And I pray that God the Holy
Spirit will give me your undivided attention. The message I have
to bring this evening is a message of immense importance with far,
far reaching consequences. And the more clearly you understand
it, the more clearly you will see the consequences of it. The
Word of God warns us plainly and repeatedly that in the last
days, in these days in which we now live, many false Christs
would appear, that many would claim to be Christ who are imposters,
false Christs, false saviors, false deceivers, that they would
have many false prophets who would come and say, lo, here
is Christ, or there, and our Savior warns us to believe them
not. Now, as you care for your soul,
as you care for the souls of your sons and daughters, your
family, your neighbors, perishing men and women, as you care for
the glory of God, I urge you to listen carefully to the words
of the Son of God in our text this evening. Now in verse four,
Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive
you. Now those are not just put there
to fill up space. Our Lord is here telling us there's
a real danger, a real deception by which multitudes are deceived. The fact is Among the great multitudes
who make a profession of religion, the vast majority of them walk
in a broad way that leads to destruction and worship a false
Christ who is no Christ at all. Very few walk in the narrow way
that leads to life everlasting and worship and know the Christ
of God. Take heed, our Savior says, that
no man deceiveth For many shall come in my name. Many, many,
many, many. Many shall come in my name. Many
with different names, with different labels, with different doctrines,
from different denominations, with different practices. Many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive
many. Verse 21. For then shall be great
tribulation. such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except
those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. Then, if any man shall say unto
you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall
arise false and false prophets, and shall
show great signs and wonders." Folks look at them, listen to
them, and say, boy, God's with them. God's with them. It's evident God's with them.
How could they do these things if God wasn't with them? They'll
show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. Now the title of my message this
evening is The False Christ and the True. As already indicated,
the fact is there are many false Christs, many antichrists, by
whom the souls of men are deceived and damned. Now I want, I labor
at being charitable, I really do. I want to be as charitable,
as kind, and as gracious as I can possibly be. But charity, kindness,
and grace will not allow me to be silent while immortal souls
are at stake, while the truth of God is at stake, and while
the glory of God is trampled under the feet of men who claim
to be the servants of God. If we trust a false Christ, if
you do or if I do, if your parents do or my parents do, if your
sons and daughters do or my sons and daughters do, If we trust
a false Christ, we cannot be saved trusting a false Christ
any more than we could be saved trusting a tadpole. That ought
to make plain sense to anybody. If it weren't for the fact that
men are so duped with religion, that'd be as plain as a nose
on your face. A man can't be saved trusting a tadpole, even
if he calls him Christ. And you can't be saved trusting
a false Christ. Faith in a false Christ is not
faith. Faith in an Antichrist is not
saving faith. Only faith in the Christ of God
is saving faith. Now do not allow anyone to confuse
you. We're not talking about, I'm
not talking about how much a person has to know to be saved. That's
irrelevant. I'm talking about who you must
know. I'm not talking about what doctrine you must believe. I'm
talking about who you must know. The Christ of Holy Scripture
and the Christ of modern religion are totally different people.
The one is altogether false, the imagination of man's depraved,
dark mind. The other is the revelation of
the living God, for He is God. Now we are called of God to trust,
to love, to follow, and to obey the true Christ. and him only. Salvation is promised to no one
but those who trust the true Christ. And therefore we are
warned in our text, here in verse 4, read it again, take heed that
no man deceive you. We must take heed to the teachings
of Holy Scripture, to the revelation of Holy Scripture. Don't take
heed to anything else. I can't stress this enough. When
you're searching for truth with regard to the Word of God, don't
pay any attention to what you see with your eyes. Don't pay
any attention to what's going on around you. Don't pay any
attention to what Grandpa or Grandpa say. Don't pay any attention
to what this man or that man says. Don't pay any attention
to the popularity of men or to the dominant religion of men. Take heed to the Word of God,
to the doctrine and the teaching of Holy Scripture. Otherwise,
you're sure to be deceived by some false Christ or another.
