I really don't know whether King
Agrippa understood or realized the great act of
mercy toward him in allowing him to hear the king
of preachers preach the gospel. Paul was the king of preachers,
and here he is preaching to a king. And I just wonder if Agrippa
ever realized what a momentous hour that was, what a tremendous
hour when God Almighty sent to him, the Prince of Preachers,
to declare the gospel of his wonderful son. It's a momentous
and eventful hour when God, by his grace, crosses the path of
any sinner. I thank God he didn't leave me. in my superstition. I thank God
that he didn't leave me in my religious tradition. He could
have. Many are left in their blindness
and their hearts are further hardened. But one day he crossed
my path. I was 24 years old. And he sent
me a man who dared to tell me in the truth. A faithful servant
who was not covetous of the praise of men or the possessions of
this world. A man who cared little for popularity
or fame or applause, but who cared a great deal for the glory
of God Almighty. A man who himself had seen Christ
in his glory and beauty, and man in his wretched state. And
he dared to tell me that God was no failure. He dared to tell me that I was,
and that the only one who could bring us together was His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that was no accident that
God determined before the foundation of the world that Christ should
be my surety, my sin offering, my great shepherd. And He gave
me to Christ. And the Lord Jesus came down
here and didn't make an effort to save anybody. He accomplished
the salvation of people. Our Lord Jesus didn't come down
here and make an installment payment and leave the rest up
to me. He paid it all. All the debt I owe. That His
atonement was effectual and sufficient. That He did not fail. That He
is not disappointed nor defeated. He dared to tell me the truth.
What a day! What an hour, that moment. I
didn't realize it then, I do now. More and more every day
I realize that Tuesday morning in 1950, April 1950, as an assistant
pastor of a Southern Baptist church, I sat on the front row
and heard a man tell the truth about God for the first time
in my life. Tell the truth about God. Tell
the truth about men and dare to preach the doctrines of grace. What an hour, what a moment.
And here Agrippa is privileged to sit and listen to God's man
of the hour, the king of preachers, the prince of preachers, one
sent by God himself to deliver his message, his message of grace. What a moment. The woman at the
well when she met Christ, what a moment. The thief on the cross,
he could have been crucified the day before. He could have
been crucified a month later, but in God's predestinating purpose,
in God Almighty's, Charlie, as you say, good providence, he
put him on a cross beside the Master and brought him to salvation. Zacchaeus, he could have been
collecting taxes somewhere else that day. Brian Bartimaeus could
have had a cold and stayed home. Oh, I thank God that in His grace
and mercy He didn't leave me alone. All of the things that
could have been, that could have been. I could have fallen and
broken my leg that week and not been in one of those services.
But God brought me to here. Do you and I realize the blessings
of this hour? The potential, the possibilities? Do you and I realize the importance
of this hour? Or that we might redeem the time,
I with my tongue and you with your ear. We'll not pass this
way again. Spurgeon said one time, this
congregation as it is now will never assemble together again. You realize that? Well, you say
we'll meet tonight. Not as it is. Not as it is. There are people here this morning
that may be, that'll never be here again. I may never be here
again. This congregation, as it is now,
will never assemble this way again. In God's good providence,
we're here now. Let's redeem the hour. That's
the reason I say to the preachers who are here this morning, God
didn't send us to entertain sinners on their road to hell. Dare we
spend the time together that God has allotted us and allowed
us for important things to play games, make announcements, try
to raise money, God help us. God help us. Oh, the possibilities
of this act. Paul preached in the presence
of the king. He had one shot, and he aimed
well. And he aimed well. He had one
shot. He drew his sword and sent it home. Oh, the possibilities. His preaching, preachers listen
to me, his preaching was forceful. Very forceful. But you read that
chapter again, but courteous. You note that? But courteous.
God didn't send us to skin people. He sent us to feed His sheep.
Paul's preaching was very bold. Very bold. Very bold, but never
rude. You note that? Never rude. I
think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself
this day before thee." That's not rude. I don't know why a
preacher is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Down there
he's one fellow, up here he turns into a monster of flailing people,
shillelian people, ripping hides, pouring in salt. Paul was never
rude. Paul was persuasive, but never
apologetic. Never apologetic. I persuade
men, he said. I beseech you, brethren, by the
mercies of God. I'm an ambassador of Christ.
