In verse 14 of Acts 24, Paul
says, But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which
they call heresy, after the way which they call
heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the prophets, and
I have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that
there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust. Now Paul had been taken into
custody by the religious leaders of his day, who would have killed
him if they could have, but being a Roman citizen Apostle Paul
was brought before Felix, the Roman governor, and allowed to
speak in his defense. Ananias, the high priest, with
the elders of Israel. These were very religious men. These were well-taught men in
the scriptures. These were very orthodox men.
These were most moral. outstanding and upstanding men,
but who resented Paul's gospel. And I asked the high priest,
and I want you to think who the high priest is, the high priest
of Israel, with the elders of Israel, brought Paul before Felix
the governor, and they brought all manner of charges against
him. They said, first of all, he's
a troublemaker. This man, Paul, is a troublemaker. He used to be one of us. He used
to be a Pharisee. He used to be a man in good standing. But now he's a troublemaker.
He's an agitator. He's a pestilent fellow. And
he's one who is stirring up the people. He is stirring up the
people against their religious leaders. He's stirring up the
people against the traditions of their religious leaders. He's
stirring up the people against the teachings and common practices
of the synagogue. And he said of him, and he is
stirring up trouble among all the Jews of the world. Now these
were their charges. And then they said he's a ringleader. He's a ringleader of the sect
of the Nazarenes. Now they called them that because
These people followed Christ, who was a Nazarene. That was
one of their charges. He's a ringleader in this group
called the Nazarenes. And then they accused him of
defiling and profaning the house of God with his error. He is
profaning the temple. He is blaspheming God. He is defiling the house of God
with his poison. And then Paul was permitted to
speak for himself before the governor, and he made this defense. It starts down here in verse
10, but let me just paraphrase it. I can sum it up for you.
Here were his accusers. They said he's an agitator. He's
a troublemaker. He's defiling the temple. He's
profaning the temple. He's leading the people against
their traditions and against their religious leaders. Paul
was permitted to speak, and this is what he said before the governor.
He said, less than two weeks ago, I went up to Jerusalem,
and I went there to worship. And these men did not find me
in the temple, nor in the synagogue, nor in the city, nor on the streets,
debating nor disputing with anybody. They didn't find me debating
religion with anybody, either in the synagogue, the temple,
or on the street. They did not find me stirring
up anyone against anyone else. They did not find me stirring
up anyone against authority or against the government. They
cannot, he said, present any evidence of any of these charges
which they make. Now the people of God are not
disputers and they're not debaters. You find a man who is a disputer
and a debater, you have not found a man who is a servant of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because the people of God are
people of peace, and they're people of goodwill, and they're
people who submit to authority when that authority is of the
Lord. And they know The reason God's
people are not debaters and disputers is because they know that the
mysteries of Christ, and that's what the gospel is called in
the Word of God, the mystery of godliness. Several times in
the scriptures the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is called
a mystery, a mystery. The people of God are not debaters
nor disputers, they're men of peace and goodwill because they
know that the mysteries of Christ and the mysteries of the gospel
are not learned by debate. Nobody ever learned the gospel
by debate, John, never. They're not learned by disputing
of men, but they're revealed to the heart by the Holy Spirit. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. Now, if we were talking about
carnal things, if we were talking about material things, you could
debate, argue, bring forth proof, and a man would be persuaded.
But when we're talking about spiritual things, it's got to
be spiritual light. It's got to be spiritual revelation. And the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness to
him, neither can he know them, They're spiritually understood.
