I meant to tell you earlier,
I spoke to Brother Larry Chris this morning, we commonly talk
once or twice a week, and he was in the hospital. Robin had
to take him to the hospital yesterday. He had appendicitis. He's, I
think, was due to get out today. He's doing very well, and he
sends his greetings to you. Turn with me, if you will, to
Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two. When I got
to the office today, as normal, sat down and did some work preparing
to preach to you from Exodus, I'm sorry, from Numbers chapter
seven, as I had been planning to do for several weeks now.
And then, just about noon, I checked my email. I usually don't do
that until after I've been in the office a while. And I opened
a email message from a preacher, a man I've never met. We talked
for a good while. I called him, looked up his number,
and we chatted for a bit. I want to read to you the letter
that I got from him. I'm going to leave out personal
names and personal matters because I don't want to cause trouble
where I only want to help. But I want you to hear what he
said. Greetings, Brother Fortner. I pastor a church in South Mississippi. I came across your ministry on
the internet. and just wanted to let you know how much I've
enjoyed listening to your sermons and reading your material. I
recently began using your material as one of my primary resources
in my sermon preparation. I'd love to hear you preach the
free grace and sovereign grace of God. It's like sitting at
a spiritual buffet while taking it all in. My soul has been blessed
since I found you on the internet. I believe in the free and sovereign
grace of God as well. I used to be a staunch Arminian,
but in God's providence, I bought and read A.W. Pink's book, The
Sovereignty of God. I remember as I read that book,
I would literally throw it across the room because I'd get so angry
with what I was reading. But in God's providence, I began
noticing that these things that Pink was saying to be in the
scriptures, God opened my eyes to his free and sovereign grace,
and it's been like a warm blanket for my soul. That fact that God
is truly sovereign in all things, and that includes salvation as
well, has been an anchor for my soul. It's taken a weight
and burden from being successful in the ministry off of me, and
I'm so grateful for that. However, I do have one question.
The church that I pastor has been greatly influenced by Armenian
preaching and teaching in the past. And it's my desire to see
my people have their eyes opened to the wonderful truths of God's
free and sovereign grace. How would you recommend me to
go about doing this? I know I have to show it to them
from the scriptures concerning these things. But do you think
that a series of sermons on the sovereignty of God would help
to begin with, or maybe start with John 6? Also, the deacons
have a lot of sway in the church. Do you think it would be helpful
if I taught this to them first, or if they reject this teaching?
Do I sit still, or do I still bring it before the people? Am
I just, I'm just trying to be wise about this and any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, and he signed his
name. I was able to find out who he was and where he pastored
and got his telephone number and called him. And we had a
good long chat. I said to that man, he's 47 years
old, young man, I said, this is what I would do. is what I
would do. Sunday morning, I'd stand up
on my hind legs and preach the free grace of God as clearly,
as distinctly, and as dogmatically as I possibly could. I'd do the
same thing Sunday night. And I'd do the same thing Wednesday
night. And next Sunday morning I'd start over the same way and
I'd preach the same thing. And I would keep driving this
nail and driving this nail with a sledgehammer every time I preached
until the folks bow to the word of God. And do so expecting to
get thrown out on your ear. Because religious people are
mean. And when you start to tear up
their God, they'll kill you if they can. Religious people are
mean. And when you start to destroy
their God, they'll kill you if they can. Be crystal clear, but
be prepared to get thrown out on your ears. But I wouldn't
let up until folks bowed to the word of God. When we hung up,
I knew I had to come to this subject tonight. Hebrews chapter
two. Let's begin reading at verse
10. Hebrews two, verse 10. It became him. For whom are all
things. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
one for whom all things are. Oh God, let that settle in. Christ
is that one for whom all things are. Everything belongs to him. Everything was made by him. Everything
is ruled by him. Everything is for him. For his
pleasure and for his glory. He became him for whom are all
things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory,
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Verse 11, for both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. The sanctifier and
the sanctified are one. One body, one person. We are
one with Christ, one with God our Savior, and one in him. For
which calls he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of
the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will
put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me, For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same. For this purpose, that he through
death might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham, Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.
