I was gone somewhere the other
night, and I came in quite late, and Doris told me
she had watched Billy Graham in Russia on television. I said, well, what was it like?
She said, well, quite impressive. He said he was surrounded with
national leaders, orthodox church men, and also
among Baptist leaders and people, and a huge crowd of people. He
traveled over much of that country, and he talked about Christ, Jesus,
He talked about his death. He talked about the blood of
Christ. He talked about salvation by
faith. And he talked about heaven and
all of these things. She said it was quite impressive. And then she and I began a discussion
on the subject, wherein do we differ? Where do we differ from
men like Mr. Graham? There's much religion
in our land. Our land is full of religion. And we're exposed daily, especially
by television. If it weren't for television,
most of us would never have even heard Mr. Graham. We would never
have heard Mr. Falwell. We would never have
heard Mr. Swaggart or Mr. Copeland or any of these other
men. But because of television, their voices are being heard
all over the world. And some of these men are powerful
men. They're powerful, educated, successful. impressive preachers and evangelists. And they seem to say some good
things, some very good things. They use Bible language some
of the time, and they talk about many of the things that we talk
about in general terms. And a few nights ago I was watching
the local station here, the one for which they're trying to raise
enough money to make it a 24-hour, 365-day religious station. And here were Church of Christ
preachers and Baptist preachers and Church of God preachers and
Assembly of God preachers and Pentecostal preachers and Methodist
preachers. all around together, holding
hands, praying together. I cannot support Mr. Graham if
he came to Ashland, not that it would make any difference,
you know, if I didn't support him, that's neither here nor
there, but I could not support this type of program, this type
of preaching or message. I could not in any way join that
circle of men I saw the other night on television, put my hands
with theirs, because we're different. We're different. And that's what
I want to talk about in this message tonight. I want to talk
to myself and to you. Wherein do we differ? Wherein
do we differ? Is it really important enough
to differ? Some of you here tonight, some
of you in this congregation, have left denominations of which
you've been a vital part for most of your lives. Some of you
have left churches or buildings or organizations where your mother
and father attended, where your brothers and sisters attended,
where maybe now some of your children may attend. You've left
and come here. Some of you have had family divisions.
Some of you have suffered some persecution and some difficult
times and some severe trials and some harsh words because
of where you go to church. Someone recently said that they
were delivered an ultimatum. If you go to 13th Street Baptist
Church, I'll never forgive you, never, as long as I live. Well, I'm aware of those things,
and I keep asking myself this question, wherein do we differ? Is it important enough to divide? Is it important enough to split?
Is it important enough not to cooperate? Is it crucial? Well, I believe
it is. And I'm going to make several
statements tonight, and these things I've thought about, I've
thought about for some time. And I've given them much prayer
and care and concern, and asked God to give me some liberty to
deal with them tonight and give you some understanding. The first
question that comes to my mind is this. How can men who oppose
a party, now here stands Mr. Graham, and with him a Russian
Orthodox in his headgear, in his uniform, with a huge heavy
cross hanging here. And all that that denotes, all
of the ceremonies, the priesthood, the work, and all that these
things represent. These, you see, these costumes
are not just costumes, they represent something, Tom, don't they? They
have a message, everything about these uniforms. Here he stands,
over here is a Roman Catholic, with its priesthood and with
its idolatry and superstition and its worship of Mary and the
worship of the saints And here stands a Baptist, a fundamental
Baptist. Over here stands a liberal Baptist,
over here a conservative Baptist, over here some other type of
Baptist, over here a Presbyterian, a liberal or conservative, and
all these different men and their poles apart on so many things,
in so many areas. How can they all come together? How can they all come together
for a meeting or for a crusade? How can they all come together
and conscientiously, sincerely support and promote the same
man? And that man's message is like
Mr. Graham said in the Huntington
paper a few months ago, that the Pope in Rome, John Paul,
is one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our generation." Those
were his exact words. How could a man like Mr. Graham,
who is a fundamentalist and a conservative, and a man who says he believes
in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures and the mediatorial
office of Jesus Christ, how could he walk in a downtown New York
parade in the funeral procession of Bishop Fulton Sheen? But they
do it. And they're doing it all the
time. And I ask myself this question, how can they do it? Well, I have
the answer. Would you like to know the answer?
