I invite you to turn back with
me now to Acts chapter 5. There are two things that are
becoming clearer and clearer to me as I preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ. The first is that most of what
I hear is not the gospel as it set forth in the word of God.
Most of what I hear is just encouragement to be moral, to be examples,
to fit into society well, things of that nature. but it's not
the gospel as it's set forth in the word of God. Paul told
Timothy, God hath saved us. God did. Wasn't your decision,
it wasn't something you decided to do, it wasn't something that
the Lord did as a last resort. He said God hath saved us and
called us with a holy calling not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. But it's now made manifested
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Whereunto I'm appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher
of the Gentiles. The gospel is not a plan. I hear
a lot of talk in our day about God's plan. The gospel's not
a plan. It's not a program. A lot of
programs being talked about today. It's not a program. It's not
an experience or an agreement. The gospel is a person. It's
a person. Eternal life is to know him. To him, the scripture said, give
all the prophets witness. What were they talking about?
They were talking about him, him. Well, what'd they say? That through
his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sins. Through this man, he said, is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him, this person,
All that believe are justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. Preachers are not
struggling to show you a way of life. You need to change your
way of life. We're not struggling to show
you a way of life. I'm struggling to show you Christ
who is the way and the life. There's a difference. The gospel
is a person, 1 John 5, 11. This is the record that God has
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, verse
12. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. And he may be an apostle like
Judas, but have not the Son, he hath not life. He might be
a missionary like Demas. Paul called him his fellow laborer.
And have not the son. He may be a priest like Caiaphas.
And have not the son. He may be held in high esteem
by the community in which he lives. And have not the son. He'll have not life. He may be
a member of a church and have dedicated his life to serve others
like Ananias. But he that hath not the son
That's not life. Believers are not just folks
who believe in a system of theology. There are many who claim a conversion
from reading the scriptures, and they are converted in that
they have converted to Calvinism over Arminianism. That's not
true conversion. That's just changing from one
system to another. If you read the scriptures and
you take the scriptures at face value, you cannot help but see
the total depravity of man. That's what it tells us. I had
before proved, Paul said, that both Jews and Gentiles, they're
all under sin. That's what the scripture teaches.
Just read it and take it at face value, you're gonna be a Calvinist. And what I'm saying by that is
you're gonna believe in those five points. The scriptures bear
witness of the total depravity of man. The scriptures teach
the unconditional election of God. God chose a people. If I had not chosen you, you
never would have chosen me. The scriptures teach limited
atonement, that is, particular redemption. Christ died for a
particular people. He didn't die to try to make
salvation possible for all men. He died to make it certain for
those he chose. The scriptures teach the irresistible
grace of God. Who gonna resist God, huh? If God the Holy Spirit wills
to work, who gonna resist him? You're not gonna resist him.
And the scriptures teach the perseverance of faith. That's
what the book teaches. But changing your theology is
not salvation. Salvation's in a person. You
see where I'm going with this? It's in a person. All that the
Father has given to me, Christ said, shall come to me. Where are they gonna go? They're
gonna go to Christ. Where they gonna find light?
In Christ. Believers believe in and on the
Lord Jesus Christ as he set forth in the book of God. I'm seeing
that. I'm seeing it clearer and clearer
as I preach the gospel. I see men come close. As the Lord said to that one,
he said, you're not far from the kingdom of God. You ain't
far, you're close. And then the second thing I'm
seeing clearer and clearer as time goes by is that the preaching
of the gospel is being relegated to a place of little importance. Little importance. I'm gonna
say something here and I hope you'll give it some thought and
some study and some prayer. Nobody's gonna be saved until
God sends him a preacher or brings him to one. Not just so, that's
what this book says. That's what it says. That's what
it teaches. You can talk about your dreams
and visions and your feelings and closet experiences till the
end of time, but you cannot show me one as an example in the word
of God. It ain't there. And here's what the Lord said.
Let God be true and every man a liar. Are you willing to take
your place as a liar? Oh, my soul, yes. Let God be
true. Every man a liar. Here's what the Holy Ghost said.
