This chapter is a treasure house. It is indeed a treasure house
for believers. The child of God could spend
years and years and years in this storehouse of riches, just
walking about enjoying the great and good things that God has
purposed by his grace. He has purpose. They're called
according to his purpose. If you get hold of that word,
purpose, it'll give you a pretty good key to the scriptures. Everything
God does, God does on purpose. There are no accidents with God.
He said he worketh all things according to the counsel of his
own will. Nebuchadnezzar found this out
the hard way. He found out that God rules in
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth,
and he giveth it to whomsoever he will. We're taught by our
Lord to pray, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
We're told if we ask anything according to his will, it shall
be done. So I can walk about in this storehouse
of grace, in this storehouse of riches, and just enjoy all
the things which God has purposed, which God has planned, which
God has, in his good providence, decreed to come to pass. And these things that are promised
in his word, and these things that are all purchased by his
Son. They've been purchased. You see,
our Lord is the King not only by decree, but by death. He bought
his right to reign, and he bought your right to reign. And the
only right you have to reign is because he bought it. He bought
it. So everything's purposed by His
grace, promised in His Word, and purchased by His Son. Let's
look at just a few of them. Look at verse 1. This is the
way, when we walk in the door of this storehouse of riches,
this is the first thing that hits you in the face. The first
thing you see, there it is! There it is! Therefore, now,
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. You see, every promise
of God, every provision of his grace always has a condition.
There is no condemnation. That's not what it says. There's
no condemnation. It says there's no condemnation
to living in Christ. Huh? I hear people quoting verse
28, all things work together for good. That's not so. That's
not so. That's not what it says. It says
all things work together for good to them who love Christ. My dear friend, if you don't
love Christ, the scripture says you're under God's wrath and
curse. He that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of God
abideth on him. If any man love not our Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha, let him be cursed
when Jesus comes. You know what it says? There
is no condemnation, no judgment to them who are in Christ. That's
what it says. What a treasure, what a blessing.
Blessed is the man to whom God will not charge sin. There is
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. And on further in
this verse we encounter this again. He says, Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who's got anything to
bring against us? Who can condemn us? God has justified
us and Christ has died for us. That's the reason there's no
charges, not because I've been a good boy. It's because Christ
redeemed me by His blood. That's the reason there's no
charge and no condemnation. And then the next thing we see
is this. In verse 1, he says, those people walk not after the
flesh. They walk after the Spirit. See
it again in verse 4. You run into it again. The latter
part of verse 4, they walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. Verse 5, they that are after the flesh do mind, that's
their concern, that's their interest. The word mind is your interest.
It's your concern. What you mind is the things you're
concerned about, primarily. But these people in Christ, they're
not primarily concerned about the things of the flesh. They
that are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit. They're
interested in the things of God. They're interested in what I'm
talking about this morning. They're interested in this hope. They're
interested in this security. They're interested in this grace.
They're interested in God's promises. That's their chief interest.
Or they're interested in making a living. You can't just let
your business go, you'd be a fool. You can't just let your home
deteriorate. You can't just go around unshaven
and with your hair not combed and your clothes not pressed,
that's foolishness. You have an interest in your
parents, you have an interest in your family, you have an interest
in your work, you have an interest, you that are doctors or you that
are nurses, you that are school teachers, you better be diligent
in your work. You that are factory workers
or plumbers or electricians, you better do a good job for
Christ's sake. You're supposed to work as if
you're working for God. You're supposed to put forth
every effort. You have an interest in your parents, you have an
interest in your labor, you have an interest in your family, you
have an interest in your country. These fools that say they wouldn't
defend freedom, they don't deserve freedom. Everything that's worth
anything has been purchased at a great price. My liberty in
Christ was purchased by blood, his blood. And my liberty to
stand here this morning and preach and worship him was purchased
by the blood of my son and some of your sons, huh? That's right.
