When I was a young man, I used
to think that the tendency of older folks to reminisce and
I may want to go back and renew their acquaintance with home
and fireside and such as that was a little silly. As I get
a little older, I understand why nostalgia takes such good
business in America because everybody likes to think about things in
the past. this time of the year, you know I'll celebrate my 46th
birthday tomorrow, this time of the year, I always am inclined
to make some reviews of the past, particularly to review God's
grace and goodness to me. Twenty-nine years ago, God Almighty
crossed my path, revealed his son in me. made me a new creature
in Christ. And I want to talk to you today
about what God has done in me. My subject is my own testimony
to free and sovereign grace. You'll find my text in Ephesians
chapter 2, a very familiar passage of scripture. Now, salvation
consists of three things. What God does for us what God
does in us and what God shall do with us. In Ephesians, the
first chapter, the apostle Paul has told us what God has done
for us in Jesus Christ. He chose us. He predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Christ Jesus. He redeemed
us. He forgave us. He's made us accepted
in the beloved. He's given us an inheritance
in Christ, an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled, and
fadeth not away. And then in chapter two, he tells
us what God the Holy Spirit has done in us. That's what I'm going
to talk to you about this morning. And then if you go over to chapter
six or chapter five of Ephesians, the apostle will tell you what
God's going to do with us. He's going to present us thoughtless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Now, this
matter of what God has done in us, what he has done in me particularly,
I hope will be of interest to each one of you. I pray that
God will give me your attention. Of this one thing, I'm absolutely
certain. I have no question concerning
it. My soul's salvation was accomplished and is being accomplished entirely
by God's free and sovereign grace. I didn't have anything to do
with it in the beginning. I don't have anything to do with
it now. If it were up to me, if it were in my hands, if it
depended on me, It wouldn't have lasted anywhere near this long.
And it wouldn't last a half a second longer. Now it is up to me. Because I am no better now by
nature than I was 29 years ago. I have not in any way ceased
to be a sinner. I have not in any way ceased
to have this old nature and the corruptions of this old nature. I heard someone yesterday, I
was driving down the road and heard someone, one of the preachers
he's talking about said, everybody's a sinner unless you say it. Now
if you say it, you're not a sinner anymore. I said, well, he doesn't
know God or I don't. One of the two. One of the two.
There's no question about that. That's not been my experience.
And talking to you, I know it hasn't been your experience as
well. I recognize salvation must be by grace alone, and particularly
in my case, I know God has saved me by his free and sovereign
grace because I didn't have any desire for it. I didn't have
any inclination toward it, or I didn't want to go to hell.
I sure enough didn't want to go to hell. I was scared to death
of going to hell, but I had no interest in bowing to Jesus Christ. I had no interest in righteousness.
I had no interest in spiritual things. I had no interest whatsoever
in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, ruling my life. And if I had
had an interest, I didn't have any power to change my miserable
existence. I didn't have the ability to
make myself any different than I was. But God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace at the
time that he had appointed before the world began. crossed my path,
he stepped in my way, and in the day of his appointed mercy,
he stopped me in my hell-bent mad dash for hell, and arrested
me by his grace. And I thank him for it. From
the depth of my soul, I thank him for it. From that day to
this, it has been my heart's greatest joy to extol, magnify,
and honor God my Savior for his amazing grace. Give me attention. Please give me attention. You'll
never hear anything so important as this is right now. God's free
grace, God's free grace alone can save your soul from eternal
damnation. God's free you from going to hell will you
be stopped. Only if God stops you from destruction
will you be stopped. Only if God intervenes and arrests
your soul will you be arrested by the marvelous arm of His grace.
Your whole hope, your only hope, your only, only possibility of
escaping eternal damnation is if God will step in and arrest
you by His mercy. The first sermon that I preached
shortly after God saved them, while it was faulty in many ways,
was a tribute to God's almighty grace. And every message I've
preached since then has been a tribute to God's free grace.
