I don't remember who I was speaking
with recently, somebody involved in business, sales of some kind. He said, in this day, the one
thing everybody wants to know about every purchase they make
is what is the bottom line, what's that bottom line figure going
to be. And as I preach the gospel, and
hear others preach it, as I hope I have some concern for the preaching
of the gospel around the world, I'm interested in the bottom-line
result. I'm not terribly impressed by
numbers. I would love to see this house
jam-packed and have to tear out these walls and build greater.
But that is not an indication of any real success in the ministry. I delight to see men and women
hear what I have to say, hear the gospel of God's grace with
approval. I would be lying to you if I
said that your approval is meaningless to me. I wish it were not as
meaningful as it is. but it is meaningful. I'm delighted
when men rejoice in what I have to say and rejoice in hearing
the gospel that I preach. But the fact that people rejoice
in it, that they delight in it, even if multitudes were to rejoice
in it and delight in it, is no indication of any success or
any real accomplishment in the preaching of the gospel. I am always excited when I see
men and women stirred by the message, if it's indeed the message
of God's grace that stirs them. I don't play with the emotions
of men and deceive people into thinking they are moved to the
Spirit of God when they're moved by a sad story. I'm moved by
the Spirit of God when I've only worked them up into some kind
of an excited fever of religion. But if men are genuinely moved,
if their hearts are genuinely broken with conviction, I rejoice
in that. But conviction alone is not what
I'm aiming for. I'm aiming at, I pray that God
will graciously accomplish the conversion of men's hearts. That God will give you faith
in Christ Jesus. I have a great concern for you
and for myself lest we should live with religious presumption and perish without a living knowledge
of Jesus Christ. I pray that God will not let
you sit easy and comfortable in this place. and hear me preach,
if you have no life in Christ Jesus, I pray that the message
will be troubling to your heart and troubling to your soul and
give you faith in Christ. If you're born of God, I pray
that he will speak that blessed word, thou art mine, as Luke
just sang, and that he'll make you to know that you have eternal
life. I want unto God somehow to strip
away every false refuge. I want to knock every prop there
is out from under you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I want you to rest on him. I want you to rest your soul
upon the merit of Christ. And when I get done, the bottom
line is this, some believe and some believe not. That's the
end result. We'll tally up the sheet when
everything's over, and in one column there'll be placed those
who believe, and in the other column there'll be placed a far,
far, far greater number of those to whom I preach who believe
not. And if I read the scriptures,
Merle, that's what this book teaches. There are few who believe
and many who believe not. Here in Acts chapter 28, the
Apostle Paul is in Rome. After he came to Rome, the Jews
there desired to hear his doctrine. They had heard many evil reports
about this religious sect who worshiped Jesus Christ of Nazareth
as Lord and God, declaring that Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified
at Jerusalem, is the Savior of men. These people who go around
declaring everywhere they go that salvation is by the death
of this Jesus of Nazareth. Now, they were anxious to hear
what Paul had to say. They were men who liked to learn
something. So they arranged for a day when
they would come again to Paul's lodging, and they would have
Paul to speak out of his own mouth those things which he believed
and preached concerning Jesus Christ. And in verse 23, we're
told that on the day appointed, there came many to him into his
lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of
God, persuading them concerning Jesus. both out of the law of
Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening. And after the preaching was over,
after reasoning with them, instructing them, appealing to their hearts,
and persuading them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we
read these words, and some believe the things which were spoken,
and some believed not." Now, that's always the end result
of gospel preaching. Some who hear the gospel of God
redeeming love and saving grace in Christ Jesus believe, and
some believe not. The word of Moses that brings
salvation to Israel brings death to The ark of God that cursed
the Philistines brought the blessings of God upon the house of Obed-Edom. The gospel of Christ is to some
a savor of life unto life, and to others it is a savor of death
unto death. That fact makes me tremble as
I speak to you. For I fully realize, I fully
realize, that if God does what I ask him to do, if God will
speak by me, if God will allow me to preach the gospel of his
grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, everybody here is going
to be affected by it. It'll either draw you to Christ,
or it'll harden your heart in condemnation. And that's just not anything
to get excited about. I'm not nearly, nearly, nearly so anxious to be an instrument in the hands
of God for your eternal ruin. The same sun that melts the wax
hardens the clay, and the same gospel that breaks the heart
of one sinner hardens the heart of another. That's what the book
teaches. And when I finish preaching tonight,
if God will speak by me, this will be the end of my labors
today. Some believed and some believed not. Why? Why? That's the question I want
to answer this evening. Taking Paul and his congregation
as our model, I want to show you why it is that some who hear
the gospel believe and others believe not. I'll give you my
message under three points. The first one is this. sure you
understand this one. I'll spend the bulk of my time
here. The salvation of sinners is not determined by the gifts,
the abilities, the eloquence, the learning, or the craftiness
of the preacher. Whether or not you're saved,
whether or not you believe the gospel, is in no way dependent
upon are determined by me. Now, don't misunderstand my meaning.
