you will open your Bibles to
Romans chapter 2 Romans chapter 2 the title of my message today
is the goodness of God leading to repentance the goodness of God leading to
repentance I want with all my heart, I pray earnestly that God will be pleased
to save you by his grace, give you repentance and faith in his
dear son as only he can. That he will use the words that
I speak to you from his word. to give you life and faith in
Jesus Christ. Because I am fully aware that
soon you will meet God in judgment. Soon you will meet God in judgment. Soon. You'll breathe your last
breath and you're going to meet God in judgment. For that reason,
I endeavor purposefully to preach to you with plainness and simplicity,
with utter plainness and simplicity. Use the language that you're
familiar with. I don't want anyone here to ever have to go home
and get a dictionary and look up words and see what I meant.
I speak to you with complete plainness and simplicity. I make no effort to adorn my
messages with strokes and flashes of oratory or great skill. Even
if I had the ability, I wouldn't. I try my best to preach to you
with simplicity. with plainness, with boldness,
and I have a message from God to deliver to your souls. God
help you to hear me. When our Lord Jesus preached,
men understood what he said. No one ever had to go home scratching
their heads wondering what the master had taught. Our Lord spoke
with simplicity, sincerity, and boldness. There were no hidden
meanings to his words. Everything he said was open and
plain. Everyone who understood him or
heard him understood him. They may not have believed him,
most didn't, but they understood him. They may have found him
to cross their traditions and offend their pride and show contempt
for their religious customs. He did, but they understood him.
They may not bow to him. They didn't. They weren't willing
to bow to his claims. They refused to do so, but they
understood him. The Pharisees were offended after
they heard his doctrine. Luke tells us when they heard
the Lord Jesus preached, they were filled with wrath. When
our Lord said, I and my father are one, the Jews took up stones
to stone him because he, being a man, made himself God. It's essential, it's essential
that those who preach the gospel do so with great plainness of
speech. For if the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself to battle? Paul said, I do not
frustrate the grace of God. That is to say, I don't confuse,
complicate, distort, or make void or nullify the gospel of
God's grace. I sound a clear, unmistakable
note regarding salvation by grace. I can't force you to forsake
your idols. I can't compare you to bow to
Christ the Lord. I can't make anyone believe the
gospel. But I can speak to you so plainly
that you can't misunderstand me. For some, that causes offense. That's too bad. The gospel must
be preached with plainness. Brother Scott Richardson used
to say, preachers should just stand up on their hind legs and
tell the truth. If they did, God just might use
them. Preachers should just stand up on their hind legs and tell
the truth. The fact is, God's word is perfectly
clear about those things vital to your soul. The Word of God
speaks plainly about what happened in the garden. When Adam sinned
in the garden, you and I became sinners. The proof of that is
that each of us went forth from his mother's womb speaking lies. Now, folks can argue, debate,
and fuss about Adam's fall and the fall of the race in Adam
and whether or not Adam really exists and all that stuff. The
fact is you know it so. You prove it every day. Because
your nature is the nature of your father Adam. Sin is what
you do. Sin is what's in you. Sin is what you are. That's because
of Adam's transgression. When one man sinned, all men
sinned in that man Adam. The scriptures are very clear.
about what happened at Calvary. Our Lord Jesus Christ died the
just for the unjust that he might bring his elect unto God. He died in the place of sinners
that sinners might not die. He died in the place of sinners
to secure that some sinners would not die. He died in the place
of sinners for the salvation of his elect and by his death
He put away sin, he brought in everlasting righteousness, he
conquered Satan, death and hell, and he, by the merit of his blood,
entered into heaven, having obtained eternal salvation for somebody.