It may have to be bought again, Richard. And we've got to be
willing to buy it. And anybody that's not willing
to pay for it ought not enjoy it. That's right. That won't
cost nothing. That's a free sermon. They walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Look at verse 16. They have an
eternal inheritance. They're heirs of God. They're
joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. They have an eternal
inheritance. An heir of God. And a joint heir
with the Son of God. And then he says, the meek are
going to inherit the earth. God's people. He's going to make
a new earth. A new earth and a new heaven. And they're going
to inherit it. It's going to be theirs. We're
rich. We're rich in grace. We're rich
in mercy. We're the sons of God. the heirs
of his kingdom. God has an eternal purpose where
they're concerned. It says down here in verse 28
that everything works together for their good. That if I get
sick this morning, and I lie over there on a bed of affliction,
and my body deteriorates, God has a purpose in it. Not for
my present good. You say, well, how can disappointment
and failure and how can sickness and death and how can all these
things, how can they be good for us? Well, they're not good
for us right now. No trial is enjoyable. Heartache
is not enjoyable. Disappointment is not enjoyable.
but it's for our eternal good. You see, that bill is for my
eternal good. It's for my relationship with Christ. There's some things,
to walk with God, to walk with God painfully, painfully sometimes
I have to separate myself from some relatives or some worldly
companions who mean a great deal to me, who have meant a great
deal to me, who have helped me. But we can't walk together unless
we're agreed, Bob. We can't walk together. And it's
painful. When God told Abraham, he said,
Abraham, put Ishmael out. The bondwoman's son cannot live
with the free son, the son born by God's grace. Those two can't
grow up together. They can't inherit together.
They can't live together. You've got to put Ishmael out.
That's hard to do. But it was for his good. is for
Abraham's eternal good, is for his relationship with God. It
was for the eternal glory of Christ, is for his eternal glory
and for his kingdom. So I may have to sever relationship
with someone who means a great deal to me, but we can't walk
together if we're not going the same direction. I can't walk
with an enemy of God. There's no way. who cannot walk together except
they be agreed. Be not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. What fellowship can light have
with darkness? Darkness and light cannot live
together. When light comes in, darkness
has to go. Can't do it. What fellowship hath Baal with
God, with Jesus Christ? It can't have any. And you see,
these things work together for my good, a trial. for the good of God, for the
good of myself, for the glory of God. They work together for
my good. And it's not my purpose to sit down and say, try to figure
out what God's going to do in this situation. I accept it as
being from the Lord, according to the will of God, for my good,
and I rejoice in it. And accept whatever affliction
or infirmity or failure or loss or prosperity or whatever. That's
the promise. What riches! God has an eternal
purpose. He says, all things! Look at
verse 28. We know that all things, great
and small, all things, good and bad, all things, past and present,
future, all things, flesh and spirit, work together in an eternal
purpose and plan. God's got it all worked out.
I don't know what it's going to be, but He does. for the good
to them who love God, to them who are called according to his
purpose, because this purpose is as old as eternity, for whom
he foreknew back in the council halls of eternity. You see, God
declares, he says this, known unto God are all his works from
the beginning. God never changes. The Lord God
cannot learn anything, he knows everything. There's nothing new
to God. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. What He does today, He purposed
to do eternally. God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. It's not only that God knew what
you would do, God gave you the grace to do it. It's not only
God knew which direction you'd go, He predestinated the means. He predestinated the events that
will lead you that way. That's so. All things are of
God. And they're going to work together
for our good. And then he says down here, verse 35 through 39,
that we're secure in Christ. That his sheep are secure. I'm
not saying that every church member is secure. He may be secure
in a false profession. I'm not saying that every professor
of religion is secure. He may be secure in his profession.
But all who are in Christ are secure in Christ. They're loved
in Christ, chosen in Christ, forgiven in Christ, redeemed
in Christ, crucified in Christ, buried and risen in Christ, and
right now, by God's grace and God's purpose, seated in Christ
eternally. That's the reason I say that
the 8th chapter of Romans, and I just touched it, just barely
touched it. I just talked about it a little
bit. I haven't gone into it like we
should and could. These blessings are innumerable.
It's impossible to evaluate all that is contained here. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his
holy name. Forget not all his benefits, who hath forgiven all
our iniquities, who hath satisfied our mouth with good things, who
hath healed our diseases, so that our youth is renewed like
the eagle. Blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin.
Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
His delight is in the law of the Lord. Paul said in Philippians
4.19, My God shall supply all your needs, all your needs, not
all your wants, all your needs, according to His riches in glory
through Christ Jesus. Now then, here's the second thing
I want to approach. What's the major proof of these
things? That all sounds good, Preacher. That all sounds good. You talk about no condemnation.
