I invite you to turn back with
me, if you will, this morning to the book of Romans, and I'd
like to read a text out of the 11th chapter, out of the 11th
chapter of Romans. I'd like to read beginning with
verse five through verse seven. Verse seven will be our primary
text this morning. Even so, then at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is
it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded. Approximately 45 years ago when
I began in the ministry, there were very, very few men in this
nation that were preaching the sovereign grace of God. There
were so few preaching the grace of God that if you were to have
a Bible conference, you could hardly find enough speakers to
fill the program. There just wasn't anybody around
preaching the grace of God. A few years after that, 20, 25
years, up in the mid-70s, there were a lot of preachers in America
preaching the free grace of God. I remember hearing one preacher
say that there was about 200 preachers that assembled in Atlanta,
Georgia, 1975, to have a Sovereign Grace Conference,
about 200 preachers from all over America, most of them from
the East. And this is remarkable. God has
raised up many, many preachers of His grace, but yet to this
day, to this day, the majority of the religious world hates
the message of God's grace. They hate the message of God's
sovereign election. They hate the message of God's
sovereign mercy. And almost all churches and religious
leaders in our day and time will tell you that they believe that
salvation is by grace. They'll tell you that. They'll
tell you, I believe that salvation is by grace. Now, beloved, I
want to say a few words here at the outset this morning in
order to establish, if I can, some truth in your hearts before
we get in to the heart of the message today. I believe that
salvation is by grace. Now I do not know this morning
exactly what it is in your mind, what you believe about the grace
of God. You may be here this morning
and you may say, well I believe that sinners are saved wholly
and thoroughly through the grace of God, completely by God's sovereign
grace. I believe that. But beloved,
I wonder this morning if you have a clear understanding of
what Bible grace is. what God's grace is all about. That grace that John Newton sung
about when he sung about amazing grace, how sweet the sound that
saved a wretch like me. Do you understand that? Do you
have a clear view in your mind this morning what the Bible has
to say about that? I want to say that even though
we've had a revival, in America and have many more sovereign
grace preachers than ever before in the history of this nation,
that still the majority of churches, professed churches in America
today, in our cities, in our communities, in the villages
across America, that the majority of them are in the hands of those
who believe in conditional grace. those who believe in conditional
grace, those who are workmongers, those who preach that criminal
and damnable doctrine that God saves sinners by conditional
grace. In other words, that sinner has
something to do with whether or not God ever recognizes him
or not. that something about the sinner
entices God Almighty to exercise His favor toward that sinner. Well, beloved, when we read the
Word of God, we find that the grace of God is not a grace that
has been enticed to the sinner, but it's a grace that has been
bestowed upon the sinner regardless of what that sinner has done
or has not done in his or her life. The grace of God is free. And so this morning, I want at
the outset to open up our subject, I want to throw into the teeth
of those who are work mongers, to those who are preaching this
criminal doctrine of conditional grace. Seven statements that
I want you to get and get well fixed into your mind. Now beloved,
I would not do this except I feel obligated as a preacher of God's
grace. I'm dedicated to preaching what
the Word of God has to say about God's grace. I'm not interested
in what religionists have to say about it. Now I know that
most of the money that comes from men and women in America
into churches to some way or another send out the so-called
Christian message in America that it is in the hands of the
workmongers. It's in the hands of the conditional
grace people. And I realize that we don't have
the means that they have. Somebody says, well, why is it
that that's the way it is? Well, God hides his word The
scripture says that He's a God who hides. It's the glory of
God to conceal a matter. And God does hide His truth in
our day and time. We'll discover that as we get
into our text this morning. But the first thing I want to
say is that the Bible teaches that electing grace is unconditional. Electing grace is unconditional. Paul said in verse 5, even so
at this present time. Paul, it was true in your day. It was true in your time. Also,
he says, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. It
was true in Paul's day. It is true in our day. That election
is according to unconditional grace. We read about Jacob and
