I'd like to read a verse here,
and then we will turn to Luke chapter 17 and read a verse of
scripture out of Luke 17. But in Romans 4, I want us to
notice verse 3. Verse 3. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God? For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and he was counted unto him for righteousness. He believed God. It was counted
unto him for righteousness. I want to read two other verses
here, and maybe I'll make it three. Verse 21, 22, and 23,
24, maybe we'll add it. And being fully persuaded, that
is Abraham, of what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Whatever God promised, Abraham believed that he could surely
do. and therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was accredited or accounted or imputed to him,
but for us also to whom it shall be accredited, accounted, or
imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead. Now let us turn to Luke chapter
17, and there's a verse of scripture here that I want us to read. The apostles had been under the
tutorship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he'd been talking to them
about some very difficult things in life, some very trying things
in life. And he said in verse 3, take
heed to yourselves. If thy brother trespass against
thee, rebuke him. If he repent, you forgive him.
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, seven times
in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt
forgive him. These are difficult things to
do, very trying to the soul to do this. And in verse 5, this
was the apostle's response to what our Lord had been teaching
them to do. And the apostles said unto the
Lord, increase our faith. Now, believing God is no small
thing. We read, well, that Abraham believed
God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. But believing
God is no small thing. Let me say that it, that is,
faith, if it be in a man's soul, is the evidence of a heart that
is reconciled unto God. It's the evidence of a heart
that is reconciled unto God. No man believes in God savingly
except his heart be reconciled unto God through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You know the Bible teaches us
that our Lord Jesus Christ that he suffered death in order that
we'd be reconciled unto God, that He, Christ, bore in His
body our own sin unto the tree, that our sin might be put away,
that there would be nothing that would stand between us, the believing
sinner, and God Almighty, in order that we would be reconciled.
Now, friends don't need to be reconciled, but enemies need
to be reconciled. God Almighty, righteous holy,
thrice holy as we often say, he had ought against the sinner. The sinner had offended him.
The sinner had broken his law. And the Lord Jesus stepped in
and was willing to satisfy the penalty of the broken law in
order that I would be reconciled unto God, that we'd be no longer
at enmity with each other, that I'd be able to walk with God,
I'd be able to fellowship with Him. How can two walk together
except they be agreed. Well, once Jesus Christ has interposed
himself in my situation and took the problem upon himself and
said, I'll make a reconciliation between you and God. Once that
happened, now I can walk with God and be in fellowship with
Him. And so I say to you that it's
the evidence. If an individual believes God,
that's the evidence that the enmity has been taken away. So
you can rejoice this morning if you have true heart faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then also I think it's the
proof of our being weaned from our own works and our own deeds. Now you know Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. And Abraham,
the scripture says, to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So Abraham believed God, and
when you believe God, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then
that shows that you've been weaned away from your own works and
your own efforts and your own merits to try to justify and
save yourself. It's a clear sign that I've been
truly convicted of my sin. That we ourselves have been brought
to see ourselves as God has always known us to be. And because we
have left off trying to deliver ourselves, save ourselves, And
we've trusted in God's provision, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so,
beloved, we see that we've truly been convicted of our sin. You wonder about conviction.
Well, beloved, when one is convicted, it's because they have sin that
is charged to their account. They have no ability to rid themselves
of it. But once God forgives that sin,
and pardons it and puts it away, then beloved they have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so if you have true
faith, it is evidence that you have been convicted. Somebody
said, don't know whether I've been convicted enough or not.
