In the eighth chapter of Isaiah's
gospel, the prophet of God gives us God's instructions to him. He gives every preacher the instructions
God gave him as his prophet. Now standing in this pulpit to
speak to you in the name of God as God's ambassador, It is my
responsibility to declare to you the Word of God without addition,
without subtraction, without adornment, with simplicity and
plainness that no one can mistake. With simplicity and plainness
that cannot be misunderstood. I can't make you believe the
gospel. That doesn't lie within the realm
of my power. But it is my responsibility as
a preacher to make you understand what I say. And I promise you,
when you leave here tonight, you will have understood every
word I have to declare to you. My subject is bind up the testimony. Bind up the testimony. Isaiah
chapter 8 and verse 16. God says to his prophets, bind
up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. I'm here to bind up the testimony
of God, the triune Jehovah to his people as it is given in
this book that you hold in your hands. The testimony of God is
the word of God. The word he had given specifically
to Isaiah concerning his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, right
here in this passage of scripture. Turn back to chapter seven for
a moment. Verse 14, therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name God with us. The Lord's
going to give you a sign. This thing God shows, a virgin
is going to conceive and she'll bring forth a son. She will give
us a son who is the son of God given through the womb of a virgin. So that's not possible. We're
not talking about men, we're talking about God. And he who
promised Eve and Adam in the garden that he would send his
son, the seed of woman, here continues that same prophecy
and said there's one coming who is the woman's seed. He's coming
not with the aid of a man, but God the son in human flesh and
he will crush the serpent's head. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us. God in our nature, God in our
flesh. Now hear this and hear it well.
Jesus is God. The man, Christ Jesus, who lived
in Nazareth and died at Calvary is himself God. God in the flesh. In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Look at chapter eight,
verse 14. Hear what the prophet hears again
concerning this one who is the son of God, born through the
womb of a virgin. And he shall be for a sanctuary,
a hiding place. The only hiding place there is
for your soul is Jesus Christ crucified, risen, exalted, the
Christ of God who sits on the throne of glory. There's no other
hiding place. But this one who is set by God
to be a hiding place for his elect. shall be to all the reprobate,
to all who believe not, to all to whom God does not give his
grace, to all who stop their ears to the word of God and say,
I will not hear him. The very hiding place of our
souls is to other folks a stone of stumbling. A stone of stumbling. And a rock of offense to both
houses of Israel for a gin and a snare You read this book, sometimes
folks ask me, why did God put things that way? This book is
full of gins and snares by which God trips up the reprobate who
will not believe his word. It's full of them. Christ Jesus
crucified, the gospel we preach, is a gin and a snare to those
who will not trust God's Son. A gin and snare to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble
and fall and be broken and snared and be taken. The testimony of
God, the revelation of God in this book, is all about His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word, the Living Word, of
whom all the written Word speaks. Jesus Christ crucified is the
message of the Word of God. The testimony of God is the Gospel
of God. Turn over to 2 Timothy chapter
2 for a moment. Chapter 1, rather. 2 Timothy
chapter 1. Here is Paul's last epistle, his very last written
word of inspiration. He's writing to his son in the
faith, Timothy. It would be much the same as
if I were fully aware that I'm about to leave this world, and
I address your pastor, my son in the faith, my son in the ministry,
and I'm going to give him my last word of counsel for the
rest of your life. The only difference is this is
given by divine inspiration. Now listen to how Paul speaks
this last word. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 8. He says, Timothy, be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Willingly give yourself to the
gospel Addict yourself to the cause of Christ and willingly
take on yourself the afflictions of the gospel That gospel which
is according to the power of God now, what's this verse 9?
who hath saved us past tense, all at one time. Before the world
began, he saved us. Sanctified, called, justified,
glorified in Jesus Christ the Lord, accepted in the beloved. Who hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling. Not according to our works. Our
works have absolutely nothing to do with this salvation, with
this calling, with this everlasting life that's ours in Christ. Not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
get it now, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. So that he's declaring the gospel
is a declaration of grace. Grace that was given to a people
in Jesus Christ before the world began. Not grace that was held
in reserve for us. Not grace that was promised to
us. Grace Given to us in a surety Accepted of God as the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world given to us in Christ Jesus That
which was given to us before we had done any good or bad Before
we ever came into this world before God ever created the heavens
or the earth It was given to us in Christ Jesus It can never
be taken away or in any way damaged by us in time It was given to
us in eternity You got that we were accepted in the beloved
and blessed in him with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
read on verse 10 but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
God, by the preaching of the gospel, gives dead sinners life
and faith in Jesus Christ, and when he does, he brings to light
what God did for them before the world began. The preaching
of the gospel is not giving out good advice. The preaching of
the gospel is giving out good news. The preaching of the gospel
is not telling folks what you must do. It's telling you what
God has done. There's all the difference in
the world. This gospel, this life, this salvation is brought
to light through the gospel. Whereunto I am appointed a preacher,
and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For which cause? For the cause of the gospel.
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed. The gospel then is that which
is the testimony of God. And it is the preacher's responsibility
to bind up the testimony. To bind up the testimony as something
indescribably valuable. Bind it up so that no particle
is lost, so that nothing is neglected or lost. By diligent study and
prayer and preparation, every preacher is responsible to bind
up in his own heart and mind this priceless treasure. I have
said to your pastor and to the other preachers in our congregation
and to other preachers I have any influence over all over the
world for all these years, Faithfully addict yourself to the study
of God's Word. Faithfully addict yourself to
the labor of the gospel. Let nothing interfere with it.