I pray you in Christ's stead, but never apologetic. Never. Paul spoke of himself. He talked
about his experience on the road to Damascus. He talked about
his background, his religious background. His background of
persecution. He spoke of himself, but Jay
never for himself. never far. I can detect when
you're preaching of yourself and when you're preaching for
yourself. Paul never spoke for himself. And the Lord gave him
a commission. Let's look down here at verse
16. He said, and the Lord spoke to me in that hour on the road
to Damascus. God speaks to us today too. He
speaks through His Word. I've never seen the vision that
Paul saw. I've never had the experience
that Paul had. But I've seen Christ, and I've heard him speak
through his word. The word, you see, is completed.
Now, it wasn't in Paul's time. But he spoke to him, and he said,
rise and stand on your feet. And stand on your feet. I have
appeared unto you for this purpose, to make you a minister. We don't
make men ministers. God makes ministers. Now, every
person is a preacher of the gospel. Every person's a witness. But
God gifts some men for the pulpit ministry, for the public ministry.
And he says, I've called you, I've made you a minister and
a witness. Now watch, it's twofold. Of those
things which you've seen. Martin used to say, you can't
tell what you don't know. This has been the problem of
the church for years, is men in teaching, preaching positions
who've never seen anything. who've never been taught anything.
You can't tell what you haven't, what you don't know, any more
than you can come back from where you haven't been. The apostles, if
you'll hold that place there and turn to 1 John a moment,
the apostles preached what they had seen. You see, I can stand
before you this morning and talk about being engulfed in the traditions
of religion. I told my Sunday school class
this morning, I've been there. I know what I'm talking about.
The things that Paul talks about here being raised a Pharisee,
a legalist, a fundamentalist, engaged in religious superstition,
religious entertainment, customs and tradition. Gerald, I've been
there. You've been there. Bruce, you've been there. Nearly
every one of you have been there. Richard, you've been there. I
know what I'm talking about. Paul knew what he was talking
about. He said the things that were at one time gained to me,
I count them lost for Christ's sake. More than that, I count
them rubbish garbage, for Christ's sake, or that I may win Christ. You can't tell what you don't
know. You can't tell what you haven't experienced. And I know
what it means to come face to face with the truth of God. God's either sovereign or He's
not. Abraham has no middle ground, is he? He's either on the throne
or he's not. He is on the throne or somebody
else is. Man's either dead or he's not dead. There's nobody
half dead. They're either totally without
God, without hope, without Christ, without any ability to come to
God or they're not. Now one or the other, what happened
in the garden? Was man slightly wounded or did he die? Did he lose the sight in one
eye or is he blind in both eyes? That's the issue. Spurgeons say
if you don't start right, you're never going to wind up right.
If your theology goes bad at the beginning, it'll be bad all
the way through. If anybody comes to God, God
will have to bring them. They're not going to come. Christ
said, you will not come. God either elected a people or
he didn't. It's just that simple. Either did or he didn't. Christ
either died on the cross and saved some people or he didn't.
As John Owen said, if he died for all the sins of all men,
then all men are saved. Have to be. Man wrote in a paper
this week, if Christ died for everyone in the world, then why
don't we invite them all to the Lord's table? This is my body
broken for you, this is my blood shed for you. You've got no right
to turn anybody away. Oh, you say it's not for unbelievers,
but Christ died for them. The table is on the basis of
those for whom he died. This is my body broken for you.
If that's true of every son of Adam, then invite every son of
Adam to the Lord's table. Those in hell, if you die for
them, then his blood's not very powerful, it couldn't keep them
out of hell. Holy Spirit either affectionately
calls or he doesn't. God's people all persevere or
none of them will. These things have got to be decided.
I thank God for the days when I met and grappled with those
issues, and God settled them in my heart. Settled them in
Christ. And John, the same thing in chapter
1 of 1 John, he said, that which was from the beginning, which
I've heard, which I've heard, which I've seen with my eyes.
which I've looked upon, our hands have handled of the word of life.
For the life was manifested, and we saw it, we have seen it,
and we bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which
was with the Father and manifested in us." That's Christ he's talking
about. I've seen Him, I've touched Him, I've heard Him. And he repeats
that three times. What I've seen, what I've heard,
I declare unto you. And down here in Acts 26, verse
16, that's exactly what God is saying to Paul. Go tell them
what you've seen. Go tell them what you've seen.
