As we make our pilgrimage through
this life, we often come to crossroads. Crossroads laid in our path by
God's purpose to test us. Crossroads laid in our path by
Satan's design to destroy us. His intent is to turn us away
from the gospel. Turn us away from the knowledge
of God, away from Christ, and away from our God. The wise man said twice, there
is a way that seemeth right unto a man. It has a very wide gate. It is a broad way. And it seems
right. It just seems right. It makes
sense. It makes sense to men who have no knowledge of God
and only to them. It seems right to men who do
not know who God is, who have no light, no understanding. It seems right to them, only
to them. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man. It has many names. It may go
by the name of Buddhist, or Islamic, or Jewish, or Christian, or Papist,
or Baptist, or Methodist, or Armenian, or Calvinist, many
ways. It's all the same way. It's the
way of religion that makes salvation ultimately somehow or another
dependent upon men. All men love that way. It seems
right to a man. But the end thereof are the ways
of death. This way is the way of freewillism
and legalism. It's the way of Pentecostalism
and emotionalism. It's the way of ceremonialism
and denominationalism. And somehow when men are turned
aside to the way, it's always the way of worldly advantage. It is always the way of worldly
advantage. When we come to these crossroads,
we must look to the word of God and to the word of God alone
for direction. lest we be deceived and taken
by the craftiness of the wicked one. I've seen many, I've seen many
turned out of the way into another way. Many sitting where you sit and
many standing where I stand. who once professed the faith
of the gospel and seemed zealously committed to it, both those who
supported and encouraged preachers of the gospel and preachers who
once professed to believe it turned aside out of the way.
And I have yet to find any who were turned aside who did not
gain something personally by doing so. Maybe money, maybe position,
maybe recognition, some earthly advantage. I've seen many seduced
by the whore of Babylon, turned out of the way, and intoxicated
by the wine of her fornications in freewill works religion. Turn with me, if you will, to
Jeremiah chapter 6. Several years ago, my good friend,
Brother John Mitchell, called Bruce Crabtree and I to Great
Falls, Montana, to assist in ordaining a young man to follow
him in the ministry pastoring the church there. I spoke to Brother John last
week. He's suffering severely from Parkinson's disease. The
day I was able to talk to him was the first day in two days
he had been able to quit shaking. The doctors finally I got him
where he could get a little bit of rest. This young man who succeeded John as pastor
chose another way. Caused no small pain to Brother
John and that congregation. And John said to me, he said,
I told the church, ask for the good for the old paths Where
is the good way? And walk therein. What wise counsel. Ask for the
old paths. Where is the good way? And walk
therein. That's precisely the counsel
that God gives us by his prophet Jeremiah. Look at verse 16. Jeremiah 6, 16. Thus saith the Lord, stand. Oh, what a good word. Stand. Ron Wood, we must plant our feet
in concrete and stand. Stand. Well, you're not open-minded. I quit being open-minded when
God saved me. Stand. Stand ye in the ways,
and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But as in our day, so in Jeremiah's
day, they said, we will not walk therein. Now this is my subject, ask for
the old paths. When anyone comes to you with
some new thought, presenting some new way, some new doctrine,
ask for the old paths. Those paths marked out plainly
in the word of God, the paths of the flock that lead to the
fold where the shepherd feeds his sheep. the paths of God's
church wherein his people have walked throughout the ages since
God first revealed the gospel to our fallen parents in the
garden, the gospel of his free grace. Be wise, my friends, be
wise, be wise. Don't act like the religious
fools you see around you every day. Religious fools I come in
contact with everywhere I go. They change churches and religions
and doctrines as often as I change shirts. They just, they never
settle, never steady, always looking for something. Ask for
the old paths wherein is the good way and walk therein. Walk therein. Those who find
the good way, walk in it. They're not rushed. They're not
in a hurry. They're not flitting from one
thing to another. They walk steadily. The old paths
are the paths of true righteousness and true holiness, not the paths
of self-righteousness and self-holiness. The old paths are the paths of
sovereign grace and everlasting salvation, not the paths of conditional
grace and conditional salvation. The old paths are the paths of
salvation in which God's saints have always walked and walked
steadily with God. Walked steadily with God. These are the paths in which
Adam walked and Abraham walked. The paths in which Abel walked
and Noah walked. The paths in which Enoch walked
and the paths in which David walked. The paths in which Solomon
walked and the paths in which Simon Peter walked. The old paths,
the good way. The old paths are found in the
gospel of Christ. He is the old path of righteousness. life and salvation. After all,
he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's
the old path. That's the old path. He is that
one who is God's promise to his people. And with him, the promise
is given and ye shall find rest unto your souls. I often challenge
people and I challenge you, challenge you. Does your religion Give
you rest. I mean rest. Ease. Comfort. Not fake stuff. Not just kind of rest that you
go around and brag about. I'm talking about when the chips are down.
