Brother Fortner gives me a problem
about my attire from time to time. And if you're interested
in my tailor, it is Ishmael's mother. Now, if you'll take your Bible,
please, and turn to one verse of Scripture. Yeah, Hagar, yes, yes. If you've got to tell them that,
you needn't even tell the joke. Goodness, it's a lot. Isn't there
some kind of pill you can take for memory? And if it works, I need some. My goodness, what a crowd. Marvelous, marvelous indeed.
Any of you folks interested in coming to North Carolina? 2 Corinthians 4, verse 13. Paul referring to David's words
in Psalm 116. We having the same spirit of
faith, the same spirit of faith, as it is written in that 116th
Psalm, I believed and therefore have I spoken. We also believe
and therefore speak. In July, I was invited to preach
at the Baptist Church in eastern North Carolina, out in the middle
of nowhere. They were having their 250th
anniversary. The church was started in 1756. It was named when it
was started. bull-tail meeting house. Baptists did not call their churches,
their buildings churches in the 1700s. But somewhere along the
way, by the time I was born, the gospel had left that place,
and I was converted under a false gospel, believed a false gospel,
and preached it. And after the time that God revealed
Christ to my soul, I was never invited back to that church to
preach. But they had a big two-month
celebration. Everybody that they thought even
knew anything about preaching that used to go there, they wanted
you to come back. And so they called and asked
me if I'd come, and half of me wanted to go and the other half
didn't. And I struggled for two months trying to know what to
preach. And I told my folks before I
left, I said, I'm going to make a prediction. Service begins
at eleven o'clock on Sunday morning. If I step in that pulpit before
fifteen minutes to twelve, I'll be very surprised. It was fourteen
minutes to twelve o'clock. preaching is relegated in today's
religion to the scrap heap. But I went there with an intent
to say what I had intended to say. And even though a few people got
up during the process, I finished up at twenty-one minutes past
twelve o'clock. But I felt I must go, and I'm
going to try to preach to you a version of the same message.
It's not quite the same. I've messed with it a little
bit, which is terrible. But anyway, here's the first
thing. I want to see if you'll join
me in confessing. I'm turning to Psalm 119. I want
you to see one statement of Scripture in this wonderful passage, the
119th Psalm, there's 176 verses in every verse except one, there
is a synonym, or actually the Word of God itself. And in verse
128 of Psalm 119, I believe, by the grace of God, thank you,
Linwood, by the grace of God, I believe this statement. The
first time I ever stepped foot in the pulpit where I pastor,
twenty-five years ago, this was my opening statement. Therefore, I esteem all your
precepts concerning all things, all things to be right. And I hate every false way."
That was my opening statement at that church, July 16, 2006. My wife and I have been gone
from there forty-four years. Now, if we cannot come to a common
understanding of this statement, I ain't got a thing to say to
you. I mean, on what basis shall I
plead if this in its absolute entirety is not the Word of God? Everything else I have to say
is based on this fact. is the Word of God. And this book, from beginning
to end, is about Christ and Him crucified, and nothing else of
any great importance. It is not so important to learn
the history of this book as it is to learn Christ from this
book. I don't care if you memorize
the books of the Bible or not. It makes no difference to me. Sometimes I even think Scripture
memorization is actually positively harmful. We can quote Bible verses that we know not the spiritual
meaning thereof. Here's the second thing. I've
got eleven points. I've got to get on down the road
here. Second point. Now, I tried to put these in
an order that seemed reasonable to me, but Todd, if you want
to change the order, buddy, just help yourself. And X out a bunch
of these and put yours into place. Second thing is this. This book
teaches this from start to finish. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
Almighty. No ifs, ands, or buts. He is. He is. About turning to
Hebrews chapter 1, let me just read you a statement. Plain and
simple. You ever get Jehovah's Witnesses
that come to your door? I mean, I live in a church, Parsonage,
and they ain't bashful. And instead of just saying, no,
I'm not interested, they said, oh, and then I just with a smile
on my face, when they first come to the door, I greet them. They said, can we discuss the
Scriptures with you? And I said, depending on your
answer to one question, you can. Is Jesus Christ God Almighty? And they just about have a running
fit. But you know, It's not the Jehovah's Witnesses that I'm
worried about. It's all this professing world
of Christianity among us and around us that do not truly believe
that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Let me read it out of Hebrews.