Esau in the Bible. In the ninth chapter of the book
of Romans, and we find that God said that these two boys, before
they had ever done any good or evil, that God said, Jacob, have
I loved, and Esau, have I hated. Before they'd ever done any good
or evil, God did not take account of what they did, whether good
or whether it was evil, but God said that the purpose of God
according to election, that it might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. Beloved, election is unconditional. We read in the book of 2 Timothy
chapter 1 and verse 9, who has saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Beloved, election is unconditional. It is unconditional grace when
God chooses a poor sinner. Our faith in Christ and the works
of faith which we're unable to perform are the results and not
the cause of our election. The cause of our election is
with God. To preach conditional election
is to preach salvation by works. And that is a criminal doctrine. It's to lie on God that He looks
down through eternity and sees what men and women will do that's
good and then calls them on the basis of that. That is a criminal
doctrine and it's lying on the God of the Bible. Let me say
secondly that redeeming grace is unconditional. Where in the
Bible is redemption set forth as something that is conditional? Redemption is something that
Christ accomplished on the cross. Isn't it wonderful to be, this
morning, able to believe in a redemption that redeems? In a redemption
that successfully has redeemed all God's people from sin and
has brought them into a living relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. To preach conditional redemption
is to preach salvation by works. Peter said in 1 Peter 1.8, we
know that we're redeemed not with corruptible things such
as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We know that redemption is through
the shed blood of the Son of God. and our redemption is unconditional. The Lord Jesus was made a curse
for us. He's redeemed us from the curse
of the law having been made a curse for us. It was Christ that purchased
our redemption. The Lord Jesus bought us with
his own life laid down. Dare any man any woman to get
up and to say that redemption is conditional upon what the
sinner will do. It's to rob the Lord Jesus Christ
of His glory. And I throw it into the teeth
of the work mongers that Jesus did it all. Sinner nothing do. Jesus did it all long, long ago. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Redeemer. And then let me say thirdly,
that justifying grace is unconditional. We're told in Romans chapter
3 and verse 24 that we're justified freely. We're justified freely
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That word freely
is without cause. I told you that last week, Paul.
that this is without cause, that God justified us freely without
cause. There was no cause on our part
to cause God to give us a clear and clean slate before Him, for
God to give us a standing before Him just if we never sin. No cause with us. He did it freely. Now you remember, and I've tried
to illustrate this a time or two in the past, you know the
Bible says that they hated the Lord Jesus Christ without cause. That men, when he was here in
the world, they hated him without cause. That means that they really
didn't have any reason to hate him. And beloved, God justified
us. He justified us, declared us
to have a standing before him just as if we'd ever committed
a sin for the same reason. without a cause. There was no
cause in us to cause God to justify us. What I'm trying to show you
is that if it's by grace, then it's no more works. And if it,
listen, but if it be of works, then it's no more grace. I'm
trying to show you that God's gifts in election, redemption,
and justification are unconditional. And let me say that regenerating
grace is unconditional. We're told in John chapter 1
and verses 11 through 13, it says that He came unto His own.
His own received Him not, but to as many as received Him. To
them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those
who believed on His name, who were born. not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, but of the will of God. Beloved,
we know that regeneration is God's work. It's God who makes
sinners live. It's God who brings a sinner
out of his death, his death in sin, and gives him everlasting
life, and to place any conditions before a sinner, which they must
meet before they can live, is to tell them that there's no
hope. Here's a man lying in his casket, and you say before that
man can ever rise in the morning of the resurrection, that man
is going to have to start breathing again. He's going to have to
start breathing again. That man's going to have to get
up and knock in his grave and make enough noise to where everybody
knows he wants to get out. And when that happens, then that
sinner will be resurrected on Resurrection Day. Well, I'm here
to tell you this morning that that sinner cannot make a move
in any way, shape, or form to help himself, that dead man.
