A Message From God For You

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

The Bible teaches that God sovereignly chooses His people for salvation, as seen in Romans 9:11-13. God's sovereignty in salvation is a profound and essential doctrine in Scripture. Romans 9 articulates God's electing grace, revealing that His choice is unconditional and based solely on His purpose. In verses 11-13, Paul explains that God's election is not based on human works or merits, but solely upon His will and purpose. This underscores the depth of His grace, as He calls individuals to Himself without any prior conditions being met. The doctrine of election assures believers of God's unchanging love and commitment to His chosen ones, providing comfort and hope amidst life's trials.

Q: Why is the doctrine of total depravity important for Christians?

The doctrine of total depravity emphasizes that all humans are inherently sinful and in need of God's grace for salvation. Total depravity is a foundational aspect of the Reformed theology, asserting that every part of human nature is affected by sin. This doctrine reveals the depth of our need for redemption, highlighting that we are unable to save ourselves. As stated in Romans 3:10-12, 'There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.' Recognizing our total depravity leads to a greater appreciation for God's grace in Christ, who provides salvation freely to those who cannot help themselves. It informs our need for reliance on God’s mercy and underscores the significance of Christ's atoning sacrifice as the sole basis for our justification.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is our Savior?

We know Jesus is our Savior through His life, death, and resurrection, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies. The assurance that Jesus is our Savior is grounded in His fulfillment of Scripture and the testimony of the New Testament. Hebrews 10:19-22 explains that through the blood of Jesus, we have boldness to enter the presence of God. His sacrificial death satisfied God's justice, providing a means for our forgiveness and reconciliation with the Father. Furthermore, we see the prophetic fulfillment of His life and works throughout the Old Testament, pointing directly to the Messiah, who would take away the sin of His people. 1 John 5:11-12 affirms that 'this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.' Our certainty comes from God's promises and the transformative work He accomplishes in the hearts of believers, leading us to trust in Christ as our Savior.

Q: Why is grace essential for salvation?

Grace is essential for salvation because it is by grace alone that we are saved, not by our own works. The necessity of grace in salvation is a central tenet of the Reformed faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 declares that 'for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.' This emphasizes that salvation is not a result of our efforts, but a gracious gift from God. The doctrine of grace assures us that no amount of good works or moral striving can earn God's favor. Instead, it is through God's unmerited favor that we have access to His kindness and mercy. Understanding grace leads to humility and dependence on God, encouraging believers to rest in the finished work of Christ alone for their salvation.

Q: What does the Bible say about faith in Jesus Christ?

The Bible teaches that faith in Jesus Christ is essential for salvation and justifies believers before God. Faith in Jesus Christ is the means by which believers receive salvation and is central to the Gospel. John 3:16 asserts that 'whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' This indicates the importance of personal faith in Christ for eternal life. Moreover, Romans 5:1 states that 'therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Through faith, believers not only receive forgiveness for sins but are also justified, meaning they are declared righteous before God based on their belief in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. This faith is not a mere intellectual assent; it is a profound trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, resulting in a transformed life driven by gratitude for God’s grace.

