With Larry, Chris and I had been
friends for a long, long time. We first came into contact while
I was still pastoring in West Virginia. I was a young man,
and he was a young man. And after some years, he moved
here to Danville and has been a great blessing to this congregation
and to me. And for the last how many years
now, Larry? Hard to believe. Five years he's been pastor of
the Fairmont Grace Church in Sillicog Alabama. And those folks
down there are just as happy as hogs in mud, and he is too.
So that makes Bill real happy. And we're delighted to have you
come preach the gospel to us, brother. Good morning. Will you turn to
Acts, Acts chapter 15. And I just want to thank the
folks here, the members at Grace Baptist for This blessed time,
there's a lot of labor. As Don said, I was here 20 years
before I went to Sylacauga to pastor. And I know something
about the labor, the work, the preparation that's involved in
putting these meetings together. I was standing in line last night
downstairs with Brother Dave Burge. And I said, man, Dave,
There's a lot of groceries get consumed here during these three
days. He said, yeah, there sure is.
And that requires a lot of work. Thank you, ladies, especially.
Thank you, ladies, for it. Brother Don didn't mention this.
I will. Those many years ago when we
first met and we were in our 20s, that's been a few years. I called him. I'd heard his name
through a mutual friend. And what my friend told me about
him made me feel, I don't want to meet that rascal. Election? Is he some kind of
nut? What do I want to meet him for? But after this guy moved
and God was pleased to reveal his son to me, I remembered that
name, Don Fortner. And I got the phone book and
looked it up, called it was a Saturday. And I said, Mr. Fortner? He said, yes, sir. I said, my name's Larry Chris. I'm the assistant pastor over
here at the Oak Hill Free Will Baptist Church. I wasn't for much longer than
that, after that. And John said, what can I do
for you? And I said, well, God's done something wonderful, just
wonderful. By his grace, And I just love
to talk to somebody about it. I don't have anybody that I can
talk to. He said, why don't you come up
and visit me? So I did. Spent the whole day. And when
I heard him on the phone, I forgot to mention, I thought, man, I
can learn a lot from this man because he sounds so much older
than me. And when I found his house, He
came outside to meet me, and when I saw him, I thought, I
can learn a lot from this guy. He's a lot older than me. But anyway, spent the whole day,
spent the whole day. And the evening came and Shelby
said, you going to stay for supper? I said, well, sure. I remember
what she fixed. She fixed fried potatoes and
sloppy joes. And it was delicious. And I spent
more time there. And it was dark. And Don loaded
me down with cassettes. And when the church over there
at Oak Hill, the free will Baptist, told me not to let the door hit
my rear on the way out, I sat under Don for about a year before
he came here. And then as he said, God in his
providence sometime later led me here. And I thank God for
it. Thank God for him and Shelby.
They've been dear, dear, precious friends. Let's read together
the first 11 verses here in Acts chapter 15. And certain men which came down
from Judea talked to brethren, the Gentile believers, and said,
except you be circumcised after the law of Moses, you cannot
be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And
being taught, or I'm sorry, being brought on their way by the church,
they passed through Benissa and Samaria, declaring the conversion
of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders,
and they declared all things that God had done with them.
But there arose up a certain of the sect of the Pharisees,
which believed the same, that it was needful, necessary, to
circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
And the apostles and elders came together for to consider this
matter. And when there had been much
disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren,
ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts,
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither
our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved,
even as they. The reason of this meeting, this
conference, first conference, took place was to set forth in
no uncertain terms the believers' freedom from the law, as we just
read. Read it twice, verse 1, then
again in verse 9. These legalists were telling
the believers, Gentiles especially, that they couldn't be saved unless
they were circumcised and kept the law of Moses. So they come
together, Peter, James, John was probably present, Paul, Barnabas,
the elders of the church at Jerusalem, they come together not to debate. Now they didn't say, well let's
see, let's just try to work this out. I mean, let's just all try
to get along. Maybe there's some common ground
that we can agree on. Maybe there is, in some respect,
that the believer is under the law. No, they didn't even think
that for a moment. They came together not to debate
this issue, it's not debatable, but to declare the believer's
absolute freedom from the law. And Peter spoke first, we read
what Peter said. And then Paul spoke after that,
and then James. And they all agree. They all
unite as with one voice, the believers' freedom from the law.