Two hundred passages, I don't know how many there are, they're
just more than we could possibly even cover. God, who at various
times and in different ways spoke in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, has in these last, I'm in Hebrews chapter
1, now verse 2, has in these last days spoken unto us by His
Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He
made the worlds. who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high." That's where he is this morning. And he's not waiting
to reign. He rules and reigns right now,
over everything, everywhere, all the time. Thirdly, God created the heavens and the
earth. In this statement it says at
the end of verse 2, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom also he made the worlds. In the opening statement of John's
Gospel, chapter 1, let me read you a couple of statements
out of here in regard to this creation. And it amazes me How
many times throughout the scriptures, you're turning to John chapter
1, it amazes me how many times throughout the scriptures that
the subject of creation is so interwoven with all the various
things in the scriptures. I can't count the times that
I've noticed this and called the attention of our folks at
home to it. It's not just bare statements
like these in Hebrews 1 and here in chapter 1 of John. But in
out-of-the-way and places that you are almost surprised to find
it, it's tied to what is being said in that place. Now, some
people say you can believe in evolution and still be a Christian. I'm going to prove to you this
morning that that's an absolute impossibility. But preacher,
enlighten people. I don't care about enlighten
people. I'm looking for a sinner that
doesn't know anything. And if God ever saves us—Daniel
Parks just put it in nine sentences, I forget—that's my history, and
it's the history of every believer. That's simply just how it is. Make no apology for it. In the
beginning, John 1 and verse 1, in the beginning was the Word,
and that Word is Christ, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. And here it is. All things, Linwood,
all things, were made by Him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. Now I'm going to prove to you
that you cannot deny these glorious truths and be a follower and
a believer in the Lord Jesus. It simply can't happen. the last two verses of the fifth
chapter of John. Speaking to those who, in verse
forty, He said, you will not come to me that you might have
life. In verse 46 of John 5, for had
you believed Moses, Moses is the man by whom God revealed
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Had you believed Moses, now you
cannot imagine. We cannot fathom how much fuss
they made over Moses. I mean, Moses was something. Christ ain't nothing, you understand,
but Moses was something. They honored and exalted him,
because he ain't down here. Had you believed Moses, they
claim to be Moses' disciples. Had you believed Moses, you would
have believed me. But if you believe not his writings, the first five books of the Bible,
if you don't believe what's in there, If the first twelve chapters
of Genesis is some kind of mythology, if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe, I am the light of the world? How shall we believe Christ's
words? That puts it in unmistakable
form. This is not a debate. It's not
even a discussion. This is how it is. It's how it
always has been. And it's how it will always be. In this matter of creation, God
created man in his own image. Genesis 126 declares, and it
seems like this is some kind of eternal counsel between the holy
three and one, because it says, Let us make man in our image,
which is the image of Christ. But it is Jehovah, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, who for purposes of redemption have seen fit to
reveal themselves in three divine persons, yet being just one.