My subject tonight is free and sovereign grace. Clearly, this
is stated plainly in verse 16 of Hebrews 2. For verily, he
took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the
seed of Abraham. I've quoted that text of scripture
countless times from this pulpit, preached from it a few times.
I'm gonna try again tonight to show you what God teaches here.
When our Lord Jesus came into this world to save fallen creatures,
The Apostle tells us by divine inspiration he passed by the
fallen angels. Why? Why does he bother to tell
us that? He passed by fallen creatures,
fallen angels, but he laid hold on the seed of Abraham. He did
not take hold of the seed of Adam, but he took hold of the
seed of Abraham. That is, he took hold of God's
elect and delivered them from the bondage of death by the irresistible
power of his grace. We were lost, lost with Adam's
fallen race, rushing madly headlong to destruction until the Lord
Jesus Christ reached down the hand of his omnipotent mercy
and saved us by his grace. Every saved sinner is described
in the book of God as a brand plucked from the burning. Snatched
out of the jaws of hell. Snatched out from among perishing
men. Snatched out from among fallen,
depraved humanity by God's omnipotent, free, and sovereign grace. He
passed by fallen angels. He passed by the fallen sons
of Adam. He passed by the seed of Adam
and laid hold on the seed of Abraham. God's elect, God's covenant
people, his chosen. God, our Savior, shows us here
that he reserves the right of absolute sovereignty in the exercise
of his saving grace and mercy. As God is sovereign in creation
and providence, God is absolutely sovereign in the salvation of
sinners. And this is the message that
must be declared in this generation. You cannot read through this
book without being confronted with the fact of divine sovereignty
on almost every page. Today we hear men talk about
the fundamentals of the faith and folks fight and quibble and
argue about being great defenders of the fundamentals of the faith.
But those men who argue and fuss about fundamental doctrine never
happen to say anything about God's sovereignty except to decry
against it or to ridicule it or ridicule those who preach
it and believe it. The fact is, God's indisputable
sovereignty is an essential doctrine of divine revelation. If you
doubt the prevalence or importance of the doctrine, I suggest that
as you read through the scriptures this year, begin in Genesis chapter
1, go right through the book of Revelation, and mark what
you see. You can't read this book without
being confronted with this fact. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. He demonstrates it on every page
of Holy Scripture. He has grace on whom he will
have grace and to no one else. Why does he do so? He says plainly,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. God would have us to know. God
would have all men to know. He would have us to proclaim
that he has the right of sovereign mercy. And he exercises mercy
where he will, when he will, with whom he will. And whom he
will, he heartens. And that's right. That's exactly as it ought to
be. Satan led a revolt in heaven
against the throne of God. He said, I will take over being
God. And one third of the heavenly
angels followed him, followed him to destruction. And God gave
them no mercy. God gave them no redeemer. God
offered them no grace, but rather they were shut up forever in
chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day. Adam
did the very same thing. He sinned against God. He said,
I'll take over being God. And when he did, challenged God's
right to be God, what happened? God was gracious. God promised
fallen man a redeemer, a savior, a way of mercy. The angels who
sinned were shut up in darkness. Man who sinned was given a word
of hope. Angels who sinned were sealed
in judgment. Man who sinned was given grace
and mercy. He hath mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Now you can either
rebel against this message or you can bow, but you will bow
in time. Either now, in God's grace, or
in judgment, as God sends you to hell. And you will say, even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Whether you
bow or rebel, the fact remains the same. The God of the book
we have before us is an absolute sovereign. That's God's right
as God, as God He chose some angels who lost their first estate
and passed by others. Even so, among the fallen sons
of Adam, God has chosen some and he passes by others. He's
chosen some as his own. They're called the elect. He
left others to themselves. They're called reprobates. Adam
had two sons, Cain and Abel. God chose Abel and passed by
Cain. Abraham had two sons, Isaac and
Ishmael. God chose Isaac and he passed
by Ishmael. Isaac had two sons, Esau and
Jacob. God hated Esau and God loved