You talk about security in Christ. You talk about God's purpose,
where we're concerned. You talk about everything working
for our good. You talk about eternal inheritance,
that God's going to make a new earth and a new heaven, and he's
going to give you a part in it. That all sounds good. How do
you know? What's the major proof of these
things? That's a pretty good question.
You stand up there and say those things, you preachers paint a
pretty picture, and you say these things, and you boast of great
things, and you glory in great things. What's your proof? Well, somebody says this, I believe
all these things are true and will come to pass. for those
who believe, because God is love. Well, that's great, that's true.
God is love. God's love is infinite. God's
love is everlasting. God's love is beyond understanding. The love of God, how rich, how
pure, how measureless, how strong, it shall forevermore endure the
saints' and angels' song. Could we within the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made, and every stalk on earth
a quail, and every man a scribe by trade, to like the love of
God above would drain that ocean dry. Now could the scroll contain
the whole, those stretched from sky to sky? God is love. And
that's pretty good proof that he'll do these things for us. That's pretty good proof. God
is love. Somebody else says, well, God promised to do it.
God's Word is good. Yes, He did and yes, it is. God
has sworn by Himself and He can swear by no greater. He said,
I will be merciful, I will be gracious. That's pretty good
proof, isn't it? Huh? That's pretty good proof.
God will do what He says. Heaven and earth shall pass away
but my Word. Not one jot or one tittle, not
one little exclamation point or one little comma shall pass
from it till it's all fulfilled. God's going to do what He says.
That's so. That's as sure as heaven. Somebody else says, well,
I'll tell you why I believe that God will be merciful. I'll tell
you why I believe that God will give us and show us mercy and
no condemnation and He has our names in the Book of Life and
He's going to bless us and make us like Christ. I'll tell you
why I believe it. Because He's been merciful to others. Why
not to me? That's good. That is good. It says, Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. He was just a man. I hear a lot
of preachers talk as if Noah and Abraham and Jacob and Joseph
and David and Isaiah and all the rest of them were some superhuman.
No, they were men of like passions. You know what James says about
men? They walked on two legs. They
had two eyes and ears and had flesh just like me. And they
failed just like I failed. Nothing perfect about them. Yeah, in Christ they're perfect,
but nothing perfect about them. I wish you'd quit worshipping
at the shrines of saints and start worshipping Christ. I'm
sick and tired of hearing people say, St. Jude and St. Matthew
and St. Luke and St. John. I'm as much
a saint in Christ as any of them. That's exactly right. The only
reason Noah floated in an ark instead of being damned forever
is he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The only reason
Abraham was called a man of faith is because God Almighty called
him out of idolatry. He was wrapped up in the very
pit of idolatry when God found him. He said, Abraham, you get
out of there! And he got out. But he tried his best, Abraham
tried his best to mess up God's plans, just like you and me.
Instead of waiting on a son, God promised him he went out
and got one by himself, and that son's over there fighting him
right now. Ishmael and Isaac. They've been fighting ever since
they came into this world. So these are all strong, undeniable
arguments for hope and assurance and confidence. God is love,
God's word is true, and he has been merciful to others just
like me and you. But I've got a stronger reason
to believe this. A stronger reason. Yes sir, I
can take Romans 8 and I can say there is therefore now no condemnation. I can take Romans 8 and I can
talk about I'm an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.
I can take Romans 8 and talk about the new world and the new
heaven and the new earth and all things working together for
my good. And I've got a reason, there's a stronger reason, God
will show mercy, God will forgive sin, God will redeem His elect,
God will not cast us away, God will freely give us all things,
and I've got the strongest reason of all, it's verse 32. Here it
is, "...he spared not his own son." That's my reason to believe
in it. That's my reason. He spared not
his own son. Let me give you a story. Abraham,
you know, he'd already put Ishmael out. And God said in Isaac, shall
thy seed be called? One day God came to Abraham,
and he said, Abraham, take thine own son, thine only son, the
son that thou lovest, unto a certain mountain, and sacrifice him to
me. And three days later, after a
journey of three days and three nights, Abraham came to that
mountain, and he took that lad up into the mountain, and he
built an altar. And that old man, with a heavy
heart and a heavy spirit, but with faith in God, built that
altar, laid the wood out, and bound his son, and stood there ready with a
knife to take his life. at the word of God and the voice
of God says, Abraham, Abraham, touch not thy son. Well, listen,
now I know that you love me because you've not withheld your only
son. And brother, I can take all these
promises, Robert, and I can say now I know God is love, now I
know God was merciful. Now I know God will be gracious. How do you know that? Because
He withheld not His only Son from my sin. Do you see that?