Well I know that you know how
very dear this congregation is to me, to my wife, and I hope
you know how very dear your pastor is as well. I can't think of
a time in my entire ministry when I've looked more forward
to meeting with the congregation than I have to this weekend and
I'm so thankful to be here. I pray God will be pleased to
meet with us. But I've got to tell you what
happened that day. Brother Larry came over to the
study and I was studying. It was on Saturday, getting ready
for Sunday. He got there in the middle of
the afternoon, and we talked. And I tried to answer his questions
as best I could. And we talked some more. And
then we talked some more, and had supper, and talked some more.
And it got close to midnight. And he said, well, I've got to
get back. I've got to preach tomorrow. I said, where are you
preaching? He said, over at the church where I'm assisted pastoral,
Kill Free Will Baptist Church. I said, what are you going to
preach tomorrow? He said, what we've been talking about. I said, well,
services tomorrow night start here at 7 o'clock. He said, well,
how would you say that? He said, we have services over
there. I said, you won't. He said, oh, no, I've got family
and friends that have been in that church all my life. I said, if
you preach what we've been talking about tomorrow afternoon, you
won't have a place to worship. And he said, oh, no, they wouldn't
do that. About 3 o'clock, he woke me up
from my nap and said, what time did you say services start there
tomorrow night? And we've been together ever
since. Thank God for you. Open your Bibles with me tonight,
if you will, to the third chapter of the book of Judges. Judges
chapter 3. You who get our bulletins every
week know that at the top of the bulletin every week I have
a Bible reading schedule. I developed it years ago for
our congregation in Danville so we could all read through
the scriptures together at the same time. And I did something
this year that I may live to regret. I promised them at the
first Sunday of January, every week this year I will be preaching
to you at least once from the portion of scripture we read
that week. If you have the bulletin this week, it was Judges, the
whole book of Judges beginning with Sunday. And I want this
evening to begin a series with you. I've never preached a series
from the book of Judges before. Tonight, tomorrow night, Sunday
morning, if God will enable me to finish preparing the messages,
I'll be preaching to you from the book of Judges. And I urge
you to read the book very, very carefully. In Judges chapter
3 and verse 20, we read, and Ehud came unto him, that is Aglaad,
and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself
alone. And Ehud said, I have a message
from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. Ehud said to Eglon, I have a
message from God for you. Now that's the title of my message
tonight. A message from God for you. I believe I do. I pray he will
give me the grace and power of his spirit to deliver it, and
you, ears and hearts, to hear and receive it. When you read
the book of Judges, if you're like I am, you can't help but
to think this book is just different from every other book in the
book of God. The book of Judges gives us this
man Ehud. He was sent of God to deliver
a message to a fat king by the name of Eglon. And the message
was an 18-inch dagger shoved right into his belly to kill
him. There's a woman named Jael who drives a tent stake through
the temples of a man named Sesera and cut off his head and thus
delivered Israel from their captors. God raised up a man named Gideon.
Gideon had 32,000 soldiers with which he would deliver Israel
from the Midianites. And God wouldn't use him until
he whittled those 32,000 down to 300. And those 300 were scared of
their own shadow. They wouldn't even stoop to get
water. They would just grab a little bit and slosh it up in their
mouth as they ran. They were scared to death. And
those are the men God used to slaughter the Midianites and
deliver Israel. You're astonished by Jephthah's
sacrifice of his daughter and disappointed by Samson's weakness,
shocked by a Levite cutting his wife in 12 pieces and sending
her to the 12 tribes of Israel. We read of Israel, God's covenant
people, the people God brought out of Egypt, the people with
whom God made a covenant and swore never to leave them nor
forsake them, brought at last into the land of Canaan, taking
possession of Canaan, and yet really never taking possession
of Canaan. All the while they lived in Canaan,
struggling with their enemies, Joshua brought them in, Joshua
gave them the land of rest and yet they're constantly rebelling
against God Seeking time and time and time again into idolatry
and base ungodliness Overcome by enemy after enemy, degraded
more and more with each fall They begin in the first chapter
in verse 1, asking who shall go up for us against the Canaanites
to fight against them. And by the time we get to the
end of the book in chapter 20, we see them asking the Lord God
to lead them as they go up against their own brethren, the Benjamites,
to destroy them. These judges, they're deliverers. Whenever you read the word judges,
it's talking about deliverers. They judged Israel. They brought
deliverance to Israel. These deliverers were raised
up by God as types and representatives of our Lord Jesus Christ. They're
pictures of how God in his great mercy gives deliverance to his
people all the time we sojourn through this world. You see,
like Israel, We're God's covenant people.
His true covenant people. We are God's Israel. We are God's
Israel. Men who are Jacob's by nature
made to be princes with God. A people to whom God has said,
I will be their God and they shall be my people. A people
to whom God has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. I will never, no never, no never
