Nine Stubborn Statements

Q: What does the Bible say about the authority of Scripture?

The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God, essential for knowing Him. The Scriptures claim to be the very Word of God, as stated in Psalm 138:2, where it says that God has magnified His word above all His name. This means that the entire Bible is not just a collection of spiritual truths, but rather the complete and authoritative revelation from God. Without the Scriptures, we cannot know God, for they are the means by which God reveals Himself to humanity. Any attack on the authority of Scripture ultimately undermines the foundation of faith.

Q: How do we know God is sovereign?

God's sovereignty is affirmed throughout Scripture, asserting His control over all things. Scripture is clear that God is absolutely sovereign over everything. Psalm 135:6 proclaims that whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven and on earth. This uncompromising statement underscores that nothing occurs outside of God's predetermined plan. His sovereignty means He governs all events in the universe, including the actions of men and the rise and fall of nations. Understanding God's sovereignty is crucial for trusting in His ultimate plan and purpose, especially in life's difficulties.

Q: What does total depravity mean in Christian theology?

Total depravity signifies that every aspect of man's being is affected by sin, rendering him unable to achieve goodness. Total depravity is a core doctrine that states all humans are thoroughly corrupted by sin and unable to do anything good that earns God's favor. Psalm 14:2 confirms that the Lord looks down, and there is none who does good. This reality demonstrates that without divine intervention, man cannot seek God or perform acts of righteousness. Recognizing total depravity is essential for understanding the need for a savior, as it highlights that salvation is solely a work of God's grace.

Q: Why is preaching important for Christians?

Preaching is essential for the edification and spiritual growth of believers. The act of preaching holds a vital place in the life of the church as it is the primary means by which God communicates His truths to His people. Ephesians 4 outlines the roles of pastors and teachers as gifts from Christ to His church for the perfecting of the saints. The power of preaching is not just in the eloquence of the speaker but in the proclamation of God’s Word, which edifies, teaches, and compels believers to grow in their faith. Every believer is encouraged to be under the teaching of a faithful preacher who binds up the testimony of Christ for their spiritual nourishment.

Q: How does God's grace work in salvation?

God's grace is the unmerited favor that He bestows on the elect for salvation. Salvation is entirely God's work and is based solely on His grace, not on human effort or merit. Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that we are saved by grace through faith, which is a gift from God, and not of works. This positions grace as central in the process of salvation, highlighting that it is God's prerogative to choose His people. The doctrine of irresistible grace indicates that when God calls His chosen ones, they are drawn to Him and respond in faith. This assures believers that their salvation is secure, for it rests on the covenant faithfulness of God and His purpose, which He accomplishes.