See what I'm talking about? Well, if I won't make you rejoice,
you've got a dead heart. If I won't make you rejoice,
there's something wrong a whole lot deeper than your rejoicer.
It goes down to your heart. Now I know! Now, he spared not
his own self. He will do what he says. That's
proof of it. Brethren, I tell you, when Christ
undertook our cause, and he undertook our cause I know from all eternity,
but when he appeared in our nature, when he came down here made of
a woman, made under the law, charged with my sin, my representative
person. Christ was a representative person.
Christ was not a reformer. That's right. Christ was not
just an example, though example he was, but not just an example.
Christ Jesus was not just a messenger. He was a representative person. You see, so was Adam. The word
Adam means man. It's the Hebrew word man. There
are two Adams. The first Adam is of the earth,
earthy. The second Adam, Paul wrote, is the Lord from heaven.
You see what I'm saying? Adam, man. And as we bore the
image of the earthy, we'll bear the image of the heavenly. In
Adam I died. In the second Adam, Christ, I
was made alive. In the first Adam, by his fall, by his sin,
many were made sinners. He was a representative person.
God never created you. He created Adam. You came from
him. Huh? That's right. He created
one man, Adam. One man, Adam. That's who he
created. And the rest of us came out of Adam. Eve, you came out
of Adam too. Took you out of Adam's rib, but
you came out of Adam. God took the dust of the earth
and made M-A-N. He made all men in that man.
He made a representative man. He made a head. Adam was the
trunk, and we're parts of the tree, and when a trunk fell,
we fell. When a trunk died, we died. When life left Adam, it
left us. By one man's sin, death came
into the world, and judgment, and condemnation, and many were
made sinners. That representative man, Adam,
stood and fell, and the whole race fell. Thank God he sent
another man, THE man. The man Christ Jesus, not just
man, but the God-man, God in human flesh, the representative
man. As in Adam, I died in Christ.
I'm made alive. By one man's sin or disobedience,
I became a sinner. By another man's obedience, Christ
was a representative man. When he undertook my cause and
was charged with my sins and numbered with the transgressors,
though he was the Father's well-beloved, though he was the Father's only
begotten Son, he spared not his son. He spared him not from the
lowest birth. He was born and laid in a manger,
surrounded by cattle and shepherds. He spared him not the sweat that
comes from earning your living, the sweat of your brow and the
calluses of his hand. He stood in the carpenter's shop
how many years, I don't know. But there he sawed the wood and
drove the nails and they said later, well that's the carpenter,
we know him. We know his mama and we know
his brothers and sisters, that's the carpenter. He spared him
not the humiliation of a menial, menial profession. He spared
him not in the world. He was despised and hated and
rejected. A man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief, and everybody who was anybody turned thumbs down
on him. They laughed at him and spat
upon him, ridiculed him. He was tempted of Satan. He spared
him not the temptation of the devil himself. He went into the
wilderness and there he encountered the devil himself. He spared
him not the rejection of religion. He walked into the synagogue
and they cast him out. Religion turned thumbs down on
him. Religion ridiculed him. Religion
cast him out. And that's the reason I was glad
when they cast me out. I rejoice. See him in the garden. our sins upon him. And he wept
and prayed, as it were, great drops of blood. See him on the
cross. Is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow with which the
Lord hath afflicted me? Tell me, all ye that pass by. Is there any sorrow like my sorrow? Sorrow of soul and sorrow of
heart and sorrow of mind and sorrow and pain of body. See
him in the tomb. He's not even spared. God spared
him not. the journey to the tomb, he lay
in the darkness of the grave. He was not spared any trial,
any temptation, any agony, thirst, hunger, pain, bloodshedding,
yet even death. There's no road his sheep ever
walked. He didn't walk first. There's
no burden they'll ever bear that he did not bear. There's no heartache
they'll ever experience that hasn't pierced his heart first.