And things are tough. And when you face, in reality,
the prospect of eternity. Does your religion give you rest?
If it does, I'd hang on to it. If it doesn't, I'd get rid of
it and find that good old way wherein men have rest for their
souls. Turn to Isaiah chapter 8. Here
we have similar instructions. I just read this passage to the
men back in the office. In this chapter, Isaiah gives
us instruction for every prophet and every preacher. He gives
us the very instructions that God gave to him as his prophet. Standing here in this pulpit,
standing here as God's watchman upon the walls of Zion, speaking
to you in the name of God as God's ambassador. It is my responsibility. It is my responsibility before
God and to your souls to speak to you and faithfully deliver
the word of God without addition, without subtraction, without
adornment. It's my responsibility, Merle,
to teach you what this book says, exactly what this book says.
Nothing less and nothing more. If I don't do that, I've got
no business preaching. And what I said just now concerning
me is true of every man who stands in any pulpit, in any age, anywhere
in the world. He stands as a watchman upon
the walls of Zion. If he's God's watchman, he will
give you the word of God exactly as it is with simplicity and
with such plainness of speech that there's no ambiguity about
his doctrine. I would be utterly embarrassed.
I would be utterly embarrassed if anyone should ask anybody
who attends this place of worship. Anyone from the youngest child
to the oldest man. I would be embarrassed if somebody
came up and said What does your pastor believe about election?
He said well, you know, I think he believes in election I'd be
embarrassed by that. I'd be embarrassed. I'd be ashamed
What does your pastor believe about the work of Christ at Calvary?"
And you say, you know, I think he believes in what they call
limited atonement. I'd be embarrassed. There's no
reason for you to ever question what I believe unless I intend
for you to question it. If a man's honest, he preaches
the word of God with such clarity and simplicity and such boldness
that no one can question what he believes. I'm responsible
under God to give you his word. Look at Isaiah 8, 16. Here's
God's commandment to every preacher. I take it very personally. God
says to me, bind up the testimony. seal the law among my disciples. When Nehemiah was sent to undertake
the work of reestablishing the worship of God in Jerusalem,
we read in Nehemiah chapter 8 that they read in the book of the
law, the book of the law of God, they read distinctly. They read
distinctly. Read it so that everybody could
hear. Read it with proper pause, so
everybody think, read it distinctly, and gave the sense. They read
it and they said, now, this is exactly what that means. This
is exactly what that means. And they caused the people to
understand the reading. That's what preaching is. That's
what preaching is. I've taken from my text Jeremiah
616, asked for the old, paths, the good way. But what does that
mean? Just exactly what is that command? Just exactly what does God mean
for us to do by that? What are these old paths? When
I get done, you're going to know exactly what that passage means. Ask for the old paths, the good
way, and walk therein, and you'll find rest to your soul. We read
the book of the law of God distinctly. We give the sense and we call
people to understand the testimony. God commands me here in Isaiah
816 to bind up. Is this book. This is God's testimony. God's word. He said, bind up
the testimony, seal the law, the word of God among my disciples. This word that was given to Isaiah,
of course, specifically refers to the word God had just given
him. Look back in chapter 7, verse 14. This testimony, this law of God
has everything to do with the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign, and behold, a virgin shall conceive. Do you
know, I actually have read commentaries over the years, a lot of them,
who the commentator couldn't figure out what a virgin was. You would have thought they lived
in 2000, the year 2000. 2010, you might wonder these days,
but back when this was written, well, maybe this was talking
about a young woman. No, it's virgin. A virgin shall
conceive and bear a son. This woman who's never known
a man shall bring forth him who is the first fruit, the firstborn
of God, Jesus Christ the Lord. She'll bear a son and she'll
call his name Emmanuel. This one whom the virgin shall
