The Apostle Paul, on more than
one occasion, called upon God to be his witness regarding the things that he expressed
from his heart. He said, God is my witness, whom
I serve in the Spirit. And then he would make a statement.
And then the Apostle Peter, when he was sitting by the fire, being
questioned by the Master in regard to his love, he appealed to the
Lord's knowledge. He said, you know everything,
you know I love you. And tonight, borrowing those
words from the Apostle Paul, God is my witness. And those
are fearful words, awesome words if they're not spoken in truth.
God is my witness, whom I serve in the Spirit, and I believe
I can borrow the words of the Apostle Peter, Lord, you know
everything. I have a threefold desire which
dominates my heart, my mind, and my time. I have a threefold
desire. God is my witness. Number one,
I want to know the gospel. I want above all things to know
the gospel. I do not want to be deceived.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians said, they'll come to you preaching
another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel. I don't know
of any curse in all the world that could be upon a preacher
or a congregation than to be those who are preaching another
gospel. In fact, the Apostle said, if it's an angel from heaven,
if it's an angel from heaven who delivers this other gospel,
let him be accursed. You see the solemnity of it.
You see the fearfulness of it. I want above all things to know
the gospel. There's not but one gospel. That's
what Paul said. Though there be many gospels,
there are not many gospels, there's a perversion, many perversions
of the gospel. There's only one gospel, which
is the power of God unto salvation. This one gospel is the gospel
of God, separated, he said, to the gospel of God. This one gospel
is the gospel of His grace. It's not the gospel of works.
If there's just an atom of works in it, it's not the gospel. If
there's just a shade or a jot or a tittle of man's merit in
it, it's not the gospel, the gospel, the one gospel. is the
gospel of God's grace. Grace. And if it's not grace,
it's works. And if there's any works in it,
it's not grace. And this gospel is the gospel concerning his
son. It's not concerning what you
do about it. It's not concerning what I do
about it. It's not concerning what the world does about it.
The gospel of God's grace is the gospel of God's son. That's
what it's all about. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's
the beginning and the end and all in between. The gospel is
concerning His Son. And it's the gospel of His glory.
His glory, not our glory, man's glory, the glory of the church
or the denomination, but His glory in all things. He will
have, He shall have, He must have the preeminence. That's
the gospel. I want to know the gospel. I
desperately want to know the gospel. I feel like Jacob of
old. I will not let you go, God, until
you reveal to my heart the gospel. The gospel. I must know the gospel. I must have the gospel. And secondly,
this desire, I want to be saved by that gospel. That's the only
way a man can be saved, is by the gospel. Now, I'm telling
you this, and I'm telling it to you as plainly and as boldly
as I can tell you. A man who does not know the gospel
is not saved. Now, that's all there is to it.
I don't care what he's in, what he's engaged in. I care not what
he knows. I care not what he does. I care
not how moral he is. I care not how religious he is
or how zealous he is. A man who does not know the gospel
of God, of God's grace, of God's glory, of God's Son, the gospel
of Jesus Christ, is not saved. And if there was a time when
you didn't know the gospel, at that time you weren't saved.
Now, you might have been on the road to being saved. You might
have been an object of God's mercy. You might have been one
of God's elect. You may have been set apart as
an object of His grace. You may have been separated from
your mother's womb, as the Apostle Paul said he was, but you are
not saved till you embrace the gospel. That's so. Absolutely so. And I think it's
time we quit trying to trace our salvation back to a little,
easy, idle profession of faith, back in complete rebellion against
the gospel. A man's not saved if he doesn't
know the gospel. It's just not saved. Just one gospel. We're
saved by believing that gospel. He that believeth on the Son
hath life, and he that believeth not the Son hath not life. A
man can't believe the gospel unless he knows the gospel, and
he can't know the gospel unless God reveals the gospel. So that's
just so. It's just absolutely so. The
Apostle Paul was as religious as a man could be, but he didn't
know the gospel. He was as orthodox as a Jew could
be, keeping the holy days, the Sabbath days, the feast days,
the ceremonies, the circumcision, fasting, praying, tithing, mint,
anise, cumin, and all the works from A to Z. But he was not saved
until he met Christ, until he learned the gospel. That's so. The gospel. A man's not saved
who doesn't know the gospel. That's the reason we must preach
the gospel. That's the reason we must not
compromise the gospel. That's the reason we must not
take the offense from the gospel. We must proclaim in this day
the gospel, because nobody's saved who doesn't hear, receive,
believe, and stand in the gospel. Now, that's so. That's so. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, not a gospel, the gospel by which you're saved.