Well, while you're turning to
the eighth chapter of Isaiah, let me tell you how delighted
I am to be back with you. Shelby and I look forward to
our return, and I trust God will be pleased to give me the messages
that are needed, as well as these other men, for your soul's good. And while you're turning to the
eighth chapter of Isaiah, and I'm pouring me a little drink
of water here, this will give you a real good time to please
be sure your cell phones are turned off. That wasn't a joke. Please be
sure they're turned off. I would hate for you to be embarrassed
by a ringing telephone. All right. Chapter of Isaiah. The title of my message this
morning is Nine Stubborn Statements. here in this eighth chapter of
Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah, in verses 11 through 16, gives to
every prophet and preacher, every prophet and preacher, in every
age, in every generation, and in every place. He gives to every
prophet and preacher the instructions that God gave him as his prophet. Standing here as I do, speaking
to you as God's ambassador in the name of God. It is my responsibility
to declare to you the word of God just as it is written. Please take the baby out. Let's
not go through this. Just as it is written. Without addition, without subtraction, I'm sorry, I'll just wait. This is just too important to
be disturbed by babies crying. It is my responsibility to declare
to you the word of God without addition, subtraction, or adornment
of any kind. With simplicity, And I trust
in the power of God's spirit with such plainness of speech
that I cannot be misunderstood. In verse 16, we're told, bind
up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples. The testimony is what you have
in your hands, the word of God, the very word of God. It is the
written word of God that he has given to his prophet, to his
people. Distinctly in this passage, it
refers to that which God had just given to his prophet Isaiah
with regard to the coming, the incarnation, and the accomplishments
of Christ our Redeemer. The testimony of God is the gospel
of God revealed in the written word of God. You have in your
hands the testimony of God, the very word of God Almighty, God
giving it to you in your language so that you can hear it, read
it, and understand it. It is the gospel revealed in
the word, the gospel of God who has saved us and called us with
an holy calling not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, and is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath brought light and immortality
to light by the gospel." The preacher. is responsible then
to bind up the testimony as something indescribably precious and valuable,
taking great care that nothing be lost. I know nothing about
the work of a jeweler, but I have on occasion seen them on television. to have some diamonds and they're
going to show the diamonds having a small little bag and they'll
pour them out on a piece of black velvet and just sparkle in the
light. And when they start to gather
them up, they gather them up and put them back in the bag
and seal it tight so that nothing's lost. It's the preacher's responsibility
to bind up the jewels of divine revelation as one body of truth
and declared it to God's people, sealing it to the Lord's disciples. He must, by his preaching, seal
the word among my disciples, God says. You see, it is the
responsibility and the privilege of every gospel preacher to establish
God's saints in the doctrine of Christ, in the doctrine of
the gospel. We often use the word doctrines,
referring to the doctrines of the Bible. But the fact is, in
the scripture, the word doctrines always refers to error and heresy. The word of God is one truth. The doctrine of God is one truth. We don't have one doctrine placed
over against another doctrine, but the doctrine of God is the
doctrine of Holy Scripture. And the preacher's business is
to establish God's saints in the gospel. And preaching is
not something that is optional among God's people. Some of you,
I know, members of churches without pastors probably. I have a good
many friends in various places back in the States. There are
churches that have been without pastors for a good while. And
while you seek a pastor with great care, don't be content
to be without one. A pastor, a gospel preacher,
a man speaking to you for God is not just a convenient option. It is an absolute necessity to
your soul's welfare. Ephesians chapter 4, the Holy
Spirit tells us plainly that these gifts of the ministry prophets
and apostles and preachers, pastors, teachers, these men gifted of
God for the perfecting of the ministry, for the work of the
ministry and the perfecting of the saints, the edifying of the
body of Christ. These are the ascension gifts
of Christ to his church so that it is by the voice of a preacher. declaring the Word of God in
the power of the Spirit that God saves his elect, and it is
by the voice of a preacher declaring the Word of God in the power
of the Spirit that God comforts, ministers to, edifies, strengthens,
teaches, and reproves his elect, so that the preaching of the
gospel is vital to our souls. And it's the preacher's business
to bind up the testimony and to seal the law, the Word of
God, to the disciples of our Redeemer. Now standing here before
you, eternity bound men and women, speaking in the name of God as
I now do, it is my responsibility to deliver to you the word of
God, the very word of God, the very word of God. What men have
written about it is really insignificant. creeds and confessions of faith,
be they ever so good, are really insignificant. We must declare
the very word of God. As I declare to you the word
of God, I claim for myself the right to be heard. I'm going
to see to it, I do everything in my power that you hear what
I say and hear with clarity what I say as comfortably as you sit
there in those comfortable seats with a nice heated or air-conditioned
building with as little distraction as possible. But I'm going to
claim at the same time a right to be heard. What I deliver to