leave thee. nor forsake thee and yet these
people Israel all the time they're in the land of Canaan are constantly
sinning against God You don't read a chapter in these 21 chapters,
but what Israel has sinned against God. Israel has turned again
to their own ways. Israel walks after their own
folly. And God raised up judges to deliver
Israel, but he also raised up kings to oppress Israel. He strengthened
their enemies against them time and time again to prove Israel. to prove to Israel who and what
they were and who he is and what he would do. And so the Lord
God throughout our days on this earth proves us with oppression,
with persecution, with trouble within and trouble without with
heartaches that come from circumstances around us and heartaches that
come from our own sin and unbelief within us and God strengthens
our enemies against us many times to prove to ourselves what we
are. Show us our weakness and our
sin that he may send again his great mercy and grace in Christ
our Savior and prove himself to us that we may know him and
cleave all the more to him. All right, let's begin in Judges
chapter 3 and verse 12. The children of Israel did evil
again in the sight of the Lord. Again and again and again. And the Lord strengthened Eglon,
the king of Moab. Seems like a strange word. just
as he strengthened Pharaoh against Israel while they were in Egypt
he strengthened Eglod the king of Moab against Israel because
they had done evil in the sight of the Lord verse 13 and he gathered unto
him the children of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel
and possessed the city of palm trees So the children of Israel
served Eglon, king of Moab, 18 long, lean, dark, troublesome
years. And when the children of Israel
cried unto the Lord. When the children of Israel cried
unto the Lord. Let's read it one more time.
Maybe we'll hear it. When the children of Israel cried unto
the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud, the son
of Gerah, a Benjamite, a man left-handed. And by him the children
of Israel sent a present unto Eglon, the king of Moab. Oh, what grace. When the Lord
God intends to show great mercy, When God intends to send mercy
to chosen, redeemed sinners, He causes the sinner whom He
is gracious to, the sinner whom He will call, the sinner to whom
He will reveal Himself, He causes the sinner to whom He will send
His mercy to seek His mercy. And the seeking of his mercy
is the first evidence of him sending mercy. He calls Israel
to cry to him. It shall come to pass, he says,
before they call, I will answer. And while they're yet speaking,
I will hear. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious
unto you. And therefore will he be exalted
that he may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment.
Blessed are all they that wait for him. Ehud was a left-handed
man. His name means united, or I will
give thanks. And yet this man Ehud, we're
told was a Benjamite. The name Benjamin means son of
the right hand. Perhaps the reason we're told
this, that he was a Benjamite, being one of Israel's judges,
one of Israel's deliverers is the fact that this man is a type
of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the son of Jehovah's right
hand whom thou madest strong for thyself. Verse 16, Judges
3 verse 16. Ehud made him a dagger which
had two edges of a cubit length. That's a long dagger, 18 inches.
And he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
And he brought the present unto Eglon, king of Moab. And Eglon
was very fat, a very fat man. And when he had made an inn to
offer the present, when he pretended to offer him a present, He sent
away the people that bear the present. But he himself turned
again from the quarries that were by Gilgal and said, I have
a secret errand unto thee, O king, who said, keep silence. And all
that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him,
and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself
alone. And Ehud said, I have a message
from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. Now anytime a man comes to you
and he's got a present in his right hand and there's a dagger
close to his left hand, you'd be wise to pay attention to both
hands. Ehud came with a present in one
hand and a dagger at his left hand. He comes and says, I have
a message from God unto thee. His message will be found either
in the present of his right hand or in the dagger at his left.
Verse 21. And Ehud put forth his hand, and took the dagger
from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the haft
also went after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade,
so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly. And
the dirt came out. Then Ehud went forth through
the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked
them. when he was gone out his servants
came and they saw that behold the doors of the parlor were
locked they said surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber
verse 25 and they tarried till they were ashamed and behold
he opened not the doors of the parlor therefore they took a
key and opened them And behold, their Lord was fallen down dead
to the earth. And Ehud escaped while they tarried,
and passed beyond the Quares, and escaped unto Sirath. And
it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet
in the mountain of Ephraim. And the children of Israel went
down with him from the mount, and he before them. And he said
unto them, follow after me, for the Lord hath delivered your
enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. And they went down after
him and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab and suffered not
a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that
time about 10,000 men, all lusty and all men of valor. And there
