Okay, this evening, from Isaiah
14, Isaiah 14, I've thought about several different titles. I've
thought about the title, Free Will or Free Grace, Salvation
by the Free Will of Man or by the Free Grace of God. Or we
could say, Salvation by works of the sinner or salvation by
the grace of the Creator? Well, we know the answer, don't
we? Salvation by His will, His will will be done in heaven and
in earth. and in the lives of all of his
people. His will will be done. And we know that salvation, salvation
is all of the Lord. God gave Isaiah a sure word of
prophecy concerning the certain deliverance of God's national
people. God said they will be HELD IN
CAPTIVITY FOR 70 YEARS. GOD SAID AFTER THAT 70 YEARS,
I WILL DELIVER THEM. AND JUST AS GOD SAID THAT IT
WOULD COME TO PASS, YOU KNOW WHAT? IT CAME TO PASS. ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE CERTAIN
AND SURE. ALL THE EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS
PROMISES, NONE WILL FAIL. REMEMBER THE LAST WORDS OF JOSHUA.
ALL THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN, NOT ONE WORD HAS FAILED. THEREFORE,
GOD IS UNCHANGING, HIS WORD IS UNCHANGING, HIS WILL IS UNCHANGING,
HIS PURPOSE IS UNCHANGING. WE CAN TRUST HIM. WE CAN TRUST HIM IN ALL THINGS,
IN ALL THINGS. NOW HERE'S WHAT THE SCRIPTURE
REVEALS UNTO US ABOUT THE SALVATION OF THE LORD. BEFORE THE WORLD
WAS MADE FROM ALL ETERNITY, GOD PURPOSED, PLANNED, PROMISED AND
PREDESTINATED A PEOPLE TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. THAT'S WHAT PREDESTINATION IS
ALL ABOUT. GOD CHOOSING A PEOPLE AND DETERMINING
PRIOR TO TO MAKE THEM JUST LIKE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. GOD DETERMINED
WHO HE WOULD SAVE FROM ETERNITY We call that the Bible doctrine
of election. God hath from the beginning chosen
you unto salvation. Salvation is not something man
chooses, it's something that God does. Our Lord said, you
didn't choose me, I've chosen you. God chose, planned, promised,
and predestinated by his purpose who he would save. who He would
justify. He also determined the ground
by which He would justify them, justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
also sovereignly predestinated, promised, and planned the means
whereby they would, His people, believers, would receive the
Lord Jesus Christ as God our Savior. And the means to receive
Him is faith. Faith is a hand that reaches
out, the feet that run, the eyes that look to the Lord Jesus Christ
for all salvation. It is of faith that it might
be by grace that the promise might be sure to all the seed. He's called the God of all grace,
the God of all grace. who had called us to eternal
glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see the certainty of the
salvation of God's people based upon that eternal covenant of
grace. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
great shepherd of the sheep, the God of peace that brought
again from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd
of the sheep through the ages. BLOOD ATONEMENT OF THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST, THROUGH THAT COVENANT OF GRACE. COVENANT OF GRACE. THE WILL OF GOD AS IT'S SET FORTH
IN THE WORD OF GOD IS EXPRESSED AS ABSOLUTE, SOVEREIGN, FREE. HE WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE
COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL. HIS OWN WILL, NOT OURS. HIS WILL
WILL BE DONE. HE SAID, I'M THE LORD, I CHANGE
NOT. Therefore you sons of Jacob shall
not be consumed. The frail and sinful fallen will
of wicked man is in total bondage to their wicked nature. Boastful,
maybe, but unable to accomplish its purpose. Men often boast,
well, I'm gonna do this, I will do that. That's what this king
said. He said, I will ascend, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God, verse 13. I will set
also upon the mount of the congregation in the side to the north. I will
ascend to the height of the cloud. I will be like the most high
God. And the answer comes back and said, uh-uh, no way. thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the grave, to the sides of
the pit. And they that see thee shall
narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this
the man that made the earth to tremble and did shake? You see,
he boasted OF HIS WILL, OF HIS MIGHT, OF HIS POWER, AND GOD
SAID, NO WAY, NO WAY. NOW, AS YOU READ THIS CHAPTER,
THERE SEEM TO BE TWO OPPOSING WILLS IN THIS CHAPTER, THE FALLEN,
REBELLIOUS WILL OF THE PAGAN KING OF BABYLON, AND THE SOVEREIGN,
RIGHTEOUS WILL OF THE KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS, THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. NOW, A FALLEN MAN HAS A WILL,
He does have a will, but it's not free. His will is in bondage
to his nature. His will is in bondage to his
nature. Now, there are just two religions
in this world. One is true, one is false. One is life, the way of truth,
the way of life, the way of salvation, the way, the truth, the life.
