Wherein do we differ? Wherein
do we differ? Acts 24, let's begin with verse
1. And after five days, Ananias
the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain
orator named Tertullius, who informed the governor against
this preacher Paul. And when he was called forth,
Tertullius began to accuse him, saying, accuse Paul, that is,
before the governor, and he butters up the governor. He said, seeing
that by thee we enjoy great quietness and that very worthy deeds are
done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always
and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thanks. He's
really buttering up this old Roman ruler. Notwithstanding that I be not
further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear
us of thy clemency a few words. We have found this man, Paul,
a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition among the Jews throughout
the world, and a ringleader of the the cult of the Nazarenes,
who also hath gone about to profane the temple, whom we took, and
now we would have judged him according to our law, but the
chief captain, Leusis, came upon us, and with great violence took
him away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee,
by examining of whom Thyself mayest take knowledge of all
these things whereof we accuse him." And the Jews also assented,
saying that these things were so. Then Paul, after the governor
had beckoned unto him, evidently the governor never said anything,
just told Paul to speak for himself. Paul answered, Forasmuch as I
know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation,
I do more cheerfully answer for myself. Because that thou mayest
understand that there are yet but twelve days since I went
up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man. I'm not a disputer, I'm
not a debater, Paul said. They neither found me raising
up the people, stirring up the people. That's not true. Neither
in the synagogue nor in the city. Neither can they prove the things
while they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee.
Oh, I like this verse of Scripture. But this I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy, all these Pharisees
and Sadducees and scribes and lawyers and religious leaders,
the popular religion of the day, These theologians and students
and professors and ecclesiastical leaders and Sanhedrin, what they
call heresy, what they call damnable doctrine, what they call error. After that way, so worship I,
the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in
the law and in the prophets. Now here's a single man. Here's a preacher of the gospel,
here's a prophet of God. That's totally swimming upstream. Everything and everybody, all
the sticks and rocks and boulders and trees and logs and current
and everything else is going that way, he's going this way.
He's going this way. It was a religious day, men were
religious, they were zealous. enthusiastic, religiously enthusiastic,
David. They were orthodox, and they
were students, and studiers, and proselyters, and all these
things. They were religious. They were
building temples, and synagogues, and places of worship, and campaigns,
and programs, and all these things. They were religious, but they
hated the doctrine of God's grace in Christ. They hated substitution. They hated satisfaction. They
hated representation. And they hated Paul who preached
it. They not only hated the doctrine of God's sovereign grace, they
hated the man they heard preaching. They hated him. They despised
him. They hated him and his gospel. They despised him and his gospel. And they brought him before the
Roman governor. They weren't satisfied to accuse
him in their Sanhedrin. They wanted the government to
do something about him. They brought him to accuse him
of blasphemy. Do something about him. Do something
to close this man's mouth. They accused him of sedition.
They accused him of profaning the temple. They accused him
of everything. Lied on him. And the apostle stood up to defend
himself before the governor. And he said, I'm not a troublemaker.
I am not a troublemaker. He said, I've never attempted
to organize anybody into anything. I've not organized the people
or raised them up or stirred them up. And the lies that these
men have told, I challenge them to prove are one up. But he said,
I do confess this. And he looked at all these religious
fellows. He looked at the chief priests,
Ananas, and he looked at the Pharisees, he looked at the leaders
of religion, he looked at all the pastors and teachers and
all the rest of them, he said, I confess this, that what these
fellas call heresy, what these fellas call damnable doctrine,
what these fellas call error and blasphemy is the very way
I worship God. I want them to know that. I want
everyone to know that. I'm not backing down, that's
what he said. I'm telling you they've lied on me and I'm not
a troublemaker. I refuse to be tried as a troublemaker. I refuse to be tried as a seditionist. I refuse to be tried as a stirrup
of the people or organizer of anything. But I don't mind being
tried on what I believe. And he said, I worship the God
of my fathers and I believe the scriptures. Now, application. This is a religious day in which
we live. It's religious now. If you want
to get, if you want to get and observe the foolishness,
absolute foolishness, sentimentality, emotionalism, and violation of the gospel,
Tune in on channel 61 WTSF Ashland, Kentucky and you'll get the most
vile, contrary to God's word, religion you've ever listened
to or watched in your life. And they call it a Christian
television station. It's not Christian, it's religious. But this day of religion, all
around us, it's active, it's enthusiastic, it's zealous, it's
popular, and religion is big business. Everybody's getting
in on the game and the racket. It's big business. You know it
and I know it. It's big business. Religion's everywhere. Religion's
everywhere. And the preachers of God's sovereign,
free, discriminating, electing grace such as Paul the Apostle,
are despised and hated and ridiculed and ganged up on today just like
they were then. That's so. All you have to do
is somebody asks you, where do you go to church? You say, 13th
Street Baptist, and they'll say, O. O. There's no how you doing,
what are you running in Sunday school, what's your budget, what's...
