The Spirit of God will enable
me. I want to talk to you tonight about the one issue between God
and man. And there's really just one issue.
Everywhere I go in this country and in others, I meet with men
and women who see the withered, lifeless, condition of the church. And I use the word church in
the broadest sense possible. They know something's wrong.
They know something's wrong with themselves. Something's wrong
with the church, with those who profess to be members of Christ
Church. They're looking for something.
They know something's missing in their own religious experience,
something's missing in what's called Christianity today, but
they don't know what it is. They've walked an aisle. They've
repeated words that men call the sinner's prayer. They've
joined the church. They've been baptized. They've
learned religion, learned facts of the Bible, Bible history,
learned what they're supposed to do and what they're not supposed
to do. but they have never been confronted
with the one issue between God and man. The preachers they hear
don't know what the issue is, and they don't know what it is.
Do you? The issue between you and God
is not what you do or don't do. That's not the issue. Now, don't
misunderstand me. Folks say, well, Fortner says
it doesn't matter how you live. Fortner never said that. It does
matter how you live. It makes a great deal of difference
how you live, what you do, what you don't do, but not in your
relationship to God. The Lord God told us how to live
in this world, and we are responsible to obey Him. But the issue between
you and God is not what you wear, what you eat, what you drink,
or what you refuse to wear, eat, or drink. The fact is there are
a good many people in hell today who lived a whole lot better
life than you have or I have. A lost man can live just as good
and clean a life or better than you. That shocks folks. Well, folks need to be shocked.
The rich young ruler lived a pretty good life. Simon the Pharisee,
who looked down his nose on that woman who was a sinner at his
house when she came to wash the master's feet, lived a whole
lot better life than that woman did. No doubt the Pharisee in
the temple, who prayed with himself, was a much better man outwardly
in his behavior than the publican who would not lift up his eyes
to heaven. I don't have any question that
that lady over in India, they call her Mother Teresa, lived
a real good life. Lived a real good life. But it
didn't amount to anything for God. Not anything. What you do or what you refuse
to do. What you allow yourself and what
you deprive yourself of has absolutely no bearing on your relationship
with God, none whatever. The issue between you and God
is not what you do, and the issue between you and God is not what
you have felt, experienced, and done in the spiritual realm. How can I... I want to be so clear and I want
to be so plain that you can't mistake my meaning. I want to knock every false prop
you lean on out from under you. If you live in a cocoon, in a
false refuge, hiding from God, I want by God's grace to destroy
that refuge for your soul's sake. When I was seven years old, I
had a religious experience, and it was a humdinger. I was terrified
of going to hell. I was persuaded to walk an aisle,
make a confession of faith, said what they called the sinner's
prayer, joined the church and was baptized. Oh, I had a wonderful,
wonderful sense of relief. I was told my sins were forgiven,
and I was I just had a wonderful sense that my guilt was taken
care of. And that sense of guilt, which
nearly crushed me to death when I was just a boy, was suddenly
relieved. And folks told me I was saved.
And there wasn't anything like salvation in it. I didn't know
God from a gourd. And to know salvation when a
man doesn't know God from a gourd. They just didn't. They just didn't.
These days folks talk about They're spiritual experiences, religious
experiences. And you point to that. You look
to that. How do you know you're saved? Well, I was there when
it happened. If you've got to look back to
something you experienced, something you felt, you don't know God. And you've never experienced
his grace. A fellow wants to know if I'm alive, I don't go
dig out my birth certificate. I just do that to cross the border
from one country to the other. I'm alive. I'm breathing. These days we
hear so much about experience. People talk about the baptism
of the Holy Ghost, being filled with the Holy Ghost, and speaking
in tongues, and performing miracles. And they say these are signs
of God's favor, God's salvation, God's approval. And the absence
of these things is a sign of God's disapproval and of God's
wrath. Well, turn to Matthew chapter 7. In the day of judgment,
there are going to be some folks forever damned. who did and felt
and experienced more in the spiritual realm than you or I ever hoped
to on this earth. And they're going to hell. Look
at verse 22, Matthew 7. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, Master, Master, have we not prophesied in thy name?
And in thy name have cast out devils? Anybody here? We've prophesied. We've cast
out devils in your name. In thy name we've done many wonderful
works. Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. Your prophesying, your miracles,
your casting out demons is all sin before me. The issue between
you and God is not what you do, it is not what you feel and experience. The issue between you and God
is not what or how much you know and believe about the person
and work of Christ. Again, let me be understood.
Doctrinal truth. Gospel knowledge is vital. You
must know and believe the doctrine of the gospel. But accurate,
factual, orthodox knowledge is not salvation. A person can believe
all the truth and not be saved. A man can believe the doctrine
of the gospel and yet be as lost as a hot and tart in Africa.
You give me some evidence that Judas Iscariot denied any issue
with regard to gospel truth. He believed the truth. Demas,
that man who walked with the Apostle Paul and preached with
the Apostle Paul, was no free willer. He was not an Arminian. He preached the truth, or he
wouldn't have been with Paul. Deocrates, that man who loved to have the
preeminence, would not have been in the position he was in in
that church if he hadn't believed the gospel of God's grace. You
see, the issue between man and God is not what you believe. Well, pastor, what is it? You
write this down, and I want you to write it down. The issue between
God and man is the Lordship of His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the issue. And everybody
today in the religious world talks about Jesus being Lord.
Let's see what God says about it. The issue between God and
man is simply who is going to be boss. Who's going to rule? Who's going to control? Who's
going to call the shots? Who is going to be boss, Christ
or you? That's the issue. That's the
issue. I recall years ago, I heard Ralph
Barnard tell about an experience he had. He went to preach in
what they call a revival meeting in a church. It was started by
a young preacher with nine families. And just a little while, the
congregation grew to a good-sized assembly. And the folks in the
town where they were set up took notice. And Barnard said, the
church was a fellowship of men and women who lived in the power
of the resurrection life of the risen Lord. men and women who
lived in the power of Christ the risen Lord. He asked the
pastor what he considered to be the secret to the phenomenal
growth and success and influence of that congregation. And the
young preacher said this, Brother Barnard, there isn't but one
message to be preached, and that is God's eternal purpose in Jesus
Christ. that on the basis of Christ's
life laid down, God has purpose to set up his totalitarian rule
in the hearts of men. That's the issue. Christ demands
totalitarian, totalitarian lordship in your life. What a message. Now, in the light of what I've
said thus far, let me show you three things in the scriptures.
I'm going to spend the bulk of the time dealing with the issue
of the gospel. That's the first thing. And then the message of
the gospel. And then finally, the faith of
the gospel. First, let's look at the issue of the gospel. The
one issue between God and man always has been and always will
be the Lordship of Christ. Preachers, religious hucksters, deceivers who have been deceived
address sinners all the time on the question, do you want
to go to heaven when you die? Well, that's not the issue. Everybody
wants to go to heaven when they die. Everybody. The issue is
not, would you like to have peace in your life? You tell me who
wouldn't. Everybody wants to have peace
in their lives. The issue between you and God is His Son. The Lord God demands that you
bow to His Son. And the issue is just this, will
you or will you not bow to the claims of Christ as your sovereign
Lord? Now you're going to. Everybody's
going to bow. Sooner or later, you will bow
to Christ. Willingly or unwillingly, but
bow you will. God has ordained that every knee
shall bow to his son, and it shall come to pass. If you bow
willingly to Christ now, that's salvation. But bow you will. God purposed it, and God will
perform it. Turn to Psalm 110. Psalm 110. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand, until. You see that? David says, the Lord God said
to my Lord, Jesus Christ his Son, sit down right here on my
throne. Sit down right here on my right
hand. Sit here king over all, blessed forever. Sit right here
on my right hand of authority, power and dominion until I make
thine enemies thy footstool. And he's going to make them all
his footstool. Everybody is going to bow before
the throne of Christ the King and acknowledge Him as Lord. He rules until all His enemies
have been brought in subjection under His feet, either brought
in subjection under His feet in this day of grace by the power
of His grace, by the power of His Spirit, causing you to surrender
to Him, or in the day of judgment, forcing you with the rod of His
wrath at His feet to kiss his feet, but bow you well and kiss
the Son. Look in Isaiah 9, verse 6. Soon
everywhere in the country, folks will be reciting a little bit
of this passage of Scripture. But folks don't understand what
it says. Isaiah 9, verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, Unto us as a man, the child Jesus
Christ was born. As God, He couldn't be born,
He's eternal. Unto us, the Son is given. And the government, what government? All government, shall be upon
his shoulder. And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David
and upon his kingdom to order it and establish it, now watch
it, with judgment and with justice, From henceforth, even forever. Well, how is this going to come
to pass? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it. What happened in the garden?
The issue of Christ's dominion was challenged. Turn back to
Genesis 2. The Lord God sent Adam and Eve
in the garden. And He gave a command to Adam. The Lord said to Adam in verse
15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of
Eden to dress him and to keep him. He put him there, in the
Garden of Eden, in that state of innocence, in that state of
uprightness in which he created him, where there was no sin,
no curse, no likelihood, no propensity to evil, and he put Adam there
to serve him in his creation. He put him in the garden to dress
it and to keep it. in a state of absolute uprightness. He put Adam in the garden to
serve him, to dress the garden and to keep it. And the Lord
God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat. Here it is. Here it is. I'll
give you the whole thing. Give you the whole thing. But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die. Now whatever that tree of the
knowledge of good and evil was, it was the symbol of God's dominion. It was the symbol of God's authority. And when Adam saw what his wife
did, his wife being deceived and beguiled by the serpent,
Adam not being deceived. Is that what the book says? He
knew exactly what he was doing, Merle. He knew exactly what he
was doing. Adam looked God square in the
face and said, you've got no right to be God. You've got no right to take my
wife from me. You've got no right to send my
wife to hell. You've got no right to tell me
I can't have this. I'll take it. And you step aside. I'll be ruler. I know what's
best. And thus he plunged himself in
all the human race under the wrath of God. The issue between
you and God is just the same today. You who are yet without
faith in Christ and know it, and you who are without faith
in Christ and don't know it. Your problem is not that you're
ignorant or deceived. You know the depravity of your
heart, at least in measure. You know your guilt, at least
in measure. You know your sinfulness, at
least in measure. You know who God is. You hear
him proclaim constantly. You know what God requires. You
know that God requires of you righteousness and satisfaction. And you know that Christ and
Christ alone has accomplished righteousness and satisfied the
justice of God for sinners. Your problem is that you will
not have Christ reign over you. That's the issue. No, sir, I
won't have you as my Lord. No, sir. Now, you might not put
it in those words, so let me see if I can scratch around a
little bit and find the words in which you would put it. You
see, God always meets sinners at their point of rebellion,
always. He'll find your sore spot, and
that's where he's going to get you. He's going to cross your
will. The only way salvation ever comes
to a sinner is when God crosses your will and conquers it on
whatever happens. Naaman, that great Syrian general,
that mighty man, that leper. Went down to visit God's prophet,
and God's prophet told him, said, yes, sir, you can be cured of
that disease. All you've got to do is go dip
in the River Jordan. that dirty, filthy Jordan River seven times. Well, I'm not going to do that.
We've got clean water back where I come from. I anticipated that
man would at least come out and wave his hands over me or put
his hands on me or say something to me. He just sends his servant
out and tells me what God says and expects me to do that. I'll
not do it. You what? You'll not do it? Well, go on
and die of your leprosy, because there's no other way for you
to be clean. You mean there's power in that muddy water to
heal a man of his leprosy? No, sir. There's power in God
to heal a man of his leprosy, and God demands surrender to
Him. What's the issue? What is it
that you want? Surrender to Christ. That's the
problem. What is it you're not willing
to give up to his dominion? What is it that you just insist
on controlling yourself? That's the problem with the rich
young ruler. He came to the Lord Jesus, and oh, he was a fine
specimen of humanity. Good master. What good things
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? You tell me what
it is, and I'll take care of it right now. I'll do it. I'm
a fine man. Oh, well I'll tell you what you
do. You go and sell everything you have, give it to the poor,
come follow me and you'll have eternal life. You mean a man gets saved by
giving away his money? Taking care of the poor? That'll
get him saved? No, no, no, no, no. You can give your body to be
burned. That's not going to save your soul. What's he talking
about? Submission to Christ the Lord. That's the issue. That's
the issue. This was the problem at Calvary.
That mob of Jews, those rebels. I don't plan to go see the movie. I've been a little interested,
not much, but a little interested in the yik-yak on the news about
the movie Mel Gibson is making concerning the crucifixion or
has made, whatever it is. The Jews got upset. Said the
Jews were just upset about this because it made it look like
they had something to do with the crucifixion. Well, they did. And you did, too. And I did,
too. That mob at Calvary crucified
the Lord of Glory not because they didn't believe His words.
No, sir, that wasn't the issue. It wasn't because they didn't
recognize that He had great power. They had seen it and felt it.
No, sir, that wasn't the issue. Some of them ate loaves and fishes
that He provided. What was the problem? They nailed
Him to the tree because they would not submit to His rule. Now, listen. on his terms. You read the 6th chapter of John.
In John chapter 6, they came and wanted to take him by force
and make him a king. They wanted him to be king on
their terms. They wanted him to be lord on
their terms. They wanted him to be their monarch
on their terms. They wanted him to sit on the
throne on their terms. They wanted him to serve them
on their terms. They would not bow to him as
lord on his terms. And for that, they nailed him
to the tree and they hissed and spit and laughed and carried
on like a bunch of wild barbarians and said, we will not have this
man to rule over us. We won't have it. And that's
still the issue today. Does God have the right to be
God? Does God exercise that right? Does God have the right to sit
on His throne and do whatever He will? The Word of God says
He does. Does God exercise that right?
The Word of God says He does. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. God Almighty will never
abdicate His throne. He'll step down. Never. He will
bend His dominion never. He will not quit announcing His
commands, pressing His claims, and meddling in the lives of
men. God demands that we surrender, that we give up ourselves to
the rule of His Son willingly. Willingly. Willingly. Well, I'll just have to bear
it. That's the way it is. No, no,
no, no, no. Willingly. Saving faith is nothing less
than surrender to Christ the Lord. If I would be saved, I
must lose my life to Him. Turn with me again to Mark chapter
8. It's not the surrender of my heart. It's not the surrender of my
soul. It's not the surrender of my mind. It's not the surrender of one
day in seven, it's not the surrender of a tithe, it's not the surrender
of a little time every morning and every evening, but the surrender
of my life that He demands. Mark 8, verse 34. When He called
the people unto Him, with His disciples also, He said unto
them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself. deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. What on earth does that mean?
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall
save him. Now here's the issue. When I was pressed with the claims
of Christ and my Lord, I was terrified of hell. I was terrified of divine judgment. I was terrified of God. Terrified at the thought of meeting
God. Spent sleepless nights scared
to death of meeting God. And I kept trying to figure out
ways to ease myself of guilt. And I kept trying to turn away
the wrath of God from me. I kept trying to silence the
accusations in my conscience by every means I could imagine.
Go to church, read your Bible, pray, quit living the way you
used to live, just everything. Terrified. But it all came down to one thing.
One thing. Is Christ going to be king over
you? Because you want him as king
over you. Are you going to hell? That's
it. Who's going to rule your life?
I'll save my life if it means I go to hell. I'm going to be
God over me, the captain of my soul, the master of my fate. I'll call the shots for me. He broke that stubborn will and
made me bow to the rule of His Son with the delight of my soul. Lord, come rule me. Do with me what You will. You
can save your life. You can keep it. You sure can. You can do what you want to.
You can go where you want to go. You can be what you want
to be. You sure can. And go to hell. Or you can give it up to the
Son of God. What will it be? Spurgeon said, no man has truly
given himself to Christ. Unless he has said, my Lord,
I give thee this day my body, my soul, my powers, my talents,
my goods, my house, my children, and all that I have. Henceforth,
I hold them at thy will as a steward unto thee. Thine they are as
for me. I have nothing. I've surrendered
all to thee. In the garden, two things happened.
Adam challenged God's right to be God. He defied God's authority
as God. And when he did, manhood lost
something. Manhood lost its wholeness. You see, man, in his depravity,
in his fallen condition, is out of shelter. He's beside himself. He must be brought to himself,
or he'll never be reconciled to God. Like the particle who,
in his insanity, fled from his father. Finally, when he came
to himself, arose and went to his father's house. So, you must
return to the rule of God, or you will perish forever. If ever we come to know Christ,
We must surrender everything to Him. Everything. Everything. Life, home, wife,
children, business, time, relationships. You see, man was made to be governed. Our society, a society of rebels,
can't seem to get this. Our educators, our wise acres,
they just can't seem to get this. Oh, don't discipline the child. Oh, don't say no to that child.
Don't make the child. No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. Let the child have freedom of
expression. I'll tell you what you do. You
just watch. Just watch. Find me a child,
two years old or 17 years old. Find me one. And they're still
children at 17. Find me one. Find me one two
years old, 17 years old. Find me one who's happy, content,
peaceful, well-adjusted, got his mind focused. I'll show you
a child. who's been given responsibility
and made to fulfill the responsibilities, like it or not. A child who has
been made to do what he's told to do because that gives the
child a sense of direction and purpose. You show me one who's
fixing to pop a cork. You show me one that's unstable
as water. You show me one that It's just constant turmoil. His
mind is just like a banjo string who's just running here and there
and everywhere. I'll show you a child that has
been left to himself. Because man is made to be ruled. And you, my friend, will never
find peace in your soul until God graciously forces you to
slip your neck under the yoke of Christ's blessed dominion. It won't happen. It won't happen. One of these days, God's going
to accomplish His purpose. Everything is going to bow to
His Son. He must reign till He has put
all His enemies under His feet. All right, now that's the fact.
If the issue between God and man is the rule of Christ, what
must our message be? God has sent me to declare to you that Jesus
Christ, His Son, is Lord and King of the universe. Turn to
2 Corinthians 4. You're familiar with Acts 2. On the day of Pentecost, Peter
said to those folks there who couldn't figure out what on earth
was going on, he said, this is what's going on. God has made
that Jesus whom you crucified, Lord in Christ. He set him on
his throne. He's fulfilled the words of the
prophets. And this is the message we're sent to declare. 2 Corinthians
4, verse 5. Paul says, we preach not ourselves.
We don't preach for ourselves or about ourselves, but we preach
Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves, your servants,
for Jesus' sake. Our message is Christ the Lord. If you carefully mark it, reading
through the book of Acts, three words are used 37 times. Three
words. Preach, preaching, and preached. Those three words. Preach, preaching,
and preached. All 37 times, no exception, the
subject preached was Jesus and the resurrection. All 37 times. They went everywhere declaring
that God's Son came down here to save sinners and went back
yonder because He did it. He came down here to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And now He's raised on high and
He's Lord over all. And you're going to meet Him
real soon. That's the message. The rule of the gospel, or the
message of the gospel, is the declaration of Christ's absolute
right to rule as Lord. The message of the gospel is
a word of reconciliation. The message is redemption fully
accomplished by Christ. It is calling sinners. to be
reconciled to God by faith in His Son because of what Christ
has done. Look at chapter 5, 2nd Corinthians,
verse 18. All things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that is to say, this
is it. God was in Christ, reconciling the world, reconciling the world
of his elect unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them, and hath committed unto us the word, the message of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. Oh, God make me that. As though God did beseech you
by us. We pray you in Christ's stead,
quit fighting God. Quit fighting God. Quit fighting
God. Be ye reconciled to God. How
come? For He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. The terms of reconciliation are
surrender. That's all. Surrender. You see, faith believes
the record God gave to his son. And faith is not merely believing
facts. Faith acts upon that record,
that revelation that God gave. Salvation is conversion to God. It is the lifelong pursuit of
God, His will, and His glory. The message of the gospel is
the message of God's rule restored. One of these days, the kingdom of God shall be manifestly
established everywhere. Everywhere. I don't know much
about what folks call revival. I'm fully convinced that what
men look back on, those spasms of religion and fits of self-righteousness
and fits of religious zeal and works, are just that. That's not revival. But whatever
revival is, it involves the saints of God experiencing and rejoicing
in Christ's dominion. And when God gets done with us
then, Ron, heaven shall begin with and shall be an everlasting
continuation of the experience of Christ's blessed dominion
over all things. Revelation 19 clearly shows us
that. Now then, briefly, let me show
you something about the faith of the gospel. There are two
kinds of faith. Every person who professes faith
in Christ has one of these two kinds. There is a faith that centers
in me and what I can get from God. And there is a faith that
centers in God and His glory. If my faith is primarily concerned
with me and what I am and what I want and what I can get, then
the object of my faith is me. Pastor, that kind of stings.
I hope it does more than sting. is primarily concerned with me
and what I want, then the object of my faith is me. I really worship
me. If my faith is primarily concerned
with God and His glory, then God's the object of my faith,
and I worship Him. Martin Luther once defined salvation
as the realization of God's will and purpose, whatever it might
be, rather than satisfaction of my need. Luther saw that true
faith is not seeking something from God, but bowing to the rule
of God. Calvin put it this way. True
faith is having confidence in God, regardless of profit or
loss. It is the heart's willing affirmation
of God's right to be God. Now, let's read my text, and
I'll just read it. Luke chapter 14, verse 25. There went great multitudes with
him, And he turned and said unto them. Isn't it amazing how different
our Lord was than preachers today? Because he's concerned for men's
souls, not for his name. He turned and said to them, if
any man come to me, salvation is coming to Christ. Coming to
Christ. Constantly coming to Christ.
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
life also. Now what on earth is that talking
about? Our Lord is not suggesting. He's not implying that if you
come to me, then you ought to turn on your family. That's not
it. That's not it. What he is saying
is that following me, you give no regard to family following
me. Can't do it. Consult not with
flesh and blood. Can't do it. Can't do it. He
cannot be my disciple. When the scripture says, Jacob
have I loved, and Esau have I hated, it doesn't mean God loved Jacob
and loved Esau a little less. It means God gave all consideration
to Jacob, and he totally ignored Esau. Now when it comes to this
business of worshiping God, of following Christ, you give no
consideration to the most darling objects of your affection on
this earth, and that includes What we wish weren't so but is,
number one, even you. Even you. Not even yourself.
And if you can't, come to me. With no rival to me, you can't
be my disciple.