Now, we know about the Christ of the liberals. Some of you
are aware of the controversies between modernism, liberalism
of a few years ago, and the modernists and the liberals of our day,
who continue to maintain the theology of their fathers. The
Christ of the liberals was a social do-gooder. Of course, we are
told he is not God. The virgin birth, the incarnation,
substitutionary satisfaction, resurrection from the dead, all
of these things must be understood allegorically. Any intelligent
man would not believe in the virgin birth. Any intelligent
man, we're told, could not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
An intelligent man simply would not fall for those kinds of myths,
but rather he understands the Word of God allegorically. And
so we really would pay no attention at all to the things in Scripture,
except as we are pleased to apply them to our lives and find meaning
in our lives for the Word of God. The Christ of the liberal
is not God at all. In fact, the Christ of the liberal
is not, he's not even really a good man. He's not really a
man of moral uprightness. The Christ of liberal theology
is often presented as a man of very questionable character,
one whose life and one whose behavior and one whose words
themselves would betray a lack of honesty and a lack of uprightness. Now, of course, no one, no one
is deceived by the Christ of the liberals. No one is, except
those who are willingly deceived. Only a fool, only a praying fool
would imagine that he could call himself a Christian while speaking
of Christ as the liberals speak of him. Those who talk about
Christianity and deny the deity, the virgin birth, the incarnation
of the Son of God, they talk about Christianity and talk about
denying those things out of their mouth. They're talking about
both, and they're not to be trusted. They're not even honest men.
We also know about the Christ of the various cults. Whenever
you read about the cults, and when I was talking about cults,
I'm talking about are those various groups that have arisen over
time that are looked upon by mainstream Christianity as being
out in left field or out in right field somewhere. The Christ of
the cults is the Christ of Mormonism, the Christ of the Jehovah Witnesses,
the Christ of the Adventists, the Christ of the Armstrong people. That's where I'm going now. The
Christ of the cults is represented to us as a good man, a prophet,
a teacher of The first, the greatest creation of God, a great spirit,
a divine idea, or even some sort of a secondary God. But certainly
he is not represented as being himself, God Almighty. The Christ
of the cults is never represented as being the true eternal God. Their Christ receives his existence,
his power, and his glory from another God, one who is represented
as being greater than he is. Now again, this of course is
not the Christ of the Bible. We are not deceived by him. The
Christ of the cults is a false Christ and all who trust the
Christ of the cults are lost, just like all who trust the Christ
of the liberals are lost. We know about the Christ of Roman
Catholicism. Now I'm being as plain as I can
possibly be with deliberate purpose. Christ is God. That he came into
the world as a man that he suffered as a man the wrath of God as
the substitute for sinners, that he died, was buried, and rose
again the third day, that he ascended up on high and is now
seated at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens, and that
one day he's coming again. That's the doctrine of papacy.
But the Christ of Romanism is not a complete Though thus far
everything that the Romanist has said concerning him is true,
the Christ of Romanism is represented as being somehow an incomplete,
insubstantial savior. The Christ of Rome cannot save
sinners without their own good works, without the intercessions
of earthly priests, and without the sacraments of the Church.
The Christ of Rome, then, is not the Christ of the Bible.
We are not deceived by him. Though many are damned by the
darkness and delusion of Roman idolatry, that's not the danger
and deception we face. It is not a danger or a deception
that is likely to cause difficulty to any of our sons and daughters.
We recognize that the Christ of the Papists is a false Christ,
and that all who trust the Christ of the Papists are lost without
the knowledge of the living God. They are lost as much as the
heathen in Africa or in any other dark, remote corner of the earth.