It is my determination, as long as I live, as long as I draw
breath, as long as God enables me to preach, to preach nothing
else but free grace to sinners. Free grace to sinners who alone
are saved by free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ the Lord. C. H. Spurgeon has inscribed
on his tombstone in England, as since by faith I saw the stream
thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming love has been my theme, and shall
be till I die. And when this poor listening,
stammering tongue lies silent in the grave, then in a nobler,
sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. The only hope of this
sinner is grace. That's all. The only hope for
my soul is free grace, that God would save me by his grace. Now
since the earliest days of God's dealings with me, I have I have
grown some in my understanding of the gospel. I have grown some
in my understanding of the things of God. If I haven't grown any,
I haven't lived. Those who are born of God live
and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. But my doctrine, the
basis of my faith, the basis of my hope, the foundation of
it all hasn't changed so much as a hair's breadth. And Ron,
it won't change. It won't change. I am thankful
that God was pleased graciously in his providence to call me
to learn in my earliest experiences of his grace certain things concerning
his grace. These are things that went to
the very heart of the experience that God called me to have in
Christ Jesus when he gave me faith in him. Number one, he
calls me to see. He calls me to see with terrible
apprehension. with terrible, terrible sense
of guilt. He calls me to see that I am
by nature a lost, doomed, damned, helpless sinner. And so will
you. Now that's our nature. That's
our nature. I was made to see the sinfulness
of my ways. And that's bad. That's bad. I recognized that I had done
terribly evil things. But the terribly evil things
that I have done don't even begin to compare, Merle, to the corruption
in my heart. If all you see, buddy, is the
evil that you do, you always have some hope maybe you can
crack that. If that's all you see. Well,
if it's just drunkenness, if it's just being an adulterer,
if it's just being a fornicator, if it's just being a harlot,
if it's just being a dope head, if it's just Yes, but it is just
that. I can quit that. I can stop that. I'll figure out a way to overcome
this thing. This help group or that help group or this psychologist
or that psychotherapist and somehow I can overcome that, other folks
can. But then God made me to see the corruption of my heart. Now if you ever see that, I'll
guarantee you Until you see Christ, you're going to sink in utter
despair. Because the corruption of your heart you can't change.
The corruption of your heart won't go away. The corruption
of your heart won't mend. The corruption of your heart
just does not in any way improve. And it drives you into utter
despair. I saw that I was condemned before God's holy law, and that
I was utterly destitute, having no ability to change my condition
before Him. And then secondly, I was made
to understand, and I thank God I was, that God Almighty is totally
sovereign, absolutely sovereign. And this is what that means.
God says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. I'm sitting
here, standing here, looking at you folks, sitting in your
pew, looking at me. And I recognize many of you are
yet without Christ. I recognize many of you are yet
under the wrath of God. My heart bleeds for you. But
I want you to understand something. God's not in your hands. And
God is not in any way obligated to you. And God does not owe
you mercy. God owes you nothing but wrath
and damnation. That's all He owes you. The wages
of sin are death. God may be merciful to you. He
may be gracious to you. But it's all together up to Him. That's right. He can save you
or He can damn you. It's all together up to Him. I was made to recognize God? Here I am. I cast myself at the
throne of mercy. My only hope is free mercy. My
only hope is free grace. I bid you do the same thing.
Lord, if you will, the Leper said, you can make me whole.
If you will, you can cure me of this plague of leprosy in
my soul. If you will, you can save me. It's all together up to you.
Thirdly, I recognize that God Almighty has assured eternal
purpose. Look here at Ephesians 1 for
a moment. Ephesians 1 verse 9. Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will. When God saves a sinner, he makes
him to know the mystery of his will. When God teaches a man
the things of God, he makes him to know the mystery of his will. according to his good pleasure,
get it now, which he hath purposed in himself. that in the dispensation
of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both of which are in heaven and which are in the
earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. The purpose
of God in Christ is fixed eternal, immutable, and unalterable. That which God from eternity
purposed in himself, God will in time bring to pass to the
praise of the glory of his grace. His purpose is fixed, unalterable. It will not change, it will not
vary, it will not be hindered. You won't cause it to change
and I won't cause it to change. God's purpose is fixed. And fourthly,
I was made to understand that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only
begotten Son of God, that one who came into this world in human
flesh, is himself God Almighty, and that he is the only all-sufficient
substitute for sinners. Who can put away sin? Only Christ. Who can satisfy justice? Only
Christ. Who can appease the wrath of
the Holy God? Only Christ. Who can render righteousness
such as God will accept? Only Christ. You can't do it
and I can't do it. Our hands are polluted. Our hearts
are polluted. Our minds are polluted. We are
polluted with guilt, depravity, and sin. Only Christ is acceptable
to God. God demands from Bob Ponce. This
is what He demands of you. He demands complete atonement
for sin. But you can't give it. Don't
matter how much you work. Don't matter how hard you try.