you in the next 40, 45 minutes is not something that's off the
cuff it is not something that i come here with uh... little
care but it's the result of hours, hours of labor, of study, of
prayer and preparation. I don't preach to you, I don't
preach anywhere, just leftover sermons and rehash what I preached
elsewhere. I come with a word fresh from
my own heart, I hope from God for yours. That gives me the
right to be heard. But when I come to the pulpit
and preach the gospel, I don't have the right to claim that
you give me blind allegiance, that you believe what I say,
that you accept what I say. I don't have that right for myself
or for any other preacher. It is your responsibility to
test everything I say by the word of God. Try the spirits. Many antichrists have gone out
into the world. Try the spirits. You compare what I've got to
say this hour with the Word of God. If what I have to say is
exactly what this book declares, then you must believe it, you
must bow to it, you must obey it. If it is not exactly what
this book declares, do yourself a favor and don't come back tonight. Don't ever hear me again, for
if I preach not that which is in the book, you should not hear
me, should not pray for any success upon my ministry, but rather
pray that God end it and end it quickly. To the law and to
the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, Isaiah
820, you have it in front of you. It is because there is no
light in them. Not a little, none. If they speak
not according to this word, any preacher who speaks not according
to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Turn to Galatians chapter 1.
We're going to look at a good bit of scripture this morning.
Galatians chapter 1. The Apostle Paul writes to the
Galatians. These Galatians who had been
subverted by legalists who came in behind Paul and taught that
Paul really didn't teach you the whole of the gospel. He left
out the part where you're supposed to do things to make yourself
holy and just and righteous before God. He didn't come and preach
to you the law like you should have. And Paul writes to these
Galatians in verse 6. He says, I marvel. I'm astonished. that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel. Another gospel. There is another
gospel. But what is that? There are thousands
of them. There's thousands of them. You'll
find them amongst Baptist and Papist. You'll find them amongst
fundamentalist and liberals. You'll find them amongst what
folks call reformed and folks who would call themselves unreformed.
You'll find them everywhere. What is this other gospel? This
other gospel which is not another. It's not even like the gospel
of Christ. Not even similar to the gospel
of Christ. It's altogether different. Because this other gospel, this
another gospel is a gospel that tells you, you must do something. Whereas the gospel of God is
all done. Did you hear that? Done. And
anybody who says do is declaring another gospel. Is that clear
enough? It's done. Read on. which is
not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. For though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be forever damned, accursed. Now I've come here this hour
to bind up the testimony and to seal the law to bind as a
precious treasure all the truth of God so that nothing is lost
and to seal the doctrine of Christ to you. I believe God's given
me the message to do it. If God the Spirit will enable
me to declare it. Here are nine stubborn, irrefutable
statements. Irrefutable statements that cannot
be gainsayed by anyone. There's no middle ground. You'll
either accept them totally or deny them totally, embrace them
totally or reject them totally. There's no middle ground. I say
regarding every man who claims to be a prophet or a preacher
sent from God that which the Lord God said to Isaiah, I say
now to me and to these other preachers here, to the law and
to the testimony, If they speak not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them. All right, turn back
to Psalm 138. Here's the first statement. If you've got a piece of paper
with you, I strongly suggest you jot these things down and
you can put Fortner down and I'll stand by them. Number one,
either the Bible, this book you hold in your hand, either the
Bible, is in its entirety the inspired, infallible, inerrant
word of God, or it is entirely a lie by which the souls of men
are eternally deceived and damned. Now there's no in between ground.
I've been reading a biography recently that delves into the
history of Louisville Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. And
early on, one of the first professors decided that the Bible just sort
of contains the word of God. this contains the word, it has
spiritual truth but it's not all true. It has spiritual truth,
you can dig it out and find it but it's not all true. You can't
really believe what it says about supernatural things and the creation
of the earth and historic data. Those things after all have been
proved wrong. Have they now? Have they now?
Either this book is entirely The Word of God or it is entirely
a lie. It is entirely from heaven or
entirely from hell. There's no in-between ground.
The Scriptures claim to be the Word of God. The Scriptures claim
to be inspired by God. Holy men of old spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God all scripture. Look here what we read in psalm
138 verse 2 I will worship toward thy holy temple And praise thy
name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth For thou has
magnified thy word above all thy name What a statement Thou
hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Brother Peter
just spoke to us concerning the glory of God and God revealing
his glory in Christ Jesus to Moses as he passed by and caused
his glory to be revealed in the accomplishment of redemption
by his free and sovereign goodness. The name of God in scripture
are the many attributes by which God makes himself known. The
name of God tells us who he is. But the only way you know God's