And let me tell you this, if the mysteries of the gospel were
only learned by debate and dispute, disputing and argument, don't
you know that our Lord Jesus Christ, wisdom incarnate, truth
incarnate, would have convinced everyone who heard him? Huh? Why, certainly he would. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself the truth embodied, wisdom, all knowledge in Christ. When
he spoke, when he spoke of the things of God, if men were convinced
by argument and disputing and debating, they could not have
withstood his wisdom. They even said, no man speaks
like this man. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
4, verse 3. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them who are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Our Lord Jesus
Christ in John chapter 6 was preaching to the people and they
began to murmur and complain and went on and said, we know
who he is, he's the carpenter, he's Joseph's son, we know his
mother, we know his sisters, we know his brothers, and that's
when our Lord said, no man can come to me except my Father which
sent me draw him." And he said, "...and they shall all be taught
of God. Everyone that heareth and learneth and is taught of
God cometh to me." So this is the reason that the true people
of God, now religionists are debaters, religionists are disputers. Religionists are people who stand
toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose and chin-to-chin and mouth-to-mouth
and argue, argue, argue. And the reason they do this is
because they themselves know nothing of the spirituality of
God's message. The Holy Spirit has to reveal
it, and we know that. And I'll tell you something else. We do not take up swords to advance
God's kingdom, but rather we take up the sword of the Spirit,
God's Word. We do not depend on arguments to convince men
of sin, righteousness, and judgment, but rather we look to the Holy
Spirit to do what only the Holy Spirit can do. Our Lord said,
when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will convince the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And another
thing, we do not hate the enemies of God. We do not hate the enemies
of grace. We do not hate the enemies of
the gospel, nor do we seek to destroy them as they seek to
destroy us. But we love them and pray for
their salvation because we know if it wasn't for the grace of
God, we'd be just as lucky. When you have fallen into the
ditch and been taken out, you can't be angry with the man behind
you who falls in. When you've been rescued from
the pit by the hand of someone else, Sold incompletely out of
their own goodwill and mercy and grace, you can't find fault
with a man who's still in the pit and has not yet been rescued. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
10. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10,
verse 3 and 4, the apostle says this. 2 Corinthians 10, verse
3 and 4. Though we walk in the flesh,
and we do, do we have this treasure in earthen vessels? Let's not
forget that. We, vessels of clay, have been
entrusted with and entailed with the gospel of God's Son. And
yet we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Don't ever forget
it. God sent Paul a special thorn
in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to keep him in the place
of understanding that he was still a man. And Paul bore this
thorn and kept this thorn, and it constantly reminded him that
he was still a human being. And though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal. And we're talking about this
very thing here. We don't browbeat a man. We don't
argue and debate with a man. We don't use the forces of the
flesh to convince anyone of anything. But our weapons are mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Jesus Christ our Lord. But Paul went on. He said that's
the first thing. He said these men have misrepresented
the truth. I'm not a debater. I'm not a
disputer. And I went up to Jerusalem to
worship less than two weeks ago, and they didn't find me in the
temple or in the synagogue or in the street arguing, quarreling,
debating, disputing with anybody. I didn't seek to organize the
people, to lead them in any kind of organization, to lead them
in rebellion against any kind of authority, not at all. It just is not true, and when
you find this type of personality, and when you find this type of
program, you don't find God's man at all. Because God's man
preaches the gospel, believes the gospel, and depends on the
Holy Spirit to make that gospel effectual. And he does not have
a bad spirit and a bad attitude toward others. Where you find
a spirit and attitude of hate and vengeance, and seeking to
destroy even a false religious organization. It's not the Spirit
of God. Because this man knows that were
it not for God's grace and God's mercy, every one of us would
be in the same condition that Saul of Tarsus was in one day,
who thought he was doing God a favor by killing Christians.
We'd be doing the same thing if it weren't for his grace.
But go on, look down a few at verse 14. But Paul said, this
I confess to you. Now remember to whom he's speaking.
He's speaking to the governor. And here are these important
religious dignitaries. Here are these orthodox, moral,
self-righteous students of the Scripture. These men contending
for the right way of doing things, the orthodox way of doing things,
contending against the gospel of God's grace. And Paul says
to the governor, and what they say is not true. They're not
telling the truth. I'm not a disputer, I'm not a
debater, I'm not stirring up trouble, I'm not an agitator.
But I'll confess this to you. After the way that these men
call heresy, what they call heresy, and error. That's the way I worship
God. What a declaration. After the
way that they call heresy, I worship the God of my fathers, believing,
believing the things, all things that are written in the word
of God by the prophet. I believe it all. To them it's
heresy, to me it's the truth of God. Now my friends, I want
to make that application today. Some of us have been accused
of being agitators, troublemakers, pestilent fellows who are stirring
up believers and fundamentalists everywhere. But this I say, as
the Apostle Paul declared, I'm not an agitator, I'm not a disputer,
I'm not a debater. I don't wish to debate with anyone.
But after the way that the average religionist today calls heresy,
What he calls heresy is the very fundamental facts of the things
I believe, the very foundation of the gospel that I believe.
What they call error and heresy is the way that I worship God
Almighty. Now let me show you that. First of all, I believe,
and you believe, we believe, let's say it that way, we believe
in the literal account of creation in the book of Genesis. Now the
religious world today, believe it or not, has made room in its
ranks for the evolutionists. They've made room in their ranks
for the intellectualists, for the so-called scientists, and
even for the doubters. There was an editorial in the
Ashton Daily Independent several years ago which I challenged
the assistant editor refused to take credit for it, but I
still think he wrote it. But I went to see him. And I
said, I take issue with what you had in the paper yesterday.
