Good morning to each of you.
It's good to see you. Thank God for the opportunity
to once again meet in His precious Son's name. We'll never know
on this side of glory how wonderful it is to be able to sit and hear
the truth about God Almighty. I was thinking this week, we're
By God's grace, we're getting a new sign for the church. And
it's a bit overdue. I'll take the blame for that.
But Glenn got a mock-up of kind of what the sign was going to
look like. And as I looked at the mock-up of the sign, I couldn't
help but to think about the name, Sovereign Grace Church. As you know, we changed the name
a few months ago. It had been Laird Street Baptist
Church for many years, a church that faithfully preached the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we found out, or I did anyway,
most of you knew, that Laird Street was no longer a street.
and felt like it could have caused some confusion, but I suppose
the main reason we changed it was because we wanted our name
to say something about what we believe. Sovereign Grace. Sovereign Grace. And I'm a little
amazed at how few men and women don't have a clue what that term
sovereign grace means. I've often said I believe in
sovereign grace. I preach the gospel of sovereign
free grace of God in Christ and they go, sovereign? Webster describes
that word as superlative in quality. But you know, that just seems
to fall short. Webster also says, one with supreme
authority and power. I like that, but it still doesn't
seem to describe the God of this Bible. It's infinitely above
and beyond that. One of the most exalted kinds. It almost sounds like we exalted
him. He was exalted long before we
ever came into being, so that even seems to fall a bit short.
One having undisputed power and authority, well, that's getting
better. Still seems to fall short of the power that he has. Yes, I would say all of these
fall short of what sovereign truly means. Sovereign God. And let me also say first without
any reservation, I'm convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that
the gospel that we believe at this church is the only true
gospel. I'm convinced of that. I don't
say that with arrogance. I don't say that as one puffed
up like, well, we're the only ones. And that seems to be often
how people take that when you say that. I don't mean it that
way. I mean it in the most humble way
that I could possibly mean it. I'm absolutely humbled by that. I'm convinced that the gospel
that I endeavor to preach to you this morning is the only
true gospel. And I don't say that with pride
and arrogance. I say it with humility. I wish
more people preached it. And a city as big as Houston,
I've found few. Well, I only know of a couple,
maybe three, you may know of more, that tell the truth about
God according to the Scriptures. I would love to know that there's
more. I would love to hear of other churches that preach the
truth about the God of the Bible. But friends, this message, and
this is one of the things that I stand on this morning. This
message that we believe and that we preach is the only message
I've ever heard that truly exalts and glorifies God Almighty. It's the only one I've heard.
Oh, I hear men preach about God that's trying and wanting to.
God, that you've got to let do something. Listen, if I've got
to let God do something, then you better get ready to deal
with me in eternity. I can't let God do anything.
And that's not how this Bible describes Him. Not at all. It describes Him almost complete
opposite. God gets all the glory in the
sovereign grace message. He gets all the glory. Some of you were here last week,
and I said this, and I don't make no apologies for it. I said
that if you are saved, it's God's fault. It's God's doing. And
if you wind up in hell, it's your fault. I believe that. You see, it goes without saying,
God is sovereign and men are responsible. Now, I don't know
how you can reconcile that in your mind. I don't understand
it, but I believe it. If I'm ever to be saved, reconciled
to God, find myself one day in glory with Him, it's God's doing,
all God's doing, none of mine. And yet if I wake up in the pits
of hell and I, like the rich man, beg Lazarus to just dip
his finger in water and come touch my tongue, I'm telling
you that is my fault. What think ye of Christ? Men and women by nature don't
want a sovereign God. They don't. I didn't either.
It's not men's will to believe the truth. It's not man's will
to bow to Christ. And I believe I can show you
that from the Scripture. You see, according to the Scriptures,
man does not have the will or the ability to love the Gospel
or the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have the ability. And
if we did, we would still choose not to by nature. Man doesn't have the power, doesn't
have the authority to save himself. He is dead and trespasses in
sin. What can someone dead do? I've read in history while in
school concerning kings who were called sovereign You know what
that meant? That meant they did what they
wanted to do when they wanted to do it. And yet, I tell you
that there's only one who is sovereign because these Scriptures
claim that the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the
rivers of water, He turneth it, whithersoever He will. So even
kings, rulers, sovereigns so-called, fail in comparison to the God
of this Bible. He's the only one and true sovereign
because even the king's heart is in His hand. And He does with
it whatsoever He wills. There's one sovereign He rules
and reigns and does as He pleases and none can stay His hand. None
can challenge Him. None can say to Him, What are
you doing? And this One, my friends, is
God. David wrote in Psalm 115, Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased. Whatsoever He hath pleased, He
has done. Now, do you believe that? Are we going to explain it away?