If you keep in memory what I preached to you, we'd better take it seriously. And I know we're trying to justify
everything in the name of religion today, but you can't do it. I
know we're trying to justify everybody that uses the name
Jesus, but our Lord said himself, Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father. And this is the will of my Father,
that you believe on him whom God has sent. It's serious. I want to be saved
by that gospel. I'm like old brother Clarence
Walker. I don't want to go to hell. I don't want to perish,
swearing on a stack of Bibles that I know God. I don't want
to perish under his wrath, standing in a pulpit, or sitting in a
pew, or singing, oh, how I love Jesus. Which Jesus do you love? Everybody loves Jesus. I never
met anybody, Jim Hatch, didn't love Jesus. If you ever had,
probably never will. Never have. But which Jesus do
you love? There's not but one Jesus that
can save. There's not but one Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, how I love Jesus! Yes, I
know you do. Your idea of Jesus, your conception
of Jesus, your mind's eye view of Jesus. But the Lord Jesus
Christ is the Savior, and I got to know him. I must know him. I've got to know him. And I'm
not going to defend my traditions and doctrines and ceremonies
to the damnation of my soul. You can do that if you want to.
I hope you don't. And thirdly, I'll tell you this.
If you cut into my mind, you'll find this thought. Into my heart,
you'll find this plea. I want to preach that gospel.
You know, the Apostle Paul didn't say, woe is unto me if I preach
not. It'd be better if a lot of folks didn't preach. He said,
Woe is unto me, woe is unto me, if I preach not thee gospel. Woe is unto me, if I am so weak. Woe is unto me if I'm so persuaded
by human influence. Woe is unto me if I'm so affected
by the conformity of my day. Woe is unto me if I'm in the
competition of churches. Woe is unto me if out of fear
of men. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. God have mercy on my soul. But he won't. But he won't. Now, if God will teach it to
me, and if God will save me by it, by his grace and spirit,
Jay, I'm going to preach it. I'm going to preach it. I said
to somebody this morning, this pulpit and this congregation
and these Sunday school classes are going to stand for and contend
for and declare the gospel. If men want to hear it, they're
welcome, but this ain't no debating society. If men don't believe
it, I want them out of here. I don't want even one spot of
leaven. I don't want one spot of leaven. I told the preachers
back in the preacher's class, it's tulip, Cecil, or termination.
That's where we stand. That's where we stand. We're
not meeting here to discuss what some old writer said about the
gospel. We're meeting here to preach the gospel. If men cannot
believe it, stand by it, love it, trust in it, contend for
it, They can go play church somewhere else. Don't you let them creep
in, Paul said. They'll creep in, they'll sneak
in, they'll do everything in their power to put a question
mark on the gospel. We won't stand for it. I'm going
to preach the gospel, God willing. Now, I was raised in a modern
church. I was raised in religion. Brother Jay Wembley was raised
in religion. Most of you were raised in religion,
some kind of religion. I was raised in a religious atmosphere,
in a religious home. I went to church every Sunday
morning, to Sunday school. I went to morning service, to
BTU, to evening service, to Wednesday night, to youth meeting. All
of those years I went about trying to establish some kind of righteousness,
believing to some extent in Jesus Christ. Believing the Bible was
God's Word, just like Saul of Tarsus believed the Bible was
God's Word, but he didn't understand it. He didn't understand it. He accepted it, but he didn't
understand it. I believe to some extent that
a man called Jesus Christ died on a cross, was buried and rose
again. But I didn't know the gospel. I hadn't learned the
gospel. And many of you can say the same
thing. I hadn't learned the gospel. And one day, by God's grace,
He revealed three things to me that I did not know. I went to
a school that claimed to teach preachers, and turned out preachers,
like an assembly line, had missions and churches all over this country,
missionaries all over the world, preaching what they call the
gospel. But one day, by God's grace, I found out three things
that I didn't know. And these are the three cardinal,
fundamental, basic truths of this scripture. There are three
things. If you're not acquainted with
them and do not understand them and to some measure comprehend
what they're saying, you don't know the gospel. And here are
the three things that modern religionists do not know, do
not preach, do not believe. Number one, they do not know
what happened in the garden. They do not know. Something happened
in the Garden of Eden that affected me 6,000 years later, drastically,
dramatically. Something happened in the Garden
of Eden that left a mark, a deadly mark, a degrading mark on every
son of Adam. Something happened in the Garden
of Eden that put man in an impossible situation. Something happened. And then the modern religionists
do not know what happened on the cross. A man called Jesus
Christ died. Yeah, that's about all they know.
But something happened on that cross. Something dramatic. Something drastic. Something
earth-shaking and hell-changing and heaven-glorifying. Something
happened on that cross. Something happened. Something
happened. It wasn't an offer made, but
something happened. Something took place. A purpose was accomplished. And I'll tell you this, the modern
religionist does not know, thirdly, what happens in a sinner's heart
when Christ comes in to dwell, when God saves him. Something
happens. Now let's look at those three
things. First of all, what happened in the Garden? What happened
back yonder 6,000 years ago, or approximately? What happened
in the garden? You say, man fell. How far? That's
the question. Everybody knows man fell. How
far? What happened in the garden of
Eden? And Mr. Spurgeon said this, if you don't
know what happened in the garden of Eden, if you're wrong, if
you're wrong on what happened in the garden and the condition
of man as a result thereof, you don't know the gospel. You're
wrong on all your theologies. See, it's like a fellow going
to a certain destination. If he doesn't start right, he'll
never end up right. And if you start wrong, you're
going to end up wrong. If you start in that direction,
or that direction, or that direction, you'll never get to the goal.