Jacob. In the days of Noah, God destroyed
the entire human race. The entire human race. Imagine
that. This wasn't just a few folks
in some isolated corner of the earth. This was the entire human
race except for eight souls, Noah and his family. Why did
God preserve those eight souls? Because Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Folks say, well, that was in
the Old Testament. Things aren't like that anymore. God's exactly
the same now as he was from eternity. He changes not. And the God of
the New Testament is an absolute sovereign. And he shows mercy
to whom he will show mercy. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
God. God manifest in the flesh. While
he walked on this earth, our Savior passed by, choosing his
disciples. He chose Simon and Andrew, but
not their father. He chose James and John, but
not Zebedee, their dad. He passed by some who were maimed,
and haught, and blind, and lame, and sick, and perishing. And
others who were maimed, and haught, and blind, and deaf, and dumb,
and perishing, he healed. He called some, and he passed
by others. He saved some who sought him,
and he didn't save others. The Lord Jesus prayed for some
and he said concerning others, I pray not for the world. He
laid down his life for some called his sheep and he died not for
others. He's gracious to some but not
to others. This is a fact. God does not
deal with all people alike. He never has and he never will.
New Testament plainly and forcibly teaches us this gospel truth. Our God is an absolute sovereign. Turn over to Matthew chapter
11. I want you to see this. Matthew 11. Our Savior is speaking. Then
began he, verse 20, to upbraid the cities where most of his
mighty works were done, because they repented not. Verse 21,
woe unto thee, Chorazin. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it should
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven,
shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which
have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. What a statement. Did our Savior
say to Capernaum, if God had done in Sodom what he's done
in Capernaum, Sodom would still be here? That's what he said. But that which would have wrought
repentance in Sodom, he didn't send to them. Rather, he sent
it to Capernaum, and it's a work of reprobation in Capernaum.
Verse 24, but I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable
in the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. At
that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Now
hear me, children of God. Hear yourself, preacher. You
and I believe God. We believe the gospel of God.
We believe the word of God. Only because it pleased God to
make you his. Only because it pleased God to
make you his. He could have passed you by.
He could have passed me by. But he chose us. Our savior says,
even so father, for so it seemed good in thy sight, And so we
respond to God's grace that way. Thank you, God, for your mercy.
For so it seemed good in your sight to have mercy on me. So
it seemed good in your sight to have mercy on us, to give
us life and faith when you send darkness to many. Read the 12th
chapter of John's Gospel. Our Lord tells us, blinded the
Jews, that the saying of Isaiah might be fulfilled, that they
might be blinded, that they might be deaf, that they might not
hear, that they might not believe. And Paul tells us the same thing
in the 11th chapter of Romans. This one thing we must say, the
God of glory is an absolute sovereign in salvation. Rebels would be
wise to fall down before his sovereign throne and beg for
mercy. Like the leper, we ought to beg,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry, while on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. This, I tell you
without hesitation, is vital gospel doctrine. There is no
knowledge of the gospel. No knowledge of God. No understanding
of who God is and what God he is. No understanding of God's
salvation and God's grace until you realize that God is absolutely
sovereign. God is absolutely sovereign. Anything less than an absolute
sovereign is not God. You have two choices. You can
either surrender to Christ's sovereign dominion or be crushed
into hell by it, but his dominion will not cease. You can either
bow to his sovereignty or be destroyed by it, but his sovereignty
will not cease. I know that I'm angrily denounced
by men as a hard shell, as an antinomian, as a hyper-Calvinist,
and whatever other terms men can use to belittle what we believe
and preach. I care nothing for it. I'm happy
to make them angry. If the character of God makes
a man angry, I'm happy to stir up his wrath. If the truth of
God makes folks upset, I'm happy to upset them, and I will continue
to do so as long as God gives me breath. A brother in California many years