O. Preachers of God's grace are
called troublemakers, dividers of churches. They're accused
of every religious crime known to man. However, like the Apostle
Paul, I tell you this, we're not debaters. We're not religious
debaters. I never challenged anybody to
a religious debate. I'm not a disputer. We're not
troublemakers. In fact, I find it very comfortable
just to come here and preach the gospel. We're not troublemakers. We're not anti-missionary. We're
not anti-soul winning. We don't preach babies in hell.
We don't preach double predestination. We do not attempt to stir up
people, never have, never will. We make no attacks on the government.
Let them do what they will. But I confess this, and I want
it like the Apostle Paul. This is my text, this morning,
verse 14. I confess this. I confess this, and I'll face
all of the popular TV evangelists, let them all be in the hearing,
all of them. Name them when you want to. And
all the presidents of all the conventions, and all the professors
and rulers of all the schools, all the Sanhedrin, the ecclesiastical
powers, and all the preachers in this area, whatever they may
go by, Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian,
just get them all there. What they call heresy, what they
call heresy, and brethren, I'm talking about sovereignty, absolute
sovereignty, what they call heresy, the sovereignty of God and salvation.
What they call heresy, divine discriminating election, that's
heresy to them. What they call heresy, Calvinism,
Augustinianism, Paulinism. What they call heresy, predestination. Beloved word. Predestination,
John. Election. Particular redemption. What they call heresy, reprobation. Judas was a reprobate from the
beginning. Pharaoh was a reprobate from
before the foundation of the world. That's right. What they call heresy, is exactly
the way I worship the God of my Father. I want them to know
that. That's exactly what Paul's saying
right here. He's taking on the whole religious
world. And they've brought their charges,
they've railed against him, they want to put him out of business,
they want to silence his tongue, they want to do whatever they
can to put him out of the ministry, just silence, shut this man up.
And they brought him before the governor, and he said, they lied,
I'm not guilty of the charges, but he said, I'll confess to
this, what these birds call heresy, what they hate, what they despise,
what they compromise, what they won't preach. That's the way
I worship God, the God of my fathers. And he said, I believe
the word of God. I believe it. Everything written
in the law. and in the prophets, I believe
it. And my friends, I want to say this to you and to whoever
hears this message on tape, whenever. Wherein do we differ? Wherein
do we differ? Where do you, Brother Man, where
do you differ from the preachers in this area and other areas?
Where do you differ from what's going on on that television screen,
the women preachers and outlandish music Wicked music in the name
of God. It's fleshly rock and roll gospel
music that's distasteful to anybody who loves Jesus Christ. It's
entertainment. It's entertainment. And I'll
tell you this, you watch it. The men more and more having
less to say and the women more and more having more to say.
That's exactly right. And more and more to say. And
I do know this, if Almighty God would put a bet and a vital on
the mouth of every woman in the United States, Pentecostalism
would go out of business. That's exactly right. I'm telling
you the truth. You made me think I'm hard. But
it's feminism and a rebellion against the Word of God, where
it says, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to preach, nor
to use of authority in the house of God. You put a bridle on them
and a tape on their mouths, and all these faces go out of business.
It's exactly right. And this, I'm saying this, that
the way in which we differ, it's not a matter of form, it's not
a matter of the way we sing. It has a lot to do with what
we sing. It's not government, it's not
how you're baptized, by immersion of sprinkler. That's got nothing
to do with it. It's not a matter of whether you have pastors,
or elders, or synods, or presbyteries, or stewards, or whatever. That has nothing to do with it.