You've got to start right. And what happened in the Garden is
of vast importance. All right? Almighty God created
man. He said, let us. Who was he talking
to? He wasn't talking to the angels,
he wasn't talking to some other creature. He said, let us, the
blessed Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, let us make man
in our image. And God created them male and
female. He created them male and female
in his own image. There was not a thought of sin
in that man or woman. There was not a word of sin in
that man or woman, not a spot of defilement. There was not
a deed of sin. They were perfect. God created
them holy, the scripture says, and upright. They walked with
God. Standing in the flesh, created
in the image of God, they had perfect communion with God because
they themselves were perfect. Adam was brilliant. He named
all the animals. He was a genius. He was a king.
He had ruled over the earth. God said, subdue it. Multiply
and replenish it. It's yours to enjoy. You're the
king. The fowls and the beasts and
the animals and everything are subject to you. Everything. But
Adam, you're still subject to me. That's what God said. You
say, how'd God say that? He put a tree in that garden.
He put a tree in that garden. Well, tell us about the tree.
Well, God didn't see fit to tell me about it, and I can't tell
you about it. I just know there's a tree there. What it was, I
do not know. And God said to the man, leave
it alone. Don't eat of that tree. Anything
else is yours. You're king. You're the ruler. It's in your command, under your
jurisdiction, just as long as that tree stands uneaten. It's
saying that you're subject to me. I'm God, and there's none
else. Well, he said the same thing happened to Satan in Isaiah
chapter 14. You want to turn over there a
minute? He said, where'd sin come from? Well, it came as born
of pride. That's where it was born, born
of pride. The source of sin is pride. You see, Lucifer was the
sun of the morning. We believe, some of us believe,
that prior to Adam's reign on the earth that Satan reigned
here, Lucifer. The original creation, the creation
that as a result of his power was destroyed and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. But anyway, what happened to
Satan? Lucifer, here's what happened. Verse 12, Isaiah 14, How art
thou fallen from heaven? Here's another perfect creature.
Here's another holy creature. O Lucifer, son of the morning,
how art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nation? For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will. Not thy will, I will. I will
ascend into heaven. I will ascend to a place higher
than my place. And there was only one place
higher than his, and that's God's place. I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt. my throne above
the stars of God. I will, I will sit also upon
the mouth of the congregation in the sides of the north. I'll
rule over all the universe. I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds. I'll be like God." And Satan
came and told the woman, said, you'll be like God. Eat of the
tree, you'll be like God. I will, I will. That's the essence
of sin. And when that temptation came
to the woman who was deceived and to the man who was not, they
ate of that fruit. And God said to them, and this
is the issue between us and God. You see, the issue between man
and God is not that we stole a watermelon. That's not the
issue. The issue is not that we went to the picture show on
Sunday afternoon. That's not the issue. The issue
between you and God is not that you did this or did that. The
issue between you and God is your rebellious will. I will. I will. We tried to throw God
off his throne. And when he sent his son down
here to the earth, we nailed him to a cross. We will not have
this man reign over us. That's the attitude of this whole
generation. I will, or I will not. I'll do my thing. I will not
bow to authority. I will not submit to rule, God's
rule, or anybody else's rule. I'll be my own God. And when
that happened, the scripture said man died. God said when
you eat, you die. Now he didn't die physically.
He lived 800 and some odd years. He didn't die physically. I'm
not dead physically. You're not either. Nobody walking
on this earth is dead physically. Adam lived on mentally. He lived
on physically. He lived on emotionally. He died
spiritually. He lost the life of God. He lost
the perfection, the holiness, the deity, that means the divinity
of God, the divine nature of God. He lost that nature. He
died. You see, my friends, there's
all kind of life on this earth, all kinds of life. The rocks
have a certain life. There's mineral life. Mineral
life. That's what they call mineral
life. Then there's plant life, and then there's animal life,
and then there's mental life. But that life which is above
all life is spiritual life, the life of God, spiritual life. That which is united with God
and joined to God and lives with God and walks with God, that's
what died, that was obliterated, that was eradicated. Man died. That's what Jay read. Look at
Romans 5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, by
one man Adam, sin entered into this world, and death, death,
Oh, I know physical death comes because we sin, because we fail.
I know sin, and suffering, and sorrow, and tears, and disease,
and unhappiness, and despair, and everything that's contrary
to holiness and good is the result of sin. But primarily death,
spiritual death, watch it, and death, so death passes upon all
men. Death, death. What kind of death? Spiritual death. Now, you see,
J.B. Bosch called your attention to
it. Verse 13, there's a parenthesis. And that parenthetical statement
and explanation goes all the way to the end of verse 17. Lift
it out! When you're reading the Bible
and you come to parenthesis, It identifies, it describes,
it's a descriptive phrase. You can, without any damage to
the content of the particular passage, without any damage,
you lift it out. Actually, you need to lift it
out. It says in verse 12, by one man's sin and a death by
sin, verse 18, therefore, by the offense of one man, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation. Now, what happened? Well, it
says, God looked down on the earth and saw that every imagination
of man's heart, evil, continued. The Lord said, There is none
good in the earth, no, not one. Isaiah said, from the sole of
the feet to the top of the head, there's no soundness, nothing
but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. The heart is desperately
wicked, deceitful. Above all things, who can know
it? Even our righteousness is a filthy rag. In the flesh, no
man can please God. In the flesh dwelleth no good.