ago wrote to me, he said, Brother Don, give the goats sore gums. And he's talking about God's
sovereignty. He says, preach it so that men
must either bow or display their rebellion. The Lord God tells
us, I am the Lord. There is none else. There is no God beside me. He
says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Listen to what he says. Woe unto
him that striveth with his maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou? Or thy work, he hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith to his
father, what begettest thou? Or to the woman, what hast thou
brought forth? Our God says concerning the nations,
they pray to a God that cannot save. They pray to a God they
cannot save. I said to my friend who called
this morning, I trust He proved to be a friend. I said, you cannot
expect anything but rebellion from folks who don't know God,
who worship a false God. And a God who cannot save is
no God at all. We live in this age of anti-Christ
religion in which men everywhere attribute to man work that belongs
to God alone. And that work is salvation. Men
say everywhere salvation is by the will of man. God says it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. The Lord God speaks plainly and
says that mercy is reserved for his elect. He gives nations for
his people, people for their lives. And he does this because
he's determined to save his own. Now let me show you four things
from this text of Scripture, Hebrews 2.16, and I'll be done. First, understand this. It was
never the intention, desire, or purpose of the Lord Jesus
Christ to save the angels that fell. For verily he took not
on him the nature of angels. The word took means laid hold
of. Paul's language is strong language.
Quite literally, he's saying Christ never took hold of the
angels to deliver and save them. Our Lord Jesus did not come here
as an angel. He came as a man. He did not
come here as a surety for angels. He came here as a surety for
men, the seed of Abraham. There are some elect angels who
never fell. The vast majority of the angels
were kept as God's elect, two-thirds of them, as God's elect, reserved
in heavenly glory. But one-third followed Satan
and his rebellion and are reserved in damnation. God would not allow
those elect angels to fall. Their preservation was an act
of mercy. Their election was by God's preservation. But for those angels that fell,
no mercy was given. No savior was provided. No grace
was offered. They're eternally reprobates.
Now this is a hard, hard rock for our minions to grind their
teeth on. But it's fact. If it's unfair for God to give
mercy to some men, but not to all men, it would be unfair for
God to give mercy to some angels, but not to all angels. Suppose
for a moment that the Lord Jesus had taken on him the nature of
angels when he came into this world. If that had been the case,
instead of coming into the world to save us as a man, he would
have come here as an angel. And there's something here that
ought to cause us to glorify God for his great mercy and grace,
his wisdom and love toward us in Christ. He took on him, took
not on him the nature of angels, would have took on him the seed
of Abraham. If the son of God had taken on
himself the nature of angels, he could not have obeyed God's
law as a man. He could not have left us an
example to follow as a man. He could not have been a sympathizing
high priest as a man. He could not have been one with
us, his church. He could never have delivered
us from the fear of death. He could never have died in our
stead as a man. Here's the second thing. It was
never the intention of our Lord to save fallen angels, but secondly,
it was never the intention, the desire, or the purpose of the
Lord Jesus to save all men. It was never the intention, the
desire, or the purpose of the Lord Jesus to save all men. He
never desired that, never wanted that, never purposed that. Thank
God he does desire to save some of Adam's fallen race. Here's
the sweetest word you'll ever hear. He delighteth in mercy. He delighteth in mercy. Oh, he
delighteth in mercy. He who is God our Savior forgives
iniquity, transgression, and sin. But to say that Christ wants
to save all men tries to save all men or provide salvation
for all men is both absurd and blasphemous. Notice the wording
of our text. It does not say he took on him
the seed of Adam. He took on him the seed of Abraham. That doctrine which says that
Christ wants to save all people, those who perish as well as those
who are saved. That he tries to save those who
are damned as well as those who are saved. and that he offers
salvation to those who are damned as well as to those who are saved.
It's not only nonsense and rubbish, it's blasphemy. Jesus Christ
is God Almighty. Do you understand that? He's God Almighty. That means, Bill, he has all
might and power. He doesn't try to do anything.