It's not form, or tradition, or ceremony. Wherein we differ,
my friends, now get this, where we differ, where I differ from
this religious city in which I live, and all these churches,
where we differ, not only with the ones who call it heresy,
but the ones who are too cowardly to preach it. We differ with
them so decisively and so clearly that one of us is preaching another
gospel. That's how much we differ. One
of us is preaching another gospel, another Jesus and by another
spirit. I'm telling the truth. When somebody's
preaching, we are so different. And we'll show you that under
five heading. We are so different. from Southern Baptists that one
of us is a heretic. That's exactly right. We're so different. That's what Paul's saying here. He's facing the ministers of
his day. He's facing the leaders. He's
facing the accepted men. He's facing the men of influence,
authority, prestige, power. He's facing the men who held
the offices. And he says what those fellas
call heresy is the way I worship God. That means if I'm right,
they're heretics. All right, let me show you. I'll show you. Here's the first
statement. You can write it down if you want to. Wherein we differ. It's not form or tradition or
custom or government or ways or ordinances. It's what happened
in the garden. That's where we differ. Charlie,
this is so. What happened in the garden?
Now, what do you think happened in the garden? I know what the
Bible says happened in the garden. It says that a representative
man called Adam, red earth, man, the representative of the whole
human race. It says that a federal head,
in Adam we live, in Adam we sin, in Adam we die. It's saying that
the trunk of the whole family tree sin, failed, died, was born
under the judgment of God, and every son of Adam is as dead
as he was. That's what it says. That's what
the Bible says. There's not a spark of life in us. There's not a
spark of spirituality in us. There's no response to God in
us. We're dead. As Brother Bowie said, graveyard
dead, from the sole of your feet to the top of your head. There's
no soundness, there's nothing to appeal to. You say, God's
done all he can do, now it's up to man. Then we're out of
business. God takes the first step, but you've got to take
the next step. We're out of business. If I have to take any step, a
dead man's out of business. That's what I'm saying. Dead.
Not partially dead, not blind in one eye, dead. Sinners cannot
hear, see, respond, move, repent, believe, call, even desire God
without God's help. That's what I'm saying. And I'll
show you that in Romans 5. And you know all the scripture
says, you happy quickens who were dead in trespasses and sin. Romans 5, 12, listen, wherefore
as by one man That's Adam. Sin entered into this world.
Sin came into this world. It was by him, through him, because
of him. It's through his door that it
came into this world. And death came with it. Death
came with it. And so that death, spiritual
death, which results in physical death and eternal death, spiritual
death passed upon all. for all sin. When Adam sinned,
we sinned. Look at verse 17 of that same
chapter. By one man's offense, death reigned. Verse 18, Therefore by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Verse 19,
For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners. We're dead. Adam was dead in
sin. And when he gave birth, when he sired and his wife gave
birth to Cain, he was born dead in sin. And when Cain bore his
son, he was born dead in sin. And when your daddy sired you,
begat you, you was born dead in sin. And that baby you're
expecting is going to be born dead in sin. Dead! A hater of God. Totally separated
from God. Without hope, without help, without
Christ, without God in this world. That's what this book says. In
sin my mother conceived me. I was shapen in iniquity. I was
brought forth speaking lies from my mother's womb. I'm a hater
of God by nature. I live in darkness, disease,
death, rebellion, and the kingdom of Satan. God is not my father
by birth. The devil's my father. And everybody
in Ashland who knows not God, their father's the devil. Now
that's what I'm saying. That too hard? My Lord said that. And man has a will. You have
a will. Everybody's got a will. But it's
not free. Your will's not free. By nature
your will is in chains and bondage and fetters and slavery to your
nature. You hate God and your will hates
God. Your will is your volition. Your
will is your movement. And because your mind hates God,
you're going to move opposite from God. Man thinks, but he
doesn't think on God. He can't. Man loves, but he doesn't
love God. He loves himself. There's no
way I can possibly stand up here this morning and describe to
you the condition of man by nature in Adam as a result of that fall.