Bind up the priceless treasure so that nothing is lost. And
then the preacher must, by his preaching, seal the law among
my disciples. You see that back in Isaiah 8.16? Bind up the testimony and seal
the law among my disciples. Now the word law, generally in
scripture, most of the time in scripture, does not refer to
the Ten Commandments, though it does occasionally. It does
not most of the time refer to the ceremonial law, though it
does occasionally. In this place, as is the bulk
of the time in scripture, both Old Testament and New, the word
law refers to the doctrine of Christ. It is the responsibility
of every gospel preacher to establish God's saint in the doctrine of
Christ. Doctrine, singular, not plural. Singular, not plural. The doctrine
of God is one. The doctrine of Christ is one. The doctrine of the gospel is
one. The doctrine of this book is
one. I'll give you Something you can
bear in mind when you're reading the book. Every time you read
the word doctrine in this book, every single time, where it refers
to the gospel of Christ and the truth of God, it's singular.
Every time. Every time it's used in the plural,
it refers to false prophets and false doctrine. Every time. The
gospel of God is one. The doctrine of God is one we
tend to say, and I often say, we talk about the doctrines of
grace. No, it's the doctrine of grace. Missed one part, you
missed it all. It's the doctrine of God. And
we're to bind up the word and seal the testimony, the law of
God, the doctrine of God among his disciples so that all God's
people are brought into the unity of the faith. Turn back to Ephesians
chapter four, Ephesians four. Here the Apostle Paul describes
for us the ascension gifts of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm
68 we have the passage for which Paul is here quoted. In Ephesians
4 verse 11, when Christ arose from the dead, He gave some apostles
and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors, teachers, pastors
and teachers, pastors, teachers. The pastor's responsibility is
to teach God's people the whole word of God. for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ. That means that what goes on
here every time you meet together to worship God and God's messenger
brings you his word is not some optional thing that you can get
along with or get along without. God has given in his church a
standing ministry for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, for the building up of God's saints,
for the edifying of God's saints in the faith of Jesus Christ,
in the doctrine of the gospel. And apart from the public ministry
of the word, I use my words deliberately, apart from the public ministry
of the word, apart from the faithful preaching of the gospel, there
is no edifying for your soul. There is no building up of God's
saints. Yes, we study the word on our
own. By all means you ought to, you
should, you must, but you will not find your soul edified and
built up in the faith. If you neglect the ministry God's
given you, this is the ascension gift of our Redeemer. Read on.
Till we all come in the unity of the faith. come into this
doctrine, the faith, the unity of the faith, and the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure, the stature,
the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie
in wait to deceive. It's been my privilege to preach
the gospel of God's free grace for 47 years. Started preaching
when I was 17 years old. I've been pastoring since I was
21 years old. Now I'll tell you what I have
observed. Tell you what I've observed.
I run across a lot of people. I preach somewhere almost every
week, several times a week. Somewhere across this country
or across the water somewhere. And I run into a lot of people
who come and have all kinds of questions. Questions about all
kinds of stuff. I'm sure Mark, you haven't said
anything, but folks, all kinds of questions. You know what I've
never done? I've never had someone who regularly sat under the faithful
preaching of the gospel who was disturbed by all the questions
people raised. I've never had that happen. The only ones are
folks who think they can get along on their own, and they
don't need a pastor, they don't need a preacher, they don't need a teacher. I
know God, I can do this on my own. Somebody said, a fellow's
got himself for a lawyer, has got a fool for a lawyer. A fellow's
got himself for a pastor, has gone and got a fool for a pastor.
God has established man with gifts of the ministry for the
edifying of the body of Christ, so that you're not tossed to
and fro with every wind of doctrine. Look at 2 Timothy, again, chapter
4. Again, remember we're talking now about Paul's very last epistle. He says in verse one, I charge
thee, therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom,
preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their
own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching
ears, teachers who will tell them what they want to hear.
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, singular,
and shall be turned unto fables. All right? Now, standing before
eternity-bound sinners as I do now, speaking in God's name,
it is my responsibility, and I don't take the responsibility
lightly. It is my responsibility to deliver
to you the Word of God. Not my opinion about the Word
of God, not conjecture, not theory. Your pastor and others here will
tell you, you call me up and say, Brother John, what does
this mean? And if I don't know what it means, I won't give you
an answer. I won't say, well, this is what I think it means.
If I don't know what it means, I don't guess about what it means.
I'm not here to give you my opinion. I'm here to give you the Word
of God, exactly what God plainly teaches in His Word. When I do,
when I do, I claim for myself the right to be heard. I don't
preach without preparation. I don't give out leftover rehashed
sermons. I don't simply repeat that which
I've heard someone else say or something I've copied out of
a book. When I come to the pulpit, I come prepared, as best I can
prepare. What I can give to you in 45,
50 minutes is the result of hours, hours and hours of labor and
study, prayer and concern for your soul. That gives me the
right to be heard. That gives me the right to be
heard. I have a reputation, folks. In Danville, I don't have folks
disturb services. It's not going to happen but
once. It's just not going to happen. Because I'm going to
be heard. I'm going to be heard. But that doesn't give me the
right to be believed, obeyed, and followed. I don't claim for
myself the right to blind loyalty and allegiance. No man, no matter
how sincere he may appear to be, myself included, is to be
given unqualified allegiance. John said, try the spirits. Try
the spirits, whether they be of God. You take the book. You've got one in your hand.
