I know that your thoughts, like
mine, are somewhat saddened because we are aware that your pastor
has resigned and will be leaving you soon to go to the islands
and minister where God has put him. So let me address that first. You know, you are as confident
as I am. of your pastor's faithfulness
to the glory of God, the cause of Christ, the souls of men,
to God's elect. He is leaving only because he's
convinced this is what God would have him to do. And with that,
we should be delighted. Give thanks. This too is God's
good purpose of grace for you folks here at Redeemer Baptist
Church and for his people around the world. So I urge you not
to be saddened by it any more than you would be saddened by
seeing a son leave home or by seeing a father go off to work. He's doing what God would have
him to do. And be assured, be assured, I
can say this, With every confidence, with regard to every pastor here,
we are at your disposal. We will do anything we possibly
can to be of help to you between now and the time your pastor
leaves and when God has moved he and Sandy to the islands. They are cherished friends, and
you are too. And we want to be of help, so
don't feel that you're alone. And if God hasn't supplied you
with a pastor before that time, We'll keep the pulpit filled
and well filled and we will do what we can to be of help and
God makes this promise I Will give you pastors according to
my own heart who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding
and he will do as he has said and It'll be just as good as
these 14 years have been All right The title of my message
tonight is, They Shall Be. And you can put a whole bunch
of periods after be. They shall be. These three words
are used in scripture by which God Almighty repeatedly declares
that which he shall do for his elect in and by Christ Jesus
in the sweet experience of his grace. Now please understand
this, I want to emphasize. Tonight I'm talking to you about
the blessed, sweet experience of grace awaiting every sinner
who shall be saved by the mighty operations of God the Holy Spirit. I distinguish between the experience
of grace and the purpose of grace. Now let us never imagine that
one work of God's grace nullifies sets aside or is of any greater
importance than any other work of God's grace. We talk about
salvation and we follow the example of many and like to categorize
things. Salvation is one thing. It is
one thing. It was done in eternity. It was
done at Calvary. It's being done in time. It shall
be done when the end of time has come. But the work of God's
grace The works of God the Father, the work of God the Son, and
the work of God the Holy Spirit are all vital to our salvation. The scriptures clearly and plainly
declare that God the Father saved us from eternity. Now, that's
not just theological jargon. That's what the book says in
Romans chapter 8, verses 28 through 30. That's what the book says
in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 9. God saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He
died at Calvary as our substitute, redeemed us, justified us, and
sanctified us with His blood. We were saved when He cried,
It is finished. In fact, the scripture tells
us we were even quickened together with him when he arose and took
his seat as our forerunner in heaven. When our Savior cried,
it is finished, salvation's work was done, completely and fully
done. He brought in everlasting righteousness. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He sanctified his people. He made atonement by the sacrifice
of himself. He has reconciled us to God. The redemption of our souls was
done when Christ died at Calvary. But if we are to enter into heaven's
eternal glory, something else is necessary. No, the blood of
Christ shed at Calvary is not enough to take you to heaven. I've got folks all over the world
been wanting to hear me say that, so they can start barking. Bark
away. Bark away. Christ dying at Calvary,
that alone never took anybody to glory. No, God's purpose is
not enough to take a sinner to glory. You must be born again. Is that what the book says? That's
what it says. We must be saved by the blessed
work of God the Holy Spirit in the experience of grace. Not
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So the work of God the Holy Spirit
is absolutely essential. It is this experience of grace
that gives the sinner hope before God. God's purpose, God's purpose
declares that there is hope for sinners, but it gives hope to
no one. Christ's death at Calvary is
the solitary, the only, the singular basis of hope for any sinner
before God. But the death of Christ gives
hope to no one. No one. It is Christ in you,
Paul said, who is the hope of glory. There is no hope for a
sinner until Christ is formed in you. There's no hope of heaven
for any sinner until God performs a mighty work of grace by His
Spirit in you, making you new creatures in Jesus Christ the
Lord. Now, if Christ is formed in you
by the omnipotent mercy and almighty grace of God the Holy Spirit,
God Almighty declares, they shall be. They shall be what? They
shall be my people. You've got no way of knowing
you're his people until Christ is formed in you. They shall
be safe, safe in their land, in the land of his grace. They
shall be one in my hand and shall no more be two. They shall be
ministers in my sanctuary. They shall be clothed with linen
garments. They shall be without blemish.
They shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. And they
shall be as crowns, as stones of a crown, lifted up as an incense
upon his land. They shall be as mighty men.
He says, they shall be mine, and they shall be comforted.
They shall be filled. They shall be called the children
of God. They shall all be taught of God. And when it comes time
for his people to leave this world, they shall be as still
as a stone. for they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him forever." Now,
let's look at Zechariah chapter 2, and I want us to camp here. This prophecy of Zechariah has
absolutely nothing to do with some imaginary future millennial
age when God's going to restore the Jews to their place as his
people over in that land crossed the water. People call it the
holy land. It's not one bit more holy than
the land around your barn. That's exactly right. It is just
a piece of dirt. Some great things took place
there, but that land is no more holy than any other land. The
Lord Jesus Christ did not come down here giving up the throne
of glory so he could sit on some peanut throne and rule over the
Jews. That's not his purpose. God Almighty
is done with Israel as a distinct nation. There is not one promise
in the Old Testament or the New yet to be fulfilled to Abraham's
physical seed. Those things were but a type
and picture of the glorious grace of God in and for his people
by Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, having said that, well,
what's Zechariah all about? It's all about Christ coming
to accomplish redemption, coming to set his people free. coming
to bring grace, to gather the outcast, those people whom he
scattered in his providence, that he might gather them by
his grace. Zechariah 10, verse 6, here is
one of the many promises in this blessed book. And I will strengthen
the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and
I will bring them again to this place, or to place them, for
I have mercy upon them. And they shall be as though I
had not cast them off, for I am the Lord their God, and will
hear them." As I prepared this message today, I thought, I wonder if maybe
God may have gathered here tonight, or if maybe when I preach this
message, to our folks Sunday morning. I wonder if God might
have gathered in our midst some whom he has cast off, for whom
the time of gathering has come. Hear me. Oh, what blessedness
is in store for you who shall yet be called of God. What blessedness is ours who
have been called. He says, I will strengthen the
house of Judah. Christ is our strength, and when
we are weakest, then we're strongest, because His strength is made
perfect in our weakness. He who is our strength declares,
My grace is sufficient for thee. Turn over to chapter 12, verse
8. Look at a similar passage. He that is feeble among them God saved me just before I was
17 years old. I began to experience his grace.
You knew me then. And boy, I thought I was strong. I thought I was, I thought there's
nothing, nothing in hell I couldn't tackle. I thought I was strong. That's been 40 years ago. And
I've never been weaker. I'm not just preaching to you,
I'm telling you the truth. I've never been weaker. But listen,
he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David,
and shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord, strengthened with
all might according to his glorious power, Paul said. Their strength,
we are told. is to sit still. I will glory in my infirmities,
for when I am weak, then am I strong. Back in our text, I will save
the house of Joseph. Well, that means one of two things.
One of two things. Either every descendant of Joseph
shall be saved, his physical descendants, or every one of
the descendants of him of whom Joseph was a type shall be saved."
Not all of Joseph's descendants were saved. I can show it to
you in this book, but I'll tell you this. Every descendant of
Jesus Christ, called His seed, shall be saved and shall serve
Him. Every one of them. You mean they're
going to be saved no matter what? Well, yeah, they'd be all right.
