I titled my message tonight,
Works or Grace? Works or Grace? And my message tonight is under
actually three headings because there's three things stated here. He states here two covenants.
Two covenants are declared in this relationship of Abram to
Sarai, his wife, and to Hagar, and to their two sons, Ishmael
and Isaac. Two covenants. There are also
two Jerusalems represented here, and there are two outcomes. Genesis
chapter 16 is about Abram and Sarai, his wife, Reasoning among
themselves. Just a common discussion. God has made a promise. He's
going to produce a seed. And in that seed, He's going
to raise up a people more than the stars in the sky and the
sands on the seashore coming through this seed. But no seed
appears. And Sarah is barren. And so she thinks about it and
he thinks about it. She said, well, I have this maid
that I could give you as a wife. Maybe that's how God's going
to fulfill this promise. So we'll do it this way. You go in to the maid. I'm going
to give this maid to you for a wife and have this child. It's about natural reasoning,
fleshly ideas, and instituting things that God has not instructed
us to do. It's about impatience and it's
about ignorance. Hagar is forever a symbol of
the things we appropriate to have for ourselves what it seems
like God is unwilling to give. Hagar is a symbol of the flesh. It's a symbol of the flesh's
inabilities, of its reasoning, of its ignorance, and of its
presumption. And in order for you to see that
what I'm saying here is not just speculation, I just read this
to you, and if you've never read this before or never thought
about this or never heard it taught or preached from, you're
sitting there and thinking to yourself, how in the world did
he get that out of that? Well, I'm going to show you.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 9. I want you to see that what
I'm saying here is not just speculation on my part, And I want to read
two portions of Scripture over in the New Testament that refer
back to this story about Abraham and Sarah and Hagar and of their
two sons. Now, the Scriptures are bipocal,
and while they record what actually took place, and while if you
look at what actually took place, there is some instruction there
to you. There's some practical application
there for you, which I've already mentioned to you, about trying
to institute things that God has not instructed us to do.
Trying to sit around in natural reasoning and say, well, I think
maybe we ought to just do things this way. Wouldn't it be easier
if we just did things this way? No, it would be easier if we
obeyed God. That's why these things are recorded. There is
a natural application to all these stories here, and I try
to declare them to you as we go. But the scriptures bifocal
and while they record what actually took place and stand clearly
as examples unto us. And we're told this in the New
Testament that they're recorded for our admonition upon whom
the end of the world has come. And we're told this, they were
examples of things and they were recorded so that we don't go
do the same thing. That's what it says. You have
all these things, he said, as examples that you not follow
after what they did. But there are also patterns of
things to come and figures of heavenly things and shadows of
good things to come. Now look here in Romans 9, verse
3. Paul praying for Israel. He said,
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for
my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites,
this is Romans 9, 4, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, all of
God's dealings with men He did through the nation of Israel.
He called them alone His children. He revealed to them alone His
glory. He established with them His
covenants. They had the law of God. They
had the priesthood. They had the sacrifices. All
the blessed things that typified Christ crucified, Israel had
and Israel enjoyed. And they alone carried the scrolls,
the sacred scrolls, the Word of God. None but Jews carried
those scrolls. And in these scrolls were contained
all the promises of God. But when the Redeemer came, they
rejected Him. They rejected Him. They refused
to bow to Him, would not own Him as their King. refused to
let go of their outward ceremonial religion, refused to turn loose
of their religion of legalism and self-righteousness. Paul
goes on to say in verse 5, whose are the fathers? What's he talking
about there? He's talking about these men
that we've been reading about. He's talking about Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and David, and on
and on and on, and all the prophets. And of whom, as concerning the
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Not
only were the fathers Israelites, but Christ came, born of a Jew. Born of a Jew. Now watch what
he says here in verse 6. They rejected Him. They wouldn't
have Him. They wouldn't bow to Him. Would have none of Him. Cried, cried before Pilate, crucify
Him, crucify Him. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are
of Israel. Not every man that can trace
his lineage back to Abraham is necessarily a Jew." That's what
he's saying here. Verse 7, "...neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called." That is, They which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Now watch this. For
this is the word of promise. At this time will I come, and
