When I started coming, I didn't
have to use those handrails. Open your Bibles, if you will,
to the book of 1 Peter, chapter 4. 1 Peter, chapter 4. And just hold your Bibles open
on your laps for a few minutes. This congregation is so much
a part of my life, and Shelby's life, and the ministry of our
congregation in Danville. have a great interest in various
things the Lord allows us to be involved in. Several of you
have asked about the trip we just had to England and Ireland
and it's a blessed, blessed time. The Lord has graciously allowed
our assembly to have a hand in establishing a number of churches
around the world in the last 36 years. I'm so thankful The
group in Ireland, I've been going over there preaching to them
twice a year for nine years now. There's, I think, six of them
now meeting. It started with about 45. It
dwindled quickly to half a dozen or so. But I don't know of a
gospel preacher anywhere in the entire country. I'm not saying
there's not any, but I don't know of a single one preaching
the gospel of God's grace in all of Ireland. And I ask you
to pray for those folks that God might be pleased to raise
up a gospel preacher for them and raise up a gospel witness
in that place. They meet in the very north of
Ireland in a little town called Ballymunny. But Ireland is such
a small country. If God would be pleased, raise
up a work. Do you know everybody in that
whole country could drive there in an hour and a half? If they
put a church building right in the middle, right in Belfast,
everybody in the whole country will be there in an hour and
a half. Pray that God might be pleased to do that. All right,
1 Peter chapter four. 1 Peter chapter four. Here's
my subject. What does it take for God to
save a sinner? What does it take for God to
save a sinner? How can a man be just with God? How can he be clean that is born
of woman? Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Those are questions we read in
the book of Job. Job is asking what does it take
for God to save a sinner? Those are questions I hope to
answer for you this evening from the Word of God, an answer with
such clarity that you cannot possibly have any mistaken notion
about what it takes for God to save a sinner. Most people seem
to think that it's a very easy thing to be saved, that faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ is very simple. Understand this, the message
of the gospel and faith in Christ are matters of utter simplicity
but totally confusing to blind, ignorant, lost men. The natural
man understands nothing, absolutely nothing of the Spirit of God.
He doesn't know anything about God. He doesn't know anything
about salvation. He doesn't know anything about
righteousness. He doesn't know anything about grace. He doesn't
know anything about faith. And for most people, they have
no sense of astonishment, no sense of awe, no sense of amazement
with regard to salvation. And there's a reason for that.
The salvation they think they have is really no big deal. There's nothing amazing about
it. It didn't take much to get it. It didn't take much to lose
it. traveling back and forth and up and down across the United
States and the Western world for the past 49 years. And I
go somewhere almost every week preaching the gospel of God's
grace. And I've met a lot of people. I've met a lot of people,
a lot of various walks of life. Most of them are religious, very
religious. And they've been religious most
of their lives. Most of the folks I've preached to are just very
sure they're saved. They've walked down a church
aisle. They've knelt at an altar in a Baptist church or some other
kind of church. They've said what folks call
the sinner's prayer. Some preachers, some soul winner
got hold of them when they had a near death experience, when
they were in a bad car accident or got in a whole lot of trouble
and some tragedy, some emotional experience, some fear, some peer
pressure, some emotional time, some psychological maneuvering
on the part of preachers and religious organizations. And
so they made a profession of faith. They did what the preacher
told them to do. They said the sinner's prayer.
They said, I believe in Jesus. I know many who've had that experience,
even as children. In fact, the church is specialized
in trying to hook children early. How sad. How very, very sad. How very, very sad. They're confident
they're saved because they followed what folks call the simple plan
of salvation. When I was seven years old and
my sister Juanita was nine. I don't have any idea what possessed
our family to start going to church. Somebody must have been
in trouble. We go to church for a while when somebody's in trouble.
And something was going on at church, and I don't know what
kind of stories the preacher told. I don't remember a thing
about it, except what transpired when they got done and had the
altar call and the invitation. And the pressure was put on.
And my sister and I both walked down the church aisle, and somebody
took her and somebody took me, along with a bunch of other folks,
mostly children. I was seven years old. My soul, what on earth
does a seven-year-old know about anything? Seven years old and
a big man, super nice fella. He was a nice fella. Airplane
pilot with Piedmont Airlines. Big man, John Chancellor. He
knelt down with me at an altar right there and asked me if I
was a sinner and I said, what? He said, did you ever do anything
wrong? I said, oh yes. And asked me some other things. He said,
you don't want to go to hell, do you? I said, oh, no. No. Would
you like to go to heaven? Well, of course I would. Well,
say this. And I did. And he wrapped his
arms around me and big old crocodile tears running down his cheeks
and down my cheeks. And he said, now, Don, son, you're saved.