God is holy. Man is unholy. There's sin in
all that we do, all that we think, all that we say, and all that
we are. Sin is a nature. It's a principle. It's a law
of the heart. We are without God, we are without
hope, we are without help, we are at our wit's end in this
world. That's the truth. That's what
happened in the garden. And I know preachers up and down
the country can say there's a spark of good in all men, physically, mentally, perhaps,
comparatively, with other men. But by nature, spiritually, there's
no good in any man. None good, no not one. We're
contrary to God. It's not just the things that
we do, but it's the nature of the creature that's contrary
to God. Our nature's contrary to God. Everything that God is,
we aren't. Does man have a free will? His
will is free to do what it will. It's free to do what it will.
What will it do? It loves darkness rather than
light. It calls good evil, it calls bittersweet. You're just
examining yourself, the things you would do, even a believer
you don't do. I talked about this this morning,
one of the things a believer discovers. Now, here I am, and
let's be honest. Honest people don't wind up in
hell. Honest people don't wind up in hell. Let's be honest before
God. Let the pot sherds of the earth
strive with the pot sherds of the earth. But let not a man
strive with his maker. I know this. By birth, in seeing
my mother conceive me, I was shapen in iniquity. I was brought
forth speaking lies. It's always been easier for me
to do good than to do evil than to do good. It's always been
my nature to think evil, to get angry. Always been my nature
to act contrary to holiness. Now, I didn't say contrary to
morality, I said contrary to holiness, and yours too. It's
the nature of your children. It's the nature of every son
of Adam. When Adam fell, here he stands in God's image, perfect,
holy, without spot, without stain. And he fell. And taking over
in his personality was hate for the woman who was with him in
the transgression, fear of God with whom he had walked, shame
of his body that God had made. It was made in the image of God,
of which David said, how wonderfully I'm made, but he's ashamed of
it. Liar, he began to lie to God. All of these things took
over, and that man was plunged into a state of spiritual deadness. Now, when we're born again, This
is what's shocking, and I wish I could get across to you, I
wish I could convey the truth of it, and people take this and
misuse it, I know that. But when a person, once again,
is born again of the Holy Spirit and receives a new nature, that
old nature is still there. It's still there, and the conflict
is there, and the warfare is there, and the trouble is there.
And this is what distresses so many. They say, Preacher, if
I say what I think what I think, If you weren't saved, you wouldn't
be bothered by it. If you weren't saved, you wouldn't
be troubled by it. But because you are saved, that's what troubles
you. Yes, a saved man will do anything an unsaved man will
do except for the grace of God. He has the same eyes he had before.
He has the same ears he had before. He's got the same tongue he had
before. He's even got the same old nature he had before. There's
a new nature. There's a new spirit. God dwells
within. But he's got a warfare he never
had before, too. And it defeats some. It puts
them in bondage. It takes them down to the place
of despair. Why do I think what I think?
Why do I say what I say when I'm a child of God and I know
it? Well, because you still have a nature of evil that you got
from your daddy Adam. It's still there. As long as
you walk in this body, you'll have it. Paul talked about it
in Romans 7. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death? This is a body of death. It's committed to die. It's predestined
to die. It's predestined to go to the
earth. God's not going to have anything to do with this flesh.
He's going to put it away and give you a new flesh and bones,
a new body. He doesn't want this old body
in heaven. He wants that new body. What happened in the garden? We died. We weren't wounded,
we died. We didn't become nearsighted,
we were blinded. We didn't become hard of hearing,
we were into death to God's voice. We weren't made lame, we were
crippled on both feet. We can't help ourselves. Now,
second thing, what happened on the cross? Here is that creature
that God had made. Here is man that God made in
his own image. Now then, God made another creature
called Lucifer. And angels, I don't know how
many angels there were, but there were a whole lot of them. And
those angels followed Lucifer in his rebellion and they fell.
Turn to Jude, verse 6. There's only one chapter in Jude,
but it's verse 6. Now those angels, there were
two rebellions. There was a rebellion in heaven
and a rebellion on earth. There was a rebellion by the
angels and a rebellion by men. Those angels sinned individually. They weren't represented. They
didn't have a representative. Those angels individually, personally,
fell before God. Every one of them that fell,
they say one-third of the heavenly host. I don't know. But they
fell. And God said in verse 6, And
the angels, Jude 6, which kept not their first estate, or their
habitation, but left their habitation, He hath reserved an everlasting
change under darkness, under the judgment of that great day.
They're dragging the chains of bondage around and have been
dragging them for the millions of years since they fell, or
however long it's been. They are confined to darkness,
consigned to darkness, condemned to darkness. There will never
be any change in it. They fail personally, individually,
not through a representative, and they don't have a Savior.
