I'm going to be working my way
toward Hebrews chapter 2, if you want to put your Bible mark
there. I want this evening to show you from the Scriptures
five things, five glorious, profound gospel truths that sooner or
later every sinner is going to learn and acknowledge. either
in mercy and in grace or in judgment. But every sinner is going to
learn them. Every sinner is going to acknowledge them. These are
five things by which God saved this sinner. And I trust he will
be pleased to inscribe them on your heart by his grace. Number
one, God showed me my sin. I have had a little bit of experience
with pain, a little bit of experience with difficulty, a little bit
of experience with heartache, but I've never had anything so
bitter in my life as the experience of being made to know my sin. God showed me that I'm a sinner,
guilty, depraved, justly condemned under the wrath of God by nature. Now, doctrinally, that's not
hard to prove. Anybody who opens this book understands
that we sinned in Adam. I'm a sinner by imputation. Anybody
who reads this book understands that we were conceived in sin
and brought forth in iniquity. David says so. Anybody who reads
this book or looks at the newspaper understands that the wicked are
estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies. We have a little more difficulty
coming to grips with the reality of the fact. that we are sinners
habitually by practice in everything we do. We drink iniquity like
water. That's the nature of man. Turn
to Matthew chapter 15 for a moment, and I'll show you where the pain
comes. Not only am I a sinner, not only
are you sinners, not only have we committed sin, That's not
a difficult thing to acknowledge. Rex, we are at the very core
of our being sin. That's what we are. That's what
we are. The Pharisees came to our Lord
and they were upset because His disciples didn't wash their hands
before they ate, you know. They didn't go through a little
religious ceremony to show everybody how holy they were. And the Pharisees
said, why don't your disciples wash before they eat? And our
Lord told them plainly that it's not what goes in you that defiles
you, but what comes out of you. Look in verse 19. For out of
the heart, out of the heart, He didn't say, out of your hearts.
He said, out of the heart. Out of every man's heart, out
of every woman's heart, out of every child's heart, out of the
heart proceedeth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Somehow we live in this age and
we're so affected by it when men and women think, imagine
vainly, that somehow if we can just kind of isolate our children
from the rest of the world, if we can isolate our children from
the influence of this crowd or that crowd, everything will be
all right. So we raise them up, teaching them that they're saved
from the time they draw their first breath, teaching them that
God loves them from the time they draw their first breath.
We raise them up, teaching them good little boys go to heaven,
bad little boys go to hell. That's a lie. That's just a lie. The best boys on this earth go
to hell. The best of them. Because the
best of them are just sin. Just sin. Corruption is our nature. These are the things which defile
a man. I am a sinner. What a horrible
thing to discover. Even my righteousnesses are filthy
rags before a holy God. Not just thefts. Not just adulteries. Not just drunkenness. Not just
the things we do. The very best thoughts I've ever
had. The very best deeds I've ever
performed. And you too are just filthy rags
before God. Filthy rags. That's what it says
in Isaiah 64. And yet there's something more
horrible than that discovery. God made me to understand there
wasn't a thing I could do to change that. Nothing. I tried. My behavior, my life became so
miserable. Honestly, if it wasn't for the
fear of hell, I'd have committed suicide when I was a teenager.
There's only one thing kept me from doing it. I was just scared
to death of going to hell. And I tried to change. I tried
to change. And changing outward behavior
isn't tough. That's not the difficult part.
You can change the outward behavior, but you can't change what you
are. No more than the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard
change his spots. You and I cannot change what
we are. And if God ever makes you understand what you are,
you'll be brought to your utter, utter, utter sense of depravity
before him. I do acknowledge the wrath of
God's only. And if he sends me to hell, it's
just right. Secondly, turn to Romans chapter seven for a moment. God showed me by sin by making
me to see something of the utter strictness and severity of his
holy law. Now, the law of God was given
for only one purpose, only one purpose. I know religious folks
use it for a lot of purposes. I know politicians use it for
a lot of purposes. The law was given for just one
reason, to expose, to identify, to condemn sin, and thereby to
shut sinners up to Christ. That's the only reason the law
was given. In Romans 3, the apostle says this. Just hold your hands
there in Romans 7 and listen. Now, we know that what things
soever the law says, whatever the law says, go back and read
it, whatever the law says, it says to them who are under the
law, to sinners guilty before God, to them who are cursed and
condemned by the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world may become guilty before God. Now if God ever shuts your mouth
and you quit making an excuse for what you are, now that's mercy, that's grace.