Don't let anybody ever tell you any different. And before I was
eight years old, I'd take him out on Sunday afternoon preaching.
And before I was nine years old, it was all over. My sister. is dying with cancer, and dying
with that delusion. And I blame the church, and the
preacher, and the religion, and the soul wearer. I blame them.
I blame them. In the day of judgment, I blame
them. Their fault. I pray God will
intervene. They open the door of utterance
for the gospel. But I want you to understand something. Nobody,
nobody, not you, not your mama, not your daddy, not your son,
not your daughter, not your grandchildren, nobody has ever been saved walking
a church aisle or going down in front of an auditorium at
a football rally with Billy Graham calling for folks to come down
front and everybody massively repeating the center's prayer.
Nobody has ever been saved by that stuff. Now, preacher, I
know some folks who have. No, you don't. No, you don't.
Nobody's ever been saved by such nonsense. God doesn't use tomfoolery,
trickery, and lies to save centers. Nobody has ever been saved by
that stuff. What does it take to save a sinner?
Hear me well. Salvation is no easy thing. It is not a simple thing for
a sinner to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact,
faith with men is an utter impossibility. Now we preach the gospel as you've
just heard our brother do with simplicity and clarity and urgency
and persuade men to believe on the Son of God, but you can't
do it. You can't do it. You who are
believers, you who are believers, my dear friend, Brother Bruce,
I've watched him go through some tough times. I've gone through them with you. And when the rubber hits the
road, and your back's against the wall, and you want to believe
God, you just can't. Is that fact or fiction? That's
just fact. Oh, I want to believe God. I
want to believe God. God, help me to trust you. Let
me commit this to you, and you can't believe him. You can't
believe him until he gives you faith. Is that not what we learned
from the rich young ruler in 19th chapter of Matthew's gospel?
Faith in Christ is the gift and operation of God in us in the
beginning and all the days of our lives we believe Him right
now in this present hour only as He works in us to believe
Him. Faith is the gift and operation
of God. It's not something that can be
conjured up by man's imaginary free will or religious excitement
or some stirring story or some working of the environment around
us. No one, no one, I repeat, has
ever been saved by walking a church aisle, kneeling at an altar,
or reciting the sinner's prayer. If that's the basis of your hope
before God, I urge you to renounce it. Give it up now. There's no
hope for you in that religious decision. There is a way that
seemeth right unto a man, the wise man said, and he said it
twice. But the end thereof are the ways
of death. I know that in this day of mass
evangelism and easy-believism, even for you who've been raised
here at Fairmont Grace Church in Senecauga, Alabama, under
the very best of gospel preaching, What I'm talking about is not
something you're going to grasp easily and it's not something
that you're going to walk in the light of it easily because
the trappings of free will works religion are as natural to you
and me as they are to anybody else. I am preaching this message
because I want you who know God to know how God saved you and
how God is saving you. And I want you to know how to
minister to others. And you who do not know God,
I pray he may be pleased this very hour to give you life and
faith in his dear son. Now let's see if I can make good
what I've said so far. Matthew 19 I referred to a little
bit ago. There was a rich young ruler
Who came to the Lord Jesus and he said good master What good
thing must I do that I may inherit eternal life? And the Lord Jesus
hadn't been to the best of seminaries and nobody trained him how to
be a good soul winner and preacher. And he messed the thing up from
the beginning. He said, why callest thou me
good? Well, that's not the thing to
do. He begins by rebuking the man. He begins by saying to the
man, are you saying that I'm God? That's what it said. There's
none good but God. Are you saying that I'm God?
Then the Lord Jesus said, if you'd enter into heaven, keep
the commandments. Love God with all your heart
and may praise yourself. And he said, well, I've always done
that. I've been a good boy all my life. And the Lord said, let's
see, let's see. He said, go sell your goods and
give them to the poor. He looked at balance in his bank
account and he said, I don't think I can do that. And he walked
away. And the disciples saw that man
walk away, and they said, if that man's going to hell, who
then can be saved? And our master said, with men,
it's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. We preach the gospel not with
the idea that anything depends on us. Now, please don't misunderstand
me. I don't take this business the
least bit cavalierly. I prepare and study and labor
in the word and in the gospel of God's grace with all the intensity
God will give me all the time. Just as though everything depended
on me. But nothing does. And nothing
depends on you. And nothing depends on the church.