He's not able to do that. And the lost sinner is in the
same state prior to his regeneration. He's dead in sin and he cannot,
of his own volition, say, I will arise and go to Jesus. He cannot until God makes him
live. Until the breath of life is breathed
in that sinner, he will not live. He must get God's wind, he must
get God's breath, he must be spoken to by God and dealt with
by God before that sinner will ever live. I'm talking about
regenerating grace and it being unconditional. I'm telling you
God must visit the sinner. He must come to the sinner. And
any condition placed upon grace before conversion, at the time
of conversion, or after conversion, I'll tell you it's a total denial
of the grace of God. That's what I'm here to tell
you this morning. It's a total denial. And so if
you think that God chose you because He foresaw your faith. If you think that God redeemed
you because there was something in you that was redeemable, if
you think that God justified you because you didn't have very
much on your slate anyway, for God to have to deal with. If
you feel like that God made you alive because you already had
a spark of life in you and all that had to be done was fanned
a little bit, you've denied the true grace of God as it is taught
in the Bible. And these workmongers, you see,
they believe that salvation is of him that willeth on him that
runneth, but they believe that it's the sinner that does the
willing and the sinner that does the running when it says plainly
in the ninth chapter of Romans it is God that showeth mercy
and it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but it
is God that showeth mercy. Okay then, let me also just as
I'm here dealing with this subject. I said I had seven statements
that I wanted to give you. The next thing is sanctifying
grace is unconditional. Somebody said, oh preacher, I
believe that we've got to sanctify ourself. Well, where does the
Bible command a man to sanctify himself? This is nonsense. To
preach conditional sanctification, conditional holiness, is to preach
salvation by works. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians
1.30, who of God is made unto us, speaking of Christ, says
if any man glory, let him glory in Jesus Christ, who of God is
made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, and now get it, sanctification. Christ is our sanctification. We're sanctified in Him and any
other kind. The Bible says we've been sanctified
by the one offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this will of
God, which involved Christ coming down here into this world, this
is the will by which we're sanctified. We're sanctified in and through
the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is a big word, sanctification,
but it just simply means that we've been set apart to God in
Jesus Christ. That God made Him that which
set us apart. And there isn't anything in this
world that distinguishes between sinners but Christ, the will
of God, and the will of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And your
little doings, your little fixing up, your little polishing of
this whole vessel is not the sanctification that God's gonna
look at. He gonna find out, are you in
my son? If you're in my son, then you're
sanctified. I make him your sanctification. And I look upon you because I
look upon him. And I love him. He is the chief
among the elect. And all my elect are chosen in
him. And I look upon him and then
I see you. And he's the one that sets you
apart to me. I'm here to tell you this morning
that God wouldn't touch any of you with a 10-foot pole apart
from Christ in whom we are sanctified. We are sanctified in Him and
God will have mercy on a man who is in His Son. God loves
His Son and He saves and has mercy on all who are in His Son. I'm telling you sanctifying grace
is unconditional. And there ain't a Baptist, there's
not another Baptist I know of in this state that would get
up and make a statement like that this morning. They don't
know anything about Bible sanctification. Now then, if you preach conditional
holiness and conditional sanctification, you preach salvation by works. And then, let me say this. Persevering
grace is unconditional. Persevering grace is unconditional. Somebody said we must endure
unto the end. Well, I believe the Lord's people
will endure unto the end. The Bible says in John chapter
10, verses 27 through 30, that I give unto my sheep eternal
life. They shall never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave
them me is greater than all. No man can get them out of his
hand. The Bible teaches that if a man,
saved by the grace of God, if he comes into the possession
of eternal life through faith in Christ through God, opening
his hands and giving the gift of life to him, that that sinner,
that that sinner will persevere, that God will keep him saved,
and that the sinner is not that one who keeps himself, but that
God does the keeping, and God keeps him for all eternity. It's eternal life that God gives,
and that life is like God himself, and that life that God gives,
beloved, thanks be unto God, that it is eternal life, so they
shall never perish. And to preach that a man might,