And God saves sinners, as the book of God plainly declares,
by his free grace alone. The Word of God is so plain,
so clear, that the mistake, error in this regard, only comes by
willful, deliberate unbelief. Many women who pretend to believe
in salvation by something they do, many women who pretend to
believe that they can make themselves righteous before God, run in
the face of Holy Scripture. The Word of God declares plainly,
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
The scriptures tell us plainly what happens when God saves a
sinner. When God saves a sinner, there is a regeneration. We died
in Adam. God comes to the dead and makes
them alive. That's called regeneration. He
gives life again to the dead. That regeneration brings with
it a work of conviction, so that the Holy Spirit of God, by the
word of His grace, convinces lost sinners of their sin, of
Christ's righteousness, and of redemption accomplished by the
sacrifice of God's darling Son. And there is a revelation made.
When God the Holy Spirit saves sinners, He reveals Christ in
you. He reveals Christ in you. Brother Don, how do I know whether
or not God's given me faith? Many of you have asked me that
question many times over the years. And I keep stumbling around for
an answer. But the answer is really quite simple. When Christ
is revealed in you, God's given you faith. When you know the
Son of God, you have life by the Son of God. And until Christ
is revealed in you, whatever you have is not faith. Until
you know the Son of God, whatever you have is not life. Until you
live by Christ living in you, you have no salvation. I don't
try to get you to make a profession of faith. I don't try to get
you to get baptized and join this church. That's not my interest.
My interest is in you knowing God. In you living with God. You living in Christ Jesus the
Lord When God saves a sinner, he reveals Christ to him and
thereby Reconciles the sinner to himself. He turns the sinner
to himself We beseech you be reconciled to God quit fighting
God Quit fighting God you see the problem is that you have
is not a matter of whether or not you believe that Jesus is
the Christ. The problem you have is not whether
or not you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The
problem you, I'm talking to you folks sitting right here now,
you who hear my voice. Your problem is not a problem
of wondering whether or not this is the Word of God. That's not
the problem. That's not the problem. You got one problem. You refuse
to bow to Christ as your Lord. That's your problem. Christ is
Lord. Christ is Lord. And He demands
that you surrender your life to Him. That's what faith is
in a nutshell. It is the surrender of your life
to the rule of the Son of God, trusting Him. Trusting Him. You see, you can easily surrender
all things to Him when you trust Him. when you trust it. I was pretty sick a couple of
weeks ago. I went to see Dr. Hendrickson,
and you know what I did? I listened to what he said, and
I took the medicine he prescribed, and I don't even know how to
pronounce the name of it. I don't even know how to pronounce the
name of it. I took it as long as he said, take it. And when
I wanted to do something, he said, no, you can't do that.
I didn't do it. Well, why would you do that? Because I trust
him. I trust him as a good, well-qualified
physician to take care of my physical needs honestly to the
best of his ability. I just trust him. I just trust
him. Shelby said, why don't you ask him this? I said, I trust
him. Well, why don't you ask him that? I trust him. I don't
have to. I don't have to. I just trust him. That's a simple,
crude, crude, crude illustration of what I'm trying to say. I
don't have to make any decisions for my life. I don't have to
decide what I'm to do or not to do. I don't have to decide
where I'm to go or not to go. I have a Lord who made those
decisions for me. I have a Lord who rules my life. I have a Lord who's in control
and I want it that way. Faith in Christ No more and no
less than the surrender of your life to Jesus Christ the Lord
all right now Seeking that for you. I want to make nine plain
Pointed statements and I'll be very brief. I Hope you'll remember
them number one. Okay Romans chapter 2 verse 4 And we'll spend a little time
with this one I Don't know if you will ever repent, but I know
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Despisest
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Really, in this text, the apostle
is saying all the things that you have experienced of God's
goodness ought to cause you to repent. Oh, how good God has
been to you. Oh, how good God has been to
you. I didn't realize this until Friday. I was talking to Brother Curtis.