bring forth. He is God with us. God in our nature. God in our flesh. God in humanity. Emmanuel. Look at chapter 8, verse 14. As is common in the Old Testament
scriptures, the prophecy speaking of the Lord Jesus is given around
a person. the son of Isaiah and his wife
whom he calls the prophetess. That doesn't mean that she also
stood up and preached. That means she was married to
the prophet. She was the prophetess and their son was Meir Shalahashbaz. But the passage is talking about
the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 14, chapter 8. And he shall be for a sanctuary. A sanctuary. sometimes refer to This part
of the church building as a sanctuary I'm thankful you don't please
don't this is not a hiding place. This is not a refuge This is
just the auditorium where we meet worship. God Christ is a
sanctuary He is a hiding place. He is a refuge for sinners He
shall be for sanctuary, but not for everybody. I This same one
who is a sanctuary for God's elect, he shall be for a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offense to both houses of Israel, to
Judah and to Israel. He shall be for a gin and a snare
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this is the purpose. 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. Paul said to Timothy, don't be
ashamed of the gospel, the gospel of Christ, this gospel of God
and his salvation given us in Christ before the world began.
He told Timothy, preach the word, be instant in season and out
of season, reprove, rebuke with all long suffering and doctrine.
He said concerning this business of preaching, of laboring in
the gospel, give thyself wholly to these things. Give yourself
entirely to these. He said, I am the servant of
Jesus Christ, separated unto the gospel. The preacher is responsible
to bind up the testimony as someone who would bind up something that's
indescribably valuable, bind up the testimony, taking great
care that no part of this great treasure be lost. By diligent
study, prayer and preparation, he's to bind it up in his own
heart, in his own mind as a precious treasure. And then by preaching,
by preaching the gospel to others, he's to seal the law among my
disciples. The law, of course, not talking
about the Ten Commandments is not talking about the ceremonial
law. It's talking about the whole
revelation of God, the whole revelation of God. This book. Not part of it, Bob, the whole
book. This is our law. This is our
law. The whole revelation of God is
that now seal the law among my disciples. So it's the responsibility. every gospel preacher to establish
God's Saints in the doctrine of Christ turn over to Ephesians
chapter 4 Ephesians 4 This is the reason God gives
his church pastors pastors according to his own heart Who feed his
people with knowledge and with understanding? Ephesians 4 verse
11 He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists. Those are offices clearly set
forth in the ages of the church. The apostles during the first
era of Christianity. The prophets during the era of
the Old Testament ending with John the Baptist. and evangelist. The best I can make of that are
those who do the work of evangelist, establishing and strengthening
local churches, what our missionaries do on the foreign field particularly. And some pastors and teachers. Some pastors, but not, he doesn't
say some pastors and some teachers. He says some pastors and teachers. All pastors are teachers. If a man is not a teacher, he
is not a pastor. The word has connection with
shepherding. It's a shepherd's responsibility
to feed, to guide, and to protect sheep. That's what a pastor does
by teaching the word of God. He gave some pastors and teachers
for this purpose, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying, the building up 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, the stature,
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." And when you're carried about with
every wind of doctrine, When you're tossed to and fro, moved
from this position to that, from this doctrine to that, it is
by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in
wait to deceive. Now, standing before you tonight, speaking to eternity-bound sinners
in God's name, it's my responsibility to deliver to you the word of
God, to bind up the testimony, and to seal the law. When I do,
I claim for myself the right to be heard. People sometimes
get upset because I insist on folks not disturbing our worship
services. It's not because I'm mean. I
mean enough. That's not the reason for that.