However, there is another Christ much more dangerous than the
Antichrist of the liberals, the cults, and the papists. There
is a false Christ by whom the souls of men have been deceived
for years, by whom millions are being deceived today. In fact,
I am compelled to say the vast majority of those who profess
faith in Christ are followers of a false Christ. A false Christ
who will ultimately bring them to eternal ruin. I hear men and
women talk about, folks they're concerned about, sons and daughters,
parents, relatives, friends, and they say, well, at least
they're in church somewhere. Oh, worst thing on this earth can
happen is to be in church somewhere where Christ does not worship.
Worst thing on this earth. The worst thing on this earth.
Anything, anything is better than Christless religion. The
Christ of this age is not the Christ of Holy Scripture. This
Christ, this angel, is such a dangerous, deceptive Christ that our Lord
tells us he would deceive the very elect were it possible for
God's elect to be deceived. But thank God, that's not a possibility. His sheep will hear his voice,
but a stranger they will not follow. and they shall not be
deceived." This Antichrist, this false Christ, must be identified. He must be identified clearly
and distinctly. And so this evening I want to
show you the distinction between the Christ of Arminian freewill
works religion and the Christ of Holy Scripture. Now very few
people think that I am uncharitable, a few do, but very few think
that I'm uncharitable when I say that A person who says that Jesus
Christ was the illegitimate son of a German soldier stationed
in Palestine 2,000 years ago, if I say that man's lost, nobody,
well that's right, that's right, nobody gets upset with that.
If I talk about the folks who follow the Christ of the cults,
the Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, Russ and Leitz, talk about them
and say those folks are lost. They deny that Jesus Christ is
God. They deny the very deity of Christ.
He said, well they're lost. Nobody gets upset with that.
And you'd be very concerned. Very, very concerned. If one
of your family were to go join up with the Mormons or with the
Russellites. When I talk about the Christ
of Pentecost thing. and say that those who worship
the Christ with faithlessness do not know God and do not follow
Christ, that they are lost in their sins, utterly ignorant
of the knowledge of God. Most people don't get upset with
that and become very, very concerned if their sons and daughters are
identified with it. But whenever I stand before men
and boldly assert that the Christ of Arminian freewill works religion
is a false Christ, and declare that all who trust him are lost. I'm castigated as an evil man.
I'm castigated as one. Well, be that as it may, I'm
here tonight to warn you and to warn all who will hear me. I pray God that multitudes will
hear this thing, hear the message that's contained in it. I'm here
tonight to warn you of the danger of antichrist. the danger of
false Christ, as opposed to worshiping the true Christ, those who worship
the false Christ of this world are going to perish under the
wrath of God. The Christ of Arminian freewill
works religion is extremely dangerous, because in many ways he appears
to be like the true Christ. The freewillers and workmongers
of this age tell us that Christ is the true God. in every way
equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. They assert that
he's saved by grace alone, without the work of man. Brother Larry,
Chris is sitting here. I remember distinctly when Larry
came to see me for the first time through the Oak Hill Free
Will Baptist Church. Now, I never listened to that
dud on radio. You knew him well. Did you ever hear him say, man
saved by works? I guarantee you, no. And when
denied, openly denied, it's God among these freewill workmongers?
Hopefully. No, no, no. In their words, they
say that Christ is God, that Christ, and that men are saved
by grace without their works. They even assert that he saves
all together by his grace. All together by grace. And that
works have nothing to do with man's salvation. The devotees
of this Christ will have nothing to do with the Christ of the
liberals. They will have nothing to do
with the Christ of the cultists or of the papists. But watch
out. Our Savior says, take heed. Take
heed lest that no man deceive him. Do not be fooled. The Christ of Arminianism, the
Christ of freewill works religion, is not the Christ of the Bible. He is a false Christ. And all
who worship this false Christ are lost as well. Now tonight
I want to make five comparisons. Five comparisons of the false
Christ of modern religion and the Christ of Holy Scripture.
Comparison between the false Christ of Arminian free will
works religion. I want you to clearly understand
what I'm talking about. Comparison between the Christ
of those who claim salvation by their free will. and those
who proclaim the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ as
he's revealed in scripture. And when I'm done, I have no
question that if you'll make these five comparisons with me,
you will see the obvious distinctions between the false Christ and
the truth. We're going to look at several
scriptures. Obviously, we will not look at all that I have.