Well, Do you trust God? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Has your conviction brought you to the feet of the Lord Jesus? Has it brought you to Calvary's
cross? If it has, then you have truly
been convicted sufficiently. Now faith is honoring to Christ,
and Christ is our only Redeemer. It's honoring to Christ. You
see, for us to believe upon Him, for us to believe His promise,
for us to believe what He said to us, it is the essence of true
worship. Nobody really worships God that
doesn't believe Him. The Bible says in Hebrews 11,
6, it is impossible to please God without faith. For he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him. So faith is the essence
of true worship, and I think it's the root of sincere obedience
unto God. You see, if we obey God out of
any other motive than that we believe, on the Lord Jesus Christ,
then our works are not as they ought to be. Our labor is not
as it ought to be. We labor because God has given
us faith and we believe that it's honoring to God to serve
Him and to walk obediently before Him. It's God honoring And faith
will move you to do that where nothing else will. Faith will
keep you in line where nothing else can keep you in line. Faith
will move you to obey God when the law has no power to do that
in your life. Now the person who believes God
in spite of his sin and all of his infirmities, who believes
God, come what may, gives the Lord God more honor and more
glory than the cherubims and the seraphims in their continual
adoration before God. So if you're a poor sinner here
this morning and you say, Preacher, all I have is heart, faith, in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, praise the Lord. You're
giving God, you're giving Christ more glory and more honor than
all the cherubims and the seraphims that are gathered around His
throne continually giving Him their adoration and their honor
and glory. Do you think it's a small thing
to believe God? Do you think it's just a small
thing? You think just anybody can do it? Oh, that's child's
play, this believing God. Well, my friend, we'll discover
that it's not child's play to believe God. Listen, how is it
then that our Lord said, he that believeth on the Son hath eternal
life? If it's just a small thing to
believe God, Jesus said, he that believeth on the Son hath eternal
life. That's how you're saved, beloved.
That's how you come into possession of a life that will never end. A never-ending life is through
believing on the Son. How is it that a whole nation
perished in the wilderness for no other cause than unbelief? How is it? In other words, if
it's child's play to believe, and if it's so easy to believe,
then why is it that this whole nation, the Israelites, living
in unbelief and staggering about in the wilderness, unbelieving,
unbelieving, unbelieving, perished in the wilderness for the want
and the lack of faith in God Almighty. How is it that we're
said to be justified by faith? That means to be given a standing
just as if we'd never committed a sin before God. If faith can
do that, here I am, a wretched sinner in and of myself, Here
I am a blind sinner without a bit of hope and without God in the
world. And God said, if you believe on my son, I'll give you a standing
before me just as if you had never committed one sin. If you'll just believe on my
son, I'll give you the standing. How is it that he said that we're
justified by faith if it's such an easy thing to believe God? And he that believeth not, listen
to it, he shall be damned. He that believeth not shall be
damned. If a man doesn't believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, if a soul lives and dies without faith
in Christ, they'll be damned for all eternity, lost, lost
for the want of faith and love toward the Lord Jesus Christ. So whatever we put, beloved,
in second place, I say faith is the parent grace. And whatever
we put in second or third place, faith must have the first consideration. And I remember the Apostle Paul
when he was musing himself, as it were, about how God had mercy
upon him and put him into the ministry, he before being a blasphemer
and a tormentor of God's people, and how that he said, But the
faith, but I receive mercy, I receive mercy because I did it in ignorance
and unbelief because he said the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ
or the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is exceeding abundant
with faith and love. the grace of our Lord Jesus.