And the other is a way of falsehood. Just two religions, no matter
what you call it or what it is, it all sums up in works or grace. If it's all of grace, then it's
not works. If it's all of works, then it's
not grace. That's what he says over there
in Romans 11, there's a remnant according to the grace of God. It cannot be both. The way of
Abel is the way of grace, the way of Cain. Two religions, one
right, one wrong. Abel, blood sacrifice, free grace,
sovereign will. Cain, the fallen will of man,
the wicked will of man, the way of works. God said, away with
it, I will not have it. Now, The way of salvation that's
revealed in the word of the Lord is a way of free and sovereign
grace. That's the only way that God
receives all the honor and glory. And that's the whole bottom line
in this thing of salvation. If salvation is by man's will
and works, then he gets the glory. If it's all depending upon him,
then he gets the glory. BUT WE KNOW THAT SALVATION IS
NOT DEPENDENT UPON THE CREATURE, BUT RATHER UPON THE CREATOR,
AND THAT GIVES GOD ALL THE HONOR AND GLORY. THAT'S WHY PAUL SAID,
GOD FORBID THAT I SHOULD GLORY SAVE IN THE CROSS OF THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST. BUT OF HIM ARE YOU IN CHRIST
JESUS, WHO OF GOD HAS MADE UNTO US WISDOM? WE'VE HEARD THIS VERSE
BEFORE. BUT OF HIM ARE YOU IN CHRIST?
But of Him are you in Christ. That's free grace. That's His
will and His purpose being done. But of Him are you in Christ.
Who of God is made unto us everything we need to stand before God.
Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. In Him was all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and the believer stand complete
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of man's invention of
salvation by works, boasts of the sinful creature's ability
and will and purpose to save himself and give himself all
the credit and glory for doing so. That's the way it works. Remember
those apostles came to the Lord and said, Lord, who then can
be saved? He said, with men, with men, it is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Free will works religion, makes
salvation to be in some way, at some point, to some degree
dependent, determined by the creature's will, not the grace
of God alone. They even go so far as to make
salvation and redemption dependent upon faith, and dependent upon
the creature's repentance. Faith and repentance does not
produce salvation. Salvation by the grace of God
brings faith and repentance. There's a big difference, day
and night difference. Day and night difference. Faith
is a gift of God. Faith acknowledges how God saves
sinners by his grace. The faith of God's elect acknowledges
the truth. Repentance likewise. He's exalted
to give repentance to Israel. Repentance, likewise, it says
that in 2 Timothy 2, that those who are granted repentance acknowledge
that God is God. His will, His purpose will be
done. Salvation is all of God's will,
purpose, and grace given in Christ before the foundation of the
world. The Bible does not teach that
salvation is by man's choice, God's choice. The Bible does
not teach that salvation is by man's will, but rather God's
will. Now I've run into this, it's
not of him that willeth, Romans 9, not of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Now, whenever you casually talk
to someone around the lunch table at work or your friends or in
a conversation in the community or your neighborhood or whatever,
when you start talking about the sovereign, unchangeable will
and purpose of God, that will be done that cannot change. He
said, I've spoken it, I've purposed it, I will do it. Remember Isaiah
46. Often this, and I don't know
where exactly this got started, but there's this saying, quote,
man, they say in argument to the sovereign grace of God, they
often say, Those who do not believe the gospel, they say, well, man's
a free moral agent. You ever heard that? That's what
religious people say when you talk about the sovereignty of
God and shutting sinners up to the sovereign mercy of God. And
it's God's choice, dependent upon God. And they say, well,
wait a minute. My preacher said everybody has a free, has a free
will, and that every man is a free moral agent. Well, is that so? No. It's not. Man is not free. He's fallen. He's dead in sin
and in bondage to his sinful nature. There is none that seeketh
God. No, not one. Hold your place
there. And turn over here to Isaiah 64. Remember our Lord
said, no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw
him. In Isaiah 64, look at verse 6. 64, 6. We're all as unclean
thing. You got it? Isaiah 64, 6. All
our righteousness is as filthy rags. We do fade as a leaf, and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is
none that calleth upon thy name. Remember, there's none to understand
it. There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that
stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy
face from us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquity. But
now, O Lord, thou art our Father, we are the clay, thou art the
potter, we're all the work of thy hand. No man stirs up himself
to take hold of the Lord. Man is not free, his will is
not free. He's in bondage to his rotten,
wicked nature. Secondly, man is not moral, is
he? Just read the newspaper. Just
watch the evening news. Murder and rape all the time.