And the second thing he said, and that, the things, you tell
them the things you've seen and the things into which I'll appear
to you, or the things I'll reveal to you and teach you. That's
all a preacher can preach. Preachers don't preach anything
else. Please don't. Except what you've seen and what
you've heard. God didn't send us to speculate. He didn't. He didn't send us
to speculate. Our speculation will usually
get us in trouble. It'll usually get us in trouble.
We need to preach, thus saith the Lord, what we've experienced
and what God has been pleased to teach us. Now the next verse,
he said, I'll deliver you. And then in verse 18, he gives
us a definition of our task. Here's the task that God sent
Paul into this world to perform. And also in giving Paul the directions
and definition of his task, he gives us the definition of a
believer. He said, I send you, I send you to open their eyes
and to turn them from darkness to light. My friends, I see. That's what I'm saying. Job wrote
that. Hold your place there and turn to Job 42. I see, I see. You know, the scripture says,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. Our Lord said to the disciples, blessed are your eyes, they see.
To see is to understand. To see is to know. To see is
to have things revealed to you. That's what He's talking about.
Except a man be regenerated, born again, given life, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. I see. Do you see? Listen to
Job over here in Job 42 verse 5. I've heard of you by the hearing
of the ear. But now mine eye seeth thee,
wherefore I pour myself. I repent in sackcloth and ashes."
David said, get this, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Light first and then salvation.
Light first and then salvation. You can't trust an unrevealed
Christ. You certainly can. Knowledge
is essential to deliverance. Knowledge is essential to faith. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. The old Puritans used to give
a threefold definition of faith. Knowledge, confidence, committal.
Knowledge is always first. I see. I see. When Isaiah saw
his glory, then he spoke of him. You know why preachers don't
preach the glory of Christ? Haven't seen it. Why they don't
preach the purpose of God? Haven't seen it. Why they don't
declare in unquestionable language and with boldness the truth of
redemption in Christ? They've never seen it. I see. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've
committed. I see. I said, knowledge is essential
to faith, essential to believing. We see the holiness and righteousness
of God. I see that. I see God in it. Isaiah saw that. In Isaiah chapter
6, he said, I saw the Lord. High and lifted up, His train
filled the temple. And the cherubims and seraphims
cried, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. Have we seen God's
holiness? that God can in no way clear
the guilty, that God must punish sin, that God must be just in
being justified, that his holy law must be—have we seen? I see. I see. God says, I send you,
Paul, to open their eyes. A Christian is a person, first
of all, whose eyes have been opened. He's seen something. Not just the mechanical. Everybody
wants to go to heaven. You met anybody that doesn't
want to go to heaven? Nobody wants to go to hell. That's no
problem. If that's all your endeavors
are in soul and evangelism, is to get people to agree to go
to heaven and not to go to hell, that's no problem. It's like
the black church was having the meeting down at Mount Zion, Mount
Joy, one of those mountains down in, I saw a black church the
other day named Mount Sinai, you won't believe that, that's
so up in Cleveland. But they were having a big meeting
and the preacher got in a big way of talking about heaven and
he said, how many of you want to go to heaven, just stand up?
And they all stood but one dear brother, Rube didn't stand, he
just sat there. And the preacher had him sit
down and he thought, well, Rube didn't understand him. He said, I said
everybody wants to go to heaven and stand up. They all stood
up then, but not Rube. He kept sitting there. Finally,
the pastor looked down and he said, Rube, don't you want to
go to heaven? Oh, yeah, yeah, I do. But I thought
you was getting up a load for tonight, preacher. If all your evangelism is to
get folks in the mood to go to heaven, they'll all agree. Maybe
not tonight. But sooner or later. But brethren,
we want men to see, to see the glory of God, the beauty of Christ,
the righteousness of God, the justice of God, the wisdom of
God. I see the corruption of my nature.
Have I seen it all? By no means. Not nearly all of
it. But I've seen enough of it to
convince me that I need mercy. to convince me that I need help,
to convince me that I need His grace, to convince me that the
only one who can help me is Christ Jesus. I've seen the evil of
our deeds, good and bad. Even our righteousness is a filthy
rag. I've seen the way of life in
Christ Jesus. Turn to Galatians 4. Listen to
God speak in Galatians 4, verse 4 and 5. It says, "...in the
fullness of time, but when the fullness of time was come..."
