In the eighth chapter of his
prophecy, Isaiah gives by divine inspiration a word of instruction
to every prophet like himself. Writing by the inspiration of
God the Holy Spirit, he gives God's prophets the instruction
that God had given him as his prophet. In verses 11 through
16, you'll find this word of instruction. Isaiah chapter 8,
verses 11 through 16. Standing here in this pulpit,
speaking to you in God's name, as God's ambassador, it is my
responsibility to faithfully deliver to you the word of God. Without addition, without subtraction,
without adornment, with simplicity and plainness of speech, I am
responsible to declare to you the very Word of God. Look at verse 16, Isaiah 8 and
verse 16. God says, bind up the testimony
Seal my law among my people. The testimony is God's word. Particularly in this place, it
is the word which God had just given to his prophet Isaiah concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, his great person and work, as he would
come into this world as the savior of his people. Back in chapter
7 and verse 14, The Lord said, therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. Then in chapter eight, Isaiah
went in and to the prophetess and she conceived and she bear
a son named Mayor Shalahashbaz, who was a type and picture of
our Lord Jesus, who was to come. Look at chapter eight and verse
13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear
and let him be your dread and he shall be for you a Sanctuary
he shall be for a sanctuary but for a stone of stumbling and
for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel For a gin
and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem He shall be for
some a sanctuary, a refuge, a hiding place. For others, a stone of
stumbling over whom they would trip and fall into hell. A rock of offense. A rock of
offense so that He would be to them an offense they could not
overcome. He would be to them a jinn and
a snare, a trap. with which to entrap their souls.
But for others, it will be a sanctuary, verse 15. And many among them
shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken. The testimony of God is the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is to the unbelieving an offense. To you who are saved, it is the
power of God. Turn to second Timothy chapter
one. Second Timothy chapter one. Paul, the apostle. Is about to
leave this world. And he's writing his last letter
to his son in the faith. His son in the ministry, this
one whom he is so concerned for, Timothy. He's addressing vital
issues. He's writing to Timothy by inspiration
of God. And this is what he says to him
in his last epistle. 2 Timothy 1, verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his prisoner. But be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Now he's going to describe that
gospel. 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. This whole package of
grace, this whole package of blessedness, this whole package
of salvation was given us in Christ before the world began. As Paul says in Hebrews chapter
4 verse 3, the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Read on. But it's now made manifest. It's
brought to light. We understand it. by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Our Lord abolished death by his
obedience unto death and by his resurrection from the dead. But
he brings life and immortality to light by the gospel. So that
when many women hear the gospel by the effectual power of God's
spirit, when God causes you to hear the gospel, he brings to
light in your soul that which he did for you from eternity,
giving you life by his grace. Read on. Verse 11, whereunto
I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the
Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer
these things. That is because of the gospel.
That's the reason I'm in prison. That's the reason I have been
persecuted. That's the reason men have derided
and despised me wherever I've gone all these years. He's saying
to Timothy, don't be ashamed of me or of the afflictions of
the gospel. For this cause also I suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. I'm not embarrassed. I'm not
confused. I'm not confounded. I'm not in
a haste. I'm not in a hurry. For I know
whom I have believed and am persuaded. I stand fully convinced that
he whom I have believed is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. I'm fully convinced that Jesus
Christ, God, my Savior, who loved me and gave himself for me, will
keep my soul unto life everlasting, unto the resurrection day, and
through the judgment. The preacher's responsibility,
back here in Isaiah 8, verse 16, is to bind up the testimony. To bind up the testimony. Let
me see if I can give you a picture. If you had a bag full of diamonds
and you spread them out to show them to someone, then you start
to put them away. Exquisite diamonds. You pick
them up and make certain you've got everyone and you put it in
the bag and you bind it tight and you wrap it tight to make
sure nothing is lost. That's what he's giving us a
picture of. The preacher is to bind up the testimony of God
as something indescribably valuable, taking great care that nothing
be missed and nothing be lost. By diligent study, by prayer,
by preparation, he's to bind up in his own heart and mind,
like a precious treasure, the gospel of God. And then by his
preaching, he is to seal the law among my disciples. Now, the law is used throughout
the scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament, not to
speak merely of the ceremonies of the law or even of the Ten
Commandments, what's commonly called the Decalogue or the moral