that a man might lose his salvation, that a man might get saved and
then get lost and get saved and then get lost is to preach a
criminal doctrine. It's to deny the plain revealed
truth of the Word of God. And it's to tell a lie on God. It's to preach salvation by works. salvation by works. And then
I want to say also, and I have to cover this whole spectrum
in order to get these work mongers and these that preach this conditional
grace to hush, glorifying grace is also unconditional. Ephesians 1 and 11 says that
we've been predestinated to an inheritance by Him who has predestinated
all things to the glory and praise of His own name. Our heavenly
inheritance, our reward in glory, was earned by and purchased by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody here that would deny
that? Well, anybody that had an ounce of spiritual sense would
say amen. I know that my inheritance inside
the gates of glory. I know that my inheritance when
I get home yonder to be with the Lord in that wonderful and
glorious place where sighs and tears will never come. In that
place where God's people gather together and sing the glories
of the Lord Jesus Christ and sing redemption story from day
to day. Listen to me now. I'm here to
tell you this morning that that inheritance was purchased by
Christ. And our inheritance, it was earned
not by us, but by another. You wouldn't rob him of his glory,
would you? You wouldn't rob him of his glory. Christ earned your inheritance. He earned my inheritance. He
earned the inheritance of all the people of God that has ever
lived in this world and all those who make up his family. when
they're gathered over yonder, they'll all agree that their
inheritance was an earned inheritance, but not by them, not by them.
It was purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ for us. And to preach
degrees of reward based upon our works is to preach salvation
by works, and it's to deny Bible grace. Now let me make this statement
again. Listen to me, any condition,
Any condition placed upon grace before conversion, at conversion,
or after conversion is a total denial of the unconditional grace
of God. It's a total denial of it. And
Romans chapter 11, verse six is so very clear on that. Now
then, Beloved, let's get to this text here. I got some things,
there's three things that I wanna talk a little bit about here
in verse seven, and that might've been the longest preface that
you ever heard to a sermon, but maybe the sermon will be short.
But anyway, let's get on with this. In verse seven, what then? He just made this tremendous
statement about the grace of God in verse 6. Saying that if
by grace then it's no more of works, otherwise grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works then it's
no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? What
then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded. There are three things that I
want to talk a little bit about here this morning. First of all,
the election, who are they? And secondly, what have they
obtained that Israel could not obtain? And then to say just
a word or two in closing about the rest, the rest. The rest, what a multitude, what
a multitude were blinded, were blinded. Just a few words about
that in the end. First of all, we read here that
the election hath obtained it. Well, who are they? The Bible
teaches clearly that God loved the people out from among the
sons of Adam before the foundation of the world. that God set His
love upon them and He said this to them, He said, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. I mean I loved you with a love
that had no beginning and no end. An everlasting love. I loved
you before the song of the first angel ever broke the solemnity
of silence. I loved you way back yonder before
the morning star. began to sing out in eternity
past. I loved you. And the Bible says
in John 17 that God gave these people that he loved, he gave
them to Christ. He gave them to the Lord Jesus.
He said, Mine they are, I give them to you, and I give you to
them. And so the election are those
who were chosen of God before the foundation of the world. God chose them. He said you've
not chosen me, I've chosen you. Now the election are those who
come to Christ. Those who get to Christ sometime
during their lifetime and believe on him, these are the elect. Jesus said, all that the Father
giveth me, they shall come to me. And they that come to me,
I will in no wise cast out. Jesus said, no man can come to
me except the Father which sent me draw him. I'm telling you,
the elect will get to Christ. Listen to it. Jesus said, they
shall be all taught of God. Everyone that has heard and learned
of me cometh, Jesus says, unto me. Everybody that's heard and
learned of the Father, they end up coming to me. They get to
me. They come to me. And so the elect
are those who come to Christ. The Bible says in Hebrews 7 and
25, he is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God
by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Now, what am I telling you here? I'm telling you this morning
that every one of God's elect will get to Christ. They all
will come to him. That's one of the chief marks.