I do not suggest that a person can be saved apart from the preaching
of the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Men and women, we are
told in James, are born again by the will of God through the
word of God, of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth. The apostle Peter tells us that
we're born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And this
is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. God's ordained
means of saving sinners is gospel preaching. Just that simple.
That's the way God saves sinners. God has an elect people in this
world, a people in this world for whom Christ Jesus has died,
a people whom he has redeemed, a people whom he will call by
his spirit, a people whom he will bring into heaven's glory
at last. But God's ordained means of saving
sinners is gospel preaching. I do not mean to suggest also
that it does not matter who or what you hear. The Apostle John
tells us plainly that we must not hear a man who denies the
gospel of Christ. In 1 John 4, he said, try the
spirit. Try the man who preaches to see
what spirit he's of. You'd be wise to do that. You'll
be very wise to take this book and carefully scrutinize what
you hear me preach. For by what I preach, you will
determine whether or not I am a man sent of the Spirit of God,
or sent by the Spirit of Satan himself. By the trying of the
spirits through this word, you must determine whether or not
this man who preaches to you speaks for God and speaks truth. Try the spirits. They that are
of God, hear us, because we speak the truth of God, John says.
The Apostle John tells you plainly in 2 John 10 that if any man
comes and brings not the doctrine of Christ, don't you receive
him into your house? Don't you receive him as a guest
in your home or a guest in the pulpit of the church? And don't
you even wish him well? Don't you dare, don't you dare
wish God's blessings or pray for God's blessings or speak
well of a man who denies the gospel of Christ. It does matter
who you hear. It does matter what you hear.
If you feed upon the poison of a false prophet and you hide
in the refuge of lies that he sets before you, you will perish
under the wrath of God. That's how vital it is. Those
men and women who eat the bread of freewillism and drink the
wine of works religion are eating and drinking damnation to their
souls. Richard, do you really believe
that? I believe it more strongly every day that I live. If you care for your soul, you
better find a man who preaches the gospel of God's greatness,
glory, and grace in Christ Jesus, who plainly exposes your guilt
and your sin, your depravity and your helplessness, and who
constantly points you to Christ Jesus for everything. Only that
man who preaches Jesus Christ and Him crucified can declare
to you the remedy for your soul's ruin. Now, I say that with urgency. Whether it's here or whether
it's elsewhere, you better find a man who declares the truth
of God and asks God to speak to you by the message he declares. But having said that, I do mean
for you to understand that saving faith is in no way whatsoever
dependent upon or determined by the abilities, gifts, or education
of the man who preaches the gospel. Our churches today, one of the
first questions they ask about a man, regrettably in most churches,
they don't even ask what he believes. But in what we would call grace
churches, the first question they ask is where were you educated? What is your degree? Where did
you go to school? What are your recommendations
and qualifications? What they're looking for is not
a biblical standard, but rather a standard by which they can
hold up the name of a man before the community and say, look here,
we have this man preaching in this place. Now, nobody is so
well qualified as he is. Nobody in town is so well educated,
so well trained or come so highly recommended as he does. I'm telling
you, that a man with a seminary degree does not necessarily have
the power of God. He does not necessarily not have
the power of God, but education and abilities that men have by
nature and abilities that men are trained with are not necessarily
accompanied by the power of God more than that. Even those gifts
and qualifications that are laid down in the word of God do not
make that man an effectual means of salvation to your soul. Salvation,
faith in Christ, and eternal life are not given to men by
a man. The proof of that statement is
right here in this text. These Jews heard the best preacher
the world has ever known since the death of Christ. They heard
the Apostle Paul himself. He was a well-trained man. A
well-educated man, an eloquent man, a gifted man, a talented
man, a man who knew the gospel, a man upon whom the power of
God resided, an inspired apostle of God. They heard the apostle
Paul himself declare the gospel of Christ. He preached to them
and reasoned with them from the scriptures, not for an hour or
two, but for an entire day. Without question, when we read
this passage of scripture, Paul was at his best. I don't have
any question about it. Here are his countrymen, and
they have appointed a day when they're going to come to him,
and they say, now, Paul, we want to hear what you have to say. We've heard what other men say
that you say. We want to hear what you say
concerning Jesus Christ, the Nazarite, this one whom you worship
as Lord, this one you call the Savior, this one you tell us
is himself the Son of God. We want to hear what you've got
to say about him. Now, I don't have any idea how
long a time Paul had to prepare, but I'm going to guarantee you
he spent the days preparing for that occasion. He sought a message
from God, he studied the scriptures, he searched out the word of God
so that he had the law and the prophets at his fingertips, and
he could easily turn to one passage or another and say, this is what
the book says, this is the fulfillment. Not only did he speak a message
and prepare well, but he sought the blessings of God upon the
message. This man, unlike most, he knew who he was preaching
to. He knew what their prejudices were. He knew what their arguments
were. He knew what their religion was.