He had one of those roadside explosives in Iraq and was wounded
when he was over there. And I said to him, how fortunate,
how good, not many folks walk away from those things. Oh, how good God is to deliver
you from great dangers, and yet you despise his goodness. How
good God is to raise you up from sickness, and yet you despise
his goodness. How good God is to warn you of
the certainty of judgment, and yet you despise his goodness,
despise his goodness. Brother Fred was talking to him
about a friend of ours, a friend that had been attending church
ever since Daddy died. I hope they'll continue. I hope they'll
continue. But most don't. They get a little
fright, a little scare, a little discomfort, They'll come and
say, oh, I better straighten up and start doing right. And
it doesn't last long. It doesn't last long. How good
God's been to you. Raised under the sound of the
gospel. Raised by mother and dad who pray for you and care
for your soul. How good God's been to you. How good he's been
preserving you in health, keeping you from your own evil ways,
keeping you from destroying yourself when you would willfully do so.
How good God's been to you. And yet, You despise that goodness. I have an example back in Luke
chapter 13. The goodness of God leadeth thee
to repentance. The relentless goodness of God
you've experienced ought to bring you to his feet in repentance.
But you despise that very goodness that ought to lead you to repentance.
Here the Holy Spirit gives us an example of what I'm talking
about. Luke chapter 13. There were present at that season
some that told the Lord Jesus of the Galileans, whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering
said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners
above all Galileans, because they suffered such things? I
tell you nay, but except you repent, ye shall all likewise
perish. Are those eighteen upon whom
the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they
were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you
nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. These
folks who brought these things up to the master seemed to be
saying, those people, those people, surely were brought to sudden
death under the judgment of God because they were great sinners.
And their sense was, we're not like that. We're not like that. Their sense was, we have escaped
the judgment of God. He must not be angry with us.
Since we haven't yet been brought to hell, so that means God's
not going to send us to hell. Don't be so foolish. Don't be so foolish. The wrath of God that fuels the
fires of hell is on you. If you're without Christ, If
you're without Christ, the wrath of God is on you. How I can say that and not fall on my face with
broken heart, I don't know. How you can be aware of it? and
not fall on your face before God, I do know, because you're
dead in trespasses and sins. The wrath of God's on you, if
you're without Christ. He that believeth not on the
Son of God, the wrath of God, abideth on him. So that, now
listen to me. Please listen to me. If you don't,
if you don't hear anything else I say today, every one of you look
up and listen to me, every one of you, every, every one of you,
please look up and listen to me. Every time you go to the
sink, get you a drink of water, the wrath of God's on you. Every
time you sit down and take your bite of meat, the wrath of God's
on you. Every time you draw in his air
and breathe it out again, the wrath of God's on you. The wrath
of God's on you. And when you breathe your last
breath, you're going to hell. I'm here to persuade you to repent. As an ambassador of God, Paul
said, I beseech you, be ye reconciled to God. Quit fighting God. Quit fighting God. Christ is
Lord and you will bow to him either in repentance and faith
or in judgment at the last day, but bow to him you will. I can't
give you repentance. I can't make you repent. I can't
talk you into repentance, but it's my responsibility to tell
you you must repent. Turn to God. Repentance is turning
to God. Turning from yourself, your sin,
your righteousness, the world, the flesh, the devil, turning
to God. It's a change, a change of mind,
a change of masters, a change of manners, a change of motives.
It's a change of the whole man's life. And this repentance is
essential. You must repent. But repentance is something you can't do. You won't do that. You won't do that. You get scared
and you get a little religion, but you won't repent. You get
in trouble and you get a little religion, but you won't repent.
No, it won't happen. It won't happen. You find yourself
suddenly involved in a car accident and your buddy sitting beside
you gets killed and you, oh, I've got to get right. You won't
repent. It doesn't change a thing. It doesn't change a thing. It
doesn't change a thing. If you get caught in bank robberies,
fear of going to jail, somebody calls the preacher and says,
go see my boy. I believe he's ready for the
Lord. No, you won't repent. You won't repent. It won't happen. It's not going to happen. It's
not going to happen. Brother Don, how can you be so
cold-hearted? I'm not cold-hearted, Lindsey. I'm telling you the
truth. You won't repent. It won't happen until God repents
you. It won't happen. Turn to Jeremiah
chapter 31. Jeremiah chapter 31. Our Lord
Jesus is risen to be a prince and a savior to give repentance
to his elect. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee, the scripture says.