escaped not a man. Now everything in this passage
was ordered by our God. Every event ordered by divine
predestination and divine providence. Understand this when you read
the book of God. Everything in the Old Testament
as well as the New. Not only the commandments and
the doctrines and the teachings of the Old Testament and the
New. Every event that took place was given by God's decree. that it might show forth something
with regard to the accomplishment of redemption and grace by Jesus
Christ our Lord. The whole book of God is intended
of God to show us God's salvation and the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Aglon was so excited to hear
that his captors, the children of Israel, brought him a message
from God that he arose before a man who was his slave. That
just didn't happen. Here's a king on his throne and
a slave comes in and Eglon gets up with excitement because this
Jew comes with a present from the children of Israel. His guards
were so blinded that they left their king alone with a man who
had been for 18 years their slave. And they left him alone with
no suspicion whatsoever. And Moab's destruction after
Eglon's death was complete. Utter destruction. Who can fail
to see the parallel? When God the Holy Spirit stirs
his people to seek his mercy in Christ, when he stirs the
hearts of chosen redeemed sinners to pray for his grace, when he
puts prayer in the heart, it's because God intends to be gracious. It's because God intends to be
gracious. He may show forth his grace at
first with a frowning face and appear as though he's turned
against you. He may at first appear as your
adversary, but when God stirs sinners to seek his face, it's
because he has come to serve his grace. So Moab was subdued
that day, we're told in verse 30, under the hand of Israel,
And the land had rest for 80 years. For four score years,
they were at peace. I just read a moment ago in Psalm
90 in verse 10, the days of our years are three score years in
10. And if by reason of strength,
they be four score years, yet is their days of strength, labor,
and sorrow. Yet is their strength labor and
sorrow. Still in the midst of labor and
sorrow, God's people, those to whom the Lord Jesus gives rest,
still have rest. In the midst of trouble, Christ
is still our peace. He made peace for us by the blood
of his cross. He gives peace to us, and he
teaches us to walk before him in the midst of adversity with
peace. How can that be? God does everything
right. I had a friend come to me while
I was in Alaska last week, a man to whom God revealed his grace
in his old age. And he said to me, he said, I
can't help but to wonder about my mom and dad. They were religious
people. They went to church all the time,
but they didn't know the gospel of God's grace. And I said to
him, I know exactly what you think and how you feel. I know
exactly what it is. And I take comfort in this. Whatever God does is right. If God sends you to hell, it's
right. If God saves you, it's right.
If God sends your sons and daughters to hell, God does right. If God
saves them, He does right. If God saves your mom or dad,
God does right. If He damns them, God does right.
We don't need to ever question. We should never question. We
must never question. God Almighty are set in judgment
over him. And don't pretend that things
are different than they are. We bow before God and we take
refuge in Christ our Lord. When the Lord Jesus, our mighty
Ehud, blows the great trumpet of his salvation in Mount Ephraim,
the children of Israel follow after him. We read, and it shall
come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come, which were ready to perish, ready to perish
in the land of Assyria and the outcast of the land of Egypt,
and shall worship the Lord. in the holy mount at Jerusalem. Oh son of God blow now the trumpet
of your grace by your spirit and cause our hearts to follow
after you and find rest at your throne all the days of our lives. The message God gave Ehud for
Eglon was a sharp dagger A glittering two-edged sword. When the message
was delivered, the Moabite king lay dead in his chamber. The
Moabites were slain and Israel was delivered. Like Ehud, the
message God's given me for you is a glittering two-edged sword. The very Word of God. The Word
of God is quick, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, cutting
asunder, dividing asunder soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. And when I finish delivering
the message, you will either lay dead before God, or you will
be given life by God. One of the two. Some of you here
have come in here without life, without faith. Rebels to God,
enemies against God. Some of you God's own children
who walked with Him a long time. I pray that either God will be
pleased now for you who are without Christ to give you life. and
calls you to seek His mercy, make you to know His goodness
and that God will at the same time give instruction to you
who are His. I'm going to deliver the message
to you with five statements. Five simple, plain, irrefutable
statements of fact. This is the message I've got
for you. Number one, God Almighty created you for His glory. God Almighty created you for
his glory and me too. I'm not ignorant of Satan's devices. I know that almost all people
these days accept the nonsense of evolution and accept that
nonsense as though it were an established fact of science.
If you would like to see how terribly unestablished it is
as a fact, just read a science book ten years old and read another
one today that talks about creation. Every year or two the theories
change because their imaginary facts they find out are not facts
at all The fact is that God Almighty created this world and all things
in it, you and me included Created all things What a fool he is
Who imagines that man somehow evolved from a gorilla are stepped