of the elect of God is that they come to Christ. Now you see the
Bible says here, Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh
for. Has not obtained that which he
seeketh for. Well what does that mean? Well
it means that Israel had been, we read it in John chapter 10
here, He says that I bear them record in verse 2, that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, for they being
ignorant of God's righteousness. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness. and going about to establish
their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. You see, Israel's mistake was
this. And the reason that they did
not get that which they were seeking is because they did not
understand that God's righteousness is a person. They didn't understand
that. They did not understand that
to be righteous in the sight of God, one must be in union
with the Lord, our righteousness. They did not understand that
for a man to stand perfect and complete and accepted before
God, that we must know a person. We must be wed to a person. We must be in union to a person. and that is Jesus Christ. And
I tell you, the elect are those who get to Christ. They're not
going about to establish their own righteousness. They're not
going about to try to figure out a way whereby they can please
God and satisfy God, whereby they can establish a system of
works, whereby God's gonna grant to them his favors. No, they
get to a person. They're taught that they're sinners
in and of themselves. Sin is opened up to them in all
of its vileness. They see their lost condition
before God and the Spirit of God teaches them to the Lord
Jesus, God's righteousness. My friend, the righteousness
of God, and this is one of the profoundest statements that was
ever made by a man, by a moral man, the righteousness of God
is a person. It's a person, and that person
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And nobody is saved outside of
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And until you're joined
to him, have you got to him? Have you got to him? Well, that
was the problem with these Israelites. And listen to what Paul said.
Now, these people have been going about. to establish their own
righteousness. Paul later said, I don't want
to be found having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. And here he says, they've
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God for
Christ. See it right there in verse four,
for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. To everyone that believeth. To everyone that believeth. Christ
is the E and D of the law. For righteousness no more. Listen, the Bible says, Paul
made this statement. He said, I do not frustrate the
grace of God. He said, if righteousness come
by the law, Christ is dead in vain. He died in vain. If righteousness
comes by your doing, if it comes by your trying to save yourself,
if you get right with God through your doing, then Christ died
in vain. And religionists, listen to me
this morning, listen to me. If you're going to believe in
Bible grace, if you're going to believe in God's righteousness,
You gotta get to Jesus. You gotta come to Him. And the
only way you can get to Him is if the Father draws you to Him.
And if the Father teaches you to Him. And the Father begins
by, like we said, opening up our sinful hearts to us. And
showing us what we are in a state of nature. Making us look at
ourselves and quit congratulating ourselves. telling ourselves
how good a people we are, and begin to take sides with God
against our own sinful and wicked natures and hearts, and begin
to agree with God, and then come to the Savior. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Come to him who bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. Come to Him. Come to Him. Come
to Him. It's not a physical coming. It's
an emotional. It's a heart coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a spiritual coming to Christ. It's being joined to Him in spiritual
wedlock. It's coming to be one and one
spirit with the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel missed it. They missed
it. They could not attain to it. We read it plainly out of
the ninth chapter of the book of Romans. What shall we say
then? The Gentiles which followed not
after the law of righteousness, they didn't seek to be justified.
Old Gentile dog sinners didn't seek to be justified by keeping
the law. But they've attained to righteousness,
hallelujah. They've attained to righteousness. You tell me how this old sinner
could ever attain to righteousness. Well, I'll tell you how. I'll
tell you how, I don't need any of you to tell me. I'll tell
you, listen to it. He says, they've attained to
righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. That's the
righteousness we have, those that are believers in Christ.
