What Should We Learn From The Murders of Michael and Alexander Smith

Q: What does the Bible say about human depravity?

The Bible teaches that all of humanity is depraved and capable of heinous sins without God's intervention (Romans 1:31). Human depravity is a fundamental doctrine in the Reformed tradition, affirming that every person is born with a sinful nature and is utterly incapable of doing good without God's grace. Romans 1:31 describes those who have been abandoned by God to their own vile affections as being 'without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.' This depravity manifests itself in actions that shock our sensibilities, such as the horrific murders discussed in this sermon. The reality of our depravity asserts that apart from God's restraining grace, we all stand capable of committing grievous sins, as it is out of our fallen hearts that such evil arises (Matthew 15:19).

Q: How do we know God's judgment is real?

Scripture affirms the reality of God's judgment on sin, exemplified in contemporary events reflecting divine wrath (Romans 1, 2 Timothy 3). The Bible speaks extensively about God's judgment as both a present reality and a future certainty. In Romans 1, we see how God gives people over to their sinful desires, indicating that current societal decay is a form of divine judgment. Likewise, in 2 Timothy 3, the apostle Paul warns of perilous times that will characterize the last days, filled with sinful behavior reflecting judgment. This call for awareness emphasizes that what is seen in society—rampant immorality and violence—is a manifestation of God's moral order coming undone as people reject His authority. Thus, we must recognize these events as an assertion of God's judgment against sin.

Q: Why is understanding grace important for Christians?

Understanding grace is crucial as it highlights our total dependence on God for salvation and distills the distinction between saved and unsaved (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace is the unmerited favor of God towards sinners, foundational to the Christian faith. It is by grace that we are saved through faith, not of ourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). This understanding resizes human pride and underscores that salvation is solely an act of God's mercy. When Christians grasp the depth of their depravity and the transformative power of grace, they can live in humility and gratitude. Further, grace is not only what leads to salvation but continues to sustain and empower believers daily. Recognizing that our standing before God is maintained solely by His sovereign grace allows Christians to grow in faith and reliance on Christ, enhancing their worship and service to God.

Q: What is the significance of the law in a believer's life?

The law serves to reveal sin, condemn guilt, and direct sinners to Christ, demonstrating God's moral order (Romans 3:19). In the life of a believer, the law is not an instrument for salvation but provides four essential functions. First, it identifies sin, giving a clear standard of God's holiness (Romans 3:19). Second, it pronounces guilt, exposing our inability to meet God's requirements and highlighting our need for Christ. Third, the law points us to the Savior, acting as a schoolmaster to show us the necessity of faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:24). Lastly, it restrains evil by revealing the consequences of sin, providing a moral framework that curbs our natural inclinations toward lawlessness. While believers are freed from the law's curse, its role in shaping and guiding our behavior remains invaluable as we seek to honor God in our lives.

Q: Why should Christians view tragedy through the lens of God's providence?

Viewing tragedy through God's providence enables Christians to trust in His sovereign control and purposes amidst suffering (Romans 8:28). Christians are called to interpret life’s tragedies through the understanding of God's providence, which assures us that He is sovereign over all circumstances. Romans 8:28 declares that 'all things work together for good to them that love God.' This perspective allows believers to see God's hand even in suffering and adversity, recognizing that He uses such events for His glory and our ultimate good. When faced with shocking acts, like the murders discussed in the sermon, it serves to remind us of our fallen world and the desperate need for redemption through Christ. This theological lens not only offers comfort but strengthens faith, ensuring that believers understand no trial is without purpose in God's eternal plan.