And he said, what was that, Henry? And we're friends, I know it.
And I said, this is what you said. And I quoted what he said.
This is what he said in the editorial. He was talking about evolution.
He said, no longer does anyone of any education or understanding
believe in the Genesis account of creation, that God created
either the world or man, as related in the book of Genesis. I said,
I'll take issue with that. There are some people with some
understanding. I don't know whether you'd say
they have much education or not, but they do have some understanding.
There are plenty of people with understanding who believe the
Bible. Oh, he said, I believe the Well,
I said, my friend, you cannot believe evolution and believe
the Bible. You just cannot do it. And there's still plenty
of people who believe the Bible that in the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth. God created the heavens and the
earth. In Genesis 1, 3, and 4 it says
this, God called the light day and the darkness night. God did
it. In Genesis 1, 8 it says God called the firmament heaven.
In Genesis 1, 10 and 11, God called the land Earth. In Genesis
1, 16, God made the sun and the moon. In Genesis 1, 21 and 22,
God made the fish and the bird. In Genesis 1, 24 and 25, God
made the animals and the beasts. In Genesis 1, 26 and 28, God
made man male and female. And I know to many religionists
today that heresy, But after the way they call heresy is the
way I worship God, the God of my father. Believing, Paul said,
believing all things that are written in the prophets. Secondly,
we believe not only in the literal Genesis account of creation,
but we believe in the scriptural account of man's fall. Turn with
me to Genesis 2. We believe in the scriptural
account of man's sin and fall. Turn to Genesis 2, if you will,
chapter 2, verse 15 through 17. In Genesis 2, 15, of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die." God gave man a single commandment,
a single commandment. Man despised that commandment,
he despised the law of God, he took that forbidden tree, and
by that sin, death, and judgment, and condemnation passed upon
all men. Now you may call it what you
will, but to the average religionist it's heresy. You may call it
original sin, and I know by that what you mean. You may call it
imputed guilt and imputed evil and unrighteousness, and I know
what you mean. You may call it total depravity,
but this is exactly what we're saying. By whatever name you
call it, when Adam fell, the whole human race fell. When Adam
sinned, the whole race sinned. When Adam died, the whole race
died. When Adam was separated from
God Almighty, the whole race of which he was the representative,
of which he was the federal head, the whole race was separated
from God. Turn to Romans chapter 5 and
let's see what the Scripture says about that. Now the world
calls that heresy. They do not believe it. They
believe, in Romans 5 if you will, They believe that every man is
born into this world with a little life, with a little light, with
a little good. But the scripture says we're
born dead in trespasses and sin. We're conceived in sin, we're
shaped in iniquity, we're brought forth speaking lies. And it all
goes back to that fall. Romans 5, 12, listen. Wherefore,
as by one man, sin entered into the world. And death by sin. Now we're talking about two kinds
of death. We're talking about physical death and spiritual
death. When Adam ate of the tree, he did not die physically. He
did not die for hundreds of years. The trees, the plants, the animals,
there was no dead. There was not a wholesale dropping
dead throughout the garden. But they began to die physically.
Everything dies as a result of Adam's sin. All of creation has
been influenced and affected and subject to vanity by Adam's
sin. Adam began to die physically.
Everything else was stamped with the plague of death. But Adam
immediately died spiritually. And that's what he's talking
about here in Romans 5.12, as by one man's sin entered the
world and death by sin. No death passed upon all men
for that all had sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law." Here's
what people say. They say that children, infants,
are not sinners. And you know what Paul asked
here? He asked why do infants die if they're not sinners. There
was no death till sin came. There was no death till sin.
When sin came, men died spiritually and they died physically. They
began to die physically. And if babies were not born in
sin, they'd never get sick and they'd never die. They'd never
die until they reached the age of accountability because there
is no sin. You see that? That's what he
says in verse 14. Nevertheless, the law was given to Moses. But
nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. Men died. There was no law given. No law
written in the Ten Commandments. No law written on tables of stone.
No law preached to the people in the style or way of giving
them a thou shalt and thou shalt not. And yet death reigned from
Adam to Moses even, listen to this, even over them that had
not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Who
is that? That's infants. They had not made any kind of
decision or any kind of choice or any kind of open rebellion
against God. Where did this age of accountability
ever originate? It's not in God's Word. The age
of accountability is 6,000 years ago. That's when every son of
Adam became accountable to God is when Adam fell. And what Paul
is saying here is that by one man, sin entered the world. And
death by sin, physical death, suffering, sorrow, tears, Disease,
all of these things, plagues, all of these things, famines
came as a result of sin. But at that very moment, turn
to Romans 5. Let me show you something else.