Well, again, you've got a Bible in your hand, don't you, Mike?
Take the book and try everything I say about what's written right
here. Try the spirits, whether they be of God. Now, this is
what I'm saying to you. If what I preach to you this
hour is exactly what this book teaches, hear it and believe
it. Hear it and believe it. Hear
it and obey it, or go to hell. It's that serious. If it is not
according to this book, don't ever listen to this preacher
again. That's how serious it is. If it's according to this book,
hear it and believe it. If it is not according to this
book, don't ever listen to me again because I am not speaking
for God. So try the Word. See what God
teaches in His Word. It's your responsibility to try
that which I say by the word of God to the law and to the
testimony Isaiah verse 8 verse 20 to the law and to the testimony
to the doctrine of Christ the revealed testimony of God given
in the book of Holy Scripture to the law and to the testimony
if they speak not according to this word It is because they
haven't learned enough yet. Anybody have a Bible that reads
like that? Whatever translation you choose
to use. To the law and the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, it's because they're sincere but they need to learn
some things. to the law and to the testimony. If they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them. That's what the book says. All
right, with that in mind, I want to speak to you some things by
which to bind up the testimony and seal the law. To bind the
precious treasure, the testimony of God, so that nothing is lost. To seal the law, the doctrine
of Christ, to you, his disciples, and urge you, who are yet without
our Redeemer, without faith in Christ, to believe on the Son
of God. The gospel I'll preach to you
tonight in these declarations plainly given in the word, reveal
that upon which you can rest your soul. That that will give you peace.
That that will sustain your soul in the midst of every trial That
that will uphold you in the midst of every difficulty that that
you can fall back on and rest You remember how the prophet
describes false religion and the refuge of lies men makes
it he said they have a bed But it's too short. You can't stretch
yourself on it They have a covering, but it's too narrow, you can't
wrap yourself in it. I'm a good-sized fella, and I
often sleep in beds that are too small for me, and covers
too narrow for me. You ever try to sleep and the
wind blowin' up your back? You just try to cover up, and
then it blows up the other side. There's just no comfort. You're
trying to stretch out on your bed and your feet hang off. You've
never had that problem, have you, Louis? Your feet hang off
the bed, and you're just uncomfortable. That's what religion is for most
folks. Gives you a little ease, but you can't rest. Gives you
a little covering, but you can't wrap yourself in it. I promise
you, you believe on the son of God as he's revealed himself
in this book, Todd, you can rest, and you will. You'll wrap yourself
in this and find comfort for your soul. Now I've got just
the message by which to bind up the testimony and seal the
doctrine to you. I'm going to give you nine statements,
nine stubborn statements, nine statements taken directly from
this book. And we're going to look at the
scriptures and I want you to see they're taken directly from this book.
With regard to these nine things, there's no middle ground. No room for compromise, no room
for juggling things around, no middle ground. You'll either
believe them or reject them. You'll either bow to them or
rebel against them. You'll either rest in them or
they'll disturb you. Here they are, number one. Number
one, look in Psalm 138. Psalm 138, verse two. Every now and then, well, I guess
that'd be about every day or so, I run across something in
this book that's just shockingly amazing to me. Just shockingly
amazing. I just, I sit dumbfounded and
look at it. Here's a text I've been looking
at for years and I don't have any idea yet the fullness of
its meaning. Psalm 138 verse two. This is
what the book says. I will worship toward thy holy
temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy
truth. Watch this now. For thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name. Wow. And you take it and lay it on
your coffee table from week to week and never open it? Thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name. Here's the first statement. Either this book right here,
this book right here, either this is in its entirety as it
claims to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God or it's
a lie. There's no in-between ground.
at no in-between grant. Either this book is as it claims
to be the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God or it is
a lie. Either it's the Word of God or
it's useless. Either it's the Word of God or
it's a delusion by which multitudes who believe it's God's Word are
forever damned. Either it's the Word of God or
it's positively harmful to your souls. Either this is God's Word
or it's not. There's no in-between grab. The
Scripture puts it this way. Holy men of old spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. So that you read the scriptures,
you read the words of the prophets and the apostles, those men who
wrote the Old Testament and New Testament letters, those men
who wrote the four gospel narratives, and God the Holy Spirit took
human instruments Used their personality used their experiences
Employed all the background of their lives their education or
their learning by experience. He employed it all but every
word Was dictated by God the Holy Spirit so that every word
in this book is God's Word every word infallible in error it claims
as such total sway over our lives total sway my opinion about anything
that matters my opinion about anything that matters is not
to be determined by my educational background By my learning, by
my environment, by the age in which I live, by the people around
whom I live or among whom I live. It's not to be determined by
my sympathies with my family or my friends. My opinion about
everything that matters must be determined by what's written
right here. What's written right here. Nobody else's opinion matters. I don't even give it consideration. I don't stand to argue with folks,
but it just doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. You young
people go to school, and you go off to college, and the determined,
resolute purpose of 99% of the academic college professors is
to get you to laugh at God's Word. They laugh at God. Folks believe in creation. Why? You know better than that. You
know better than that. I don't expect them to believe
any better. You see, by faith we understand that the world
is refrained by the word of God. And you got one of two choices.