And nothing depends on the sinner who's lost without God. Everything
hinges on God. Everything depends on God. In Luke 13, our master said,
strive. The word is agonize. to enter
in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able." Brother Maurice Montgomery
said years ago, he said, the gate is so straight that you
can't take anything in as you go. And the way is so narrow,
you can't pick anything up along the way. If saving faith is no
more than saying, I believe in Jesus, If saving faith is no
more than believing the historic facts about our Lord's death,
burial, and resurrection, if that's all there is to saving
faith, answer this question for me. Why did Judas go to hell? He believed those things. Why
is Simon Magnus among the damned? He believed those things. Why
is Diotrephes in the pit of destruction? He believed those things. Why
is Demas in hell? He believed those things. I know
they did. They would not have walked with
the apostles if they didn't believe those things. They said they
believed those things, but they're all in hell. So saving faith
must be something more than just the death, burial, and resurrection
of Christ. Saying, I believe in Jesus. True saving faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ is such a very rare thing that our Lord
Jesus once asked, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find
faith on the earth? Shall he find faith on the earth? You tell me. You tell me. Where can you find a lost man?
Where can you find a lost woman? Where can you find somebody who's
not saved and going to heaven? Where can you find them? Go to
the whorehouse or the liquor house, wherever you want to go.
Everybody's saved. Most have been saved two or three
times. Everything's all right. We live in the most religious
world this world's ever known. But where do you find faith on
the earth? Handful here and there, handful
here and there, handful here and there. That's all. When the
Son of Man cometh, will he find faith on the earth? The fact
is the way of truth and holiness is so plain that wayfaring men,
though fools, shall not err therein. because of the sin and hardness
of our hearts. It's no easy thing to enter into
that way. No easy thing to continue in
the way until we reach our everlasting home in glory. Now let's look
at 1 Peter chapter four and verse 18. 1 Peter chapter four, verse
18. If the righteous scarcely, If
the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear? Now, the word scarcely is a very
poor translation in our modern times. And I'm hesitant to say
that because I think you know my high regard for our King James
translation and the translators. The King James is absolutely,
without question, the best translation there is in the English language.
So please don't misunderstand me. But we don't use the word
scarcely today as it was used in Elizabethan times. When we
think of scarcely, we think hardly. We think of scarcely, we think
by the skin of your teeth. We think of scarcely, he may
get in, but he'll just barely get in. Not so with regard to
God's saints. God's saints will enter into
glory, triumphant and victorious with a shout of praise to God
through Christ Jesus the Lord. Nobody's getting in by the skin
of their teeth. The word scarcely would really better be translated
with difficulty or with great labor. or with great work. Peter's meaning is this. If the
righteous are saved with great difficulty, what shall become
of the ungodly and unbelieving? What does it take to save a sinner? Let me show you seven things.
I'll be very plain, very simple, and very clear. I hope very brief. Number one, turn to Ephesians
chapter one. Ephesians, the first chapter. What does it take for God to
save a sinner? Now, this is a shocker. It takes
the will of God. It takes the will of God. Now,
when you think about the will of God, don't ever think of it
this way. This is what God wants. That's
not the will of God. Whatever God wants, God has. Whatever God wants, God does. The will of God is God's determination. The will of God is God's purpose. That which is first and foremost
necessary in the saving of a sinner is the everlasting will of God
Almighty in election and predestination. Salvation has got to begin with
somebody's will, with somebody's choice. Right up the road that
way, right down the road that way, right down the road that
way, right across the road that way. Whichever way you go you'll
find churches everywhere and preachers will tell you it begins
with man's will and man's choice. Religion everywhere tells you
salvation begins with man's will and man's choice. The Word of
God says otherwise. In fact, the Word of God goes
out of its way to make this statement. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
Well, it can't possibly mean that. I'm gonna tell you, now
this is deep, deep doctrine, so be sure you listen carefully.
When you read this book, when you read this book, You look at something, the first
time you read it, man alive. That says salvation not by man's
free will, Romans 9.16. That's about what it means. That's about what it means. Just
exactly what you think it means the first time you read it. First
time you read it. That's just facts. That's just
facts. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Look
here in Ephesians chapter one. Chapter one, verse three. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. I was talking to Brother Bruce last night. I was
in school my first year in college out in Springfield, Missouri.
