Open your Bibles with me again
to the Gospel of Romans, the Gospel of Romans chapter 9. We might well call this the Gospel
of Romans, because the book begins with Paul declaring the Gospel
of God, the Gospel of his son, the Gospel of God, which is the
power of God under salvation, and then proceeds throughout
the rest of the book to explain to us in detail what the Gospel
is. He gives us numerous declarations
of the Gospel through this blessed epistle. I want us today to look
at Romans 9, 21 through 33, and I want to give you a tale of
two sinners. That's the title of my message,
A Tale of Two Sinners. The two sinners spoken of in
verses 21 through 33 represent all of us. The one represents
all who are forever saved by the grace of God. The other represents
all who are lost. The one represents all who think
they're good people. The other represents all who
know they're not. The one represents the self-righteous
legalist, the religious Pharisee. The other represents all poor
publicans. Now understand this first, as
it's declared in verse 21. The Lord God Almighty, He who
is the creator of all things, He who made you, owns you. He is the potter. We are just
mud in the potter's hands. He's the potter. We are just
mud in the potter's hands. Nothing else, nothing else. That
means that God Almighty has the absolute right, power, and authority
to do with you and with me what He will and He does. It is His right to do with you
what He will. It is right for Him to do with
me what He will. It is his right to save us or
to damn us as he will, and that's exactly what he does. Hath not
the potter power, authority, might over the clay of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? Indeed he does, and we bow to
the potter. O Lord, thou art our Father,
we are the clay, and thou our potter, we are the work of thy
hands. Then in verses 23 and 24, the
Apostle Paul tells us that the whole human race is made up of
two groups of people, vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy,
sheep and goats, wheats and tares, the elect and the reprobate,
those who shall be saved and those who shall never be saved. Yeah, this is verses 22 and 23. In this tale of two sinners,
God the Holy Ghost tells us that one is a vessel of wrath and
the other a vessel of mercy. In verse 22, we're told about
these vessels of wrath. who ultimately perish under the
wrath of God, under the God's holy, just, and righteous wrath,
and go to hell. Now, hear what the book of God
teaches. If you go to hell, you'll go
to hell because of what you do. It'll be your fault. You'll have
no one to blame but you. It's your fault. Yes, it is according
to God's purpose. You aren't gonna mess God's purpose
up, but it will be your fault and you will acknowledge that
the wrath of God upon you is holy and just and righteous. It comes because of what you
have done. I stressed this, I got a rather
lengthy letter, 10, 11, 12 pages a couple of weeks ago and I finally
answered it this week. A fellow who had been listening
to messages and decided that he would help me out with my
theology. And he, well, nothing about that
nonsense. But he made an observation that
many would argue and many have argued. Men are predestinated
to salvation or predestinated to go to hell and there's nothing
they can do about it. They don't do anything. Man's
dead, he can't do anything. And you're right about that.
Men go to hell according to God's purpose. There's no question
about that. Just as men are saved by God's purpose. There are vessels
of wrath according to God's purpose, just as there are vessels of
mercy according to God's purpose. As I said, you're not going to
alter God's purpose. You're not gonna change God's
design. You're just not that big and you're not near about
that important. No, it's not gonna happen. But
understand what the book of God teaches. Judgment. is always just. You'll go to hell because you've
earned it. The wages of sin is death. No, you can't do any good
thing. The sinner doesn't have any power
over God, but I'll tell you what the sinner can do. He can sin,
and he does. And for your sin, you go to hell.
Read Romans 9.22. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? Fitted to destruction. Fitted to destruction. These
vessels of wrath, according to God's purpose, perish. but they are fitted to destruction. The word means they are thoroughly
and completely made up to destruction, made worthy of destruction, made
worthy of judgment, fitted for hell by that which they do. How we rejoice in the fact that
God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by the
Lord Jesus Christ who died for us but Christ crucified is to
many a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Even to them
would stumble at the word, them who will not believe, being disobedient
whereunto also they were appointed. These vessels of wrath God endures
with much long suffering. Not God is waiting and just waiting
and waiting and waiting, hoping maybe the vessels of wrath might
decide to become vessels of mercy. No, no. Hoping maybe he might,
after all, be able to persuade these to believe on him. No,
no. He endures the vessels of wrath. with long-suffering toward his
elect, because his elect in this world, vessels of mercy, are
scattered through the world among the vessels of wrath. And very
often, they are the very offspring of the vessels of wrath. And
so God endures vessels of wrath with much long-suffering toward
his elect, because God's going to save his elect. Look at verse
23. Here the apostle speaks of the
other group of sinners. Those who have been saved, those
who are saved, and those who shall and must be saved by God's
grace. Vessels of mercy. And that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Again, I stress in your
hearing the change of words, the difference of expression.