How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? You notice how that's written?
How shall they call on him? Not a system. Not Judaism. Not legalism. Not ceremonialism. Not Calvinism. How shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? I know what you're trying to
say. I'm not trying to say anything. I'm telling you what God says.
God the Holy Ghost inspired these men to write these words. That's
what the Holy Ghost has to say on the subject. And the only
reason why a man rejects what he plainly hears on this subject
is because they're desperately trying to defend a false refuge. That's right. We're trying to defend it. You
know, when I moved down here, I had this little pool. We called
him Domino. He was black and white spotted
all over. We just called him Domino. And they were coming
in and they were taking all my furniture out. And I had this
big old sectional. I had this great room. It was,
oh man, it was probably from here to the back wall. Anyway,
I had this huge sectional in there. And they started unfashioning
it and taking it out one piece at a time. And he kept jumping
from one to the other, to the other, to the other. Finally,
he's on the last piece of furniture. And they come to get it and he
went, grr. And Russell said, well, what
are you all scared of? A little old dog. He walked over
there and that dog jumped in his face and started eating him
up. He said, that's a devil dog.
No, he's just trying to protect his last refuge. This was his. This was his. And when you approach
a man and start to take away his refuge, he's going to fight
you. He's going to fight you. He's going to resist. That's why a strong manned arm
defends his palace until one stronger than him takes all his
armor from him wherein he trusted and then he spoils his house.
Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not carnival, but
they're mighty through God. To do what? What are we going
to do with these weapons? To the pulling down of strongholds. What's that talking about? False
refuge. Pulling down of strongholds. Casting down of imaginations
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. You see where I'm going with
this? Salvation's in a person. The gospel's a person. Oh, but you say, now listen preacher,
the God of the Bible, it says does what he pleases. Oh yeah,
I'm in full agreement with that. And that God who does what he
pleases, says it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Paul plainly tells us that he
and Apollos were ministers by whom They believed even as the
Lord gave to every man. What you talking about gave to
every man? Ministers by whom they believed. Antichrist religion
has filled the planet with a free will universal gospel of do what
you please and thank what you please and be what you please,
but that's another gospel and it's another spirit. They have their long-standing
traditions. They have their universal approval.
The whole world, it says in the book of Revelation, worshiped
the dragon, that's Satan, and they worshiped his beast. That's
antichrist religion. And they cried, who is like unto
the beast? Oh, look at him, how beautiful
he is. Look at the temples, look at
the cathedrals, look at the crowds, look at the television broadcast,
look at the beast! how beautiful he is. And everybody on earth worshiped
him. Now listen, whose names were
not written in the book of life. How come they didn't worship
him? God told them the truth. This is the battle we face. This
is the warfare. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. And the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. And what took place on this day
recorded here in chapter five is a vivid picture of what takes
place every day in the kingdom of God. Christ has a ministry
he set in motion over 2,000 years ago. Go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel. Preach to every creature. A ministry
ordained of God from the beginning. Not what it says in 2 Thessalonians
2, 13 and 14. And this world despises it. Their
enmity against God is displayed against it. And Peter was not
an unruly rebel. He was not out trying to overthrow
the government or turn people against the local powers and
magistrates, or even trying to slander the priests. He was preaching a person. And with great power, it says,
gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus and great grace was upon them all, Acts 4.33. This was a real work, a godly
work, an effectual work. Serious things were surrounding
the preaching of the gospel. Ananias and Sapphira lied to
the Holy Ghost. Everybody was selling all their
properties and giving to the apostles and they were distributing
it out to the poor. So everybody had things in common. And Ananias and Sapphira didn't
want to look like oddballs, so they said, well, we're going
to sell our place and give it to the poor. But when they sold
it, they held back part of the sale. They lied to the Holy Ghost. While it was theirs, it was theirs.
They could have done anything they wanted. Ain't nobody said
they had to give. They lied to the Holy Ghost.