That's not the reason for that. Why don't you want folks running
in and out? Go get a drink of water. Go outside and see whether
it's going to cloud up today or not. Or just get up and move
around. Why don't you want children squalling
in the services or sitting down playing with little race cars
and baby dolls? Because it distracts you from hearing the Word of
God. That's the reason. And this is
just too important. It's just too important. I claim
a right to be heard because I don't preach without preparation. I
don't simply repeat to you things that I have read from somebody
else and copied down from somebody else's book. When I come to the
pulpit to preach the gospel, what I preach to you in 45 or
50 minutes has required of me many hours of labor and study
and prayer and preparation. Many hours. That gives me the
right to be heard. But it doesn't give me the right
to be believed, obeyed, and followed. I don't claim that right for
myself, and I don't give it to anyone else. It is your responsibility
to try what I say by the word of God. It is your responsibility. To try everything I preach by
the word. Try the spirits, whether they
be of God. Try them. See if these things
are of God. Look in verse 20 of Isaiah chapter
8. 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. To the law and to the testimony.
If they speak not according to this word, you've got it in your
lap. If they speak not according to
this word, there's only one reason. It is because they have no light. There's no other reason. Paul
speaks much the same thing in Galatians chapter one. He said,
somebody comes preaching to you some of the gospel. Let him be
damned. Don't you hear it? Don't you
hear it? I've come here tonight to bind up the testimony, to
seal the law, to bind this precious treasure so that nothing is lost,
to seal the doctrine of Christ. And I believe God's given me
just the message by which to do so. I'm going to give you
nine statements. They're not new. I've made them
before. Several years ago, you would
have found them on the back of one of our bulletins before one
of our Bible conferences. These nine statements are stubborn,
irrefutable statements clearly given in the book of God. Nine
statements that cannot be gainsay. Nine statements that cannot be
disputed. Nine statements that just cannot
be debated. They are absolute stubborn statements. You'll either accept them or
you'll reject them. There's no middle ground, no
middle ground. You'll either find it impossible
to believe them or impossible not to believe them, one of the
two. You won't be indifferent regarding these things. All right,
let me give them to you very quickly. Number one. What do you have written on the
spine of your Bible there? Holy Bible. I get just a little upset when
they talk about the mechanic's Bible. Or they talk about the
historian's Bible. Or they talk about the cook's
Bible. I realize the word just means book. Here's the distinction. This is the holy book. There's not another one. The
book of Koran is not a holy book. It's a book of trash. And I intend
for that to be heard. It's not a holy book. The books
that men write and call religious-inspired books are not holy books. They're
books of deception. The Book of Mormon is not a holy
book. It's a lie. And it's well, easily
proved to be a lie. This is the holy book. Now, here's
the first statement. Either the Bible, this book,
is in its entirety the holy, inspired, inerrant Word of God,
or it is in its entirety a lie by which the souls of men are
deceived, eternally damned. There's no in-between ground.
No in-between ground. If this is not the Word of God,
I mean by that, if there's anything in here It
is not written by the hand of God. Anything in here not inspired
of God. Anything. Any statement of history. Any statement of science. Any
statement of law. Any statement of doctrine. Any
statement of ordinance. If there's anything in here that
can be demonstrated that this God did not record. This could
not be from God. then this whole thing is a mockery
to your soul. It is a lie. And the thing for
you to do with it is take it out and burn every copy you find.
Throw it away. Well, no, no, no. Now, I don't
I wouldn't go that far. This has some good moral principles. How are you going to get good
moral principles out of a lie? Either this is God's word or
it is not God's word. To the law and to the testimony.
If they speak not according to this word, it's because there's
no light in them. But if this is indeed God's word,
you better pay attention to it. It must have complete sway in
our lives. It must dictate our doctrine
and our behavior in all things. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost. That's inspiration. This book
was written by Moses and Amos and Jeremiah and Hosea and Peter
James and John and Luke Matthew and Mark and Paul most of these
men Spanning an age of 1,500 years never knew each other They
were men some very highly educated most of them very poorly educated
some of them obviously were being who were a little crass and a
little plain spoken for most polite society, and some of them
very poetic, like Solomon. But these men all gave testimony
in their own words, with their own character, with their own
personality, as God the Holy Spirit directed the movement
of their hands, dictating every word given by inspiration of
God. God says in Psalm 138 or the
Psalmist says, thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Now, I honestly don't have any
idea what that means. I've read everything I can read
on it. I still don't have any idea what it means, but I know
it means at least this much. It's very, very, very important
that we recognize this as God's word. Either it's God's word,
or it's a lie, a deception, and those who follow it shall surely
be damned. Number two, either God Almighty
is absolutely sovereign, in total control of all things, all the
time, or there is no God. It's that simple. It's that simple. Again, there's
no middle ground between the two opinions. These two poles,
there's plain as it can be. Either God's totally sovereign
or there is no God. And every thought that men have
of God is just a delusion. Every thought that men have of
God is nothing but a crutch on which they lean. Every thought
men have of God is nothing but a superstition. Paul said to
those Athenians, I perceive that you are too superstitious. And he's talking about their
gods and their religions. Either God is absolutely, always,
everywhere in control of all things, or there's no such thing
as God. There's no middle ground between
an absolute sovereign and absolute atheism. And I have far more
respect for the atheist who claims there is no God than for the
Arminian who says he worships God and then declares that God
doesn't have any power. Because God is helpless, that
God can't do anything without you. He's got to have your permission. He's got to have your consent.