law, but rather it is used most commonly to refer to the whole
revelation of God given in scripture. Obviously, in Isaiah's day, it
was very limited, but in our day, we have the whole revelation
of God complete in this book. And the law of the Lord in this
passage refers to the whole revelation of God given in Holy Scripture. It is the responsibility of the
gospel preacher, of every gospel preacher, to establish God's
saints in the doctrine of Christ. Turn, if you will, to Ephesians
chapter 4. This very familiar passage of
scripture to you, I hope. Ephesians chapter 4. This is God's purpose in giving
his church pastors, teachers. God's reason for giving pastors
to be his teachers to his churches. Ephesians 4 verse 11. He gave
some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some
pastors and teachers. for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ. The work of this ministry is
the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body
of Christ. Till we all come in unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Now watch this. 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. I make no apology in this place
or any other for preaching the doctrine of the gospel. the doctrine
of the scriptures, the doctrine of Christ. We sometimes refer
to it as the doctrines of the Bible. That's a mistake. The
doctrine of God is one. It is shown in many things, but
it is one doctrine. And I make no apology for declaring
that. Somebody says, well, I don't
want to hear a doctrinal preacher. Then you don't want to hear a
preacher. It's just that simple. God's servants teach his people
the doctrine of Christ. What is that? That's such a cold
word. Do you teach your children? Well,
I wouldn't dare teach my children. Well, you're not much of a daddy
then. Not much of a daddy. That's what the word doctrine
means. It means teaching. It is my responsibility and every
preacher's responsibility to teach God's people the doctrine
of Holy Scripture. Turn over to 2 Timothy, chapter
4. Again, I remind you this is Paul's
final word to his son in the faith, Timothy. He says in chapter
4, 2 Timothy, verse 1, I charge thee therefore before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ. who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. I don't want you to be tossed
to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Preach the word. I
don't want you to be cast from one thing to the next by every
cunning, deceiving preacher who comes along. Preach the word.
Be instant, constant, in season and out of season. Be constant. reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long-suffering and doctrine. That is, you reprove man's unbelief
and you rebuke that which is evil, you exhort to that which
is good, you do so with long-suffering and you do so with doctrine,
with the teaching of the gospel. For the time will come when men
will not endure sound doctrine. They won't have it. They won't
have it. But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers having itching ears. That is, they'll go out and they'll
hire a preacher and they'll tell him what to preach and he'll
say, well, I'll be happy to oblige. Teachers having itching ears.
Teachers who are like politicians. I hate to be cynical, but it's
hard not to be with regard to preachers or politicians, either
one. If I could find a politician that I thought would never lie
to me, tell me the truth, I believe I'd vote for him. I disagree
with everything he said. And politicians, what was it
you wanted to hear? Oh, the wind blew. Oh, boy, I'm
convinced of that. That's just the way preachers
are. This way they'll hold their finger in the wind, find out
which way the wind's blowing, and they'll run and hurry up
and get in front and act like they're leading. They'll heed
to themselves, teachers having itching ears. And they, these
preachers, having itching ears, will turn away their ears from
the truth and shall be turned unto fables. Fables. The stories that are made up
by men to teach moralisms. Aesop's Fables, you familiar
with it? Real good stories. Lies, but
good stories. Stories that were made up by
men with no foundation at all in truth. But stories made up
by men with no foundation in truth for the purpose of teaching
you moralisms. And that's what's commonly preached
everywhere. Fables. Stories about religion
and about God that have no foundation in truth to teach folks to behave
like Christians. Smile, God loves you and has
a wonderful plan for your life. Tell that to the folks who were
left out of the ark, shut out of the ark in the day when the
flood came. I expect they'd respond, well, he got about a strange
way of showing it. Smile, God loves you. God loves everybody.
If God loves everybody, God's love is meaningless. Jesus died
for everybody. Jesus paid for everybody's sins.
Jesus redeemed everybody. If that's the case, Jesus is
meaningless. The Holy Spirit's trying to save
everybody. The Holy Spirit calls everybody.
The Holy Spirit strives with everybody, but He'll not always
strive. If that's the case, the Holy Spirit's meaningless. The
religion of this world, the preaching of free will works religion,
makes God meaningless. Meaningless. Standing before
eternity bound sinners, speaking in the name of God as I now do,
it is my responsibility to deliver to you the word of God. When
I do, I claim for myself the right to be heard. I know that people think I'm
too dogmatic. I know that people think I'm
a little bit brash. I know people think I'm a little
bit in your face. I stand here to declare to you the word of
God. And having that responsibility,
I claim the right to be heard. I don't preach without preparation.