I've jotted down And somewhere in the neighborhood of 50, 75
scripture references. We won't look at all of them,
but we're going to look at some of them. I want you to see clearly
what I'm saying is taught in the scriptures. Here's the first
comparison. The Christ of modern freewill
works religion loves everyone in the universe and wants to
save them. We are told that Christ loves
all men alike. that he desires the salvation
of all men alike. Now, such teaching makes the
love of Christ, the will of Christ, and the grace of Christ, helpless
and useless. If Jesus Christ loves all men
alike, those who are saved as well as those who are lost, what
does his love have to do with anybody's salvation? If he wills
the salvation of all men alike, if he desires the salvation of
all men alike, those who are in hell as well as those who
are in glory in the end, what does his will have to do with
man's salvation? His will, his love, his grace
becomes useless if he loves all men alike and seeks the salvation
of all men alike. But the language of the Bible
is altogether different from this. The true Christ, the Christ
of the Bible, the saving Christ, loves his people. He wills and
prays for the salvation of his people. And he is gracious to
his people, the people unconditionally chosen by him unto salvation
from eternity. His people, the people whom he
has come into this world to save. Now let me show you from the
Scriptures. Turn back to the book of Psalms. Psalm chapter
5. The fifth Psalm and verse 7. Psalm 5. Folks say, Jesus loves
everybody. Jesus loves everybody. Folks
who talk like that don't read the scriptures very clearly.
Psalm 5, verse 7. As for me, I will come into thy
house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I
worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness,
because of mine enemies. and make thy way straight before
me." Now I want to worship you. I want to worship you. I'm going
to worship in your holy temple. Leave me because of my enemies. My enemies, you see, are your
enemies. Let me show you. Look in chapter
7, verse 11. Look back at verse 10. My defense
is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous,
and God is angry with the wicked. every day. That doesn't say,
smile, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
That says God's angry with the wicked every day. And no man
is to be given any assurance of God's love and grace except
those men and women who trust the Son of God. Men and women
outside Christ are assured of nothing in this world except
the wrath of God and the judgment of God. He's angry with the wicked
every day. Look in chapter 11 of the Psalms,
verse 5. The Lord trieth the righteous,
but the wicked in him that loveth violence, his soul." What does
that say? Love it? Does anybody have a
Bible that says love it? Oh no. The wicked in him that
loveth violence, God's very soul. That's what the scripture says.
So that God warns the wicked, all who are without Christ, all
who dare approach Him, who dare stand before Him without the
righteousness and the atonement of Jesus Christ. God's angry
with you. His wrath is against you. And
there is absolutely no assurance, not even a shred of a hope that
He'll be merciful to you. He's angry with the wicked. He's
angry with the wicked. Oh, now for every sinner who
comes to Christ, The very fact that you come to Christ, the
very fact that you believe Christ is evidence of God's love toward
you from everlasting. His choice and His calling, His
redemption and His grace. But apart from Christ, you have
no assurance, not even a shred of hope that God will be gracious
to you. Look at Matthew chapter 1. Matthew
chapter 1, verse 21. The angel says she shall bring
forth the Son. And thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save," get it now, his people. He came here to save somebody
particularly. He came here to save somebody
distinctly. Not everybody, but his people
from their sins. Look in John chapter 10, John
the 10th chapter and verse 16. Our Lord Jesus is giving us that
story of the good shepherd. What a blessed, blessed illustration
it is of his saving grace. He says, other sheep I have.
That's in the present tense. I've already got them. He's talking
about Bobby Estes and his wife Judith. He's talking about Bob
Foster and his wife, Sally. Other sheep I have. But wait
a minute. This is 2,000 years ago. I know
it. He said, I have them. They're mine. His people were
given to Him in eternity. He came here to save them. They
were His people before He came into the world. Others seem to
have, which are not of this world. That is that. They're not right
here with us yet. Them also I must bring. Do you see that? There's no shred
of a doubt. Them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice.