We're living in strange, alarming
times. And strange, alarming things
are going on in our society. We live in a generation that
is guilty of having changed the truth of God into a lie and continually
does so. A generation that worships and
serves the creature more than the Creator. Now that's not an
unreasonable charge. The religious world around us,
Baptist, Papist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, you name it, the
religious world around us is devoted to entertaining and pleasing
men, not to the glory of God. And you just read any bulletin
you get, any religious paper you get, to testify to what I
just said. This generation worships and
serves the creature, not the creator. And now we're beginning
to reap the whirlwind of God's wrath. Peter made a strange statement
once, strange to me. He said, judgment must begin
at the house of God. That's where it began. at the
house of God, among those who profess the name of God. And
now in the church, in society, and in our homes, we are reaping
the whirlwind of God's wrath. Judgment which began at the house
of God has spread through all the rest of society and permeates
everything, everything. Those who will not hear the alarms
that God is sounding are just fools. Now, if you'll hear, if
you'll hear, I've got some things to say that you need to hear. Today, we, when I say we, I mean
our culture, our society, this generation, we, we defend will
worship in the name of divine worship. Paul calls the religious
world in which we live, this religion that emphasizes the
will, worth, and work of the center, Paul calls it will-worship.
Read Colossians chapter 2. Today, men stand in pulpits like
this all over this town and call it divine worship. It's will-worship. Today, in our culture, in our
society, sexual promiscuity is defended in the name of moral
enlightenment. We're in such an enlightened
age. We have such reason about us. Abortion is defended in the
name of moral freedom. We're pro-choice. We believe
women ought to have a right to choose whether she's going to
murder her baby or not. We're pro-choice. That's called
moral freedom. Homosexuality is defended in
the name of moral tolerance. Folks say it's just a moral thing
to do. It's just a moral thing to do to be tolerant of perversion
and deviant behavior in society. It's just a moral thing to do.
They're ever becoming more and more common in our society, all
of these things. Rape, brutality, and murder have
also become common. And I'm telling you there's a
direct correlation. There's a direct correlation. These things are
even becoming common among children, preteen children. And the sociologists
tell us it's not their fault. I had a rather lengthy discussion
with a friend on one occasion a while back who has been convinced
that there are some people who have no ability to discern right
from wrong. And the sociologist would tell
us that all deviant behavior has got to be explained by declaring
everyone else to be guilty. The problem is not with that
fellow. He didn't do that because of something evil in him. The
problem is we've let him down. We've let folks down. Society
has let them down. We've let them fall through the
cracks of society is the wording that's used in our day. And so
the problem really is not a matter of moral guilt on the part of
the sinner, but rather a matter of moral guilt on the part of
society as a whole. Now you listen to these things. Last year, Eric and Lyle Menendez
murdered their parents with such cold-blooded brutality that it
shocked the whole nation. Weren't you shocked by it? Can
you imagine a teenage boy walking into, well, just imagine Jay
Hart walking into Charlotte's bedroom, emptying a shotgun in
her face. I just, it's shocking. That's
shocking. They did it, apparently, for
a little money. And yet a jury exonerated them
of guilt because they were manipulated into feeling sorry for little
boys. Earlier this year, a teenage
boy up in northern Kentucky slaughtered his whole family. Slaughtered
the whole family. Took a shower and went to school
like nothing ever happened. Back in 1989, in Radcliffe, Kentucky,
Tom and Roxanne Salisky put their five-year-old daughter, Alexandria,
into a plastic bag and suffocated her. In 1992, Mary Fletcher murdered
her three-year-old daughter, Ella, and tried to murder her
four-year-old son to collect a few thousand dollars life insurance
so she'd fix up the house. Last year, Marjorie Cottingham
in Franklin County took her newborn boy, put him in a garbage bag,
and tossed him in a pond. And then Thursday night, after
a nationwide search for her two sons, Susan Smith shocked the
nation by confessing that she'd taken those two boys, strapped
them in the back seat of her car, and drove them off into
a lake to a torturous, merciless, heartless, brutal death. Those boys drowned in that lake. Now, how can anyone explain those
things? How can we explain or understand such barbaric, inhuman
behavior? I listened to the news broadcast
interviewing preachers down in Union, South Carolina and other
parts of the country, and I didn't hear one preacher say anything
that made any sense. Did you? I didn't hear one of
them say anything that made any sense. And I suspect some of
you wonder, how do you explain these things? How do you explain
these things? Not even wild beasts do such
things to their young. Not even wild beasts. Wild beasts
protect their young, but here are mothers who take their sons
and daughters and with malice, forethought, and barbaric, inhuman,