What did the Bible say? Jesus Christ took not on himself
the nature of angels. He didn't do it. The angels have
no Savior. God didn't choose a single angel
to save him. The angels fell personally, individually,
and God has condemned them to everlasting bondage, he says,
under the judgment of that great day. But, Adam, man, according
to the purpose and will of God. I'm telling you what the scripture
says. You say you understand all your preaching? No, sir.
Why do you preach it? Because I believe it. Because
it's God's word. Because it's the only explanation
I do believe, and it's the most logical explanation as far as
I'm concerned. It's the truth. God created man. But when man fell, God didn't
take that one man and one woman and put them in chains of darkness
like he did the angels. But rather he came to them and
announced to them that he was going to redeem them. That's
what he said. He didn't have to. But he said
to that woman, to the serpent, he said, I'm going to put enmity
between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. And he's
going to bruise your head and you'll bruise his heel. That's
the virgin-born Son of God. And God promised a Savior. In
fact, right there in that garden, right there in that garden, there
stood Adam and Eve. They'd fallen, sinful. They'd run from God. Fear, guilt, shame, all these
things, hate was in their heart. They were disturbed and distressed.
And Almighty God shed the first drop of blood ever shed on this
earth. He took an animal and killed that animal and said,
God did it. God did it. Adam didn't do it. Adam went
the other direction. He got him some fig leaves and made him
a covering for his nakedness. Temporary. Wouldn't last long,
would it? Looked good for a while, but
it wouldn't look good too long. And it withered and dried up
and fell off. But God spilled the blood, shed
the blood of an animal and took that animal's skin and made coats
of skin for that man and woman. And this is what he's saying.
My lamb's going to die someday. He's going to shed his blood,
the innocent for the guilty. And he's going to cover your
nakedness for good. This is a picture. This is a
temporary covering. This is a picture of the real
covering. And God gave him a gospel. God
said, sacrifice a lamb until the lamb comes. Shed the blood
so the blood of Christ is shed. Build an altar and have a sacrifice
and atonement until his sacrifice is made. God said, and we'll
see, I will be merciful. I will be merciful. He said that. I'm going to have a people. I'm
going to redeem some out of mankind. Not all of them. We see that
in Cain. We see that in so many during
the days of Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Moses found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. David found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. But God will redeem. See, God's
holy, perfectly holy. But God will redeem man who's
perfectly evil. Now how's it going to be done?
How's that going to be done? Now everybody, that's the reason
Job kept asking this question. Turn to Job 9. Job chapter 9. This is the question of all questions.
Somebody said, if you can answer this question, you've just graduated
in theology. Well, I kind of think it's true.
At least you know the gospel. He says in Job chapter 9 verse
2, I know, Job said, I know it's so of a truth, I know that's
so, but how, how, how should man be just with God? How's man going to be just? Just.
Justified. Just. Without sin. Just means
holy. Without sin. Justified. Turn
to Job 25. Let's see Job ask it again. This was something on his mind.
Or Bildad repeats it here. It's something on their minds.
In verse 4. God's so holy, so immaculately, infinitely, eternally
holy. And I've just described what
happened in the garden. Man is utterly, there isn't any
good in us by nature. None good. I wish we would quit
calling one another good. It's discouraging. I wish we'd
quit referring to our children as good. It's discouraging to
them. They know they're not good. I
wish we'd quit referring to people, he's a good man. The pastor said
that to me last week. I know these men aren't preaching
the gospel, but they're good, sincere men. I said they're not
good, they're evil, they're rebels, and they're not sincere, they're
hypocrites. Let's quit calling them good. They're enemies of
God Almighty. That's so. There was a time when
you were God's enemy. Just like Saul of Tarsus, man
is evil. And he says here verse 4, knowing
that, knowing God's holiness, how then can man be justified
with God? How can man be clean, clean? And he's got to be this born
of a woman. Look at the moon. It doesn't shine. The stars are
not pure in God's sight. Even heaven's not clean since
Satan swooped through that place with his defilement. God's got
to make a new heaven and a new earth, because sin, Jay visited
both places. Satan fell from heaven and man
fell on the earth, and God's not going to have anything standing
with sin as touched or ever been associated with sin. He's going
to destroy heaven and earth, and he'll make a new heaven and
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, and there shall not enter therein
anything that worketh or maketh alive. See how hard it is to
save sinners? In order for God to save me before
His law, I've got to be perfect as God. In order for God to save
me before His justice, my sins have got to be utterly, totally
paid in full. It can't be done through walking
an aisle or praying through or going through the motions of
religion. It can't be done but one way, and that's for God to
send His perfect Son in the likeness of flesh. What sin, what the
law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh, the law
unweak the flesh while God sending His Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, condemned sin in the flesh. Christ came down here and stood
on this earth where Adam stood. Adam represented all of us. Turn
back to Romans 5. If you've never learned this,
you've never learned the gospel. He said, I saved when I was 14
years old. You made a religious profession,
you weren't saved. You're not saved if you don't
know the gospel. If you don't know what happened
in the garden and what happened on the cross, you're not saved
yet. You might be being saved. God may someday save you, but
you're not saved now. You can't be saved by trusting
an unrevealed Christ. You can't be saved without a
substitute, a sacrifice, a sin offering, an atonement. You cannot
be saved by trusting partly in your works and partly in Christ.