And so faith is the parent grace. So it's no small thing then to
believe God. It is your life, my friend. It
is your spiritual life to believe God. If you can believe all things
are possible, to him that believeth. We've been singing that little
chorus. John Flavel said, the soul is the life of the body. Faith is the life of the soul,
and Christ is the life of faith. Faith embraces the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, beloved, it doesn't make
any difference where you go. Here or in other places, it is
remarkable how much unbelief there is in the professed people
of God. Do you know the Lord Jesus, when
he went to his hometown, he marveled at their unbelief, at their unbelief. Now, how much we still fear,
how much we still doubt, and how much unbelief there is yet
in those that profess to believe on the Lord Jesus. Unbelief in
the unregenerate, we can understand. We can pity the unregenerate. But unbelief in God's people,
those who have this Bible to read and to study and to hear
preached, those who have been made alive to the things of the
Spirit of God, it's a mystery in some respects. Now we know
our own hearts and we know that there's much unbelief that lurks
in our hearts. We know that we're an unbelieving
generation of professed believers. An unbelieving generation of
believers. And the apostles said, Lord,
strengthen our faith. Lord, strengthen our faith. If
it's faith that you want, O God, strengthen my faith. And I consider the unbelief of
a child of God to be much worse than the unbelief in an unregenerate
person. Is that true? Do you believe
that? Is that a true statement? Should we consider the unbelief
in a child of God to be without excuse? Should we consider it
to be much worse than the unbelief of the unregenerate? Listen to
me now carefully. as I give you just a few things
here to think about before we get on into the message. I want
to say this, and I say it to God's living family. I say it
to you, those of you that fear God, those of you that say, I
do believe, I have embraced the Lord Jesus Christ, I do trust
Him, I fully trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let me tell
you something, we have entirely too many fears For a people,
we have entirely too many fears in our hearts that grips our
souls. For a people to whom the Lord
God has said, fear thou not. For I am with thee. Be not dismayed,
for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. We have too many fears. Secondly,
we have far too much anxiety and worry about earthly and material
things in our hearts, those of us that profess to know the Lord. Now we have far too much anxiety
and worry about earthly material things for a people to whom the
Son of God has said, and why take ye thought for raiment?
He said, Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow,
they twirl not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you
that even Solomon, in all of his glory, was not arrayed like
one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? I tell you, there's too much,
far too much worry about earthly and material things in our lives. Thirdly, we have far too many
doubts concerning God's mercy and God's grace, God's pure,
unadulterated love and grace. For a people to whom the Lord
Jesus Christ has said, All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and they that come to me I will in no wise cast out. And to those to whom he said,
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." What are we
worried about when it comes to the pure love and the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ? But yet we doubt it every day.
We doubt it all the time. Now this is important that we
see these things in order that we might know why it was that
the Apostle was saying, Lord, increase our faith. Increase
our faith. We spend entirely too much time
grumbling and complaining about our trials and our troubles For
a people to whom the Lord Jesus Christ has said, These things
I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In
the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. We're entirely too much a grumbling
people and a complaining people about our trials. I'm not preaching
down to any of you. I'm just telling you how it is
with all of us. The old song said, shall I be
carried to the skies on flower beds of ease while others fought
to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? I mean, should it
be easier with us? My friend, you should not say
when you have troubles and trials come upon you, well, why me? You ought to say, why not me?
I'm a believer, I'm a child of God in this world, and I'm not
exempt from those trials. And I certainly concur with the
man who said that afflictions and trials come into the life
of believers. in order that the weeds, which
would grow and would take over the land, in order that they'd
be killed out. And there's so many weeds in
our life, and much of the trials and the troubles that we have
are just for that purpose, that they would destroy the weeds
that would take over the ground. Fifthly, we have entirely too
much attachment to this world and to this present life for
a people who are looking for a city whose builder and maker
is God. We know that to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. We have a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better. But believers
are a people who long to be with Christ. I really believe that
down deeply, yet it is so difficult for us to be torn loose. from
this present existence called life. So difficult. And whenever
something happens that may be just a little bit life-threatening,
we just absolutely are just overtaken with it and awestruck with it
and hardly are able to adjust ourselves in order to be able
to go on with our lives and have any semblance of faith about
us. And we need to be extremely,
extremely conscious. And I can't explain altogether
why that is so, why we are so reluctant to be torn away from
this present existence. But we are. Every one of us are. I just know it's so. I can't