And there shall be one fold and one shepherd. He must save them,
because that's what he came here to do. If he fails to do that,
he's failed in his mission, and he is not the Christ of God.
Look again in John chapter 17. John chapter 17, verse 9. Tell you what, if you ever hear
one of those preachers around town giving an exposition in
John 17, 9, Call me, I'm going to church with you that night.
I'd like to hear just one of them. I'd like to hear just one
of them expound John 17.9. Folks say, Jesus wants to save
everybody. He wants everybody to be saved. If he did, they'd be saved. Does
that not make good sense to you? He says, I pray for them. Who? My people. I pray not for
the world. That strange language coming
from a man, from a God, from the God-man, who wants everybody
to be saved. He says, I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine,
and all mine are thine, and I am thine, and thine are mine, and
I am glorified in them. In Acts chapter 13 and verse
48, Paul and Barnabas have been preaching the gospel. And the
scripture tells us in verse 48, And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. In Romans chapter
9, the Apostle Paul speaks of vessels of wrath and vessels
of mercy, and he tells us that we who believe are vessels of
mercy, aforeprepared unto glory. And then in the first chapter
of Ephesians, the apostle describes God's purpose of grace toward
us. How he blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly
places in Christ. In verse four, according as he
hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. All right, secondly, here's the
second comparison. The first is this, the Christ
of modern religion loves everybody and wants everybody to be saved.
The Christ of Holy Scripture loves a specific people and saves
them by his almighty grace. All the difference in the world.
Here's the second comparison. The Christ of modern freewill
works religion tries to save everybody. We are told that he
offers salvation to every sinner and does everything he can to
save them all. But that his offer is rejected
by many, and his work is frustrated by many. His offer is rejected
and his work is frustrated by the will of those who refuse
to come to him and refuse to be saved by him. Oh, what a pitiful,
pitiful picture of a Savior. The Christ of the Bible, listen
to me now. The Christ of the Bible doesn't
merely offer salvation. Oh, no. He performs it. Grace is not an offer. Grace
is not an offer. Hear it again. Grace is not an
offer. Grace is an operation. Grace
is not something God offers you. Grace is something God does for
you. It's something God performs in you. Salvation is not a package
God presents and says, here, won't you pretty please take
it? Salvation is the operation of God in a man's soul. Let's
see if that's not the very language of Scripture. Look in Colossians
chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. Let me see if I can find it here.
I didn't jot this one down. Yeah, Colossians 2 verse 12.
We're buried with Christ in baptism, wherein also you are risen with
him through the faith. of the operation of God. Do you
see that? How did you come to believe?
By the operation of God. Not by the offer of grace, but
by the operation of grace. Not by the offer of salvation,
but by the operation of salvation performed in you by God. The
Christ of the Bible comes in almighty grace and effectually
calls sinners to himself. He calls his elect, his sheep,
and sovereignly work salvation in them by the irresistible power
and grace of his Holy Spirit. Not one of them will be lost.
I ask you, is this not the language of Holy Scripture? Listen to
this, thy people shall be with him in the day of thy power.
That's what the psalmist said of him in Psalm 110 verse 3.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and callsest to approach
unto thee. That's what the psalmist said
in Psalm 65. The prophet Isaiah records these
words of our God, and he says, So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Our Lord is described
as he of who giveth life to whom he will," in John 5.21. Now look
at John 6, John 6.37. Now if you've talked to anyone
very much about God's sovereign grace and his elect and love
and the Spirit's effectual call and man's depravity, it won't
be long before somebody will quote to you the last half of
John 6.37. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."