No man will ever cease to excuse and justify himself until God
shuts him up to his sin, his depravity, his guilt before his
holy law. The law was given so that men
and women would shut up, just shut up before God Almighty. Here I am Lord, guilty. God be
merciful to me, the sinner. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now this is what the Apostle
Paul confesses in Romans chapter 7. Here is a man who testifies
by divine inspiration. So we know Larry's telling the
truth. He's not just spinning a yarn. He's not exaggerating
at all. He said, insofar as my outward
conduct and behavior was concerned, insofar as my life as a child,
as a young man, as a teenager, as a young adult, as a man living
in this world, insofar as any man who observed me could tell,
I walk before God with His law blameless. Blameless. So the folks look at him, say
there's a man who loves God with all his heart. There's a man
who loves his neighbor as himself. There's a man who doesn't commit
adultery. There's a man who never even
thought about picking up a dirty magazine. There's a man who never coveted
anything. A man who never stole anything.
An upright man. Everybody looked at him and said,
there is a righteous man. Now look at what Paul says himself.
Romans 7 verse 9. I was alive without the law once. I thought I was good. And everybody
else did too. I was getting along fine. I was
getting along fine. But when the commandment came,
and the law said thou shalt not covet, I was made to understand
something of the spiritual nature of God's holy law. You see, the
law requires more than outward compliance. The law requires
more than outward obedience. The law requires inward perfection. Sin revived. Sin was stirred
up in me by the commandment of God and I died. The law killed
me. You see, God's law considers
nothing except holiness, justice, and truth. And therefore the
law condemns everyone. Men excuse sin. Men excuse and
justify sin. Men look at extenuating circumstances. Men look at the way folks are
raised. Men look at environment. Men
look at a person's ability or disability. But the law of God
looks at holiness. Just holiness. Now this is what
God requires of Sam Wall and his boy. Absolute holiness. He won't take anything else.
Nothing else. God's law demands perfect righteousness. And God's law demands complete
satisfaction. And we can't give it. I see the
spiritual nature of God's law, and I can't obey it. I see something
of what God requires of man, and I can't give it. I see something
of the debt due to my sin of justice being satisfied, and
I can't pay it. And then thirdly, God calls me
to see and understand that faith alone is the condition of salvation. And I know some listening to
this message will respond and say, well, now wait a minute,
you can't say there's a condition to salvation. No, but God can. And this is why our Lord said,
turn over to Luke chapter 7. Let me show you this. Now faith
does not justify us. Christ did that. Faith does not
put away sin. Christ did that. Faith does not
make me unrighteous. Christ did that. He's the Lord
our righteousness. But I want to tell you something.
You can never be justified. You can never have forgiveness. You can never be washed in the
blood of Christ except you believe on the Son of God. Look what
our Lord says in Luke 7 verse 50. Here's this woman who came
to the center, washed his feet with her hair, washed his feet
with her tears, and kissed them and wiped them with the hairs
of her head. He said concerning this woman, he said to the woman,
verse 50, Thy faith hath saved thee. Faith alone is the condition
of salvation. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,
the Apostle Paul said to the Philippian jailer. Look at Romans
4, Romans 4 verse 16. Paul's talking about justification.