Vessels of wrath are men and women who are fitted for destruction
by what they do. Vessels of mercy are sinners
whom God had aforeprepared unto glory. prepared for glory by
his eternal purpose of grace in predestination, prepared them
for glory by bringing in everlasting righteousness for them through
the obedience of his son unto death, prepared them for glory
by satisfying his wrath and justice on their behalf through the sacrifice
of his son. He has prepared them for glory
by the call of his spirit, giving them life and faith in Christ,
making them to be partakers of the divine nature. Paul is here
describing the distinguishing grace and sovereign mercy of
God toward his elect. We have not received God's mercy. We've not received God's grace.
We've not been made to know God's love because we're better than
others, or wiser than others, or less sinful than others, or
more righteous than others, or because we've made a better choice
than others, but because God in his mercy made us vessels
of mercy. That's all. That's all. The only
difference between you and the fellow sitting next to you. The
only difference between you and the harlot who lives down the
road from you. The only difference between you
and the drug dealer on the street corner. The only difference between
you and the fella on death row. The only difference between you
and the most blasphemous man who ever lived. The only difference
between you and those who are in hell. The only difference
is the difference grace has made. That's all, that's all. Oh, thank
God for his mercy. upon us for the praise of the
glory of His grace making us vessels of mercy. Vessels of mercy. Vessels of
wrath just get filled up to the brim with all that fits them for destruction. Vessels of mercy just get filled
up to the brim and overflowing with mercy. That's God's doing, Larry Brown,
not yours and not mine. We can't do it for ourselves
and we can't do it for anybody else. That's God's doing. That's God's doing. Man plays
no part in the redemption and salvation of his soul. It is
God's work alone. Now look at verses 24 through
29. Here the inspired apostle tells
us that God's elect, the vessels of mercy, are known by their
calling. They know their election. They know their redemption when
they are called by God, called from death to life, called by
God the Holy Ghost in irresistible, omnipotent mercy. Oh, how I pray
God will be pleased to call you, to call you. You see, it is the
call of God that gives life. When I call you, I plead, I argue,
I persuade, but you'll never hear what I say unless God calls
you. And Mark, when God called you,
suddenly you found yourself alive. You didn't make a decision to
become alive, You didn't make a decision that you'd let him
make you alive. God called and Lazarus came forth
breathing. That's how salvation comes. So
that faith in Christ is not the cause of life in Christ. Life in Christ is the cause of
faith in Christ. We breathe because we live. We believe because we live spiritually. Romans 9 24. even us whom he
hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. And then in verses 25 through
29, the apostle quotes from Hosea 2 and Isaiah 10, and quoting
from these Old Testament passages of scripture, these Old Testament
prophets, he tells us that God spoke in the Old Testament, just
as he does here in Romans chapter 9. about the fact that God's
purpose is the salvation, not just of Abraham's physical seed.
That was never his intent. You've been studying with Brother
Lindsay, the book of Exodus, and you'll find as you read on
through the book of Deuteronomy, that those natural Israelites
who experienced God's wonders in the land of Ham, They all
perished in unbelief, except for just a few of them, whom
God had chosen. They were Abraham's physical
seed, his natural descendants, but they were not God's elect.
Rather, God's elect is Abraham's spiritual seed, scattered among
all the nations of the world. Therefore, God cast off the Jews
as a physical nation, that he might have mercy upon his elect,
the Israel of God, scattered among all nations. Look at verse
25. As he saith also in Osea, that
is Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people,
and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to
pass that in that place where it was said unto them, ye are
not my people, ye are not my people, ye are not my people,
ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of
the living God. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved, for he will finish
the work and cut it short in righteousness. God Almighty has
a people in this world, a multitude so great that no man can number
them. I don't have any idea what the
number of God's elect are at any given time. But always in
this world, they appear to be a remnant. You know what a remnant
is? A remnant stuff that's left over.