But it'd be wise to at least look at the first half. If you
want to understand the second half, at least read the first
half. The scripture says, all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Well, who comes? Who comes? Anybody have any idea who comes? That is, I came here to do my
father's will, and this is my father's will, that of all which
he hath given me back in eternity past, I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day." Well, who on earth is he
talking about in verse 40? The very same folks he's talking
about in verse 39. The very same folks he's talking
about in verse 37. He's talking about those the
Father gave him and those the Father gives him in time. Those
who are chosen by His grace, redeemed by His blood, and called
by His Spirit, I'll raise them up in the last days. They'll
come to me, and they'll not perish. Our Lord Jesus says, Thou hast
given me power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given me. Look in chapter 10 again
of John's Gospel. John chapter 10. The voice says
in verse 3, To him, the shepherd, the porter openeth, and the sheep
hear his voice. And then he waits to see whether
or not the sheep will make their decision and follow him. That's
not what it says, is it? And he calleth his own sheep
by name. Somebody says you got to, you
got to Kind of use trickery and deception, get folks to come
to Jesus when they're not thinking about it. Oh, no. No, when he
calls Mark, Mark will know it. He calls by name, that's what
it means. He won't need to be sitting around saying, the Lord's
called you now. Oh no, if he calls you, you'll know it. He
calls his sheep by name. And when he calls them, he leads
them out. And he put forth his own sheep,
and he goeth before them. And the sheep follow him, every
one of them. For they know his voice. And
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they
know not the voice of strangers." Well, let me move on. Here's
the third thing. The false Christ of Arminianism
cannot regenerate and save anyone who does not first choose to
be saved by him. Now, I'm not building a straw
man and knocking him down. I'll tell you what, if you haven't
heard, if you haven't personally heard which is you, the kind
of language I'm talking about. You can call my kitchen to it
and I'll correct it next time I stand up there. The false Christ
of Arminianism cannot regenerate and save anyone who does not
first choose to be saved by whom. We are told that man has a free
will, but that Christ's will is bound by and must wait upon
man's will because it would not be right for him to violate man's
will. Let me tell you something. The
true saving Christ does violate man's imaginary free will, and
I thank God he does. If he had not violated my will,
I'd be lost tonight. I'd either be in hell or somewhere
between here and hell, and so would you. If he had left you
to your will, If He had left you and went on you, first to
turn to Him before He would turn to you. First for you to choose
Him before He would choose you. First for you to call Him before
He would call you. You would be lost and in your
sins without the knowledge of God. Oh yes, he sovereignly regenerates
and saves every chosen redeemed sinner. His operations of grace
are totally independent and free of the will and choice of the
sinner. He said, Pastor, but doesn't the sinner have to choose
the Lord? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, but your choice of him
is the result of his coming to you, not the cause. Your will
to be saved is the result of his will to save, not the cause.
Apart from his work of grace in us, spiritually dead sinners
would not and could not believe on him. Never. Spiritually dead
sinners would not and could not come to him in faith. Never.
You see, faith is not a contribution on our part to the work of salvation. But faith in Christ is the result
and the gift of God's saving operations in us. We believe
according to the working of his mighty hand. That's right. That's what Paul said in Ephesians
1.20. We're saved by grace. He said by grace you're saved
through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. The scriptures are abundantly clear. Repentance, faith, is
the gift of God. It's the result of God's goodness. It is the goodness of God that
brings us to repentance. The goodness of God that gives
us faith. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Listen to this.