out of some kind of cosmic ooze and here we are It takes incredible
foolishness to believe such things and the fact is no one believes
such and No one believes such. I know that's so because I had
the word of God for it. I know that no one really believes
such things. Romans chapter 1 tells us that man has an awareness,
a consciousness of God from which he cannot escape. So that when
he looks into the heavens, he sees the power and the wisdom
of God. And he can't deny it. He can't
deny it. He may say no. He may scream,
I'm an atheist. He may say, there's no God. But
all he's doing is holding down the truth, suppressing the truth
in unrighteousness. He's not speaking the truth.
Every man who pretends to be an atheist is himself a liar. Oh, now who's that preacher?
Who are you to call me a liar? Who are you to call God a liar?
Any man who denies what I've just told you is a liar. And
the book of God plainly says so. God's wisdom and power are
seen in the things that he's made. Not only that, God has
given every man a God consciousness so that his law by nature is
written on the hearts of all men. Every man, everywhere. Without being raised in a religious
society. Well, I shouldn't say that. You
can't be out of a religious society. Our friends, missionaries in
New Guinea, they go to these barbaric tribesmen and they're
all religious. They've all got their gods. But
wherever you find them, whether it's a naked tribesman in New
Guinea or a Wall Street lawyer in New York City, wherever you
find them, men and women have a God consciousness, God's law
written on their hearts by nature so that they are without excuse
when they rebel against Him. What do you mean preacher? I
mean everybody knows it's wrong to lie. Everybody knows it's
wrong to take his neighbor's wife. Everybody knows that adultery
and fornication are, things are wrong. Murder is wrong. Covetousness
is wrong. Every man does, knows that and
therefore every man tries somehow to make amends for that with
his own conscience. Every man knows that God created
him. What few understand is that God,
the God of glory, created this world out of nothing. In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And God who created
the heaven and the earth is our Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. And
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. And all things were made by Him. And without Him
was not anything made that was made. The Lord God created man
in His own image and after His own likeness. Created Adam and
Eve in the garden in the perfection of righteousness In the perfection
of righteousness Larry when Adam was in the garden. He was a holy
man. He was a holy man People who think they're smarter than
God won't argue with it. What was that real holiness or
just creature holiness? Adam was created like God a holy
man A holy man. A righteous man. He walked with
God as a man walks with his friend in the cool of the day. The Lord
Jesus came down every day and had coffee with Adam. Every morning. Every morning. They walked as
friend and friend. And then Adam sinned against
God. Violating God's law. And God
Almighty pronounced a curse upon the fallen pair. Our mother and
our father were cursed of God because of Adam's transgression.
And before he drove them from the garden, he slew innocent
victims and made for them coats to cover them, and showed them
how that he would send his son, the woman's seed, who would crush
the serpent's head. And by the death of his own son,
he would bring in everlasting righteousness for them. I want
you to understand that you belong to God and God can do with you
what he will. Some he has made vessels of wrath. And some vessels of mercy. Read
the ninth chapter of Romans. I know folks say, try to get
around this and try to hymn and haul and folks who claim to believe
grace on that, that doesn't really mean that God hates Jacob and
some are vessels of wrath. That just means he doesn't do
things just exactly the same for them. When God says, Jacob
have I loved, he meant Jacob have I loved. And when God said
Esau have I hated, he meant Esau have I hated. And when he says
he did this before the children were born, having done neither
good nor evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. He means for you to understand that God chose
his people without any condition being met by his people before
the world began. And his purpose stands. He means
you'd understand that there are vessels of wrath who are by their
works, by their corruption, by their evil deeds fitted for destruction
and vessels of mercy aforeprepared before he ever created them vessels
of mercy fitted and prepared for glory in Christ Jesus and
one way or another you will glorify God one way or another you will glorify
God one way or another I will glorify God either in God exercising
his justice in your utter destruction or God exercising his mercy and
his grace in your everlasting salvation Understand this the
Lord hath made all things for himself Yea, even the wicked
for the day of judgment everything that is everything that has been
Everything that shall be tomorrow God has brought to pass for his
glory for the praise of his name and when God wraps this thing
up all history will praise his name And that includes you, and
me, and yours, and mine. God made all things for himself. All right, here's the second
fact. You and I have sinned against God. How little we think when we think
of sin. How little we know what sin is. How little we apprehend the meaning
of the word sin. Sin is the attempt of man to
rape God and rob him of his glory. Sin is the attempt of man to
grab God by his throat, choke him to death, and shove him from
his throat. Sin is not a mistake, well none
of us is perfect. How easily we excuse ourselves.
Sin is what we are. We sinned in our father Adam.