The answer is this. It is because basically, basically,
they, everyone, believe the same thing about salvation. That's
exactly how they can do it. They, every one, when it comes
down to it, they may differ. They may differ on one point
here and one point there. One of them may believe in total
depravity, another partial depravity, another no depravity. One may
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, another may believe
He's the Son of Mary. One may believe in the priesthood
of the church, another the priesthood of the individual. One may believe
in security, Perseverance, preservation, another in total insecurity. One may believe in faith alone,
another may believe in a faith plus anything and everything.
One may believe in baptismal regeneration, and another may
deny it. But it doesn't matter. Basically,
they believe the same thing about salvation. They believe that
salvation is by the work and the will of the sinner. Exactly
what they believe. Jimmy Swigert said the other
day on television these exact words. He had a three-point outline.
He said, free will is your passport to salvation. He said, secondly,
free will is the foundation of salvation. He said, thirdly,
that salvation is of the will of man and not of God. That's what they all believed.
It does not matter, now listen, watch this carefully. It does
not matter that they disagree on the person and work of Jesus
Christ when it comes down to it, salvation is not in the person
and work of Jesus Christ. One may say that Jesus Christ
is born of a virgin. Another may say He's not. One
may say He's a great prophet. Another may say He's a great
healer. One may say this, that, and the other. But what difference
does it make when it comes down to it, Christ is not salvation. Salvation is by the work and
will of men. Whatever contribution Jesus Christ
makes to salvation, it is not complete in Him or by Him or
through Him. It is the sinner that makes it
complete. So what difference does it make what part he plays?
It's only a part. See what I'm saying? What difference
does it make what part he plays in salvation? It is only a part.
Salvation ultimately is in your lap. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
11. But you say these men claim to be the servants of Christ.
These men claim to be preachers of Christ. They claim to be called
of God and sent of God and ordained of God. They come preaching Christ
and righteousness and morality. Listen to 2 Corinthians 11, 13.
2 Corinthians 11, 13. And I know how serious this is
to charge anyone with being a false apostle and a deceitful worker. But I want you to listen to a
description of false apostles and deceitful workers. It says
in 2 Corinthians 11, 13, for such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
That's who they claim to be, apostles of Christ. And that's
no wonder, that's no marvel. For Satan himself, carrying on
his diabolical work, carrying on his deceptive ministry, carrying
on his subtle, crafty, deceiving ways, himself is transformed
into an angel of light. Satan himself turns himself into
an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. Whose righteousness? Certainly
not Christ's righteousness. not an imputed righteousness,
but the morality and works and righteousness of the flesh. So
they preach a Christ. They preach a Christ. But Bill,
the Christ they preach is not a sufficient Christ. They preach
a blood, but the blood they preach is not effectual blood. They
preach a salvation. But it is not a complete salvation
which is of the Lord and the gift of God, it is a salvation
which is performed partly by men and partly by God, and that's
the era of the Galatians. What you read about a moment
ago. Turn to Galatians chapter 1. It's the very era, the Galatians
did not deny that Jesus Christ was born of the virgin. The Galatians
did not deny that Jesus Christ was born in a manger. The Galatians
did not deny that Jesus Christ walked this earth. The Galatians
did not deny that he died on the cross. They did not deny
that he was buried and rose again. They did not deny that he ascended
back to heaven. They did not deny that he seated
at the right hand of God. What did they deny? They denied
the effectual, sufficient, substitutionary work of the Son of God alone.
They said it takes Christ and circumcision. They said it takes
Christ and the holy days. They said it takes Christ and
the time. They said it takes Christ and
your work. That's exactly what they said.
And Paul said in verse 6 of Galatians 1, I marvel that you are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace, the free
grace, the sovereign grace, the full grace of Christ under what? Another gospel. And brethren,
I tell you this, it is either the gospel of God or another
gospel. It is either the gospel of Christ
or it's another gospel. It's either the gospel of His
glory or it's another gospel. There's no mixture. There's no
mixture. Turn to Galatians chapter 3.