Unto you it is given in behalf of Christ. to believe on his
name. Given! Given! That's what Paul
says in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 29. Jesus Christ is the
author and the finisher of our faith. What on earth does that
mean? Well, it means a lot, but this
is included. The Lord Jesus Christ began faith
in Rex Bartlow, and he'll finish it in Rex Bartlow. He's the author
and the finisher. He's the one from whom faith
came, the one to whom faith looks, and the one who shall have the
praise and the glory of faith in the end. Fourthly, the false
Christ of modern Arminian free will works religion. The false
Christ of man-centered religion. And I guess that's the best way
to describe the religion of this age. Man-centered. Man-centered. Everything designed to promote
and pamper the flesh, everything designed to appeal to the flesh,
everything designed to attract men by making men feel good about
themselves. The Christ of man-centered religion
died on the cross for everyone in the world, to make it possible
for everyone in the world to be saved, but actually secured
no one's salvation by his death. Now again, I'm not just beating
the air, I'm telling you exactly what I've had men tell me. I've
had them preach it, I've listened to them preach it, and I've sat
across the table from them many, many times and talked to them,
and I've read it in their writings. I'll share them with you. We're
told that Christ, by his death, made it possible for all men
to be redeemed, justified, and saved. But that his death really
does not have any efficacy or saving power for anyone until
they believe on him. Now, I'm telling you, such doctrine
is utter blasphemy. By such doctrine, we are informed
that the Son of God died in vain for all who perish in unbelief,
and that his blood is not really the distinguishing factor and
the determining factor in the salvation of men. Though he tried
to save them, he failed. I have read it to you before,
but it'll bear repetition. My first theology professor,
when I was 18 years old, made this statement. He wrote it long
before I knew it, but this is the statement he made. What is hell? It is an infinite negation. It
is more than that. I can tell you, and I say it
with profound reverence, hell is a ghastly monument to the
failures of the trying God to save the multitudes who are there.
I say it reverently. I say it with every nerve in
my body tense, as well they might be. Sinners go to hell because
God Almighty himself could not save them. He did all he could. He failed. Now those are not
the words of some infidel out there. Those are not the words
of some quack. Those are the words of one of
the most reputable, most highly regarded fundamentalist Baptist
preachers and theologians in the day in which he lived. He
was my first theology professor, Noel Smith. Now let me tell you something.
The Christ of God is not a frustrated failure. He died for God's elect. He effectually put away our sins
by the sacrifice of himself. Having satisfied the justice
of God for us, he obtained eternal salvation for us. We were and
forever are pardoned, justified, and sanctified by his blood.
Now listen to me. We were pardoned by his blood
before we beneath. We were justified by his blood
before we beneath. We were sanctified by his blood
before we believed. Our believing him has nothing
to do with the accomplishment of redemption, pardon, justification,
and sanctification. Our believing him simply receives
what he has done, and our believing him is the result of what he
has done. Now let me show you that from the scriptures, and
from the scriptures alone. Let me see, I'll pick out just
a few of these. I've got many other references,
but let's look at Romans 5. Romans chapter 5. Romans 5, verse 9. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if
when we were enemies, now Paul's explaining what it means by us
being justified by his blood. If when we were enemies we were
reconciled to God, by the death of his son. That means that when
Jesus Christ died, while Lindsay Campbell was in his father Adam,
still the enemy of God, and as he came forth from his mother's
womb, the enemy of God, when Christ died, he was reconciled
by his blood. And now, being reconciled, since
we are now reconciled to him, being reconciled, we shall be
saved by the risen Christ, by his life. Do you see that? All
right, look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. You're familiar with chapter
9 verse 12. He by his blood entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. In
chapter 1 of Hebrews and verse 3, the apostle Paul tells us
that he by himself purged our sins and sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high. Now look at chapter 10. He has
come to do the will of the Father. Verse 10, by the which will we
are sanctified, not by our obedience, not by our works, not even by
our faith, but sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ one time. One time. Verse 11, or verse
14 rather. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever. Now let me read what's in between.