unbeastly-like behavior, murder them. How can that be explained? Only one answer can be found
that will explain acts so horrifying. They are acts performed by people
who have been given up by God in divine judgment unto vile
affections of their own depraved hearts, a people whom Paul describes
here in Romans 131 as being without understanding, covenant breakers,
without natural affection, implacable unmerciful. Now really, these deeds should
not be as shocking to us as they are. In fact, I'm really shocked
that we don't read of more atrocities of this kind than we do. You stop and think for a moment.
These things are just the result just the result of a society
that has been taught for 30 years, been taught for 30 years, that
if a woman gets pregnant and it's inconvenient for her to
have her baby, it's just reasonable that she should have the choice
to kill it. It's just reasonable. And let me ask you this, if it's
reasonable for a woman to murder her unborn child because it's
not convenient to raise it, is it not reasonable for a woman
to murder her two, three, four-year-old child because it's not convenient?
It's reasonable. If women can murder an unborn
child without conscience, why not a born child? Now, here's something even more
shocking. I found this even more shocking
than the fact that Susan Smith committed those horrible acts
of murder against her sons. After committing the atrocities,
she retained, holds to, and hides in, I imagine with some measure
of security, a form of godliness. Isn't it amazing? Woman standing
with the blood of her sons on her hands, talking about praying
and God's mercy and God's goodness. Isn't it amazing? As though,
indeed, she was walking acceptably with God Almighty. Now, this event that has captured
the attention of our nation for the past two weeks should be
a longing to us. For this event is an exact fulfillment
of what the Apostle Paul said would come to pass in these perilous
last days. Turn over to 2 Timothy for a
moment. 2 Timothy chapter 3. This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous
times. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves. Principle, basis of doing everything. Lovers of their own selves. I
like it. Makes me feel good and to hell
with everybody else. I like it. Lovers of their own
selves. Covetous. Boasters. proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God. Now notice what he says, lovers
of pleasure more than lovers of God. With their lips they
profess to love, know, worship, and walk with God, but they live
in pleasure, pleasing their own selves. Having a form of godliness. Go to church Sunday morning,
Sunday night, Wednesday night, or whenever you meet. Read their
Bible, say their prayers, go through their rituals. Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now, while this event is fresh
in your mind and mine, I want us, before we become hardened
to it, as we quickly do, so quickly, before we become hardened to
it, I want us to learn from it. And the only way to do so is
to go to the Word of God. Now, listen carefully to this
statement. We must never interpret the Word of God by what we read
in the newspaper. Don't ever do that. Don't ever
interpret the Word of God by events or experiences. But we
must interpret all events and all experiences by the Word of
God. Now, how on this earth can we
possibly understand what happened down in Union, South Carolina
last week? How can we possibly understand
that? I want to try to answer this
question. What should we learn from the murders of Michael and
Alexander Smith? I'm not going to keep you long,
but I've got a message with five barred arrows, and I've got them
all aimed directly at your heart, and I want to reach you. I want
to reach you. I want by God's spirit to speak
directly to your heart, and I want to instruct you And I want to
call you who yet know not our God, who yet live in rebellion
to Christ, to trust the Son of God. Now, I want to give you
these five things. I'll give them to you as quickly
as I can. First, the murder of these two boys, just babies,
by their 23-year-old mother, age of my daughter, 23 years
old. is an undeniable demonstration
of the utter depravity of the human heart. That's right. When the news broke the other
day, Shelby and I were about to have
a bite to eat. As a matter of fact, I had just
taken her hand and we were about to have prayer. When we did, this is what I said. Father, I thank you for graciously
keeping us in measure from the evil that's in us. Now, preacher, you don't mean
that. Oh, with all my heart, I mean that. With all my heart,
I mean that. Susan Smith was cut from the
same bolt of cloth you were cut from She made out of the same
stuff. You're made out of and She acted
out in her life What goes on in your heart and mind by nature? There is not a person in this
room Not a person in this room Who is not capable of doing the
same thing she did? in her same circumstances if
God leaves you to yourself. If God gives you up to your vile
affections to do that which is in your heart. Shelby said to me yesterday,
we were chatting about this. She didn't know I was planning
to preach on it. She said folks would be shocked to hear you
say that. That got on television. Well,
it's going on. And I wish the world would hear me. I'm telling
you, there's not one person here who wouldn't do what she did
if God just left you to yourself. Not one. Don't ever imagine otherwise. The heart is deceitful above
all things. I hear people say, I couldn't
do that. Oh, yes, you could. Oh, yes,