I was out there in 1968. And the year, the spring before
I went out there in the fall, they had just purged the school
of what they called hyper-Calvinists. And my first week there, they
called me and told me I was one of them. And tried to get me
kicked out of school. Some professors did. And they
told me that you couldn't mention the words election and predestination
and limited atonement on that campus unless you were talking
bad about them. If you was cussing them, it'd be alright, but if
you talked favorable, you can't talk about them. So within a
week or so, the president of the school, his grandson was
our door monitor. He asked me to have devotions
for our dormitory. So I said, that'll be fine. And
I got here to Ephesians chapter one and verse four, I said, according
as he hath bleaked us in him before the foundation of the
world. And he stopped me, he said, what'd you do? I said,
well, I understand you can't mention this word on this campus.
So we just can't read the word of God. That got me back to the
president's office again. That we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. Election is a marvelous, wonderful,
wonderful word. It's used throughout the Word
of God to talk about God's people. Election. Election. Oh, that's
deep, deep doctrine. No it ain't. In just about a
month and a half, most of you are going to go down somewhere
to a polling place, and you're going to mock about it, and you're
going to choose one or the other. Most of you are. Now, you may
have told your nose, but you're going to choose one or the other.
You're going to choose one or the other. And that's what I'm going
to do. I'm going to hold my nose and
tie a rag around my face, try not to smell anything, and I'm
going to go vote. And I've got a choice made. I've got a choice
made. And I'm going to exercise that choice. That's called election. That's called election. I used
to like to go to cafeterias. You can't find it anymore. And
I'd go through the line. My wife would choose greens and
salads and turnip greens and, you know, that stuff. Stuff everybody's
supposed to eat. And I'd go through there and
choose meat and potatoes and gravy. It's more meat, it's more
gravy, more potatoes and rice. That kind of stuff. What's that
called? It's called making a choice. It's called election. before
the world was, God chose some folks. And he said, I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. Predestination is
God, before the world began, having determined everything
he purposed to do in time for the saving of his land. God chose
you. This is too much to get. You
won't get this. You might about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning
sit straight up in the bed and shout, thank God. God chose you. He chose you. And then He arranged
all of time according to that choice. Arranged everything. Arranged
everything in the whole house of creation. around that choice. What does it take to save a sinner?
It takes the sovereign will of God Almighty. Salvation begins
with God's will. If God didn't choose, nobody
would be saved. If God didn't predestinate, nobody
would be saved. If God hadn't predestined all
things, whatever come to pass in time, nothing in this world
would be run by order, but everything in chaos and confusion. Number
two, what does it take to save a sinner? Turn to Isaiah chapter
40. Isaiah chapter 40. The salvation
of a sinner requires the blood atonement of God's darling son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. It takes the work of effectual
blood redemption, the satisfaction of divine justice by an infinitely
meritorious substitute. Look here in Isaiah 40, verse
one. This is God's word to preachers. It's God's word to preachers
everywhere in the world, in every generation. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. Do you remember
what our Lord told his disciples in Luke 24? He said, you go and
preach to them repentance and the forgiveness of sins. He didn't
say, go tell folks they have to repent. He said, go tell folks
the repentance is done. Go tell folks they have been
turned. Our Lord says here, declare to
my people. Her warfare is accomplished that
her iniquity is pardoned not her warfare will be accomplished
Her iniquity will be pardoned tell her her iniquity her warfare
is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned for
she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins
verse 3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness preparing
you the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway
for our God Every valley shall be exalted Every mountain and
hill shall be made low and the crooked shall be made straight
and the rough places plain and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed and All flesh shall see it together for the mouth
of the Lord has spoken it Old brother Scott Richardson used
to say, God's got to do something for himself before he can do
anything for you. God's got to do something for
himself before he can do anything for you. In Isaiah 40 verse four,
the prophet describes great, apparently insurmountable difficulties
which lie in the way of God's saving sinners. God could not
get to us in mercy and we couldn't get to him for it until these
difficulties were removed. The fifth verse tells us the
glory of the Lord is revealed in Christ removing them. Mercy,
God's great mercy. God's great mercy could not come
to my soul until the high, high, high, infinitely high mountain
of his justice was fully satisfied. Christ did it. brought that mountain right down
to the level of the ground. God's mercy could not come to me until
the black, dark, dark, high hills of my sins were removed. Christ removed them. He took
them away, cast them into the depths of the sea so that by
his sacrifice, mercy and truth met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. And that same God, our Savior,
who leveled the mountains of God's offended justice and the
high hills of our iniquities by the revelation of Himself,
makes the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth.