Now folks say well I don't like that. Well take it up with God,
that's the way it is. That's the way it is. You sinned
in your father Adam. But the fact is you've not done
any better on your own. We have sinned, and we do sin,
and we continually sin. Sin is my name, sin is my surname,
and sin is my game. And the same is true of you.
Against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this great
evil in thy sight, David said. The carnal mind, the heart of
man, is enmity against God. That means you were born hating
God and you proved it every day of your life until God stepped
in and stopped you on your bad rush to hell. That's what it
means. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, not at enmity. This is what we are by nature,
God hating flesh. people talk about man's depravity
and I hear preachers everywhere they try people try to make the
gospel palatable to folks who hate God you can't be done pastor
you can't do it when we talk about total depravity we don't
mean that man's as bad as he could be I beg your pardon you
are as bad as you could possibly be you just cover it up some
you could not be worse than you are Man's nature is corruption. Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries, murders, fornication, blasphemies, lasciviousness. These are the things that defile
a man and they come from within. The heart of man is utterly depraved. Sin's what we are. Will you hear
me? How can I speak to your heart?
You're on your way to hell without Christ. You're on your way to hell without
Christ. And all it'll take for you to
go to hell is for God to leave you alone. Please look up here
and listen to this preacher a minute. Young and old alike, all it'll
take for you to go to hell is for God to leave you to yourself. That's all. Oh God, don't leave
me to myself. Oh God, don't leave me to myself. I'm not suggesting that one day
maybe God's wrath may be upon you. This book declares the wrath
of God abides on you. The wrath of God's on your trail.
The wrath of God swings as a glittering sword over your head. The wrath
of God is on you. You who believe not, you're under
the wrath of God. But preacher, I've been told
all my life that God loves me. You've been told wrong. You've
been told wrong. This book does not say God loves
you. This book nowhere says to an unbelieving man, God loves
you. This book nowhere says to a rebel, God loves you. God's
angry with the wicked every day. And you cannot know and will
not know the love of God in you until Christ is revealed in you
and gives you faith in himself. God loves you. No such thing. No such thing. God's love cannot
be known apart from life-giving faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.
You are utterly helpless before God, dead in trespasses and in
sins. You can do nothing to change
your nature, nothing to change your heart, nothing to fulfill
righteousness, nothing to atone for sin, nothing to make yourself
right before God, nothing to silence your screaming guilty
conscience. You wake up in the morning with a guilty conscience.
You go through the day and try to appease your conscience and
do some good things. And now, now I've done pretty
good today and this is a little bit better. And you go to bed
at night and you start thinking about judgment and eternity and
your conscience screams, guilty, guilty, guilty. And no matter
what you do, not enough, not enough, not enough. The only
way you'll ever find peace in your conscience is by faith in
God's dear son, the Lord Jesus. Men had their refuge of lies
and God describes it this way. The bed is shorter than that
a man can stretch himself on it. Brother Louis like I am is
a rather large fella. I have slept on a lot of beds
that I could not stretch out on. Stretch out kick the footboard
hit the headboard and you can't rest And I've slept on beds that
were too narrow to lay down flat on and the covers are so narrow
You can't wrap yourself in it. That's how God describes man's
refuge of lies Your religion leaves you with no comfort your
religion gives you no rest Your religion will not satisfy your
guilty conscience because it won't satisfy God's holy law
and God's justice I say to folks all the time, won't argue with
me about doctrine and religion. And I say this to folks everywhere.
If you're comfortable with what you've got, keep it. Keep it. If you're comfortable with your
works, I'd cling to them. If you're ready to meet God with
what you are, I'd hold on to it. I sure wouldn't give it up.
But if you can't rest, When you anticipate meeting a holy God
in judgment, I'd find refuge somewhere else. If you can't
rest before God, I'd find somewhere else to find rest. And that place
is Christ Jesus our Lord. All right, here's the third thing. It is your guilty, helpless condition,
as a hell-deserving sinner under the wrath of God, that is the
very thing that makes you a candidate for God's mercy. Because the
Lord Jesus, God's darling Son, came into the world to safe-set
us. Oh God, help me now to hear this.
Christ Jesus the Son of God came into this world to save sinners. Not the righteous, not the righteous
sinners Jesus came to call. Christ came to save sinners.
Can you, right where you sit right now, take your place in
the dust before the Son of God and acknowledge and confess your
sin. Sin. God, this is what I am. I've broken
your law and I break you with every breath. I'm nothing but sin. In me is
nothing but corruption and death, hell and damnation. And I know that I'm damned before
you. And must be forever damned unless
you save me by your grace. Now hear this. Hear this, oh
sinner, hear this. If we confess our sin, if we confess our sin, that doesn't
mean You go to a confessional booth to some priest and confess
what you've done that was bad. You can't keep the record. You
don't know what all it is. And it doesn't mean that you