Justification by Christ, the object of our faith. Then he
says, therefore it is our faith. This free justification. Like
Abraham was justified, like David was justified, therefore it is
our faith. By believing God, that it might
be by grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed. Not to them which are of the
law, that is not to the Jews, but to that also which is of
the faith, of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Now look
at Romans chapter 9, verse 32. Paul's telling us why the Jews
are cast away. Why the Jews were not saved. Why the Jews did not obtain the
righteousness of the faith or the righteousness of God revealed
in the law. Romans 9.32. Wherefore? Why? Because they
sought it not by faith, but by the works of the law. Salvation. is received, obtained,
enjoyed by faith in Christ. Well, all you have to do is believe
on the Son of God. That's all you have to do. That's
all you have to do. But then I was made to see that
faith is the gift of God. It's the gift of God. Some of you I know can identify
what I'm about to say. I tried my best to believe God. And Lindsay, I couldn't believe.
I couldn't believe. All the fear, all the horror
of God's wrath, all the torment of hell, I couldn't believe. I could not believe. I kept looking
somehow in myself, somehow for something I could do, some resolution,
some way by which I could make myself believe God and obtain
peace. And I couldn't believe. I couldn't
believe. Faith is the gift and operation
of God Almighty. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Not of
works lest any man should boast. Now this is what I tell you.
This is what I tell you who believe and you who do not. This is what
I tell our sons and daughters. This is what I tell men and women
everywhere. If God leaves a man to himself, if God leaves you
to yourself, you're as sure for hell as if you were already there
because you can't believe. Man has no more ability to believe
the gospel than he does to keep the law. Can't be done. Man is
a sinner, dead in trespasses and in sins. Well, pastor, what
do you do then? You've got just one hope, and
that's free and sovereign grace. I was made to see that faith
is the gift of God. And recognizing that faith is
the gift of God, I was at last brought to the throne of His
grace, bowing before Him as a rebel in need of mercy, because I was
made to see that God Almighty could either save me or damn
me. It's altogether up to Him. It's just up to Him. Now, obviously,
when I was 16 years old, I couldn't put those things in words as
I put them to you tonight. But those are things I was made
to see. I was made to see that God could send me to hell, or
God could save me by His grace. But it was altogether up to Him.
So then it is not of Him that winneth, nor of Him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. Now this matter of God's sovereignty
in the exercise of His grace is nowhere more clearly set forth
than in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 16. Here the apostle tells
us by divine inspiration that when our Lord Jesus Christ came
into the world as the captain of our salvation to save his
people from their sins, verse 16, for verily he took not on
him the nature of angels. But he took on him the seed of
Abraham. When Jesus Christ came into this
world to save somebody, he passed by the fallen angels, and he
took hold of God's elect. He took hold of Abraham's seed. Now, these four things are clearly
taught in this text of Scripture. Listen carefully. Number one,
it was never the intention the desire or the purpose of Jesus
Christ to save the angels who fail. The word took, as I've
told you many times, means to lay hold of. Paul's language
is strong. Quite literally, he's saying
Christ never took hold of the angels. He never laid hold of
the angels to deliver and save them. He did not come to save
an angel. He did not come into the world
as an angel. But he came to save men, so he
came into the world as a man. But what about the angels? There
are some elect angels. If you read Revelation chapter
12, you'll see that when Satan led his revolt in heaven against
the throne of God, one-third of the heavenly host were led
into sin and rebellion. Two-thirds of them were elect
angels. Two-thirds of them chosen. Two-thirds
of them were kept in their state of grace. Two-thirds of them
uninfluenced by Satan's rebellion. God would not allow those elect
angels to fall. Their preservation was a great
act of his free mercy. Their election preserved them
in the day of Satan's fall. But for those angels who fell,
God offered no mercy. No grace, no pity, whatever. They are eternally reprobate
without hope. Turn to Jude verse 6. Let me
show you. Jude verse 6. I have a reason
for stressing this. Jude tells us the angels which
kept not their first estate. but left their own habitation.