That is to say, Christ comes in saving grace by the power
of His Spirit and reveals the gospel in our hearts. Before
God saved me, When he first calls me to begin to think about my
soul and eternity and judgment and salvation, I could understand
God saving anybody. Anybody except me. Anybody except me. I could understand
him forgiving Bruce Crabtree, he's always been a good father.
I could understand him saving Shelby Fortner, Shelby Peters
at the time. She's always been a good girl.
Ask anybody that day, she's always a good girl. But me? How on this earth can God save
me? And then he revealed Christ in
me. And the crooked things were just
made straight as an arrow. And the rough places made smooth.
Now I see how God can save me. Yonder is the sacrifice. Yonder is the satisfaction. Yonder is the righteousness.
Yonder is the redemption. God can't say no to him. What does it take to save a sinner?
I'll tell you a third thing it takes. And this is something
we don't often consider. Turn to Romans chapter eight.
Romans eight chapter. We generally quote Romans 8.28
or refer to Romans 8.28 in our memories or in our conversations
when we're trying to help some folks through some troublesome
times. And it certainly, certainly, certainly applies to that and
must answer questions concerning those troublesome times. But
Romans chapter 8 verse 28 through verse 39, through chapter 9, through chapter 10, through chapter
11, beginning all the way back in chapter three and verse 19
is dealing with salvation. That's the subject matter. That's
the subject matter. What does it take to save a sinner?
It takes the will of God, it takes the blood of Christ, and
it takes divine providence. Terry, do you know what providence
is? Providence is the day-by-day, hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment,
second-by-second, outworking of what God purposed in eternity.
Providence. You remember the little book
the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, is described as taken, sealed
with seven seals? That little book, he stands with
one foot on the earth, one foot on the sea, and opens the pages
of the book. That's the picture of God's providence. He turns the page, that's the
next thing. He turns the page, that's the
next thing. That's the next thing. Wonder
what God's will is. Hang on just a minute, I'll tell
you. Whatever happened. Whatever happened, that's God's
will. That's God's purpose, whatever happened. What does it take to
save a sinner? Now listen carefully to me. I'm
saying this exactly as I want to say it, and I'm gonna show
it to you right here in Romans 8, 28, in the following verses.
It takes everything that is, has been, and shall hereafter
be to save God's elect. Everything. Everything that ever
transpired in heaven. Everything that's ever transpired
on the earth. Everything that's ever been hatched
in hell. It takes everything to save God's
elect. Everything. Romans 8 28 we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God
to them who are the called according to his purpose everything works
exactly like God purposed for whom he did foreknow He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. Whom he called,
them he also justified. Whom he justified, them he also
glorified. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? I can smile at Satan's rage. If God before us, who can be
against us? It takes everything. I'll give you an assignment. It'll be a good one. From today
on, from today on, try to remember remarkable things that God has
done in your life that were apparently done just for you. Just for you. Just for you. I'll give you one illustration.
This person was asking me some questions last night, coming
back from debtor. When I was 16 years old, I got kicked out of high school.
And that meant, back in those days, That meant, boy, that's
your last free lunch. Before I even went home and told
my folks I was kicked out of school, I went and got a job.
Because I knew there was no more free ride. You're going to work,
boy. So I went and got a job at a cotton mill. Oh, it was
a wonderful job. I worked 16 hours a day, seven
days a week, for $0.95 an hour, folding cotton. And if you've
never folded cotton in a cotton mill, you've never been excited.
16 hours a day. I'd look at the
old men over there and I'd say, well, Fortner, son, you have
flat cooked your goose now. This is where you're going to
be when you're 70 years old. And then God saved me just before
I was 17 years old. And I would have started in Bible
college right away, but they wouldn't let me. I wasn't old
enough to take a GED. So I decided to go back to high
school, finish up my high school. Shelby and I had just started
dating after God saved me. When I went back to start school,
Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools, somebody will hear this
message, if there's any discrepancy, somebody please let me know and
I'll change it next time and tell the story. I believe this is accurate.
Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools made a decision to start
what they called a modular school system in our county, which meant
classes were broken up in certain periods and Teachers had to give
a syllabus ahead of time telling when it was going to be and so
on. And you know what that made possible for me to do? Made it
possible for me to take all three years of high school in one year.