He knew how they thought because he was one of them. He was one
of them. He knew everything that a man
might desire to know when he stands before a congregation
of men. He knew exactly how they would respond to the message
he declared. And so these men heard the best of preachers preaching
the gospel at his best under the power of God the Holy Spirit
and the end result is this. Some of those folks who heard
believed and some believed not. The salvation of sinners is not
determined by the ability of the preacher. It's just not determined
by the ability of the preacher. When I was in college, we had evangelism classes and
evangelism seminars and evangelism Bible conferences, and we had
every kind of suggestion imaginable made as to how to conduct a public
meeting like this and how to get sinners to believe on Christ. I recall one of the big-shot
evangelists. He's dead now, thank God. At least his voice is silent.
Along with a team of others came in for a week. I hadn't been
converted very long. Shelby was in college. First
time I heard these fellows, I was still in high school. Kind of
embarrassed her. I cut classes. So I'd go over
there to that big Bible conference. They was having a big Bible conference.
Big shop preachers from all over the place were there. I sat down
and listened to this fellow babble for a little bit and I didn't
know what he was saying, but I knew it wasn't so. And I got up and
walked out. And Shelby didn't believe then
what she believes now. Why did you do that? That's embarrassing.
Everybody knows who you're with. So the next day I decided to
behave myself. But another one got up and he was worse than
the first one. So I got up and walked out again.
I don't know what so, but I know what you're saying is not so.
Let me tell you some of the things they were suggesting. This particular
fellow, I remember him describing how he was able to win souls
in his church, and what you do is you get everybody built up
to just the right moment. And just at the right moment,
you close the service and give the invitation, and with the
proper music and the proper song to back up the message, all the
conditions are right, and you strike while the iron's hot. No, sir. No, sir. No, sir. If your faith is created
and accomplished by a stirring appeal with nothing but emotion,
your faith is a delusion." Another one suggested, on another occasion,
he said, what we do is we're fishermen of men and we go fishing
for men like a fellow goes fishing for a fish. He lures him into
his hook. without the fish ever knowing
what's going on. And he catches him. And first thing you know,
he sneaked up on the back side, the blind side of the fish, and
he's hooked him and he's hooked before he ever knows it. And
that's the way we catch sinners for Christ. Oh, no, no, no, no. Men are caught with the hook
of God's almighty grace in their hearts with the knowledge of
truth. God doesn't save men apart from
truth. He never has and he never will. And if you don't know who
you believe, you haven't believed. If you don't know what you believe,
you haven't believed. Now, that's just plain as it
can be. I heard one of the evangelists on television last year. I jotted
it down. I couldn't believe the man said
what it did. I listened intently. Week before, he said, next week,
I want to tell you my experience of God's grace. I wanted to hear
it. He said, when the Lord saved
me, now I'm telling you the truth, I'm not lying to you. He said,
when the Lord saved me, I didn't know anything about the Bible,
I didn't know anything about God, I didn't know anything about
Jesus Christ, but somebody came along and told me there was somebody
up in heaven who loved me and wanted to save me, and I trusted
him. And that's just what the fellow
preachers do. He hadn't learned anything since. Now I'm telling
you, faith! is the knowledge, the heart knowledge
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Apart from that knowledge, there
is no saving faith. No, a man does not have to be
a theologian to be saved. Most theologians aren't saved.