You can believe you and the myths that you come up with and others
do, or believe what God says. We bow to the word of God. This
book, being God's word, is our only rule. Our only rule, our
faith and practice. That is to say, as Christians,
as believers, as many women who believe God as a local church.
We practice that which is written in the Word of God. That, all
that, and nothing but that. We believe that which is written
in the Word of God. That, all of that, and nothing
but that. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter
about what somebody believed yesterday or what somebody believes
tomorrow. That doesn't matter. What does the Book of God say?
Well, but Brother Don, we need our creeds and confessions. Well,
y'all can have that if you want it. Not me. Not me. And I'll
tell you why. I'll tell you why. If you sit
down and write a confession of faith and sign your name to it,
and something comes up to challenge the confession or the Word of
God, you will bend the Word of God to your confession. You'll
never bend your confession to the Word of God. I've seen it
happen more times than I can talk about. I recall one time,
Danny Blair was an assistant pastor of a church close to us,
and they were getting ready to kick him out. And he asked me
to come. I wasn't part of the church and didn't have any interest
in it. He didn't want me to be there for him. So I went over there
and sat down. When they're getting ready to
get rid of a preacher, man, they pull folks out of the cemetery
and bring them to church. And they had a meeting. And they
were talking about what daddy was preaching, the gospel of
God's grace. And one of the deacons got up right behind me, state
trooper, big fella. And he had a piece of paper,
and he shook it. And he went down there. He says, this is
what this church believes. It doesn't matter what that book
says. No, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it's because there's no light in them. This is our
only rule of faith and practice. We baptize folks the way we do,
because that's the only way you baptize folks. We observe the
Lord's table the way we do, because that's the only way you can observe
the Lord's table. We believe what we do, because that's the
only way you can believe this book. And preach what we do, because
that's the only way you can preach this book. All right, here's the second
thing. Turn to Psalm 135. 135 either God Almighty is Absolutely
suffering Let that word sink in absolutely suffering In total
control of all things All the time, good and bad, in heaven,
earth, and hell, either God Almighty is absolutely sovereign, in total
control of all things, all the time, or He is not God. There's
no in-between ground. Atheism makes more sense than
Arminianism. I'm telling the truth. Folks,
I recall years ago, I was making plans to go down to Benesco down
to South America to preach. And meeting up, going at my own
expense. I'm glad to go, as I normally do. And a pastor called me up
from down in Brazil. And he said, are there any special
things you need? I said, well, just put me somewhere
where I'll be comfortable and I'm studying, relax and smoke
my pipe. I don't want to offend anybody. And I could tell he
was a bit shocked. He wrote me back, he said, well
that would offend some of our Arminian brethren. And I said, I don't
have any Arminian brethren. And I wasn't joking. I wasn't
joking. You believe in a God who can't
save you, you don't believe God? You believe in a God who tries
to do something, you don't believe God? You believe in God who wants
to do stuff he doesn't do? You don't believe God? You just got
an idol. You may as well worship a stump. You may as well worship
yourself. In fact, if you read 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2, that's exactly what God says it is. It's called will
worship. It's called the worship of man
instead of God. Either God is absolutely sovereign,
in total control of all things, all the time, everywhere, or
He is not God. Psalm 135, verse 5. I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods. Now watch this. Whatsoever
the Lord please, That did he in heaven and in
earth, in the seas, and in all deep places. In heaven, earth,
and hell, God always has his way with everybody all the time. With everybody all the time.
One of the greatest joys and comforts in my soul is the realization
that When God gets done with this thing, when God gets done
with this thing, Satan himself and all his deeds, including
the sin and fall of our father Adam, purposed according to God
in eternal infinite wisdom, shall at last redound to the glory
of God and there'll be no reason to regret anything. Read the book of God! No sorrow,
no tears, no regrets of any kind! Because God has done all things
well. Everywhere, all the time, with
everybody. People these days have the idea
somehow that Satan and God are rivals. Satan's God's devil. He's God's
devil. He's God's black dog. He's God's
roaring lion. And he does nothing except God
Almighty has ordered to be done. And ordered to be done for the
good of his people and the glory of his name. How do you explain
that? Explain it. How are you going
to explain God? How are you going to explain God? Either that or
he's not God. Either God rules the devil or
the devil rules God. You can't have both. Either God
rules time or time rules God. Either God rules events or events
rule God. This is our God. He's done whatsoever
he pleased, past, present, and future, in heaven, earth, sea,
and in all deep places. I mean by that, there's nothing
in heaven, earth, or hell that breathes or wiggles but by God's
decree. Nothing. We worship God who's
God. The God I trust, you can trust. You can trust him. You see, people
who know me, I hope, trust me. You folks know me a long time.
You trust me. Trust me to keep my word. Trust
me to do what I say I'll do. Trust me not to do things I say
I won't do. My daughter, trust me. My grandchildren, trust me.
My son-in-law, my wife, trust me. But I can make a promise
to you. In all sincerity, make the promise. But don't lean on it too heavy. Because my breath is in my nostrils.
And I don't control anything. I can't control my thoughts,
much less what goes on outside me. I can't control my own emotions,
much less what goes on outside me. I don't control anything.