Listen to this. Paul said it right above that
in verse 21, chapter 2. He said, I do not frustrate,
I do not confuse, distort the grace of God. I do not distort
the grace of God and confuse it, frustrate it, if righteousness,
and that righteousness is acceptance, justification, holiness, sanctification,
acceptance by God. If that righteousness, which
God requires, which exceeds that of the Pharisees, of which Jeremiah
wrote when he said, The Lord is my righteousness. If that
righteousness comes in any way by works, listen to what he said,
Christ died in vain. If it comes in any way, Christ
died in vain. But he goes further than that.
He says in verse 1 of chapter 3, O you foolish, foolish Galatians,
who have bewitched you. And you see, this is what it
is. This type of preaching, it's not straightforward, honest. It's bewitching. It's deceptive. It's camouflaged. It's not something
that can stand out for full examination. They've got to twist the Scriptures
and rest the Scriptures and explain away the Scriptures and say,
this doesn't mean, it's a bewitching scheme, it's a deceitful thing. Who has bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth? There are four whose eyes Jesus
Christ in His glorious person works. has been evidently set
forth, crucified among you. This only what I learned of you.
Did you receive the Spirit? And that's the Spirit of regeneration.
That's the Spirit of quickening. That's the Spirit of revelation.
That's the Spirit of understanding, enlightenment. Did you receive
that by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith, hearing
the gospel? Did you wait? Now, are you so
foolish? Are you so ignorant that having
begun by grace alone, having begun by the mercy of God alone,
having begun by an act of God alone, having begun by a regenerating
work of the Spirit alone, having begun that way, are you perfected
by your own doings? Oh, no. Christ is God's alphabet,
Alpha to Omega. He is the author and finisher
of our faith. He is our charity and He is our
everlasting pattern. So great, one other scripture.
Here, this will shake you clear down to your boots. In chapter
5 of Galatians, you see, this is the same error of the Galatians.
Oh, I know Christ died. We'll all agree with that. But,
in order to be saved, the sinner has to do this. that and the
other. No, it's not Christ plus anything or minus anything. It's
Christ. And as Paul said in Galatians
5, verse 1, you stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. That's free from ceremony, free
from Sabbath days, free from holy days, free from laws, free
from rules, free from all these things that entangle and bring
us into bondage. Circumcision, all of these things.
Don't become entangled again with that. Behold, I, Paul, am
saying to you that if you be circumcised, Christ will profit
you nothing. Now, what does this man mean
here? A lot of you have children born into your home, little boys,
and you tell the doctor to circumcise the lad. That's all right. That's fine. And if you get this
idea, and what he's using is the term circumcision because
that was a token of the covenant. That's whatever Jewish male member
of the tribe was circumcised to denote that he was a Jew,
that he wasn't Israelite. But he said, and the Galatians
thought this, well, you trust Christ, but you must
be circumcised too. And somebody said, well, I know
Christ saved, but just in case, I'm going to have this done.
He said if you do, if you do any act of religion, I mean even
if it's a prayer, if it's walking down an aisle, if it's joining
a church, if it's being baptized, if it's taking communion, if
it's giving you money, if it's attending service, if you do
any religious work or act thinking that it is required or necessary
to make effectual the full saving power of the blood of Christ,
Christ profits you nothing. You see what I'm saying? He profits
you nothing. You are without Christ, without hope, and without
help, and without God. If you think anything needs to
be added to the person and work of Christ. I'm saying, and this
is what Paul is saying, he says it in verse 3, I testify again
to every man that circumcises. You are a debtor to do the whole
lot. You know, if you start this law business, you've got a long
way to go. If you start this... I know a
lot of people playing around with the Sabbath day. They say,
I know Christ died and His blood saved, but we believe in keeping
the Sabbath day. We believe in keeping Saturday.
We close our businesses. We go to our church. We keep
the Sabbath day. Because to be accepted of God,
we must do that. To be holy, we must do that.