But a man's got to know God. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. Know him. Know him, not know
about him. Know him. salvation, faith, is not defended
upon the preacher. The Apostle Paul constantly preached. And constantly when he preached,
he declared the great doctrines of the gospel with boldness and
clarity unsurpassed by any man. But he could not give men faith.
If anyone did not understand what Paul preached, it was because
he never heard him preach or never read what he wrote. Paul
didn't preach in high tones of intellectualism, which none but
the learned could understand. And he didn't hide the doctrine
that he preached in clever phrases, which none but the discerning
could discover. When the apostle Paul preached,
he preached with clarity. When a man heard this man preach,
he knew what he said. He knew it. He might not like
it, but he understood it. I dare say there was never a
man who heard Paul preach who didn't understand precisely what
his doctrine was. And he didn't have to hear him
a hundred times to find out what it was. I hear these fellows,
they go here and they got this message, and go there and they
got that one, and go there and they got that one, and then they
come to another congregation where they know what the message
is and what's being preached. They just give it all to them.
You hear them preach at one of these sovereign grace conferences
and you'd think, my soul, this man, he's got, he's got boldness
like nobody does. It doesn't take much boldness
for me to stand here and preach to you the gospel of God's sovereign
grace. It takes a little boldness for
me to go somewhere where men despise it and declare it. It
takes a little boldness to go somewhere where men, men hate
the gospel and plainly preach the gospel. And that's what Paul
did. The apostles were not men like
us. They did not seek ways to cover up the gospel and kindly
hide the sword of the spirit under some velvet so that it
didn't hurt anybody. They pulled the sword out and
they pierced the hearts of men deliberately. Deliberately. God give me that ability. Give
me that grace. In the New Testament, Men were
confronted with divine truth and demanded to bow to that truth. Now that's gospel preaching.
That's New Testament preaching. The Apostle Peter, I gave you
the illustration when we were in Acts chapter 4. You remember
when Peter and John had healed that lame man? And the Jews arrested
them and they called them in and they said, they said, by
what name? By what power, by what authority
have you done this thing on the Sabbath day? Now, Peter could
have said, he could have said this. He could have said, well,
brethren, I know we have some differences of opinion, but after
all, we want you to understand that we have done this miracle
and we have healed this man by the name and the power and the
authority of Jehovah, the one true and living God. And Bobby,
he'd have been telling the truth. That's exactly what happened.
But he'd have been denying Christ. He'd have been denying Christ.
What do you mean, preacher? Because he knew those Jews had
no objection to Jehovah doing anything. But they had great
objection to declaring that Jesus is Jehovah. Knowing that, Peter
being filled with the Spirit, he said, Men and brethren, be
it known unto you that by the name, the power and the authority
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you with your wicked hands
nailed to that cursed tree, this man stands here whole. Now then, now then, That's where
the rubber meets the road. And they were in trouble. Not
only were they in trouble, the fellows who hurt them were in
trouble. Now they're confronted with the claims of Jesus Christ
as God. You either bow down and worship
him, or you perish in your sin. That's how Paul preached. He
boldly declared the gospel. He boldly declared unto men the
truth of God. He didn't hide it under clever
phrases. He didn't try to kindly sneak up on a fellow's backside.