He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under
the judgment of the great day. What did God do with them? He
bound them up for hell. He bound them up for hell. Now
this is a hard rock for the Armenian to grind his teeth on. I got
a letter, I told the men back in the office one night last
week or during one of the services a week or two ago. I got a letter
from a friend of mine out in California. He said, I've been
praying for you. I keep praying God will give you grace to feed
the sheep and give the goats sore gums. Well, this will give
the goats sore gums. If it's unfair for God to give
mercy to some men, as we are told, If it's unfair for God
to give mercy to some but not to all, would it not be equally
unfair for God to give mercy to some angels and not to all? For God to choose some but not
choose them all? If it's unfair for God to have
mercy on men, then it's certainly unfair for God to have mercy
on angels according to His election. If it's unfair for God to pass
by angels, certainly it's unfair for God to pass by men. But this
is what the Scripture tells us. He took not hold of the angels
to save them. Suppose for a moment he had.
Suppose our Lord had come here in the nature of an angel to
save fallen angels instead of coming into the world as a man
to save fallen men. Had he done so, he could never
have obeyed the law of God for us as a man. Had he not passed
by the angels and come as a man, he would not have left us an
example to follow, to walk after his steps. He could never have
been a sympathizing high priest for sinners such as we are. He
could never have been one with his church, as he's declared
here in the second chapter of Hebrews to be. He could never
have delivered us from the fear of death and from the curse of
the law, giving us hope of resurrection and everlasting life. So it was
never the intention of our Lord to save the fallen angels. But
secondly, it was never his intention. It was never his desire. It was
never his purpose to save all fallen men. Thank God He does
save some of Adam's fallen race. He delighteth in mercy. He forgives
iniquity, transgression, and sin. But I want the folks to
understand that to say that Christ wants to save all men, that He
tries to save all men, that He provides salvation for all men,
is both absurd and blasphemous. It gives no hope to any sinner,
but rather robs sinners of any hope whatsoever. The scripture
says he took not on him the seed of angels, or the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Not Adam, Abraham. You say, well, Pastor, why stress
this? Why emphasize the fact that Christ
did not come to save all? Because that doctrine which says
he came to save all, that doctrine which says he tries to save all,
that doctrine which says he died for those who perish as well
as for those who are saved, declares that Jesus Christ is utterly
useless and that man is his own savior. It says that there is
no power, no merit, no efficacy in the blood of Christ or in
His grace without man's faith to ignite the power of His blood
and His grace. Such a doctrine makes the grace
of God nothing but a frustrated desire on the part of God to
save sinners. It makes the will of God to be
subject to the will of man and the power of man to be greater
than the power of God. Such doctrine portrays the blood
of Christ as a waste shed in vain for multitudes who perish
in spite of all he's done. I haven't heard any in a long
time because I don't listen to them anymore. I've heard preachers
all my life talk about what a shame it'll be, what a shame it'll
be that Jesus shed his blood for so many who perished in hell
after all. I heard one of the local pastors
here several years ago make that very statement. I told Shelby
to write it down. I want to remember it exactly
as he said it. What a shame. What a shame. A shame to him. If he shed his blood to redeem
folks who are not redeemed, he bears the shame and he bears
the blame. Jesus Christ is not a whining
wimp, he's not a failure, he's not a frustrated imaginary deity,
he's God Almighty! And the scripture says he shall
not fail. My friends, redemption by Christ
was effectually accomplished at Calvary, and it is effectually
applied by His Spirit to whom He will according to the purpose
of His grace for those for whom He died. He lives now to give
eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. Now here's
the third thing. It is the intention, the desire,
and the purpose of Jesus Christ to save all the seed of Abraham. And bless God, save them He will. He took not on Him the nature
of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. He took
hold of Abraham's seed. Now we won't look this evening
at all the various texts, but in Romans 4 and Galatians 3,
the scriptures make it very plain that the seed of Abraham is not
the physical seed of Abraham. They're not all Israel which
are of Israel. The seed of Abraham is God's
covenant people. They are God's chosen ones. They
are the Israel of God. Turn to the text in Romans chapter
9, if you will. Romans the 9th chapter. Verse six, not as though the
word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham
are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. Do you see that? Ishmael is not
Abraham's child. Ishmael is not of the seed of
Abraham. Neither are all the physical children of Abraham.