you could. The heart of man, not some men's,
not most men's, all men's. Not just men, the male species,
but men and women, the male, the human race. The heart of
mankind is full of evil and depraved utterly so that there is not
one good thing in any man before God by nature, not one. Turn
to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15. This is nothing new to you, but
it needs to be clearly emphasized. You young people, you think,
well, I wouldn't do that. You send your mom and dad out.
Mama, don't you trust me? I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
do that. Don't be a fool and put yourself
in circumstances where you could do it. Because you would. You
would. Don't you understand? You can
trust me. You know I wouldn't. I couldn't
do anything like that. Oh, there's not anything you
won't do if God leaves you alone. That's the reason, Carrie, mom
and dad keep rains on you. Because they know in your heart
is evil. Know it. We don't have enough
sense to recognize that there is nothing but evil in our hearts,
but we know that's there. Look here in Matthew 15 verse
19. For out of the heart, not out of society, not out of the
slums, not out of the ghettos, not out of ignorance, not out
of poverty, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. Which
ones, all of them? Murders. Which ones, all of them? adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies. These are the things that defile
the man. What's in you? What's in me? God says the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth. Forwardness is in the heart.
It deviseth evil continually. When God saved us, This is the
condition in which he found us, lost, ruined, spiritually dead,
and totally depraved at heart. Don't ever forget that. Look
into the rock which you're in and the hole of the pit from
which you've been digged. Nothing but evil. That's what
we are. And I'll tell you something else.
Though now saved by God's grace, every child of God in this world
is still by nature a totally depraved sinner. We must never
forget that fact or even temporarily overlook it. Thank God the blood
of Christ has washed away our sins. Thank God the righteousness
of Christ has been imputed to us so that we are forgiven and
justified in the sight of God Almighty. Thank God the Holy
Spirit has put within us a new holy nature, that holy thing
in you which is Jesus Christ the Lord. But don't ever be fool
enough to imagine that the old heart is gone, that the old nature
is dead. that the old man will never bother
you again. Oh, don't even think it. Don't
even think it. Mark Henson back there, by nature,
is flesh. Just flesh, just like your pastor.
And that which is born of flesh is flesh. Sinful, corrupt, vile
flesh. And it won't change until flesh
goes to the grave. That's the reason Paul said,
Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I shouldn't have to offer one
argument to demonstrate that to any of you. You read the Word
of God and your mind runs in a thousand directions. and almost
always to evil. You try to pray and your heart's fixed on yourself,
your pride, covetousness, your ambitions for yourself. You try
to call on God and your mind runs rather than to heaven runs
to hell. Am I telling the truth? Is that
the way it is? That's the way it is. You think things you would never utter to a human
being. You'd never utter them. You're
a ghost that you even think of it. But we stand back and say,
I wouldn't do that. Merle, anything you can think you're morally
capable of doing. You get hold of that and you
quit popping your suspenders so big. I was listening to one
of the TV preachers this morning for just a few minutes. And this
is what he said. He said, it's hard to be humble. God's my father. I wrote it down
now. He said, if God is your father,
that makes you little gods. That makes you little gods. If
your daddy's name is Jones, you're not a little brown, you're a
little Jones. And if your daddy's name is God,
if your daddy is big God, you're a little God. No. Thank God God is my Father,
God Almighty, full of grace and truth. And I'm his son. But I'm big sinner, nothing else.
Nothing else. Secondly, when I think of the
murders of these two babies and other such horrifying things, I see and give thanks to God
for the blessed restraint of his holy law. Now you listen carefully. We rejoice to know that believers
are entirely free from the law. It is absolutely true that the
believer has absolutely no relationship to the law. The law has absolutely
no power over us. But that does not suggest at
all that we see no value or use for the law of God. With the
apostle, we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. Now, we're not going to look
at these scriptures, but you can look them up if you want to later. I want
to show you that according to the word of God, the law of God
has four specific purposes, four uses. And these four things were
to use the law to accomplish. First, the law of God identifies
sin. That's the only thing that can
identify sin. That's the only thing that can. Years ago, Brother
Ferrell Griswold was preaching to me one time, and he made a
statement, and it finally clicked. He said, what is it that makes
the conjugal relationship between a man and his wife to be holy,
and that same relationship between a man and another woman to be
unholy? What is it? God said so. And that's all. God lays down
the rules. God said so. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. Paul said in Romans 7, I had