Christ prophets them nothing. And I'm telling them this. They
had better keep the whole law of Moses, the entire moral and
Levitical law of the whole books of Genesis through Deuteronomy,
because that's what God's going to require of them. Somebody says, well, I believe
Christ saved, but I better give my tithe. If you tithe in order
to win God's favor and add in any way to the personal work
of Christ, you've got a whole lot more to do than tithe. If
you've got a rebellious son in your home, you're supposed to
stone him. That's what it says over here. That's stoning. See, there's a law to keep. You
don't get to keep the part you want. You don't get to keep the
part that's appealing. You don't get to keep the part
that you like best. You've got to keep it all. So
it's either Christ or works. It cannot be both. No way to
mix it. Verse 4, watch this. Christ is
become of no effect to you. He has become of no effect. And
I'll say this to the baptismal regenerationists. I'll say this to the people keeping
the sacraments. I'll say this to people who are
wearing those uniforms and counting those beads. You say what you want to them,
I'll tell you what I'm going to say to them. I'll say this to people
keeping Sabbath days, I'll say this to people who are walking
aisles and kneeling at mourners' benches and shaking preachers'
hands, and doing all of these different things in order to
be accepted of God, Christ is become of no effect to you, none
whatsoever. None whatsoever. You are justified
by law and you have departed from grace. Now that's the reason
these men can get together. That's the reason they can get
together, basically, where this man, Jesus Christ, and I'm talking
about in the beginning. You go back to the most remote
point that you can even imagine. And still further back than that,
in the beginning was the Word. And He's the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. He is our eternal charity. He
is the blood of the everlasting covenant. And God secured a people
in Him and gave them to Him and made Him responsible for them. And He assumed that full responsibility. And in the fullness of time,
he came into this world, the God-man, where it was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and tabernacle in this human flesh, and walked
on this earth in perfect obedience to that Levitical moral, civil,
family, and all the other laws. And he never thought an evil
thought, or said an evil word, or did an evil deed. He always
pleased God, and he perfectly performed He perfectly obeyed
and perfectly put away as a way of acceptance or covenant or
curse that law, and imputed to us by his full, complete obedience
of righteousness that is perfect in the day that he attained it.
He went to that cross. And laid on Him was every sin
of every believer, of every tribe, of every nation, of every tongue,
of every kindred, of every generation, every believer, all the elect
was laid on Him and He put them away. Fully, finally, completely,
they're put away. And in Him there is no sin. And
He was buried and rose again and victoriously entered glory
and sat there having finished the work God gave Him to do.
Sat there. And there's nothing to be added,
there's nothing to be done, there's nothing to be contributed by
any human being. Just look to Him. Just believe
Him. Just receive Him. Because He
is salvation in all of its fullness, completeness, totality, efficacy,
sufficiency. Christ is our life. Christ is
our hope. And Bill Parker, that's where
I differ with them. They don't believe that. They
believe He makes a contribution, but in order for Him to do anything,
in order for His work to count for anything, in order for His
blood to amount to anything, I've got to do something with
it, or about it. And there ain't a word of truth
in that. In fact, His blood wasn't even offered toward me, it was
offered before the Lord. And it's already been accepted,
it's already been applied, it's already secured, all that it
was given to secure, He gave us an atonement. God doesn't
require me to produce a righteousness. He says, receive one. That's right. And these fellows
can get together. They can get together around
the Bible, as long as each man can hold his own interpretation
of it. They can get together around Jesus, as long as each
man can have his own thoughts about Jesus. They can get together
around the cross, as long as each man can determine for himself
the worth of that cross. What do you think it's worth? What do you think it's worth?