walk down an aisle in a Baptist church and confess your sin to
a Baptist priest. That won't do you any more good.
That won't do you any more good. I don't need to hear about it.
This congregation doesn't need to hear about it. What does that
mean, confess your sin? Well, you acknowledge, well,
everybody's sinned. I know I'm a sinner. No, no.
That means that you rip your heart open before God. Carlos,
you show God what you are with your own confession. God, this is what I am. And before
the light of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, all the darkness,
all the vileness, all the corruption of your heart, you're exposed
to God. There's nothing in me but sin.
No thought but sin. Even my righteousnesses are filthy
rags before Him. Just sin. If we confess our sin, If we confess our sin, he's faithful
and just. Faithful to himself, faithful
to his son, faithful to his word, faithful to his covenant, and
just, just because Christ Jesus died for sinners to satisfy God's
justice. He's faithful and just to forgive
us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We've heard the joyful sound,
Jesus saves, Jesus saves, spread the tidings all around Jesus
saves, Jesus saves, his name is Jesus for he shall save his
people from their sins the Lord God found a way in his son to
take fallen, depraved, guilty, sinful men and women as black
as hell and make us perfectly righteous before him turn to
Hebrews chapter 10 for a moment Hebrews 10th chapter Hebrews
chapter 10 God looks on his son and says
I found a ransom Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness. Boldness. Boldness? Boldness. That's not this cocky,
arrogant, Benny Hinn, not afraid of God stuff. That's not that
stuff, no. It's boldness, it's freedom. Freedom. The kind of
freedom Shelby has talking to me. Only better than that. The kind of freedom my daughter
has talking to me. Only better than that. The kind
of freedom my grandchildren have talking to me. Only better than
that. The kind of freedom that says
I don't need to hide anything. And I can't. And I don't want
to. Freedom. Freedom, watch this,
to enter into the holiest hell on this earth. Can you have freedom
to lift your heart to God and call him your father? How can you do that? By the blood
of Jesus. Not because of something good
you do. People have this silly notion that somehow you don't
come to God, you don't have communion with God because there's so much
sin in your life. Would you please tell me when there wasn't any?
Would you like to... I'll tell you what, you stand
up and I'll let you preach and I'll sit down and listen to you.
Well, have you got any unconfessed sin in your life? When didn't
you have? When didn't you have? There's nothing but sin in you.
Well, where does this freedom with God come in? You forget,
forsake your righteousness and you cling to Christ's righteousness. You confess your sin and you
cling to his blood. We have boldness now by the blood
of Christ. I trust Jesus Christ. God's darling
son. Not my praying, not my Bible
reading, not my good works, not my giving, not my sacrifice,
not my devotion. I trust Christ. As your pastor
said, my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
I trust Him. for all my acceptance with God
and with that have boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated
for us through the veil that is to say his flesh by the sacrifice
of himself and having a high priest over the house of God
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith
Brother Don, I had trouble with assurance. Me too. Me too. And I'll tell you when and why. Because I hadn't kept up my reading schedule
this week. I'm way behind. How can I call myself a Christian? I go to church and my mind's
on other things. I try to pray and my heart's
full of evil. I hear the sermon and I forget
it. It goes in one ear and out the
other. I can't have any assurance before God. If that's where you're
looking for it, you don't have any. And if you pretend you have
some, it's all just self-righteous delusion. What full assurance,
Kenny? I trust Christ. That's all. That's all. I trust Christ. That's all. And
when I attempt to bring Christ and something else, no matter
how little, I bring myself a delusion. I come as a naked, empty-handed,
poor, bankrupt, hell-deserving sinner trusting Christ the Lord. And when I present to God the blood and righteousness of
His own Son, I present to God what God cannot refuse. I present
to God what God requires. Perfect righteousness and perfect
obedience. And He is able to save to the
uttermost all them that come to God by Him. In order for me
to find acceptance with God. In order to enter in at last
into heavenly glory. And that's my hope. I hope for everlasting life with
God in heavenly glory. When this earth is burned up
and God makes all things new. In order to have that I've got
to have four things. Got to have four things. I've got to perfectly
obey God's holy law. Perfectly. Perfectly. Now these people talk about living
by the law. That just isn't so. You're shooting
yourself a curve. That just isn't so. Folks modify
the law and say, now I live by the law. They change the law
and say, now I live by the law. God demands perfection. It must be perfect to be accepted. Christ Jesus is my perfection.
He obeyed the law for me and I obeyed the law in him. You
see I'm one with him and when he walked on this earth and loved
God with all his heart, soul, mind and being and loved his
neighbor as himself Don Fortner did that. I'm one in him and
I've got to make complete satisfaction for sin. Justice must be satisfied. I've got to die I've got to die,
I've got to die under the wrath of God and I have, I was crucified
with Christ when he died upon the cursed tree I died in him,
and when he arose, I rose with him. We're one with Christ. Do