He simply declared truth. And that's the responsibility
of every gospel preacher. These men didn't spoon-feed folks
like babies. They didn't give out truth spoonfuls
at a time, but they gave it out buckets full at a time. So you've got to take your time. I hear people all the time, preachers
all the time, they normally don't say it directly, you know, they
kind of subtly hint, drop a little hint, you know, sit in a conversation
and you talk about anybody just hinting. I know who they're talking
to. You can't Oh, you just can't do that. You can't walk up to
fellas and tell them they're going to hell if they don't believe
this. You can't walk up to a fella and tell him that he's got to
believe the truth of God or he's a rebel against God. You can't
walk up to a fella and just openly start declaring to him the great
mysteries of the gospel. What else am I going to do? How
am I going to do anybody any good? The truth of God must be
declared and declared plainly. when our Lord was arrested, and
they asked him, said, tell us what you preach. He said, there
said Hubert Montgomery, he heard me preach, go ask him. Go ask
him. There's David Coleman, he heard
me preach, go ask him. And I say to this world, anybody
who wants to know what I preach, just ask anybody who's ever heard
me, that's what I preach. That's what I preach. Anybody,
anywhere, for the message I declare, I declare to you, I declare across
the water, I declare up and down the coast of this country, and
I will not, God helping me, ever bend that message to suit anybody. Never. Never. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel. I've got nothing to hide. This
gospel is the power of God and the salvation to everybody who
believes. When the Apostle Paul preached,
You talk about a man plainly laying it out. Let's just briefly
look at some of the things he preached. Turn over to Romans
3. Romans chapter 3. The Apostle Paul boldly declared,
the total depravity, original sin and complete inability of
all men. He spent the whole first three
chapters of Romans declaring that. And you know what? He had
never even seen one of these fellas. He didn't know anybody
in this church at Rome. Nobody. All he knew is there's
a group of folks there who call themselves the children of God.
There's a group of folks there gathered in the name of Christ.
He had never seen them. And you talk about plain. Now
he's just plain. He said in chapter one, You're
so depraved, so corrupt, so vile, that if God leaves you to yourself,
every truth that he makes known to you, you'll pervert and turn
it to corruption. That's what chapter 1 says. Then
he writes to the Jews. He said, now you fellows who
have the law of God, You've been walking by the law and you've
been keeping the ordinances and the circumcision and the covenants
and the Sabbath days and all of those things. He said you
just do it outwardly. He said in your heart you're
not Jews. Not by nature. In your heart you're not Jews.
In your heart you're as corrupt and vile as the Gentiles. That's
what the second chapter is about. And then it comes to chapter
3 and verse 9, he says, What then? Are we the Jews better
than they? In no wise. For we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that takes in the whole world,
both Jews and Gentiles, they are all under sin. That means
they are all under the dominion of sin. They are all under the
penalty of sin. They're all in bondage to sin.
They're all condemned by sin. Verse 10, as it is written, there's
none righteous, no, not one. Well, what does that mean, Paul?
There is none that understands anything. Nobody. Years ago, I wrote a catechism
for young children, and we catechized children, I suppose, partially
because my daughter was a child, about Amy's age. And we were
going through the catechism, and one of the parents came to
me, and one of the questions was, why do I need Jesus Christ
to be my prophet? And the answer is, because I'm
ignorant. She came to me and she said, Preacher, I can't teach
my child that. I said, you can't teach him what? He's ignorant. Well, you better
teach him and better hope God teaches him. Because if you don't
find out you're ignorant, you're never going to seek a prophet
to teach you. This is what the book says here. Nobody has any
understanding. Nobody. Nobody. I heard Gary
Roper say one time, You can just as well teach a jackass nuclear
physics as teach a man the gospel of Christ. You can't do it. You
can't do it. No man can understand spiritual
truth without the Spirit of God. No man can understand the things
of Christ without Christ. No man can understand the gospel
of Christ unless he's taught of God. Nobody understands. That's
the problem Nicodemus had. He came to the Lord and he said,
Lord, we know. And our Lord said, stop right
there. Stop right there. Now Nicodemus is a ruler of the
Jews. He's a rabbi. He's a mighty man
in Israel. He's well-learned in the law,
well-learned in the prophets, well-learned in all the traditions
of the Jews. Our Lord said, Nicodemus, you're
ignorant. You don't know a thing. You don't
know a thing. You read John chapter 3. He said,
Nicodemus, until you're born again, you can't see the kingdom
of God. You can't see the kingdom of God. Well, this is what it
means when Paul says that there's none righteous. Nobody has any
understanding. There's nobody who seeks after
God. Nobody. Nobody. It's not in their
nature. It's not in the nature of a man
to seek after God. All men seek after a God. Men
seek after something that they call the man upstairs. They seek
after something that they call the fella in glory land. They
seek after something that they call their co-pilot. They seek
after something that they call, like Pepsi-Cola, the real thing.
They seek after something they call their good buddy. They seek
after something with whom they think they've got a good thing
going. But nobody seeks the living God. Nobody does. This religious
generation which we're living is absolutely, totally, completely
ignorant of the living God. Ignorant of it. Congregations all across the
country, all around the world, men and women stand up and sing,
oh how I love Jesus and don't know who he is. And I know they
don't. And I know they don't love Him
because when I start to tell them who He is, they hate that
Jesus. They hate that God. They despise Him. Old men love
what they think God is because they think God's just like themselves.