And God killed both of them. He killed both of them. The Lord,
great grace was upon them all. The Lord gave these men, because
this was the beginning of the gospel age, he gave them signs
and wonders and diverse miracles to show that they were sent of
him. And it says, the sick were laid
in the street, if perhaps Peter might come by in his shadow,
just overshadow them that were laid there in the street and
they'd be healed. Folks from everywhere flocked
around the apostles and thousands were saved and added to the church.
Acts 5.14. And sitting in this high station,
the high priest looked out his window. And he saw people gathering
around these men, listening to these men, obeying these men,
and it says in Acts 5.17, he and all his company were filled
with indignation. You know what that means? I thought it meant he just got
his feelings hurt. That ain't what it means. Indignation is
anger caused by something unjust, unworthy, something that leaves
a man humiliated, degraded, and stripped of all of his honor. He was the high priest of Israel,
just one priest. He was the high priest. And nobody flocked to hear him. He was the head guy. Nobody was
laying sick folk down at his feet. He had on the priest's garments.
Nobody hushed when he come out to speak. And these men were fishermen,
tax collectors. They had no royal robes, just
plain clothes. Yet Jerusalem emptied itself
to hear these men. Now the high priest, he just
had a meltdown. He looked out the window and
saw what was going on, he just had a meltdown. And he said,
you go get them men, throw them in prison, lock the door, put
them in bonds. And he did. But God sent the angel of the
Lord down, he just unlocked the door. You know what he told him? Well,
you better go somewhere else and preach, because these guys
don't like it. No, that ain't what he told him. He said, you
go up to the temple. Well, who lives up there? The
high priest, the high council, all these men that were infuriated
by what they saw. They all live up there in the
temple. Now he said, you go to the temple and preach the words
of life to the people. So they did. And oh, what a picture
this is of the everyday life of God's preacher. God himself
unlocking the prison doors of this flesh, the ignorance of
this flesh, the inability of this flesh. And the doors of
his sovereign providence being slammed shut, he opens them. You can't push open the door
of his providence, only he can open that door. And bring us again and again
and again to his people to preach the words of life. Listen to how Paul talks about
this in 1 Corinthians 16, 9. He was supposed to come and see
the Corinthians. He'd already made plans, already
set the date. Lord willing, I'm gonna see you
on this date. And then he writes him a letter and he said, I'm
gonna tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. Why, Paul? For a great door and
effectual is opened unto me and there's many adversaries. Colossians 4.3, Paul says, pray
for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak
the mystery of Christ for which I'm in bonds. Bonds and locked
doors cannot prevent the preaching of the gospel where God commands
a hearing. Again, the high priest got word
that these apostles whom they put in prison, were standing
in the temple preaching to the multitude. And again, they were
filled with indignation. And immediately, they convened
the High Council of Israel, the Sanhedrin. And like they did
with Christ, they were debating how to destroy Him. Destroying
Him was up front. That was a gimme. They had to
meet Him to find out how they were going to do it. because
they feared the people. We gotta do this just like we
did with Christ. We gotta do this and pull the
wool over the people's eyes. And then God intervened again.
And this time to the most unlikely of men, a Pharisee named Gamaliel,
a doctor of the law. You remember the Sunday school
lesson, I told you what these lawyers were, experts on how
to be saved under the law. legalist. And this man was held
in high reputation by all the people. Why in the world would
this self-righteous Pharisee risk his reputation and address
this angry council? Why would he do that? He despised
them just as much as the high priest did. Why would he stand
up and say what he said? And I'll tell you why. This is
a quote from the book of Proverbs. Because the preparations of the
heart in man and the answer of his tongue is from the Lord. You remember Baal? Trying to pretend to be a man
of God? How'd God speak to him? Through
an ass. And that's what he's doing right
here. Same thing. Same thing. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil. The wicked
are left on this earth to serve the purpose of God. And all their
lies and their conspiring and plans to punish Paul only opened
the door for him to preach in the palace. That's all they accomplished
by it. And Gamaliel stood and he gave
a couple of examples of men who gained some following for a time
and then perished and was dispersed. And he said, you men of Israel,
Acts 5.35, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching
these men. Listen to this, refrain from
these men. Verse 38. and let them alone. For if this counsel or this work
be of man, it'll come to naught, but if it be of God, you cannot
overthrow it unless happily you be found to fight against God.