Sarah shall have a son. You see that? That's the promise. That's the promise. The children
of the living God as he has established throughout the history of men
are the children of God by divine election and are called of God
and appear in their time according to the promise of Abraham. Just
the same way this miraculous unexplainable birth of Isaac
because he was promised. So it is with the children of
God of all ages. They appear in God's time when
He calls them. He calls them by His grace. And
they are made sons through faith. Now watch this. Turn with me
over to Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. Let's start reading here in verse
22. For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory,
for these are the two covenants, The one from the Mount Sinai,
which gendereth to bondage, which is agon." Now, gender means to
specify or categorize. When they ask you what your gender
is, they're talking about are you male or female? You categorize. Gender means to classify, distinguish
as what kind or what sort. For this Agar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem." Now, that's just an old English
phrase, and what it means is it's connected. It answereth
to, it means it's connected. Geographically, it's right beside,
right beside Jerusalem. Which now is, and is in bondage
with her children. And the sense here is that it's
inseparable, as it is inseparable in geography, so it is inseparable
in their religion. This Mount Sinai, this bondage
of the law, is forever connected with Jewish legalism. It's forever
connected with that natural Jerusalem, that earthly Jerusalem, and that
religion that was there. It's forever, forever connected
to. bondage. All through the New
Testament he uses those things to show us that. But he said
Jerusalem which is above. Now we've got two covenants and
we've got two Jerusalems. You see there's one that's on
this earth. It's connected geographically
to Mount Sinai. It's connected spiritually. It's
connected with that bondage of the law. But there's also a heavenly
Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which is above, is
free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice
thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry thou that
travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children than
she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are children of the promise. But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the
Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren,
we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Now whatever
else, whatever else the lives of Saber and Hagar and these
two sons teach, the main reason why God Himself allowed these
things to be was to teach us these lessons set forth in this
allegory. Would you agree to that? That's
why they're here. He didn't call attention to anything
else. He said these things are an allegory. Ain't that what he said? These
things are the two covenants. These things here represent the
two Jerusalems. And there are two outcomes from
those things. So let's look at these things
and see if the Lord will give us another glimpse into the glory
of His gospel. Now let's begin here with what
the Holy Ghost says are these two covenants. Two covenants. Now there are many covenants
given in the Scriptures. But all of these many covenants
come under only two headings, works and grace. Our God is a
covenant God. All His dealings with men He
does by covenant. You find it in the Scripture,
and He made a covenant with Abraham. And He made a covenant with Israel.
And these two covenants all come under these two headings of works
and grace. And he uses Abraham's two children,
Ishmael and Isaac, to set them before us and show us what these
two covenants are all about. And if we study these things,
we'll find out that these two covenants, these two covenants
set forth by these two boards, operate on two distinct principles,
flesh and spirit. That's what's behind these two
covenants. And the results or the outcome
of these two covenants differ as much as everything else in
those covenants. One, it says, gendereth unto
bondage. And one sets us free, sets us
at liberty. Now in these verses, both in
Romans 9 and Galatians 4, the Holy Spirit of God gives us the
spiritual reason and explanation for the natural relationship
between Sarah and Hagar, and Ishmael and Isaac. And he shows
us that these things were by God's design just an earthly
picture of the gospel truth of what's revealed here. And this
truth that's revealed here is essential to a good understanding
of the gospel and a proper understanding. So first of all, let me get this
out of the way. Let me just ask you a simple
question. What is the covenant? When we
talk about a covenant, what in the world are we talking about?
He says there's two covenants set here. What is a covenant?
What is a covenant? Well, I found this explanation.
It is a promise made upon conditions before stipulated in the agreement. That's what a covenant is. We
make a contract. But we don't just throw it out
there blindly. You may, when you first start
business, that's what they call the school of hard knocks, until
you have to eat a good bit of the thing that you bid on. And
then the next time you bid on it, you begin to stipulate what
it is you're going to do. So you see what he's saying here?