explain it all. I just know it's so. This body
knows nothing about dying. It knows nothing about it. It
is dying. but it knows nothing about. And
it certainly will not be able, we will not be able, except we
be strong in faith, and these are some of the things we're
dealing with here this morning, that will help us, I believe,
in order to be able to be strong, to be able to overcome these
five things that I just mentioned very rapidly to you this morning. Now, it doesn't make any difference
where you go, here or in other places. We said there is a tremendous
amount of unbelief. Now, there are three things that
I want to talk about this morning to you in the time that we have
left to us, and I want to give you these this morning, and I'll
hope that these three things will increase our faith and enable
us to be stronger in the light of our present sorrow, in the
light of our present depression, and in the light of our present
trials and difficulties and stress in this world. First of all,
I want to say that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is just
not another hard way to get to God. Now these are things that
I believe the Lord would have me to share with you that would
help you in your faith toward God. I want you to know that
the gospel, number one, is not just another hard way to get
to God. The law was a hard way to get
to God. It must have been because nobody
got to God that way. Now, Romans 8, if you would turn
there in your Bibles, I'd appreciate it very much. Turn to Romans
chapter 8. There's four verses here that
I want us to look at quickly this morning. And I'm talking
to you about the fact that the gospel is not just another hard
way for a man to get to God. Let us look here. There's therefore
now, verse 1 of Romans 8, no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus. who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Because of our weakness, The
weakness in the flesh, no son of Adam could get to heaven by
the law, by law keeping. Nothing wrong with the law, you
understand, the problem is with me and you. That's where the
problem is. The gospel does not depend upon
us, but upon Christ who is able, hallelujah. The gospel does not
depend upon us, but upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
anointed, all-sufficient, able Savior. Now listen, it is not
another system that depends upon the works of the flesh. That's
not the gospel. No, no, it is not. Verse 4 here
says that in order that the righteous requirements of the law might
be fully met in us. there was righteous requirements
in the law that must be met. And those righteous requirements
are met in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as far
as the record stands of every believer in Christ, there is
no record of them ever having broken the law of God. Now isn't
that a marvelous thing? That as we stand in the Lord
Jesus, the record as we stand in the Lord Jesus Christ, there
is no record because there is no sin in Him. There is no record
of us having ever broken the law of God. Now Christ never
broke the law. When my standing is in Him, when
I'm accepted in Him, then there's no record of me ever breaking
it either. If I stand in Christ, the record
is blotted out. And I am not guilty of law-breaking. Now this is not hard. This is
not hard work, trying to work our way to God. This is not hard,
but by works of righteousness which we have done. The Bible
says, not by works which we have done, not works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Now the law says two things.
about us believers. I'm talking about the law of
Moses, I'm talking about the Ten Commandments, I'm talking
about the law as it was given on the two tablets of stone.
The law says two things about us as believers. Number one,
it says that as we stood in Christ, we are righteous, holy, and we're
perfect as we stand in Christ, meets all of the requirements.
And the righteous requirements of the law has been worked into
our hearts. It says that, secondly, that
the sinful unbeliever that we were has already died and the
full penalty of his sin has been fully met. That's what the law
says. The soul that sinneth it shall
die. Well, how have we met that requirement? the soul of the
sinner that shall die. The law demanded death for those
who broke the law. Well, how is it that I met that
requirement? Well, Paul said, I have been
crucified with Christ. The law received the death of
Christ as the death of every believer to the law. The law received the death of
Christ as my death, putting it plainly, putting it simply. Now
when Christ died, God saw every believer in that cross in him. God viewed every believer in
Christ when he hung upon the cross. I'm crucified with Christ
nevertheless. What did he say? Nevertheless!
What's the next words? I live, he said, that is my beloved
friend the good news. I live, yet I have already been
crucified. Now what do you think of that?
Here's a man standing here before you today, he's already been
crucified, but nevertheless he lives. He's alive. Well, how
could it be? Well, the only way you can suffer
the penalty of your sin and stay alive is to suffer and die in
another, in a substitute. That's the only way you can do
it. There's no other way. How are you going to escape it?
How are you going to suffer the penalty of your sin and stay
alive? When the Bible says the soul
that sinneth, it must die. And so, beloved, Matthew 11,
28 through 29 talks about how we're to come unto me. Jesus
said, all you that labor and are heavy laden. And he said,
I'll give you rest. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Well, why were they
laboring and heavy laden? Well, they were carrying around
the two tablets of stone. They were, as one fellow said,
trying to fly with stone. on them. They were trying to
fly. They were carrying this heavy
load of the commandments. Come unto me, Jesus said. Now
leave Moses and the law and come unto me and I'll give you what?