And their confession can be summed up in the words of Peter in verse
11. This is our text. It's clear. It's concise. It's complete. There's no compromise. How important
is this issue they were considering, setting forth? Paul in writing
about this time in his epistle to the Galatians said, this is
how important it is. He said, we do not frustrate
the grace of God. For if righteousness came by
the law, now listen to this, this is how important it is.
If righteousness came by the law, then Jesus Christ died in
vain. He died for nothing, Gene. If
a person could be justified before God Almighty by keeping the law,
then it wasn't necessary for the Lord of Glory to die. It
wasn't necessary for him to become a man and come into this world
under the yoke of God's holy law. It wasn't necessary if men
could do that themselves. Oh, but they couldn't. By the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. Peter says in verse
11, but we believe, we believe, contrary to what these legalists
are saying, we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as they. No exemptions. That's the title
of my message, no exemptions. We've all heard the expression
that to every rule, no matter how steadfast it may be, to every
rule, there can be circumstances to arise that would give it an
exception. Not to this. There are no exceptions
to this. Whether they were Jews or Gentiles,
whether in the Old Testament, as Walter pointed out a moment
ago, or in the New Testament, whether it was Abraham or Saul
of Tarsus, all are saved by God's grace. Nobody's ever been saved
apart by the rather apart from the grace of God. As Peter says
here, we believe we will be saved just like the Gentiles are saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The grace, the
reigning grace David and Ruth sang about, that grace that reaches
deeper than the stain is gone. That grace that reigns over sin,
that grace that where sin abounded, it doth much more abound. That
grace, through the Lord Jesus Christ, is whereby we must be
saved. And that being so, salvation
being by grace through Christ, that being so, Peter says emphatically,
without a question, without doubt, We shall be saved. We shall be saved. Again, verse
1, these legalists said, now, to those who God had saved by
His grace, they said, well, that's good, that's good, as far as
it goes. But, but, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. You cannot be
saved except Grace is not enough, they were saying. You need the
law. Christ is not enough. Imagine
that any, trying to be nice, as Don says, but any fool, it's
about as nice as I can be, any fool that says Jesus Christ is
not enough doesn't know what he's talking about. They said
Christ is not enough. We've got to add Moses. Faith
is not enough. Faith in Christ is not enough.
You need works. And the apostles gave one answer,
not two, only one answer, and they said there's no exceptions.
There's no exceptions. I remember years ago as a teenager
being out with some friends of mine, a bunch of us were packed
in a car, and we were driving down the interstate. And all
of a sudden, somebody said, wait a minute, wait a minute. Why
are all the road signs turned around backwards? And then another one of the intellects
said, wait a minute. We're on the wrong side of the
interstate. We're going north in the southbound
lane. Turn around. If the way you think
you're going to heaven, if the road you think you're on going
to heaven is not paved every single step of the way with God's
absolute free grace in Jesus Christ, you're going the wrong
way. You're going the wrong way. You're
on the broad way that leads to destruction. God give you grace
to turn around. Turn around. I remember hearing
Brother Henry, I know many of you did too, preach one time
and he was telling us about a conversation he had with a lady, asked her
if she was a Christian. And she said, oh yes, Henry,
I've been a Christian all of my life. Henry said, lady, that's
too long. That's too long. Have you never
been lost? Walter, if you've never been
lost, you've never been found. If you've never been brought
low, you've never been lifted up. If you've never been stripped,
you've never been clothed in the righteousness of the Son
of God. Yes, we shall be saved, but not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose, God's own
purpose. You mean God does things on purpose? Well, I declare. Isn't that a
novel idea? My soul, God Almighty, whatever
he wills, whatever he purposes, he says, I shall bring it to
pass. His very will is enough to make
it so. We believe we shall be saved
not according to our works but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. That kind of takes us plumb out
of the equation, doesn't it, as far as being responsible for
our salvation. We shall be saved because We
shall be saved because we have redemption through his blood. Christ didn't die in vain. He redeemed us. He didn't take
a stab at it. He didn't attempt to do it. And
nothing you and I do in time adds anything to what he finished
at Calvary. No, then and there, with majestic
finality, he obtained, glory to his name, he obtained eternal
redemption for us. We shall be saved. We shall be
saved. We shall be saved because Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Because Christ Jesus
came into this world for that very purpose, to save sinners. And God Almighty said before
that, 700 years before that, by the prophet Isaiah, speaking
of Christ, his righteous servant, his elect in whom his soul delights,
God said concerning him, he shall not fail. He shall not fail. That's the only one God ever
said that about. He shall not fail. Joseph lies on his bed. tossing and turning, Eric, he
just can't sleep. He's found out his bride, the
woman he loves, is pregnant. And he knows it's not by him.