This covenant is a promise made upon conditions, and these conditions
are before stipulated in the covenant. The covenant of works
was initiated in the Garden of Eden, and just generally, I'm
not going to go into specifics, but generally it says this, and
it says it every time it appears throughout the Scriptures. It
says, do this and live. Whatever it is. Whatever those
demands or commands of God are, it says, do this and live. Do it and live. The covenant
of grace was made with Christ who freely and willingly agreed
to its demands and the consequence was this. And also I want to
say this about this covenant of works. It had punishments
behind it. It doesn't just say do this and
live. It says don't do this and die. Now God told him, he said, of
all the trees in the garden you may freely eat. Whatever you
want. You want peaches, eat peaches.
You want cherries, eat cherries. But this tree don't eat. In the
day you eat, thou shalt surely die. That's the covenant of words. Do this. Don't do this. And it's attached with a punishment. Thou shalt surely die. Go through
the Scriptures. Every time this covenant of works
appears, it appears at the giving of the law at Sinai. Do all these
things and the Lord will be with you. The Lord will dwell with
you. He'll go with you. He'll bless
you. But in the day you transgress this law, you're going to die.
You're going to pay its demands. That's the covenant of works.
And the covenant of grace was made with Christ who freely,
willingly agreed to all of its commands. And the consequence
was this, in order for those for whom He made this covenant,
in order for them to live, Christ must surely die. He must die. He must die. Every man born of Adam is born
under the curse of the covenant of works. Obedience to God's
commands is demanded and threatened by judgment and the fires of
hell, whatever that is. Whatever that is. You say, well,
I don't even know all the law of God. Ignorance of the law
is no excuse. You ever heard that? We're all commanded. And I tell
you this, once you put your hand to it, you have to keep it off.
You have to keep it off. Every man born of Adam, born
under the curse of the covenant of works, in obedience to God's
commands, is demanded and threatened by judgment. And this is why
in the Scripture, the very holy law of God is called a curse. The law is not a curse in and
of itself. Wherein lies the curse is in
the flesh. The flesh cannot keep the law. The flesh cannot do what God
commands to be done. Does that relieve him of the
responsibility? Not one iota. And I tell you
this, if God ever opens a man's eyes to see that, he'll see his
helplessness before God. This is what God demands. And
He's just to demand it. He's God. He's the potter. I'm the clay. He says, do this
and live. Don't do this and die. He's just
in doing it. But I don't have the ability
to do it. And therein is the curse. And once you see it, you
just see yourself being swept away. Swept away. You want to
do something about it and can't. You can't. It's a curse to man because he
has a fallen nature. The Bible says, as in Adam, all
die. The sin of the first man, that
sin, that judgment of God upon him passed upon all men. Cursed by this fall. And this
is what the Scripture calls spiritual death. Death is presented in
the Scripture in three ways. There's a physical death. Every
son of Adam dies physically. And they live 969 years. That's a long time. Then he died. And they all died. Every one
of them, all but Enoch. And then there's spiritual death.
We're born into that. That's our state before conversion.
Spiritual death. Inabilities. And then there's
eternal death. And if God doesn't intervene
and do something about this spiritual death, we all, we all are going
to suffer eternal death. There has to be an intervention
of God because man doesn't have the ability to do for himself
what God commands him to do. Spiritual death is our condition
as we're born into this world. It leaves us to walk with all
Adam's cursed race. We walk after the course of this
world. It leaves us to walk with all
Adam's cursed race, and it leaves us unable to resist the power
of God, of the God of this world. His influences and his ministry
and his effects upon men is irresistible. He knows how to twist things
and turn things and men actually, if you say anything at all about
his ministers or about his ministry, natural men will jump up and
defend him. That's how good he is. That's how much power he
has. And his power lies in his deception. That spiritual death leaves us
unable to resist the power of the God of this world, and it
leaves us a child of wrath even as others. But this curse of Adam's fall
in no way lowers the standard or changes the terms of the covenant
of works. It goes unchanged. I want you to listen to this
over here in Galatians 3, verse 10. And I want you to think about
this. I've been taking my time tonight. I've been quoting a
lot of these old writers, some of the newer writers. I've been
trying to build a foundation here for some things I'm getting
ready to tell you. But Paul makes this very clear.