And the only word I know to use is dead. Dead. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. And you can put on all the campaigns
you want to, you can twist all the arms, you can put on puppet
shows, you can put on movies, you can get orchestras, you can
get the football players and the entertainers and all the
Hollywood stars and the mayors and the governors and the president,
endorse it, and all these things, and you can pressure sinners,
you can persuade sinners, you can do everything you want to,
and they'll still lay there dead. Dead, dead, unless he who speaks
from heaven by his sovereign grace and sovereign will and
sovereign gospel in the hands of his sovereign spirit says,
Lazarus, live. And that's when that old dead
sinner is going to live. Now, in the Pentecostal church, in
the Southern Baptist church, in the Catholic church, in the
Nazarene church, that's heresy. Is that right, Gerald? That's
what I believe. That's Harris said it then, but
that's what I believe. That's what this book teaches.
It did. All right, here's the second
thing. That's what happened in the garden. That's what happened
to the human race. Plunged into the pit of helplessness,
depravity. Secondly, what happened in eternity?
Back before God ever laid the foundations of this world. back
before God ever made that one man, Adam, that fell. Almighty
God, according to His own good pleasure and His own purpose,
knowing man would fall, knowing man's condition, knowing man's
inability, knowing man's depravity, and in His sovereign will permitting
it for His own glory. Why the fall? I can't answer
that. But I do know this, God had the
power to stop it if He would. That's exactly right, if he would. He said anything too hard for
God, but he didn't stop it. And I also know this, if there'd
been no fall, there'd be no song of redemption. I know second,
if there'd been no fall, there'd have been a danger of one now.
Isn't that right? If there'd been no fall, there'd
always be the danger of a fall. So for God's glory and the fulfillment
of his purpose and the eternal banishment of all evil, God dealt
with it once and for all, and He dealt with it in man through
His Son. And back before the foundation
of this world, according to His own good pleasure and purpose,
God Almighty, out of the whole human race, out of every tribe,
kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven, He personally, according
to His will, for His glory, chose a people, elected them, picked
them out, and said, I'm going to save them. in Christ. Now, election is not God voted
for you and the devil voted against you and you cast it aside and
vote. That's not election. That gives God and the devil
the same power and you, you really, the most power. And election is not God saw you
would believe and therefore he elected you. That's God taking
credit for something he didn't do. Election is just this. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
This is it right here. Here it is. It says in Ephesians
1, verse 3, "...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus, according as he hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world." that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love having predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His own will. You didn't choose God, He chose
you. You chose Him because He chose
you. You didn't love Him, He loved you. You love Him because
He loved you. You didn't call him, he called
you. You're the called of Christ Jesus.
You called because he called. He didn't answer your knock,
you answered his. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Now to this
world, to the religious world, go down at work tomorrow and
tell them what you believe. How dare you? You'll either get called into
the office or fired, one or the other. Or they'll gang up on
you like a hen on a June bug. Every one of them. Tell them.
Don't just say, I believe in election. Define it. It's heresy. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, We
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren and
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. And don't you soft-pedal that,
well, that's in such a way you don't violate the free agency
of the free will. God'll violate what He will.
God's God. He violated their Sabbath day.
He's God. That's right. He'll make you
willing in the day of His power. Don't you put strains on God.
I read these little watered-down confessions of faith and say,
we believe in election, but it does not violate man's free will.
Oh, yes, it does, too. Election picks out God's people. Look at 2 Timothy 1.9. Listen to this. 2 Timothy 1.9.
He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before this world began. That's
what we believe. I could stand up here all night
reading, all afternoon reading scriptures, Romans the 9th chapter,
Acts 13, 48. As many as were ordained to life,
they believed. What am I saying? I'm saying
God is sovereign in creation. He created everything without
any advice from anybody. He's sovereign in providence.
Everything that takes place in this world is by His divine will. And He's sovereign in salvation.
He quickeneth whom He will. He gives life to whom He will.
He'll save whom He will. In the covenant of grace, the
Father gave the Son of people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue unto heaven, and Christ said, I know my sheep,
and have known unto mine. The Father knoweth them that
are His. The Lord Jesus said, Of the sheep I have which are
not of this foal, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my
voice, and they shall follow me, and they shall be one foal.
All that my Father giveth me will come to me, and him that
cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven
not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me, and this
is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I'll lose not one, but raise him up at the last day.
And they began to murmur. He said, don't murmur. Don't
murmur. No man can come to me except
my Father which sent me. Draw him, and I'll raise him
up at the last day. Oh, my. What happened in eternity? God elected a people. Oh, here's
the third thing. That's heresy. Did you know that?