Remnant stuff that you throw away. A remnant is what you sell
off at a cheap price. A remnant is not worth much. That's the way it is with men.
But with God, This remnant is the kernel of everything. This
remnant is the treasure. It is this remnant for which
he made the world. It is this remnant for which
he sent his son to die. And this remnant shall be saved.
And they will be saved of multitude, 10,000 times 10,000, yea, thousands
of thousands, so great that no man can number them. Great multitude. And God will fix it, so that's
so. God will fix it, so that's so.
All God's elect take in the whole host of saved sinners. Now, that
takes in not only you who as adults believe on the Son of
God and confess Him. Certainly takes in those all
Who are born again and given faith in Christ being redeemed
by the blood of Christ in this world hearing the gospel I am
fully persuaded and I will take time I have taken time and I'll
be glad to do so again and show you from the scriptures why I
am fully persuaded that every Infant and imbecile, dying in
infancy and imbecility is numbered among God's elect. Every one of them. Every child
conceived in a womb, dying in that womb, numbered among God's
elect. Every one of them. A preacher,
they can't believe. Didn't you hear what I said to
you? Faith is not the cause of life. Faith is the result of
life. That infant doesn't have to make
a decision to be born again. It's born again of omnipotent
grace. God. God's elect are a multitude
no man can number, but a remnant whom He's determined to save.
And the Lord says, He will finish the work and cut it short in
righteousness. What work is He talking about?
Now that's puzzling. What work is He talking about?
Is He going to save all of His people quickly? Well, if it were referring
to redemption, it could refer to that. If it were referring
to the accomplishment of redemption by Christ, as in Zechariah 3,
he will purge away the sin of the land in one day. It could
be talking about redemption. But this is not talking about
redemption. Redemption's already done. Were
it talking about what God purposed for eternity, you might refer
to God's salvation here. But this short work that God
will perform quickly in righteousness is referring to the destruction
of Jerusalem. The destruction of Israel, the
destruction of the Jewish altar, the destruction of the Jewish
church state, the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the
destruction of the whole of Judaism as far as God's people is concerned
in a physical sense. in 70 A.D. when God sent his
prince, his Roman ruler, Titus, into the city to utterly obliterate
the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. He made it
a short work because God was determined to send the gospel
of his grace to destroy Michigan and call out Rex Bartley. That's
exactly what it said, a short work would make on the earth.
Read on. Because a short work would the Lord make upon the
earth. to save those whom he has chosen,
his chosen beloved elect remnant scattered in this world, Abraham's
seed, the children of promise. Look at verse 30. Verses 30, 31, and 32. Show us
the conclusion of this tale of two sinners. Now this is not
my conclusion or even Paul's conclusion, it's God's conclusion. Here's the result. of God's purpose
of grace toward his elect. And his just wrath upon the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. The Jews who had the oracles
of God and sought righteousness, they
were religious folks. They were religious folks. They
had the ordinances and oracles of God's law. They had the tabernacle,
the priesthood, the prophets. They had the altar and the mercy
seat. They had everything. They had everything. They sought
righteousness by doing good. By doing good. You mamas and
daddies, most are probably guilty. At some point, raising your children,
mama said, now Johnny, you be a good boy. Good boys go to heaven,
bad boys go to hell. No, good boys go to hell. Good
boys go to hell. Those that mama calls good. The
Jews sought to make themselves good by obedience to God. Not by faith in Christ, but by
their works. and seeking to make themselves
good, they refused to believe on the Son of God, seeking for
something in themselves, something to recommend themselves to God. Now, you listen to me. I've told
you this a thousand times, and if I live long enough, I'll tell
you a thousand times again. You who yet refuse to believe,
here's the reason. Here's the reason. you're still
trying to find something good in you by which you can present
yourself to God. As a preacher, I don't believe
in salvation by works. No, but if you have the right feeling,
or if you had the right experience, or if you have enough knowledge,
or if you have a good understanding, or if you feel bad enough, and
low enough, and down enough, so you just can't, oh, now, now,
now I'm so low, the Lord will surely accept me. You're still
trying to make yourself good, David. You're still trying to
make yourself good, get something in you to commend yourself to
God. Mm, a preacher? How does it mean
get saved? You don't. Believe I'll go get saved. No,
you won't. I went down to church last week, got saved. No, you
didn't. You just got a good dose of Babylonian drunkenness. That's
all you got. No, you didn't. No, you didn't.