Now look here at Jeremiah 31 verse 18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus. Thus hast thou chastised me,
and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be
turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Turn thou me, and I shall
be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. I would suggest that's
a good way for you to start praying. Turn me! Oh God, turn me! And I shall be turned. Look at
verse 19. Surely, after that I was turned,
I repented. After that I was turned, I repented. And after that I was instructed.
I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Despise not the goodness of God
that leadeth thee to repentance. Number two. Look in John chapter
three. John chapter three. I don't know if you'll ever be
born again. But I know that except a man be born again. He cannot
see the kingdom of God You must be born again. Look at John chapter
3 verse 3 Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus Verily verily
I say unto thee Except a man be born again. He cannot see
the kingdom of God He just can't see He just can't say it's not
gonna happen and you're not gonna make him say he can't say till
he born again Nicodemus saith unto him. How can a man be born
when he's old? Can he in a second time into
his mother's womb and be born? now I've met a lot of Nicodemus's
in my day and when you make a statement that they just simply can't understand
it just baffles Baffles him the Lord said Nicodemus until you're
born again. You're not gonna be able to see
what I'm talking about Nicodemus said well, how can an old man
be born again? Can you call back up in his mother's
belly be born? All he was doing being smart
Alec He was being smart at showing his stupidity And when that happens
to you and that happens to me, let's not get too upset The master
went right on telling him the truth. What is it? Jesus answered
verse 5 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. For that which is born of flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Oh, brother
Don, tell me how to be born again. I can't. I can't. And any preacher who
dares try to do so is lying to you. No, I can't tell you how
you can be born again. I can't tell you how you can
be born again. I'm not going to make any effort in doing so.
Any preacher who dares to do so is making merchandise of your
soul. He's misleading you, and he'll
take you with himself to hell. No, no. Well, Brother Donovan,
what does Scripture say? Read the next line. The wind
bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh. and whither it goeth,
so is every one that is born of the Spirit. God the Holy Spirit,
the wind of heaven, blows where he will and gives life to whom
he will. You must be born again. And I'm
praying God will give you that new life in Christ. You must
be born again. You must be born again. But all I can do is tell you
that. That's all I can do. That's all I can do. I can just
tell you that's so. And beg God to give you the life. Wait for God the Holy Spirit
to give you life. You see, the new birth is the
work of God the Spirit. It comes by the preaching of
the Word of God. But this new birth is a new creation. Our Lord Jesus says, behold,
I make all things new. In the new birth, men are raised
from the dead, just like Lazarus was in the tomb. And the Lord
Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. He couldn't do that. He's dead. What a stupid thing to do. Command
Lazarus to come forth. He's dead. Well, let's see. He that was dead came out of
the tomb. And the Lord Jesus, if he speaks
the word of life to you by the gospel today, you who are dead
will rise from your death and believe God. Number three, Jeremiah
29. Jeremiah 29. I don't know if you'll ever seek
the Lord. Most don't. Most don't. All people play games
with God and get a little dose of religion and use religion,
but not many folks seek God. How many folks interested in
knowing Him? Are you? Most don't. I don't know if you'll
ever seek the Lord, but I do know that all who seek Him are
sought of Him and shall find Him. I will be found of you,
saith the Lord. Look at Jeremiah 29, verse 10.
Thus saith the Lord that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon.
Talking about the Jewish captivity in Babylon, a type and picture
of God's salvation. You were held captive after the
appointed time of your captivity. Oh, bless God. For his chosen Their captivity
is just for an appointed time. And at the appointed time, he
will deliver. After the 70 years be accomplished
at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward
you in causing you to return to this place, to my altar, to
my sacrifice, to my son. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not
of evil. to give you an expected end.
Then shall you call upon me. And you shall go and pray unto
me. Now watch this. Mother, these words are shockingly
gracious. I will hearken to you. I will hearken to you. That doesn't
mean, Bob, I'll hear you. That means I'll do what you ask.