He spared not his own son. That's my hope for all these
things. Look at that next line. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up, delivered him up to Satan's attacks, and
delivered him up to the attacks of the flesh, and delivered him
up to the attacks of men, and delivered him up to the forces
of hell, delivered him up to them. How shall he not with Christ
freely, without cost, without charge, give me what Christ bought
me? That's my proof. You think he
died in vain? You think his blood was shed
for nothing? Do you think God had no purpose when he sent his
Son? He said, I came to do the will of my Father which sent
me. And this is the will of him that sent me. that of all which
he hath given me I'll lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day." Peter said, Don't go to Jerusalem. He said, For
this cause came I to this hour. Father, glorify thy Son as thy
Son hath glorified thee. I finished the work you gave
me to do. Yes, sir. He spared not his Son. I believe and preach the love
of God. It's his love that sent his Son. I believe and preach
the promises of God. I believe and preach the things
that God has done. But the basis and foundation
of all that God has done and promised is he spied not his
Son. Christ paid it all, all the debt I owe. Four observations
I want to give you and I'll quit. You know what I see in this statement,
verse 32, he that spared not his son. I see, number one, I
see the wonderful goodness of God. I see the wonderful goodness
of God, for God so loved that he gave his only begotten son. Love sent my Savior to die in
my stead. Why should he love me so? Meekly
the Calvary's cross, he was led, why should he love me so? It's
love that sent the Savior to die. But I'll tell you this,
his love cannot be expressed. It cannot be expressed at the
expense of his righteousness. So I see in the death of Christ,
in the sufferings of Christ, the love of God, but I see in
Christ's death, the fact that he spared not his Son, the inflexible
severity of God. Turn to Romans 11 just a minute.
Chapter 11, verse 22. Listen to this. Behold, therefore,
the goodness and severity of God. Behold both. The preacher is
not preaching fairly or squarely who does not preach both the
goodness and severity of God. I say to you here this morning
who believe in Christ, who love him, who trust him, who are resting
in Christ, who the beat of your heart is the son of his love.
You see the goodness of God in the death of Christ. But I say
to you who know not Christ, who have no hope in Christ Jesus,
to whom he's not the representative, he's not the Redeemer, God won't
spare you either. Now, if he spared not his son,
who was a sinner by imputation. You know what imputation means?
It means to be charged or reckoned on behalf of another. You impute
something to me, you see, which is really not mine, but you charge
it to me. And Christ was a sinner by...
He took somebody else's sin. He knew no sin. He took somebody
else's. And God didn't spare him. Do you think He'll spare
you bearing your own sins? Huh? Your own evil? So I see those two things. I
see the goodness of God in sparing not his Son to redeem his elect. But I see the severity of God.
He that spared not his own Son, he won't spare you either. And
I see something else in the death of Christ. I see the evil of
sin, the infinite evil of sin. Now most young people, and old
people as well, do not really understand what sin is. What sin involves, the things
of which sin consists. Most preachers don't, to be honest
with you, they don't know what sin is. Hey, they preach against
drinking, and they preach against stealing, and they preach against
this, that, and the other, and they think they're preaching
against sin. Well, these are the products of sin. This is the
consequence of sin. You see, a man who steals an
object, well, you say he's a thief. Wait a minute. Before he ever
took it, he was a thief, Robert. You see, that was only the product
of his evil nature. Your hand doesn't do anything
until your heart tells it to. Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Say, I use God's name in vain.
And you say, that's sin. Now, wait a minute. I had to
think it in here before I said it. And here's where the sin
is. You see what I'm saying? And if I had never said it, suppose
I stand, here's a man standing beside me, and he's painting
the sky purple with God's name, cursing and swearing, he's mad!
And he's angry with God. And here I'm standing here not
saying a word, with a silly smile on my face. Same thing might
be going on right in here. I just ain't saying it. My religion
won't let me say it. See, that little silly pen I
got up here on my lapel won't let me do it. I've got to act
pious, you know. But it's going on in here. God
says it's the same. You see, you label him a sinner
and you label this man a moral man. You've missed it. They're
both sinners. That's the reason our Lord said,
you heard it said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill.
I say unto you, the hate in your hearts, you're already guilty
of murder whether you pull a trigger or not. You wish him dead. I told my Sunday school class
this morning, when you dislike someone to the point you won't
speak to them, you're a murderer. You're a murderer. You say, how
am I a murderer? You've obliterated that person.
You've pretended he doesn't exist. And if you had your way, he wouldn't
exist. You'd put him away. You've done it in your heart.