That's heresy. You say, well, it's not the only
church in town. It's the only one preaching that. Did I know
about it? You know any other? I don't know
any other. I know some preachers that'll
sit in their study and say, well, you know, I learned those things
in the seminary. And that's family doctrine. Even
the family doesn't know anything about it, though. Family hasn't
been exposed to it. But I confess what they call
heresy is the way I worship the Lord God. That's what Paul's
saying. Now look, here's the third thing.
What happened on the cross? What happened on the cross? What
happened on the cross? Turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter
10. What happened on the cross? What
happened in the garden? Man died. What happened in eternity?
God chose the people. What happened on the cross? Well,
let me ask three questions. Number one, who was on that cross?
Who was on the cross of Calvary? I'm saying that God in human
flesh was on that cross. God in human flesh. This is reality. I was listening to one dear lady
yesterday trying to preach, and she told about something wonderful
that happened. She said, now, isn't that just like Jesus? Isn't
that just like Jesus? My friend, who was on that cross? The Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't some feminine, weak,
defeated, frail reformer hanging on that cross. That's the Lord
of Glory. That's the conqueror, that's
the king, that's the lord of glory, the creator of heaven
and earth who subjected himself to this ill treatment. No man
takes my life from me. You don't do this to me because
I can't stop you. You do it to me because out of
your wicked hearts you want to and I'm letting you do it. He said, don't you know I could
call my father and ten thousand legions of angels to come down
here and wipe you out in a second. We just, like those Roman soldiers,
pressing that crown of thorns in his sacred brow, and I'll
tell you this, he let them do it. He let them do it. And they spit
in his face, and he let them do it. Totally in control, Charlie. And they whipped his precious
back, and he let them do it. That old pilot looked at him
and said, where'd you come from? He never answered him a word. King of kings and Lord of lords.
Never was anything less in human flesh. He's doing this for people.
My stripes were laid on him. That spittle was my spittle.
I deserved it. He didn't. That crown of thorns
is my crown of thorns. He had to wear it. He didn't
have any choice with it. He had to wear it. Those were
my nails. And he's in total control and
total command. He's not an offer. He's a gift. He's the unspeakable gift of
God. God didn't send his son down here as an offer. He sent
him on a mission to perform a task as a gift to redeem a people,
and he got the job done. Who was on that cross? The Son
of God. Why was he on that cross? Why? That God may be just and
justifier. That's why he was on that cross,
and that's the only reason. If it had been another way, God
would have taken it. Jesus Christ is on the cross because the cross
is the only solution for sin. The cross is the only way that
a holy God can be holy and save sinners. The cross is the only
way that a just God can punish your sins and set you free. And
Christ is hanging there as a substitute, as a sacrifice, as a sin offering,
as the anointed redeemer of a people. And what did he cry from that
cross? It's finished! I finished the work you gave
me to do. What is that work? To redeem
a people. And I'm saying this, this is
what I believe. And this is the most hated doctrine you can preach
today. There's some people that'll sort
of take depravity. There's some people who'll sort
of take with reservations election. And they'll even take to a degree
effectual cause. And they may put up with perseverance. But particular redemption, the
only man who will preach and receive and believe effectual
redemption is a man who's redeemed. Because he knows who redeemed
him. He knows he didn't have anything
to do with it. And you show me a person that contends for universal
redemption, and I'll show you a man that, good possibility,
he'd never met the Redeemer. That's how much I believe it.
I'll ask you this question. Christ was the atonement. Is
that what he was? Was he atonement? Well, did he atone? If he didn't
atone, he's not an atonement. Now, that's just plain common
sense. If it didn't atone, Cecil, it's
not an atonement. So if he didn't atone, then he's
not the atonement. And we ask, is he the Redeemer?
Yeah, he's the Redeemer. Did he redeem? Well, no, it's
left up to us. Then he's not the Redeemer. No, he's not the Redeemer. Is
he the ransom? They said, deliver him from going
to the pit. I found the ransom. Who? Christ? Well, is he the
ransom? Yeah. Did he ransom? You still
got the victim? Then the ransom didn't work.
When you pay the ransom, they release the victim. You still
got him? Then he's no ransom. Is he the
Savior? He's the Savior. Is he the Savior?