I'd love to ask them. What's that cross worth? What's that
cross worth? What does that blood do? Who
is that man? Who is that man? They can get
together around an altar of prayer. They can get together around
an altar of dedication. As long as every one of us can
come to that altar, bringing something of ourselves. I heard
a preacher say that the other day, when you come to prayer
you bring something of yourself to God. Oh my, in my hands no
price I bring, except for the cross of Christ I bring. In my
flesh dwelleth no good thing, in the flesh no man can please
God. That's what Cain did. He brought something of himself. And God said no. No! Abel brought a slain innocent
lamb and stood back and God accepted. And I tell you this, I come in
the name of Christ. I come looking to the beauty
of Christ. I come standing off over here
and saying, Father, don't look at me, look at Him. Don't deal
with me, deal with Him. I have nothing, He's everything. I just want to find my place
in Him These men can get together around morality. They can get
together around good works as long as they account for something
with God. You know, some kind of reward. They can talk about
the fall of man, but they must determine how far he fell. The
extent of the fall, the extent of the fall. They talk about
God's power and sovereignty, but they determine the areas
in which he can exercise it. They say God can make a world,
but he can't save a sinner. God can conquer Satan, but He
can't conquer you. God can bind Satan and chain
him and cast him into a bottomless pit, but He wants to save you
and can't do it. You won't let Him. You won't
let Him. You see, man says, I believe
in the sovereignty of God, but not in salvation. Then you don't
have a sovereign God. If He's not sovereign in that
area which is dearest to Him and nearest to Him, if He's not
sovereign in that area, that area that deals with that which
is most precious to Him, the blood of His Son, He is not sovereign
in that area. The only area that shall abide
forever, eternal life. The stars are going to pass away.
The sun, the moon, the world is going to melt with the fervent
heat. Time will be no more. You say,
God is sovereign over time, sovereign over the stars, sovereign over
the moon, sovereign over the sun, sovereign over the earth,
sovereign over the wind, sovereign over the snow. Those are all
going to pass away. The only thing that shall abide is redemption
in Christ. That kingdom, that spiritual
kingdom of life in Christ, but He is not sovereign there. Then
He is not God. then he's not God. They talk
about the blood of Christ, but none believe that blood to be
effectual in itself, to redeem, atone, clean, justify without
the cooperation of men. You say, are these critical issues?
They're as critical as this, without the effectual sufficient
work of Christ, your salvation is like a clock without hands.
It ain't worth a thing." Can you imagine having a clock without
hands? That's it. Without Christ, he
tells the time. It's like a compass without a
needle. Up in the mountains of Shappos, Milton has a compass
on the truck, and you need a compass sometimes. just to know which
direction you're going. But suppose that compass floating
around there's no needle. It's a worthless thing. It's like an automobile without
a motor. It's like a stove without wood. I'm going to quit in a minute,
but here's the second major observation that I wish to present to you. The second major observation,
I declare for him we differ. is not only in what these men
do say, it's what these men dare not say. That's what we do. I dare to say it. They dare not
say it. And it has to do with these critical
areas right here. Roland Hill called them the most
critical areas of all. Roland Hill seemed to think they
were so important that no sermon ought to be preached without
them. Ruin, redemption, and regeneration. What do you mean by ruin, preacher?
I mean what happened in the garden. I want us to declare to our generation
in plain, understandable words so that no one can misunderstand
what happened in that garden. In Adam, all died. In Adam, judgment
and condemnation passed upon all men. That's what the Scripture
says. By one man, sin entered the world,
and death And death by sin, so death passed upon all men. Man's
ruin was a total ruin spiritually and physically. That's what I'm
saying. I'm saying that left to himself, he will not come
to Christ. Left to himself, all the preaching
in the world. Let me show you something I'm
going to bring out in a message tomorrow night. Turn to John
1. I want you to look at this. John chapter 1. Now, I want you
to look at this just a moment. I'm talking about what happened
in the garden. I'm talking about ruin by the fall. I'm talking
about the total, absolute, complete ruin of all the human race, spiritually
dead, blind, deaf, hopeless, helpless, before God, with no
interest and no concern, no understanding. Listen to this in John chapter
1, verse 6. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John to preach as a man. Secondly, God sent
him. His mission, the same came for
a witness. He's a witness. A witness knows
what he says and says what he knows. A witness is a man who's
a witness to something. He's seen it. John said, John,
I've seen him. I've heard him. I've tested him.
All right, he came for a witness, to bear witness of the light.