I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest from all of
this labor and all of this heavy work. I'll give you rest. He's
saying I met Moses and the law and I satisfied them both. And
will you ever believe it? I satisfied them both. When I
met them, I gave them everything they demanded. I paid off the
bill in full and they don't have any claim on you anymore. Will
you believe it? Will you rest in it? Can you
rest in it my soul? Can we believe it that God has
through Jesus Christ satisfied Moses and the law? He satisfied
them both. Now we all know what it is to
have weariness of soul. Some of us know what it is to
have rest too. Thank God. Well that is what
Christ is talking about and what the gospel provides. It provides
rest from this heavy load you've been carrying because another
bore the load, another carried the load, he carried it to Mount
Calvary, he carried it to Golgotha's Hill, and he paid the debt. He
paid the bill. Now any message which tends to
take your soul away from rest and towards back-breaking labor,
soul labor. My friend, works, if you please,
is not the gospel of Christ. That's not the gospel of Christ.
Any message which tends to put a believer under the sense of
fear and bondage with no hope is not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Thank God for hope. And there's
hope for sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope for sinners. Any message which gives a sinner
something to do, some action to perform, some righteousness
to perform, some qualification to meet, is not the gospel of
Christ. It's not. Any message which appears
to you to make it hard to get to God is the wrong message. It's the wrong message. Since
Christ has died? No, my friend. No. It is easy
for any sinner to get to God. Come through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man can come unto the Father
but by me. But thank God he can come unto
the Father by me. He can come by me. Just come by me. Why? He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him, seeing that He ever liveth to
make intercession for them. He's able to save to the uttermost. Just come to God by Him. Just come to Christ, and you're
already to God when you get to Christ. He receives sinners. He accepts sinners. The gospel
was provided so that you and I could not, who could not do
anything, could get to God. That's why we have the gospel.
That's what we're celebrating here in this place. I'm not talking
to a bunch of people that are successful. I'm talking to a
bunch of ruined rebel sinners. I'm talking to people who have
failed, and every one of us are failures before God. There ain't
nobody here ever met ever the man God ordered of them and would
have of them. All of us have broken God's law
and failed, every one of us. There's got to be a way to get
to God, and that way is through the gospel. And you, my friend,
can come to God through Christ. Now that's the first thing that
I would tell you then, is that the gospel is just not another
hard way to get to God. It's not. May God lead us to
believe this truth. The second thing is this, that
God's primary characteristic is grace. Grace I want you to
turn back in the Old Testament with me to Micah chapter 7 Micah
chapter 7 and I want you to look if you will at verse 18 and verse
19 This world are no one by what they do Well, they're known,
but what men say they do That's how they're known the God we
worship. What is he known for I? What
is the God that we worship? What characteristic of our God
is the most eye-catching characteristic? Well, verse 18, it says, who
is a God likened to thee? Who is a God likened to thee
that pardoneth iniquity? Pardoneth iniquity and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. heritage. He
retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He delighteth in mercy. He will
turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. May God have mercy. May we live, if we're unbelievers
today, if we're lost today, may we live long enough until he
turns and has compassion upon us, until he subdues our iniquities
and casts our sins into the depths of the sea. Now listen to me,
our God is a God of grace. That means that he is a God who
has favor where favor is not deserved and where it is not
wanted. It is grace, it is favor, it
is God's riches given to the sinner at Christ's expense. God
favoring a man who is ill deserving, hell deserving, deserving of
God's wrath, and God favors him with life and mercy. A God who
forgives sin. This is what differentiates between
the God of the Bible and from other gods. Men speak of their
gods as being gracious, not so. They don't have a gracious God.
The God of the Bible is gracious. The God of the Bible is merciful.