Did he save? Come on now, did he save? Did
he by himself purge our sin? Did he save? If he didn't, he's
not the Savior. He's nothing. He's no atonement. He's no redeemer. He's no ransom.
He's no Savior. If salvation is left up to anybody
but him, Read Hebrews 10 now, verse 12. This man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he offered one,
he sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified and nobody
else. Now you just put that down. Well, I'll tell you this. John
17, verse 9, he said, I pray not for the world, I pray for
them which thou hast given me. And I'll tell you this, if he
didn't pray for them, he didn't die for them. In my hands no price I bring.
Here's what we sing. In my hands no price I bring.
All right. Simply to thy cross I cling.
Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal, knowledge, faith,
enthusiasm, giving, works, deeds, Couldn't my zeal no longer know?
These for sin could never atone. Christ must save, and what? Christ alone. Is that what you
believe? That's what I believe. But this
modern generation, I know what I'm up against. I know what they're
saying. I know how men compromise. I know these covetous, cowardly
preachers. Covetous, cowardly preachers. who hate the doctrines of God's
grace. And what reveals their hatred
is the fact they won't preach it. That's what reveals their
hatred. And they'll find fault, and I'll
tell you what they do. They build a straw man. They
won't deal with these issues. They won't deal with what happened
in the garden, what happened in eternity, what happened on
the cross. They won't deal with that. They deal with straw men. They say, well, we don't believe
babies go to hell. I don't know anybody that does. Yeah, but
we believe in missions. There ain't a church in this
territory that gives like this church to missions. Yeah, but
we preach, we believe in preaching to the lost. I preach to more
people every Sunday than all of them put together. Every blessed
one of them put together on television. Isn't that right? How many hundreds
of thousands watch that? They won't come down and say,
let's deal with Romans 9. Let's deal with Ephesians 1.
Let's deal with John 6. Let's deal with John 17. No,
they come with these straw men. And they build these straw men
and just beat them to death. Beat them to death. I'll tell
you the fourth thing. What happens in regeneration?
Now let me ask you something. Regeneration. All right, man's
dead. Is he dead? The Bible says he's
dead. Dead. All right, let me ask you
something. Must a man be born again? Must
he? My Lord said he must. Except
a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. What
is born again? He has to get life, spiritual
life. He has to be begotten, regenerated.
Isn't that the word? To generate is to set in motion.
To regenerate is to reset in motion. That's with stop. He
has to be regenerated, he has to be born again. Is that true?
A man must be born again. Alright? Secondly, by whom is
a man born again? By the Spirit of God. Is that
right? Born of the water, word, and the Spirit. Is that right?
That's what the Bible says. Thirdly, he must be born of God.
This is a will of God and an act of God. Giving life. Only
God can give life. He said, as many as received
him, to them gave he the right to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of men, but born
of God. All right, fourthly, he must be born of the word of
God. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. So
here you've got a dead man, a lifeless man, with no life whatsoever,
spiritually extinct, nothing. He's born from above. He's born
from God. He's born by the Spirit. He's
born by the will of God, and He's born by the Word of God.
He's given life. Let me ask you this. Does He
do that to all men? Does He? One knows. If He did
that for all men, all men would have life. If He did that for
all men, all men would have Christ. If he did that for all men, all
men would be saved. But he doesn't do that for all
men. He said, the wind bloweth where it pleases. And you hear
the sound, you see the effect, but you know not whence it cometh
or where it goes, such are those that are born of the Spirit.
If he doesn't regenerate, give life, new birth, and I know what
the preachers are saying, new birth is when you walk down,
shake the preacher's hand, decide for Jesus. Oh no, no sir. You've
got to have life before you can hear Christ. You've got to have
life before you can see the gospel. Life is given by the Spirit of
God, spiritual life. Turn to Romans 8, and I'll tell
you whom the Lord regenerates. Romans chapter 8. Here it is,
right here, looking you right in the face. In Romans chapter
8, verse 29, "...for whom he did foreknow." He did predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
I told you that. I said man fell, and back in
eternity God chose a people to be like Christ. Whom he predestinated,
that's whom he called. The calling is the new birth.
The calling is regeneration. The calling is life. That's whom
he called. And I'll tell you this, whom
he calls, he justifies. And whom he justifies, he glorifies.