not known sin but by the law. So that there is no basis of
moral decency, no basis of right and wrong, no understanding of
that which is righteous and that which is evil apart from the
law of God. And when society kisses the law
of God goodbye, society kisses moral decency goodbye and throws
everything out the window except chaos. Secondly, the law of God
condemns men for sin by exposing our guilt. Paul said in Romans
3.19, Whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
may become guilty before God. Thirdly, the law of God points
guilty sinners to Christ by showing us our need of a substitute.
The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. You understand that? The law
identifies sin. The law pronounces guilt. The
law shows us the way to Christ, shows us the necessity of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, I want you
to turn to 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. The law is useful by the threat
of judgment. Somebody says punishment, particularly the
capital punishment, all those things, that's not a deterrent
to crime. Oh, yes it is. Oh, yes it is. God says that's what His law
is for. Look here in 1 Timothy 1 verse 8. We know that the law
is good if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient. for the ungodly and for sinners,
for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons,
and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. So the law of God is designed
by God to restrain the evil that's in man. So that when men live
under the threat of judgment, they're restrained from doing
the evil that's in their hearts by nature. Can you imagine what
it would be like to live in this world if men and women were not
restrained from doing everything that's in their hearts? Can you imagine what it'd be
like to live with Lindsay Campbell? if he wasn't restrained from
doing everything that's in his heart. I'm going to tell you
something. You wouldn't be caught in the
same world with this man if he were trapped in an iron cage. You wouldn't be caught in the
same world with this man if God didn't restrain me from the evil
that's in me. That's just fact. And I wouldn't
be caught in the world with you either. The events of these past two
weeks are, according to what we read in Romans 1 and 2 Timothy
3, direct results of divine judgment upon a generation that lives
with its fist in the face of God Almighty. And being that,
the events of this past couple of weeks show us the absolute
certainty of divine judgment. What we see going on around us,
what we read in our newspapers every day, while the reporters are totally
ignorant of it, are reports of God's judgment. Reports of God's
judgment. Forerunners of God's wrath. When I read of the tidal wave
sweeping Bangladesh, I say God did that in judgment. That's right. I know that's out
of step with society. That's out of step with the religious
world. But I worship a God who controls everything. God did
that. If he didn't do it, the tidal
wave wouldn't come. When I read of starving Ethiopians in Ethiopia,
scattered throughout Sudan and Africa, I read about the famine,
the starvation, the pestilence, the disease. God did that, this
judgment. And when I read of the moral decay of society, the utter absence of moral decency
in a society that cleans with tenacity to a religious cloak,
a religious refuge of lies, I say God did that. God did that. God sent judgment. And men don't
know any better. And these things are just forerunners
of judgment to come. When men and women are given
up by God to their own reprobate minds to do what we are capable
of doing. Read your Bible with one hand. Hold your Bible here and read
it. In other hand, hold your newspaper and read it and understand these
three things, will you? Number one, there is a judgment
that falls upon obstinate sinners while they still live on this
earth. Romans 1 speaks of God giving
men up. You had it in Acts 28 this morning
in your lesson. Proverbs chapter 1 talks about God. God says,
I stretched out my hands. I've called. You've refused.
Therefore, I'm going to fix it so when you call, I'll refuse.
You'll call on me and I'll sit back and laugh at you. When God
shut the door to the ark, not one drop of rain had yet fallen,
but judgment fell when God shut the door because nobody had any
hope then. Not at all. You understand that?
There is a judgment that falls upon men before they fall into
hell itself while they yet live on this earth. And God fixes
it so that they're damned while they live. Secondly, there is an appointed
day of judgment that is yet to come. Acts 17.31 says that God
hath appointed a day when He will judge the world by that
man. Whom He's ordained in righteousness. Yeah, you're going to meet God
in judgment. I promise you. I'm going to meet
God in judgment. Absolutely. And He's going to
demand of us perfection. And He's going to cast us into
hell if He sees any sin in us. And the only way to escape that
judgment is to have your sins punished in a substitute and
be robed in the righteousness of God's own Son. So thirdly,
understand this. There is a place of refuge in
which sinners fleeing can hide themselves from the impending
wrath and judgment of God Almighty. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men, come now to Jesus Christ the
Lord. He's the refuge. Are you guilty? Has God in His
justice exposed your guilt? Made you aware of your sin? Then
I bid you flee to Christ. Like the manslayer would flee
to the city of refuge. Get up and flee to Christ. Get