He's got to have your help. He's in control of the good things,
but not the bad things. I'd rather be an atheist. I'd
rather be an atheist. There is no distinction, no separation
between these things. Either God is God or he doesn't
exist. This is what the book says concerning
him. He doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? This is what the book says.
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. In heaven, in earth, in the seas,
and in all deep places, God has his way. He declares the end
from the beginning. He does all his will all the
time. Well, I have trouble understanding
what the Lord's will is in this day. Is this his will or is that
his will? If it came to pass, it's his
will. If it doesn't, it's not. Just that simple. He's God. Number
three, either man is totally depraved, utterly dead in trespasses
and in sins, or there's nothing wrong with him, And it doesn't
need a savior. There's no such thing as partial
depravity or partial goodness. Either we are totally depraved
and totally sinful, or we're totally righteous and totally
good. Before God, you can't be a little
good. Before God, you can't be almost
righteous. Either you're righteous or you're
unrighteous. Either you're good or you're
sinful. Either you're depraved or you're
not. The book declares that man is
dead in trespasses and in sins. Oh, what does that mean? They pick up the obituary, the
red Senator Robert Byrd from Crab Orchard, West Virginia died
at age 92. He's dead. Well, I wonder what
he's going to do tomorrow. I wonder how he feels about what
went on today. I wonder what he thinks about
this morning's news. Do you have trouble with that word dead?
D-E-A-D, dead, dead. Dead. That means he can't feel
anything. He can't know anything. He can't
do anything. He can't sense anything. He can't
taste anything. He's dead. Dead. That's the state of all men by
nature. You say, well, a man's dead,
but he's not dead like that pulpit. No, he's worse than that. That
pulpit is dead in the sense there's no life in it in any physical
way. Man's death is a spiritual, moral
death which sets him at enmity against God, so that man in his
death hates God with every fiber of his being. He's dead. Dead. That means he's utterly helpless. Utterly helpless. You who are
without Christ are dead. I don't stand here and tell heart-wrenching
stories and tear-jerking illustrations and make passionate pleas to
get you to do something to be saved? Because you're dead. I'll tell you what I do when
God will let me. I make passionate pleas with
God Almighty to do for you what you can't do for yourself. Because
dead folks are dead. Not only dead, but totally corrupt. I read comments by theologians
and preachers all the time, and they try to explain away things.
It's amazing to me how men try their best to make what men hate
sound good to them. Try their best to say, now, I
want to say this, but I can't get it out this side of my mouth.
Let me twist it up and say it this way. You're totally depraved,
but now that doesn't mean you're as bad as you could be. Oh yes
you are. Oh yes you are. You just don't
always get to act like you really want to act. God just restrains
the evil that's in you. The lion shut up in a cage is
still a lion. Turn him loose and you'll find
out. And God hedges men about so they can't behave as they
would if their hearts were bursting loose and running wild in the
streets. Man's totally corrupt. There's
no corruption known to humanity of which you and I are not constantly
guilty by nature. No corruption. Turn to Psalm
14. Let's see. Psalm 14. This is the abbreviated version
of Romans chapter 3. Verse 2. The Lord looked down
from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
That did understand and seek God. Now listen to what it says. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. Filthy. Filthy. There is none that doeth good.
Not one. Number four. Either God chose
to save some of Adam's fallen race. He chose to save some to
salvation and eternal life in Christ before the world began.