They think God's altogether like themselves. Paul says nobody
seeks after God. They are all gone out of the
way. That is, we all went astray from the womb, speaking lies.
We all at one time in our father Adam turned away from God, and
we've been going away ever since. They are together become unprofitable. You talk about telling a man
he's nothing. Paul said the whole world is
useless. Useless? God doesn't have any
use for any of you. From the pulpit to the back door.
God doesn't have any use for any of you. Done. We're worse
than useless. Useless, unprofitable, wasted
things. Off-scouring things. Things fit
for the dung heap. And that's not a garbage pile
either. That's a pile of manure. Just dung. That's all. Just dung. Preacher, I'm not like that. I hope you don't say that. I mean before God Almighty, that's
all. That's all. Just a pile of rotting,
decaying dung. Unprofitable. Unprofitable. Oh, that offends me. I'm sorry
it offends you. I hope it doesn't for long. I
hope it brings you to recognize who and what you are. Unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. Preacher, I know folks who do
good. I know folks who do things that impress me as being good.
The fact that you're sitting here listening to me preach impresses
me as being good. But I don't know anybody who's
ever done anything good in the sight of a holy God, because
nobody can. Everything we do we do from a
corrupt, evil principle of heart, selfishness, lasciviousness,
lust, and self-centeredness. Everything. Everything. I was
talking to Mark Henson yesterday. He said, I'd never heard anybody
in my life before tell me what I am like you do. That's because men don't like
to hear what they are. That's the reason why. It's not
too awful bad to talk to a man who's committed murder about
the blood on his hands. That's not bad. I've talked to
men who've committed murder about the blood on their hands. And
that's not terribly bad. That doesn't bother them. It
really doesn't bother them. Oh, it causes them a little uneasiness,
but they're not going to get terribly upset. But when you
say that, fella, the reason that blood's on your hands is because
you're a murderer at heart. Oh, now you're in trouble. You're in trouble. He'll stand
up right quick and tell you, no, his heart's good. His heart's
not bad. No, no. You know, preaching nobody's
that bad. Problem is everybody's that bad,
and nobody knows it. That's the problem. The issue
between you and God, the issue between me and God, is not what
we do with these hands. It's what we are in our parts. God says the soul that sinneth
it shall die. Now just think with me a minute.
Just think with me a minute. Do you really think that God
Almighty would send a fellow to hell for stealing a watermelon?
Do you really? Dave, you got a business out
there. Would you send a fellow to penitentiary for stealing
a watermelon? Huh? God's better than you are. Heaps
not better than you are. No, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
do that. My soul. Ruin a man's life stealing
a watermelon? No. No, that's crazy. That's
crazy. Do you really think God Almighty
would send a man to eternal damnation for committing adultery? No. No. I wouldn't and you wouldn't. No. No. A thousand times no. What does God send a man to hell
for? Because in his heart he hates God. That's why. And these
things are but the reflection of man's enmity and hatred of
a holy God. Does that make sense to you,
Merle? Sure it does. The problem with man is not what
he does. The problem with man is what
he is. And we're all exactly alike. Nothing but oozing corruption
before a holy God. Nothing else. None does good,
not one. This man Paul, he preached with
plainness and clarity. He was never bashful to declare
God's eternal purpose of grace and election. You read the scriptures. You don't need me to read them
to you again. Just read Ephesians 1. You want a body of theology? You want to go to school and
learn what men don't learn if they go through seminary and
get a B.A. and a B.D. and a Ph.D. and a
T.H.D.? You want to know what they'll
never learn? Just read Ephesians chapter 3. Just read it. All
you got to do is just read it. And if you read it, you'll know
exactly what it says. People say, well, I can't understand
the lecture. I'll guarantee you, if I could wake that one up right
there, surely he'd understand election. I guarantee anybody
understands election. Here it is. There's that and
there's that. I choose that. That's election. That's election. I didn't do anything with that.
Just left it. That's election. Now the scriptures are plain
and anybody understands it. Nobody misunderstands that. There's
not anybody who misunderstands that. The problem is men hate
it. That's the problem. Men hate
the fact that God Almighty has the right to say whom he will. That's where man's rebellion
is. It's not that he doesn't understand it. The problem is
he does understand what it's teaching and he hates it. The
Apostle Paul When men and women heard him preach grace, they
understood that he was preaching a message of effectual, irresistible,
saving, almighty grace. He didn't have to stop and explain.