Let us make man in our image. So the creation of Adam, made
in the image of Christ, is the beginning of the revelation of
the subject of God's redemptive work in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now you understand, it didn't
start there. It began to be unfolded there. Let us make man in our image. But sadly, tragically, man fell
in Adam in the garden. But did you know it was God's
purpose that he do so? Now, you can gnaw on that all
you want to, and so can I. But it's not going to change
anything. If he didn't purpose it, it could
never have been. Now, I don't know what that means
theologically and don't even care. How about turning to 1
Corinthians 15, and I'll give you another text
to look up later The first three verses of Ephesians, chapter
2, do quite nicely as well. But in 1 Corinthians, chapter
15, we have some titles of our blessed Savior that are distinctly
tied to this exact issue, that this man that God made fell in
the garden. But we didn't fall in her, we
fell in Adam. So the miracle and wonder of
grace is that the Lord Jesus Christ is to be born of the seed
of the woman, without Adam's fallen nature. You find 1 Corinthians 15. Look
at verses 21 and 22 and hang on to 1 Corinthians 15 and we'll
get the next point right here in this chapter. My folks are
used to this. They think they're sword drills
every time we meet. Verse 21, For since by man came
death, by man came also, that man is Christ, the resurrection
of the dead. One is called the first man and
one is called the second man. Because the Lord deals with all
of us, all men of all time and just two people, Adam and Christ. Look at the next verse, verse
22. For in Adam all die. All die. You want a universal all, help
yourself, that's it. It is all men without exception. All die. In Adam, even so in Christ, shall
all—and that ain't universal—be made alive. Everybody that's
in him is made alive. Now, that's not hard. It's just so. Now, why are you
in 1 Corinthians 15? We look at a second thing because
it has to do with an important subject in understanding the
gospel. And that is that God deals with men in grace on the
basis of substitution, federal headship, and representation.
Adam is our representative. And he is so in order that God
can be just and still justify the ungodly because he makes
Christ our federal head and representative and substitute. You can't fall
one way and be raised another and it be just. So in verse 45
of 1 Corinthians 15, it declares, and so it is written, the first
man Adam was made a living soul. Oh, but the last Adam made a life-giving
Spirit. What did Adam give us? Death. In Christ, He is our life. Our life. Look at verse 47. The first man, Adam in the garden,
is of the earth. Earthy. Earthy. We're just like that. This natural
man is earthy. Oh, but the second man, the Lord
Jesus, is the Lord from heaven. The Lord from heaven. Now, beloved, if we know these things, where
did we find it? Who discovered it? Which of us
were smart enough to figure these things out? They're revealed
in this book. Take this book away, we don't
have anything left. It's just one man's opinion on
another. You just sort of weigh them all out and say, hey, I
like this one. There's no salvation. any other
place except in the Christ of this book. Number seven. Just to keep you awake, how about
turning to 2 Samuel 23? The seventh thing is this, I believe
Therefore have I spoken." My question to you is, do you believe
this and therefore speak? I believe in the everlasting
covenant of grace. Now, everybody in here most likely
has seen this statement. I ain't showing you nothing new.
I didn't promise you I would. Somebody said if it's new, it
ain't true anyway. And if it's true, it isn't new. On his deathbed, David said,
verse 5, 2 Samuel 23, "'Although it be not so with my house, yet
God has made with me.'" Now, David won't back there in eternity,
so how did that happen? David is in Christ, and this
covenant was made with Christ as our head and representative,
our surety, the messenger, the angel of the covenant. David
is in this covenant just like believers in the present generation
are in this covenant. Although it be not so with my
house, yet God has made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered
in all things and sure, this is all my salvation and all my
desire, even though God make it not to grow. Paul in Hebrews
chapter 8 calls this a better covenant with better promises. You know why? Because there are
no conditions upon us. They all belong in the covenant
to Christ, and if he does, we have. That's just how it is. That's as simple as English words
can put it. And if I do not believe this,
it's not because I don't know enough about it. It's because
I know too much. It's my prejudice against what
I do know, and what I do know this book says about this subject. That's my problem. Getting a
book on the subject, or a commentary, or reading one of the Puritans
or anybody else, that ain't going to change a thing. I didn't think I could deal with
this list without—I know it's been addressed by every message. Brother Fortner's, Brother Todd—I'm
stealing his outline. I'm going to try to get Don's—and
Linwood this morning and all the rest to follow. I know this. I believe in the saving, redeeming
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean an actual redemption of