about these standards and about this law in Galatians 3, verse
10. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. The covenant of grace is
an agreement between the sacred persons of the Godhead I wasn't
present at the time when it was made. I don't think any man can
put a time. It's hard to even talk about
that covenant and call a beginning, because it's eternal. It's as
old as God. How old that is, that's how old
this covenant of grace was. I wasn't present at its When
it was given, I wasn't present at its ratification. I wasn't
present when it was accomplished. It cowered. I wasn't there. This covenant was not based on
my doing, but on one appointed to do for me. This covenant was
not based on my righteousness, but upon the righteousness of
God in a substitute. And this covenant was not based
upon my paying for my crime. but upon the redemption accomplished
for me in the death of one appointed for me." Works and grace. And this covenant of grace is
not made sure by my oath, it's not made sure by the things that
I do, but it's made sure by God. He said, for God, because He
could swear by no greater when He made this covenant with Abraham,
He swore by Himself and He said, surely, blessing, I will bless
thee. God's own oath behind this covenant. It actually says, I'll bless
thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." And so after
he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Why did
he obtain it? Because God swore by himself
that he was going to obtain it. And he did. This everlasting
covenant of grace, David said on his deathbed, he said, it's
ordered in all things and sure. ordered in all things and sure. Although my house be not so with
God, there is no testimony there, yet hath God made with me an
everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. And David
said, This is all my salvation and all my desire. You can pretty
much count on what a man says on his deathbed to be true, can't
you? He's not playing games anymore. Ordered in all things, I'm sure.
I'm told that the very resurrection of Christ was through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Isn't that what Paul said over
in Hebrews? As he was raised and seated at
the right hand of God, even so were those whom he was appointed
a surety for. Works and grace. Two covenants. Two covenants. Works and grace. There is no mixture. There is
no place for mixture of works and grace. I've been accused
when I preach on the subject of grace. I stand and I preach
on that and I say, preacher, where do works fit in? Well,
they don't fit in with the subject of grace. And grace don't fit in with the
subject of works. Works and grace do not mix. They do not mix. There's no mixture. And God Himself made this distinction. I want you to listen to it. He
said, if it be of grace, that's what we're talking about. If
it be of grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace
is no more grace. I cannot squeeze my work into
it anyway. It's grace. But, if it be of
works, I can't squeeze grace into it. Otherwise, work is no
more work. Now, that's what God said about
it. I'm telling you, you can build yourself a religion, and
men do. And what they try to do in all
these religions, just sit down, don't say nothing to them. Sit
down, let them talk to you for a while, and listen to what they
say. This one is going to take works and squeeze it into grace,
and this one is going to take grace and squeeze it into works.
And they don't mix. They don't mix. And God said
if you do, then work is no more work, and grace is no more grace. No more grace. And I tell you this, this distinction
lies at the very heart of the gospel. And it separates us even
from those who appear to be close to us in doctrine. And I tell
you this because I've learned this in the Word of God and by
my own experience. And it's one of the most difficult
things in the world to see the difference between the things
that we do and the things that God does in us and for us. It is so hard, so hard to see. There's works commanded of God
to do that can damn my soul forever depending on why and how I do
them. Huh? Worship can be a damning
thing if I do it for the wrong reason, if I do it in the wrong
way. Cain came to worship God, didn't
he? But he came for the wrong reason,
and he came the wrong way, and he offered the wrong sacrifice,
and God cursed him forever. You see what I'm saying? There
are works commanded of God to do that can damn my soul forever,
depending on why and how they're done. A good work is determined
by why and how it comes to pass. A good work is the result of
grace, not the reason for it. A good work is a work that is
produced of God in me, working that salvation out. Let every
man work out his own salvation in fear and trembling, for it
is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
pleasure. I don't deny that a man has to
be willing when he comes to Christ. He will be willing, but he'll
never be willing of his own. If he is, it's a work, and it's
not grace. He has to be made willing. We are, Paul said, his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. And there's a work which
we can do if we're not careful that hope somehow to merit salvation
and assist God to accomplish His promise and to help make
that sacrifice and those conditions of that covenant effectual or
add something to it or make it appear a little better Or just