Well, how does a fellow get this salvation? God gives it without
you doing a thing. without you saying anything,
without you making any promises, without any resolutions, God
gives it. The Gentiles, those chosen by
God's grace, redeemed by Christ's blood, called by God the Holy
Ghost, though they made no pretense of righteousness, though they
did not pretend to be seeking righteousness, have obtained
righteousness by faith in Christ. Thus the scripture is fulfilled
where God says, I am found of them that sought me not. I'm found of them that sought
me not. But the scriptures tell us to
seek the Lord, yes. And they promise you'll find
him when you seek him with all your heart. But you will never
seek him till he seeks you. And seeking him is one thing.
Seeking his blessing is another thing. Seeking him is one thing. Seeking his salvation is another
thing. I am found of them, he says. I will be found of them when
you seek me with all your heart. But I'm found of them who sought
me not. Look at verse 30. What shall
we say then? that the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, they weren't trying to save themselves,
have attained unto righteousness, even the righteousness which
is of faith, not righteousness of your faith, but righteousness
of the faith of Jesus Christ. Righteousness that arises from
the faith and faithful obedience of God's Son in your stead. But
Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, Israel,
which tried to do good, they wouldn't touch these folks over
here. They had not attained under the
law of righteousness. Wherefore? How come? Why? Because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling
stone. Righteousness is accomplished
by the faith of Christ. Righteousness is enjoyed, embraced,
and received by faith in Jesus Christ, by believing on the Son
of God. The point Paul is making here
is that the only way any sinner can ever be saved is by the free
and sovereign grace of God revealed and proclaimed in the gospel.
The gospel we preach is the power of God unto salvation. Most people,
most people, about everybody you know, just about everybody
you know, in the religious world are like the Jews. They're seeking
to make themselves good. They're seeking to make themselves
righteous. They wanna be good. They just
wanna be good. They'll tip their hat toward
God and they'll give a little money to the cause of God and
they'll go to church three times a week or maybe seven days a
week. They're very good people. but they refuse to trust Christ
alone. They won't do it. They won't
do it. Because they seek to make themselves righteous. They have
not attained to the righteousness God requires. We just read this
last week. Turn back to Deuteronomy chapter
10. Deuteronomy chapter 10. This
was in our scripture reading last week. Let me remind you of what that
righteousness of the law is. God's not terribly demanding.
He understands you. He understands you. He doesn't
demand too much from you. That's the talk of men, isn't
it? Listen to Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 12. And now Israel,
what doth the Lord thy God require of thee? That's what I wanna
know. Tell me what God requires. but
to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to
love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and
his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good. That's
all he requires, just perfection. That's all, just perfection.
What was it you were trying to do? To win God's favor? What
was that righteousness you were gonna bring to God? What was
that feeling you were gonna bring to God? God requires perfection. And that perfection can only
be found in God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gentiles,
those who have been called of God, Paul tells us here, have
attained the righteousness of the law. the righteousness that
God demands in the law, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus the Lord. That's the difference between
the saved and the lost. That's the difference between
those who are born of God and you who are not. Saved sinners
are people who quit trying to atone for sin and trust Christ
who atoned for sin. Saved sinners are people who
have peace with God because they have righteousness which God
demands. Perfect righteousness in Christ
Jesus, His Son. Lost sinners are folks who are
still trying to make themselves good. Folks who have no peace. Have no peace. Oh, they sing
with glee, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. But when they
get alone, That's another story. They have no peace because they
know the righteousness they have will not stand the scrutiny of
God's holy eye. Now, let's look at verse 33.