Have you seen this? God sent forth His Son. His Son, His only begotten, well-beloved
Son, made of a woman. He who made woman was made of
a woman. The ancient of days became the
infant of days, made under the law. You know why Christ lived
33 1⁄2 years on this earth? Well, to set a good example for
us. You hadn't seen it. I told you. Our Lord lived 33
1⁄2 years on this earth, made under the law, to redeem them
under the law. He was born under the law of
the home. on the civil law, on the Levitical law, on the moral
law, and was required as our substitute and surety and savior
to obey every jot and tittle of every one of them in action,
attitude, motive, and matters. And he never failed. Tested in
all points as we are tested. You see, God's law is going to
be honored either by you or your substitute. Why did Christ die
on the cross? To get the world to feel sorry
for him. He died on the cross as a sin offering, as a substitute,
as a sacrifice, as an atonement for sin, that God may be just
and justify her. A man who doesn't know the answer
to this question doesn't know the gospel. How can a man be
just with God? A man has to be perfect to go
to heaven. Did you know that? Absolutely
perfect. As holy as God, as perfect as
God, as righteous as God, as justified as God, as free from
sin as God. You say there ain't no such animal.
No, sir. Not in the flesh, and not in
religion, and not in the ordinances, and not in the law, but in Christ
there's some like that. In Christ, there is no sin. Therefore,
being in Christ, we have no condemnation, no charge, no judgment, because
Christ fulfilled the law and imputed to me a perfect righteousness,
and before God, I'm as holy as Christ. In Christ. That's so. Where in Christ, He of God has
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
If you weren't perfect, God couldn't even look on you. God couldn't
love you. God couldn't receive you. God
couldn't accept you, because God Almighty can have nothing
to do with evil. But in Christ, near, so near
to God, nearer I cannot be. In the person of His Son, I'm
as near as He. Salvation is not in a profession, it's in a person.
Salvation is not in a tradition or a custom or an ordinance or
a decision, it's in a person. Christ is my salvation. The Lord
is my light and my salvation, the author and finisher of my
faith. Substitution. In Him with His spotless garments
on, we're as holy as His Son. And before the justice of God,
there's no charge. I've already died. I've already
gone to hell. I've already paid for sin in
Christ. That's what the gospel is. That's
good news. Anything else is not good news
because God can't be satisfied with anything else. Christ was
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
born under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And we see this not with our heads only, but with our hearts. Turn with me to Romans 10, Romans
chapter 10. In the 10th chapter of Romans,
Paul bemoans the fact that Israel, they have a zeal for God. He
said in verse 1, he said, My heart's desire and prayer to
God is that Israel might be saved. Verse 2, they have an enthusiasm
for God, but they're ignorant. They're going about. Verse 3,
what are they doing? To establish their own righteousness. They're going about to establish
some kind of credit with God, some kind of position before
God, some kind of standing before God by what they've decided or
what they've committed or what they've given up or what they've
taken on. And they will not submit to the righteousness of God,
which is Christ. Christ is the end of the law,
the goal of the law, the consolation of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. What does the law say? Verse
5, I'll tell you what the law says, do this and live. And it
can't say anything else. What does the gospel say? Verse
9, if you confess with your mouth Jesus to be Lord, Lord. Not a doormat, but Lord. Not
a fire escape, but Lord. You confess Him to be Lord and
believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead. Well, God
couldn't raise Him from the dead unless He died. He had to die
to be raised from the dead. Why did He die? For your sins.
For my sins. That's what I've seen. To open
their eyes. Let's go back to Acts 26. That's
the first definition of a Christian. That's the first definition of
our task as a preacher. To open their eyes. To open their
eyes. And to turn them from the darkness,
as I said a while ago, the darkness of superstition and religion,
and from the darkness of evil and rebellion and sin, to light,
to the light of God. All right? Secondly, from the
power of Satan to the power of God Almighty to deliver them
from the power of Satan unto God. The believer has not only
been turned in knowledge from light to darkness, but he's been
turned in experience. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5.17. We're
not just Christians in creed, but in deed. The man that's a
Christian in creed only is no Christian at all. Our Lord told
us not to love only in word, but in deed. Indeed in 2nd Corinthians
5 17 therefore if any man be in Christ in Christ In Christ
now, let me tell you something All the blessings of God are
in Christ and they're ours through a vital union with Christ There
is no union with Christ except by faith and There's no faith
except by the Word, the preaching of the Word. And all the preaching
in the world will not affect saving faith apart from the Holy
Spirit's Word. It's a miracle of God's grace
that we're in Christ. That's where all the mercies
are, in Christ, just like the mercies were in the ark. So our
mercies are in Christ. Therefore, he said, if any man
be in Christ, I don't mean in the church, I don't mean in the
Baptist denomination. I don't mean in a profession
of faith. I mean if any man, by God's grace, by an act of
God's grace, and by a work of God's Spirit, and by saving faith,
is actually in Christ, he is a new creature. Not ought to
be, not will be, not going to be, he is a new creature. He's
not just a Christian in creed, but indeed Christ has not been
received only as Savior, but Lord. He's not only changed his
actions and outward appearance, he's changed his attitude. He's
not only changed his manners, but he's changed his motive and
lives for the glory of God. Turn to Galatians 5. Now this
is true. They've been turned not only
from light, from darkness to light, in knowledge, but they've
been turned from the way of darkness to the way of light by experience.