I believe it's verse 17. For by one man's sin, death reigned. Verse 18. By the offense of one,
judgment came upon all men to condemnation. By Adam's sin.
Verse 19, "...for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners."
Right then, by one man's disobedience we were made sinners. Somebody
says, well I don't believe in imputed sin. Then my friend,
you cannot believe in imputed righteousness. I don't believe that I had anything
to do, any part in Adam's fall. I wasn't even born when Adam
sinned. You weren't born when Christ died either. He died 2000
years ago. And you weren't born then. So
if you can't have any part in Adam's fall, you can't have any
part in Christ's restoration. If you cannot believe in imputed
guilt and imputed sin, you cannot believe in imputed grace and
imputed righteousness. Because he says here plainly,
for as in the same manner by one man's disobedience we were
made sinners, so in the same way as a representative, as a
federal head, by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. They call it heresy. That'd be
all right. But I'll tell you this. Turn
to the last chapter of Genesis. Something happened in that garden.
Something tragic happened in that garden. Something tremendous
happened in that garden. Something happened in that garden
that affected the whole human race in one direction. For the book of Genesis begins
how? In the beginning God created. In the beginning God gave life. In the beginning God said, let
there be life. How does Genesis end? It ends,
Jay, in a coffin in Egypt. It ends in a coffin in Egypt.
And that's the story of man. God created man in his own image. God created him holy and upright.
God created him without death, disease, or sin. And man, in
his rebellion and in his willful rejection of the Word and Law
of God, said, I will not have this God reign over me. I'll
be like God. And when he fell, his whole race
fell and died spiritually. I'll just give you a few verses.
Let me just run through them. Genesis 6, 5. God looked down
from heaven and saw that every imagination of the heart of man
was evil continually. Psalm 14, 2 and 3, there's none
good, no, not one, or they all together become filthy. Psalm
58, 3, the wicked are strained from the womb. Isaiah 1, 5 through
6, from the sole of our feet to the top of our heads, there's
no soundness in us. Isaiah 64, 6, even our righteousness
is a filthy rag. In John 3, 19, men love darkness. and hate life. John 5.40, you
will not come to me that you might have life. Romans 8.7,
the carnal mind is enmity against God. Ephesians 2.1, you who are
dead in sin, hath he quickened. Ephesians 2.12, we are without
hope, without Christ, and without God in this world. Let's be clear
on what we're saying because the world, the religious world,
says this is heresy. We do not believe it. But we
do. The natural man is religious,
but he does not know God. Our Lord said to the religious
people of his day, you neither know me nor my father. The natural
man thinks, but he doesn't think on God. He doesn't think of God. He doesn't think as God. Isaiah
said, speaking for God, your thoughts are not my thoughts.
The natural man worships, but he doesn't worship God. Our Lord
said to the woman at the well, you worship, you know not what.
The natural man seeks honor, but not the honor that comes
from God. The natural man calls Jesus Christ Lord with his lips,
but his heart is far from him. And the natural man, the natural
man hates God. He hates God. He's alive physically
and dead spiritually. Now this is what Paul is saying.
He says, I confess. That after the way that they
call heresy, that's the way I worship God. I'm not through, let's move
on. We believe, and this is heresy
to the religious world, you don't believe it, try it on them. We
believe that God in His sovereign mercy, the word sovereign, somebody
says, what does the word sovereign mean? It means God does as He
pleases, when He pleases, with whom He pleases. That's what
it means, absolutely sovereign. We believe God in his sovereign
mercy chose a people before the world began. He chose them in
Christ that he might show in them and through them the exceeding
riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. Turn to Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians the second chapter.
It says here in verse, it talks about verse 1 through 3, what
we were. And then it says in verse 4,
But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead, even when we were dead
in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace are you
saved. and hath raised us up together and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus." Now this truth has been abused
both by friend and foe. I don't know who abuses it the
most, friend or foe. It's so-called friends and it's
dedicated enemies. But this is what the enemies
of God's sovereign election say about it. Now, they say these
things because they have a hatred for God's sovereignty. You see,
two wills cannot abide together. One of them's got to submit to
the other. Two gods cannot stand side by side. One's got to submit
to the other. And man, out of his hatred for
God's sovereignty, And in defense of man's free will and self-righteousness,
he takes the truth of election and makes it, or tries to make
it, appear what it's not. It's like Paul said in Galatians,
he said they'll come preaching another gospel which is not another
gospel at all, but a perversion of the real gospel. So when men
take on the doctrine of election, they can't take it on as it appears
in the Scripture. But they take it on in this way
as it does not appear in the Scripture. They seek to make
it appear ridiculous. Barnard used to say they build
a straw man that nobody has ever seen before and beat the daylight
side of it. Now this is what the foes of
election and sovereignty and God choosing of people, this
is what they say. Well, they say we don't believe
that some are predestinated to heaven and some predestinated
to hell. I don't believe that either.