I know he's a God of wrath and judgment, I know that too, but
he says this is his strange work. This is his strange work. Note
the last line of verse 18, he delighteth in mercy. Now listen
to me, if you were a sovereign and you could do whatever you
like to do, what would you do the most? What would you do the
most of? Well, what you're delighted to
do, I believe, of course is what you would do the most of. So
if you're delighted to have mercy and show mercy, Wouldn't you
do that the most? Well, hallelujah, I believe the
God of the Bible. Listen, John 3 and verse 17 says,
Christ came into the world not to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. There's a people in this
world that God's gonna save. And Christ came into this world
not to condemn, that people, but to save that people. Now
God will save a multitude which no man can number. Hallelujah
for his mercy. More numberless than the sand
of the seashore, the Bible says. God's gonna have a great family.
A great family. He's a God of grace and mercy. He delights. He's full of compassion. And he's gonna save. If God wants
to send a man to hell, well he don't have to do a thing. He
just leaves him to himself. Just leaves him alone. Let's
him go right on. He don't bother his heart. He
don't disturb his heart. Ain't necessary to do anything.
Leave that sinner to himself. Let that rebel go on his own
way. Let him please himself. Just
let him go on down life's pathway and God never interfere with
him. God never cross his path with
a good family or with a good testimony or a good witness,
a good preacher. No! Let him go on. But listen
to me, every man would send himself to hell apart from God's intervention. God delights to show mercy and
the effort and work was done by Christ and came in mercy to
our souls. Listen to me, in my message which
does not say that there is, listen, any message that does not say
that there is hope for the vile sinner out of hell is not the
message of God's grace. The poem says, as long as the
lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return. One time,
I think, way back, I explained what that means. Back in Napoleon's
day, his army would surround the city. And they would hang
up a light on the gate post. One of his soldiers would go
up and hang up the light, a lantern. And their message was, as long
as that light burns, this city is spared if you bow your knee
to Napoleon. If you submit yourself to Napoleon,
then the city will be spared. But when that lamp burns out,
then my army's coming in and we'll devour you, we'll overcome
you, and we'll defeat you, we'll destroy you. So as long as the
lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return. As long as
the grace of God, the day of grace is here, As long as a man
has the opportunity, as long as he's alive, as long as he
can hear with these ears the gospel as it goes out, as long
as that gospel is preached. the vilest sinner may return. And that's the point I want to
make in the second place is that the God that we deal with is
a God of grace and a God of mercy. And I want you to understand
that. I'm not preaching a hard God here. I know He's an almighty
God. He's all-powerful. I know He
has a sovereign will and decree and purpose. And I know that
He orders all things after His own will. I know that He does.
but He's a God of grace and a God that delights to show mercy to
any sinner that would come and cast themselves before Him. Now
then, the third thing is, the third Bible truth that we want
to help you with that will build your faith, is that God's Spirit
is not His own Son, that grace, mercy, and salvation is the direction
that God is going. That's the direction that He's
going. Now, I want you to understand
that God has an eternal purpose. And in that eternal purpose,
the direction that He's going is that He's going to save a
people. that He's going to save a people. God sent His Son into
this world to reconcile us unto Himself. He delivered Him up
for us all. The flow of the river is not
to hell for His people, but it's to heaven. God has not laid one
obstacle between you and Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5 and 9 says,
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. What do you think of that? Wouldn't
you say the river is flowing in that direction? God has not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ. One of the favorite verses of
the Arminians is in the book of Peter, where it says that
God is long-suffering, not willing that any of us should perish,
but that all of us should come to repentance. Well, my friend,
that's a tremendous verse that would fit well into our sermon
here this morning, is that God is long-suffering to usward.
He's long-suffering to that people that He gave to Christ in the
covenant of grace before the foundation of the world. He's
long-suffering to them. Christ is not coming back until
that people is called out. until God draws them unto Himself
and delivers them and saves them. He is longsuffering to usward,
not willing, not willing that one of the sheep of Christ should
perish, not willing that one of those for whom Christ laid
down His life should miss eternal life, that they should miss the
eternal inheritance, not willing that one of them should finally
go to hell in the end. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Isn't
that marvelous? He's not willing that any of them should perish.