This man, this puny, peanuts, born of a woman, just an old,
frail old man whose head they cut off, this man standing out
there in the wilderness in his camel-haired coat with his beard
eaten Leaping locusts off the locust tree and wild honey, this
man is sent to bear witness of the light? The light greater
than the sun? The infinite, eternal light of
God? The light within the world? And
this little puny man had to tell people the light was shining?
Why? They were all blind. Tomorrow morning you go out in
the sun, beaming brilliant in the heavens. Don't run up and
down the street, hon. The sun's shining. The sun's shining. They'll
put you away. They will. But now wait a minute. If everybody out there is blind,
and can't see that sun, and is unaware of that sun, they won't
put you away. The sun's shining. What sun? There is a clear revelation of
man's condition, that God had to send a puny, frail human being
to tell us dumb, blind, dead, death, objects, that the Son
of Man was dead. We didn't know it. In fact, he
said, he said here in verse, in verse, sit to bear witness
of that light, Oh, in verse 5, "...and the light shineth in
the darkness, and the darkness didn't comprehend them." That's
what I'm talking about. I'm talking about, here's what
I'm saying, that these men are not saved. People without God,
without Christ, unregenerate, unawakened, unquickened, unattended
by the Holy Ghost in special mercy that get their life from
Adam. are dead in trespasses and sin. And you can preach the gospel
until you're blue in the face, and they're worn out, and they're
not going to hear you. And you can holler, The light! The light! The light! And they'll say, What
light? What light? They're blind. God's got to give them eyes.
Our Lord said they have eyes, but they don't see. They have
ears, but they don't hear. They've got hearts, but they
don't understand. Blessed are your eyes, they see. Blessed
are your ears, they hear. My Heavenly Father is beautiful.
Brethren, let me tell you something. When I say man's fallen, the
Bible means he's fallen. When the Bible says man's dead,
he's dead. He's not partly dead. He's not
real sick. The Word of God says man is blinded
by sin and blinded by the God of this world. I'm not talking
about he's without religion. All men have religion. I'm not
talking about he's without morality. All men have a form of morality.
I'm not saying that he's without any interest in God and in eternal
life. All men are interested in those
things. But he's without spiritual understanding. Redemption? They're not saying this. What
happened on the cross? What happened on the cross is
not an offer, it's a gift. What happened on the cross is
not an effort, it's an effectual work. The angel said to Joseph,
call his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sins.
He shall save, not half save them, not partly save them, not
make a great contribution toward their salvation, but 100% save
them from their sins. Who is Jesus Christ? He's their
God and their God. Make no apologies about it. And
where they won't let you preach it, don't preach anymore. Wipe
the dust off your feet and go home. Where men will not receive
and believe and embrace the Deity, the Eternality, the Omniscience,
the Omnipresence, the Omnipotence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
they know not God. He is there. What did He do?
In life and death, He performed and perfected a perfect righteousness
and a perfect justification. Why did He do it? That God may
be just and justify. That's why He did it. Jesus Christ
didn't come down here to get God in the notion of saving you.
He came because God decreed to save you. He didn't come down
here to get God in the notion of loving you. He came because
God did love you. He didn't come down here and
make an offer toward you so you'd feel sorry for Him and try to
walk in His step. He came down here to meet this
law on God's behalf. He came down here to bear our
sins that the justice of God might be fully satisfied and
God could save sinners like us and still be God. And He got
the job done. Where is He now? At the right
hand of God. And I'm telling you this, all
that the Father gave Him is going to come to us. The Holy Spirit
will bring them. They're coming. Somebody say,
I'll never come. If you want to hear sheep, you
will. You'll come. You'll come willingly. You'll
come one of these days, weeping your way to Christ. You'll come
one of these days on your knees to Christ. You'll come one of
these days in the dust to Christ. You'll come one of these days
owning Christ to be your very life, giving up everything into
His hands. You'll come. You'll come stripped
and broken and slain and wounded, and you'll come to stay. Because
whom the Holy Spirit saves, He well saves. I can't do much saving
or keeping, but I'll guarantee you when the Holy Spirit sets
out on the trail of the sheep, He'll bring them home. And He'll
bring them willingly. He sure will. He surely will. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. They follow me. I'll give them
eternal life and they'll never perish. If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly, I told you, but you're not of my sheep. That's
why you don't believe. Regeneration. What happens in
here when God saves the sinner? Well, the new birth is of God.