I don't give out leftover rehashed sermons. I don't come to the
pulpit here, just pull something out of the shelf and pull something
off the computer and say, well, I'll go preach this today. I
don't simply repeat that which I've heard someone else say or
something I've copied down from a book. When I come to the pulpit
to preach, What I preach to you in 45 or 50 minutes has taken
me hours, hours to prepare. And there's never a time when
that's not the case. Never, never. That gives me the right to be
heard, but it doesn't give me the right to be believed or obeyed. I do not claim for myself. or
for any man the right to blind loyalty and allegiance, not for
myself, not for any man. No man, no matter how sincere
he may be, no matter how much you may like him or not like
him, has the right to have unqualified allegiance. Try the spirits,
John says, whether they're of God. Now, I urge you, I've been
telling you this for 32 years, I tell you again, You try everything
this preacher says by this book. Everything by the book, everything,
every word, every doctrine, you are responsible for your own
soul to do so. And I say with regard to every
preacher. To the law and to the testimony
that is to the doctrine of Christ revealed in the testimony of
God given in the book of Holy Scripture. If they preach not,
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them. That includes me, that includes
you if you preach, and that includes the fellow down the road. If
they speak not according to this word, It is because they don't
have any spiritual light. They don't have any spiritual
knowledge. They don't know God, and they
can't help you to know God. Is that too strong? Turn to Galatians
chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1, verse 6. These Galatians, after
Paul had preached the gospel to them and taught them the gospel,
they had some Judaizers come in, that is, fellows who sought
to mix law and grace, sought to mix the works of man and the
works of Christ as a matter of salvation, as a matter of justification
and sanctification and acceptance with God. And Paul writes to
them and says in verse six, I marvel, I marvel, I'm astonished, I'm
astonished. Now you're so soon removed from
him who called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel.
If I, uh, if I were to, for some reason, I feel compelled of God
to, uh, to leave here and go somewhere else and labor in the
gospel. And I came back in a year or
two and you folks are listening to some babbling, will-worshiping
Arminian. And you're listening to some,
uh, lawmonger, someone who, uh, He's acting and preaching totally
contrary to the gospel of God's grace. I'd say, I can't believe
this. I can't believe this. You sat
and listened to me preach the gospel of God's grace to you
for 32 years. And then you turn to this. I can't believe this. That's
exactly what Paul is saying in his Galatians. Verse seven, which
is not another. They turned you to another gospel,
which is not another. But there'd be some that trouble you and
would pervert the gospel of Christ. They use the words that Paul
used. They use words like atonement
and redemption and forgiveness and new birth. They use words
like Paul used, but they gutted them of their meaning and gave
them new meanings, meanings that meant nothing. He said they perverted
the gospel of Christ. But though we are an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be damned forever. That's the word. Let him be accursed. Let him
be accursed. Well, Brother Don, we ought to
pray for them. Yep. Pray God will save them
or kill them. Let him be accursed. Well, you
shouldn't isolate yourselves from others. You need to give
these brethren some room. If Paul said, let them be a curse,
they're not brethren. Have no light in them. All right. I've come here then this hour
to bind up the testimony, to seal the law, to bind up as a
precious treasure that which we dare not lose and to seal
the doctrine of Christ to you. And I believe I've got the message
for it. Nine stubborn statements. I've got nothing new to say to
you at all tonight, but I'm going to speak as dogmatically as I
possibly can. Nine stubborn statements. These
nine statements I'm going to give you go right to the heart
of this thing called Christianity. Right to the heart of divine
truth. right to the heart of the gospel.
About these nine things, there is no room for compromise, no
room for adjustment. There could be no middle ground.
You will either accept them or reject them. You will either
believe them or rebel against them. There's no middle ground.
I say regarding every man who claims to be God's prophet, God's
preacher, that which God said to Isaiah, As I summarize it
in these nine statements, to the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it's because there
is no light in them. All right, let's begin in Psalm
138. Psalm 138. Here's the first statement. Either this book, this book,
written right there, Holy Bible, the sanctified book. Either this
book is, as it claims, the holy, inspired, inerrant word of God,
or it is altogether a lie, deceiving the souls of men and destructive
to men's souls. It is either the word of God
by which we are saved or it is a lie from hell by which you
who believe it are damned. One of the two. There's no middle
ground. There's no middle ground. If the Bible is not God's word,
I'm talking about God's inspired, inerrant, authoritative word
from beginning to end. Totally, absolutely God's word
inspired, breathed of God. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. All scripture given by inspiration
of God. If it is not that, then throw
it away. Throw it away. This book claims
as the word of God. Total sway over our lives. Total sway. Total sway. I am, unless I am
altogether deceived, a loyal, patriotic American. Should my nation call me at my
ripe age today in my present physical condition to go to war
and defend the nation, I would go to war and defend the nation. That's just fact. That's just
fact. But my allegiance in my life, my direction, my
authority in my life, first and foremost, is not the Constitution
of the United States. It is the word of God. The word
of God. This book must be our only rule
of faith and practice. I get in trouble all the time
because I insist that we believe and preach what's revealed here.