And he's thinking, man, what am I going to do? I love her. I'm not going to make her a public
spectacle. I'll just send her away. Just
put her away privately. And while he was having these
thoughts, In this troubled frame of mind, the angel of the Lord
appeared to him and said, Joseph, don't be afraid. You take Mary
to be your wife. That which is conceived in her,
that holy thing that's conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And when he's born, Joseph, give him this name. Give him this
name. Call his name Jesus. He shall. Don't you love that? Don't you
just love that? Joseph called his name Jesus.
He shall save his people, all of his people, from all of their
sins. And he lived up to his name.
Jesus means something. I don't know that Larry means
anything. Nothing good. But Jesus, it means. He was what he was named. The
salvation of the Lord. Jehovah saves, and that's exactly
what Jesus Christ did. Saved His people from their sins.
Yes, in answer to any who tell you that faith in Christ is not
enough, that grace is not enough, that you can't be saved except,
oh, you answer, oh, no. As long as grace is through Jesus
Christ, we shall be saved. And after all the smoke is cleared,
And after all man's empty, Christless, useless religion has failed,
and every man-made way to heaven has proven to be a lie, this
will stand. By the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we shall be saved. The only salvation, the only
way, the only hope is a good hope through grace. A sinner
can have no hope in anything else, no grounds in anything
else, no foundation Except here, grace through the Lord Jesus
Christ saved the day, yes, but saved tomorrow. Oh, but wait,
Larry. You don't know what a day may
bring forth. That is exactly right. You don't know what tomorrow
holds. That's exactly right. I remember
years ago when still living in West Virginia, one of my brothers,
one of my younger brothers came to visit and we were sitting
in the backyard. It was dark. And he was into
astronomy. He was looking up at the stars,
just a beautiful, clear summer night. And he said, Larry, did
you know? And he began to enlighten me.
Look at all that. He said, and you know, Larry,
all that we can see there, that's just our galaxy. That's just our galaxy. There
are, they don't know how many galaxies. And after he had kind
of spun out. I said, Ernest, that is something. That is marvelous. But let me
tell you something more wondrous, more marvelous. I know the one
who did all that. I know that one who spoke it,
who willed it into existence. No, I don't know what tomorrow
holds. But I know who holds tomorrow. Therefore, knowing that, I know
that I shall be saved. I shall be saved. When tempted
and tried and went to the apostle and every child of God identifies
with that. There are no exceptions. Oh wretched
man that I am. I prayed today, this morning,
before I stepped up here. Would you give this sinner grace
to have a real desire to exalt your son, not to be more concerned
with how I come across? Oh, wretched man. We do it, don't
we? Oh, let it be more my concern
that he increase, that he increase. Oh, allow me to hold up the Lamb
of God. That's a struggle. Oh wretched
man that I am. Not that I used to be. You ever
hear professing Christians talk that way? I remember when I was
a sinner. I did that when I was a sinner.