Murder, rape, and robbery all the time, all the time. Man is
not moral. Man's a monster. He's a monster. He's born in sin and shaped in
iniquity. I know religious people like
to say, well, ah, you know, I'd never do that. Hold on now. There's
nothing you're not capable of doing. Remember what Peter boasted,
Lord, I'll never deny you, never. These other, John, Philip, these
guys are weaklings. I'll never do that. Our Lord
corrected him, didn't he? It won't be until the rooster
starts crowing. When the sun comes up, you're
going to deny me three times. But be of good cheer. I've overcome. So man is not freeze-fallen.
Man is not moral. He's a monster. A monster. You're talking about people down
there in a jailhouse. They're all monsters down there.
No, I'm talking about people over here at First Baptist Church.
talking about the people over here at Zebulon as Zebulonians.
We're sinners, throwing through. We did a message today, a Brother
Henry's TV sermon that we, Bridget, typed out yesterday, and I proofread
it today. We talked about in that message,
remember, restraining grace, restraining grace. effectual
grace, saving grace, choosing grace, redeeming grace. He talked
about, he said seven points. One of the points was restraining
grace. If God doesn't restrain wicked
man, that's a monster. This human race wouldn't stand
one 24 hour day. If God just, if God just, Remove
the restraints from from all fallen wicked man. That's all
of us We'd have it be mass murder Genocide genocide Say well, that's
not me You don't know your own heart See the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. So man is not for ease
fallen. He's not moral He's a monster Well, my grandmother, she was
so sweet. Surely, if anybody went to heaven,
she did. If your grandmother went to heaven,
it's one reason. God, in mercy, justified her
by his grace. God doesn't take any man to heaven
because he's moral, because there's none righteous, no, not one. Man is not an agent. He's not
a free agent. You know what he is? He's an
alien. Alien from the commonwealth of
Israel. Without God, without hope, and
without Christ. Man is not an agent. An agent is one who acts in authority,
with authority, in the stead of another. That's an agent.
I have an insurance agent. She has, the authority to act
on my behalf to provide insurance. But man is not an agent. He doesn't
act on behalf of God to execute things. Man's an alien with no authority,
no ability to accomplish anything in the kingdom of God. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Now why, people say, well, why
make this an issue? Is it really that important to
declare that salvation's all of grace, not of works? Isn't
this just kind of theological hair splitting? Isn't this just
what the theologians sit around and debate and talk about? No,
this is what's taught plainly in the word of God, and this
is what all of God's preachers preach, the free and sovereign
grace of God. salvation by the will of God,
the purpose of God through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So this is a necessity. You can't
preach the gospel without preaching the eternal purpose of God in
the salvation of His people and the effectual blood atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the reason why free willism
is a denial of the gospel because it denies the absolute right
of God to do with his own what he will. They say, well that's
not fair, that's not right. Every sinner has a shot, has
a chance at this salvation. That's what they say. That's
not what this book teaches. Salvation's not by chance, is
it? It's by the grace of God. Now,
let me give you four things here. Four things. Why free willism
is a denial of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We used
to have a, down the street from 13th Street Baptist Church was
a building, going, driving into town, you'd pass this building.