I may promise you I'm going to be somewhere tomorrow and get
on the road and have an accident. I can't get there. I don't have
any control over anything. God Almighty can be trusted because
God controls everything. Everything. Nothing is beyond
the reach of our Father's hand. Nothing beyond the control of
His pleasure and His will. The one true and living God,
He who is God alone, is an absolute sovereign. In predestination,
God's sovereign. In creation, God's sovereign. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. In providence,
God's sovereign. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will, according to his own good pleasure and
his own good purpose. And in salvation, God's sovereign.
All right, turn back to Psalm 14. Here's the third statement.
Psalm 14. Either man is totally depraved,
utterly dead in trespasses and in sins, or there's nothing wrong
with him and he needs no Savior. No in-between ground. No in-between
ground. There's no such thing as partial
depravity or partial goodness before God. No such thing as
partial holiness and partial sinfulness. Either you are totally
sinful and depraved or totally righteous and good. There's no
middle ground. This book declares that man,
all men by nature, are dead in trespasses and in sins. Now when
you read that word dead, You hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and in sins. I know preachers like to impress
you with their knowledge of Greek, their knowledge of Hebrew. You
know what that word dead means in the Greek? You got any idea
what it means? It means dead. Dead. Well, how dead is man? Isn't that a dumb question? Dead's
dead. Dead's dead. without ability,
without feeling, without sense, without notion, without motion,
dead. You talk to a dead corpse and
make all promises you want to, it won't move him. Make all the
threats you want to, it won't move him. Pour scalding water
on him, it won't hurt him, he's dead. Pour ice water on him,
he won't get cold, he's dead. He's dead. He's dead. So it is
with all who are without Christ by nature dead, spiritually dead. So that you who are without Christ
have no ability to change your nature. You have no knowledge,
no understanding. Everything you think about righteousness,
spirituality, grace, salvation, God, every thought you have is
wrong. Completely wrong. No point in
arguing with a dead man. He can't see. He can't hear. He can't understand. We simply
declare the gospel by which God gives life. And if God gives
you life, you'll see. Until God gives you life, you
won't. When you hear the truth, if the truth is in you, you know
the truth. If the truth's not in you, if
Christ is not in you, you'll not know it. Man's dead, and
it all happened at one time. Look here in Psalm 14, verse
2. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They are all gone aside, all
at one time. They're all together become filthy. There is none good, no, not one. Wherefore, as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. People say, well, I don't like
that. I can't be held responsible for what Adam did. I'm so thankful
that's the way God arranged it. I really am. I'm so glad we fell
in Adam. I read in this book of some angels
who fell, and they fell one by one, led astray by Satan's influence,
one third of the heavenly host, and for them there is no hope
of mercy. They're reserved in chains of
darkness under the judgment of the last day. That's what the
book says. But we fell in a substitute. We fell in a representative man,
our father Adam. That means there's hope. Maybe
there's another substitute, another representative man. In fact,
the book of God says that Adam was a type of this one who was
to come. He was the similitude, the figure,
the image of him who was to come, the last Adam. Jesus Christ,
God's darling son. What is it you did personally
to get yourself in the mess you're in? Nothing. You came forth in
your mother's womb speaking lies. You're born that way. You're
born that way. So it is with God's salvation
and the new creation and life in Christ Jesus. Sinners do nothing
to bring themselves to life. God the Son steps in by his grace
and gives life to the dead. And now they live through this
representative man because of his obedience and his doing and
his dying. As we sinned in Adam, and we
really did, and died in Adam, and we really did. So all God's
elect obeyed God in His Son. We really did. Really did. As we suffered all the fury of
God's wrath in His Son, we really did. So that justice could demand
no more, and we arose in His Son, quickened with His Son,
and sat down with His Son in glory, all in a substitute. That's God's free grace. All
right, number four. Either God chose some of Adam's
race to salvation and eternal life in Christ before the world
began, as this book universally says he did, or there's no possibility
of salvation for anyone. Turn to Romans, the ninth chapter.
Romans, the ninth chapter. I have a call to do an investigation,
but I'll tell you, I'll make you a promise. I'll make you
a promise. I generally keep a hundred dollar
bill tucked away, folded up in the back side of my wallet just
in case I get driving too fast. And I've got one tucked away
in the back side of my wallet. I'll make you a promise. You
get on the phone tomorrow morning and call every preacher in this
county you can get hold of and find one preaching from Romans
chapter 9. You've got the hundred dollars. Find one. They don't dare. They don't dare. They just don't
dare even read it, let alone preach from it. But look at what
it says. Romans 9 verse 13. Now this is what I'm saying.