all the persons he intended to redeem. Hebrews 9, 12, you need
not turn, I'm just going to refer you to it. Boy, I was wound tighter
than Dick's hatband when I finally got up the other Sunday at fourteen
minutes to twelve. And I just, I begged the Lord,
I said, I said, Lord, these people didn't even bring a Bible. There
ain't no way. that they can turn to me on all
of these points, you know, for a verse of Scripture. And the
Lord truly blessed me to remember more verses than I've ever remembered
in my life, because my memory is going fast. Now, if you can
get me started on a verse, I can finish it. But it's like taking
that first step if you can take the first one, and the rest are
easy. And coming up with the first
word is where the problem is. But in Hebrews 9.12, we are told that Christ has obtained eternal redemption for us. Not temporary redemption, not
conditional redemption, eternal redemption. Galatians 3.13. And I shouldn't have told that
story, because now I can't remember the first word. Oh, it's talking about Christ
becoming a curse for us, because Christ has redeemed us. Thank you so much. Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for
us. Now, these statements are in
the past tense. No possibility of thinking that
something still has to be done to just magically make them all
of a sudden work. But if you turn, Brother Fortner
is always worried when I get up here. I'm either going to
be too short or too long, but Galatians chapter 4. in kind of a sick way I like
to see him sweat. On the subject of redemption,
Galatians chapter 4 verse 4, But when the fullness of time
was come. God sent forth his Son made of
a woman. The only human birth ever like
that. Made under the law. My soul, the Lord Jesus gave
Moses that law in Mount Sinai. And yet he comes in our room
place instead and obligates himself to honor and magnify the very
law of which he is the author. Made of a woman, made under the
law. Why? To redeem them that were
under the law, namely all his people. that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And, if I could get this in,
this is not necessarily the same point, but it's so close by,
and because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into your heart. Yes, but I thought when He sent
the Spirit into our hearts, that's when we're converted, that's
when we're saved. But it says, because we already are sons,
and have been so forever. Wherefore, you are no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Now, that's a plain statement,
isn't it? Now, I'm well aware that there's a
little bit of controversy going on. having to do with the subject
of the new birth. But in good conscience, I cannot
leave out what I think to be an absolutely essential point
in taking this statement, I believed, therefore have I spoken. I would
have to lie to you if I said I did not believe that the new
birth is all-important. So I don't much care what is
being said or what will be said concerning me. And the following
point will also be tied to this matter of the new birth, but
there cannot be any plainer language than the sixth and seventh verses
of John chapter 3. Now Nicodemus, in regard to this
world's wisdom, is a smart man, but when it comes to this He's lost. Natural learning cannot reveal
these things to us. And the reason is so very simple.
Verse 6, John chapter 3, that which is born of the flesh is
flesh and will never be anything but flesh. And we cannot eradicate
it. We cannot even placate it. We cannot reason with it. We
will leave it behind in the grave. The flesh is flesh. Now, I say it's our old nature. I don't know if that's the correct
way to say it, but that's how I say it. But the new man, look at verse
7. Marvel not that I said unto you. He's already told him this, now
he tells it again. You must be born again. Now you must admit one thing. It's
not complicated language that keeps that statement from being
understood. First graders of reasonable IQ
can understand that language very easily. Now, if I've got
a problem with that, it goes a lot deeper than not understanding it. I'm
talking about a mental Not talking about a spiritual. That's the
whole rub. It's the spiritual understanding
of these things that only God can communicate to our soul. We can't understand the new birth
until we're born again. And the second thing having to do
with this subject, which is, believe it or not, I'm on number
ten. I've only got one more. But you've got to turn with me
on this one. This gets a little bit, well, some people say it does,
I don't say that. But John chapter 6. I had used these verses to illustrate
a point in a message from, if I remember right, it was Micah
6.8. And some guy called me that I
know and have known for years and wanted a CD of that message. And I get a little suspicious when
somebody wants to hear something that I've preached. I really
do. And to go to the trouble to make a long-distance call,
you know, to request a certain message on tape. So I shouldn't
have been surprised, so a few weeks later I got a call back
and this person informed me that I had misrepresented the statements
that I'm about to make to you. Verses 28 and 29 of John chapter
6. Now here's my point in regard
to the new birth. Faith in Christ, saving faith
in the Lord Jesus, is the result of being born again. And never,
under any possibility, can it be the cause. It's the effect, not the cause. Faith is the sacred deposit of