Now, what I'm saying here is this is what grace is. The Apostle
Paul so preached it that when men heard it, they knew he wasn't
talking about works. When they heard it, they knew
he wasn't talking about free will. When they heard it, they knew that
he wasn't talking about walking down church aisle. When they
heard it, they knew he wasn't talking about what the religious
world calls grace. Paul said if it's of grace, then
it's no more of works. If it's of works, it's no more
of grace. You mix grace and works, you've got nothing but works.
Nothing but works. You can't possibly have a combination
of the two. If you mix salvation by God's
hand and by man's hand, it's all by man's hand. If you mix
this thing up in any way whatsoever, you've missed the whole thing.
Either salvation's of the Lord, it's of you. Either it's by grace,
it's by your works. It's not a vote. It can't be
a vote. The Apostle Paul, when he preached the redemptive work
of Christ, He preached an effectual substitutionary atonement. And
he didn't hedge about it. He said, Christ hath redeemed
us. Thee hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it's written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now what does that
say? It says Jesus Christ has redeemed a people, and they are
a particular people, he has redeemed us. And he redeemed us by suffering
the penalty of sin for us, having satisfied the curse of God upon
us, and if the curse is satisfied, the curse is gone, and there's
no possibility of condemnation. Paul preached the gospel with
plainness. He didn't hedge. He didn't hedge.
That's what I'm getting at. And when Paul preached it, he
not only preached the doctrines of the gospel with great boldness
and plainness of speech, but he preached from his own heart
to the hearts of perishing sinners whom he longed to see converted. Turn over to Romans chapter 9. Paul didn't just come before
men, lay out some facts. He didn't speak to men as one
who really didn't care whether they believed or didn't believe,
as one who didn't care whether they were saved or damned. No,
not at all. Paul had a message from the heart
of God, which he had experienced in his own heart, and he delivered
it to the hearts of men. He delivered it to the hearts
of men as one who could not endure the thought of those men perishing
without Christ. I would to God, I could preach
to you just that way. I don't give a flip. whether
you're Baptist or Catholic, charismatic or straight-laced, whether you're
Calvinist or an Arminian, I don't give a flip about it. Oh, my soul, I can't endure the thought of
you perishing without Christ. I want you to know the living
God. Here in Romans 9, Paul said,
I say the truth. I lie not. My conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. I have great heaviness, constant
burden and sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren. my kinsmen according
to the flesh." I've read all kinds of commentaries
on that passage, and they all try to explain it
and explain it and explain it away. I say, well, when you stop and
think about that, a man couldn't possibly talk like that. Let me suggest something to you.
A heart bursting with love doesn't stop to think about what it says. You speak to your wife or your daughter after you've
had some disagreement, had been some question as to how you behave,
and somehow you want to communicate that love that you have for them.
You want them to know. You just want them to know how
you love them. And you say things that are extravagant. You mean them, but they're extravagant. They go beyond the reach of reason.
They go beyond the reach of logic. You know, I see my wife laying
in the hospital bed, see her suffering, hurting. I tell her, I'd gladly take your
place. And I mean it, I would. I would. But I know it wouldn't do her
any good. Wouldn't do her any good if I was laying down on
the bed sick too. That wouldn't help a thing. But you understand
what I'm saying? It's an extravagance of expression.
And this is what Paul says to those people he preached to.