We've got it. We've got it. The election hath
obtained it. They've obtained it. Now this
is very important for us to see. And this means, I think what
it means is this, that there had to be a personal reception
of what God had to give in his son. And everything that God
has to give to sinners is in his son. It's all in his son. It's all in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As somebody well said years ago, God has put all of his eggs in
one basket. And everything he has to give
to a poor sinner, he has it in Christ, in the person of Christ. And so what has the election
here obtained? Well, they've obtained righteousness.
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath
not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought
it not by faith. They sought it not by faith,
but as it were by the works of the law, they stumbled at that
stumbling stone. And there's some that are, and
I'll tell you, the world this morning is full of men and women
who are still stumbling at this stumbling stone. and you hear
this message on unconditional grace, and there are probably
not a half of you that understand what I'm talking about, and maybe
a third of the rest of the half that does understand what I'm
talking about, don't believe it. You may not believe it. There's a stumbling stone, and
that stumbling stone and rock of offense is Christ and men
stumble at him they say how could it be you mean to tell me that
wrapped up in this person this Jesus that was born of a virgin
this Jesus that hung on his mother's breast This Jesus that grew up
and ended up on the gory tree outside the city of Jerusalem,
you mean that in Him is all of God's wisdom? Do you mean that? Do you mean that? Do you mean
that I can't be wise unless I know Him and I'm in Him from God's
standpoint? The man that thinketh he knows
anything knows nothing as he ought to know until he knows
Jesus Christ. Until he knows him Christ is
God's wisdom. He's God's wisdom and then you
say well now preacher you mean to tell me that The only righteousness
in all the universe that God is gonna look at and say I'll
take that and You mean to tell me that that was woven out in
the doing of this man Jesus? In his going about to do good?
In his keeping the law? In his obeying every jot and
tittle of the law? In his living under the law?
In his always pleasing God? You gonna tell me that's the
only righteousness that God's ever gonna look at? He's not
gonna look at the righteousness of any man who ever lived? The
best man that ever lived? He's not gonna look at it? He's
not gonna look at it. I'm here to tell you that. You
see, I'm here to preach Christ. I'm not here to preach good people
that's lived in the 19th century and the 20th century. I'm not
here to extol them people. I am here to tell you good people. that if you get into heaven,
you're gonna have to obtain what the Jews couldn't obtain, what
Israel couldn't get by doing. You're gonna have to get what
men get by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is a perfect
righteousness. And you can't get it except by
believing on the Lord Jesus. Now that's what I'm telling you.
And people are gonna go out here and say, I've never seen such
a narrow-minded, never heard such a narrow-minded preacher
in my life. He has just literally destroyed
everything that I ever believed in. I always thought that a person,
and my mama thought, and my grandmother thought, that you could do, do,
do, and eventually if you did enough, that God would have favor
on you, and that it would rain on your garden and not on the
neighbor's garden, and that you would just have good corn in
your field, and the neighbor wouldn't have so much, and so
on and so, because of what you did. Well, that's all a bunch
of Tommy Rot foolishness. Ain't no truth to it. I'm here
to tell you that the gospel is that God provided what he demanded. That's the gospel. What he demanded,
he provided. And that God put on his table
everything it takes to have a banquet in heaven. And God said it out
there. Sinner, sinner, come. Come to Jesus, come to Jesus.
Now listen to me now. So the righteousness of God has
been obtained. There's been a personal reception
of it by the elect. They got it. They got it. Well,
what about the rest? What about the rest? Well, the
Bible says here in our text, the rest were blinded. The rest were blinded. David said, let their eyes be
darkened that they may not see and bow down their back always.
God said, If a man comes in any other way, except by faith in
my beloved son, he gonna be blinded. He gonna think he's got it worked
out. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. He comes
to the end and he dies as a sinner. And he goes to hell as a sinner.