And they all agree. Now here's my question to you
and to all who might hear this message on the internet. Is what
we're doing of God, I tell you, you better make up
your mind. It's what we're doing of God. Because if it's not,
it's gonna come to naught. Is my faith of God the gift of God? That's what
Paul said. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. We're
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Is my faith of God, is my ministry
of God, is this local assembly here of God? If it is, it cannot, cannot be
overthrown. The only thing this world's rebellion
accomplished was to give to them and the people the confidence
that these men and their ministry was of God. That's all they accomplished
by everything that they did. If it is of men, it'll come to
naught. We've seen this in real time. Men who took upon themselves
the ministry went out and gathered a following and then disappeared. Disappeared. But then I've seen others attacked
and slandered and lied to and cut off and yet God just use
them more and more. He just gives us more and more
evidence of their ministry and calling. Oh, what is this thing
to you and I? In your inmost being, what is
it to you? Is it of God or of yourself? Did I go to man's school and
be set apart by man and ordained by man and recommended by man,
stand as a man in the pulpit, preach man, appeal to man? If
I do, it's gonna come to naught. But oh, if it be of God. If God revealed his son in me,
if God separated me to his gospel and opened the door of his providence
and opened the prison door of this flesh, then it cannot be
overthrown. Our Lord said to Peter in Matthew
16, 18, upon this rock, That is the revelation of Jesus
Christ to your heart. Upon this rock will I build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
It cannot be overthrown. And it appears to me that God
has opened a few doors of utterance for this church and for myself.
Lake Charles, Louisiana, a little group down there recently called
me, called me back for the second time and then called me when
I got home to go down the third time. Ozark, Missouri. They've invited
me up to speak at a meeting. Kingsport, Tennessee. Danville,
Kentucky. And right here in Louisville,
Arkansas. Pray for me that having experienced
some open doors and having seen the opposition spoiled But I
might, as these dear apostles did, leave there rejoicing. They had to beat them. They had
to do something to them. They hated them. They decided not
to kill them, so we're just going to beat them. And they took that
cat of nine tails and just wailed away. And they went away rejoicing. Rejoicing that they was counted
worthy to suffer for his name's sake. If this counsel and this
work, what counsel and work? The gospel of Jesus Christ. and
the ministry of it. If it be of God, is it? You see, the difference between
us and the religion of this world is that we are of God. That's
the difference. Our gospel is the gospel of God. That's what it says in the scriptures.
Those who hear it have been born of God. Read John chapter one. As many as received him, to them
gave he power, otherwise they wouldn't have received him. Even to them that believe on
his name, who were born, born of God. Their faith is the gift
of God, their understanding is the revelation of God, their
confidence is that what God begun, he will perform unto the day
of Jesus Christ. And the Savior we rejoice in
is God come into the flesh. The religion of this world will
always be trying to shut the door on gospel truth, but our
God will always open the door that they close. Oh, our great God and Savior,
keep us from settling into some lethargic state of mind and disconcern
over such a glorious work. which he's made us a part of.
Be mindful of it. Not just on Sunday morning when
you gathered here, but all week long. Be mindful of it. Pray
for it. God has given us a privilege
here that, I'm telling you, there ain't a handful of people in
the world had this privilege that we have in this place. Rather, let us take advantage
of it and let us do what Peter said, gird up the loins of our
minds and be sober. Be sober. Put our hands to the
plow. Y'all grew up on farms, you know
exactly what that means. That field ain't gonna get plowed
while you watch too busy. And God made us a part of this
work. Let's put our hands to the plow. Let's do it with what
space we have left. Our Father, we thank you. We
thank you for this glorious message of God's sovereign grace in Christ. Help us to realize the significance
of actually being in in real time and taking part in in real
time. The work of God. God in us. God in His message. God in Christ. Help us to be faithful to it.
I ask you for Christ's sake. Amen.