up in your heart and flee up to the Savior. And I promise
you, you flee to him, the justice of God will never touch you.
Never. Fourthly, above all else, this
horrible act of brutality, violence and cold bloodedness teaches
and reinforces and causes me to give thanks to God for the
blessedness of his sovereign distinguishing grace. The only hope for this depraved,
vile race of ours, the only hope there is for you who are without
Christ, is if God in His sovereign grace will intervene in your life and
set you apart from the rest of the world. Only hope. Oh, how
I pray. I don't come here, go anywhere
else and beg sinners to do anything. But I beg God. I tell you what I ask God to
do. I ask God Almighty to take you and break down the door of
your obstinate heart and set Himself in you by His almighty
grace. Bind Satan, cast him out. and
enthrone Jesus Christ in your heart by the holy violence of
His grace. And I'll tell you what, if He
does, if God will do that for you,
the response of your heart will be faith in Christ. You'll believe
Him. You'll believe Him. But if God leaves you to yourself,
If God passes you by, you'll never believe Him. You see, I recognize, and every
child of God recognizes, that the only distinction between
the believer and the unbeliever The only distinction, the only
difference between the reprobate soul and the regenerate soul
is the distinction that grace has made. That's all. We didn't
set ourselves apart from men. The Scripture says, concerning
the Lord God, it is God who puts a difference between the Egyptians
and Israel. The Apostle Paul writes to the
Corinthians, and to us, for we're just like
them. And it says in chapter 4, 1 Corinthians,
verse 7, who maketh thee to differ from another? Come on now, who makes you different? Who makes you different from
the Susan Bates or the Susan Smiths of this world? Think about
that Norman Bates movie. Who makes you different from
the Susan Smith's of this world. Who makes you different from
the Menendez boys of this world? Who makes you different? What
have you received? Or what do you have that you've
not received? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou'st not received it? This is my testimony. And this is my constantly reaffirmed
experience. This is my message to you. This
is my hope. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. God made the difference in his
sovereign distinguishing, electing love before the world began. God said concerning Don Fort,
I'll be his God, he'll be my son. He's mine. And he said to hell, you can't
have him. You can't have him. God made the difference when
he nailed his son on the cursed tree 2,000 years ago. The Lord
Jesus Christ said, I laid down my life for Don Fortner. I'm bearing his sins. I bear
them away. And he said to justice, you can't
have him. You can't have him. And God makes the difference
in His sovereign, providential grace, in what we call prevenient grace. That's grace that goes before
and prepares the way for grace. Ron Wood is sitting right where
he is this morning. with a heart to worship God, rejoice in the
free grace of God, because God Almighty caused you to be born
where you were born, raised where you were raised, influenced by
the things that influenced you to bring you to faith in Christ
in their sense. That's all. But what about His
will? If God left you to your will,
you'd either be in hell or somewhere between here and hell. That's
all. But don't you realize, preacher, that man's got something to do
with this? I realize man's got nothing to do with this! Salvation
by God's free grace. God's free grace. God made the
difference by His sovereign regenerating power. The wind bloweth... Now here's the sound thereof.
We can't not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth. So is everyone
that's born of the Spirit. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. Just that many. Just that many. And God makes the difference
still in his marvelous preserving grace. I baptized some folks and I declare
it looks like they don't last long enough to get dry. It's
just in and out. See you later. Meet you at judgment. But some of you got something
that stuck with you. You got something that lasts. And Satan's tried repeatedly
to tear it from you. But if you last, if you last,
it'll be because you've been kept by the power of God. And if God keeps you, you'll
be kept. I was discussing with Brother Mahan several years ago
a mutual acquaintance with whom we were very concerned. And he made such a profound statement,
as he is, by God's grace, so capable of doing. He said, well,
if he's God's, God will take care of him. And if he's not,
there'll be no great loss. And if you're God's, if I'm God's,
God will take care of us. He'll do it. And if we're not,
we won't be any lost anybody. That's right. That's right. Because we're nothing
but sin. Nothing but corruption. Sinners
saved by God's free grace. One last thing. thinking about
the murders of Michael, three years old, and Alexander Smith,
14 months old. I've been called to think a little
more fully about the glory of the world to come. You see, I have absolutely no
hesitancy in saying this. While their murder was an act
of horrendous evil on the part of their mother, for which she
must stand before God. It was an act of great mercy
on the part of their heavenly father, for it was by this means
that the Lord God was pleased to call two more of his elect
home to glory. You see, I assert without reservation
and without fear of contradiction that all who die in infancy or