There'll be plenty of room in heaven, but there won't be a
vacancy. Turn to John 5, 21. Let me show you this, and I'll
move along quickly. John 5, 21. Look at this. John 5, verse 21. The Father
raiseth up the dead and quickeneth whom he will, even so the Son
quickeneth whom he will. My dear friends, this is what
I'm saying. This is heresy to modern religion. This is heresy.
Jimmy Swigert said it was born in hell. That's what he says
about Calvinism. He said it's blasphemy and it
was hatched in hell. That's what he said, what I'm
preaching right now. But I'm saying what he calls Harris is
the way I worship God. I worship a sovereign God, an
almighty God, an eternal God who does what he will, when he
will, with whom he will. And no less. Regeneration is
by the will of God. Repentance is the gift of God.
The goodness of God led you to repent. Faith is the gift of
God and salvation is the work of God. That's what I believe. That's heresy to this generation.
Paul said, it pleased God who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. It pleased
God. And here's the fifth thing. Now,
you hold your seat. Hold your seat. Our Lord said, many will say
unto me in that day, Lord, we preached in your name, and we
did many wonderful works, and we cast out devils. Say, I never
knew you. I never knew you. What then is a believer, a disciple
of Jesus Christ? What is a saved man? What is
a Christian? What is a Christian? We got Christian quartets and
Christian schools and Christian bands and Christian construction
companies and Christian hotels, and I stayed in a Christian motel. Where is a Christian? Who can
call himself a Christian here this morning? And I mean in the
pulpit or in the pew or on the street. Number one, he's a believer
like Abraham. That's first of all. A Christian
is a believer like Abraham. Abraham believed God. It was
counted to him for righteousness. Abraham, against hope, believed
God. In spite of all natural forces
against it, he believed God that he was able to do just what he
said. And if a man believes, he'll stand for it. He'll stand
for it. Number two, what is a Christian? He's a son of God. He's not going
to be. He is. To them that received
him, to them gave he the right to become sons of God. No, I
don't blame the fatherhood of God. No, I don't believe all
men are the sons of God. They're the sons of Satan. Only
those redeemed by the blood, called by the Spirit, who've
been brought to love Christ are sons of God. Beloved, now are
we sons of God. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but when he shall appear, we'll be like him. They have
a new father, they have a new family. as sons of God. And that family takes precedence
over this family. Our Lord said, who is my mother?
Who's your mother? These who do the will of God.
That's my mother. Who's your brother? That's what
he said. Who is my brother, my sisters?
These who do the will of God. Who is my wife? These who do
the will of God. Who are my children? That's a
Christian. He's a son of God. He's a son
of God, and he's aware of it and conscious of it. He's a son
of God. He doesn't fear what men do to
him. His fathers take care of him. That's right. And thirdly, he's an object of
God's love. This Christian is. He's an object
of God's love, and that love's in Christ Jesus. He's not the
object of a general. indiscriminate, cocooned, that
spreads over all the world. He's an object of a particular,
everlasting, infinite, unchangeable love. God singled him out as
an object of his affection. No, no, no, no, no. No! He wouldn't give you two
cents for that love that burns people up. He wouldn't give you
two cents for the love that, talk about divine love that drowns
the world. Divine love didn't drown the
world, divine wrath drowned the world. Divine wrath burned up
Sodom. So loving God would never send
a man to hell. You're dead right. You're just
right as you can be. God's not going to send anybody
to hell whom he loves. God's not in love with the objects
of hell's fire. They're under God's wrath. He
that believeth not the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him.
That's heresy. The whole Southern Baptist Convention
put out a billboard, said, Good News, America, God loves you.
That's a lie. Good news, Sodom, God loves you.
Well, we'd never put that up. Well, why'd you put up the other?
Good news, sinner, God loves you. That's right. Good news, believer
in Christ, God loves you, or you'd have never believed. A
God of love will never send a man to hell. The God of judgment and righteousness
and holiness is the one who sends men to hell. And the only reason
he doesn't send you to hell is Christ is your righteousness
and Christ is your holiness. That's the truth. That's heresy. That's what I believe. What is
a Christian? He's a bond slave of Jesus Christ. He's had his ear bored. He's
had his ear bored. They came to him and said, well,
go on out, you can do your thing. He said, I don't want to. Well,
go on out, you can fulfill your ambitions. I don't want to. I
love my master. I love my master's house. And
I'm going to be a willing, loving, obedient bond slave. I'm staying
here. And they're not going to entice
me by all of the different things they offer. I'm not interested.