Paul says, I'm still a sinner. Oh, not old wretched man that
I used to be, but wretched man that I am right now. Right now
as I write these words under inspiration of God's Holy Spirit,
oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? And he answered
the question, didn't he? I thank God. Through the Lord
Jesus Christ, I shall still be saved. And when we're being tossed
on a troubled sea, like the disciples were that night. And it grew
dark. It grew dark. Man, the waves
were raising their little boat up, wind howling. And we read,
and Jesus was not yet come to them. Perhaps one of my brothers or
sisters in Christ or having that experience even now. You're going
through a storm, and it's dark. It's just dark. You can't see
to the other end. You can't see to the other shore.
You can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. And the waves
just seem to rise. The billows are going over your
head. And if anything can make it worse, it's this. It seems
that Jesus has not yet come to you. That's tough. Oh, but thank God the story doesn't
stop there, does it? We read, but Jesus came. Jesus came. There's nothing,
there's nothing can keep our Savior from his sheep. There's
nothing can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ
Jesus. He came, and how did he come? In a way they've never seen him
before. Walking on the water. Oh, the
sovereign monarch of creation walks on the water and comes
to them. Can you imagine Peter and James
and John? Did you see that? Did you see
that? My, so what manner of man is
this? And they bow down in holy wonder. Hallelujah, what a savior. Yes, we read in Revelation chapter
seven, one of my favorite passages. John sees a multitude before
the throne. No man can number, just too many. You know, folks here, you believe
that? awful doctrine of election. And they say, oh, you believe
one or two might be saved? No, no, no, no, no. I believe
a multitude might, it's not might be saved, they shall be saved. A multitude that no man can number,
and John saw them before the throne of God, all waving the
palm leaf of victory, all clothed in white robes, all singing,
worthy is the Lamb. And the elder said, John, where
did they come from? John said, I don't know. You
tell me. These are they which came out of great tribulation. We must through much tribulation,
no exceptions, go through much tribulation to inherit the kingdom
of God. No exceptions. Oh, but glory
to his name, they all came out. They all came out. I mean, look
back on that battlefield. Their sin has been slain by the
captain of their salvation. Satan is slain and cast into
the bottomless pit. Oh, but everyone, every soldier,
every sheep of the lamb, bless his name, they all came out. They all came out to the other
side and they stand before the throne of God and of the lamb. Yes, we shall be saved. And when
that time comes, when I shall go hence and be no more, when
I'm growing old, older, and feeble, and the chill of death is even
then being felt, I shall still be saved. I shall still be saved. And when all mankind are standing
before the white throne, the pure white throne of a thrice
holy God, and death and hell are giving up the dead that are
in them, and the books are being opened, and all whose names are
not written in the Lamb's Book of Life are being cast into the
lake of fire, we shall still be saved. We shall still be saved. Oh, John Kent wrote one of his
hymns, puts it this way. betwixt Jesus and the chosen
race, subsist the bond of sovereign grace that hail with its eternal
train, shall never dissolve nor rend entwined. Hail sacred union
firm and strong. How great the grace, how sweet
the song, that worms of earth should ever be one with incarnate
deity. One in the tomb when he arose,
one when he triumphed over his foes, one when in heaven He took
his seat while seraphs sang, all hells defied, one with him. Yes, we believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace, grace. Oh, to grace how
great a debtor. Thank God for that free reigning
sovereign grace. Don't you like that? Free, free. That means without a cause in
you, Man, that's good news. Without a cause in me, no merit
in me. Oh, but my glorious representative? I'm well represented. I'm sure
here in Kentucky it's no different than it is in Alabama. Seem like
every other commercial on TV is some ambulance chasing lawyer
promising to get you money for anything under the sun. Let me
represent you. I'll get you what you deserve.