You see, God not only imputes unto his people a perfect righteousness,
but he imparts unto them a righteousness. They pursue holiness. In Galatians
5, beginning with verse 19 through verse, I believe it's 22 or 23,
I'm going to read this in the amplified version. I think it'll
help you. Galatians 5, verse 20, verse
19. Now, the works of the flesh,
that's what you're reading there. Now, the doings or practices
of the flesh are clear. They are immorality, impurity,
indecency, idolatry, superstition, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger,
ill temper, in parenthesis, selfishness, division, dissension, party spirit,
factions, heresies, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. That's
the works of the flesh. Down in verse 22, but the fruit
of the spirit. And if any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. A man's not saved and then later
on received the Holy Spirit. He'd never be saved without the
Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit who quickens, who regenerates.
It's the Holy Spirit by whom we're born again. It's the Holy
Spirit who convinces us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
It's the Holy Spirit who reveals Christ. It's the Holy Spirit
who leads us into the things of Christ. If any man hath not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Now, the fruit of the
Spirit, and in the life of the believer, we know there are babes
in Christ, and there are young men, and there are elders. And
the fruit of the Spirit may be in the bud, and the bloom, and
the full fruit, but it's there, if the Spirit's there. And the
fruit of the Spirit is a growth. It's like you have your apple
tree out in the backyard. It has leaves and the blooms
on it. You watch the blooms in the spring. That's a fruit tree.
Each bloom is a piece of fruit. And then as the time goes on,
it becomes a full bloom and then it becomes a small apple and
then it grows into a ripe apple that's beautiful and sweet to
the taste. And so the believer He's born
a babe in Christ, an infant in Christ. He's perfectly sanctified
in Christ. But he progressively grows in
grace. The fruit of the Spirit is developed.
It matures. That's what the word P-E-R-F-E-C-T,
perfect, means. It's a maturity jam. A growth
in grace and the knowledge of Christ. And the fruit of the
Spirit is love. Believers don't hate. No, sir,
they don't hate. They don't hate black people.
They don't hate Jews. They don't hate. They don't even
hate their enemies. They love their enemies. Not
as perfectly as they ought to love them, but they do love them.
They don't hate them. You know, I don't know why that
the average person thinks a believer is a sour, overly pious, holier
than thou, a fella that puts a wet blanket and a cold amper
on everything that comes along. God's people are happy! In Christ,
joyful! Joy, the joy in the Holy Ghost,
the joy in Christ, the joy in the Lord. Rejoice evermore! Rejoice, Paul said, and again
I say, rejoice! Even in infirmities he rejoiced.
Peace. They're men of peace. They're
not men of compromise, but peace. Follow peace. Patience. Oh, the
way patience grows is trouble. Trouble produces patience. Tribulation
works with patience. Kindness. You can't be unkind
and know Christ. So, I don't know, all this, folks
walk down the aisle and shake the preacher's hand and say they
believe in Jesus. You know, he died on the cross, buried in
a rose again, the only way to heaven. The most unkind, not
gentle, unforgiving, gossipy, back biters, fault finders, troublemakers,
factions, party spirits, jealousy, envy, strife, uh-uh, I beg your
pardon. You got a profession. You don't
know Christ, because the King of glory is the King of peace.
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. That's right, God's people
are kind. They're benevolent, generous.
They say, he's sure tight-fisted, not if he knows Christ. No, sir,
I beg your pardon. Faithful? Faithful? No preacher of a saved church
needs to pass out cards to get people to come to church. No
way. No way does he need to pass out pledge cards to get people
to give. No way. No way does he need to browbeat
them and find fault with them and get them to witness. No way.