In Romans chapter 5 it says, By one man sin entered this world
and death by sin. Look at verse 18. By the offense
of one, one representative, one man, judgment came upon all men
to condemnation. Now, even so, By the righteousness
of one shall the free gift come upon all men, the justification
of life." See that? Adam represented every son of
his. You see, God didn't create one
man. He created one man, Adam. Every one of us came from his
loins. Every one of us. The first man
born into this world was born in the seed of man. And everyone
after that, every man, every woman came from that man. He
was the representative, the federal head of the whole human race.
Look at the next verse. By one man's disobedience, verse
19, many were made sinners. Everybody identified with him,
everybody in him, everybody part of him, everybody came from him,
is permeated completely by his transgression and his guilt,
partakers of his evil nature. Every one of them. Every one
of them. Total representation. Now watch this. Christ came down
here and stood in the likeness of that same flesh. Christ the
second Adam. The Bible talks about the two
Adams. The first Adam and the second
Adam. The word Adam means man. Adam was man. All men. You, me, everybody else. When
Adam fell, I fell. When Adam sinned, I sinned. When
Adam died, I died. The whole human race was in Adam.
He represented the whole race. In Adam, we died. In Christ,
we made alive. As we born the image of the earthy,
we shall bear the image of the heavenly. First Adam, the second
Adam. Just two men. God deals with
two men and everybody else in them by representation. You say, I just can't go with
you on that picture. Doesn't matter whether you go
with me or not. It's so. But I'll give you this reasoning.
I'll give you this argument. You say, I just, I wasn't born
when Adam fell. You weren't born when Christ
died either. You weren't born when Christ
died. You weren't even heard of. You weren't even thought
of. Except in God's mind. Except in God's mind. If you
won't take imputation of sin in Adam, you can't have imputation
of righteousness in Christ. Now I'll show you particular
redemption in verse 18 that the enemies of it use to preach general
redemption. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men the condemnation. What's
that saying? That's saying everybody that was in Adam was condemned.
Everybody. All men. All men that were in
Adam. Every one of them, without exception,
were condemned. Even so, by the righteousness,
obedience, and holiness of one Jesus Christ, the free gift came
upon all men who were in Christ under justification of life,
everyone whom he represented, everyone for whom he stood. You
say that says all men. Do you believe in universal redemption? If you hold universal atonement,
you have to hold universal redemption. Brother, justified means justified. Free gifts, free gifts. The free
gift of God's eternal life. If it's upon all men, then all
men are justified. But all men are not in Christ. All who are in Adam died, were
condemned. All who are in Christ were justified.
You say, who's in Christ? All who believe. All whom God
gave him, all whom the Father elected, all whom the Spirit
called, turn to Romans 8. Romans chapter 8, that's who's
in Christ. Romans chapter 8, verse 28. And we know, Romans 8, 28, that
all things work together for good to them that love God. To
them who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he called. Whom he called, he
also justified. and whom He justified, He also
glorified." Now what are you going to say to this? If God
be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things? What happened on the cross? You
want me to tell you? He eternally, completely, totally
justified all whom the Father gave Him. He saved them, He cleansed
them, He redeemed them, He sanctified them, He justified them, He made
them righteous. There's absolutely nothing to
be added to what Christ did. Jesus Christ, my Lord, in His
life on this earth, and in His death on that cross, in his burial,
resurrection, ascension, and intercessory work is all that
God requires of me. God requires nothing that Christ
didn't produce. He's all I need, everything this
sinner needs. It's not added, nothing added
to it. Nothing. A man's not saved by
works. No, he's saved by Christ. But
nobody's saved who doesn't work. That's so. A man's not saved
by praying. He's saved by Christ. But a man's
not saved who doesn't pray. A man's not saved by being forgiving,
forgiving others, loving others. He's not saved by loving others.
That's the effect of salvation. That's the effect of grace. That's
the product of grace. But a man's not saved who doesn't
love others. That's so. And that brings me
to the third thing. What happens when God saves a sinner? What
happens in that sinner? What happened in the garden?
I tell you, devastation, degradation, depravity, corruption. Even the sovereign eye of God
could not see even a jot or tittle of holiness left on this earth.
Every imagination of man's heart. Evil continues. None good, no
not one. None that seeketh after God.
None that understand. All gone out of the way. All
together become unprofitable. From the sole of their feet to
the top of their heads. No soundness. The mind is corrupt. The heart is deceitful. But God
says, I'm going to save. And he put his son down here
in this cesspool made in the likeness of the worms that inhabited
the cesspool. And his son bore God's judgment
and wrath and condemnation. And his son lived in this cesspool
and remained clean and holy without spot or blemish. He knew no sin. He had no sin. And he stood here
and did everything that God required and demanded and expected for
every one of his own, every one of his elect, every believer.