imbecility are chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, born of the
Spirit, and enter into glory. Let me give you a taste of what
I'm going to preach on tonight. Listen to this. The righteous
perisheth. and no man layeth it to heart,
the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." Here are two
boys, chosen of God from eternity, redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. His righteousness is imputed
to them. brought into this world through
the womb of an apparently reprobate woman, what lies ahead for them? God
says, I'll keep them from that. Come on home. I'll keep them from that. How can you be so sure, Don?
Three reasons. David made a statement. that
God the Holy Spirit put down in Scripture with regard to his
dead son. Now you can talk about covenant
family and covenant family salvation all you want to, but David's
boy was not part of a covenant family. He was the son of an
adulterous relationship that resulted in murder. And David
said, he can't come to me, but I'll go to him. And if you think
he was talking about going to the grave, you're a fool. He
was talking about something with hope. He said, I'll go to him.
With absolute confidence, he wiped his eyes, he quit crying,
and he said to his servants, boys, let's get about the business
of God. God's taken care of it. Second reason, the law of God
declares in Deuteronomy 24, 16, that the son shall not die for
the iniquity of the father. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The son shall not die for the
iniquity of the father. Does that mean that children
are born innocent? No. They're born depraved. They're
born guilty of sin. Because Adam's sin is imputed
to us and Adam's sinful nature is inherited by us. But those
who die as infants and in imbecility are men and women who are children
who do not sin at the similitude of Adam's transgression. And
they do not suffer the wrath of God because of the sin of
their father Adam. The wrath of God is poured out
upon men because of their own sin. Understand that? And thirdly,
I say it because I know something by experience
of the gracious character of God Almighty. One of these days, God will take those two boys Michael and Alexander Smith.
And he'll set them before wandering worlds as monuments of his love,
trophies of his grace, and examples of his wisdom and goodness. While lost religious men and
women who thought they were so good screech and cry for the
rocks and the hills to fall. Our two little brothers have
entered into a world of glory and bliss and peace. For they've entered into a world
in which there is neither sickness nor sorrow, nor pain, nor death. Because they've entered into
a world in which there is no sin. And for that, I envy them. Now I urge you who are under
the wrath of God, who are yet without Christ, I urge you to flee to the Son
of God. Trust Him. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. The book says so. Will you believe
it? Or will you persist in your rebellion,
in your obstinate unbelief, and be content to go to hell when
mercy's gate stands open before you? I call on you who are the Lord's,
always seek to view the apparently tragic events of life with a
firm faith in God's wise, unerring, and good providence. I can understand a little bit
about what's going on. God's saving his home. And when he wraps this thing
up, when he wraps this thing up, I'm convinced. I don't have any
question at all about this. He will take those very things
which Satan and the demons of hell have used in an attempt
to destroy his kingdom, and he'll demonstrate how he used them
to build his kingdom. Everything. Everything. And one last thing. Children of God, don't ever forget
the debt you owe, the debt I owe, to the free grace of God in Jesus
Christ the Lord. I read years ago of one of the
old Puritans. They could be a little bit pious in their humility. who
saw a frog in a field, and he just knelt down and sobbed. And he said, oh, there but for
the grace of God go I. And I heard one of our politicians
a while back speak about some man in poverty and rags. He said, there but for the grace
of God go I. I tell you with regard to Susan
Smith and with regard to the legions
in hell, there but for the grace of God go I and you and you. Well, I hope that helps you to
understand something about what's transpired in the last couple
of weeks. And I hope it'll help you to give glory to God for
what He's done for you in Christ. And I hope for you who are yet
without Christ, God's arrested your hearts and you cannot find
rest for your souls until you find rest in Christ the Lord.
Amen. Men, as you come and listen to
hymn plays,

What Should We Learn From The Murders of Michael and Alexander Smith

What does the Bible say about human depravity?

How do we know God's judgment is real?

Why is understanding grace important for Christians?

What is the significance of the law in a believer's life?

Why should Christians view tragedy through the lens of God's providence?

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What Should We Learn From The Murders of Michael and Alexander Smith

What does the Bible say about human depravity?

How do we know God's judgment is real?

Why is understanding grace important for Christians?

What is the significance of the law in a believer's life?

Why should Christians view tragedy through the lens of God's providence?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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