Or to pray. They love prayer. They love God's
Word. They love His house. They love
His people. They're generous, benevolent,
kind if they're redeemed. But now if salvation is just
walking down an aisle making this little profession, you know,
and saying you believe a few facts in your head, no, there's
no new life there, there's no new creature, there's no new
birth. That's the reason the churches
are suffering under the weight of conflict, division, factions,
fussing and fighting and all this, all the time. Unregenerate
people. God's people are faithful, they're
meek. There's a difference in weakness and meekness. They're
humble people. They ascribe all they have to
God. They didn't get any of it through themselves. The ministry
is the proudest bunch of people in the world outside of doctors.
That's where it starts. Physicians and preachers and
lawyers about in that step. Proud, arrogant. Not God's people. They're humble people. They're
gentle people, gentle people. They handle others like they'd
handle themselves. That's the way they'd want to
be handled. They're men and women of self-control. That's so. They've turned from the power
of Satan to the power of God. Look at the third thing quickly.
The Christian has received forgiveness of sins. Now, there's no need
for me to spend my time this morning or any more time talking
about that we're sinners by birth, original sin, as in Adam all
died. From the womb, we go astray as
soon as we're born, speaking lies. My mother conceived me
in sin. I was shaped in iniquity, brought
forth in sin. Sin is not just an act, it's
a nature. You see, the act is a result
of the nature. That fruit hanging on that apple
tree is making an apple tree. It's an apple because that tree
was already an apple tree. And that man didn't become a
thief when he stole. He stole because he was already
a thief. He's a thief in his heart, thief in his nature, thief
in principle. That's what sin is. Sin is a
nature. The average preacher today has made sin. Drinking,
gambling, cursing, swearing, going to the shows, all these
different things. That's the product of sin. That's the result
of sin. Sin is the nature. And that's
the reason Paul cried, oh, wretched man that I am. Paul wasn't out
getting drunk every night. He wasn't shooting anybody, you
know, or stabbing anybody, or carousing, but he felt the presence
of sin, indwelling sin. He felt the nature of sin. He
cried, oh, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Thank
God, someday in Christ. George Whitefield talked about,
we're convinced of S-I-N. what we are, not only what we've
done. About everybody's ashamed of
what he's done, but not many folks ashamed of who they are.
That's right. About everybody in here is ashamed
of what they've done. If we were to pull that screen
down and start showing what you've done in the last ten years, everybody
would get up and run out. But I'll tell you this, what
if we could show what you thought in the last ten minutes? Now,
we wouldn't want that, would we? But that's what we are. What
I think is what I am. What I do, my environment has
a lot to do with what I do. That's what the sociologists
are trying to convince us. Change a man's environment and
you'll change him. Oh, I beg your pardon. You change
him, he'll change his environment. That's right. Here's where sin
is. God looks on the heart. You are they which justify yourself
before me. You clean up the outside, just
like the old cemetery. Go out and rake the grass and
rake the leaves, plant some flowers, cut the grass, shine a tombstone,
isn't it pretty? Dead men's bones. Don't dig anywhere. Just stand back and look. Don't
dig. Don't inquire. Don't search, you know. Let him
keep his mouth shut because he opens his mouth and you'll smell
that grave. He just stands and looks pretty.
It's just praise the Lord. Well, hallelujah. Don't catch
him in an off moment when the graves open or you'll smell what
he is down in here. That's what I'm talking about,
sin. Now, I've done what I said I wasn't going to do, try to
convince us that we're sinners, but I'm telling you, here's what
he said, we have the forgiveness of sin. My sin, oh, the bliss
of that glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole,
my nails of the cross, I bear them no more. Isn't that good
news? That's the reason people rejoice
in the gospel over and over again, never tire of it, because it's
comfortable. It's reassuring. It gives me
confidence that I can know that my sins, past, present, are you
strong enough to take this, future, are under the bluff. I'm safe
in the shepherd's fold under the blood of Jesus. I'm safe
while the ages roll. Safe though the world may crumble.