shine it up. And these things are an abomination
to God. They're an abomination to God. It dishonors God, it ignores
His covenant of grace, and it denies His power of grace. And even those who are true believers
and who are convinced of justification by faith without the deeds of
the law are often deluded. That's what this whole book of
Galatians is all about. These people were saved. They
weren't lost. They were saved. Paul points
them back to that work of the Holy Spirit in them at the very
beginning. And then he goes through and
he shows them how this salvation of grace must be all of grace. But they're deluded and deceived
into believing that they're now sanctified by somehow keeping
the law. That somehow in keeping certain
ceremonies and rituals and traditions, we improve our standing with
God and gain in favor and fellowship with God. This applies not only
to our religious works, these ritualistic works, I'm just going
to snatch some out of there, just going to church, standing
and singing a hymn, leading a congregation in prayer, all that type of thing,
praying in your closet at home, all these type of things. It
doesn't just apply to those things. But it also applies to experiences
and feelings and anything else that I might substitute in that
place. We either stand before God in
the strength of the flesh, by our own ability, by our own good
works, bound by covenant agreement to obey God in perfect, continual,
spiritual obedience. That's what He demands. Now you
either stand there like that, Or we stand by the grace of God
given in the person of an everlasting charity, fully depending, fully
resting on the person and work of Christ. That's works and grace. Now, one of the old writers said
this. I wrote it down. I don't want
to misquote it. We cannot simultaneously be under the law and under grace. We are either children of the
bondwoman in bondage to the fruitless religion of works, or we are
children of the free woman and enjoy the glorious liberty of
the children of God. We are either slaves like Ishmael
or we are heirs like Isaac. One or the other. One or the
other. And he also said this, the same
writer, this covenant of works is binding This covenant of works
I'm talking about is binding even if the work required is
to believe, trust, commit, or surrender. If you do any of those
things as a work before God, then it stands as a covenant
of works. even of the grace of faith."
I want you to listen to this. Paul, he gives a double warning
in Ephesians chapter 2. He said, by grace are you saved
through faith. That's what I just got through
talking about here. Substituting this thing of faith as a word.
By grace are you saved through faith and that, not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship. All of grace. All of grace. Like Sarah and Abraham reasoning
in the flesh how to bring about this promise of grace, religion
reasons how to assist God in the salvation of sinners. How
to produce that promised heir. And the best the old bondwoman
can produce is a slave, not a son. That's the best. That's the best. Jealous, proud, he persecutes
the true heir, denies the free grace of God, and robs him of
the glory of his work. And God tells us in no uncertain
terms that the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir. It ain't going
to happen. I tell you, he told those Jews,
he said, you accomplished sea and land to make one proselyte
like unto yourselves, and when you've made him, that's what
we're talking about here. Trying to make an heir. Trying
to work this thing out. That's what happened about 200
years ago. A bunch of people got together
and had a council and said, man, there's nobody coming to church
anymore. There's nobody coming out. Nobody wants to hear this.
We've got to fill the church up. And so they watered down
the gospel of God's sovereign grace and now look at what, here's
the results, is Billy Graham. Billy Sunday. Go on and on and
on with it. Coming down the aisle, shaking
hands. Man's choice, man's free will. Butchered, butchered the
gospel of God's sovereign grace. And I tell you, he establishes
these things here with these two boys, and he said, here's
the two covenants right here. Here they are. And here's the
two principles. The Spirit of God and man's fallen
nature. flesh. The son of the bondwoman shall
not be heir with the son of the free woman. Christ has a bride,
and she by nature is barren. I can't produce an heir, can
you? Huh? I can sit and talk to him
all night long, and do sometimes. I can sit and reason with If
I think God has given you some grace and God has maybe working
with you by His Spirit, I'll sit and reason with you. I'll
sit and go through the book with you. We'll look at things. We'll
look at them. We'll ask God. I want you to
learn. I want you to know. But I tell
you, I can't produce an error. At the end of the day, if God
doesn't do the work, you're going to walk away confused and so
am I. I'm going to walk away disappointed.
How can they hear these things and not believe? Not believe. I remember before I came down
here, about six months before I came down here, I met a man
and he seemed to have an interest for these things. He'd never
heard anything like it. And invited me over to his home. And I'd
sit in his home sometimes four and five hours at a time. and
talk to him and tell him and go here and quote scriptures.