He did it all. And when he finished the work
on the cross, he said, It's finished! It's finished! And he went to
glory and sat down and sat down, having perfected forever by one
offering them that are sanctified. And there's no Hollywood evangelist
or any of his cohorts going to add anything to it or take anything
from it. It's finished. The Holy Spirit's
down here calling out some folks. The Apostle Paul said, God who
separated me from my mother's womb was pleased to call me by
his grace and reveal his Son in me. The Lord singled him out. The Lord pointed him out. He's
isolated him. He's going to meet him, and he's
going to call him, and they're going to come. They're going
to hear him. Abraham! Here, Lord. Samuel! Speak, Lord, thy servant here.
Matthew! Follow me. Caesar? Paul? Paul? James? John? Come on, boys. Come on. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. He calls them by the voice of
his servants. He calls them by the voice of
his gospel. He calls them by the voice of
his love. He calls them by the voice of
his Spirit. He's reconciled to them. Yes,
he is already. God was in Christ reconciling
this world to himself. He said there's universal redemption
again. How else you gonna say it? God was in Christ reconciling
the Jew? No, he reconciled the Gentile
too. God was in Christ reconciling the white men? No, he reconciled
black men too. God was in Christ reconciling
men? No, he reconciled women too.
Children too. What you gonna say? Just say
it like God says it, the world. That's sufficient for anybody
that's got good sense. Anybody knows anything about
the Bible. If you're reconciled, you reconcile. If your debt's
paid, it's paid. If it's not, you owe it. Well,
you say Christ paid most of it, then you're in trouble. You've
got nothing left to pay anything. You're in real trouble. If Christ
didn't totally justify you, completely justify you, plus nothing, minus
nothing, you're a subject of hell. Your good is gone because
you're bankrupt. If you pay all my debts with
one, that one will condemn me. That's right, Stan, just one,
just one offense, guilty of the whole law. But I'm saying, who
can condemn me? Christ died. Yea, rather it's
risen again who's even at the right hand of God who makes intercession
for us. That's my hope. And when he died,
he died for me. That's what happened on that
cross. It wasn't an offer made there. There was a work done
there. Well, Sarah Martyr didn't die,
a Redeemer died. A Redeemer died. An example didn't
die, a sin offering died. God's Lamb died! And I'm going
to preach it to everybody. Listen to me. I've got good news
for you. Christ died for sinners. But
I'll tell you this, God's reconciled to all them. But they're not
reconciled to God. They're still mad at God. You
are. I was. Everybody is that's not
saved. They're mad at God. They're not
mad at their God. They're not mad at the modern
God. They're not mad at the liberal God. They're just mad at the
God of the Bible. They won't let Him be God. They're mad at
the God of election. They're mad at the God of grace.
They're mad at the God of particular redemption. They're mad at the
God who reveals Himself in the Scripture and says, Can I not
do with my own what I will? Is your eye evil because mine's
good? Shall not the judge of the earth do right? O man, who
art thou that replaced against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, Why do you make me like this? Men aren't mad at their God,
they're mad at the God of the Bible. They're not mad at the
little weak Jesus that needs their assistance. They're mad
at the Jesus Christ, Lord of lords and King of kings that
does not need their assistance. That's what they don't like.
They love that baby in Bethlehem because babies need some help.
That's why they love that baby. That's why they have the manger
scene and all this junk running around here, some woman holding
a little baby with a silly-looking pipe pan turned upside down on
his head. That's a helpless baby! That's
a needy baby! That needs me! Needs my help! But the King doesn't need me. The one who holds the scepter
and says, I'll do with my own foot I will! If I save you, you'll
glorify my name. If I send you to hell, you'll
glorify my justice. That's the God they're mad at.
That's the God they're mad at. And the folks that are most mad
are religious people. Those old drunks out there know
they need help. Those harlots down there know
they can't make it without some help. Those profane swearers
and gamblers, they know they're in the bottom of the pit. If
they ever get out, God will have to reach down and lift them.
But those good, moral, religious people, they may be the God of
the Bible, because He won't let them help Him. He's sovereign,
King, King Jesus. So God has to, He has to do a
work of grace in their hearts. And you know what He does? He
comes to those elect sinners whom he has purposed to save
and been pleased to redeem, and he shows them what they are.
He shuts their mouths. You're not near as important
as you thought you were. God shows you that. He shows
you what he showed David Boehner, that he demanded holiness and
you couldn't produce it. He demanded faith and you couldn't
produce it. He demanded obedience and you
couldn't produce it. That faith was a gift of God
and he could give it or withhold it. The salvations of the Lord,
he could save you or damn you. And David Boehner said, it told
me all the pieces. But finally I said, Lord be merciful
to me, the sinner. Be merciful. God strips you,
he whittles you down. You were somebody and you suddenly
find out you're nobody. Being born in sin, I need a new
birth. Being a sinner by practice, I
need a righteousness. Being a frail man, I need a strong
arm to hold me. Being a dying creature, I need
thy grace. And he puts us all on the same
level. The rich he brings low, and the poor he exalts. The mighty
man he brings low, and the humble man he lifts. And he puts them
on the same level as objects of his grace. Humbles them, strips them, breaks
them, bruises them. He said, God is nigh unto them
of a broken heart. God save us such as be of a broken
and a contrite spirit. And when he brings them to himself,
he brings them on his shoulders and puts them at his feet, and
that's where they stay. And they readily forgive others
because they've been forgiven. They love others because they're
the object of God's love. And they show mercy because they've
been made the objects of mercy. Our Lord was in that Pharisee's
home one time, and the woman came in and bathed his feet with
tears and dried them with the hair of her head. and wept, and anointed his feet. And that Pharisee up there said,
if he were a prophet, he'd know that woman was a sinner, and
he wouldn't let her touch him. And our Lord said, Simon, suppose
a fellow owed a man a whole lot of money, and he forgave him. And a fellow that didn't owe
much, he forgave him too. Which one am I going to love
him the most? Well, he said, the one he forgave the most.