In Isaac, the child of promise, shall the seed be called. That
is, they which are the children of the flesh, These are not the
seed children of God, but the children of the promise. They're
counted for the seed. The Lord Jesus Christ took hold
of Abraham's seed before the world was. He laid hold of Abraham's
seed, and he said, I will go, and I will bear their sins, and
I will fulfill the law for them, and I will lay hold of them,
and I will bring them to glory. If I come not again with your
Benjamins, let me bear the blame forever. He's our surety. He took hold of us, and the Father
trusted the Son with His people before the world began. We are
those people, the seed of Abraham, of whom the Scripture says, This
is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all which He
hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And then in the fullness of time,
the Lord Jesus Christ came here and took hold of Abraham's seed
as he went up to Mount Calvary. and was made to be sin for somebody. This is not a hypothetical thing,
this is not theory, this is not a theory of the atonement, this
is redemption. Jesus Christ took somebody's
sin, he took somebody's place, he died in somebody's stead,
and there whose sin he took, whose place he took, in whose
room instead he died, are those who are made the righteousness
of God in him, they and all of them, and nobody but them. And
then, the Lord Jesus Christ sends out His Spirit like the Good
Shepherd, by the mighty arm of His irresistible grace and omnipotent
power. In the fullness of time, He comes
seeking His sheep and lays hold of the seed of Abraham and saves
them by His mighty grace. I was lost and undone without
God or His Son till He reached down His hand for me. That's
what He did. He gives eternal life. And those
to whom He gives eternal life shall never perish. All the seed
of Abraham then shall be saved by Him. That's the last thing
I want you to see. Turn to Romans chapter 11. The
scripture says He shall save His people. The Scripture says,
he shall not fail. The Scripture says, he shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Here
in Romans chapter 11, the Apostle Paul is bringing to a great conclusion
his great arguments concerning justification by the grace of
God. Salvation by free grace alone.
He's declared to us beginning at chapter 8, verse 28. How that
God goes about accomplishing His purpose of grace. He sends
His Word to whom He will. He casts off some and gathers
in others. He sends light for a while and then He turns light
to darkness and sends light somewhere else. He sends the Gospel for
a while and then He shuts that door and sends the Gospel to
someone else. He sent light to Israel and then He sent blindness
to Israel. He sent His Word to Israel and
then He took His Word away from Israel. How come? Verse 25. For
I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
the mystery of God's providence. That's the mystery he's talking
about. It's not the mystery of Israel. There's not any mystery
to that. The mystery of God's providence. Lest you should be
wise in your own conceits that blindness in part is happened
to Israel. God didn't kill them all. He
hadn't destroyed all the Jews. But blindness in part is happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be brought in.
Remember what he said? Isaiah 43, he said, I'll say
to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west,
keep not back, bring my sons and daughters from afar. The
fullness of the Gentiles. What he's saying is this, God
sent blindness to Israel, sent judgment upon Israel until all
His elect among the Gentiles are brought to life in faith
in Christ. And so, here's the result. Here's the result. And
so, All Israel, not all the physical seed, oh no, but every sinner
chosen by God, every sinner redeemed by Christ, all the children of
the covenant, all the children of promise shall be saved. How come? As it is written, there
shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and he shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. How can you be sure that all
of God's elect are going to be saved? Because God's purpose
can never be overturned. Because the covenant of His grace
can never be nullified. Because the cross of Christ shall
never be discovered a miscarriage. Because the grace of God cannot
be frustrated. The seal of His spirit cannot
be broken. The intercession of Christ can
never be ignored. And blessed be His name, His
hold, of Abraham's seed, he will never let go. He took hold of
us before the world began. And, Bobby, he's going to present
us at the last day and say, Lo, I and the children whom thou
hast given me, none of them is lost. Blessed be his name. Amen. All right, Lindsey, you
come lead us in the hymn, if you will.