Because I insist that we practice the ordinances as our Savior
gave them right here. You wouldn't believe the folks
who get upset with me for insisting that we use bread and wine when
we observe the Lord's table. It's astonishing. It's astonishing. Folks who get upset because we
insist on believer's baptism. We don't tolerate this business
of sloshing a little water on a baby's face and calling it
baptism. We don't tolerate this nonsense of baptizing somebody
and saying that has something to do with salvation. Believers
baptism this book if it is the Word of God Demands total sway
over our lives in our homes in every Aspect of our lives and
total sway in the house of God so that it's our only rule our
faith in practice Now look here Psalm 138 verse 2 The psalmist
makes an astounding astounding astounding statement I will worship
toward thy holy temple and thy praise and praise thy name for
thy loving kindness and for thy truth. Now watch this. For thou has magnified thy word
above all thy name. Has God magnified his word above
all his name? Then I suggest that you read
it. I suggest you find out what he
says in it. I suggest you ask him for grace and understanding
to know it. What does that mean, magnified
his word above all his name? God's name is what he is. God's
name, we're talking about God's attributes. Those attributes
are his name, Adam. That's his name. He declares
his name and sets forth his person, his glory, his work in his name. And he says he's declared his
word, magnified his work above all his name. The only thing
I can grasp from that, and I don't pretend to understand all of
it, is this. Bill Raleigh, the only way you'll
ever know who God is, is by this book. You'll never know God's name,
but by that which is revealed in this book. You'll never know
the person of our God and Savior, but as it's revealed in this
book. You will never know who he is, what he is, and what he
does, except as it's revealed in this book. Somebody says,
well, I worship the God of nature. That means you worship yourself.
I know God, I just know him by nature. I go out and see him
in the stars and the sky and the trees and all the little
birds and fishes. You worship yourself. God's power
is known by nature. His handiwork is that which reveals
something of his nature, his power and his greatness as God.
God's strict justice and holiness is known in your conscience,
stamped on your conscience so that you stand before God guilty
all the time. Those things you know by nature,
but you can't know God except by his word. And you can't know
his word except God sends some man to show you what it means.
That Ethiopian eunuch been up to Jerusalem worshiping and he
comes back riding in his chair reading Isaiah chapter 53. And
Philip walked along there and he heard him reading. The Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. With his stripes we
are healed. And Philip said, buddy, do you
understand what you're reading? And that eunuch said, I sure like
to. How can I? Except some man showed me. He
said, scoot over. That's the reason I'm here. God's
word. Either it's his word or it's
not. There's no in-between grant.
Number two, either God Almighty is absolutely sovereign. I mean
by that in control of all things at all times, or there is no
such thing as God. Turn to Psalm 135. Again, there's no middle ground
between these two points, between God's absolute total sovereignty
and absolute total atheism. To speak of a God who is not
totally sovereign is utter nonsense. Utter nonsense. The atheist who
declares there is no God is more sensible than the Arminian who
declares that there is a God but is helpless. There's absolutely
no middle ground between total sovereignty and total atheism. Look here in Psalm 135, verse
6. Go back to verse 5. For I know
that the Lord is great, and that our God is above all gods. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he. Where? in heaven, and in earth,
in the seas, and in all deep places. People talk about God being sovereign. It's getting to be popular these
days. Have you noticed that? Why, the preachers on television
talk about God's sovereignty. They talk about God being sovereign. Oh, He's so great. That means
He can heal your bank account. Oh, God's sovereign. He can make
you feel better. God's sovereign. He doesn't want
you to be sick. Well, how come you are then? God's sovereign. He doesn't want
you to be poor. If He didn't want you to be poor, you wouldn't
be poor. It's just that simple. Either God rules everywhere or
God rules nowhere. Either he rules everything or
he rules nothing. He's sovereign. He does as he
pleases in heaven above, in the earth beneath, in the sea, in
hell, and in all deep places. Everything's his. Everything's
his. Well, what about the devil? He's God's devil. Did you understand that? He's
God's devil. God's not in rival with the devil. He's not in a warfare with the
devil, hoping he comes out on top. That warfare was settled
before the world was created. Read the 12th chapter of Revelation.