Salvation is God's prerogative, not man's. Salvation is God's
gift, not man's choice. Salvation is by God's will, not
your will. It's by God's determination,
not your choice. If God doesn't choose to save
and choose whom he will, no one will ever be saved. But Brother
Don, the way you're talking, it sounds like it's all up to
God. I told you you'd understand what I'm saying. Romans chapter
nine, verse 13. As it is written, God says, not
Don, not John Gill, not John Calvin, God says, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Oh, brother Don, I don't understand
that. What part don't you understand? Just exactly what part don't
you understand? You understand what love is? What hate is? That's what he said. Jacob, have
I loved? Esau, have I hated? Now watch
what he says. What shall we say then? Well,
that's not right. How many times have you heard
somebody say that? That's just not right. Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid, for he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
People say, well, salvation by my will. God says it's not. Take
your choice. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, I wonder what Pharaoh's got to
do with this. You ever hear Pharaoh? Let me put it up anybody ever
not hear Pharaoh anybody not hear Pharaoh Reckon why God raised
that man up? Reckon why God raised up the
nation of Egypt in his day the most powerful nation in the world
and Put that infidel on the throne in Egypt who said who is God
that I shall obey him Reckon why God did that watch what he
says The scripture says to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. God says, Pharaoh,
oh boy, this is the reason I put you on that throne. This is the
reason I gave you all that power. This is the reason I made you
rule over the greatest, most powerful nation in the world. This is
the reason I set you up and made you to hold my people in captivity
for 400 years so that everybody in the world will know who God
is and that you're nothing. how that God brought Israel out
of Egypt by ransom and by power and drowned you in the fury of
his wrath. And everybody knows it. Therefore,
read what it says now. Therefore, therefore, he hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Now you listen to this preacher.
If you never hear another preacher again, you listen to this preacher. If you're God's, he's gonna get
you. He's going to get you. And I'm
prepared to wait. No tricks, no trickery, no deceit. If you're God's, he's going to
get you. You're not going to get out of his hand. He put a hedge around
you, and you're not going to escape. And if he hadn't chosen
you, there's no hope for your soul. It's just that plan. God has
mercy. Only we will have mercy. Number
five, Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Either the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is altogether and alone the effectual Redeemer
and Savior of His people, or He's a fraud and a failure. Again,
there's no middle ground. Either Christ did what He came
here to do, what He said He came to do, what He purposed to do,
or He's a failure. Years ago, shortly after I came
from Danville, there was a pastor, a local pastor who came by and
wanted to sell me some insurance. And I found out I wasn't interested
in insurance, so he said, very piously, he didn't believe it
for a minute, he said, Brother Fortner, if you don't mind telling
me, what's the difference between what your church believes and
what our church believes? Between what you believe and
preach and what I believe and preach? And I said, Doug, if
you've got a little while, I'd be glad to tell you. He said,
I sure do. I said, well, sit down. And I
proceeded to preach to him for a good long while that afternoon.
And I concluded by saying this. I said, you correct me if I'm
mistaken. You correct me if I'm mistaken. If I understand what
you believe and preach, this is it. That when Jesus Christ
died at Calvary, He did not actually justify anyone, but made it possible
for all men to be justified. He did not actually put away
anyone's sins, but made it possible for all men's sins to be put
away. He did not actually redeem anyone, but he made it possible
for all men to be redeemed. And man, by his faith, gives
efficacy to the blood of Christ for his salvation. Is that correct?
He says, yes. I said, that's damning heresy.
That's no God, and you don't know him. That's damning heresy. That's no God. That's no Savior.
The book of God says concerning his son, he shall not fail. That's what the book said. Look here at Isaiah 53, verse
10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his sin. He'll see them justified,
sanctified, and glorified. He shall prolong his days. He's
gonna rise from the dead, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Oh, what a word. You listen to
me now. This is the crucial issue of
the gospel. This is the crucial issue of
the gospel. People run everywhere trying to make the gospel palatable
unto regenerate men. People these days are trying
their best to figure out some way to say, well, there's a sense
in which Jesus died for everybody. If there's a sense in which God
loves everybody, a sense in which God's trying to save everybody,
a sense in which Jesus died for everybody, there's a sense in
which God's love is meaningless, God's efforts are meaningless,
and Christ's blood is meaningless. That is not what this book teaches.
The Lord Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep and the goats. What does the
book say? Giveth his life for the sheep.
And there were some goats standing around. And what the goats said? We don't like that. He said,
I didn't expect you to. I wasn't talking to you. You're
not of my sheep. You believe not because you're not my sheep.
John chapter 10, verse 31. You believe not because you're
not my sheep. Oh no, when Christ died, the book says he shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. I've
known a good many women who carried a baby a long time, some to full
term, and the baby is born still. And there's no satisfaction to
the travail. They never hear that baby cry.
They never nurse that baby at their breast. They never hold
that baby warmly cuddled in their arms because the baby is born
without life. There's no satisfaction to the
woman's travail. Will you listen to me now? The
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. Every sinner for whom the Son
of God was made sin shall live forever with God in heaven without
sin That's what redemptions all about number six Either we are
regenerated and called to life and faith in Christ by the irresistible
effectual power and grace of God the Holy Spirit Are there's
no such thing as salvage? Look at some John 6 verse 63
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach
unto thee. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Look at this, John 6, 63. It
is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. It's the spirit that gives life.
Mom and daddy can't do it. The preacher can't do it. The
soul winner can't do it. You can't do it. It's the spirit
that gives life. Only God, the Holy Spirit. You're
in God's hands. And he gives life to the dead.