name is as he's revealed it to you in his word. The only way
you know who God is, is as he has revealed himself in his word
in the person of his son. You cannot know God apart from
the word of God. You cannot know God apart from
the word of God. So he's magnified his word above
all his name, declaring that the only way men know God is
by God's revelation of himself in scripture. He's given his
word to make himself known. So that the scriptures given
by inspiration of God, all the scriptures, are profitable. so that the man of God may be
throughly furnished in every detail for the work to which
God has called him to all good works. Look at Psalm 135. Here's
the second statement. Psalm 135. Either God Almighty
is absolutely sovereign in total control of all things at all
times or there is no God. Either all things are of him,
through him, and to him, or there's no such thing as God. God's a
myth. God's just something grandma made up and passed along to your
mother or your daddy, and you got it from them and you'll pass
it on to your children. Either God is absolutely sovereign,
totally in control, everywhere, all the time, ruling everything
exactly according to His will, or God is not. Look here in Psalm
135, verse 5. I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord please, That
did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and in all deep
places. Well, I wonder what God's will
is for tomorrow. Wait till the next day and read
the newspaper and you will have known what it is. Nothing happens
in your life except that which is ordered of God. Nothing happens
in your nation except that which is ordered of God. Nothing happens
in my nation except that which is ordered of God. Nothing happens
in the world except that which is ordered of God. Nothing in
heaven, nothing in earth, and nothing in hell. Satan is not
a rival to God. He's God's devil. And when God
gets done with him, he'll throw him in hell. The Lord hath made
all things for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day
of evil. Now the scriptures are so plain. He says, I make light
and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. The Lord God raised up Pharaoh,
and he raised up Pharaoh to bring the children of Israel into their
bondage, to make their bondage severe, and to dump his carcass
in the river, delivering Israel from his bondage. The Lord God
sends an evil spirit upon Saul. Yes, God did that so that he
would accomplish his purpose, setting David on his throne.
And all that comes to pass is good. Not good for everybody. Whoever pretended that. But it's
good for you who are his. And it's good for God's glory.
The Lord performeth all things for me. All things for me. Some of you go through some difficulties. A nurse, a father who's now lost
his mind, got Alzheimer's disease, doesn't know he's around. A mother,
a wife, son or daughter, same circumstances. How do you explain
that? Brother Darwin Pruitt, one of
the men in our congregation who has been pastoring in Taylor,
Arkansas now for four or five years, his wife got terminal
brain cancer. You say, how do you explain that?
Brother Norman, I can't explain that. I don't have any idea what
God's immediate purpose is. I don't know. I am content to
worship God. And she is. And her husband is. content to bow before Him and
wait for God to do what God will and God to work it as He will
for the glory of His name and the good of His people and the
good even of the one who suffers. Our God does all things and He
does all things well. He has His way in heaven and
He has His way in earth and He has His way in hell. That means
that God, the true and living God, is absolutely sovereign
in predestination. Everything that comes to pass
in time, he predestined in eternity. He's absolutely sovereign in
creation when he wants to ask to speak and ask and talk like
a well-educated Harvard graduate. And if he wants a dumb man to
talk like an ass, he can make the dumb man talk like the ass.
That's God's work. He's sovereign in the salvation
of people. He gives mercy to whom he will
give mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. The book is as plain
as it can be. The Lord God Almighty is sovereign
in his providence, working all things after the counsel of his
own will. All right, third, turn to Psalm
14. Psalm 14. There's absolutely no middle
ground between an absolute sovereign and absolute atheism. In fact,
atheism makes more sense than the notion that there is a God
who somehow is limited in what he does or is able to do. Here
in Psalm 14, here's something else. Here's the third statement.
Either man is totally depraved, utterly dead in trespasses and
sins. or there's nothing really wrong
with him and he needs no savior. There's no such thing as partial
depravity or partial goodness before God. Either we're totally
sinful and totally depraved or we're totally righteous and totally
good. Look here in Psalm 14 verse 2.
The Lord looked down from heaven and upon the children of men
to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.
They're all gone aside. They're all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. The heart, the heart. You wouldn't say, well, the Lord
knows my heart. You wouldn't use things like
that, would you? The heart. The Lord does know it. You don't.
That's the problem. The heart's deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked. Out of the heart, out of... My good friend Sid Buggins, I
won't tell anybody, you just told me your age. He's getting
up there. His heart, out of his heart,
proceeds evil thoughts and murder and adultery and blasphemy. And he knows I speak the truth.
You too. Me too. You mean, brother Don, that's
all that comes out of man? That's what our Lord said. There's
no goodness in you. No goodness in me. That means
we have no ability to perform goodness. Nothing but corruption
comes from a dead man. There's no good in you. Only death. Only sin. I know the... I used to hear
