that ain't what that
means. That can't even be, there would be no need for hell, would
there? If he reconciled the whole world, there'd be no need for,
that doesn't say he made an attempt to reconcile, it said he reconciled. The word world here is used as
it is in many places in the light of Jewish prejudice. The Jews
and the rest of the world believe that the Jews only were the elect
of God. And everybody else was the world.
That was the world. But here he tells us he's reconciled
the world. A world of Gentiles. A world
of believers. His reconciliation is 100% of
grace, no consideration of man's works at all, not by works of
righteousness which we've done, but according to His mercy He
saved us by the washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Ghost. And
sinners don't find the Lord, He finds them. He finds them. Sinners don't seek salvation
until God seeks them, does work in their hearts. And when God
the Holy Spirit works in men, He shuts them up to Christ, He
shuts them up to grace. They got nowhere else to go.
If salvation is not all of grace and all in Christ, I'm a goner. Even faith, not of yourself. It's the gift of God. It's kind of like those miracles
performed by the apostles. They did what they couldn't do
except for the power of God. And let me tell you something.
All these things that Christ did are for his elect. They're
all for his elect. There's no way you can apply
these things to the world. His people are in the world.
Go into all the world and preach. Yes, I go into all the world
and preach. But he that believeth and is baptized is saved, not
everybody. It's all for his elixir. Many
years ago, I was a young man, had my own construction company.
And I settled an account. It was just a small job, a remodeling
job. I forget what it was. Probably
$1,000 or something like that, just a little old job. And the
guy paid me in cash about 5 o'clock in the evening. And I think most
of it was $20 bills. Anyway, I brought it home, this
big wad of money, and I set it on my dresser at the house. And
next day, I had off, and my wife and I were busy doing stuff.
And along about 9 o'clock, I got a call from my daughter. My oldest daughter was in the
first grade. And I got a call from her teacher, and she said,
I'm pretty sure you didn't, but did you give your daughter a
handful of $20 bills to pass out to all the kids? I said,
absolutely not. She said, well, I already knew
that. She said, I got them all picked
back up for you. They're up here. I went and looked
on my dresser, and she took that whole lot of 20s off my dresser.
She had no idea what she was doing. She didn't know anything
at all about the value of money. And she's down there passing
out $20 bills. That money wasn't for them, was
it? She was passing out what wasn't
hers and wasn't theirs. And that's the religion of this
world. They're passing out. They have no concept of what
they're doing, have no concept of the value of what they're
saying. And they're just passing it out.
They're just passing it out. Oh, my soul, may God teach us
the difference. Thank you.