I'll wrap this up. Verse 33. As it is written, behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. The gospel of God proclaims
righteousness, righteousness done, righteousness brought in,
the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, this has
to be said. The gospel does not tell you
what to do to be righteous. You go to the bookstore, you'll
find books on how to, how to be saved, how to be born again,
how to be sanctified, how to be justified, how to, how to,
how to. Anybody who tries to tell you
how to doesn't know what they're talking about. They haven't learned the gospel,
they haven't learned it. Oh no, the gospel doesn't tell
you what you must do to be righteous. The gospel of God tells about
one who is made of God unto us, righteousness. So the gospel,
if you should go out to dinner today and you see folks bring
the church bulletin with them and get a discount at the restaurant
and you wanna talk to them a little bit, just ask one at a time,
would you tell me what is the gospel? What is the gospel? You'll get this kind of response.
The gospel is the plan of salvation. No, it ain't. No, it ain't. Take these steps down the Romans
road and you'll arrive at Jesus and salvation. No. The gospel
is God is love. No, it's not. ain't a word about
that in the gospel. No, it's not. It is not. We used
to take kids to camp every year for a week and had various churches
that brought the children to camp. We'd take about 100 or
so of them to camp every week. And one year we had a fellow come
with us who was working with one of the congregations who
was an intern actually doing a some kind of ministerial internship
whatever the on his earth that he is from one of the reformed
seminaries and He was a good song leader played bagpipes and
he taught the kids a chorus Love love love the gospel in a word
is love and the kids just loved it and I had to tell him that
ain't so That ain't so God is love is not the gospel. Love
your neighbor is not the gospel We love you and Jesus does too.
That's not the gospel We're told that the gospel is do good, do
good. Keep the commandments. Or the
gospel is an altar call. As if you can come down here
and get holy. What's the gospel? The gospel
is something written. Look at it. As it is written. Now Paul obviously is referring
not to the New Testament, but to the old. He's telling us the
whole of the Old Testament is that which proclaims the gospel.
It's the message of the woman seed who comes to crush the serpent's
head and by it saves the woman seed. It is the message of the
Lord God slaying an innocent victim in the place of a guilty
pair and taking the righteousness of that innocent victim and making
it theirs. The gospel is a story of an ark
on which God poured out all the fury of his wrath. But in the ark, are a host of
men and women, chosen of God from eternity, on which the wrath
of God can never fall, for they're saved in Christ Jesus the Lord.
The gospel is the story of that one described in the 22nd Psalm,
who hanging upon the cursed tree, when he has made sin for us,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The gospel is that
one of whom the prophet spoke when he spoke for God and said,
for the transgression of my people was he stricken. That one who
was made an offering for sin, who must see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. The Gospel is the revelation
of God's Son in all the promises, types, pictures, events, and
prophecies of the Old Testament Scripture. It is written. It's the testimony God has written
in the book about His Son. Read on. As it is written, behold,
Behold, now I'd like to spend a lot of time here. I may come
back to this, I promise not anytime soon, but I may come back to
this for too long. Behold, let me tell you what
that means. Hear ye, hear ye, I've got something
to say. Behold, behold. The word gospel
means announcement. It means news. It means announcement. It means news. The gospel is
news that must be proclaimed. It is news that must be spoken,
either orally or written. But it is news that must be spoken. People say, well, I want to live
the gospel. How you gonna do that? How you
gonna do that? I know St. Francis of Assisi,
the papist in Assisi. He said, always preach the gospel
when necessary use words. That's blasphemy. You can't do
that. You can't do that. You can't
live the gospel. If I were to come up to you and
say, Bill, let me, I want to live last night's news. You'd
say, well, Brother Don, pop the cork, let's call the paddy wagon.