And it amazed him that I was able to quote scriptures. He
went to a church of Christ. Evidently, they don't know the
scriptures. They can't quote anything. But he would turn over. I'd tell him about where it was,
and he'd turn over, and I'd be quoting, and he'd just be grinning
like a possum when I was telling him these things. But I sat there
for hours on end talking to him about these things, and I'd just
go right in one ear and out the other. Next day, he was right
back where he started from. I can't produce. I'm barren. I'm barren. Christ has a bride
and she by nature is barren. She does not have the ability
to produce an heir. But she has the promise of it.
Huh? That's why I preach. I've got
the promise of it. She has the desire for it. I
have a desire, don't you? I want to see her air produced. I want to see a man come. I don't
want to see men go out angry. I don't want to see your loved
ones get angry at you. I want them to come and I've
got the promise of it. I have the desire of it. She has God's oath that it will
be. But she's totally dependent. on the free grace of God to accomplish
the work. I can't do it. I can't do it. And when the power of God comes
upon her, she'll prevail and sons and daughters will be born.
And everything that has to do with the redemption of sinners
is the result of God's everlasting covenant of grace. Now listen
to this now, close. In Genesis 17, 19, listen to
what God says. And he repeats this, he repeats
it two or three times. Now listen to what he says, And
God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou
shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, verse 21, which Sarah
shall bear unto thee at this time in the next year." At this
time. At this time. Now listen to this,
Romans 9.9, for this is the word of promise, at this time I will
come and Sarah shall have a son. Now that's how it's going to
be. That's how it's going to be. And in spite of my foolishness,
and in spite of my ignorance, and in spite of my weakness,
I stand up here and preach with the promise of God that He's
going to produce an heir. And I look for it. I look for
it. And I tell you this from the
very beginning, this has been the experience of all those called
of God. Listen to this, 2 Timothy 2.19.
He said, nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal. The Lord knoweth those that are
His. He does. I don't, but He does. There are two Jerusalems. I don't
have time to get into all these things. I'm just going to state
them for you. There's two Jerusalems. Two Jews. Two Israelites. A natural
and a spiritual, one earthly, one heavenly. One in whom is
manifested the covenant of works and one in whom is manifested
the covenant of grace. And there's two outcomes, bondage
and liberty. A prison or freedom. One or the other. Our Lord illustrated
that. They called old Barabbas out
of that prison. And he thought all that time
he couldn't, he didn't know what was going on. He's sitting down
there in that prison and the only thing he could hear is when
their voices got really loud. And he knew that he was to be
punished that day. He knew that those the crimes
that he'd done, it was payday. It was time to pay it back. Whatever
the judge said, that's what he had to do. And he listened to
the people out there and he didn't know all that much about Jesus
Christ. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know that
everything going on outside was about that. He thought it was
about him. He sat down there in that prison cell and he'd
hear that voice come up, crucify him, crucify him. Boy, you won't
think cold chills went down that man's back, down his arm. He
thought they was talking about him. And then the soldiers, you
could hear them boots coming down that aisle, down that old
stone prison. Man, you could hear them coming
down that aisle to get him. And I tell you, when you... People
joke and play around about life all day long, but when it comes
time to die, they get that cold, green, kind of white, flush look
in their face and The blood just kind of drains from your body
when you hear that voice of God. It's all over. It's all over. And he heard them boots coming
down the aisle. And you know that's just the
way he said it. And they come up and they opened that door
and they grabbed him and out he come. Led him up there to
the top and just about the time he thought they were going to
take him and put him on that cross, they took them shackles
off and said, you're free to go. Free to go. That's grace. Huh? That's grace. I tell you, God
comes and convinces a man of sin. And when He does, I'm telling
you, you'll flush. You'll know that's it. That's
it for you. There's no hope for me. Am I
telling the truth? When he convinces a man of sin,
he's gone. He's gone for everything he knows. He's gone. There's no reason.
God be just. If He took me and put me in hell
today, it would actually be a blessing because my sins are just piling
up and piling up. Like Judas, it would be better
if I had never been born. But in the midst of that, He
comes to him. He comes to him and He says,
died in your place. That grace, that grace, that's
how heirs are born.