As the Bible plainly declares, He did. Our salvation is not
possible for anyone. You see, salvation is God's prerogative,
not man's. Salvation is God's gift, not
something that man chooses. God doesn't choose to save and
choose whom he will save no sinner can ever be saved therefore we
have the picture of Jacob and Esau and the Lord God says Jacob
have I loved and Esau have I hated Folks say well, that's not right.
Take it up with God. He says to Moses I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion and So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
All this, he reveals, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. Number five,
and let me spend just a couple of minutes here. Either the Lord
Jesus Christ, God's Son, is altogether and alone the effectual Redeemer
and Savior of his people, or he's a fraud, a fake, and a failure. Either Christ actually, effectually,
by himself, with his blood alone, redeemed all God's elect, every
sinner for whom he died, or he's a failure, a fraud, and a fake. There's no in-between grant.
Nothing, nothing in-between. Either Christ did what he came
to do, or he's a failure. And if he's a failure, he's not
God, and he's no savior. Brother Frank gave us that blessed
exposition of Isaiah 53 this morning. Turn over there just
a second. Look at verse 10. Isaiah 53, 10. It pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He'll see them, as our brother
told us this morning, justified and sanctified and glorified. He'll see them pardoned, forgiven,
saved in all things by Christ alone. He shall prolong his days
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his head. He
shall see of the travail of his soul. and shall be satisfied. He'll look out over the host
of his elect forever and behold all his people with him as he
is in his glory. And he'll say, I'm satisfied.
Satisfied that's that's the reason I died. That's the reason I gave
my life a ransom That's the reason I suffered the wrath of God and
by his knowledge That is by him knowing whom he has redeemed
and what he has accomplished He shall justify many for he
shall bear their iniquities this crude The blasphemous, idolatrous
doctrine of universal redemption is universal blasphemy. It is
the universal blasphemy of a reprobate religious age who has no knowledge
of who God is. Either Christ redeemed his people
or he didn't. Either he put away our sins or
he didn't. Either he satisfied the justice
of God or he didn't. There's no in between ground.
Christ Jesus died for his people. Scriptures are so plain, so plain. There's not a hint anywhere in
this book that Christ died for folks who go to hell. There's
not the slightest hint of that. He said, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. He said, the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. Oh, he laid down his life for
the sheep and the goats. That's not what he said. And the goats
understood it. They they began to but and he
said we don't like that. We don't like that He said you're
not my sheep didn't expect you'd like it You believe not because
you're not in my sheep Christ hath redeemed us He didn't make
it possible He 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 Well brother Don what's wrong with? telling
people that Christ died for everybody, that there's a sense in which
he shed his blood for everybody. Oh, not much, except that it
blasphemes God. Not much, except that it destroys
every attribute of God. Not much, except that it makes
the grace of God to be in vain. Not much, except that it makes
man his own savior. Not much, except that it makes
Christ a failure. Not much, except that it declares
Christ to be a fraud. You see, universal redemption
reduces the love of God to nothing. God loves you, has a wonderful
plan for your life. Every time I see that silly slogan
on a church sign or a bumper sticker, I can't help but to
think of Brother Noah. Can't you imagine him putting
out a big banner on the back of that ark? As he goes floating
over the horizon and folks are gurgling for their last breath
and he says, smile, God loves you. He's got a strange way of showing
it. If this is what you call love. Universal redemption makes
the love of God. Nothing. Nothing. God loves folks
who go to hell just like those folks are in heaven. If so, what's
the use of his love? Of what benefit is it? What difference
does it make? None. Universal Redemption perverts
the justice of God. It declares that Christ paid
the debt for all men and God still demands that you pay the
debt. Well, that's a perversion of
justice. Universal Redemption makes the wisdom of God foolishness. For it suggests that God gave
his son to redeem and save folks who were already in hell when
he died. Find me some wisdom there. Universal Redemption makes
a mockery of Christ, a mockery of God, and declares that Christ
died in vain. How many times have you heard
preachers say, trying to get some sinner to pretty please
let Jesus be his Savior, oh, won't it be a shame that Christ
died in vain for so many? It would be, to him, to him. Universal Redemption makes the
death of Christ completely meaningless, as insignificant as the death
of any man. We believe, according to the
scriptures, that Jesus Christ actually redeemed his people
from their sins. He actually put away our sins
by the sacrifice of himself. Number six, I'll be very brief. Either we're regenerated and
called to life and faith in Christ by the irresistible power and
grace and omnipotent mercy of God the Holy Spirit, or there's
no such thing as salvation. What will it take to get a dead
man to believe? What will it take to cause a
dead man to see his need of a Savior? What will it take to convict
a dead man of sin and righteousness and judgment? Something totally
outside himself. It's called the work of God the
Holy Spirit. It's the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. You can go through all the religious
mumbo-jumbo you want to with folks. You can dress them up
from the time they're babies and sprinkle a little water on
their face and call them Christians. And you can bring them into the
church and confirm them and get them to act like little Christians.