News can't be lived, it's gotta be told. Now, we are motivated
by the gospel. I hope we live by the gospel,
our lives ruled and governed by the gospel, but you can't
live the gospel. You can't live the gospel. The
gospel must be proclaimed, either orally or by written word, but
it must be proclaimed. For me to think I can live the
gospel, is for me to put myself in the place of Christ and make
the news. What presumption, what arrogance. Look at this next line, or this
next word. Behold, I lay in Zion. The gospel is written, the gospel
is news. It is news about God and his
work. It is news about God and his
work. The gospel is not about you. The gospel is about God. But
today, folks have the idea and they're told, and the idea is
promoted by preachers everywhere, that the gospel is all about
you. Sinners are told, you're so important. You're so valuable. God made
the world just so he could save you. You're so important. You're
so valuable. Rather than being without you,
God gave his son for you. That's the value of the soul. You're so important that God
can't be satisfied to exist forever without you. You just ain't that
important. That's just not so. The gospel
is not about how special you are. The gospel is about how
sovereign God is. The gospel is not about something
you do. The gospel is about something God has done. Look at the next
word. As it is written, behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone. That statement has reference
to what the Lord God declares in Isaiah chapters eight and
28. Over in 1 Peter, the Apostle
Paul, or the Apostle Peter, uses the same phrase. Look at 1 Peter
2. 1 Peter 2. Verse six. Wherefore also it
is contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. No wonder Paul wrote, unto you
therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner. And that one who is our
foundation stone, who has made the headstone of the corner,
he's made a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto also
they were appointed. As Martin Luther put it, the
gospel is nothing else than a discourse or a story about Christ. The gospel is all about God and
his son. But look at the next word. As
it is written, behold, I lay in Zion, the stone of stumbling.
and the rock of offense. Now, if you have a pen in your
hand, somewhere in the margin of your Bible or in your notes,
for that word offense, write this word, scandal. Scandal. Scandal. The gospel is a scandal. Oh,
we don't like that word, do we? Scandal. Have you heard the scandal?
Have you heard the scandal? Let me tell you the scandal.
The scandal is Jesus Christ crucified. That's what makes the gospel
a scandal. The scandal is Jesus Christ crucified. It is the cross of Christ. It
is the declaration of God's righteousness, justice, and truth. God so righteous,
so just, so true. that you can't possibly go to
heaven except by the sacrifice of God's own Son. You can't possibly
be accepted of God except God make His Son to be sin for you,
and making His Son to be sin for you, transferring from you
all your guilt to His Son, making His Son the guiltiness of sin
for you. then pouring out all the fury
of his wrath upon his darling son until justice is satisfied. The gospel is the declaration,
the scandal, that you can't save yourself by anything you do. You can only be saved by the
sacrifice of God's darling son, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now how's that scandal preacher?
It makes men to be what they refuse to acknowledge. Sinners
in need of mercy. All on the same footing as all
other sinners. That means Wap U and Don Fortner
and the pimp and the pusher and the rapist and the murderer are
all on the same footing. There ain't no difference between
us. If we're saved, we're saved by Christ, that's all. I won't have that! You will if
ever God reveals his Son in you, and you'll be glad to have it.
You'll cry like the publican, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's what I am. Identify a
sinner, and you've identified me. Identify sin, and you've
identified me. Identify guilt, and you've identified
me. Identify corruption, and you've
identified me. Whatever word you want to use
to identify those things. God, be merciful to me, the sinner,
is what I am. Be merciful, propitious to me. Through the blood of the sin
atoning lamb, your own son, the sinner, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Look at the next word. As it
is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock
of a fence and whosoever, whosoever believeth on him. The gospel
is all grace. I love that word whosoever, whosoever. I'm sure glad he didn't say,
if Don Fortner believes on him, he'll be saved. I met one other
Don Fortner, he might've been the one. But whosoever, Mark,
that takes in me. Whosoever, whosoever, anybody,
anybody. Somebody said to my friend, Brother
Herbert Wilson, years ago, he said, you folks don't believe
in whosoever will. He said, oh yes we do, we just
don't believe in whosoever won't. Whosoever will, let him come
and take of the water of life freely. It's all grace. Whosoever
believe it. The word is trust, relies upon. rest in, is confident of, whosoever
believeth on him, God's dear Son, the Lamb, crucified and
slain for sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall not be confounded. That's the last thing. The gospel
is prophetic. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. Do you know what it is to be
ashamed before God? Do you have any idea what it
is? want to find something to cover
up, you just can't. Ashamed. Believe on the Son of God, and
Jerry, you'll never be ashamed. Never again ashamed before God. Not today, not for as long as
you live, not even when you fall, No more guilt, no more curse,
no more condemnation. Not when you come to die, not in the day of judgment, not
to eternity. Oh, what a prophecy. Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Where do you fit in
this tale of two sinners? Are you the one seeking righteousness?
you do? Or are you the one resting on the rock, Christ Jesus
the Lord? Oh, may God give you faith in
His Son. Amen.