Well, He's done whatsoever He pleased as long as I let Him. Come on. Daniel 4.35, a very familiar
passage of Scripture to those of you that love the sovereign
grace of God. It says, All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing Now does nothing mean nothing? And God doeth according to His
will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest Thou? Isn't that what I just said?
Now do we believe this book or do we not? That's what it says. I believe that Scripture is plain
on this matter. All the inhabitants of the earth,
all that have ever lived, that have ever been here, all that
are here, all that will ever be here are called inhabitants
in what? They're reputed as nothing. Nothing. Throw us all together in our
best state. And we're all together vanity. That's what the Bible says. Do
you believe the Scriptures? God does according to His will
in heaven, earth, and everywhere. Whatsoever the Lord pleased.
This is Psalm 135, verse 6. It's in your Bible. Write it
down and read it. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He. Where? In heaven, and in earth,
and in the seas, and all deep places. And yet men try to make
God out to be a begging old man upstairs that wants to save you
if you just let Him. That's blasphemy. Listen friends,
you better get ready to do business with a sovereign God. We're not playing games here.
It's a matter of life or death. None can stay God's hand. None
can thwart His purpose. None dare ask God, what are you
doing, God? None dare to challenge His purpose. Let me read you another passage.
I've got these written down. I'm going to get to Scripture
here in a minute. 1 Samuel 2, the Lord killeth. Well, that's not a message you
hear much of these days, is it? Well, the Lord loves everyone. Won't you just give your heart
to Jesus? Listen, folks, I can't give Him
something that already belongs to Him. The King's heart's in
the hand of the Lord. Surely this good-for-nothing
preacher's is. The Lord killeth and maketh alive.
He bringeth down to the grave, and He bringeth up. Who does?
God does. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. Oh, I'd get some arguments on
that one. Well, brother, I pull myself
up by my bootstraps. I'm a self-made man. No, you're
not. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low and He lifteth
up. Who does? He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust. He lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them
among princes." And that's exactly what He did when He saved me.
He set me among princes. And to make them inherit the
throne of glory. There's that word make again.
He had to make me to inherit it. Why? Because I would not
come. I said, in my heart, I will not
have this man rule over me. Why? I want to be my own boss. I want to be my own God. I want
to do my own thing. Be careful what you ask for.
Be careful what you ask for. He makes them inherit the throne
of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and
He hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His
saints. And the wicked shall be silent
in darkness. That's God's doing. For by strength
shall no man prevail. No man shall prevail. I would
love to tell every man in the world that believes he has a
free will and that somehow or another he votes for himself. And God's obligated to save him. I'd love to say right here, dear
friends, by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken to pieces." If you continue to resist
Him, if you continue to deny His truth and say, I don't want
nothing to do with Him, I'm warning you, you're going to be broken
to pieces. Because one day you're going to stand before this sovereign
God and you're going to give Him an account. I'm afraid it will be too late.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven
shall He thunder upon them." That don't sound like a little
weak, begging, wanting to do something God to me. Does it
to you? Let's just be honest. Does that sound like a little
puny, tin God that needs your permission to do something? Well,
I don't want nothing to do with that God. Be careful. Be careful
what you say. Be careful what you wish for.
The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth. We're going to
stand before Him one day as the Almighty Judge of all things. And He shall give strength unto
His King and exalt the horn of His Anointed. This is the God
that said in Isaiah 45, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace, create evil. I the Lord do all these things. Men better read their Bibles. They better pray that God gives
them eyes to see. For the God that's preached in
most churches, and I say this and sadness. I don't say it haughtily. The God that's preached in most
churches no more resembles the God of this Bible than a gnat
resembles an elephant. And a gnat doesn't resemble an
elephant at all. Men say they love God, but they
believe what lying men have said the scriptures say. Better be
like those noble Bereans and get this book out and look for
yourself. Don't take a man's word for it.
Don't take my word for it. Get this book and study it and
read it and ask God to reveal it to you. Our Lord Jesus Christ encouraged
the same thing. He said, search the Scriptures.
Search them. For in them you think you have
eternal life. Well, that describes a lot of
people today. They search the Scriptures and
somehow or another they think that they have eternal life.