going down toward town, and it was a big, large building, and
across the roof, across the peak of that roof, all the way across,
parallel or perpendicular to the road where you could see
it, was a big sign. All the way the length of that
building, it must have been bigger than this building. Must have
been 100 feet long. Free Will Baptist Church. Brother Clark, our missionary
from England, when he came over and visited with Brother Henry,
Brother Henry went and picked him up at the airport and they
were driving him back. First time Bill was in Ashland there
and driving through that town and they passed that building
and Bill said, my, my, they sure flaunt their heresy here, don't
they? They're not ashamed of their
heresy. Freewheelism. Man not free, dead. Now let me
give you these four things. Free willism is a denial that
God is God. Free willism denies that God
is God. Free willism, free will religion
says God cannot do what he wants to do unless we choose to let
him. Or they say God would never interfere
with your will. That's just hands off, he can't
touch your will as it's some kind of a sacred thing. He sure
dealt with that king of Babylon who said, I will, I will, I will,
and God said, no you won't. If that's the case, if God cannot
do what he wants unless we choose to let him, if that's the case,
who is God? Him or you? A God that cannot act without
our permission is no God at all, and is simply an idol of our
imagination, who must answer to us. God doesn't answer to
us. All he owes us is death, death. I went to the dentist on Monday,
and my dentist came in and said, how are you doing today? I guess
that's what they asked. I said, you know, I'm at the
dentist's office, about ready to get shot and drilled on. And
I said, I'm doing better than I deserve. And the lady that's
the dental assistant, she said, yeah, that's right. And I turned
and looked up at her. I said, what do we deserve? What
do we deserve? She said, death. I said, amen,
you're right. The wages of sin is death, death. A God that cannot act without
our permission is no God at all, simply an idol of our imagination. Would you worship a God like
that? The only place a sinner will really worship is at the
throne of the Almighty God, who cannot be manipulated or changed
by the creature. That's worship. Holy and reverent
is thy name. And we bow to it with sovereignty.
That's... Barnard came back in 1950. Man,
you know how many years ago that was? 1950. Seventy years ago. And he said to those people,
Jesus can't save a flea. Jesus can't save a flea. And
they about fell out. It was a big, large Southern
Baptist church who promoted free willism. He said, it's the Lord
Jesus Christ that's saved. He said, don't tell me who your
Savior is, tell me who your Lord is. If he's not your Lord, if
he's not God our Savior, he has no salvation. Salvation's of
the Lord. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that deed did he in heaven and earth see in all deep places. The scriptures plainly teach
that God is not in our hands, we're in his hands, and he will
do with us what he pleases. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Second
thing is this, freewillism is a denial. I'm talking about freewill
works religion that makes salvation dependent upon the creature.
And that's what everybody in this valley, I don't know of
any other preacher or any other ministry that preaches consistently
all the time that salvation depended upon Christ. They all say it's
your decision, your baptism, your will, you coming forward,
you praying through, you doing all these things. Free willism
is a denial of what the scriptures teach us about man's total fall,
sinful state before God, being dead in sin and separated from
God. Now, if you start out wrong,
you're gonna end up wrong. What happened in the fall? If
you're wrong there, you're wrong on salvation. If you don't understand
what happened when Adam sinned, you'll never understand what
happened at Calvary. When Adam sinned, death came
in, death by sin, and death passed upon all men, and that all men
have sinned. We're dead in sin and separated
from God. Just go down to the cemetery
and ask those dead people if they're willing to come out of
the grave. They'd put you, they'd lock you
up somewhere. If you would stand out there
every Sunday morning and say, oh, everyone out there that's
willing, get on up out of there. You say, preacher, you're making
fun. Elijah did the same thing to
those prophets of Baal. Why don't you call a little louder?
Maybe you're God's on vacation. Maybe he just can't hear this
morning. Free willism is the denial of the total depravity
of man. It's denying that in Adam all
died. All are spiritually dead who
must be quickened. You have he quickened who were
dead. Free willism is the denial that salvation is of the Lord.