You cannot atone for sin. Now you can atone for doing something
wrong to Bill Riley. You can atone for doing something
wrong to Don Fortner. But you cannot atone for doing
that which is evil against God Almighty. He's infinite. You're
finite. What are you going to pay? How
are you going to satisfy Him? And God demands righteousness.
You can't give it. An unrighteous man can't produce
righteousness. An unholy man cannot produce
holiness. A sinful man cannot produce that
which is acceptable to God. And God demands that you have
spiritual life. You can't approach Him in the
flesh. You've got to approach Him in the spirit. You cannot
walk before God in the flesh. You walk before God in the spirit.
And God demands faith. And you can't produce it. You
can't produce it. I know people will tell you,
you've been hearing fellas tell you all your life, all you got
to do is believe. And that's true. All you got to do is believe.
Believe on the Son of God. Try it. Try it. You can't do it. I reason with you. I write articles
and try to reason with you in the articles. I sit with you
in the car when we're traveling. I sit here in the office with
you. I sit with you in my living room and I try to reason with
you and urge you. Believe God! Believe God! Believe
God! And I hear fellas say, I want
to believe God. I want to believe God. But I can't. And while there's
no excuse for your unbelief, I fully concur, you can't. You
can. Face the gift of God. Face the
gift of God. The only way you'll ever be saved
then is by grace. You've got to have someone to
atone for sin. You've got to have someone to
make you righteous. You've got to have someone to make you give
you new life in Christ. You've got to have someone to
give you faith. The Lord God called me to sin. I know by divine
revelation. This is not a speculation. This is not something that's
up for debate. This is not a subject we're going
to discuss. This is just matter of fact.
Salvation by grace alone. By grace alone. Now these things
I recognize because they're written in the book of God. And these
things I know because I've experienced them in my soul. I want you to look with me here
at Ephesians chapter 2, and let me show you how the salvation
from start to finish is the work of God's free grace for his glory
alone. You just hold your Bible right
here at Ephesians 2. We're going to look at these first 10 verses,
and I think that you will see clearly that everything I'm saying,
everything I tell you of my experience of grace is what Paul writes
right here in this second chapter. I want to show you what I am
by nature. That's not a pretty picture. It's not a pleasant thing to
discuss. But I must honestly acknowledge
and confess that those things which Paul here speaks of as
being the condition of men by nature are true of me, and they're
true of you. Whether you like it or not, whether
you acknowledge it or not, whether you even know it or not, all
that the Apostle speaks of here is true of you. In these first
three verses, the Apostle writes by divine inspiration and gives
us an accurate description of every human being since the fall
of our father Adam. You see, before their conversion,
God's elect are just exactly like all other men. Sometimes
people have the idea that, you know, the elect are a little
different. The elect have this quality or that quality, and
I hear fellas say, well, I just believe, you know, I believe
that's the one the Lord's gonna save. I believe that's the one
the Lord's gonna save, but I see this or I see that. The elect
of God are just exactly like all other men. Mr. Spurgeon was
accosted by an Armenian one day. He said, if you just believe
the elect are going to be sober, why don't you just preach to
the elect? He said, I will if you pick them out. If they had
a yellow streak down their back, we'd lift up shirt tails and
see who they are. But that's not how you know. God's elect
are known only when they're brought to faith in Christ. The elect
are just exactly like all other men by nature. Sometimes we look
at somebody and think, well, he's got this gift or this ability.
He's got this character, this attribute. Surely he's one of
the Lords. Oh, no. Oh, no. All men and women
are born in exactly the same condition. All men and women
are born in this world with exactly the same nature. All men and
women are born in this world with the same defrayed, corrupt,
defiled hearts of wickedness. Now let's look here and see.
Here's our condition, verse 1. And you hath he quickened, you
hath he made alive, you hath he regenerated, you hath he born
again, who were D.E.A.D. dead. I wonder what that means. What do you reckon Paul means
by that? What do you think this means? It doesn't matter what
you think it means. It means exactly what it says.