Now that's never been done before or since anywhere east of the
Mississippi River. That one year. Only one school
system. And so far as I know, wasn't
but one person in the world profited from it. So far as I know, you're
looking to own the fella in the world who profited from what
that whole school system spent millions of dollars to do. How
come? God performeth all things for me. Did you hear me? God performeth
all things for me. Everything. And what David said,
every sinner who trusts the Son of God can with confidence declare,
God performeth all things for me, everything. What does it
take to save a sinner? It takes everything that is,
has been, and shall hereafter be. You'd think God was in control
of everything. Isn't that amazing? I kinda intended to say that.
Just caught your eye, I said, my soul, what you and your husband
been through. God's never done anything to you. He did it for
you. Can you get hold of that? For
you! For you! If you're his, everything. For
of him and through him And to Him are all things, to whom be
glory forever. Amen. What does it take to save
a sinner? All things. Everything that is,
has been, and shall hereafter be. Would you write something
down? I want you to remember it. Nothing in God's universe Nothing in God's universe is
excessive, unneeded, redundant, or superfluous. Nothing in God's
universe is excessive, unneeded, redundant, or superfluous. Number
four, the salvation of a sinner requires a work of God's irresistible
grace. It takes the infallible, irresistible
grace and power of God the Holy Ghost in regeneration and effectual
calling. That irresistible grace by which
chosen, redeemed sinners are raised from the dead and given
life and faith in Jesus Christ. Irresistible grace. Oh, that's
not the term you ought to use. You ought to use efficacious
grace. You ought to use effectual grace. Do you know what I found
out? When I say irresistible grace,
everybody who hears me understands I meant to say grace that you
can't resist. I believe I'll go on using that
term. Grace you can't resist. Grace you can't resist. You mean
God forces sinners to come to him? Of course he does or you
wouldn't come. Of course he does. You mean he makes sinners who
will not come to him, come to him? Louie, you wouldn't have
come if he hadn't. You wouldn't have come. He breaks
your will. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. He forces sinners to come to
him by omnipotent mercy. He comes to the dead and says,
Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus can't do that. He can't do that, he's dead. Stand back and see. Let's just
watch and see. There he comes. There he comes,
still bound, head to foot in great clothes. I don't have that
attitude. Well, I do too. The Lord brought him out. He
came to Zacchaeus, said, Zacchaeus, come down, for today I must abide
at your house. And Zacchaeus came down. He went
through Samaria. He said, I must need to go through
Samaria because there was a Samaritan woman there for whom the time
of mercy had come and she must be called. How does God cause
chosen sinners to come to him? He does it by Holy Ghost conviction. He does it by the gift of faith. He does it by almighty conversion,
by omnipotent, irresistible grace, by the arrangement of marvelous
divine providence. Read the 107th Psalm and see
how sinners are brought to Christ. When you're at your wits' end,
when you're at your wits' end, when you're just about to lose
your mind, And you can't do anything but cry, God, be merciful to
me. When you're just about to lose
your mind, you can't do anything but look to Christ. When you're
just about to lose your mind and you can't do anything but
cry, God, have mercy. When you're at your wits end,
then they call on me and I'll answer them. That's when God
saves sinners. That's how God saves sinners,
by almighty, irresistible grace. I know you must believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ if you would be saved. I know that, I preach
that, I insist on that, but I know this too. You cannot believe
on him unless you're saved. I'm not looking for something
to say, I won't let it settle in. You must believe on the Son of God.
if you would be saved. But you cannot believe on the
Son of God unless you are saved. He that believeth on the Son
of God, what does it say? Hath everlasting life. He that
believeth on the Son of God, H-A-T-H, already got it in your
pocket, eternal life. He hath eternal life. How is
that? God gives it. So that when Christ
comes, he doesn't come knocking on the door and say won't you
pretty please let me in. Oh no, no, no, no. Christ comes, I have
a good friend who's with the Lord now, his wife Sue Thacker
still is in Ashland, Brother Paul Thacker. You know, that
fellow would come down, he'd get up early in the morning,
and he'd drive down to visit us from Pikeville, Kentucky,
and he'd be sitting in my driveway at 6.30 in the morning, knocking
on the door. And I'd get up and go to the
door, put my robe on. I don't get up at 6.30 in the
morning unless I got a plane to catch. I just don't do it. Or I gotta go hunt. I just don't
get up at 6.30. And I get up just, who on this earth is coming
at 6.30 in the morning, beating on my door. And I open the door,
I said, glad to see you. I never saw him one time, I wouldn't
take no death to see him. You know how come? Because whenever
he came, he brought his welcome with him. When Christ comes,
he knocks the door down, bolt and bar, enters in, takes his
place on the throne of your heart, and he brings his welcome with
him, and you find yourself irresistibly compelled to trust him, irresistibly
compelled to believe him, irresistibly compelled to welcome, crying,
Lord, save me! I perish. He comes by omnipotent
mercy. Number five. And you won't have
to turn to any scripture. I'll recite a couple of verses
for you. The salvation of a sinner requires because God purposed
it. The salvation of a sinner requires
because God has so ordained it, the preaching of the gospel.