And throughout eternity, he suffers the wrath of God like an unpardoned
sinner. I want you to turn back with
me to a very clear verse of scripture, John chapter nine. John chapter nine. And in verse
39, I want you to listen to this statement. I want you to listen
to it. This is such a clear, Verse of scripture, John chapter
nine, verse 39. And Jesus said, this is what
he said, for judgment I am coming to this world. Somebody said,
oh, I thought, I didn't know he'd come into this world for
judgment. You listen to what he says. That they which see not
might see. Now, who are these that see not? They're those who are the elect
of God. They're those who said, I got nothing. I'm blind. I don't
know the way. I don't know the way to accomplish
enough to get me into heaven. I'm bankrupt. I'm blind. I don't
see the way. And God, by the Holy Spirit,
arrests that sinner and draws him and teaches him to Christ.
Here's a man And Jesus said, I come that they which see not
might see. And he wasn't talking about physical
blindness. He talked about spiritual blindness.
Spiritual blindness. Isaiah said, God said, I'll bring
the blind by way which they know not, in paths which they've not
known. Make the darkness light, the
crooked way straight. This will I do unto them and
not forsake them. Talking about the Lord's people.
None so blind as my servants, saith Isaiah. God's servants,
God's people are blind in and of themselves. They don't know
the way. They must be led, they're sheep.
And they must be led, they're blind. And Jesus said, I've come
that they might see. and listen to the last part of
this verse, and that they which see might be made, what? Blind. The man, he says, I got
it figured out, preacher. I got it figured out. My grandpa
had it figured out. All the way back, my ancestors,
they had it figured out. Well, what'd they have figured
out? well we just we just we just been good people all down
to the line and and we just you know we always believed in the
golden rule I'm surprised aren't you about how many religious
people there are in this world that's still entertaining the
idea they got it figured out they see They see. All these
religious people are getting together today and they're singing
their little songs and having all of their fine, you know,
all of the display of religion all around them and they got
it all figured out and the priest gets up and he's got the robe
turned around backwards and he's telling you this and he's telling
you that. They got it all figured out. They see, they see, they
see. Well, Jesus said, I've come.
for judgment, that they which see might be made blind. I'm here to tell you today that
if you don't see Jesus, if you don't see Jesus, and if the cry
of your heart is, we would see Jesus, we would see Jesus. If that's not the cry of your
heart, you're going out of here blind. The Lord said you're going
out of here blind. You're gonna miss it all. Miss
it all. The river's gonna run right by
you and you're gonna die in your sin. You're gonna die lost. Hopelessly, helplessly lost. Going off to a devil's hell. Going off to suffer God's vengeance
forever and ever. Blind. Blind. I'm telling you,
the man who sees is the man who says, I've got nothing in my
hand. I don't bring a thing. I just
come and cling to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the
election, they've obtained it. Is that all right with you all?
They've obtained it. They got it. Praise be unto God. They've got it. They got it.
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Well, that's
the message this morning. I trust God will own it. and
that he will bring some poor trembling sinner today to that
place where they say Christ is my wisdom. Don't know anything about theology,
but Christ is my wisdom. What do you know? I don't know
anything but Christ. I know Christ. What do you believe? Well, I just believe Christ,
that's what I believe. I believe him. I believe he came
into this world, God sent him into this world, and I believe
that when he came into this world, that I was on his heart. And that when he went to that
cross and he bled, when he bled on that cross, I believe it was
for me. I believe it was. I believe it
was for me. I believe it was. That's what I believe. I believe
it. All right. Praise God. Stand
up and tell us. I believe that. I believe it.
If you believe with all your heart, and then what you should
do then is you ought to say I want to be baptized I want to identify
myself with him if he loved me if he died for me if he's provided
everything God demands of me I want to be baptized I want
to be identified with him I want everybody to know that my stand
is with him for time and eternity everything he's given to me The
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And I
want everybody to know I'm identified with Him. That's where I stand.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask that you would bring out
of this service this morning that which you have in your good
will purposed. Save a sinner, save these sinners
here, Bring them to Christ. Use the word. Own the message.
We'll give you the glory for it in Jesus' name. Amen.