I know what they are. I'm going to stay right here
with my Lord. Now you just bore my ear so everybody in town know
I'm his bond slave. I wanted to know that. I wanted
to know that. He's my Lord. I'm not going to
compromise with him. I'm not going to play patsy with
him either. I'm not going to get in on all his so-called good
objectives as long as they curse my master. That's exactly right. We'll just stand alone. Welcome
anyone who wants to stand. But we're going to stand in the
truth as it is in Christ Jesus uncompromisingly. And these men
will tell you who came over here 30 years ago, this is what I
preached then. Right, Paul? And that's what
I'm preaching now. The message hadn't changed any more than
God's changed. The truth hadn't changed any more than the sinner's
changed. And the gospel hadn't changed any more than Jesus Christ
has changed. He's the same. We hadn't moved
one peg from where we were when God called us by His grace. You
can't improve on the gospel. You can learn more about him,
but he's the same. You can learn more about his
grace, but it's still grace. You can learn more about his
sovereign mercy, but it's still sovereign. And I'll tell you
this, a natural man ain't going to swallow it, I don't care how
much you grease it. He's going to choke. When we
get it all greased up, you know, like raw oysters, and maybe slip
it down his throat before he knows he's got it in his mouth,
he'll know he's got it in his mouth. And he'll throw it up. He'll throw it up. But the child
of God is sweet to the taste, sweeter to be swallowed, and
sweeter after he swallows it. That's right. And you're not
going to slip up on a man and put Christ's righteousness on
him. No, you're not. Well, I don't think you have
to tell him everything. Christ is everything. Well, you don't
have to tell him all you know. He's all I know. He's all in
it all. I don't know how to cut down
on it. Do you? If you do, you compromise it.
And I'll tell you this about a Christian, he's a bond slave
of Jesus Christ, and I'll tell you this, he will, by God's grace,
die in the same faith in which he lives. That's right. He's going to continue. He's
going to stay right with it. There'll be every rough road
to walk, there'll be the stones and the thorns and the thistles
Friends will desert him, and friends will leave him, and he'll
have trouble and sorrow and trial and tribulation, but he's going
to stay right there where God planted that tree, by the rivers
of living water. And when God comes to pick his
fruit, it'll be there. That's right. He'll stand right
there. There's nothing better. There's nothing better. To whom
shall we go? A lot of people change churches 14 times. The
man that's found the truth never changes. There are people who
change directions fourteen times, but a man who's walking with
Christ will never change. He knows whom he believes. He
knows where he stands. He stands right there and grows
in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And one of these
days, God's going to say, Come on home, Elijah! And he's going
to just walk off. And he's going to bow in the
presence of the King before whom he's already bowed. That's right. He's not going to learn anything
new. God's going large on it, but there ain't going to be anything
new, David. The same sovereign Lord he loved
here, worshipped here, he's going to bow to that. That's right. And the same Christ unto him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious
blood, that's the same Christ he's going to meet there. He's
not going to have to alter his doctrine. Oh, I thought all along
it was me and you. I didn't know it was all you.
No, he knew it all along. That's what he preached. That's
what he believed. That's right. And he can lay
it down and go to be with Christ because he's already laid it
down. Isn't that right? He's already laid it down. And
God is not going to have to break his fingers to get him to turn
loose of it. He's already turned loose. Like old Simeon, he says,
I'm ready to go. I sing thy salvation. I'll piddle
and putter around here as long as you let me, Lord, but I've
been ready. My bags are packed. Isn't that right, John? Bags
are packed. I'm ready. That gospel will do
to die by, I want it, John, and to live by. It's the truth. And
I'm telling you this, and I'm challenging everybody in this
whole religious world, what you call heresy, that's the way I
worship my God, the living God. And I believe what he's written.
And I'm not backing down for one of them. Don't have to. Greater
is he that's in you than he that's in this world. Old Barney used
to say, I know how it's going to turn out. I read the last
chapter. I'm not in suspense at all. Not
the least bit. Look at there. He's on the throne. I knew it was going to be that
way all along.