you understand that? I don't mean to say, well, that's
the way God sees things. I've been trying to say this
everywhere I go for the last few years. Understand me. Understand me.
Are you ready? Next time you hear somebody say,
well, that's the way God sees things. However God sees it,
that's the way it really is. However God sees it. That's what
it really is. God sees me in Christ Accepted
in the beloved. Guess what? I'm in Christ Accepted
in the beloved and that can't change That can't change God
says I'll be their God and I will not forsake them I will not leave
them and I'll give them one heart. They shall not leave me And I've
got to have a third thing I've got to have a new nature a new
nature I've got to have a holy, sinless, perfect nature. And in the new birth, God created
in me a new man, he says in Ephesians 4.24, created in righteousness
and in true holiness. He created in us, Brother Loyal,
a new nature and made us partakers of the divine nature a holy thing
that can't sin that new man born of God can't sin the old man's
still there but bless God soon he shall be put to death forever
and that's the fourth thing I've got to have a body with which
to walk with God in heavenly glory and in the resurrection
this body I'm in territory I don't know anything at all about and
I don't speculate about things I don't know about well I do
about politics but they don't matter but when it comes to things
of God I don't speculate this body must be sown in the earth
a natural body And you know what the book says? The book says
it shall be raised a spiritual body. A spiritual body. I tell you what, you look up
the word spiritual sometime and find how you connect body with
it. In human terms it can't be done. This body shall be raised
a spiritual body. This earthly shall be raised
heavenly. This mortal shall put on immortality. And I will walk before God forever
with perfect righteousness. Perfect satisfaction a perfect
nature a holy body in eternal glory Christ Jesus came to save sinners
And if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins Now here this fourth thing If you would be saved you
must trust Christ You must trust him Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved He that believeth
on the Son of God hath everlasting life. Faith in Christ doesn't
give you life. Faith in Christ is not the cause
of life. Faith in Christ is not something you conjure up from
within. Faith in Christ is the gift and operation of God. He
that believeth on the Son of God hath already everlasting
life, and faith is the evidence of that. So this is what happens.
This is what happens. A man, woman, Walks in those
doors, hating God. Hating God. You hear the gospel,
I will not bow. I won't have Christ. I won't
trust Him. You go home, hating God. I will not bow. I will not
trust Him. You come again, hear your pastor
preach the gospel of God's grace. Suddenly, something unexplainable
has happened. Maybe it's happened to you tonight.
You find yourself believing God, because you can't help it. You find yourself trusting the
Son of God, because you can't help it. It's called irresistible
grace. It's called effectual calling.
But he that believeth not the Son of God hath not life. He that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, he's born of God. What does that mean? If you walk
down the streets of Sylacauga tomorrow and everybody you meet
asks you to believe in Jesus, I'll guarantee you 99 out of
100 say I believe in Jesus. That's not what it means. Carter
to believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that Jesus
of Nazareth, that man, who lived on this earth 2,000 years ago
really did fulfill everything the prophet said he would do.
He really did make an end of sin. He really did bring in everlasting
righteousness. He really did redeem and save
his people. He really did glorify God. He
really did take his seat on the throne of God. He really does
reign in the universe over all things. He's the king of glory
he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ. He's born of God. He's born of God You must believe
on the Son of God trust Christ and Learn this there's one last
thing if you believe if you trust Christ If you believe on the Son of
God God has saved you by his marvelous grace. It's right there. Right where
you are. Without saying a word. Don't
move your lips. Don't move your lips. Don't close
your eyes. Don't bow your head. Don't pray.
Believe on the Son of God. Come to Christ. If you can. If you can. I know why. Because God Almighty has given
you life and faith in His dear Son. Oh God, will you do that? Will you do that? And even we
who are His. Kenny, I just said to you before
the service, Christ is a mighty refuge. Hide in Him. And I know when I say it, you
can't unless He gives you faith to hide in Him. You can't muster faith in yourself.
Even believers can't muster faith in themselves. You can't pray
unless God gives you faith and grace to pray. You can't believe
unless God gives you grace to believe. So continually cast
yourselves upon Christ Jesus the Lord and seek God's grace
in him. Amen.

A Message From God For You

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

Why is the doctrine of total depravity important for Christians?

How do we know that Jesus is our Savior?

Why is grace essential for salvation?

What does the Bible say about faith in Jesus Christ?

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A Message From God For You

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

Why is the doctrine of total depravity important for Christians?

How do we know that Jesus is our Savior?

Why is grace essential for salvation?

What does the Bible say about faith in Jesus Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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