Safe though the stars grow dim. Under the blood of Christ, Almighty
God can't see a one of my sins. They're blotted out, cast behind
his back in the depths of the sea as far as the east is from
the west to be remembered no more. I'm clean in his eyes. In his eyes. Is that true? Hebrews
10. Want to look at it? Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews the
10th chapter, it says, talk about these priests, you know, there
were a whole lot of them, only one, our great high priest. They stood because their work
was never finished. He sat down, he finished his.
As they offered that blood of animals, he took his own blood.
But verse 12, this man, Hebrews 10, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sin forever, sat down. the right hand of God. That does away with the fact
that the preacher said Christ is wringing his hands, leaning
over the banisters of heaven, hoping you'll let him in. He
sat down. He sat down because he finished
what he came to do. I pray not for the world. I pray
for them which thou hast given me. I lay down my life for my
sheep. And you read on if you want to.
Verse 14, by one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. Brethren, the work was done by
Christ. I know no man saith without faith, and we'll show you that
in a minute, but faith does not make a contribution to the redemption
of your soul. It does not justify you in the
sense that it makes you holy before God. Christ did that.
Christ did that. He says in verse 17, and their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, no more offering for sin, no more sin. Isn't that
good news? That's what he says. Paul, I'm
sending you to open the eyes of the blind, turn them from
darkness to light, the light of Christ, the light of his salvation.
To turn them from the power, servitude, obedience of Satan,
bondage. Oh, the bondage, and to give
them the glorious liberty of the sons of God, and to forgive
their sins. Oh, I tell you, isn't that good
news? Their sins are forgiven quickly, the next one, and to
give them an inheritance. I was riding along the other
day, turned to Revelation chapter 21. I heard a preacher just read
this, and honestly, it blessed my heart. abundantly an inheritance. Revelation 21-1, I saw a new
heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their
God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying Neither
shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed
away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all
things new. And he said to me, Right, for
these words are true and faithful." I have an inheritance, Cecil.
I'm looking forward to it. And let me tell you something.
I know who gave it to me. Almighty God, by His grace. I
know who purchased it for me, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His
sacrifice. And I know who revealed it to
me, the Holy Spirit. And I give Him all the glory.
I had no part in it. What I am, God made me. What
I have, God gave me. A man can receive nothing except
to be given him from heaven. What I know, God taught me. What
I will be, will be by His grace. And you can call that hardshellism
or fatalism or hyper-Calvinism. Just call it what you want to.
It doesn't matter to me. I just know, as Charles Spurgeon
said, my whole theology is summed up in five words. Salvation is
of the Lord. From beginning to end. I want
to see men saved. I'm preaching. I've got seven
straight weeks of meetings. Why? For the glory of God first,
for the salvation of sinners. But I can't save them. I'm not
going to compromise his gospel, I believe he can. I put you on
television, tape, somewhere all the time. Study, put out Sunday
school lessons, bulletins, papers. Jay and I, we work about as many
hours as anybody in here, right? He said, you didn't bring me
here to cut your workload, you brought me here to double it.
Well, that's all right, because we have ten missionaries on the
field. But I tell you, I know who the Savior is. And I know
if anybody goes to hell, it'll be his fault. Your own fault. If anybody goes to heaven, it'll
be God's fault. And I know that. And I'm out calling mourners.
I'm out telling men, seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. You know what's wrong? It's not
you can't, it's you won't. It's not you can't believe, you
won't believe. Your inability is because of
your unwillingness. And vice versa. I don't try to
explain the gospel, I'm just sent to preach it. If I could
comprehend God, I'd be God. All right, the last line. They're
sanctified by faith. That's the fifth mark of the
believer. His eyes are open, he's a new creature in Christ,
his sins are forgiven, he has an inheritance, he's an heir
of God, and last of all, he believes. He believes. Turn to Romans 4,
and I'll quit. Romans, the fourth chapter. And Abraham is the father
of the faithful. He's the example of faith. And
let me show you what it says about him over here. No man will
be saved without faith. Verse 20 says, Abraham staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief. But he was strong in
faith, and he gave the glory to God. And being fully persuaded
that what God promised, God was able to perform. And therefore
it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now, it wasn't written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. No man will ever be saved because
he's elect only. That's right, election is not
salvation, it's unto salvation. We're saved by faith. No man
will ever be saved who doesn't hear the gospel. He's going to
hear the gospel. He's going to believe the gospel. No man will
ever be saved unless he believes the gospel, bows to Christ, confesses
Christ, and follows Christ. I thought you said everybody
whom God chose will be saved. I did. But they'll all come willingly.