I don't believe that at all. And I don't know any evangelical
that believes that. I do believe this. I believe
over here in Ephesians 1, look at it, verse 3, I believe this
is what the Scripture says. Ephesians 1, 3, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will." I believe that,
don't you? Now what's that say? That says that God, before the
foundation of the world, chose a people in Christ. And he predestinated
all the means to bring them to this point that they'll all be
just like Christ. I believe that. But now that
other thing that the fellow says, the enemy of election and the
enemy of God's grace, he said, I don't believe men have predestinated
the heaven and predestinated the hell. The Bible doesn't say
that either. And I didn't know that was the
issue. But now I will give you something you'll have a hard
time digesting if you take it on too strongly, our Lord said
Judas was the son of perdition from the beginning. You want
to handle that a little while? And our Lord said this of Pharaoh. He said, Pharaoh, for this same
purpose I raised you up that I might show my power in you.
That's a hard one to handle too. So I could go through the Scripture
and then I can say this, before the children were born, Jacob
and Esau, Neither, having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, it was said unto
the mother before the children were ever born." I love Jacob,
I hate Esau. So I say with the Apostle Paul,
after the way they call Harris, is the way I worship God. I'll
tell you this, if God determined to reprobate men to hell, men
would only get what they deserve, They only get what they deserve. And then the foes of election
say this, I don't believe a man is saved before he is born. I
don't either. I don't believe that either.
I don't believe a man is saved before he is born. I believe
a man is saved by faith. I believe men are chosen before
they are born. And that's in the scripture. He said to Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. He said to those
people in Matthew 7.22, I never knew thee. You know what he said?
I never knew thee. But Jeremiah, before he was ever
born, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee and I
set thee apart. The Apostle Paul said this in
Galatians 1.15, God, who separated me from my mother's womb, called
me by his grace. But Paul wasn't saved until he
met Christ on the road to Damascus. He can't be saved without Christ.
A man's not saved before he's born. He's chosen. He's loved. He's made an object of God's
affection. But he's saved when he meets
Christ. That's what Scripture says. He's saved when he bows,
when he believes, when he receives Christ as many as received him. To them He gave the right privilege
to become the Son of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Let's say what the Bible says.
I believe a man is saved when he believes on Christ. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. That's when a man is
saved. But brethren, that's not when he's chosen. That's not
when he's set apart. That's not when he's known of
God. That's when he comes to know God. But see, God knows
all things. God knew him before he knew God. You thought God
was like you. That God had to let something
happen to find it out. Is that what you think? You see,
God declares the end from the beginning. And from ancient times,
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel will stand.
I'll do all my pleasure. God foreordains things. God foreknows
things. We know them when they happen.
We find them out when they're revealed to us. But God knows
before they happen, because He ordains. But let's let the Word
say what it says. Paul said to Governor Felix,
he said, I confess to you, I'm not an agitator, I'm not a disputer,
I'm not a debater, but what these fellas call heresy. What these
fellas hate, what these fellas have declared war on, what these
fellas want to shut my mouth over, what these fellas want
to put me in prison over, what these fellas want to silence
my mouth over, they call heresy. That's the way I worship God. And then they say this, we don't
believe that an elect person is saved no matter what. I don't
either. I don't either. The Bible says
that God from the beginning chose us to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. He that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, whether he is elect or non-elect. A man
who knows Christ is salvation. Election is not salvation. Christ
is. A man comes to know Christ is
when he is saved. Election is unto salvation, and
there has to be the sanctifying power of the Spirit. There has
to be the preaching of the Word. There has to be the gift of repentance. There has to be saving faith.
There has to be the Word of God. Just like no baby can be born
without a human seed, no spiritual child can be born without God's
seed, the Word of God. I don't know anybody that believes
that. I don't know anybody preaching that. that men are elected to
be saved whether they ever hear the gospel or not, whether they
believe or not, whether they ever have faith or not. That's
not what God's Word says. That's nowhere in this book.
So why do we build these strongmen? Why do we make ridiculous, asinine
statements like that? I'll tell you why. We hate God.