They'd be all right. They're going to be saved. And
all that matters is included in that promise. I will save
the house of Joseph. Not one of God's elect shall
perish. Not one redeemed sinner shall
perish. To suggest that somehow there
are men and women out yonder that are going to hell whom God
Almighty is trying to save and Christ died to save is absolute
blasphemy. They shall be saved who are the
chosen of God. He says, I will save them. See him yonder on his throne? He declares, I am in the place
of God to save much people alive. Read on. I will bring them again,
I love this, to place them. To place them where? Right where
they're needed. Where? right where they need
to be. Where? I will place them as living
stones in my temple. In fact, several years ago, nearly
20 years ago, I was preaching in Australia with another fellow,
and he didn't have anything to say, but he had an illustration
that was good, so I reckon that was all right. He said when they
cut stones to fit into the temple in Jerusalem, They didn't cut
any of them to fit. They cut all of them slightly
larger than they needed to be to fit in the place where they
were to be placed. They'd bring the stones and sit
this huge rock right between two other rocks and then rub it and rub it and rub it
and rub it until it was fitted in its place. That's just how
our Savior builds his church. He fits us together where he
would have us. I am in the place where God would
have me to be. You are in the place where God
has put you. He says, I will gather them to
place them. I will place them as living stones
in my temple. I will place them as jewels in
my crown. And here's the reason. Four. Now notice this, he doesn't say,
I will have mercy. He says, for I have mercy upon
them. His mercy, like all his being,
is unchangeable. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. I have mercy upon
them. Everything God does in time. Everything God does in time,
and if it is done in time, trace it back to its original source,
God did it. Everything God does in time,
he does because he has mercy upon his people from everlasting. And your only hope before the
thrice holy God is mercy. Oh, but what a blessed declaration
that is. because it is written of him,
he delighteth in mercy. And they shall be as though I
had not cast them off. They shall be as though I had
not cast them off." The Jews, after continual apostasy, after
continual idolatry, after continual base ingratitude, after continual
ungodliness, following false prophets and their false dreams
with vain comfort, were finally carried away into Babylonian
captivity and cast off as if they were no people. Their city
and their temple and their religion was destroyed, and there they
were cast off And now the Lord God has sent Zechariah, his prophet,
and Zerubbabel, his ruler, to build again his people. And he
says, I will gather them, and when I have gathered them, they
shall be as though I had not cast them off. And this is declared
so that he will make us to understand. He has his people scattered through
this world. scattered because of the sin
and apostasy of our father Adam, scattered because of our transgression
with Adam, scattered among the nations of the earth, that he
shall gather them. He is gathering them, and when
he has gathered them by his grace, they shall be as though they
had not been cast off. He declares plainly that that
which he is doing in the gathering of his people is that which is
best for them, and that which he has done in scattering them
is best for them as well. What does this mean? They shall
be as though I had not cast them off. Well, I can't give you a
full answer and tell you fully what this means, but I'll guarantee
you if God will let you hear what he's spoken to my heart,
I can give you enough to rejoice your soul forever. At present,
you who are without Christ are far off from God by your wicked
works. The wrath of God abides on you. You are condemned already, and
your conscience verifies what I've just said. But here, the
Lord God promises perfect restoration to sinners who were cast off
in the garden. Not only does he make his chosen
sinners as though he had not cast them off, he makes them
indescribably more noble and more glorious and more blessed
than they ever could have been had they not been cast off. Romans
8, 28, folks quote it all the time, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them that are
the call according to his purpose. Do you know what that includes? Even him casting them off. It reaches back to the beginning
and reaches to the end of time and space. And he says all things
work together, not isolated, not individually, but together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the call according
to his purpose. That includes the sin and fall
of our father Adam. When the sinner is granted faith
in Christ, he is made to know, in the blessed sweet experience
of grace, some things we could never have known had we not sinned
in the garden, had we not fallen in our father Adam, had we never
been cast off. Let me just give them to you.