Turn to John 1 again. The new birth is of God. It's
of God. You don't go down to church and
get born again. You don't go listen to preaching
and get born again. Being born again is the work
of God. It's a miracle of His grace. It says in John chapter
1, verse 12, as many as received Christ, to them gave He the right
privilege prior to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name. Receiving Him is embracing Him.
Believing Him is believing as He's revealed in the Gospel.
And these people who embraced Him and believed Him were born,
not of blood. It wasn't a thing of heritage.
Regeneration doesn't run in the veins. It's not transmitted from
father to son. The only thing I give to my son
is sin. God gives to his son sanctification. You see, it's not of blood. It's
not of the will of the flesh, not your flesh. It's not of the
will of any other man, but this new birth of God. I know that
about the new birth. I know God miraculously, supernaturally,
on purpose regenerates the sinner. And he does it with the seed
of the Word, and he does it through the agency of the Holy Ghost.
Through the agency of the Holy Ghost. And they shall all be
saved. Now then, in closing, our Lord
sent us to preach the Gospel to every creature. And we're
trying to fulfill that commission. I hear people say, well, if you
believe in election, you won't be missionary-minded. There's
not a more missionary-minded church in this state than this
church is. You won't be evangelistic. There's
not a preacher in this city that preaches as often as I do, or
to as many people, or travels as many miles. Not one. The very
ones that criticize us don't go anywhere. They preach twice,
their churches won't let them. They tell their pastor, you can
have two weeks off for vacation and one week off to hold a meeting.
You'll be here 49 other weeks. That's a Junebug preacher. Did
you ever put a Junebug on a string and you let him go just where
you let him go? Or they visit the hospital and they'll go here
and there. We are missionary-minded and
evangelistic. Evangelistic. We want to preach
the gospel to everybody we can. But I want to tell you this.
In this heart and in this mind, knowing what I know about this
God and that Redeemer, And this salvation, I'm on the trail of
His sheep. I don't know who they are. But
I do know He's got a people. I want to be one of them. Mike, I want you to be one of
them. I want everybody here to be one of His sheep. He knows who they are. He said,
I know My sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, Him I must bring, and they shall hear My
voice. And they shall be one folk. But
they're going to hear the Word. And we've got to preach it to
them. But He's going to call out His sheep. I'm going to run
up Dingus tomorrow night. You know why? I'm looking for
some sheep. That's what He said to Paul over
here in Acts 18. Listen. Acts 18. He said to the Apostle
Paul in Acts 18, Paul was about to leave Corinth. And the Lord
said to him, He said, Now don't leave there. Verse 10, Acts 18,
Don't you leave there. They were about to kill him.
He was going to leave town. He said in verse 10, I'm with you
and no man shall set on thee to hurt you. I've got much people
in this city. Lord, how do you know? They may
not come. You never know. They may not
come. The preacher may not give an invitation. You know, he may
preach and then not give an invitation and nobody comes. He said, I've
got much people. And Paul stayed there 18 months.
And every one of God's people was saved. Ever wonder? I know that. Turn to 2 Timothy
2. 2 Timothy 2. Somebody's told, Spurgeon made
that statement one time. Somebody said, well, why don't
you just preach to the elect? Well, he said, you go around
and put a mark on them, I will. But there's nobody knows who
they are. I don't. You know how you can tell them, though? I'll
show you in a minute. Turn to 2 Timothy 2, verse 9.
Now listen to Paul. Wherein I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even unto bonds. I'm in jail. I've got bonds on
my hands and feet, fetters chained, but you can't bind the Word of
God. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake. That's
why I'm doing this, Paul said. That's why I'm sitting rotten
in this jail, for the elect's sake. That's the reason I'm swimming
the deep, for the elect's sake. That's the reason I'm getting
shipwrecked, for the elect's sake. That's the reason I'm taking
these stones and rods on my back, for the elect's sake. That's
why I'm doing it. That's the reason I'm preaching. Why? That they might obtain the salvation
which is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory. How shall they
hear it without a preacher? That's what it is. How shall
they call on Him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they
hear it without a preacher? You say, that's not consistent.