And we hate God's sovereignty. And we're like the devil, we'll
use any weapon against him, we'll even use lies. That's the way
they did Christ. When Christ stood before Pilate,
they couldn't bring the truth against him because the truth
is what he is. They brought lies against him
and false charges against him and false witnesses against him.
And that's what these men did with Paul. They couldn't dare
stand there and say he believes God's the God of election. Every
Jew believed that. They had to bring lies. Somebody
else says, well, we don't believe infants go to hell. I don't either.
I don't find that anywhere in this
book, do you? And believe me, I've been preaching 34 years.
I've attended Bible conferences from Spain to Ireland to Canada
to Mexico and all over the world, and I've never heard anybody
preach that, have you? Never! But I'll tell you this, If God damned this whole human
race, infants and all, he'd be just. I tell you, if any infant
goes to glory, it'll be by God's grace. It won't be because it
deserves to go. And I don't see any of you measuring
the length of snakes before you kill them. A little rattlesnake six inches
long runs out of the bush, you'll chop its head off and you won't
go cry, kill an infant snake. Call the society for the prevention
of cruelty to infant snakes. I tell you, an infant snake is
full of venomous poison, and an infant born in your family
is full of that same poison. If the God of glory sent ever
one of us to hell, you'll find out before I get through tonight
whose side you're on, God's or man's. But I don't believe infants go
to hell, I believe they're elected. I don't believe they go to heaven
because they're innocent. They go to heaven because of
God's grace. They go to heaven by the blood
of Christ. They go to heaven because Christ loved them and
died for them. And God was pleased to take them
before they grew up and gave bent to what was already in their
hearts. You don't think your baby's a
sinner. Becky, we know ours is, don't we? And it's becoming more real every
day. Isn't it, Bob? That's what makes parents tremble,
isn't it? Because you know that seed's
there. You know that rebellion's there. It's there. Oh, how it's there. Well, that's what the foes of
election say. Oh, how they hate it. And the
friends of election They've abused it and misused it. I'm afraid
that I have too in the past. May have now, I don't know. But
don't want to. But you know, I hear some of
the friends of election who talk like that you don't need to send
missionaries, and you don't need to pray, and you don't need to
use means. If God's going to save them,
He'll save them! I want to tell you one brother
Jay told me, I just got to pass this along. But he was pastor
of some people down in Florida, and one of the men in the church
was, he was a real anti-means, anti-missionary, anti-everything
else, you know, but he was an electionist. And Brother Jay,
they were meeting in a building. And Brother Jay, no sign, nothing.
Just there's the building, a seven-day-administration building where he was barring
it, and they had their sign out there. And Brother Jay got a
little sign up, Grace Baptist Church, you know, meets at 10
a.m. on Sunday morning, 7 a.m., 7 p.m. Sunday night, was putting
a sign out there in the yard. And this gentleman came by and
said, Purchase, what you doing? Well, he said, I'm putting up
a sign. He said, what for? Well, Jay said, so folks that
come by know we're meeting here. He said, they're one of God's
elect, they know we're here. Well, Jay said, how are they going
to find out? He said, they'll get out of the car and go knock
on the door and find out who we are. You laugh about that, but
brother, there's some folks gone that far. That happened, didn't
it? And that man's not a friend of
grace. And that man's made his doctrine of election is as much
heresy as the Arminian's doctrine of election. It's a heresy. And after the way they call heresy
is the way I worship God. The Lord gave the Son of People.
Christ said that, all that my Father giveth me shall come to
me. The Lord God chose those people in His will. The Lord
calls them by His Spirit and His Word. All right, fourthly,
I've got to hurry quickly. I'm preaching too long. But we
believe, and that's heresy to this generation, but we believe
that the obedience and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient
and effectual to the salvation of all who believe. That his
death, now listen to me, that his obedience, his life, his
death, his mediatorial work, all that Christ is and all that
Christ has done, is sufficient and effectual. For the full redemption
of all who believe, nothing needs to be added to it. It's effectual.
Now in this day, to say you believe in particular redemption, that's
heresy. To say you believe that Jesus
Christ's death and blood and atonement was only sufficient
and effectual in the redemption of God's elect and those that
believe is to brand yourself a heretic. And I say so be it. So be it. Now let me make some
statements here that you need to hear. There's a sense in which
our Lord bought the world. You want to write these scriptures
down, you're welcome to do so. There's a sense in which our
Lord bought the world. It belongs to Him. The whole
world. Our Lord, by virtue of the cross,
Brother Barnard used to say, by virtue of the cross, all things
have been delivered into the hands of our Lord. He bought
it. It's His. By virtue of the cross. Now this
verse says this. I didn't look it up, but I'll
quote it. He died that He might be Lord both of the dead and
the living. You know what it says? both of
the dead and the... He died. For this reason, Jesus
both died and revived again that He might be Lord, Sovereign Lord,
King of the dead and the living. Hebrews 4 verse 13 says that
everything's in His hands with whom we have to do. Everybody
has to do with Christ because it's all been given over to Him.