He said, that's right, you well said. And I came in your house,
you didn't need me. And you didn't give me any honor. And this woman kissed my feet.
And her sins, which are many, are all forgiven. That's where
the mercy of God is found, at his feet. And if he can, in his
wisdom, and in his power and grace, bring you down to his
feet, he can save you. He will save you, but if He can't
in His wisdom and grace and for His glory bring you down, He'll
wait on judgment and then He'll bring you down. But everybody's
going to say He's Lord, aren't they? I want Him to bring me
down now, right now. I want to find my place with
all those folks at His feet. That's where I want to be, giving
Him all the glory, ascribing all the glory to Him. I don't
want to play religion. And you don't either, I don't
think. That's why you come here. Because we're trying to be honest
from the Word. What happens in a sinner when
God saves him? Let me tell you something. A miracle of life
and grace, and God restores that life which man lost in the garden,
that spiritual life. I don't have the knowledge that
Adam had. You see, he restored it, and
it'll be perfected, but I only know in part, I prophesy in part,
I see through a glass dimly. It's in its infancy. And let
me tell you this, if the Lord's pleased to save you, will you
listen a minute? Don't be discouraged. We pick
up the book and read about men like Abraham and David and Lot,
not Lot, but David and Isaiah, and we get discouraged. We're
not giants like these men. We make half-gods out of these
fellas, heroes, you know, because we can't come up to their to
their accomplishments, we think we're not saved. I'm saved if
I'm a year old child in God's family. I'm saved just as much
saved as Abraham was ever saved. Just as much God's child as Abraham
ever was. And you and I are guilty of this.
We expect a full harvest from a brand new tree. And you can't
get it. If an apple tree is planted in
your yard, you've got sense enough to know it's not going to bear
fruit for four or five years. At least, three or four. And
you don't cut it down because it doesn't bear fruit the first
year, the second year, the third year. Even so, these new believers,
people that just come to the gospel, they're not going to
be giants in the church, mature. You boys and girls, don't get
discouraged. We're not looking for a full
harvest from you. I'd like to see a few apples
on some of these old trees, though. This old tree here, it's been
around a long time. It needs pruning, I think. But
these young trees, I say to you, be patient. Spiritual growth
is pretty slow. And let me tell you this, that
old man's a heap older than that new man. He's wise in the ways
of the world. He's going to give you a fit.
He's going to give you a fit. And I tell you this, when you
see me in 30 years, I bet you this, he'll still be giving you
a fit. Huh? That's right. See, and some of
these older folks will tell you the way doesn't get any easier.
It gets more glorious and happier and comfortable and peaceful,
but not any easier. So trust the Lord. Lean heavily
upon Him, not to your own understanding. You've got a new nature, thank
God for it. Feed it! Feed it on the Word. The sincere milk of the Word.
That's what you read a while ago. Feed it! But trust Christ. He's so gracious. He's more gracious
than people are. He's more forgiving. He's more
understanding. I'd rather talk to Him than talk to a human being.
I tell my troubles to a human being. They look down their nose
at me. I tell my troubles to Christ and He says, My son, thy
sins be forgiven thee. He's so much more gracious, isn't
He? So understanding. Because He's pure love. I sure
would like to be like Him, wouldn't you? Someday I'm going to, by
His grace. Our Father, I thank Thee for
the confidence that we have in Christ. We have absolutely no
confidence in this flesh, mine or all of us put together. Put us all together, Lord, and
you'll just have a mass of corruption. But in Christ, it's holiness
and righteousness. In Christ, there is no sin. Lord,
reveal to us thy word. To everybody here, teach us the
gospel. And in that gospel of Christ,
that free grace of the living God, we can have confidence and
assurance and eternal hope. We can have peace that passes
understanding. And men ask us for a reason,
to give them a reason for the hope we have. Christ is my hope. Christ is my life. Christ is
my justification. He died for my sins, and God
was pleased to reveal Him to my heart. I trust Him. Sink or
swim, I go to Him. I find in Him all I need. Let
that be taught to every person here, especially our young people.
Lord, I pray for them. They face a tough and difficult
and dark day, but You're able to give them all the help and
strength they need. Give them the faith to look to
Thee, for Christ's sake. Amen.