His heart's bursting with love for them, and he wants them to
understand how earnest he is and how committed he is to their
souls. I could wish I'd lose my own
soul, yet by losing my own soul you might live. Now Paul knew,
yes, he knew that If he lost his own soul, it wouldn't do
them any good. Yes, he knew that his dying couldn't possibly atone
for their sins. He knew all that. He knew all
that. But what he was saying is, I love you, and I want you
to know God. I want you to know God. He says in chapter 10, verse
1, brethren, my heart's desire, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Paul loved the people to whom
he preached. He knew the terror of the Lord,
and he said, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We read here in Acts 28 how that
he persuaded these men concerning Jesus Christ. Yes, he spoke extravagantly,
but love speaks extravagantly. Love doesn't speak in calculated
terms without feeling. Love, when it bursts to make
itself known, will often speak beyond pure rationality. And
my point is just this. These people here heard the best
of preachers preaching at his best the pure truth of God, and
they heard him preach with a heart bleeding for their souls. He wanted them to know God. I want you, oh I want you to
know Jesus Christ. I speak pointedly at the risk of offending, at
the risk of causing people I love rise up in animosity, but I speak
pointedly, I've got to, got to. I want you to know Jesus Christ. Don't you miss him? Don't you
miss him? But when these people heard Paul
preach, some believed and some believed
not. How do you explain that? Why do some who hear the gospel
believe while others do not believe? Why? What makes the difference? The difference is not in the
sermon. They both heard the same sermon. The difference is not
in the persuasive power of the preacher. They both heard the
same preacher. The difference is not in the
climate. They were both in the same room. The difference is
not in the preacher's appeal. They both had the same appeal.
The difference is not in the moral constitution of the hearer.
That makes salvation by works. That makes salvation determined
by man, not by God. What's the difference? You can
search the world over, and you can search through this book.
Why do some who hear the gospel believe while others do not? Here it is. God willed it. God willed it. That's all. God willed it. He
says, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have
compassion on whom I'll have compassion. So then it is not
of him that willeth nor of him that runneth. but of God that
showeth mercy. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, whom he willly hardeneth." If you believe the gospel, if you trust Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, if you have faith, Probably it's because God gave
you faith. There's no other reason. There's
no other reason. Twenty years ago, I had a companion, my bosom buddy. We went to school
together for 12 years. We walked to school in the first
grade together. and walked to school together
until I was 16 years old. And he was 16 years old, he'd
drive one day and I'd drive another. We sold all kinds of things together. We camped out together. Tried
to burn each other down, blow each other up with campfires. We played cowboys and Indians
together and we worked together. We walked together. into the
house of God. And we sat down together. He's
dating one girl and I was dating another. We heard the same message, heard
the same Sunday school teacher, heard the same doctrine, had
the same spiritual conditions of the meeting,
whatever they were. And when the preacher was done
preaching, I believed. I believed. I believed what I
heard. And my buddy, as far as I know
to this day, does not believe. What makes the difference? By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. It's just that simple. It's just
that simple. Who maketh thee to differ from
another, what hast thou that thou didst not receive? And if
you received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?
One last question. Why is it that some, many, who hear the
gospel do not believe? I'll tell you why. I know the
answer. There's only one answer. There's only one answer. It's
given by our Lord in John 5, verse 40. Ye will not. That's all. It's not my fault
if you don't believe. I've done everything I know to
do. I really have. I call your name before God day
and night, week after week, month after
month, year after year. Some of you, I prepare a message,
and while I'm preparing the message, I'm calling your name before
God. No, it's not my fault if you don't believe. I'm innocent
of your blood. Ignorance is no excuse. Somebody
may claim ignorance, not you. You know the truth. You know
it. You know the difference in Arminianism and grace. You know
the difference in freewillism and grace. You know the difference
between works and grace. You know the difference. There's
only one reason why you don't believe. You won't. You will not come to me that
you might have life. And he that believeth not hath made God a liar. That's what unbelief is. That's
what unbelief is. You sit in God's house, on God's
planet, in God's face, and you brazenly, stout-heartedly, rebelliously,
look God in the face, and you say, God Almighty, you're not
fit to be believed. And because you will not believe,
you're condemned. And the torment of your soul
in hell, the greatest torment of your soul in hell, will be
the realization, the eternal realization, that the only reason you're damned
is because you would not believe. Oh, may God help you to believe.
This whole assembly, divided into two groups, just two. No in-between group, just two.
Those who believe, those who believe not. That's all. That's all. If you believe, I
challenge you to do something tonight. I hope you'll do it. I'm serious. I hope you'll do
this tonight." He started to say, for me, do it for yourself.
If you believe, if you trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
right before you lay down tonight on your pillow, take your piece
of paper and write out these words, I am forgiven. I'm forgiven. And if you do not believe, take
me dead serious, take me dead serious. If you do not believe,
before you lay down tonight, write out these words, I am condemned by my unbelief. And if you can sleep through
the night, when you get up in the morning, read it again. And before you go to bed the
next night, read it again. Write it down again. Condemned by my own unbelief. God help you to believe for Christ's
sake. Amen.