the Holy Ghost in the work of conversion, which is called regeneration,
being born from above, or the new birth. So in John chapter
6, in regard to the subject of this faith in Christ that is
the result of being born again, verses 28 and 29. Then said they unto him, these
are the persons that participated in the miracle of the feeding
of the 5,000 on the previous day. These are the persons that
immediately thereafter decided they would force Christ to become
their King, which is what freewill religion does to this very day,
and will continue, I suppose. And then they finally locate
him the next day back in Capernaum, and the conversation—I'm just
picking up at verse 28—then said they unto the Lord Jesus, when
they found him to be, mildly put, uncooperative, they said But what shall we do
that we might work the works of God? Now, that is just as
dumb a statement as a dozen others that I have made and probably
still do make. If it's God's work, what makes
me think I can do it? Now, if that's not the point,
I don't know what is. They are telling the Lord Jesus, if you
won't be our King, if you won't re-perform this miracle every
time we need it, then you just tell us the secret. We'll do
it ourselves. And that's what man-made religion
is. Doing it myself. And nowhere, no subject anywhere,
Is this more readily seen than when it comes to the subject
of faith? We know all about faith in Christ. But I'm telling you, this book
makes a statement called, The Faith of Christ. And it's got
something to do with this exact issue. I ain't smart enough to
figure it out. But I know it's four times in
the book of Galatians alone. Now look at the next verse, verse
29. Our Lord is going to answer this question. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God. You want to do God's work? Try
this one on for size. And we'll find it never, ever
fits that you believe on him whom
God has sent. Now, the college I went to was
just sort of a run-of-the-mill college, and the degree I got
in English hasn't done me a whole lot of good, but I do believe
that this state Believing and trusting Christ is nothing more
and nothing less than the work of God. Therefore, it's not mine
and it's not yours. Let me show you another statement. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 1.
1 John 5, verse 1. Whosoever—that's
a big word, whosoever—believes. That's the subject. No matter
who it is, where it is, when it is. Whosoever that Jesus is the Christ. Here's the lowest common denominator. Is born of God. Period. Exclamation point. I mean, what else can you say? Now, can we take David's words
and Paul's words, bring it to the present tense and say, I
believe, therefore, I speak? When it comes to the new birth,
when it comes to faith, do we believe what's in this book?
And do we say what we find in this book? I mean, whose favor
are we courting, man's or God's? Point number eleven, I believe it pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now, can you imagine what I did
when I got to this statement at that church down in the country?
They ain't got ten minutes out of an hour to give to preaching. And the preacher likes it that
way, and so does the congregation. uses the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And nobody knows any better than
a gospel preacher how foolish it is. But it's more than just
the person and the method. It's the message. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Let me show you something right
quick. Is there something supposed to
happen when that thing makes that noise? I don't worry. Oh, hey. Be turning to 1 Corinthians.
I'll tell you a little story. I'll make a real brief one. At
5 minutes past 12 that Sunday on July the 16th there at that
church in eastern North Carolina, about 75 miles from where we
live, turn to 1 Corinthians 1, and then I want to show you a
statement in chapter 3. I heard people in the choir behind
me leaving, you know, and I said, you know, maybe I ought to stop.
So it was about five minutes after twelve, and I stopped,
and the preacher's sitting right there. And I knew exactly what
I was doing. I'm setting him up. I said, preacher,
I said, pastor, I said, when I'm at home, I get longer than
this to preach. Now, what can he say? He can't
say but one thing. He said, don't you worry about
it. Take all the time you want. And so I picked up where I left
off. You know, that's like, I put
that laser right on him. Let me read you that verse so
you'll know exactly where it is and what it says. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
21, isn't it? When God determined that this
is how things are going to be, that man by his smarts is not
going to figure out who God is and who we are and who Christ
is. After that, in the wisdom of
God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now chapter
3 and verse 5, because I've got a problem, and that problem is
with anybody who says they can figure this stuff out just between
them and God. Well, can you now? He said it
is by the foolishness of preaching. And verse 5 of chapter 3 in 1
Corinthians puts the final nail in the coffin. Who then is Paul
and who is Apollos? but ministers by whom you believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man." And you want to be exempted
from that? Uh-uh. There ain't no exemptions. Thank you.