And you can raise them up in the church to be little Pharisees
and act like they're Christians and let them go to their grave
acting like they're Christians and go to hell with their religion.
But man can't give life. Only God can. Salvation is of
the Lord. Number seven. I can't spend any time here,
I'll come back to it, I promise, because it needs to be come back
to. Either God's people are entirely free from the law, as this book
says they are, or we're all together in bondage to the law and entirely
obligated to keep the law perfectly. Now, this is the language of
the book. In Romans chapter 6, in chapter 5, Paul's been dealing
with justification. In chapter 6, he tells us to
confess Christ in baptism and live for God. Live for God. Now, if you're going to teach
that we live under the rule of the law, Romans chapter 6 is
the place to do it. That's the place to do it. And
Paul does the dumbest thing. I mean, it's absurd what he did.
He said, you're not under the law, but under grace. What does that mean? That means
we are not under the law, but under grace. That's what it says
in verse 50. Then in chapter seven, he says, you're dead to
the law. Then in chapter 10, he says,
Christ is the end of the law. Oh, well, what place does the
law have in the believer's life? Christ is the Let me see if we
can get this right. E-N-D. Anybody got a dictionary? What
does that mean? End. End. Let me put it another way. Is
there anybody here who doesn't know where the end of the road
is? That's where the road stops, isn't it? That's the end of the
road. You go out here to the end of the road and you take
a right. That's where the road stops. Christ is the place where
the law stops. We're free from the law. Well,
but the law must be obeyed. Yes, sir. The law must be satisfied. Yes, sir. But you can't do it.
Oh, yes, I can. I can. I believe on the son of
God. And by faith, Romans chapter
3, verse 31, we establish the law. We offer God what God requires,
perfect righteousness, perfect obedience. Number eight, either
every sinner who comes to Christ is saved by Christ or none are
saved by him. Every sinner. I call you to come
to Christ. Come to Christ. And I make this
promise. On the basis of what God's note,
what Christ himself, who is God says in his word. Him that cometh
unto me. I will in no wise cast out. Now, folks will say you got to
come this way and you got to come back. You got to feel this
and you got to go through that. You got to do this and you got
to know that. Oh, what's required? Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Trust Christ. Trust Him. Well, I don't know whether I
trust Him enough or not. That's not what He said. That's not what
He said. Well, I don't know if I've come
the right way or not. If you come, you've come the right way. If
you come to Him, you've come the right way. Well, but now,
now tell me about your experience. Ain't none of your business.
None of your business. Tell me about how you came to
know the Lord. Every time I hear somebody say
that, I want to punch him in the nose because I know he wants to sit
down and say, well, I'm going to decide right here and now
whether you really know the Lord or not. None of your business. He that cometh unto me, the Savior
said, I will in no wise cast out, come to Christ and live
forever. One last thing. Either all who
trust Christ shall persevere to the end or none shall. The righteous shall hold on his
way. He shall with clean hands grow
stronger and stronger. How can that be? How can that
be? I stand more firmly confident of security
in Jesus Christ today than I ever have. Because I am more convinced today
than I've ever been that there's nothing in me but sin. I've got nothing on which to
hold, nothing to trust, nothing to commend me to God, nothing
to give me acceptance with God. Nothing to give me peace with
God, and I have everything. Oscar, I trust Him. And my perseverance doesn't depend
on me holding Him. It depends on Him holding me. And He says, I give unto them
eternal life, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. Amen.