fellows that and try to make the gospel palatable to unregenerate
people, they say, when we say man's totally depraved, we don't
mean that you're as bad as you could be. Oh, yes, I do. You're
just as bad as you could be. You're restrained like a lion
in a cage, so you can't do everything you want to, but you could not
possibly be any more evil. You could not possibly be any
more wicked. That's the reason when you read
history, you find out that folks who lived 50 years ago were just
as full of debauchery as folks who live today. And folks who
lived a hundred years ago, just as evil as today. Folks who lived
in Habakkuk's day. Read Habakkuk sometime. Read
Micah. Read those prophets. They were
just as evil as folks today. And as far as outward behavior
is concerned, we haven't come close to getting the way folks
lived in Paul's day. Not even in Great Britain and
America. We haven't even come close to becoming so outwardly
vile as those men were. But the inward man, that's another
story. What you are by nature, that's
another story. Nothing but evil in you. You
see, man is dead in trespasses and in sins. Dead. What do you expect from a dead
man? Nothing. Nothing. Well, you do one thing. Unless you get to him pretty
quick, you're going to expect him to stink. My poor mother, she
used to fret herself today. She'd say, I won't be enough
money to bury me. I said, Mom, I promise you in
two or three days we'll get you in the ground. That's all it'll
take, just two or three days. Because nobody wants to be around
that dead corpse, nobody. That's the way man is by nature,
dead. Your only hope before God is
that God will give you something called life, that God will have
mercy on your soul. All it will take for you to go
to hell, are you listening to me? Stephen, those dear babies of
yours sitting there beside you, all it'll take for them to go
to hell is for God to leave them alone. It's all it'll take. If God leave you alone, and you
will go to hell. you will go to hell. Man by nature
is dead in trespasses and in sins. If he's not that, he doesn't
need Christ. If he's not dead, he doesn't
need a savior. If there's a little spark of
goodness, a little spark of life in him, then maybe you can educate
him up to be a really perfect man. But there's nothing good
in you, just evil. So that the wicked go astray
from the womb as soon as they're born, speaking lies. No mother
ever had to teach her child to lie, to be deceitful. Nobody. You take that child and you just
squall and just squall. The poor baby wasn't going to
look at you. He's got not a tear in his eyes. He's lying to you. He's lying
to you. He just wants attention. He won't
take you children. The first thing you want to say
is pop. Say poppy. Say poppy. Say poppy. And first
thing coming out of my mouth, no, mine. That's the nature of
the beast. That's the nature of the beast.
Man's dead in trespasses and sins. He needs a savior. All
right, here's the fourth statement. Turn to Romans chapter 9. Romans
chapter 9. If I had a million dollars for
every time I passed by a church sign in North Carolina, Kentucky,
West Virginia, or any of the states in the United States through
which I've driven, if I had a million dollars for every time I saw
a church sign advertising a preacher that read the pastor was going
to be preaching from Romans chapter 9, verses 13 through 18, I'd
have the same amount of money I got now. This is taboo. You would think
somebody found this in some piece of pornography and slipped it
into the Bible. I mean, preachers treat this like a... We can read this in the closet,
but we don't talk about it in public. Here is what we find
in Romans chapter 9. Either God chose some of Adam's
fallen race to salvation and eternal life in Christ Jesus
before the world began, as the Bible says he did, or there's
no possibility of salvation for anyone. You see, salvation's
God's prerogative. Salvation's the Lord's. It's
the Lord's. That means he can do with it
whatever he wants to. Grace is God's gift to man, not man's
choice. If God doesn't choose to save
and choose whom he will save, no sinner will ever be saved.
Romans chapter nine, verse 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Oh, I wonder what that means.
Now I'm gonna help you a little bit. I got something good for
you. When you're reading the Bible
and you read something in the Bible, whatever you thought it
meant first time you read it, more than likely that's just
what it meant. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Well that
means God loved Jacob and hated Esau. Isn't that astonishing? That's exactly what it means.
What shall we say then? You pick up the telephone this
afternoon and call your mom or dad, call your brother or sister,
son or daughter, your neighbor, whoever you want to and say,
you know the pastor this morning was preaching to us in Red Romans
9, 13. Do you know what it says? It said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. He told us God chose to save
some people. And they said, well, that ain't
right. That ain't right. Isn't that strange? People think
the same everywhere when they're rebels against God. Those things
same. As a matter of fact, that's just
what Paul says. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Who are you to sit in judgment
over God? Who are you? Who am I to call
into question what God says or God does? Who are we to sit as
judges over the Almighty? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Perish the thought. Read what it says. 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,
so then, well, where is the preacher? Where is the man's will preacher?
What about our free will? Oh, well, we wouldn't want to
violate that. So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, You mean salvation, eternal life, election,
predestination, God's purpose, God's work, does it depend at
all on man? Well, let's read it again. It
is not, I believe that's what it meant, of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Now how does that
fit into what we just read? What does Pharaoh, being raised