We read a moment ago, I guess maybe one of my top 10 scriptures. It's in my top 10 list. God who
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, given us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. He saved us, and
then he called us. This religious world's got that
just completely backwards. God saves us in his eternal purpose
and grace in that covenant when he chose us unto salvation. Thirdly,
freewillism is a denial of the effectual blood atonement of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what freewill works religion
says, that Christ died to make salvation a possibility. He died to put man in a savable
state. If they'll just make a decision
to make the blood atonement effectual, everything will be okay. Well,
in that scheme of thinking, who really makes a blood atonement
effectual? Christ or the creature? If you
say that Christ died for all the sins of all men and put them
in a savable state, if they will meet certain conditions, then
their sins put away. That's nothing but works. salvation
by the grace of God because the Lord Jesus Christ put away the
sin of God's elect and he will cross their path with the truth.
They will hear it and believe God and embrace the Lord Jesus
Christ by God given faith and they will acknowledge he is Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Thank God that free willism Free
will, thank God that free willism or free will has nothing to do
with the effectual atonement of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
did not make a mere down payment for sin and leaving the rest
for us to do, no, he paid it all. He bought us with his blood
and he's going to have what he bought. Now, you ladies go to
Walmart, you make a list, right? You choose what you're going
to buy. You go to Walmart over there, pile up your buggy, go to the checkout line, pull out your debit card, write
a check, however you pay for it, back it up, and then what
do you do? You just leave it in the store
and go home. No, you're going to take it home. Why are you
going to take it home for? You bought it. You bought it.
God's going to take home what he bought. He bought us with
his own blood to suggest that he died for all the sins of all
men, and yet some men wind up in hell anyway. No way. I lay down my life for
the sheep. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save. THEM FROM THEIR SIN. HE PAID OUR SIN DEBT, HE TOOK
THE RESPONSIBILITY ON HIMSELF FOR MY SIN DEBT AS A SURETY OF
THE COVENANT, HE OBTAINED FOR US ETERNAL REDEMPTION, AND THOSE
PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE DIED THEY CANNOT PERISH. WHY? THEIR SIN
IS PUT AWAY. They may sin, but they'll never
perish. They may fall, but they will
never perish. Why? Because he gives them eternal
life. He saves them, turn over here
to Isaiah 45. He saves them, he saves them
with a everlasting, Isaiah 45, 17. Verse 16 said, they shall be
ashamed and also confounded, all of them that shall go to
confusion together that are makers of idols, but Israel shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed
or confounded world without end. Lastly, Free will works religion
denies the true meaning of faith. Faith. Free will works religion
makes faith a decision that you make rather than the sovereign
gift of God. Faith is not the product of the
flesh, it's the fruit of the spirit. It's love, joy, peace,
and faith. The only thing that's native
to our fallen sinful flesh is unbelief, not faith. Faith is
a gift of God. We'd never believe the gospel
without God giving us faith in Christ. Those who are taken up
with making a decision always look back to that decision. Those
who were taken up by looking to an experience will always
look back to that experience for assurance rather than true
saving faith always looks to Christ. We find confidence and
assurance in the Lord Jesus Christ. I had a young man call me one
day, was asking some questions about the somber and free grace
of God. And I said, well, that's what
we preach here. Well, he came to one service.
He said, I want to talk to you after the service. I said, okay,
well, after the service, we'll talk. I sat right over here on
that front row. After all of you left, I said,
you come down, sit down right over here. And he said, he said,
I don't have any assurance. I can't find assurance. I told
him, I said, don't seek assurance. Seek Christ. Look to Christ. He is our assurance. You'll never
have assurance looking in here. Our assurance is Christ. Salvation is certain and sure
in him. That's why Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him. It's interesting, that
young man never came back, never contacted me. I guess he didn't
find what he was looking for. I think he kind of was looking
for a place to preach. I said, you need to come sit
and listen, not get up and preach. He said, oh, I'm a preacher. I said, you better sit and listen
for a while. He never came back. You see,
faith is a gift of God. Now I'm so thankful that the
Lord doesn't leave us to our depraved,
fallen will because we never believe. Thy people shall be
willing in a day of His power. We only believe according to
the working of His mighty will. For Moses, he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, It's not of him that
willeth or of him that runneth, but of God who shows mercy. But of God, but God who is rich
in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. That's my message. I'm sticking
to it.