You've done it by not speaking. A man stands here and you don't
like him, so you turn and won't speak to him. You're blocking
him out is what you're doing. You're murdering him. Isn't that
right? That's exactly right. You're a murderer. So my friend,
this thing of sin, Sin, what is sin? Sin is a nature, it's
a principle, it's an evil. God hates it. The cannons of
heaven are turned against it. And I'll tell you where it thrives
the most is in religion. It's exactly right. We look at
sickness and pain and tears and sorrow and death and we say,
that's what sin's doing. We look at hate and division,
bigotry and malice and crime. That's what sin's done. We look
at hospitals and jails and asylums and morgues and monuments to
dead people. We say, that's what sin's done.
We look at a man who's a terror to himself and a burden to everybody
else. That's what sin's done. Yes, you're right. That's exactly
what sin's done. But I'll tell you something else.
I'll take you to Calvary. And I point you to one hanging
on a tree, and I say, that's God's beloved, only begotten
Son. And I say to you, that's what
sin's done. Nail my Lord to the tree. And
it's a whole lot more than playing poker. I don't believe God sent
his Son to the Calvary's cross to suffer and bleed and die because
somebody bit a nickel on a poker hand. I think sin's a whole lot
deeper than that. I don't believe that God had
sinned his son, and these holy-roly preachers can go around up now
stomping up now in the country talking about this sin and that
sin and the other sin. I don't even think they know
what sin is. I don't believe God had nailed his son to the
cross in all that agony and suffering and blood and spittle and hatred
and crime and grime just because some fella took a drink of beer.
It goes deeper than that. Sin's a lot. Sin's rebellion.
Sin is rebellion against God. Sin is that hatred of God. Sin is that enmity against God. Sin is that exceeding evil that
was hatched in hell and permeated every heart and covered this
world, complete and destroyed this creation. Sin God hates
and it lives in you and it lives in me. And the only thing God
could do to cure it was to send His Son to the tree. The only
way it could be paid for, the only way justice could be satisfied
where sin was concerned. Let me tell you something. If
there was a judge sitting down there on the bench, and one of
your sons came before him with a speeding ticket, and he sent
him to the electric chair, you'd say, My soul, what are you doing?
You're crazy, judge. You're crazy. You lost your mind.
That punishment doesn't fit that crime. And that's what I say
to these preachers. I say, you identify sin. You
tell me what sin is. Sin is this. Sin is dancing. Sin is playing cards. Sin is
this, that and the other. And you say God is going to send
you to hell for that. I don't believe that. That punishment
doesn't quite fit that crime, Hal. No, it doesn't quite fit
the crime. Now, wait a minute. But I tell
you, sin is a lot deeper than that. I say these things are
just the fruits of sin, just the products of sin. I say down
in your heart there's a hatred for God. And then Adam, you tried
to throw God off his throne. You said, God, I'm going to be
God. I'm going to be, see what Satan
said, I'm going to be God. I'm going to do what I want to
do. You go to hell and stay put. And when God sent his son down
here, you took his son and drove nails in his hands and put him
on a cross and said, we will not have this man reign over
us. We're not going to bow to his authority. We're not going
to submit to his lordship. We're going to put him away.
Kill him. Crucify him. Be away with him. Now you're
talking about a crime that's worthy of hell. See what I'm
saying? And most people have never been convicted of sin.
They're going to join the church and straighten up. And all they
straighten up is their outward flesh. They're going to make
a little decision so they won't go to hell for playing pinball
machine. Good night of life. Hell's in your heart. That's
what God needs to deal with. The hell's in your heart. You
hate God. You hate authority. You hate
holiness. You hate light. You hate truth. That's the reason God has to
deal with you and put you where you can do no more harm. You're
a mad dog. You're a mad dog. And God's going to put all mad
dogs away. He's going to have a happy earth. He's going to
have a happy heaven. He ain't going to put the mad dogs in
hell. That's what sin is. Sin is that
root. Sin is that poison that flows
through your veins. Sin is not these outward things.
That's the product of sin. Sin is the poison that flows
in your veins, the venom, the venom that spits out of your
tongue. Where does the venom come from?
It comes from the heart and it spits through the tongue. It
kills everything, it makes homes unhappy, and people unhappy,
and nations unhappy, and everybody. It causes unrest and contention. It's full of pride. That's the
venom that sent God's Son to the cross. I see that. I'll tell you something
else I see. I see I'm going to have to quit
pretty soon. But I'll tell you something else
I see. It's the value of a human soul. The value of a human soul. I'll tell you something, stay
with me. Old Brother Mews used to say, don't move a hand nor
a hair. But the human soul is valuable. Do you know how much
I know that? Well, there's several reasons. Number one, it's capacity.