Yeah, I bet you will. Oh, I'm represented. I have an
advocate in heaven before the Father. Oh, I'm well represented. He pleased not my merit, but
his own. His own merit, his own worth,
his own mercy, and his own grace. I'm saved by the grace of God
without a cause in me. Oh, that's good to hear. That's
comforting. There's no merit to attract God's
grace to me, no sin too great to repel it. Grace must be more
than, must it not? Grace must be more than a mere
offer. Now all around this morning,
all around this morning, people are being told that it's up It's
up to them. If you'll take the first step.
But grace is not an offer. What good is that? It must be,
it has to be more than that. Because sin has reigned unto
death. And in Adam all died. And they're being told today,
yes, salvation is easy if you'll just take the first step. Listen,
listen, Lazarus is dead. Lazarus is dead. He's not going
to take the first step. He's not going to do it. He can't
take the first step. And check this out, neither will
you. Neither will you. Oh, you may
think you can, but you can't. The Lord Jesus Christ said, with
men, that includes you, it's impossible. No man can come to
me except, there are some exceptions, except a father which sent me,
draw him, draw him by irresistible, I like that too, irresistible
grace. Oh yes, that's the answer. Our
Lord said, Lazarus is dead, but I go. But I go that I may awake
him out of sleep. I'm not going to Bethany to attempt
it, to try it. I'm going to arise. I'm going
to raise Lazarus out of his sleep. I'm going to wake him up. Oh,
can you imagine? Can you imagine he goes to that
tomb with weeping Martha and Mary, the sisters of their dead
brother? Crowds have gathered round. Roll
away the stone. They whisper, what's a little
bit late for that? What's the purpose of that? What's
the reason for that? Oh, and he who said, I'm the
resurrection and the life. Martha, your brother's going
to rise again. She said, oh, I know he will.
Out there somewhere, Martha, you don't understand. You're
looking at the resurrection. Oh, he changed her perspective,
didn't he? And he said, Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth. And the
very next thing we read, he that was dead came forth. And bless his glorious name,
you had he quickened, given life to who were dead in trespasses
and sins. Martha, the hour is now coming,
or now is, of the resurrection and the life, He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall be saved. Do you believe this,
Martha? Do you believe this? Yes, by the grace of God, we
shall be saved. The grace through the Lord Jesus
Christ, no exceptions. Last of all, where this grace
is, if salvation is all of grace, and there's no possibility of
being saved without it, and no mixing of anything with it, and
grace always triumphs, it always succeeds, it always results in
the salvation of all who receive it, then how can I have this
grace? Where can I find this grace? And here's the answer. Peter
gave it in our text. We believe we shall be saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Grace is in Him. Grace is from
Him. If you ever experience grace,
you must receive it from Him. You must come to Him. John said,
oh, we saw Him, the only begotten of the Father. And He's full
of grace and truth. All the multitudes of sinners
that have come to Him for grace, that continue to come to Him
every hour of every day, they owe their very existence to Him,
who sat upon the throne, who's able to save to the very uttermost. And yet, yet, after dispensing
all that grace to all those sinners, He's still full. He's just as
full as ever. Oh, if you miss Christ, you miss
grace, you miss salvation. I believe I speak for each of
these pastors. It's not their desire, our desire
to hear any say after these services are over. Well, I've become,
after weighing the issue and considering all options, I'm
convinced of Calvinism. No, no, no. That's not the issue. The issue is this. Have you ever
been convinced that you're a sinner? Are you convinced that you're
a sinner with nothing to pay? Have you ever been there? Have
you ever been stripped? Oh, I hope so. I hope so. Because
if God strips you, if He rips away that fig leaf of your own
self-righteousness, it's because He's going to robe you in the
perfect righteousness of His own Son. There's a lady in our
church, Bobby Buckner, was telling me when she was younger, Rolf
Barnard used to come regularly and preach. They tell me Rolf
was pretty rough. But just told it like it was. And Bobby said he would often
ask from the pulpit, well, I wonder if there's any sinners in the
house. Is there a sinner in the house? Anybody lost? Anybody thirsty? And Bobby said,
I didn't like that. And I didn't like him. I didn't
like the way he addressed us. until God got her lost. God got her lost and then she
was glad to hear salvation's all of the Lord. She was glad
to hear it's not of him that willeth, not of him that runneth,
but it's of God, it's all of God that showeth mercy. That's
the best news a sinner ever heard. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Oh, in that day to be found in
him. I remember when I was a boy 11
or 12 years old, I've made mention, probably not too many folks in
here haven't heard me mention the fact that for several years
in the mountains of West Virginia, I lived up a hollow, a holler,
the last house in the hollow. And I remember one winter, oh,
there came a deep snow just right before Christmas. And my mother
had bought each of us a gift, but it was on the layaway plan.