You'll go and you'll seek me and pray to me. And when you
pray to me, I'll do what you ask. I'll hearken to you. And
you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me
with all your heart. And I will be found of you sayeth
the Lord. You'll seek me and find me when
you quit pretending and seek me with all your heart. You see,
salvation's a heart work. It's not walking down here and
saying I believe in Jesus. It's not getting into baptismal
pools saying, I want to join the church. I want to start doing
right and serving the Lord. No. Salvation is a heartwork.
With the heart, men believeth unto righteousness. You'll seek
me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Repentance, faith, these are
heartworks. Heartworks. I don't know if you'll
ever seek the Lord or not. But I know that if you seek Him,
you'll find Him. If you seek Him, you'll find
Him. Brother Moose Parks may tell
you this while he's here. You can ask him about it. He
and Sandy will be here Tuesday night. One night, a long time ago, I
was preaching for his dad down in Winston-Salem. Moose and Sandy
were there, and they were taking off. I think they were heading
to New Jersey after service in the evening. And we were about
to go, and Brother Ernest had just closed up the church building,
and here came a car back in the driveway. It was Moose and Sandy. And Moose said, Sandy wants to
talk to you. She said, God showed her she's lost. And Moose and
Sandy, Moose's dad, Brother Parks, and I went back in one of the
rooms, chatted a little bit. And nobody said anything except
me and Sandy talking to her. And I said, Sandy? There's nothing I can do for
you. Go seek the Lord. Moose told me later, I thought
you'd say something. Thought you'd tell her to do something.
It's just shocked. No, you go seek the Lord. If
you seek him, you'll find him. Well, that ain't much of a preacher.
That ain't much of a pastor. That ain't much of a soul winner.
I never pretended to be, but I'm honest with your soul. You
seek Him, you'll find Him. And if you mean business, you'll
seek Him. Seek the Lord, and you'll find Him. 1 John 1. 1 John 1. Here's the fourth thing. I don't know if you'll ever be
washed in the blood of Christ, but I do know that the blood
of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth from all sin. Do you know what it is to be
dirty? I mean dirty. Dirty. Brother Frank and Curtis and
Carl were over here last night. Working down on those logs, we
were getting ready to go out to dinner, and they started to
leave. And Frank came over and started to hug me. I said, don't
hug me, you're filthy. That's not what I'm talking about. You know what it is to be so
dirty you don't dare touch anybody? So dirty you don't dare get near
anybody? Dirty. Dirty. Dirty in your soul. Dirty in your heart. Dirty in
your conscience. Dirty. Dirty before God. Want us to be dirty? I do. And I know what it is to be clean. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1. Here I am. A man who knows what it is to be so
filthy, he doesn't dare approach God. Don't dare approach God. Don't
dare. And now a man so clean, I don't
dare stay away. So clean that God Almighty Himself
has no reason to be angry with me. He's washed away my sins. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilty stands. The dying thief rejoiced
to see that fountain in his day, and there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. You too. Romans chapter 9. Romans 9. Here's my fifth statement. I don't know whether you will
ever be robed in the righteousness of Christ or not, but I do know
this. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Here in Romans
9, the Jews stumbled at the stumbling block, we're told in verse 32
and 33. They stumbled over Christ, stumbled over the crucified Christ,
stumbled over Christ the substitute, stumbled over substitutionary
redemption, stumbled over Christ's perfect righteousness, perfect
obedience as the center substitute. going about to establish their
own righteousness. Now look at this, verse 1, chapter
10. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record. They have a zeal of God. They're
zealous. They're religious zealous folks.
Who can deny that? But not according to knowledge.