With whom? It's consistent with the Word.
It's not consistent with you, because you're not God. It's
not consistent with your way of thinking, because you're a
natural man. It's not consistent with your understanding, because
your understanding's darkened. It's not consistent with your
religion, because there's a way that seems right unto men, and
the end is destruction. It's not consistent with your
thoughts, because your thoughts aren't God's thoughts, but it's
consistent with His Word. That God elected a people and
Christ died for them and we have to preach the gospel to them
and they'll believe it. God will enable them to believe.
Well, how are we going to recognize them preachers? Turn to 2 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. Tell you how we're going to recognize
them. I'll tell you exactly how we're
going to recognize them. Go everywhere preaching the gospel
to every creature. And if one of God's elect is
there, I'll tell you how you're going to recognize Him. Verse
4 of 1 Thessalonians 1, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election
of God. Four. Four. Because, number one, our Gospel
came not unto you in word only. That's the way most people hear
it. But it came to you in power, regeneration, the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance. Number two, verse six, and you
became, or you came to be, followers of us in the Lord. Yes, sir,
God's elect will follow Him. They'll follow Him, follow His
Word, follow His Preacher, they'll follow His Gospel, and they'll
receive the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Ghost.
Verse seven, and you were examples. You were examples in your attitude,
in your conduct, In your generosity, in your forgiving spirit, in
your godliness, you were examples to all the people around you.
God's people will walk in holiness. Verse 8, And far from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only where you live, in Achaia,
but in every place. God's people are missionary minded.
They're witnesses, they're evangelists. And verse 9 says, the last line,
and you turn from your idols to serve the living God, and
verse 10 says, you're waiting for His Son to come back. That's how you can tell the difference.
It's a marvelous work of God's grace. So, in summing up this
message, wherein do we differ? We differ in the critical, crucial
areas of the gospel. Who is Jesus Christ? What did
Jesus Christ do? Why did He do it? And where is
He now? Let's bow in prayer. Our merciful, eternal Lord, who is sufficient for these things? What weighty, mysterious, profound
truth. And we are so feeble and so frail, and men of the flesh, and yet
in this earthen vessel, in these brains of ours, in these hearts
of ours, in these souls of ours, you have put that knowledge and
not only the knowledge of your glory and grace, not only the
knowledge of the mystery of godliness, but a love for Him, a love for
it, a love for Christ, a love for His glory, a satisfaction with and approval
of His meritorious sacrifice. We not only believe it, but by
Your grace we love it. We not only trust Him and believe
that He is very God of very God and will do what He has come
to do, but we wouldn't have it any other way. To Him be the
glory, the dominion, and the power both now and forever, in
heaven, earth, and hell, over all things, over every creature
that moves, to Him be that dominion and power and glory, is the very beat of our hearts
and the desire of our souls. And this amazes us. and astounds
us that you should be pleased to bring us to, in some measure,
think as you think, and to love things as you love
them, and to desire that which you desire. And Lord, we pray that you'll
enable this preacher and these other men here, and others who
will hear this message on tape in other places, give us the
courage and the boldness, but first of all, the understanding
of this gospel. We can't preach this gospel until
it becomes our gospel. Our gospel. Make it our gospel. And then we can preach it when
it becomes our gospel. We dare not preach any other
gospel. And that gospel which glorifies
our blessed Lord. And our Father give us, give us a spirit of compassion
and pity, where not for your grace we'd still be blind. Not
for your love and mercy we'd still be in the pit. And let
us remember to have some compassion and pity and to pray for those
who do not see, who cannot hear. But would you by your grace give
them ears to see, ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts to
understand for the glory of our dear Lord. Impress upon us our responsibilities
who have committed to our trust such a sacred treasure as the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his precious name we pray.
Amen.