In verse 11, For every priest standeth daily ministering, and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. And he sat down and he has this expectation on this
basis, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. This is not something that's
future. This is not something that he hoped might be accomplished. But rather when he offered himself
a spotless, holy, infinitely meritorious sacrifice to God,
he sanctified his people with that offering. One last thing. The false Christ of Arminianism
loses many who have been saved by him, and I use that word saved
very loosely. He loses many who have been saved
by him because they do not hang on, hold out, or persevere until
the end. Among the heretical Baptist of
our day, and others, some do grant that the sinner has what
has come to be called eternal security. But it is not security based
upon the will, the work, the purpose of God in Christ or the
blood of Christ. It is not security based upon
the atonement of Christ or the operations of his spirit. For
according to the free willer, all of these things are done
for all people alike, those who are saved as well as those who
are lost. So their doctrine of eternal security is a declaration
of security based upon nothing but the fickle free will of man,
his choice, his decision. Since you decided for Jesus,
everything's all right. You're going to heaven for sure.
But that's not the case. That's just not the doctrine
of Holy Scripture. The true Christ, the saving Christ, the Christ
of the Bible preserves his chosen. redeemed and called ones by his
almighty grace so that they cannot fall away and they cannot perish
at last. We are kept in life, kept in
grace and kept in faith by the immutability of his will who
says, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not conserved. We are kept by the power of his
blood who cried, Father, I pray for them, that they perish not,
that I should lose none of them. And so we are kept by the power
of his blood. We are kept by the efficacy of
his grace, whose grace is omnipotent, by the steel of his spirit, who
changes not, and by the perfection of his intercession, who pleads
our names with God as our advocate in heaven. At first glance, the
Christ of modern Arminian freewill works religion. may seem to closely
resemble the true Christ, the Christ of Scripture, but he's
not even close. The one is a false Christ, anti-Christ. The other is the true Christ
of God. One is weak and helpless, frustrated, waiting upon and
bowing to the will of man. The other is the sovereign Lord
who wills what he pleases and always does what he will. The
one is supposed to be able to save with your cooperation. The
other is able to save without any cooperation on your part.
In fact, he always saves without cooperation. He saves folks who
have no ability nor inclination to cooperate with him, and his
salvation produces cooperation on their part. Those who believe
on and serve the Christ, the false Christ of free will works
religion. do not believe on and do not
serve the Christ of the Bible. They're deceived, they're lost,
and they shall forever perish under the wrath of God unless
they come to know and trust the Christ of God, who saves his
people from their sins by himself. Well, Pastor, what's the importance
of this message? Let us have no fellowship with
and give no credibility to. Arminian free will works religion. Our Lord calls us constantly
to come out from among them and have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness. We must, in these days of darkness,
deception and delusion, proclaim the Christ of God in all His
saving fullness, all the fullness of His grace and His glory as
our Redeemer. He alone is able to save. Men and women are lost without
the knowledge of Him. Perishing without knowing Him.
Perishing while they cling to an idolatrous, imaginative Christ
whom they imagine to be Savior. They're perishing in their sins
without the knowledge of God. That's the reason we must give
ourselves relentlessly to the publishing of our Savior's name.
And let us ever adore praise and extol the Lord Jesus Christ
alone and completely as our great Savior. Listen to what he says. Hear his word and rejoice. He
saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his arm brought salvation
unto him, and his righteous it sustained him. Now he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Let's stand together, please. Our Father, we thank you for
your grace. And we thank you for your sovereign, almighty, irresistible grace. when we rushed madly headlong
to destruction. You stepped in. You stopped us
in our way. You arrested us by your grace. And we're overwhelmed with gratitude. We praise you. We extol you. for granting us life when we
deserve death, for pardoning our sin when we
deserve condemnation for sin, for free justification when we
deserve everlasting ruin. We thank you for Jesus Christ
our Redeemer, his blood, his righteousness, and his irresistible
almighty the grace so richly and freely bestowed upon us by
the hand and power of your spirit. Enable us in this day of darkness
to proclaim the truth of God in every corner of the earth. God open doors for us and make
us faithful in the proclamation of your word. Make this message
that's going forth now profitable to these who've now heard it
and those who shall hear it by tape or radio By whatever means
you've ordained, we ask that you make your word effectual
for the glory of Jesus Christ and the everlasting good of chosen
sinners. I ask it for Christ's sake. Amen. God bless you.