It takes a man sent from God with the gospel of your salvation
for you to be saved. Folks say, well that limits God's
sovereignty. How so? How so? This is God's purpose. Now there's
no question at all If it were God's purpose to do so, he could
let out a bunch of jackasses out here in front of the church
building, and while folks go down the street, preach the gospel
to them. He preached to Balaam that way, if that were his purpose.
He doesn't need us. He doesn't need us. My first
year in school, my first week in Bible College out of Springfield,
we had about 800 preachers in the class, fellows who were going
to be preachers, said they were going to be preachers. And Professor
Don, I'll think of his name a little bit. Anyway, his first name was
Don. I can remember that. He looked out over us. He said,
on one occasion, God took the jawbone of an ass to slay a thousand
felicities. And he paused a little bit. And
he said, it looks like to me he's still using jawbones of
asses for the same job. Well, he could just as well use
the jackass as use me. But God has ordained by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God so that when God saves a sinner God causes that sinner to cross
paths with the man who preaches the gospel he sends a man to
that sinner he sends a sinner to that man and causes him to
hear I started to say, even if he has to turn the world upside
down, God never has to do anything, even if he's determined to turn
the world upside down to do so. I've seen him do it. I've seen
him do it. I've got a good friend, Brother
Dennis Thiston, who's preaching the gospel of God's grace now.
He's a 19-year-old young man. His parents were from the former
Soviet Union. God saved them. When I was on
radio years ago, years ago, when I first met Dennis and his brother
Jason, they were 10, 12 years old, I said, I hope you boys
will understand this one of these days. I said, our God turned
the world upside down. So you can hear what you're hearing
now. He raises up nations and treads them down just to save
his people. That's the only reason folks live. That's the only reason
the world's in existence. That's the only reason the children
of Ham live in this world is to serve Shem and Japheth. That's
the only reason they're here. God sends a preacher to his chosen
and sends his chosen to the preacher at the appointed time of mercy.
And I'm fully convinced I can't give you chapter and verse for
this. You can look it up in Fortner 1-1. But I'm fully convinced,
I'm fully convinced God sends that man at the appointed hour
for certain chosen sinners to whom nobody, from whom he could
not from anyone else hear the gospel but that man in these
circumstances. There was a fellow by the name
of Onesimus. who lived in the house of a rich
man by the name of Philemon. And Onesimus was the head dog-serpent
in the family. And his master Philemon trusted
him with all of his goods. And Onesimus didn't have any
use for the gospel, but Philemon had a church met in his house.
And the apostle Paul went there and preached often. And when
Onesimus could, he'd slip out, he'd go out back and play mumbly
peg or something. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't
stand it. And one day, Onesimus got tired of being a five-emon
servant. And his master gave him a bank
deposit, and he had a whole bag full of money, and he took off
out of here. And he ran off down the road.
Get in that big city, nobody knows who I am, nobody knows
who five-emon is. This'll be over in no time. I'll be rich
the rest of my life. And as luck would have it, It
just happened to be by chance and circumstances, just the right
turn of the moon, you know. And he wound up getting arrested. And they threw him in jail. And
he woke up next morning and he looked, I know that man. That's Paul. Paul said, Ernest,
but you're going to listen to me now, buddy. And God prepared
the way for the gospel to come to Ernest. Now, listen to how
Paul wrote back to Philemon. And he folded up the letters,
took an envelope. He said, here, take this back to your master.
He said, perhaps he departed from you for a season, but you might receive him forever. Every wandering prodigal And
God's appointee comes home to feast on the fatted calf and
wear the family ring and wear the family robe and wear the
family sandals. You may be dead when he comes,
but at God's appointed time, every prodigal comes home. Every one. Every one of them.