And so all the people of God, all those that he gave to Christ,
will most surely come unto him. Now he, God spared not his own
son. He spared him not. Now beloved,
God gave up his own son. If a man has six or seven sons,
and he gives up one of them, that's one thing. But God gave
up his only begotten son. Oh, it would tear your heart
up to give one a four, or one a five, or six, or seven, but
if you gave up your only son. Did you not have a purpose, oh
God, in giving up your only begotten son, the son of your love? You mean to tell me you gave
him up? You gave him up, did you not? Yes. And he said, God
spared not his own son, but gave him up for us all, that he through
him might freely give us all things. Now you know what that
means? That means that God done the
greatest thing for us. He gave His Son. Shall He not
do all the lesser things? Is there anything else involved
in getting you to heaven that God wouldn't do if He gave His
own Son for you? Is there something else that's
greater than that? That would have a greater consequence
than that? That would in some way or another
get the equation out of balance? No. No. Now listen to me. Let me impress this on your mind.
That salvation to us, we look on it as instantaneous. Something
that just happens like that. And that's the way a lot of times
it happens in our experience. Just like that. God takes us
from spiritual death to spiritual life. We're born again, just
like that. But with God Almighty, salvation stretches from old
eternity, clear to eternity future, all the way. God had his plan
in motion long before you was ever born. Christ was a lamb
slain in the mind of God before the foundation of the world.
God has always had a cross in his heart. The purpose of God,
the rivers flowing in that direction, mercy, salvation, grace, compassion
from our God toward all hell deserving sinners. My friend,
there's no obstacle. God has not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation. That ought to strengthen your
faith. That ought to strengthen you to face and to deal with
what you have to. Now there's no reason that we
can think of in the light of the Word of God What we told
you here today, that God would not save. I preached a sermon one time
on God willing and able. And I tell you God is willing
and able. Do you want to be saved? Do you want to be saved? Well,
I don't know if I qualify or not, you say. Well, I doubt you
do. I doubt you do. Because the very
thing that you think would qualify you, would disqualify you. Say,
well preacher, I don't have, I don't have. Well, you don't
have. But the psalm says that nothing in your hand you bring. Just simply to his cross you
claim. I don't think I repented enough,
you might say. God help you if you ever think
that you could repent enough to go to heaven. You cannot repent
enough to get to heaven. Say, I'll do it the rest of my
life if I have to. Well, I figure if you ever get
saved, you will be repenting the rest of your life. But that's
not going to get you to heaven. If you get to heaven, it's because
of the merit and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, if you
have any good left in you, you're not a candidate for salvation.
Still got a little something, have you? Salvation is all in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's a trite statement.
But I'll tell you what, the day may come when it won't be made
here anymore. I'll tell you what, salvation is all in the bleeding
Lamb of God. It's all in the substitute. To
say it with clarity, salvation, Christ is all in all in the matter
of salvation from A to Z. Christ is all in all and unless
you feel yourself shut up to Christ with everything else,
with failure written on it, then my friend you're not saved and
you're not happy this morning either. unless everything else
has failure written on it. Everything else about your life.
Everything about your situation. Say, I think I've done pretty
good, Richard. Write failure on it, friend. You'll never be
saved thinking that you've done pretty good. Well, you say, I
think God will save me after all because I've always done
the best that I could. Well, who ever done the best
he could? Whoever. I never met anybody
ever done the best they could. I've heard people say that, but
they're lying. They're not telling you the truth.
They done the best they could. Well, I'll tell you what, I never
met anybody and I don't think there's anybody who can truthfully
say that. You'll never get saved with that kind of an attitude.
I done the best I could. God owes it to me. Well, you're
never gonna get saved. When do we qualify for salvation?