Oh, no, God's sovereign in absolute control everywhere, all the time,
so that nothing in heaven, earth or hell moves or wiggles except
by God's decree. I know preachers, they hear him
in awe and they say, well, You know, everything is either by
God's permissive will or by God's decorative will. Permissive will. That sounds sort of like you
mean, well, God didn't really intend it, and God didn't really
want it to happen, and God did all he could to prevent it, but
since it was beyond his control, he decided to let it go on. That's
called atheism. God rules everywhere. Absolutely. He said, behold,
I make peace and I create evil. I make light and I create darkness. I, the Lord, do all these things. Here's the third thing. Turn
to Psalm 14. 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. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. There's no such thing as partial
depravity or partial goodness, not before God. Either you're
totally sinful and totally depraved, or we're totally righteous and
totally good, and no mixed middle ground. Either you're altogether
dead or altogether alive, there's no such thing as a zombie spiritually. Total depravity. Again, preachers
like to hymn and haul and soft-soap things, you know, and they say,
well, now when we talk about total depravity, we don't mean
that you're as bad as you could be. Would you listen to me? You're
just as bad as you could be. You could not be worse. You could
not be. And my dear friend Mary Lou Duff,
your mama and your wife, and you have the same heart as any
harlot. That's just fact. And my friend Don Ranieri, your
husband, your daddy, got the same heart as any rapist, pedophile
or murderer whoever walked on this earth. And the same is true
of the man talking to you. Our heart is one. The heart's
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. How often
you had folks say, well, if the Lord knows my heart, you can
bet on that. He dead sure does, but you don't. Who can know it? The heart's
deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? Look
here in Psalm 14. 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
together at one time by the act of one man, our father Adam in
the garden, gone aside. They're all together at one time
by the act of one man by our father Adam in the garden become
filthy. There is none since the fall
of Adam that doeth good. No, not one. Man is utterly dead. That means that you're utterly
without ability to even know your condition, let alone do
something to change it. Utterly dead. Dead. How far do you carry that? Just
as far as you can carry death. Dead. Well, what can a dead man
do? Well, Brother Don, you know a
dead man can't do anything. That's the reason I don't expect
anything from dead men. Utterly dead. Dead. Utterly corrupt. Vile. Base. Filthy. Number four, turn to Romans chapter
nine. And I'm going to get done in
a hurry. Either God chose to save some of Adam's fallen race,
chose some to salvation and eternal life in Christ before the world
began, as this book says, or there's no possibility of salvation
for anyone. Salvation is God's prerogative,
not man's. Grace is God's gift, not man's
choice. If God doesn't choose to save
and choose whom he will save, no sinner can ever be saved.
Romans chapter 9, verse 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. God forbid. I wish one of you, or maybe a
half a dozen of you, would get together and do a survey. Do
a survey. And get on the telephone and
call every preacher in the state. Call every preacher in Boyle
County anyway. And ask them how many times in
the last 10 years they've preached from Romans chapter 9, verses
13 through 18. Ask them. Just call tomorrow. Pick
out any of them you want to. And ask, when was the last time
you preached from Romans 9, 13 through 18? And, well, let me find my
talking points about that. This is what God says. Verse
15. He said 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. Oh, that's what election means.
It's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith to 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. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy. And whom he will, he hearteneth. Number five, turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Either the Lord Jesus, the Son
of God, effectually redeemed all for whom he died, or he is
an utter failure. No middle ground. No middle ground.
Folks tell us everywhere that Christ died and he sort of died
for all men, made salvation possible for all men. He justified all
men, redeemed all men, put away all men's sins. If that's the
case, either everybody's saved or he's a failure. There's no
middle ground. No middle ground. But the book
doesn't teach such nonsense. The book of God teaches us that
Jesus Christ, our Savior, who was made sin for us, having satisfied
the justice of God for our sins by the sacrifice of himself,
is now freed from sin, and we're freed from sin in him, being
justified by his blood. That's the teaching of scripture.