No such thing as a lost sheep, a lost son, a lost toy, God doesn't
find and bring home. At precisely the time and by
precisely the means, God has ordained. I was preaching in
Australia years ago. Shelby and I were down there,
it was 1989, 90, somewhere in there. First time I was down
there. And I preached in a little chapel about half the size of
this building here. And it was packed. I mean, folks
were standing outside, standing along the walls, standing on
the porch, sitting on the porch outside, looking in the windows. It was
just packed. And while I was preaching, I saw a fellow. He
ran by. You all remember Ronald McDonald,
the fellow Red headed fella looked like he had stuck his finger
in a light socket. He looked just like that. Curly red hair,
wearing macros. And he was jogging. He had on
those short basketball shorts. Fella was just jogging. Had one
of those jogging shirts. And I saw him run by. A little
bit, I saw him kind of, sort of run back by again. And a little
bit, I saw him walk down and sit down right on front. Just
sat right on front steps. I couldn't see him, but when
he sat down, he was sitting down. He didn't fall. And God got him. Oh, God in his good providence,
by the preaching of the word, calls his elect at his appointed
time exactly according to purpose. Number six. What does it take
for God to save a sinner? It takes God's preservation. The very same grace that saved
us, God, keeps us saved. The very same grace that forced
us to come to Christ still forces us to come to Him. The very same
grace that made us thirst after him makes us thirst after him. The very same grace that made
us hunger for him makes us hunger for him. The same grace that
brought us to him keeps us in him. So that he says, I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. He says,
I'm Don Fortner's God. And I will not depart from him
to do him good. I'm confident of this very thing.
He which hath begun his good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are weak, but Christ
is strong. You and I are as unstable as
water, but God's faithful. We're tempted. but he has made
a way of escape for us, and he is the way. We sin, but his blood
cleanses us from all sin, and he'll forgive us. We fall. When we fall, he raises us up,
and we fall, and he raises us up, and we fall, and he raises
us up, and we fall 1,000 times a day, and he raises us up. because he said, I will not depart
from them. Lo, I am with you always. The Lord, he's promised grace to me. His
word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion
be as long as life endures. And when this heart and flesh
shall fail and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil
a life of joy and peace. Brother Booth is not reasoning
the world. Or we can't say that with utter
confidence. Now the reason in the world, if we trust Christ. If you trust Christ. Now if you
look into yourself, if you're looking to your religious experience,
if you're looking to your feelings, if you're looking to your goodness,
if you're looking to your obedience to the law, if you're looking
to your devotion, if you're looking to your godliness, if you're
looking to you, and you've seen those words,
you're lying through your teeth and you know it. But if you trust
Christ, not a reason in the world, not a reason in the world, not
to confidently say, the Lord has promised good to me. And I'm gonna possess it. It
takes one more thing. I can't turn until time's gone,
but I'll tell you. It takes resurrection glory. Someone asked me just recently
about cremation. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't even think about that.
The cremation began as a denial of the resurrection. And folks
do it these days, because I've never looked into it. I reckon
it's cheaper than burying somebody. I don't know. But don't do that. Don't do that. Do you remember
when Joseph died, he gave commandment that they shouldn't bury him
in Egypt? And they carried his father's bones out of Egypt.
And when Moses left, 400 years later, they carried Joseph's
bones out of Egypt. And they made a great deal about
the burial of that body. They made a great deal about
it. Well, they buried me, just put me into the Holy Grail somewhere.
Don't do that to me. Don't do that to me. I don't
mean all the gaudy nonsense. I don't mean that. But you bury
somebody in love, you deal with their body with respect. If they're
gods, especially. Because Christ redeemed us body,
soul, and spirit. And so, I'm told all the time
I preach things that aren't consistent. Let me give you some real inconsistencies.
I do, I preach stuff that's totally Totally illogical to the human
brain. You can't possibly fathom it with human reason. Let me
give you some of them. Soon, soon, you're gonna get
where Brother Don's going. And this mortal is this mortal
when Christ comes again. Do you know what a book of God
says about this mortal? This mortal shall put on immortality. Well, you can't have a mortal
put on immortality. You can if God gets involved. This natural body, feel it, this natural body, listen
right here, this natural body shall be raised a spiritual body,
spiritual body? You can't have a spiritual body,
you can when God gets into action. this dying, rotting, decaying
flesh shall put on incorruption and we shall be raised in the
glorious liberty of the sons of God perfectly conformed to
Him who's God's firstborn, the Lord Jesus our Redeemer. Amen.