When we have absolutely nothing to offer God. When we're bankrupt. When it's all done with us. We
don't have anything, not even our nothing. Not even our nothing. Well preacher, God ought to save
me, I'm nothing, just sit down. Sit down. Because I think you
ain't nothing yet, friend. You ain't nothing yet. You are
still seeing something and you're nothing. So sit down. We need
to be aware of this. We need to be aware of it that
self-righteousness, oh listen, self-righteousness is that bowl
constrictor that just gets around us, would choke out everything
in us. that would make us just come
as we are in our true character unto God, and bow our knee to
the Lord Jesus Christ and submit ourselves unto Him. Well, Romans
4, 6, I quoted it earlier, but to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now, I do not want you to ever
think that God ought to save you, but I do want you to think
that He can save you, that He can save you. Not that He ought
to, There isn't anybody here that has a right. Brethren, I'm
going to tell you the truth. That has a right to believe that
God ought to have saved them. Even though the rivers flow in
that way. No, no, no, no. That grace was given to us. That mercy and love has been
experienced by our poor souls. It's not because it ought to
have been that way. It's because God purposed it. and ordered
it to be that way. Now, I don't want us to ever
think that we had something about us that distinguishes from other
people. What caused God to save us and pass others by? He passed
the angels by, and He passed many fallen men by. And I stand here in absolute
amazement. I've seen Him pass by a lot of
people in my time. Well, why did He stop here? Why
did He stop here? You know, I just believe a little
gratitude would go a long way with some of you people. I believe
it would. I believe it would go a long
way with you. I believe it would keep you out of a lot of trouble if
you just had a little more gratitude to God that he stopped here.
He stopped here. Friend, don't ever get over that.
Don't ever get over it. Don't care how old you get. Don't
get over the fact that he stopped in front of your cell and he
had the key and he unlocked your cell. I can think of no reason
why God should do it except free, sovereign grace. Maybe he would
say to himself, I'll save that one and I'll get all the glory. I'll tell you this, those whom
God saves, He does get all the glory. Isn't that right? They
give Him all the glory, He deals with them and works with them,
brings them to the place where God gets the glory. I want to
say that God's sovereign grace is not the enemy of sinners,
but the friend of sinners, the friend of ignorant sinners, the
friend of failing sinners, struggling sinners, sinning sinners. Sovereign grace is not the enemy
of sinners. It's not. There's nobody that
would ever be saved apart from divine election. Nobody would
ever be saved apart from the free grace of God. Let me read
this song and we'll hurry to a conclusion. Upon a high and
distant throne in glory God does sit. Yet all of those who are
his own he never will forget. Lift up God's praise, His child
below. Rejoice with heart and voice.
He'll never forsake His own, we know, the people of His choice. Our names are graven on His hands
and deep within God's heart. His love, like mighty iron bands,
will never let us part. For us, God sent his Son of Love
to shed his blood and die, to raise us to new heights above
and dwell with him on high. The children of the Heavenly
King are safe, secure, and blessed. The Lord will never fail to bring
us to eternal rest. Since Christ died for our sins,
none for whom he died will die in their sins. Is that a good
statement? Let us all remember that between
the brightest saint in heaven and the blackest sinner in hell
there is no difference except that which Jesus Christ has made. That's the only difference. Let
me give that to you again. Let us all remember that between
the brightest saint in heaven and the blackest sinner in hell
there's no different except that which Christ has made. Might we say the only difference
is Christ. That's the only difference. Father,
in the name of Jesus, we've done what we could do. We've come
here and we've preached the word and we leave the message with
you. We pray that if it please you, that you might persuade
one poor lost sinner today to give it up and to trust Christ. I pray for your power, your glory,
your grace to come and a mighty way to move upon these poor sinners. bring them to Christ. Lord, feed
the sheep on this message. May they take the message with
them as they leave, and may it feed their souls in the coming
week. Give us grace for what we deal with, for what we face.
May our lives be strengthened mightily to your glory and praise. In that name which is worthy,
we ask. Amen.