You were dead. Dead. Dead, not physically, but
dead spiritually. Dead, the apostle says, in trespasses. Dead in sins. Dead because of
the sin and fall of our father Adam. You have God made alive
who were dead. Dead. This is our nature. Through the sin and fall of our
father Adam, every son of Adam, every daughter of Adam comes
into this world spiritually dead. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Now this is Paul's teaching concerning
the doctrine of total depravity and utter inability. When we
say that man is totally depraved, we are declaring that he is altogether
without spiritual life before God, and that his heart is altogether
corrupt with sin. That his nature is altogether
corrupt with defilement. To be dead is to be separated
from God. I don't know how to describe
it. I can't describe it. I can't begin to describe it. If in eternity you perish under
the wrath of God, you will be forever separated from God, but
horribly, indescribably, tormentedly envious of those who are united
with God. The torment of hell will be the
realization of your everlasting separation from God. That's the
second death. Now, Lindsay, our first natural
death, spiritual death, is separation from God. You who are here without
Christ are separated from God. People wonder why we don't have
all the silly games and nonsense that goes on in religion. No
ball games, no bingo games, no social activities, no special
things. What do y'all do down there?
We're trying to minister to folks who are dead. You don't need
to feel better about yourself. You need to know God. You don't
need to be entertained on the way to hell. You need to know
God. You're dead. Spiritually dead. And you must be made to understand
that. Man by nature is separated from God, being dead. And being
dead, he is deprived of all things. Through the fall of our father
Adam, we became depraved, deprived creatures. We lost everything,
everything. Adam lived in happiness. Happiness. And our race is going crazy,
trying to find a way to make themselves happy. I want to be happy. Everybody
does. Adam had it. Adam had it. Adam lost peace. That man lived
in absolute peace with God. Peace with his family. Peace
with his life. Peace with himself. Peace with
God's creation. This generation writes books
about peace. The whole world wants peace.
Going crazy trying to get peace. Can't find peace. Adam lived
in contentment. He was satisfied. Satisfied with
everything. With everything. Today, you can't
find anybody who's satisfied with anything. But Adam was content. He was content. He walked with
God. Adam was a man of absolute goodness. That is, he was good
by nature, both within himself, with reference to God, and with
reference to his wife, and with reference to God's creation.
He was good. Because Adam was righteous. He
was righteous today. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Men do things that are abhorrent
and call it good. Men do things that are self-serving
and call it good. But there's none that doeth good.
Adam was a man who walked in God's faith. No wonder he had
peace. No wonder he lived in happiness.
He walked in God's favor, in God's presence, accepted of God.
He lived in constant fellowship with the Almighty. This man,
Adam, walked on the earth in the image of God. Oh, Adam, how
you fall. Oh, sons and daughters of Adam,
this is the result of the fall. We've lost it all to be dead. is to be without feeling. All natural, God-given senses
of life are gone in death. And the dead sinner spiritually
is past feeling. The sinner has no sense of sin
and corruption. None at all. The sinner has senses
of guilt. He has an awareness of condemnation. That's the reason you're scared
to death of dying. You're scared to death of meeting God in judgment.
But the sinner has no apprehension of what sin is. He has no apprehension
of the corruption of his nature. The sinner dead in trespasses
and in sins has no sense of shame. No sense of shame. I read one
of the Puritans this morning. I forgot which one I was reading
it. He said, first we sin. Then we defend it, and then we
boast in it. My soul, what a description of
our society. What a description of our day.
Man by nature has no sense of shame. And his shamelessness,
so that he has no fear of God, his shamelessness continually
increases as he walks in sin. Generation after generation after
generation after generation. And man by nature has no desire
for righteousness. No crying in his soul, give me
Christ or else I die. You are sitting out there without
Christ and wondering when is this preacher going to shut up
so I can go do what I want to do. The reason you are in the condition
you are in is because you have no desire for Christ and righteousness. That's it. That's it. I have no question at all, none
whatsoever, that everybody here would quickly crawl down that
aisle on hot coals, on bare knuckle and bare knees, if you could
be persuaded that by crawling down that aisle, down here to
some morning bench or altar or confessional booth or anything
else, if you could just be persuaded that crawling down that aisle
would take away your fear of hell and secure for you the fact
that you would not be damned, you'd start crawling down that
aisle. All I got to do is just get you persuaded, that'd work.
You can be persuaded to do many things because of your fear of
judgment and your fear of hell and your fear of wrath, but that's
not going to change you. You've got no desire for righteousness,
no desire for Christ. The prophet says your heart is
stone. Those rocks out in the field,
been raining on them all night long. Hadn't felt a thing. All winter long they were blasted
with ice and snow, didn't feel anything. During the summer they'll
be scorched so hot you can't touch them. They don't feel anything.