up and dumped in the Red Sea, and the Egyptian armies dumped
in the Red Sea behind him, what does that have to do with God
having mercy on whom he will have mercy? With God loving Jacob
and hating Esau? What does that have to do with
who's going to be saved and who's not going to be saved? Everything. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. There lays
Pharaoh. and his horses and his chariots
and the whole Egyptian army covered over in the Red Sea, buried in
the mud in the bottom of the sea with all of their swords
and their riches and their power laying on the seashore so that
Israel can go gather them up and spoil the Egyptians. And
there is Israel and Moses, folks with no arms, no ability, no
power, no strength, no riches. Now made rich by the slaughter
of the Egyptians, standing on the other side of the Red Sea. God said, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. And I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious,
and whom I will I'll harden, because Jacob have I loved, but
Esau have I hated. Turn to Isaiah 53, Isaiah the
53rd chapter. Here's the fifth statement. Either the Lord Jesus, the Son
of God, is altogether and alone the effectual Savior and Redeemer
of His people, or He's a fraud, a failure, and a fake. Either He is altogether the effectual
Savior and Redeemer of His people, or he is altogether a fraud,
a failure, and a fake. No in-between grant. To this
day, folks who claim to believe what they call God's sovereign
grace, people like to line up with what they call the reformers. We believe in limited tumble,
but we don't mean by that what you think we mean. There's a
sense in which Jesus died for everybody. There's a sense in
which God loves everybody. There's a sense in which God's
trying to save everybody. Why don't you tell that to folks
outside the ark when Noah's floating across the horizon? Try telling
them. No. No, if there's a sense in
which God loves everybody, then in, God's love's not worth anything.
Because He loves some folks who go to hell anyway. If there's
a sense in which Christ died for everybody, then the blood
of Christ, the death of Christ is totally insignificant. Because
there are folks in hell for whom He died. If there's a sense in
which the Holy Spirit is trying to save everybody, then the power
and grace of God the Spirit is utterly meaningless. Because
there are folks in hell He's trying to save. But you know
better. You've read this book, haven't
you? Did the Lord Jesus come to save his people or try to
save them? Did he come to redeem his people or try to redeem them?
Is it said of the Christ that he's going to try to bring in
everlasting righteousness? He's going to try to make an
end of sin? Or does it say that he shall
bring in everlasting righteousness and make an end of sin? Of course
it says he did the latter. Our Lord Jesus died upon Calvary's
tree in the room instead of God's elect as our substitute and surety
when he was made sin for us God's holy justice justly executed
him as our substitute and now the justice of God demands that
every sinner for whom Christ died must go free read here in
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 The Holy Spirit quotes this in 2nd Corinthians
5 21 when thou shalt make his soul sin He shall see his seed He shall
prolong his days that is he gonna live again and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his head and He'll see his seed redeemed
and sanctified and justified and glorified because he's going
to live again to accomplish their everlasting salvation. Verse
11, he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. I can't imagine what it is for
a woman to carry a baby full term and
go through the agony of travail, especially in those days when
they lack modern anesthesia and medical aid, and bring forth
a child with no breath in his nostrils. I can't imagine the
frustration. I can't imagine the sense of
failure. I can't imagine the dissatisfaction. I can't imagine the pain of heart. But bless God, that shall never
be the case with our Redeemer. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
shall never be discovered a miscarriage. Every soul for whom he prevailed
and so shall live forever by the merit and power of his blood.
All right, turn to John chapter 6. John chapter 6, verse 63. Here's the sixth statement. Either we are regenerated and
called to life and faith in Christ Jesus by the irresistible power
and grace of God the Holy Spirit, or there's no such thing as salvation.
It is the spirit that quickeneth, John 6, 63. The flesh profiteth
nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. It's the Spirit that gives
life. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and calls us to approach unto thee. Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest, that's God's election, and calls us to approach
unto thee. He does that by revealing Christ
in you with effectual, irresistible power so that the sinner, called
by grace, finds himself believing Christ and hardly knows how. Yesterday, this morning, you
came in here and said, I've got to hear that Faulkner fellow
again. My husband drug me over here. My wife drug me over here.
Can't stand to listen to him. He's always talking about things
like that. And then you find yourself believing Christ.
You wonder what happened. I'll tell you what happened.
God revealed his son in you. I'll tell you what happened.
God the Spirit calls you to come to Him. Thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. Sinners are saved by God's sovereign,
irresistible grace, quickening them, giving life to the dead. giving life to the dead. That's
what the new birth is. It's not something we persuade
you to do. It's not something that somehow
if we have just the right songs picked out and everything worked
at just the right time and we can get folks worked into right
emotional friends, we can make things happen. I'll tell you
the reason the religious world is in the mess it's in right