He said in John chapter 17 verse 2, all authority is given to
me over all flesh, all flesh, all flesh. He said in Matthew
28, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature for all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth.
In Philippians chapter 2 verse 8 through 10 says the death of
the cross, having submitted to it and bowed to it, Our Lord
Jesus Christ has been given a name above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess
that He is Lord in heaven, earth, and hell. So the whole shooting
match is His. He bought it. He bought the right
to reign over it. He bought the right to do with
it as He will. All flesh is under His authority. That's true. There's a sense
in which all men benefit from the death of Christ. The very
fact that we're here right now preaching this gospel, and there
are people sitting right here who do not know Christ, and there
are people out in this town tonight who do not know Christ. The very
fact that the judgment and fire of God Almighty has not fallen
on this whole world is because Christ died. His death, His blood,
His sacrifice holds back the wrath of God until that time
when God shall consume this world by His wrath and power. Our Lord's kind to the evil and
the good, it reigns on the just and the unjust, and the whole
thing is because God has designed to redeem a world for the glory
of His Son. And His Son's sacrifice holds
back that judgment and wrath that finally will fall. If Jesus
Christ had come into this world to redeem one sinner, just one,
he would have had to do everything he did. He would have had to
be born of a woman, he would have had to He is subject to
his parents. He would have had to be tried,
tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. He would have
had to submit to the wrath of God on Calvary. He would have
had to be buried and rise again and go to the right hand of God
and intercede if he had been pleased to save only one person.
One, one thousand, one million, one billion, one trillion. He
would have had to do the same thing. According to the Word of God,
he is the sacrifice, he is the atonement, he is the sin offering
for those who believe. He was wounded for our transgressions. I lay down my life for the sheep,
for the sheep I have which are not of this fold, him also I
must bring. For whom He foreknew, He predestinated,
He called, He justified, He glorified. Who shall anything to the charge
of God's elect? Who is He that condemned Christ's
dying? Fourthly, or fifthly, in a hurry,
listen. They call that heresy. But after
the way they call heresy is the way I worship God. I worship
and adore and believe in and trust in and rest in Him who
cannot fail. The reason I'm saved tonight
is not because of anything I've done, but because of what Christ
did for me. And fifthly, we believe in the
invincible work of the Holy Spirit. Now, brethren, according to the
Scriptures, there's a general call. There's a general call
that reaches out, that goes forth to every creature. This is what
a lot of folks don't understand, but no man goes to hell unworn. That's right, no man goes to
hell unworn. God says, I've stretched forth
my hand and no man regard it. I've called and you would not
hear. There's a general call extended
to all men. Now the scripture tells us there's
a light that lighteth every man that comes into this world. You
know what scripture says? There's a light that lighteth
every man. God calls men by creation. Turn to Romans chapter 1. Men
do not walk in the light that they've received. I don't know
why we're wasting our pity and compassion on rebels. In Romans
1, verse 18, it says, "...the wrath of God revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men who hold
the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, God showed it to them. For the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen
being understood by the things that are made, even God's eternal
power and Godhead, so that men are without excuse." Brethren,
that son didn't just happen to get up there and travel its route. The stars and the moon that give
us light by night didn't just happen to be there. That tomato
vine didn't just happen to grow. The fish didn't just happen to
be in the sea. The beasts that feed us, and
the apples and oranges on the tree, and God's going to hold
me accountable for those things. That's what it says here. He said they're without excuse.
These things all say to us there's a God. The wisdom of God is seen
in all these things. I'll tell you something else.
Turn to Romans 2. Verse 14, God calls men and speaks to men by
conscience. Conscience. I don't care where
you go in this world, whether you go to a heathen hot-and-tot
tribe in the middle of nowhere, they know it's wrong to kill
people. They know it's wrong to steal. They know these things
are wrong. And I'll tell you why they know
it, Romans 2, 14, when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law, these having not the
law are law unto themselves, which show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness
in their thoughts. Meanwhile, accusing or else excusing
one another, man rebels against his conscience. And God's going
to hold him accountable for it. And then God calls me in by providence.
You ever been riding down the highway and have you seen this
sign? Prepare to meet thy God. Well,
you know, that's a good sign. And it's in the book of Amos.