What are they ignorant of? They being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Every sinner in the world who's
trying to make himself righteous before God, that includes some of you. Every
sinner in the world who's trying to make himself righteous before
God by something you do, Make yourself holy by something you
do, is totally ignorant of the work of the Son of God, the righteousness
of God. His name is Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord our righteousness. Now look at verse 4. For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Bobby
Estes, the law of God says for you to love God with all your
heart, soul, mind, and being. The law of God says for you to
walk before him and be perfect. The law of God says for you to
love your neighbor just like you love Bobby Estes. Why does
it say that? Why did God give that law? So
that Bobby would go about trying to Love God best he can, and
be as perfect as he can, and love his neighbor as good as
you can. Now you ought to do that. You ought to do that. By
all means, you ought to do that. But that's not why God gave that
law. He gave that law to make you know you can't. You can't. Here is the end of it! Christ! Perfect man. Fulfill perfect
righteousness for a people who could do nothing and all who
trust him have that perfect righteousness that he is Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to who? To every one that believeth
to everyone who trust him Number six John 3 36 I don't know if you'll ever believe
in the Lord Jesus or not, trusting Him as your only Lord and Savior,
but I know this. John 3.36, are you there? everlasting life. Brother Dodd,
what if I'm not elect? He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. But what if I'm not predestinated? He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. But what if I don't feel my sin
enough? He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. But what if there's so much corruption
in me? He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Believe on the Son of God and
everlasting life is yours. The foundation of faith is this
book, God's Word. The only object of faith is Christ
himself. The warrant of faith is God's
command. God commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. His commandment is that you believe
on his son. And if God commands you to, I
reckon it's all right for you to do so. If God commands you to, I reckon
it's all right for you to do so. Number seven, look at Revelation
20. I don't know when you will die
and meet God in judgment, but I know you're going to die at
God's appointed time. And when you do, you're going to meet
God in judgment. It is appointed unto men once to die. And after
this, the judgment. At God's appointed time, you're
gonna die. No doctor's gonna prevent it,
not for a second. At God's appointed time, you're
gonna die. Revelation 20, verse 11. I saw
a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no
place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it. And death and hell gave up the
dead to live up the dead which were in them. And they were judged
every man according to their works. and death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. You mean preacher God's going
to judge everybody according to their works? Exactly. That's
what he said. Well, we believe in salvation
by grace. God's still going to judge everybody exactly according
to their works. And if God finds any sin in you,
any failure in you, any iniquity in you, any transgression in
you, you're going to hell. Well, how's there any hope for
anybody? Roland Hill expressed it well, telling of a dream he
had one night. He said, I dreamed that the end
of time had come. And all nations were gathered
before the great white throne judgment. And the Lord Jesus
sat on the throne, the judge of all. And he called one name
after another. And the dead were judged according
to their works, one after the other, one after the other. And
after a while, I heard Roland Hill! And I trembled. I trembled. I heard the voice
again, Roland Hill! And I trembled. Again, the voice
rang like thunder. Roll and heal! And just as I
was about to stand, I saw another stand. The Son of Man. The Son of God. And He said,
Here I am. Jesus Christ obeyed God for me. and I shall be judged of God
according to his works, who did no sin and knew no sin, who when
he was made sin put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
and I stand before God in him. Number eight, I don't know whether
your name is written in the book of the Lamb's book of life or
not, but I do know that whosoever was not found written in the
book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire. Verse 15, we
just read it. Whosoever was not found in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The book of life of the Lamb
was written before the world was. It's the book of divine
predestination. It is the book of divine election.
Yes, all whose names are written in the book of life, all of them,
shall at last stand with Christ in heavenly glory, saved by God's
free grace." Every one of them. Every one of them. Well, how
do you know whose names are written in the book? By one thing. By one thing. Faith in Christ. If you believe on the Son of
God, if you walk out those doors this morning, Trust in Christ
It's because before the world was God inscribed your name in
the book. He wrote the register of heaven
among his elect One last thing I don't know when Christ is coming But I know he's coming and at
the appointed time he shall appear in his glory and every tongue
will confess that that Christ is Lord. Every knee will bow
before His sovereign throne. Oh, may God give you grace now
to confess Him as Lord, to bow before His throne and go home
rejoicing in God's free salvation. The goodness of God leadeth thee
to repentance. Don't despise it. Amen.