The capacity of the human soul. The human soul has the capacity,
see, so to fellowship with God. That's something an animal doesn't
have. That's something, no flower or
tree. You see, it's all kinds of life.
There's mineral life, plant life, animal life, and human life.
But that human soul has capacity. You know, none of us have used
our minds to their capacity, Bill. Nobody has. Nobody. We will someday. We'll know as
we have been known. Now we just know in part, we
prophesy in part, we see through a glass dimly. But the human
soul, the capacity of it to fellowship with God, I tell you another,
it's the duration of it. The value of the human soul is
shown in the capacity of the duration of it. The soul is forever. Now the body's got to go, but
the soul's going to live forever. God made it a living soul. It'll
live forever. But you know what tells me the
value of a human soul? Let me just say this. Charlie,
if I saw a cow out here in the pasture and I say, what would
you give for that cow? You'd say, oh, fifty cents a
pound on the hoof. I'd be a fool to pay five dollars
a pound. What is a thing worth? It's worth
what a wise man will pay for it. That's what it's worth, huh?
I say, Bob, I've got a picture. I want you to look at it. What's
this picture worth? He said, ten dollars. I'd be a fool to
pay a thousand for it. Huh? A thing is worth what a
wise man'll pay for it. You judge the value of a thing
by what a wise man'll pay for it, a man who knows. You know
what this soul's worth? God spared not his son. Must be pretty valuable. Huh? That's what it says. To redeem
my soul, God spared not his son! Now let me put you on the other
foot. What's he worth to you? I found a pearl. I don't have to ask Charlie or
Pope what it's worth. I know what it's worth. That
pearl is of great price. It's God's Son. What's he worth? Worth everything I've got. Huh?
He's worth my life. If he spared not his Son to redeem
me, that's what I'm worth to God. He spared not his son. He emptied heaven of its crown
jewel. He emptied heaven of the very
brightness of its glory. He emptied heaven of the Son
itself and sent him to the tree to bound our soul from the evil
of sin to purge me of my evil venom and make me a new Christian
Christ. Give me a hope of eternal life.
Well, I've come along with this. And these preachers can tell
folks to come down there and shake my hand. That's all it
takes to be a Christian. Now let me tell you something. And a fellow preached on it last
night. You count the cost. And I'll tell you what that pearl's
worth. It's worth, the scripture says, all you are and all you
have. And that's the man that's going
to be saved. When will a man be saved? He'll be saved in God's
good time when he pleads the Lord to reveal his Son in me.
And he'll be saved when he sees the value and the glory and the
excellency of Christ Jesus. And when he comes to that place
by God's grace, when Christ is everything to him, that's when
he'll be saved. He that loveth father, mother,
brother, sister, husband, wife, yea, his own life more than me
is not fit to be my disciple. And that's when you'll be saved.
And that's the reason I say you do what you want to. If you want
to press down the aisle and call it salvation, that's your business. If you want to join some church
and say whoop-de-doo, let's have a good fellowship and call it
salvation, it's all right. It's your business. But I'll
tell you, in this book, it's dealing with eternal things,
great things, mighty things, life-changing things, hell-emptying
things, heaven-inhabiting things. It's dealing with the things
of God, and they're great and they're mighty. Great is its
mystery. And when you come to the place
where you have some conflict with this world, and some interest
in God's saving grace. I'll talk to you, preach to you,
help you if I can, but all I can do is point you to Christ. And
I'm saying this, when you're willing, God makes you willing
to bow, to bow. Every knee will bow, and every
tongue will confess that he's Lord, he's Lord. If thou shalt confess without
Jesus to be Lord, Lord. And believe in thy heart, God
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But these great
things are for great sinners who've been made great believers.
That's who they're for. That's who they're for. And I've
got no right to offer them to anybody else. I've got no right. I've got no right to give a hope
to anybody else. Men die like they live. I don't care who it
is, you, me, or anybody else. Christ is worth all or he's not
worth anything. He's Lord of all or he's not
Lord of anything. And that's the way it is, the way the Bible
sets it forth. That's how big is your God. Our
dear Lord in heaven, make this message a blessing for our good
and for your glory.