He passes by and sees an infant aborted and rotting in his flesh,
polluted in his blood. And he spreads his skirt over
at the appointed time of love and says, leave. And the sinner
leaves. He comes to a valley of dry bones,
and the Spirit of God blows over the valley, and He raises up
an army, even as God raises up His elect among the sons of Israel
all through the world at the appointed time of mercy. The
Lord Jesus comes to a place, and He looks up in a tree, and
there's a fellow up there named Zacchaeus. And He says, Zacchaeus, come
down, for today I must abide at thy house. And Zacchaeus comes
skiddling down the tree. He comes to a tomb. And it says,
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead comes forth. So it is with the salvation of
every chosen redeemed sinner. At God's appointed time, God
sends his spirit by his word and calls the dead to life. And
when he calls, sinners live. You find yourself incapable of not trusting God's
Son. You find yourself incapable of
not believing on the Son of God. Now you say, I'm not going to
bow to Christ. I'm not going to do that. I'm
not going to give up my life to the rule of somebody. I'm
not going to bow to the Lord. He's not going to control me.
And then suddenly, you find yourself incapable of not surrendering. Surrender is the most willing
thing in the world. You cry because you can't surrender more perfectly.
You find yourself incapable of not believing. You see, faith
in Christ is God's gift. And when God gives it, sinners
believe. It's the spirit that quickens.
The flesh profiteth nothing. Now look at Romans chapter 6,
verse 14. Here's the seventh statement. Either God's people are entirely
free from the law, as the scriptures everywhere declare us to be,
or we're yet under the bondage of the law and entirely obligated
to keep it perfectly. There's no such thing as being
partially under the law and partially free from it, not in biblical
terms. The only way sinners can satisfy,
fulfill, and establish the law of God is by faith in Christ. Romans chapter three, verse 31. I have a lot of friends all over
the world who say we're Sabbath keepers. I say you're not telling
the truth. You're not telling the truth. You don't do it. I don't care who you are, you
don't do it. You don't do it. You just keep
what you want to the Sabbath. And you keep it the way you want
to. If you were a Sabbath keeper, you'd do it on Saturday. And
your wife wouldn't cook for you. And you wouldn't drive 30 miles
to go to church. And you wouldn't go out on Sunday to eat, or Saturday
to eat. And you wouldn't pick up any sticks on the Sabbath
day. And if your son did it, you'd kill him. Read the law. Read the law! Oh, but now, that doesn't mean
we don't keep the law. God didn't say do the best you
can. He said do it. He didn't say walk before men, be as good
as you can, he said be holy. He didn't say be perfect as you
can, he said be perfect. And we've kept the law in the mediator,
in the substitute, in Christ who is our Sabbath, and we rest
in him. Now let's see what the book says.
Let's see what the book says. Romans chapter six, if there's
any place in all the word of God, if there's any place in
all this book, Where the Holy Spirit if he's going to talk
to us about living under the law It'd be Romans chapter 6
here. He's talking about life in the
spirit he's talking about living for God beginning with confession
of faith in Christ in baptism and Walking with him in the newness
of life now watch what it says Romans chapter 6 verse 14 Ye
are not under the law but under grace Oh, what does that mean? Well, read the next verse. Verse
15. We are not under the law, but
under grace. Man, that's pretty plain. Romans
chapter 7, verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become D-E-A-D, dead. I told you what that word means,
didn't I? In the Greek, it means D-E-A-D, dead. Dead to the law. Dead to the law. Jeffrey Dahmer,
I believe that was his name, that fella arrested for murdering
all those fellas and eating them, and fellas in prison killed him.
He had things to answer for to the law. And you can cuss him,
and you can fuss at him, and you can read the indictments
against him, and you can read charges against him until the
cows come home. It ain't going to affect him,
he's dead. He's dead. Has no effect on him. He's D-E-A-D,
dead to the law. Paul uses the example. He said
if a woman, while she lives and she's married to another man,
she's called an adulteress. But if her husband's dead, she's
free from the law of her husband. She's free to marry another.
She's free to be married again as soon as her husband dies.
Now, if I should die tonight, if I should die tonight, and
this lovely lady here, was to get married in the morning. She
hadn't given time enough. That'd be all right. It'd be
all right. Now, she's not likely to do it. Where's she going to
find a replacement? But if she chose to do so, she's
totally free to do so, because she is now dead to the law of
her husband, who is D-E-A-D, dead. And Paul says here, we're
dead to the law. Dead to the law by the body of
Christ. The law sentenced Mike Giddens
to death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. And the law found its satisfaction when Christ died in your stead. And the law can never demand
another thing. What is this? Dead to the law
by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another,
even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God. Look at chapter 8, Romans chapter
8. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the
spirit. Now if you read bad commentaries, you can read them and they'll
say there's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus
who, oh boy, they read their Bibles and they pray and they're
devoted Christians, they don't walk after the flesh. No, they
don't eat and drink pork and they don't smoke tobacco and
they don't drink wine. They don't go to the picture
show and they don't watch anything but Andy Griffith on television.
They walk in the spirit. That's not what walking in the
spirit is. To walk in the Spirit is to believe on the Son of God. It is to live by faith in Jesus
Christ the Lord. Paul goes on to say you're not
in the flesh but in the Spirit. Read on. For the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ. In Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death, the law of condemnation,
given asinine. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
One more text in this regard. Romans chapter 10 verse 4. I
can go up. I There's not a place in this
book Not a place in this book in all the New Testament Where
there's anything given in Scripture to indicate that believers are
under the law Christ said he came to fulfill the law. So you
said Christ destroyed the law. No He terminated it He terminated
it I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law and
the prophets. And he fulfilled the law exactly
like he fulfilled the prophets. The prophecies are terminated
in their fulfillment. And the law is terminated in
its fulfillment. Read what it says here. Christ
is the E-N-D. End. The end of the law for righteousness. Whatever kind you want to put
there, to everyone that believe it. Christ is the end of the
law. I wish there was a small child
here asking where the end of the room is. If you get up and walk out yonder
until your nose hits the wall, that's the end of the room. That's
as far as you can go. Christ is the end of the law.