now is preachers trying to make things happen. Our business is
to proclaim the word and step aside. Wait for God to do his
work and do it he will. All right, turn to Romans chapter
6 verse 14. Here's the sixth statement. I'm
sorry, the seventh statement. Either God's people are entirely
free from the law as the scriptures declare us to be. We are yet
under the law, under the bondage of the law, and entirely obligated
to keep it perfectly. Romans chapter six, let's see.
I know, don't you go hear Fortner, he's,
what did they say, antinomian. Oh, that's a good term, isn't
it? Do you know what our politicians
do at home? We're right in the middle of a presidential election. And
they're fixing to start cussing each other. I mean, they're fixing
to get after it. It's going to get nasty. And
you know why? Because when a fellow has got
something that he states, and his opponent can't deny it, he
can't disprove it, everybody knows that what he said is right,
but this fellow, he can't deny it, he can't disprove it, so
he just starts throwing ugly names at it. Man, if it can make
him look bad enough. Better stay away from that. So
pay no attention to the names. And frankly, I don't care what
they say. I don't care what they say. They're
the ones who crucified our Lord, they say. They don't do this.
They don't do that. Some years ago, when I thought
of my wife was raised with, we went to school together. He saw
me in the bookstore and he said, you ought to get that book. He
said, it'll bring up the step of the times. And I looked at
him and I said, I'm not out of step because I don't know how
to keep step. I'm out of step because I intend to be out of
step. My intention is not to keep up with other folks. My
intention is not to be accepted by the religious world. My intention
is to declare to you what this book says. Now, next time somebody
says, you're under the law, we've got to keep the law. We've got
to keep the law. If you don't keep the law, That means I can go out and live
like I want to. Now you're telling me what you really think. Now
you're telling me what you really think. If I didn't have to keep
the law, I'd go out and live like hell. That's what I really
want to do. If I didn't have to keep the
law, man, I wouldn't have to go to church on Sunday. I'd really
like to go fishing. If I didn't have to keep the law, I wouldn't
have to pay my tithes. I'd take that money and buy me
a new record. Now you're telling me what you
really want to do. Not God's people. God's people aren't constrained
by law. I never heard preaching like
that in my life. It's time you heard more of it. The love of
Christ constraineth us. See that lady sitting there?
Just suppose. I know people, they say, they
say, well, I don't keep the law because I have to. I don't keep the law to make
me righteous. I don't keep the law because
I'm scared of God. I keep the law because the Lord
had me to keep the law to show my love to Jesus. Is that right? Is that right? Reckon what my
wife would do if I were to tell her next time I leave home I'm
going to be gone for a week, honey, I went online and ordered
you this chastity belt. Now, I know you don't need it,
but I'd like for you to wear it and let everybody know you're
wearing it just so the world will know that you love me. If
you know my wife very well, you will expect to see bruises on
my head. What kind of love is this? What's
this that you're requesting? What are you demanding of me?
You see, the law's not made for a righteous man. How plain can
the word of God be? The law is not made for a righteous
man, but for the unrighteous. Are you or are you not righteous
in Christ Jesus? Anybody here who's in Christ
who's not righteous, raise your hand. I'll sit down and let you
talk. The law is not made for a righteous man. Well, what's
our relationship to the law? Let's see what it says here in
Romans 6, 14. I believe if there was any place
in the world Any place in all the Bible where Paul would be
talking about the law as a rule of life, it'd be Romans chapter
6. Man, he's talking about living the resurrection life as a believer
who's been baptized and raised up out of the water, walking
in Christ. I believe this would be the place, wouldn't you? If
I were going to be talking about it, this is where I'd talk about
it. Let's see what he says about it. He said, go live for Christ
because you're not under the law. but under grace." Well, what does that mean? Do
you remember the rule? Do you remember the rule? What
does it look like first time you read it? Well, I reckon we're
not under the law. Just in case you didn't get it,
look at verse 15. We're not under the law, but
under grace. Boy, that's confusing. It wouldn't
be if you read it in a newspaper. It wouldn't be if you read it
in a history book. The only reason it's confusing is you're reading
the Bible through the eyes of perverted understanding from
men who have been teaching you all your life that religion is
something you do, not something God does for you. Read chapter
7, verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye are
become dead to the law. Dead to the law. Wow. Well, what am I supposed to do
with the law? What a dead man does. What am I supposed to fear
from the law? What a dead man does. Brother
Don, are you saying that the believer has no relationship
to the law? I wouldn't say that. God did. You're dead to the law. Now put that in your pipe and
smoke it. People don't like that. That's
the reason I'm keeping saying it as loud as I can. You're dead to
the law. Dead to the law. Chapter 8, rather. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. What's that mean? To those who
believe God, those who trust Christ. For the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free, free from the law,
free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could
not do, and 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.
What does that mean? Well, we believe on Jesus and
now he's got us started in the right direction and if we work