That's the nature of man. His heart's a stone. The dead man is altogether helpless. What's a dead man going to do
to help himself? So a preacher, you're talking
nonsense. Look at us. We're living. I watched one of
those late reports on Discovery Arts and Entertainment sometime
when I was in the motel room recently about zombies. I hadn't read
or seen anything about them in a long time. often be with zombies
in areas where they practice voodoo and witchcraft, silly
superstitions. These witch doctors and witches
and sorcerers are believed to have the power to cause the dead
to live again. Now, what they do is they get
together a mixture of various herbs and various drugs. They're just found and mix them
together, and a man appears to be dead. He appears to be dead,
and he's buried. The family mourns over him, lays
him in the ground, and he's buried. And then the witch doctor goes
out and uncovers the coffin, opens it up, and here's this
fellow walking again. He's walking around. But the
drugs have had such a stupefying effect on him. Here he is now.
He's sitting in front of you. That's the same man. The very
same man, but not the same at all. His mind's gone. He eats,
and he drinks, And he has movement, but his mind is gone. It's just
gone. He's called the living dead or
the walking dead. That's a pretty good picture
of man spiritually. Walking, yes. The same man, he's
had it. Here he is. The same man, but
altogether different. His life is gone. Relationship
with God is gone! His knowledge of God is gone!
His spiritual apprehension is gone! Dead! In trespasses and
in sins. Death means total inability. Wherein, that is, in trespasses
and in sins, we walked. We walked. Not we tiptoed with
fear. Not we ran. with apprehension,
but we walked. Walked with calm, deliberate
determination. We walked in time past, according
to the course of this world. Let me, let me see if I can illustrate
what Paul's saying. Merle, forgive me for picking
on you. I happen to know your reputation
around town down at Always been a nice fella. Always been a nice
fella. Good reputation. Time he was
a boy. Folks tell me he was a remarkable
young man. And while you walked in morality
and walked in uprightness, you walked according to the course
of this world as much as a drunk, a harlot, a pimp, pusher, a prostitute. What do you mean? How can that
be? You walk according to your own will, serving yourself. Just as much as the vile reprobate
walks according to his will, serving himself. That's what
the question of this world is. When Adam sinned against God,
Adam didn't, he didn't take out a gun to shoot somebody. When
Aaron sinned against God, he didn't go commit adultery. When
Aaron sinned against God, and God earth in the midst were in,
he didn't begin to curse and swear against God. All he did
was say, God, I'll take over. That's all he did. He said, God,
you've got no right to be here. I'll rule my life. I'll decide
what's right for me. I'll decide what's best for me.
You have no right to tell me what to do. That's the course
of this world. That's the course of this world.
One man seeks things this way. One man seeks another. One man
gratifies his lust this way. Another gratifies his lust this
way. But all walk according to the course of this world. Look
at it now. According to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. My life was, all the days of
my rebellion, ruled and governed and influenced
with the full consent of my will by Satan himself. So was yours. But Brother Don, we're in church
every Sunday. I know it. But you won't find us hanging
out down there with a rough crowd. I know it. I know it. But you
won't find us involved in this thing or that. I know it. Not
now. But you're still ruled by your
voluntary consent by the prince of the power of the And if the way he destroys your
soul is to have you sitting in church three times a week, reading
your Bible three times a day, he'll be content with that. If that doesn't work, before you realize what he's
done, he'll have you wallowing in the vomit of your depravity,
and you'll look up and say, what on earth have I done? I prayed a little bit ago for
Nathan as I pray for every one of you. As I pray for my own
daughter, myself, and my wife. God keep us from the evil that's
in us. Oh, from the evil that's in us. Brother Jack Shanks used
to have a day school down in Houston, Texas and a lady called
him up and she said, She said, Brother Shanks, Jack goes big
kind of early, about 9.30, 10 o'clock's his limit. She called
about 11, and she said, Brother Shanks, my little Johnny, so
and so, he went and registered at your school today, so I want
you to be sure that he doesn't get into the wrong crowd. And
Jack said, What's his name? She said, Johnny, and he said,
Honey, your boy is the wrong crowd. And that's your problem. Your
problem's not out in society. Your problem's not mom and dad.