But there's some things said before that. God speaking to
rebellious Israel says this. He said, I've sent pestilence
among you, and yet you have not returned to me. He says, I've
sent famine among you, and yet you haven't returned to me. I've
sent diseases among you, and yet you haven't returned to me.
I've sent wars among you, so you young men, have died under
the sword, yet you haven't returned to me." He says, I've sent famine
when your crops are two or three months from the harvest. I've
sent drought, and yet you haven't returned to me. Now he says,
prepare to meet God. These things ought to have been
sufficient to turn you to God. That's what he said. So since
these things did not turn you to God, you get ready to meet
God. Isn't that what he said, Brother
Herman? That's where that came from. So I say this, We're not
preaching to an unwarned generation. We're not preaching to a people
who are ignorant of the wisdom of God, nor the power of God,
nor the law of God, nor the providence of God. And then God calls men
by gospel preaching. Men hear the gospel with these
ears and they turn it down. They say, we don't believe that.
There may be even somebody here tonight, I'm reading this right
out of the Bible. I don't believe that. I've had people stand in
my study and say this. I don't care what the Bible says.
I don't believe it. Well, my friend, thank God there's
an effectual call. That's the general call. Conscience,
nature, providence, judgment, preaching the gospel, law. That's
the general call. All men hear it. But there's
an effect she'll call some men here. That's one Paul heard on
the road to Damascus. That's one Matthew heard with
a seat of custom. That's one James and John heard
down by the Sea of Galilee. That's the one Paul was talking
about over there in second Thessalonians 2 verse 14 listen to this verse
over here 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 14 he said where unto he called
you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ one day God who separated me from my mother's womb called
me called me by his grace John chapter 10. I like this
verse right here to make an application on this particular point. In
John chapter 10, there was a bunch of religious fellas, and everybody's
religious. Everybody believes in some kind
of God. Everybody believes the Bible. You know, somebody, old
brother Jay said one time a few weeks ago, he said even rat poison
is 98% good food. And all these folks are preaching
the Bible, They can put in a lot of truth in there, but just one
point of error is enough to damn a man's soul if it's error along
a vital point. And he says here, the Jews came
to him, verse 24 of John 10, said, Jews came to him and said,
how long are you going to make us to doubt? If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you. I told you. And you didn't believe me. The
works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me,
but you believe not because you're not of my sheep. I said to you,
my sheep, Hear my voice. It's an effectual call. And that's the reason you pray
for your loved ones, and you leave them a tract, you give
them something to read, a witness to them. But ain't no use arguing,
gentlemen. God has to reveal it. God has
to reveal it. That's the way it has to come.
Heresy? It's alright, but that's the way I worship God. And that's
the truth. The natural man He's blind, Christ
said they have eyes and they can't see and ears and they can't
hear and hearts and can't understand. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. Last of all, and I close, we
believe the redeemed, the redeemed will persevere. They'll continue
in the faith. Not one of them will be lost.
Turn with me to John chapter 6. Not one of them will be lost. Not one person. whom the Father
had given to the Son. Not one person for whom the Son
came to the earth and suffered and died. Not one person who
is called and regenerated and awakened by the Holy Spirit.
Not one person who has ever been brought to saving faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ shall perish. Not one. Not one. In John chapter 6, Our Lord said
in verse 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent
me, that of all which he hath given me I'll lose nothing, but
raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of
him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son sees Christ, What does he mean there? Well,
he doesn't mean by seeing him in the flesh, because a lot of
folks saw him in the flesh who perished, but seeing him with
eyes of faith, seeing him in his office work, seeing him in
his excellence, seeing him in his attributes, seeing him in
his glory, seeing him in his redemptive work. He that seeth
the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life, and I'll
raise him up at the last day. Those whom the Spirit hath called
will come to Christ, and they'll keep coming. They'll repent of
sin and keep repenting. They'll believe on Christ and
keep believing. They'll grow in grace and keep
growing. And one other verse and I'll
quit. Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32. One other verse.
Verse 38. Jeremiah 32, 38. Remember this. Paul said in Philippians
1, 6, I'm confident that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perfect it in the day of Christ Jesus. And here in Jeremiah
32, verse 38, he said, they'll be my people, I'll be their God,
I'll give them one heart, one way, that they may fear me forever
for the good of them and of their children after them, and I'll
make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn
away from them to do them good. I'll put my fear in their hearts
and they'll not depart from me. There's perseverance and preservation. In preservation, God said I'll
never turn from them, and perseverance, he says, they'll never depart
from me.