You remember that? Like pay a little bit so often,
layaway. And she'd made the last payment,
but she couldn't get, my father, we couldn't get, the snow was
so deep, we couldn't get out. Couldn't get out. Now my uncle
and grandmother went to the store, got the gifts out, and he got
as far as he could. And my father got a sleigh, and
I was following him through the snow. My father's a pretty good-sized
man. And I was behind him, and he would take a step. Boy, he
would make an imprint in the snow, and I would try to put
my foot right where he'd already put his, following in his tracks. Psalm 85 and 11 says, righteousness
shall go before him, and shall set us in the way of his steps. my glorious substitute, my representative. From that time he drew breath
in that stable in Bethlehem. From that time when he said,
oh God, I come to do thy will in the body that thou hast prepared
to me. From that, to that day when he
took his last breath upon the cross saying, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit. Every step he took in between
were steps of perfect, absolute obedience to his father's will. Every word he ever uttered, every
thought he ever had, every act he ever did, he fulfilled God's
perfect, holy law. And God sets this sinner in his
stead. Oh, glorious, glorious Redeemer. Look here in Acts 15, we'll wrap
this up. We read that after they wrote
this letter to be delivered by Paul and Barnabas concerning
the believers' freedom from the law, they went back to the church
at Antioch. And they delivered the letter
to these believers. And when they were dismissed,
they came to Antioch, verse 30. And when they had gathered the
multitude together, they delivered the epistle, which when they
had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. Oh, what consolation. What comfort. What sweet peace
of knowing the grace of God that's in Christ Jesus. Oh, what joy. I'm looking at people now that
After these services are over, they'll go separate ways, go
back to their houses. Won't be probably the big house
in the community or the most elaborate house, the biggest
home. Oh, but my soul, the God of heaven
says, looky there, they're going home justified. Going home justified. in the sight of God Almighty,
not guilty, recorded in the record of heaven. And we read, they
rejoiced. They rejoiced. Oh my, they should. How they should. A year or two
ago, I was visiting my oldest son and my two granddaughters,
Laura, Laurel, and Allison, Allie. I was babysitting this day, and
Laura was taking pictures, just kept taking pictures with her
phone. I said, let me see what you're
doing there. And I looked at it, and I said, man, you know,
she's taking them of me. I looked at that picture, I said,
I need to go on a diet. And I said, Allie, the youngest
one, I said, Allie, Don't you think Pawpaw needs to go on a
diet? She said, oh, what's that, Pawpaw? I said, don't you think
I need to lose weight? She said, oh no, Pawpaw, you're
perfect. Love her to death. She said, you're perfect. Listen to this. This is God speaking
of his church. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty For it was perfect, for it was
perfect through my comeliness which I put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. Bold shall I stand in that great
day, for who ought to my charge shall lay. While through thy
blood absolved I am from sin and fear and guilt and shame,
this spotless robe the same appears when ruined nature sinks in years. No age can change its glorious
hue. The robe of Christ is ever new.
Jesus, be endless praise to thee, whose boundless mercy hath for
me, for me a full atonement made, and an everlasting ransom paid. Yes, they shall be saved. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.