Your problem's not because you've had this influence or that. Your
problem is, you're the wrong crowd right by yourself. You
walk according to the course of this world, voluntarily subjecting
yourself to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. You're absolutely, absolutely,
there is absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing that
you won't do unless God restrains you. I found myself by the time I
was 16 years old, utterly abhorrent to myself. Utterly abhorrent. I had done
things and behaved in a manner I never imagined a human being
doing or behaving. Never. Because willingly, voluntarily,
deliberately, sitting with high hands against God, walking against
the light that God had given me. I walk according to the course
of this world. Read on. This is our conversation. Among whom? We all had our conversation,
that is with the children of disobedience, our chosen companions,
our chosen companions. Young folks need mom and dad to choose their
friends for them. And they need mom and dad to
choose their friends for them because they ain't got enough sense to choose
their own. And mom and dad, if you're smart, you'll choose them.
No, honey, you can't go there. No, you're not going to spend
your time with those folks. No, you're not going to spend
your time over there. It's just not going to happen.
Not as long as I've got any control over you, because your children
are delinquent there. The children of disobedience,
it's more fun. Well, what's the bottom of what
we're brought to? Who has some sense of responsibility,
some sense of integrity, some sense of the fear of God. These
folks, they're the life of the party. How was the life of the party? Life of the party leading a whole
host of people to hell. That life of the party. in the lust of our flesh. For some folks, the lust of the
flesh is a man wanting to sleep with
all the women he can sleep with, a woman wanting to sleep with
all the men she can sleep with. For others, it's wanting to get
all you can get for this world's For others, it's a desire to
be President of the United States. For others, it's a desire to
have your own business. The lust of the flesh. We all,
by nature, live to fulfill our lust. Our lust is our God. That's what Paul means when he
says, whose God is their very, their God is their lust, that
which is within them. And we're by nature. children
of wrath even as others. Oh God how can I how can I speak
to your souls? The wrath of God abided on you. Do you have any idea what that means? that same wrath of God Almighty
that fuels the fires of hell is turned against you. And you have no escape from God's
wrath in yourself. And that's what I am by nature.
That's what you are by nature. God helped me to bear faithful
testimony to what he's done for me by his grace. I was dead. Helplessly, hopelessly, heedlessly
condemned. A vile wretch of a man. Not fit
to be called a man. I speak it to my shame, but I
speak it because I must be As candid as I can possibly be with
you, I want you to understand, I want you to understand what
sin does to a man. I was an outcast of society. Family and friends had long since
given up on me as altogether reprobate. And I had given up
on myself as altogether reprobate. Ian, when I was your age, son,
If it hadn't been for the fear of eternal damnation, I'd have
committed suicide one way or the other. I was altogether unfit
to live with other people or to live with myself. Now look
at verse four. But God, God stepped in my way. God intervened. God put himself between me and
damnation. God put himself between me and
destruction. I was determined to go to hell,
but God stepped in. But God, who is rich, rich, rich
in mercy, rich in mercy, eternal mercy, and miracle mercy, forgiving
mercy, he delighted in mercy. God who is rich in mercy, infinitely
rich, for his great love. Oh my soul. His love. Notice the apostle
doesn't simply say for great love, but for his great love. Because there's no love like
this. There's no love to compare with
this. His great, everlasting, eternal, free, sovereign, distinguishing,
saving love, wherewith he loved us. Such vile, despicable, worthless
pieces of human flesh. when we were dead. Having loved us from eternity,
though we died in our father Adam, and though we came forth
from our mother's womb, speaking lies born dead in trespasses
and in sins, God's loved us even when we were dead
in trespasses and in sins, had quickened us together with
Christ. That is, he made us alive with
Jesus Christ the Lord. The source of my salvation was
God himself. If he had left me to myself,
I would never have been saved. The work of salvation was accomplished
entirely by the power of his grace. And the blessedness of
it is this, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ. Here I am. A man totally cast off the offshowering
of the earth in society. A man totally unfit for human
company, totally unfit. But now, a man in in Christ. In Christ. That means, before
the world began, I was chosen in him. Accepted in him. That means, that means I'm redeemed
in him. That means I'm justified in him.
That means I am altogether in the sight of God as he is. For
I am one with Christ. quickened us together, raised
us up together, made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Now let me tell you why the Lord
saved my soul. For a long time I didn't have
any idea. I just, you know, I walked around stunned. I walked around
just utterly amazed. Why me? Why me? Why would God
save me? Brother Scott Richardson said
he wouldn't even spit in my direction. That's the condition I was in.