hard enough and exercise enough, just climb the mountains, we'll
get to be real holy. Barn yards are full of that stuff. Barn yards are full of that stuff.
It's called dung. And that's what Paul called it
in Philippians chapter 3, read it for yourself. Full of it. Just dumb. That's what your righteousness
is. Just fill up the rags. Well what
does this mean then? We fulfill the law, who walk
not as the flesh but as the spirit. Romans chapter 3 verse 31, by
faith in Christ we establish the law. Believing on the Son
of God I offer God Almighty perfect righteousness and perfect complete
satisfaction for I offer him his own son and God smells it
and smiles as a sweet savor in his nostrils. Romans chapter
10 verse 4, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The
law was our schoolmaster, he says in Galatians, to bring us
to Christ. And now that we're grown up,
we're no longer under a schoolmaster. Several years ago, I was preaching
down in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Shelby was with me.
Got on the elevator to go to services last night, and I saw
a fellow. I said, I know him. I hadn't
seen him in over 30 years. Last time I saw him, I was 12
years old. I said, I know him. And I stuck up my hand to him. I said, you're not Bob Spitzer,
are you? He shook his head. I said, well, I sure am. I said,
you won't remember me. My name's Don Fortin. He said,
oh, I remember you. He was my sixth grade school teacher. And
do you know, that fella on occasion gave me a lot of pain, physically,
right here, a lot of pain, on purpose. And I didn't dare go
home and tell mama and dad I got more pain. And he had every right
under law to do it, because he was my schoolmaster when I saw
him. He was fully aware and remembered
the things that I had done for which he gave me so much pain.
And he and I became good friends. Just every little bit. He's nearly
blind now, probably completely blind. I haven't talked to him
in a good while. But they'd come visit us, he and his wife. We
got to be good friends, good friends. And I never once had
any fear of him. I never once tried to explain
to him why I was doing things I was doing. I never once tried
to excuse myself from anything before him. Not once. Why? I'm
grown up now. And he's no longer my schoolmaster.
And if he would take out a board and start to hit me with it,
I would get hurt. I would get hurt. How can you
say that? ended in its purpose for me once
it brings me to my Redeemer. That's the whole purpose of the
law to shut us up to Christ. I got to move on, gotta move
on. Number eight. Now listen to me. Either every
sinner who comes to Christ is saved by Christ or none is. You don't need to turn there,
just listen. The Master says, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Yeah, but Brother
Don, I've heard you have to come with deep, deep, deep feelings
of guilt, beat down. You've got to come with emotional
ecstasy. You've got to come with some
preparation. You've got to come this way.
You've got to come that way. He is the way. If you come, He
won't cast you out. Come to Christ right now, right
where you are, without moving a muscle, without moving your
lips, without saying a prayer. Believe on the Son of God. I
just caught Ayn Graham's face. Come to him right now, and he
will cast you out. He will cast you out. That's
what it said. That's what it said. How do I come? Any way
you can get to him will be all right. Come to Christ. Come to
Christ. Believe on the Son of God, and
you have everlasting life. Our Savior says, come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden. and I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly
in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls. What does it
mean to be saved by Christ? You come to Christ and you're completely forgiven of
all sin. Come to Christ and you're fully
justified before God. Come to Christ, and life eternal
is yours. Yours. And here's something else. Either every saved sinner shall
persevere to the end, being preserved and kept by God's infallible,
immutable grace, or none shall. He that endureth to the end shall
be saved. That's right. That's right. God
endure. The righteous shall hold on his
way. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart will wax stronger
and stronger. That's right. You got to persevere. No question
about that. But most folks have made a work
out of perseverance. And perseverance is not a work.
Perseverance is not a work. Perseverance is a gift of grace.
He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. I recall shortly after God saved
me, I had an experience that just about devastated me. I was at this time 17 years old.
I just thought, well, it's over now. It's over now. You're gone. And in desperation, I just opened
the Bible and started flipping through it. And my eyes fell
on this statement. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. And here I am now. Forty-five
years later, not because I've been holding
God with a mighty grip, but because God's been holding me with a
mighty grip of His grace. And called of God, He'll do it. He'll do it. He will not lose
His own. Those chosen of God, redeemed
by Christ, called by His Spirit, are kept by His grace unto life
everlasting through faith that He continually gives and works
in His own. Oh, may God give that grace and
that faith and that salvation to you. Amen.

Nine Stubborn Statements

What does the Bible say about the authority of Scripture?

How do we know God is sovereign?

What does total depravity mean in Christian theology?

Why is preaching important for Christians?

How does God's grace work in salvation?

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Nine Stubborn Statements

What does the Bible say about the authority of Scripture?

How do we know God is sovereign?

What does total depravity mean in Christian theology?

Why is preaching important for Christians?

How does God's grace work in salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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