My first trip to England in recent years, first time Shelby and
I had ridden in the British railway system. A friend of ours put
us on a train in Huntington, down in the southern part of
England, and we're going to London to meet some folks in London.
And I said to him, how will I know when I get there? He said, it's
the end of the line. I said, how will I know when
I get there? He said, it's Waterloo Station.
I ought to have caught on, but I didn't. I said, but how will
I know when I get there, when I get to the end of the line?
He said, when the train bumps the wall, that's as far as she'll
go. And we got to Waterloo Station, and the train bumped the wall.
I said, it's time to get off. Time to get off. Come to Christ,
and it's time to get off the legal bandwagon. She's bumped
the wall. Christ is the end. You know what
he said in John's Gospel, chapter 19, verse 30? It is finished. You know what word that is? It's
ended. Same word right here. Very same word. It's ended. It's
ended. All that the law required, Christ
fulfilled. All that the law demanded, Christ
fulfilled. All that the law insisted upon,
Christ fulfilled. And now we are made the righteousness
of God in His Son. So that we are motivated not
by law, but by the love of Christ that constraineth us. I've heard
folks make all kinds of excuses and try to justify this thing
with some sense in which believers are under the law. We don't keep
the law for salvation. We don't keep the law to be holy.
We keep it to show our love for Jesus. Hogwash. Keep it to show
yourself good to other men. That's what you do. And you pretend
to. You pretend to. This dear lady here had been
married to me for 45 years. And up until recent years, I spent
more time away from home than I did at home. I traveled somewhere
to preach all the time. And she didn't go with me, as
you know. We had our daughter at home. She took care of her.
And if I had suggested one day, now, she doesn't weigh but 110
pounds, never has weighed any more than that. And I'm a pretty
good-sized fellow. If I had suggested to her one
day, now, Shelby, honey, I know you love me. But I went to town
and I had this chastity belt made for you. And just to show
your love for me, I'd like for you to put it on. Not to prove
it. I don't need to know that. But
I'd like for you to wear this while I'm gone so that it will
show your love for me. She would have beaten me to death
with it. How dare you? How dare you? This is not the kind of relationship
we have. We have a relationship of love and trust. of love and
trust. God's people do not need motivation
by threat of punishment or promise of reward. They have motivation
enough by looking to the crucified Redeemer. And if looking to Christ
won't motivate you, nothing will. Nothing will. Number eight, look
at Matthew chapter 11. I'll quit in just a minute. Either every sinner who comes
to Christ is saved by Christ, or nobody is. Look at this, Matthew
chapter 11, verse 28. The Savior says, come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me if I'm meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light. The Savior said, Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. I call you now, come to
Christ. Come to Christ. Oh, God give
you grace to come to Christ. Believe on the Son of God. Just
like you are, right now, without moving a muscle, without saying
a word, don't even say a prayer, just come to Christ. Believe
on the Son of God. And the Savior says, Him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Well, Brother Don,
I don't know if I... That's your problem. You try
to look to yourself. Come to Christ. Believe on the
Son of God. Trust the Savior. And it doesn't
matter how you come, get to Him, He won't cast you out. Come to
Christ. Come to Christ. Come humble sinner
in whose breast a thousand thoughts revolve. Come with your guilt
and fear oppressed and make this last resolve. I'll go to Jesus
though my sins like mountains round me close I know his courts
I'll enter in whatever may oppose prostrate I'll bow before his
throne and there my guilt confess I'll tell him I'm a wretch undone
without his sovereign grace. Come to Christ and salvation
is yours. Come to Christ if you can. Are you listening to me? If you
can come to Christ right now it's proof that God chose you,
Christ redeemed you, and God the Holy Spirit's called you.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. What does it mean to come to
Christ, be saved by Him? To be saved by Christ is to be
completely forgiven of all sin, past, present, and future. You can't tell people that. Now,
I know I can't. To come to Christ is to be completely
forgiven of all sin, past, present, and future. So that no matter
what comes up tomorrow, oh, what a God of grace. The
Lord will not charge it to his people. Is that right, Pastor? Exactly
what it says. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is that man. God will
never charge me with sin of any kind, ever! He charged my sin
to his sword. To come to Christ is to be fully,
perfectly justified. To come to Christ is to be holy. To come to Christ is to be utterly,
perfectly forever secure. That's the last thing. Either
every saved sinner shall persevere to the end, being preserved and
kept by God's infallible, immutable grace, or none shall. Paul said,
I'm confident of this very thing. I'm confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perform it. unto the day of Jesus Christ.
Brother Don, you reckon you'll hold on, hold out, persevere? God keep me from presumption? Oh, God keep me from vain presumption. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. Because my perseverance in faith has absolutely nothing to do
with my determination, my resolve, my strength, or anything else. Lester, I hold him because he
holds me and won't let me go. I told you, this is rest. This is rest. Oh, God give you
the blessed rest of faith in Christ. Amen.