Had there been no fall, we could never have known God's eternal
electing love and the wonders of it. Had we not been cast off, we
could have never known what it was to be gathered as God's choice. But as soon as the sinner has
been gathered by God's grace, As soon as God gives the sinner
faith to look to Christ, as soon as God begets the soul in you,
we know, brethren, beloved, your election of God. Because our
gospel came to you, not in word only, but in power, and in, what
do you say, much assurance. Much assurance. When first God
saved you by His grace, until you had been poorly instructed
by religious folks who taught you to start looking away from
Christ to yourself, how many of you had any trouble with insurance?
How many of you went home that night, oh, I wish I could know
the Lord had saved me? No! You walked home rejoicing
because you knew God was yours and you were His. How come? Cause you trusted Christ. And
then in a day or two, somebody said, now you've got to start
looking for fruits and you've got to start looking for evidences
and you've got to start looking for this and looking for that.
And you started looking. Oh, oh, I'm so down. I wish I had some assurance.
Oh, I hadn't read enough today. I hadn't prayed enough today.
Oh, look what's inside me, the corruption and evil. Quit looking
in, look out. Will you look out? Look out of
yourself to Jesus Christ alone and know your election of God. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Have we never been
cast off? Have we never known sin? And
we'd never known what it was to be an apostate from God, as
one obnoxious, like an unwanted child, aborted from the womb. We could never have known the
blessed sweetness of adoption. Adoption these days, adoption
is wonderful any way you get it, and mamas and daddies Adopt
children. I admire them. I've got friends
who have adopted children and love them. Love them like they're
old. But not so many years ago, if you wanted to adopt a child,
you could pick him out. You could pick out just exactly
what you wanted. You could go down and select
the one you wanted to be your son. Select the one you wanted
to be your daughter. And raise them as your own. Never
fearing that their birth mother, my soul, given birth doesn't
make you a mother. Dogs can do that. It's exactly
right. Siring children doesn't make
you a father. Bulls do that. That's not motherhood and fatherhood. You never had to fear that their
birth mother might come back and make disturbances among them.
Oh, now listen to me. You were naked and cast off from
your mother's womb, polluted in your own blood, and there
was no one to pity you. But he said, I passed by thee,
and behold, thy time was the time of love, and I spread my
skirt over thee. I made you righteous, and I said
to you, Live! And thou becamest mine. And you, because you are sons,
to you God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. Brother Wayne, I guess I know
less about you than anybody here. But I know enough about you to
know this is a wonder. Just a little bit ago we were
led in prayer. We can lift our hearts to heaven, believing on
the Son of God, knowing full well everything we are, in ourselves
and by nature, and with confidence, call God our Father. Because of His eternal adopted
grace. Had we never been cast off Had
we never known what it was to be made sinners by the sin and
fall of our father Adam, we could never have known the sweetness
of redemption by the precious blood of Christ. But as soon
as the sinner experiences God's grace in the new birth, as soon
as he looks to Christ in faith, he learns something about the
blessedness of being redeemed from the curse. Turn to Isaiah
51. The curse is clean gone forever. There's no condemnation. Not
now, not tomorrow, not forever. And no possibility of it. Because
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. For it
is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. He who
has made a curse for us has taken away the curse. How could he
do that? How could he do that? There is
no possibility of curse. Because I'm not guilty. I'm not guilty. Oh, you mean
that's how God sees you? Well, if that's how God sees
me, that's how it is. I'm not guilty. Well, God reckons us
not guilty. I reckon God reckons right. I'm
not guilty. But, but Brother Don, are you
saying you're really not guilty? I'm saying I'm really not guilty.
I'm really not guilty. I used to be. Not anymore. I'm
not guilty. I used to have a conscience that
tormented me, made me scared to live and scared to die. But
now, I'm not guilty. How can that be? Because Christ
has put away my sin forever." Look here in Isaiah 51, he says,
"...fury is not in me. Therefore hear now this, thou
afflicted and drunken, but not with wine. Thus saith thy Lord,
thy Lord, and thy God, that pleadeth the cause of his people." Oh,
what a word that is! Behold, I have taken out of thine
hand the cup of trembling, even the dredge of the cup of my fury. Thou shalt no more drink it again."