Look here in Isaiah 53, verse 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put into grief When thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. My second year in college in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as Piedmont Bible College, called
Piedmont Baptist College now. And they were interviewing a
professor by the name of Thomas George Lawrence, a Welchman,
to come and teach at the school. And so they had him to preach
in chapel one day. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Because of what I believed, and everybody knew what I believed,
they had me sitting just about where that piece of paper is,
about that far from the pulpit, so everybody keep an eye on me.
and see when I misbehave some Arminian yakkin. And, uh, Dr. Lawrence preached from Galatians
chapter five, verse 14. God forbid that I should glory
saving the cost of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, I must glory
in the cost of Christ because it is a covenant respected. He
said, I must glory in the cost of Christ because it's a compassion
revealed. And he said, I must glory in
the cross of Christ because it's a conquest realized. And he began
to work on particular redemption in a good way. By this time,
the only people in that place who were glad he was there was
me. And he knew it. And he'd make
a statement. He'd look at me and he'd say,
what do you think of that? He made this statement. He said,
I glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Because the cross
of Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. What do you think
of that? I thought, glory. It shall never
be discovered a miscarriage, ever. To suggest that Christ's
travail is meaningless is to declare that Christ is no God
at all. I would just as soon embrace
as my brother, a man who denied his virgin birth, as to embrace
as my brother, a man who declared that he's a failure in his most
glorious work. Number six, either we're regenerated
and called, given life and faith in Christ by the irresistible
power and grace of God, the Holy Spirit. Are there no such thing
as salvation? Sinners are dead. That means you can't live unless
somebody gives you life. That means you can't repent unless
somebody gives you repentance. You can't believe God unless
somebody gives you faith. You can't come to Christ unless
somebody gives you legs to come. Dead. D-E-A, dead. D. Now listen to the scriptures.
It is the spirit that quickeneth. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profiteth nothing. You see, grace gives everything
and waits for nothing. Grace does everything requiring
nothing. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto thee. Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. Number seven, either God's people
Are we entirely free from the law as the scriptures declare
us to be? Are we yet under the bondage
of the law and entirely obligated to keep it perfectly? Folks say,
well, in what sense are we under the law? What's the relationship
of the law to the believer? Oh, you don't believe that we're
under the law? Oh, I've heard that's terrible. Somebody said that's antinomianism. Oh, what a wicked, evil thing.
Not under the law. Well, let's see what God says.
You're not under the law, but under grace. We are not under
the law, but under grace. You are become D-E-A-D, dead
to the law by the body of Christ. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Wow! Brother Don, but what does
it say about the relationship of the believer to the law? Christ
hath redeemed us. From the curse of the law being
made a curse for us for it is written. Cursed is everyone that
hangeth on a tree. Number eight. Either every sinner
who comes to Christ is saved by Christ or none are saved by
him. He says all that the father giveth
me shall come to me. Oh, what a statement. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. Every sinner given by
the teaching and power of God's grace comes to Christ. And then
he makes another statement, just as dogmatic, just as plainly
asserted. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. That means, Sammy, if we get
to Christ, everything's all right. How do you come? Any way you
can get there, just get there. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. What does it mean to be saved
by Christ? It's to be completely forgiven of all sin. Fully justified
before God. Perfectly holy in Jesus Christ. Utterly, utterly secure in Him. Now one more thing. Turn to the
book of Jude. The Book of Jude. Either every sinner saved by
Christ shall persevere to the end, being preserved and kept
by God's infallible, immutable grace, or none shall. I had an older preacher friend
of mine that God's been working with, and he called me the other
day and asked for some help. I want to preach on the preservation
of the saints." He said, I think that's different from perseverance,
isn't it? I said, yeah, it sure is, as it's commonly preached. Because most people make perseverance
to be something that depends on you. You got to hang on and
hold out and keep on keeping on. And you do. And you do. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be said. But our perseverance, Merle,
depends entirely on God's preservation. You folks down there believing
once saved, always saved. Well, not necessarily. That depends
on who does the saving. If some aspect of it depends
on David Peterson, shoot. No, I wouldn't trust him to keep
himself or me till we got out the door. No. Now that depends on you. But
If God does the saving, if it all depends on him, why, sure,
I believe in everlasting salvation. I should believe once saved,
always saved. God saved us forever. You say, well, we have so much
trouble to face. If he preserved us unto the day
of our calling, before we ever knew the Savior, he won't have
any trouble preserving us now. Look at Jude, verse one. Paul
said, I'm confident that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Jude 1. This Jude, the servant of Jesus
Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by
God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and then called. Now, look at verse 24. Has God
called you by his grace? Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling. Brother Joe, in his prayer, said
three times, Lord, if we just had a chance, we'd leave you.
And we would. My God, that's the truth. I know
it. But he's able to keep you from
falling. And to present you thoughtless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Amen.