But God saved me. God saved me. Why? Why me? That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us. through Christ Jesus. Somehow, somehow, oh, I can't imagine
quite how, but somehow, God Almighty, by saving my soul, having chosen
me, and redeemed me, and justified me, and regenerated and called
me, and preserved me, and sanctified me, in the end, when he hath
glorified me, will hold God forth before wandering, amazed, dumbfounded
worlds, before all the host of hell, before the angels of and
among the redeemed. Hold me forth to show forth the
glory of his grace. And here's the wonder of it.
Here's the wonder of it. God has so arranged that it would be impossible for
him so to show forth his glory, except by presenting our souls
holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight through Jesus Christ. Now in the last place, let me
bear faithful testimony about how God saves sinners. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast." Now this is what the Apostle
tells us. Salvation is by grace alone. God Almighty planned it, he purchased
it, He performs it, he preserves it, he perfects it, and he'll
be praised for it. Salvation by grace alone. Salvation
comes to sinners through faith. If right where you sit, right
now, you can believe on the Son of
God. If you can. If you can. If right now, You can cast your
guilty soul upon the merits of Christ alone, if right now you
can believe him. Grace has come to you, and you're
saved through faith. Through faith. That is, through
faith you receive, you apprehend, and you lay hold of God's salvation
in Jesus Christ. No, faith does not save you. Christ alone is Savior. Faith
does not give you life. Christ alone by his Spirit gives
you life. No, faith does not put away your
sin. Christ alone puts away sin. But
faith, the gift of God, is the first act of the regenerative
heart whereby we lay hold of God's salvation, whereby we obtain
the forgiveness of sin. But even this faith is not something
you produce. It's the gift of God. And your
works have nothing to do with it. My works have nothing to
do with it. Your good works will take you
to hell, I'll guarantee you. As long as you cling to them,
you're going to go to hell. I guarantee you. Your righteousness
will take you to eternal damnation. But your sin, your sin, will
never take you to hell. Your sin will drive you to Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. You see, the religious world
got things said backwards. The religious world makes you,
you know, good boys, good girls, they go to heaven. Oh no, no
they don't, no they don't. Perfect ones, perfect ones, but
not good ones. They're bad boys, sinners, bad
girls, sinners, they go to hell. Oh no. that have never been a
sinner yet, go to hell. Not yet. Not yet. Preacher, you've
lost your mind. No, I haven't. If ever you come
to know yourself a sinner, I mean really, Merle, a lost, helpless,
doomed, damned, hell-bent, hell-deserving sinner, God saved you by his
grace. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. Salvation, you see, is nothing
less than a divine creation. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. We are his workmanship, his handiwork. his masterpieces. I see Bill Starnaker's artwork
and I look at it and I say, man, that's a masterpiece. That's
a masterpiece. It's good. Listen to me. God Almighty shall one day take this worthless
thing called Don Fort. and presented before the presence
of his glory as his masterpiece. His handiwork created in Christ
by his hand unto good works. So will good works are there?
Yes, sir. Good works certainly follow God's
grace. Find me a sinner saved by grace,
I'll show you a person who walks before God in good works and
the benefit of his life. Because God's ordained it. And
what God's ordained, he's going to accomplish. What more can
I say? I am what I am by the grace of
God. This is my testimony to God's
free and sovereign grace. May God the Holy Spirit persuade
you now to believe on Christ to the obtaining of this everlasting
salvation by his grace. I never think of my experience
of grace, but what I think of this hymn I've been carrying
in my Bible for, or this poem rather, I've been carrying in
my Bible for a long, long time. was battered and scarred. The
auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much
time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. What
am I bid, good folk? Who'll start the bidding for
me? A dollar? A dollar? Two? For two? Only two? Two dollars? Who'll
make it three? Going for three, but no. From the room far back, a gray-haired
man came forward. picked up the bow, then wiping
the dust from the old violin and tightening the loosened strings.
He played a melody, pure and sweet, as a caroling angel sings. The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
with a voice that was quiet and low, said, Now, what am I bidding
for the old violin? And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand? And who make it two? Two thousand
and who make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand
twice, going and going, cried he. The people cheered, but some
of them cried, we don't understand. What changed his word? Quick
came the reply, the touch of the master's hand. and many a
man with life out of tune, battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned
cheap to a thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. But
the master comes, and the foolish crowd can never quite understand
the worth of a soul or the change that's wrought by the touch of
the master's hand. Oh, Son of God, touch some now
by the hand of your Savior Christ. Amen.