I've taken it away. Oh, happy fall. Blessed ruin. sweet casting off. The angels of heaven look with interest on everything
going on here because they understand nothing about redemption. They understand nothing about
redemption. Oh, they understand the fact
of it. They understand the source of it. They understand the accomplishment
of it. They don't understand anything. about what it is to be redeemed. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim
it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Had we never been cast
off as guilty sinners, we could never have known the sweetness,
the blessedness of forgiveness. But as soon as we look to Christ,
As soon as God causes the sinner to hear His voice, as soon as
He hisses and causes the sinner to come to Him, as soon as He
awakens the dead, giving them life and faith in Christ, He
causes them to know the blessedness of forgiveness. If we confess our sins, if we
confess our sins, what's that mean? It doesn't mean come to
the front of the church and confess your sins to the preacher or
some priest, treating the preacher like he was a priest. Confess
your sins to the church. We don't need to know about them.
We don't need to know about them. Please don't share them. I don't
want to hear about them. Not interested. What do you do? Rip open your heart to God. But there's more than that. There's
more than that. Do you remember how men brought
sacrifices, Leviticus chapter 1? How Aaron made sacrifice on
the Day of Atonement for the sins of the people, Leviticus
16? Aaron, in the name of the people,
laid his hands on the Lord's goat, confessing, O that goat,
all the sins of all the people of Israel, and he sacrificed
the goat. And he came back out after he'd
sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat, and he took the scapegoat. Put his hands on the head of
the scapegoat, and laid all the sins of all Israel upon the scapegoat,
and sent him away forever! That's what it is to confess
our sins. God, this is what I am. And Christ has taken it all away.
He's taken it away forever. If we confess our sins, if we
confess Jesus Christ the Lord, if we confess our sins before
God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and the
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us. I'm so glad He
put that in the present tense. Well, that was all done at Calvary,
yeah, but I need to experience it today. It cleanseth us from
all sin. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile. What's that mean? I'll show you
in just a minute. In whose spirit is no guile?
When I kept silence, when I refused to confess my sin? My bones waxed
old through my roaring all the day long. My moisture is turned into a
drought of fire. I acknowledge my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sins. Nathan came to David, stuck his finger in his heart,
and said, you're the man. And David said, I've sinned.
That's all he said. I've sinned. What else need be
said? He didn't say, I've sinned, but.
He didn't say, I've sinned, but you don't understand. He didn't
say, I've sinned, but look at this. He didn't say, I've sinned
and. He said, I've seen it. And do
you know what God's next word to him was? You be careful that
you don't do that again. Now we're going to keep an eye
on you to see whether or not we have to put you out of the
church. We're going to be watching you
to see if you're really sincere. His next word was, the Lord has
forgiven your sins. The Lord has taken away your
sin. Before he confessed it, it was
done. But you know what? I suspect David would have gone
to his grave in misery if he hadn't experienced it in his
soul. And God spoke the word personally to him. And Paul translates
his words this way, Blessed is the man to whom God will not
impute sin. Todd and I have heard, blessed man,
God will never impute sin to you. Never impute sin. That's true
of Bob Rice and Don Fortner and any senator. gathered to Christ
in His grace. Never. Oh, Brother Donner, you're
going to have to explain that or it'll cause folks to go out
and die like hell. The only person who thinks like
that is one whom Jude described who turns the grace of our God
into lasciviousness. The one who declares, proclaim
free grace! And that will lead to lasciviousness.
You can't do that. You've got to hedge and guard
and fence these things. Brother Todd and I were talking
last week while we were in California. I'm so sick and tired of folks
saying, well, you can't take that too far. You can't take
that too far. You've got to be careful now.
Let me tell you something. Anything you hear God say in
this book, you take it just as far as you can take it. And you
ain't come near getting to be as far as it ought to be taken.