He doesn't want anything. He doesn't desire anything that
he does not have. He does not attempt anything
he does not accomplish. To suggest otherwise is to say
that he fails in his work. Fails in his desire. Fails in
his ambition. Fails in his work of redemption,
grace, and salvation. The doctrine of universal redemption
is a doctrine that denies the wisdom and the goodness of God,
the justice and the truth of God. It denies the veracity of
God. It denies every attribute of
God. It makes God's wisdom to be foolishness, His love to be
meaningless, His grace to be worthless. We preach particular
effectual redemption. Christ Jesus died for Abraham's
seed, for God's elect, for his chosen. He redeemed Abraham's
seed, God's elect, his chosen. All for whom he died, all for
whom he suffered the wrath of God, justice demands that grace
be given them. Justice demands that righteousness
is theirs. Justice demands that they be
brought into heavenly glory. because Christ has satisfied
the justice of God. Universal redemption robs Christ
of his glory and salvation of his people. If everything is
dependent on man's will, man's power, man's work, man's faith,
nothing is really determined at all by Christ's obedience
unto death, by his righteousness, by his suffering, by his death
at Calvary. Nothing's determined by his will,
nothing's determined by his work. Redemption was effectually accomplished
by our Lord Jesus Christ. He, with his own blood, entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. All right, here's the third thing.
It was the intention, the desire, the purpose of Christ to save
all the seed of Abraham. He took not on him the nature
of angels, And it took not on him the seed of Adam, but it
took on him the seed of Abraham. The Son of God took hold of Abraham's
seed. Abraham's seed refers not to
the Jewish race, not to the physical seed of Abraham, not to his natural
seed, but to his spiritual seed. Turn to Galatians chapter 3,
Galatians 3, verse 7. Know ye therefore, that they
which are of faith, they the same are the children of Abraham.
Verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. That the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.
That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
That is, that God might seal His grace, His covenant mercy
to Abraham's seed among the Gentiles as well. Brethren, I speak after
the manner of men. Though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto.
Now to Abraham and to his seed were the promises made. He saith
not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which
is Christ. Christ took hold of Abraham's
seed as their surety. In the covenant of grace before
the world began, he agreed to redeem and save his people. He
said, give them to me, I'll redeem them, I'll save them. And the
triune God trusted Christ as our surety. whom we also trust
once we're called by His grace. Christ took hold of his elect
as our substitute, legally taking our place under the wrath of
God, dying under the sentence of divine justice when our sins
were made his upon the cursed tree, and justice exacted from
him the death that would do us infinite satisfaction for infinite
wrath and justice by an infinite sacrifice, a sacrifice of infinite
merit and worth. In the fullness of time, the
good shepherd comes seeking his sheep, and he finds his sheep. He lays hold of his sheep, and
he lays his sheep upon his shoulders, and he carries his sheep into
heavenly glory. I was lost and undone without
God or his son till he reached down his hand for me. And then
he reached down and picked me up and laid me on his broad shoulders
and carries me to glory, and my entrance into glory depends
not at all upon me, but altogether upon him, his ability, and his
faithfulness. He says, no man can pluck them
out of my hand. One last thing. Since Christ
took on himself the seed of Abraham, you can be sure of this. All
the seed of Abraham shall be saved. Romans chapter 11, Romans
chapter 11. all the seed of Abraham shall
be saved. He shall save his people from
their sins. Verse 25. I would not, brethren,
that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise
in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so, that is,
by God sending blindness to the Jews and sending the gospel to
the Gentiles, by this means all Israel shall be saved. As it
is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer and
shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. The purpose of God cannot
be overturned. The covenant of grace cannot
be frustrated. The cross of Christ shall never
be discovered in miscarriage. The grace of God cannot be frustrated. The intercession of Christ can
never be ignored. The hold of Christ cannot be
broken. He said, of the sheep I have,
them also I must bring, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. And by his hand, by his work,
by his grace, all the seed of Abraham shall at last be brought
into heavenly glory praise and glory of God our Saviour, Jesus
Christ our Sovereign Lord. Amen.