And Christ said, "...and they are they which testify of Me."
God's salvation is in His Son. And He says these words, "...and
you will not come to Me that you might have life." Why? Why wouldn't men come to Him
that they might have life? They did. They did. They can't come. Men and women
today say they search the Scriptures and they're convinced that in
them they have eternal life. But they don't see that the Scriptures
testify of Christ. That they speak of Him. The Scriptures
are all about Him. Him. The only thing this book declares
about us, spiritually speaking, our spiritual condition, is this. We're condemned. We're without
life. We're sinners. Without hope. Without God. And without Christ
in this world. That's the extent of what it
says about us. Read it. Study it. I challenge
you. There ain't nothing for us to
brag about. Every single one of us dead in trespasses and
sins. Every single one of us. There's
none, none, none that doeth good. No, not a one. We better, because it's true,
there's none, not a single one that doeth good. There's nothing
good in me, dear friends, but Him. He's all the good in me. That's what the Apostle Paul
said. He said, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth what? No
good thing. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death?" There's only one that
can. Jesus Christ. Christ said, these
scriptures, they testify of me. But you will not come to me that
you might have life. Men are lost. Men are blind.
Men are obstinate. Men are stubborn. Men are dead. And they will not come to the
Savior. They refuse to come because it's their nature to love darkness
rather than light. That's right. Men loved darkness
rather than light. John 3.19, and this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world and men loved darkness
rather than light. Why? Because their deeds were
evil. I'm not coming back to that church
anymore. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. The sad truth is men and women
will not come that they might have life. You will not come
that you might have life. That's a sad but true statement.
Okay, turn with me to John chapter 6. I told you I was going to
turn to a passage. John chapter 6. In the verses earlier in this
chapter, I'm going to take my text from verse 63, but the Lord
Jesus had said this in verse 58. He said, this is the bread. I am the bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna
and are dead, but he that eateth of this bread shall live forevermore. I am the bread of life, that's
what he's saying. I am salvation. I am salvation. I remember Brother Mahan telling
a story of how Arthur Pink's book, The Sovereignty of God,
came to be published. And God has used that book mightily,
The Sovereignty of God. I came to see the truth of scriptures in reading
that book. It pointed me to scriptures in
the Bible I'd never seen before, many of which I've quoted to
you this morning. My oldest son was enlightened
as he read the scriptures that that book quoted. Powerful book. And when Arthur Pink looked for
someone to publish this book, called the sovereignty of God.
He called a man by the name of I.C. Herringdean. Brother Mahan
knew him personally. He had sat down with Brother
Herringdean at a later time and talked about this. And Mr. Pink
told Mr. Herringdean that he had a book
he wanted to get published. And Mr. Herringdean asked him,
he said, what's the name of the book? And Mr. Pink answered, it's called The
Sovereignty of God. Mr. Heron Dean was perplexed. He said, what do you mean by
the sovereignty of God? What do you mean by that? Mr. Pink wrote him back and he wrote
down one scripture, just one scripture. And it's the passage
that we have before us today. In John 6, 44, he says, He wrote, no man can come to
me. And then he, in bold underscore,
wrote, no man can. That's all he wrote. No man can. You see, to come to Christ is
to believe that you can't. And that He can. No man can. Come to me. No man can. What do these scriptures say
about God and His Christ? Is He a weak, pathetic Savior? Or is He a sovereign, omnipotent
God? Did he just have some good things
to say or were his words life eternal? Some people think he just had
a few good things to say. I tell you, he had the words
of life. The Lord used these words of
our Savior to bring me to Him. Look down at verse 63 of John
6. This is Christ speaking. He says,
it is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. God is a triune God. We know
God the Father, God the Son. the Word, God, and the Spirit.
1 John 5-7 says, For there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are
one. And here Christ says, It is the Spirit that quickeneth. That word quickeneth means to
make alive. It is the Spirit that makes alive. Now I would first ask those who
trust in their free will, in their decision, that they have
decided that they're going to follow. I would ask you first,
does this not say that it's the Spirit that makes a life? And
what does it say about the flesh, about the will of man? The flesh
profiteth nothing. Nothing. Nothing. In other words, it's God that
makes it alive. It's God that makes it alive.
The Father, the Word, which is Christ, and the Spirit that bear
record of salvation, the flesh profiteth what? Nothing. A little? Some? Any? Nothing. Well, I've heard people say,
God gave me a free will and I've decided now, I've made up my
mind. No, you didn't. It's God that quickens. That's
what it says. Are we going to believe God's
word? Are we going to believe some lie that somebody's told
us for years? I don't know what the word is.
I'm anxious about this. You know why? Because I was one
of those that was lied to for years. I'm convinced my mother,
my mother whom I love dearly, is in hell right now because
she believed the lie of a man. God quickens. God makes alive. The flesh profiteth nothing. Look at what our Lord said at
the end of verse 63. Look at it. that I speak unto you. They are
spirit and they are life." That's what he said. Salvation is not what I say to
God, not what I do for God. Salvation comes from His Word
to me. Salvation comes from His work
to me, for me. What did I do? Nothing. The flesh profiteth nothing. You read over in Romans 9, your
Bible says this, you read it, for he saith to Moses, this is
God's words to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. That sounds like a God that's
going to do what He wants to do to me. And then He says, so
then. Saying that, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. In another place He said, I'll
hardeneth whom I'll hardeneth. This is the conclusion. So then,
it's not of you that runneth. It's not of you that willeth.
It's not of you that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Are you beginning to see what
I mean when I say sovereign grace? A sovereign God? This is a God
who's in control. He's not trying. He's not wanting to. Stepping
on eggshells, I don't want to offend anybody. This is God Almighty. Look down at verse 64 of our
text. He says these words, but there
are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And He said, Therefore said I
unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except No man can come
except, but, unless, what is that exception? What is it? He
gives it to us. It were given unto Him. Given. You can't buy it. You can't earn it. You don't
deserve it. It's given unto Him. From who? From my Father. salvations
of the Lord. I'm not going to apologize for
that. If I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry. I'd rather hurt your
feelings and God save you than wind up in hell. I stand accountable
before God for that. That's an awesome responsibility. Trust God. Trust Christ. God has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. He has compassion on whom He
has compassion. Whom He will, He hardens. It's
not of your will. It's not of your running, but
of God that shows mercy. How plain is that, friends? How
plain is that? I'm tired. I'm tired of hearing
people take the side of the sinner against God. God hasn't offended. We have. God didn't crucify us. We crucified Him. You want to
talk about man's free will? They took the Lord of glory and
hung Him on a cross. That's what our free will does
to God Almighty. And some are going to say, unfair. That's unfair. How can God be
so unfair? Doesn't man deserve a chance?
Listen, salvation is not by chance. It's by sovereign grace. Man had a beautiful chance in
the Garden of Eden. God said, everything's yours.
God said, help yourself. Rule and reign over it. Multiply
and subdue the earth. And man said, okay, I will. But
I'm not going to have you reign over me. That's exactly what
he did. And that's why you and I are
in sin and sinful today. Our father Adam said, I'm going
to be my own boss. Got everything I need here. And
you know what? One thing I don't need is God
looking over my shoulder telling me how to do things. And that
was the greatest blessing of all that he had. And that's us
today. I am not going to have somebody
rule over me and reign over me and tell me what to do. I'm going
to be my own boss now. And that's why no man can come. You will not come to me that
you might have lied. You cannot come that you might
have lied. Now, I'm not so presumptuous
as to think that everyone here this morning believes this gospel. I wish you did. But some of you don't believe
the gospel. And Christ knew who you were
before the foundation of the world. Look at verse 65. He said it pretty plainly, but
there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray Him. I had a man tell me one time that God looked ahead
in time, and He saw who would believe on Him, and that He chose
them based on their decision or them believing. Well, let
me tell you, if that's so, then God is a liar. Salvation's a works, if that's
true. If that's so, it makes God a
liar. And what did God say? He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy, and whom I will I'll harden. And then that's
why He said, no man can come. No man can come to me except. Except how? Look at it. Therefore
I said unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my Father." Christ said, this is what I told you.
No man can come. No man can be saved unless God
saves him. This thing of salvation is of
the Lord. Dear sinner, you cannot come
to Christ except. You cannot come to Christ but
God. who is rich in mercy, wherein
He loved us." Men don't like the fact that
they cannot come on their own free will. Men don't want to hear that it's
not their will to come. Men want to do something to be
saved. And look at verse 66, and from
that time, Many of the disciples went back and walked no more
with Him. This wasn't a popular message,
was it? It's still not a popular message. Everything in a man's
heart rebels against this message. Every iota of his being. From that time, many of the disciples
went back and walked no more with Him. Not a popular message. Men are proud, self-willed. They'd
rather be without Christ than for Him to have rule over them.
It seems that men would almost rather perish than repent. They
seem more to bolt than to bow. I rejoice in the salvation of
the Lord. And those of you who know Christ, you rejoice in the
salvation of the Lord, don't you? You know why? Because if
I didn't have anything to do with being saved, I don't have anything to do with
being lost. In other words, what I'm trying to say is if I decide
to follow Jesus, then chances are as fickle and frustrated
as I am, one day soon I'm going to decide to stop following Him. I remember one time somebody
asked Brother Mahan, he said, do you believe once saved, always
saved? And I loved his answer. He said,
well, it depends on who saved you. It depends on who saved. If you saved yourself, then I
don't believe once saved, always saved. But if God Almighty saved
you, then you're saved for good. You're saved real good. Oh, I
believe you're saved, always saved. You see, when God saves
a man, he's saved. But what if he falls away? What
if he leaves like Christ's disciples did? Then he never truly believed. He never truly was saved. Oh me. Verse 67. I'm going to
hurry along here. I'm leaving out some things.
I'll tell you why you're saved though. 2 Thessalonians 2.13
says, God hath from the beginning. From the beginning of when? Time.
For the foundation of the world. He's chosen you to salvation. That's the exact words. Look
it up. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Write it
down. Look at it. God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. This is God's doing. Now in these
next three verses, and I'll go through them quickly, we see
the resolve of a saved sinner. This is where all God's people
stand. They stand upon the solid rock. The Lord Jesus Christ. This is
where you'll stand too. Those of you who know Him. And
in verse 67, our Lord looks to His 12 closest friends and He
asks the most direct, simple question. He says, then Jesus
said unto the 12, verse 67, Will ye also go away? Will you also go away? Are you
offended that you were saved by sovereign grace alone? Are
you offended that I said, I am the bread of life and those that
eat of me shall forever live? Does that offend you? Are you
upset that you came to know Christ not because of your free will,
but because God made you willing in the day of His power? And
Simon Peter answered him, he said, Lord, and this is what
all God's people say, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. There it is, verse 68. My, what an answer. And it'll
be your answer, and it's my answer, and it's all those who trust
Christ's answer. For Christ has the words to eternal
life. And to whom? To whom should we
go? There's no one else to go to.
He's the only one that has the words to eternal life. No man
ever spoke like He did. This was God in the flesh. This
was He who spoke the worlds into existence. This was the One who
was the Word of God. No man ever spoke like this man,
they said. Why? He's the God-man. He spoke
with the authority of God. You read Colossians 1 sometimes. This is the one of whom Colossians
1 speaks. It says, This was the one who
hath delivered us out of the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of His dear Son. This was the one in whom
we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. This was the One who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. This is the
One for by Him were all things created that are in heaven and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
by Him and for Him. This is the One who is before
all things, and by Him all things consist. This is the One who
is the head of the body, the Church who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He must have
the preeminence. This is the One in whom it pleased
the Father, that in Him should all fullness dwell." This is
God. This is God. Look at verse 69. Here's what
He said. Where else will we go, Lord?
You have the words of life eternal. And we believe. And we believe. Do you believe? We believe and we're sure. Are
you sure about this, brother?" I'm as sure as my sinful, wretched
worm of a self can be. I'm confident. I believe and
I'm sure that this is the Christ. Peter said, I believe and I'm
sure that thou art the Christ. Well, thank you, Christ. You're
the Son of God, the Son of the living God. That's what he says,
verse 69. to believe we must believe according
to the Scriptures. We can't believe something that's
been made up. We've got to go by what this
book says. And it says this in 1 Corinthians,
For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according
to the Scriptures. You can't just take a man at
his word. Look at this book. What does
God say? This is God's Word to us. So
we say with Peter, I say with Peter this morning, are there
ever times you feel like quitting, Brother David? All the time.
Man, I'm ashamed to tell you that. There are times that I
just feel like throwing my hands up and saying, what's the use?
Why? Because I'm looking at me instead
of Him. And I see my shortcomings, and I see my sin, and I see my
inability, and I think, how much longer is He going to tarry with
me? I deserve hell right now. But it ain't based upon what
I do. It's based upon what He's done for me. And I can say with
Peter, Lord, where else am I going to go? You have the words. I believe, not like ought to,
but I believe. And I'm sure, as sure as I can
be in this body of sin in which I dwell, but I'm sure that thou
art the Christ. You're the Son of the living
God. Okay, well, we're going to take
the Lord's table today and the men would come at