Take it just as far as you can take it. Blessed is the man to
whom God will not impute sin. In Christ, we are so fully, so
completely, so absolutely, so perpetually forgiven of all sin
that we are altogether without sin, perfectly justified, completely
righteous, entirely guiltless before God. Had we not been cast off in the
ruin of God's creation by the entrance of sin into it, we could
never have known what it is to be made new creatures in Christ. New creatures. New creatures. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Behold, all things are become
new. Folks want to argue, well, we don't believe in imparted
righteousness, we believe in imputed righteousness. Somebody
out there ought to tell me the name of righteousness. Is his
name Christ? Is that his name? This is the
name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness? Is
his name Christ? Is he made of God unto us righteousness? Is it? Well, yeah, yeah. Well, he's imparted to you in
the new birth. He's put in you in the new birth. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ formed in you, made partakers
of the divine nature. That's the language of this book.
Blessed is that man in whose spirit is no guile. There's a man living in here
in whom there is no guile. No guile. And that's not darn
fortunate. Well, really it is. Really it
is. Because you see, Don Fortner
is one with Jesus Christ, and he's in me. But it's no more
I, but Christ in me. Christ in me. What I am by nature. What I am by nature is nothing
but sin. What I am by grace is nothing
but righteousness and holiness. Read 1 John chapter 3. That which
is born of God, what does the language of the book say? Can
not sin. Now I don't care how many ways
you translate that, it comes out to this. Can not sin. Doesn't have the ability to sin. It's born of God. This is that
holiness we must have, without which no man shall see the Lord. Not only must we be made righteous
legally, and I'm getting to a place where I just hate the use of
that term. Well, this is a legal thing. Nothing about redemption
and grace is just legal. Nothing about it. This is a gracious
thing. It's a gracious thing. That man
who is born of God cannot sin, because his seed remaineth in
him, and he cannot sin. because it is born of God. Now this is how you tell the
difference between what's born of God and what's not. This is how you tell the difference
between the works of the devil and the works of Christ. Whenever
you lose your temper, that's Chris. That's Chris. Whenever you smash
your finger with a hammer and cuss, that's Todd. Whenever you cold and calculating. That's Don. Whenever you can
believe God, worship Him. Seek His honor. Give praise to
Him. That's Christ. That's that new
man. Tell you something else Adam
didn't have in the garden and could never have. I look for
it carefully today. Do you know what Adam couldn't
do? Adam could not commune with God. Couldn't commune with God. Not
in the garden. Oh, but preacher, he walked with
God. There's a difference. There's a big difference. There's a big
difference. I walk down the street with a lot of folks. I don't
have a clue who they are. I didn't mean to commune with
them. Sometimes I walk down the street
holding hands with my wife, whom I dearly love, and my mind somewhere
else. I'm still not communing with
her. But now, those who are in Christ have fellowship with God
in Christ. Sweet communion, walking in the
light of Him who is light. You see, in order to have communion,
there has got to be a likeness of character. Some of you folks
I think you commune with your dogs. Maybe not you. Other folks, you know. I hear
folks say, I love my dog like I love my children. I'm glad
I ain't your child. No, that's not possible. That's
not possible. Because a dog's a dog, and a
man's a man. And you may let him lick you
in the mouth, but you're still not communing with him. He's just
a dog. He lives like a dog, and when he dies, he dies like a
dog. And when he's dead, he's dead as a dog. You're not a man. And a mere mortal man can never
commune with the infinite, eternal God. Can't be done. But when He came and put Himself
in me, made me partaker of Himself,
I communed with Him. I communed with Him. We got something
in common, and that something is sameness. Sameness. I am one with Christ. Christ is one with me. That means I am one with the
Triune God. Oh, I'm so happy. Adam fell. I'm so thankful God arranged
things like He did. No mistakes with God. Tell you
something else. Had Adam never fallen, had we
never known what it is to be cast off, we could never have known safety. We could never have known what
it is to walk before God with absolute security. But now the
Lord God says, they shall be as though I had not cast them
off. When he gathers his own, our Savior says, I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish.