For the things that I was taught
or things that folks tried to teach me when I was in college,
I wouldn't give 10 cents for the most part. Matter of fact,
I'd do everything I could to keep you from hearing the things
I heard all the time I was in college. But one day when I was
19 years old, sitting in one of our classes in theology, a
professor gave an assignment. And it was one of the best assignments
I ever had throughout the days of my studies. He asked us to
take Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16, and over the course of the
next week, study the text every way we could study it, using
whatever materials we could get, praying about it, read it in
its context, and write down every thought that came to us from
this one text of Scripture. And I've been preaching on it
from those thoughts now for 30 years. It's just a delightful,
delightful passage of Scripture. Let's begin there tonight. Hebrews
chapter 4 and verse 16. Let us, you and me, Therefore, because we have such
a great high priest, Jesus Christ ascended into the heavens. Come. Come. Is it alright for me to
come? He said you could. Come on. Let
us therefore come. Come boldly. Come with freeness. Come with confidence. Come with
ease of mind and heart and conscience. Let us come through Christ, our priest,
unto the throne. The throne. Don't ever forget God sits on
the throne. Christ sets on the throne. And
you're coming to a king. Come with boldness, come with
confidence, come worshiping. Come to the throne. Absolute
sovereign monarch of the universe sets on the throne of everlasting
dominion. But listen to how it's described.
Throne of grace. the throne of grace. We're coming
to the throne of the holy, omnipotent Lord God. And the throne portrayed
here is that mercy seat, that lid that covered the ark of the
covenant in the holy of holies from which, or at which God Almighty
said, here, I'll meet with you and commune with you. I'll declare
myself to you. I'll make myself known to you.
It's the throne of grace. Oh, thank God. He who is God
omnipotent, who has all power and dominion, sets on a throne
established for the purpose of exercising grace to needy sinners. Come then to the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy. Come for mercy. I feel so ashamed,
so embarrassed, so hesitant, so reticent to come because I
so often neglect and despise this great throne of grace. Except when I need mercy. Maybe that's the reason he fixes
it so we need mercy so much. Come then to the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace, grace to help in
time of need. I've got a hunch. Every word
there applies to everybody here. I need mercy. I need grace. And the only place to get it
is at the throne of God. And God bids us come to obtain
the mercy and grace we need in every time of need. Now I want
to talk to you tonight about grace. Grace. And this is a needful message
for these four reasons. Salvation by grace destroys every
basis for human boasting. It destroys every basis for man
to exalt and magnify and praise himself, or to be exalted, magnified,
and praised by other men. To him, I would put it, boasting
excluded, pride I abase, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Salvation by grace puts every
one of us in the dust before the throne of God. We are nothing
except sin, you and me. your children and mine, your
family and mine, your neighbors and mine. Before God Almighty,
in the sight of the Holy Lord God, there's nothing in us but
corruption and sin. And if anything should ever be
done with us, short of everlasting damnation, it'll be God's work. If indeed we are saved by His
hand, it's altogether because of His grace. If your idea of
salvation allows you in any way to boast that the difference
between you and any other human being is something you are, something
you have done, something you have decided, or something you
have willed, I'm here to tell you, you don't have any idea
who God is or who you are. You've never tasted the grace
of God. Your religion's a delusion. Your religion is nothing but
a form of self-righteousness with which you rebel before God
continually. Secondly, this message is important
because the message I declare to you, the message of this book,
salvation by God's free grace gives all the honor to God alone. It gives all the honor to God
alone. The book says, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. God alone has the praise for
salvation from folks who know him. He alone. I know everybody
talks about grace, but the way they talk about it, it comes
out sounding so much like free will. They talk about grace,
but the way they talk about it comes out sounding a whole lot
like works. The scriptures give God alone
the praise, because your will's got nothing to do with this thing
called salvation. Your works have nothing to do
with this thing called salvation. Salvation is God's work from
start to finish. Whatever is involved in bringing
a sinner from the gates of gaping hell to be seated in heavenly
glory, robed in the righteousness of Christ, made perfect before
God Almighty, whatever is involved in that marvelous thing called
salvation, God alone did it. That's all. That's all. You can
make this a litmus test for all doctrine. Any doctrine. Any doctrine. that causes you
to look within yourself and say, now, there, I did that. It's damning to your soul. Any
doctrine that causes you to look outside yourself, outside your
experience, outside your works, outside your knowledge, to Christ
alone for everything, that is the message of God's free grace. That's the doctrine of the gospel.
Thirdly, this message is important because any mixture, any mixture,
of grace and works, any mixture of merit and mercy, any mixture
of what God does for sinners and what sinners do for God,
any mixture of you and Christ is not only heresy, it is not
only error, but to mix what you do with what Christ has done
is damning. It is damning. I mean you will
go to hell if you mix your will with God's will, your work with
God's work, your doings with Christ's doings. Turn to Romans
chapter 11. I want you to see this. Romans
chapter 11. Grace plus anything is not salvation
but damnation. Faith plus anything is not salvation
but damnation. Christ plus anything is not salvation
but damnation. Romans 11 verse 6. Now this is
the sum total of what I'm trying to tell you. Either salvation
is altogether God's work of grace, or it is altogether your work. You cannot mix the two. It is
altogether of grace, or it's altogether of law. It's altogether
of mercy on God's part, or altogether of merit on your part. There
is no mixing of the two. It doesn't matter where you put
work into this thing called grace, you've made grace to be work.
You cannot have the two mixed together. Romans 11, 6. If by
grace, if by grace, if there is a remnant according to the
election of grace, if there are some folks God's going to save
by his grace, then it is no more of works. Well, picture what
Roald Dahl's works have. Did you read what that says?
If of grace, it is no more of works. But what does that leave
for man to do? Did you read the book? If it
is of grace, if by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's
no more of grace. You can't have it both ways.
Otherwise, work is no more work. And fourthly, this message is
terribly important. Because very few people in this
world, and I'm talking about religious people. I'm talking
about folks sitting in the pews and folks standing in pulpits.
I'm talking about folks in the Bible colleges and seminaries.
Very few people in this world have any idea what grace is. Everybody talks about grace.
Everybody talks about being saved by grace. You see, the Bible
states this matter so plainly, so constantly, so universally,
that no one who claims to believe the Bible would stand up and
say, I believe you're saved by your works. No idiot would do
that. But they stand up and talk about
grace as though grace is somehow a passion in God's heart, a desire
on God's part, an earnest, earnest moving of God's love toward men,
desiring and wanting that men should be saved. Some make it
more than that. They say that grace is something
God offers to men by which they can be saved. And some go further
than that. They say grace is that which
God puts in you by which you work out your salvation. But
all the while they're making salvation to be ultimately determined
by, and ultimately dependent upon, not God's work of grace,
but you. Your experience, your knowledge,
your feelings, your personal holiness, your personal obedience,
or worse of all, your almighty free will. I would come nearer
joining up with the Campbellites and saying, water washes away
sin, than to teach the notion that somehow man's free will
can turn him from death to life. That's just utter idiocy. And
yet that's the doctrine commonly taught in our day. So it is important
that we constantly be instructed and constantly be reminded what
this book teaches about grace. And when you think about grace,
we're talking about the grace of God. It's not just an attribute
of God. Grace is the almighty power of
God operating toward us and in us, accomplishing the eternal
salvation of his people. When you think about grace, remember
these things. God's grace is eternal. It's eternal. It was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now you don't have to take my
word for that. That was God's word. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. It
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. He saved
us by His grace and blessed us with His grace in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus before the world began. So grace is eternal. Now
being eternal Even if this weren't revealed in the scriptures, the
second thing is given. If it's eternal, it's immutable.
Anything eternal can't be changed. Anything eternal can't be altered.
God declares that his gifts and his callings are without repentance.
God declares, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore your
sons of Jacob are not consumed. And thirdly, God's grace is sovereign. It is sovereign. Sovereign. Sovereign. What does that mean,
Preacher? That means you haven't got a
blasted thing to do with it. That's what that means. That
means you don't control it. You don't motivate it. You don't
resist it. You don't turn it around. You
don't frustrate it. You don't hinder it. You don't
bring it to yourself. It's sovereign. Now look at Romans
chapter 9. Romans 9 chapter. Paul is talking about God's grace.
And it says in verse 11, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil. Well, why does he stress
that? Read the next clause. That the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of
works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now the next time somebody tries
to convince you of a meaningless concept of God's love and say,
well there's a sense in which God loves everybody. Doesn't
that sound sweet? There's just got to be a sense
in which God loves everybody. Would you show me how he loved
Esau? Would you take this book and show me any example, any
indication, anywhere God ever did anything for Esau? Show me
where he loves him. No. Jacob have I loved. Esau I have ignored. Esau I have passed by. For Esau I have nothing. Jacob have I loved. Well, I don't
understand. Why don't you understand that?
Would you please tell me how that can be misunderstood? I
can't imagine language being clear, can you? God said, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. The problem is, folks just don't
like it. And they don't mind it if it
was them doing it. What they don't like is God doing it. If
Jacob had said, Esau have I loved, but Abraham have I hated. Well
that's alright, that's Jacob's right. That's just what we do. But God says, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. And there are no other people
in this world except those who are loved of God and those who
are not. Those who are loved of God and
those who are used by God to serve His purposes for those
who are loved of God. Everything. Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Well,
that's not right. How many times have you had mama
or daddy, brother or sister, neighbor or friend say, well,
that's just not right. They didn't come up with that
on their own. Paul anticipated it a long time ago, by inspiration.
Is there an unrighteousness with God? Does that mean God's unrighteous? Folks say, well, that would make
God unfair. You mean we would think that
you're going to sit in judgment over God Almighty and decide
that He's not right? Larry Brown? with your perverse,
corrupt nature? You're going to decide what's
right and say, God, that's not right. Who are you to make such
an assumption? Who are you to dare make such
a challenge? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Perish the thought. God forbid. For he said to Moses,
this is what he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then, what's the conclusion
of all this? Just exactly what you thought.
It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is not your work, it's
God's work. Grace is not something you control,
it's something God controls. Grace is not something God sort
of offers to you that you can pretty please accept, or if you
want to, you can resist. Grace is what God works, and
by which God works, and that which God works in you for the
glory of His name and the saving of your soul. For He said to
Pharaoh, the Scripture said to Pharaoh, verse 17, even for this
same purpose, have I raised thee up, that I might show my power
in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Grace is eternal, it's immutable,
it's sovereign, and blessed be his name, God's grace is effectual. By grace, God tries to save you. By grace, God wants to save you. By grace, God wills your salvation. By grace, God has done everything
He can to save you. Is that what you hear all over
the religious world? It's not what you hear in this
book. For by grace are you saved. Grace has saved us and called
us. It's exactly right. When we say
that God's grace is effectual, this is what we're saying. Wherever
God bestows His grace, salvation is the result. If God Almighty
set you as an object of His grace from eternity, heaven will be
your portion. And you can't stop it. And hell can't stop it. And your
education can't stop it. And your environment can't stop
it. And your mama and daddy can't stop it. If God set you as the
object of His grace from eternity, God's going to have you before
Him to the praise of His glory unto eternity. Salvation is the
result. Now, what does this book tell
us about God's grace? Turn with me, if you will, to
2 Timothy 1.9. I want to just make a few brief statements,
and I want you to see them and learn to rejoice in God's grace. The grace of God, that grace
described in this book, is covenant grace. Salvation is the result
of a covenant made between the three persons of the Holy Trinity
before the world began. In that blessed, firm, and everlasting
covenant, these four things happened. There were people chosen unto
salvation. And redemption was found. Christ
was set as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And the Lord God, having chosen those people, and having made
those people the objects of his redeeming love, he pledged a
seal for them. Listen to this. Hurt not the
earth till we've sealed the 144,000. Now, that 144,000, I'm not talking
about a specific number of people, it's a specific number given
to represent the fullness of the heritage of God's elect. It's 144,000 referred to as all
God's elect, all the tribes of Israel gathered together in one
in Christ Jesus the Lord. And the salvation of God's elect
was secured in divine predestination. Let's see what 2 Timothy 1 says,
verse 9. Now Paul's talking about the
gospel for which he's suffering imprisonment. The gospel for
which he's about to die. He's not talking about some abstract
system of theology. He's not talking about some creed.
He's not talking about something that doesn't matter. Lindsay's
talking about that for which he's about to die. The gospel
of God's grace. Who hath saved us. Who hath. Isn't that a good word? who hath
saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now wait
a minute. How can God's salvation and God's
calling and God's grace be given to Don Fortner before the world
began when Don Fortner was just born 53 years ago? How can that
be? Only through a surety. Only by
representation. Only in a covenant. The Lord
Jesus Christ still is my surety as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and God Almighty saved me, called me, justified
me, glorified me, redeemed me, and gave me His grace and His
salvation in the hands of my surety before the world was. That's exactly right. several
years ago. Y'all may remember when Evelyn
and Betty Roe came to visit us from Australia. Back in those days, I don't know
what they cost now, but a pair of ladies tennis shoes down in
Australia would cost somebody about $80. Here they were $20.
And she called and wrote to me and asked me if I would go buy
her a pair of tennis shoes. And I went down here, I forgot
the name of the store that was down here in the shopping center
at the time, and I went and found a pair of ladies' Nike tennis
shoes. Pretty things. Had pink trim
on them. Size 6. I remember it distinctly. And you know, nobody there, now
they might have thought I was buying them for me if they were
size 12, but this was size 6. Nobody thought I was buying them
for me. Nobody. They presumed I was buying
them for somebody else who wasn't around. Couldn't see them. Pretty pink and white tennis
shoes for this big old man. He must be getting those for
somebody else. I got them as her representative. I never intended
to have them for me. Never took them from me. Wasn't
a thought in my mind that they should be mine. I got them just
for her. God's salvation was given us
in a representative before the world began. And he got it for
us in eternity. Now look at verse 10. This grace
that was given us in Christ before the world began is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. Oh, there's much more than this
that happens, but in a very real sense. The hardshells take this
passage of Scripture and say the only thing that happens when
God saves the sinner is he just learns about it. Well, no, they're
more than that. They're more than that. God changes
a man. God invades his life. God gives
him a new heart, a new will, a new nature. But when God saves
the sinner, God turns the lights on. God causes him to see and
to believe and to understand and to have evidence of this
that was done before the war began. When Christ shines in
his heart, when the light of the glory of God shines in the
face of Christ, look at it, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and brought
life and immortality to light, look at it, through the gospel.
Now he abolished death and brought life and immortality by his death
and resurrection. But you came to know about it
when he came to you in the gospel. Oh, it's done. That's it. It's done. Now this salvation
was secured in divine predestination. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans
chapter 8. Don't ever be afraid of predestination. Predestination is God's wise,
orderly, sovereign arrangement of all things that should ever
come to pass, before ever anything came to pass, to secure the salvation
of his people. and to secure the salvation of
his people in that way which will most honor him and best
serve the souls of his people. Romans 8.28. This is what divine
providence is. God is simply He's governing
the universe. He's at the helm of the ship
of time and brings all things to pass according to his purpose
to save the people he chose to save before the world began.
Romans 8.28 We know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. for whom he did forego, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And Muriel Hart, the long and
short of that is just this. Before God ever spoke this world
into being, he arranged everything. exactly as it has been, as it
is, and as it shall be to the end of time because of His love
for you. Folks say, they tell me all the
time, I don't like that. If you ever get in on it, you
will. Oh, if you ever find out anything about it, you will. rules the universe according
to His love for me, to save my soul for the glory of His Son. And then God's grace is prevenient
grace. I won't say much about that.
Let's just turn to Jeremiah 1. Prevenient grace is that grace
that goes before grace and prepares the way for grace. Oh, how I thank God for prevenient
grace. Jeremiah 1.5 Listen to me, every believing
sinner Every sinner in this building who right now looks to Christ
and Christ alone for life. Larry Criss, read this like he's
talking just to you. Just to you. Before I formed
thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations. Paul said, God separated me from
my mother's womb and called me by His grace. He told Timothy,
Timothy you're the man you are because God put you where you
were and from a child you knew the Holy Scriptures. God in His
prevenient grace molds our lives just like a potter shapes clay. and rules all the affairs of
our lives like a wise father seeks to govern the affairs of
the lives of his children and does so absolutely to graciously force us through
the experiences necessary to bring us at the time of His love
and make us willing in the day of His power. That's prevenient grace. Prevenient
grace is that grace that overrules all things for the good of His
people. Prevenient grace is that grace that keeps and preserves
God's elect all through the days of our rebellion unto the day
of our calling. Prevenient grace is that grace
that commissions the angels of God to watch over and minister
to them who shall be the heirs of eternal life. And God's grace,
thirdly, is regenerating grace. Look in Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. After telling us that we're dead,
we were by nature children of wrath even as others, that we
walked after the lust of our flesh according to the prince
of the power of the air that now works in the children of
disobedience. Paul tells us in verse 4, but God, what a wonderful
word, but God who is rich in mercy. For his great love, wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace, O ye Saviour, hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. This thing called the new birth.
This thing called regeneration. It's more than changing the way
you live. It's more than putting on a new suit of clothes. It's
more than learning a new creed to confess. It's more than a
decision you make. It's more than something a preacher
can manipulate you psychologically into coming to. This thing called
the new birth, this thing called regeneration, is described in
the book of God as a resurrection from the dead. A resurrection
from the dead. Now that just takes a little
bit more than your will. It's a resurrection from the dead.
What happens when a sinner believes? He's been raised from the dead.
That's the reason he believes. What happens when a sinner looks
to Christ? He's been raised from the dead. That's the reason he
looks. What happens when a sinner trusts the Lord? He's been raised
from the dead. That's the reason he trusts.
It's a resurrection. Revelation 20 verse 6 describes
it this way. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. I've been raised from the dead. I've been raised from
the dead. Now the Roman Catholics have
for years had a tradition, they have lots of them. This is a
tradition about a fellow called Saint Dennis. Years and years
ago, the tradition has it, legend has it, he was beheaded. And
that man picked up his head and walked for a hundred miles. Can you believe that? If he picked
up his head, I can believe he walked for a hundred miles. Yes,
sir. If he picked up his head, if
he took the first step, I can believe he's still walking. I
can still believe it. The problem is getting his head
up to start with. And if you can make your first
move toward God, you can walk all the way to glory with God
in your pocket. Because God is useless and you're
in control. The resurrection of the dead
is God's work. He gives life. He raises up the
dead. He causes dead sinners to live.
This new birth is done in such a way, look at verse 7. has to
give all praise to him, that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. Grace is free justifying grace. Look at Romans 3.24. Again, I'm just scratching the
surface, but I want you to see this. This book describes every
aspect of salvation being by grace. The apostle says here, we are
justified freely. That word, that's the same one
used back in the book of John, when it says they hated him without
a cause. God has justified us without
a cause. freely. No cause in us. There is no cause. Justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. This redemption was accomplished in the purpose of God before
the world began and we were thereby justified before the world began.
This redemption was accomplished when Christ died at Calvary and
we were justified when Christ died at Calvary. But in our experience
of grace, we receive the blessedness of justification. We receive
the blessedness of redemption, believing on Christ by the gift
of God's Holy Spirit, by which he teaches us and causes us to
believe. And now believe in Christ. Believe
in Christ. If right now, Oh, my soul, God help you to
believe if right now you look away from yourself to Christ.
If right now you trust the Son of God. I just don't trust Him
like I ought to, me either. I'm looking, but I don't see
much, me too. Look away to Him. And if right now you can look
away from yourself to Him, You, my brother, my sister, are completely
forgiven of all sin. Righteous before God. His righteousness is imputed
to you. And you shall never come into
condemnation. Because you're accepted in the
beloved. Can you say that? Absolutely. I can't say it anymore. Absolutely.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, but my faith
is... I wasn't talking about looking
at your faith. I was talking about looking at
Christ. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. And salvation
is yours. Thank God for that grace that
justified us freely. Well, what does God look to me
for? Nothing. He looks to Christ for
everything. But Preacher, you mean if I just
help cease trying to make myself accepted
with God and trust Christ alone? All this grace and salvation
is mine? You got it. That's the message
of the book. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Again, God's grace, this grace
that brings salvation is sanctifying grace. Grace that shows us and predestined
all things for the saving of our souls. Grace that rules the
universe for us. Grace that gives us life in Christ. Grace that justifies us. Grace that saves us is that which
sanctifies. You see, our holiness, our acceptance
with God, our separation unto God. Separation unto God. That's grace
too. That's grace too. That's the essence of what sanctification
is. It is that which separates and
distinguishes God's elect as He is. You ladies go to the store and
you find a dress and there's a whole room full of them. There's
a whole room full of them. But you sanctify one or two.
And maybe you sanctify four or five. I don't know. But you sanctify
a dress or two. What do you mean preacher? You separate them from
all the rest and take them for yours. That's what it is. God
in his free grace from old eternity by his purpose and at Calvary
by the sacrifice of his darling son and in regeneration by the
call of his spirit comes down here in this mass of iniquity
called humanity. And separates the people to himself. Separates the precious from the
vile. The wheat from the chaff. The
sheep from the goats. And that's God's work. That's
God's work. This grace that sanctifies us
is that same grace by which we find ourselves kept unto life
everlasting. This I tell you with no question
whatsoever, no hesitancy at all. If God Almighty has called you
by His grace, Dave Burrage, if he's given you faith in Christ,
if he's given you faith in Christ, if out of your emptiness, your
nothingness, your insufficiency, your corruption, you look away
to Christ, you shall never perish. You mean to put you here to keep
me? I'm confident of this one thing,
Paul wrote. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He'll
keep you. He'll keep you. And this grace,
I'll give you one more thing and I'll trust the Lord will
seal it to your heart. This grace of God. This grace God's given us in
Christ, this grace found at the throne of grace, is sufficient.