I want you to take your Bibles
now and turn with me to 2 Corinthians 11. The Apostle Paul writes in verse
4 of 2 Corinthians 11, "...if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit
which you have not received, or another gospel. Are we today preaching another
Jesus? Are we worshiping another God? Are we preaching another gospel? The apostle said, if we or an
angel from heaven preach another gospel, let him be accursed. I don't want to preach another
Jesus. I want to preach the Christ of the Bible as he is to men
as they are. I don't want to preach another
gospel. I don't want to play church.
I want to worship the living God, don't you? That's what David
said in Psalm 42. As the deer, the thirsty deer,
as the thirsty animal, roaming in the desert, panted and thirsted
for the water brooks, for the cool running water, so my soul
in the desert of sin is thirsty, not for an idol, not for a God,
but for the living God. for the living God. In John 17.3,
I want you to turn over there with me. John 17.3, the Master. Now this is the Lord's Prayer,
John 17. Somebody stands before a crowd
of people and says, let's all bow our heads and say the Lord's
Prayer. And they start off, Our Father
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's not the Lord's
Prayer. That's the disciple's prayer.
The disciples had said to the master, teach us to pray. And the master said, when you
pray, say, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
That's the disciples' prayer. In John 17, the master went to
the garden as the priest of his people, as the representative
and mediator of his beloved, and he prayed. And this is the
prayer that he prayed. This is the Lord's prayer. These
words spake Jesus and lifted his eyes to heaven, and he said,
Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him, thy Son, power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal. Every
time I read that, I stop right there. This is life eternal. That's what I'm interested in,
right there. That's where I want to camp a little while. That's
where I want to pitch my tent and study a little while. That's
where I want to take off my shoes. I'm on holy ground. This is eternal
life. Not what the Baptists or Methodists
or Presbyterians say it is. It's not what Dr. or Reverend
or Father so-and-so says it is. This is what the Son of God says
it is. This is what the Lord Jesus says
eternal life is. The preacher says, you come join
my church and be baptized by me and you'll have eternal life.
The Lord Jesus said this is eternal life. This is it. Now you open
your ears and open your eyes and give your attention. The
Son of God is praying here to the Father. This is a conversation
between the Son of God and the Heavenly Father. And he says
this is life eternal, this is what it is. Watch it. "...that they might know thee,
the only true God." Not that a man might be religious and
have a God, but that he might know the living God. That's eternal
life, not that a man goes to church on Sunday and goes through
the motions of worship, but that he knows the living God, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. This is
life eternal. Now you can get a little bit
of an idea about how important this message is tonight, because
a man who does not know The only true God does not have eternal
life. He might have a God. Everybody's
got a God. If he doesn't know the living
God, the only true God, then he doesn't have eternal life.
If a man doesn't preach the living God, the only true God, it doesn't
matter how sincere he is or how orthodox he is. or how wise he
is, or how popular he is, or how powerful he is. If he doesn't
preach the living God, he doesn't preach God. He doesn't have eternal
life. Several years ago, I ran up on
what I call six stubborn statements about God, about the Bible, and
about Christ, and about myself. And I faced these statements,
and by God's grace I answered these statements, I think, by
the Holy Spirit's leadership. And I feel like that every one
of you faced with them tonight are going to have to answer them.
I want to give them to you. If you want to jot them down,
you're welcome to do so. But I want you to do a little
thinking with me. And you can say yes or you can
say no, you can say true or you can say false, you can say I
believe it or you can say I don't believe it, that's your business.
But nevertheless, you're faced with these statements. If you
read the Bible, if you study the Bible, if you go to church,
if you attempt to preach or to listen to anybody else preach,
you're faced with these six statements. And you've got to handle them.
Somebody said one time, if you meet a truth or a fact in the
middle of the road, just two things to do, accept it or turn
around and run from it. And so you're going to be confronted
tonight with these six statements, and you can accept them, you
can receive them, you can believe them, or you can turn around
and run from them. But you're going to be faced with them.
Now here's the first one. I want you to listen to it carefully.
The God of the Bible is absolutely sovereign, and that word sovereign
contains the meaning In the last five letters, R-E-I-G-N, reign,
that is, God reigns in indisputable, immutable, absolute control of
all things. God is absolutely sovereign or
He isn't. One of those statements is true.
God is sovereign or God is not sovereign. God is almighty or
God is not almighty. God reigns and rules and controls
all things, or He doesn't reign and doesn't rule and doesn't
control actually anything. Now, the Bible never presents
God as anything but an absolute sovereign. The Bible never presents
God as anything but an all-wise king and a ruler who does as
he pleases, when he pleases, with whom he pleases, and is
answerable to no one. He's king. Turn with me to Psalms
115. I'm talking about the God of
the Bible now. We're not talking about your
God. We're talking about the God of the Bible. We're not talking
about what you think about God. We're talking about what the
Bible says about God, what the apostles said about God, what
the prophets said about God, what the people whom He sent
declared. In Psalms 115, verse 2, the heathen
said, Where is your God? Where is your God? And David
answers back and says, Our God. Our God. Now, we know where your
God is. It's down in the temple of Diane.
Or your God is there on the shelf where you put him. Or your God
is down there in the park. Or your God is over there in
Kamakura, Japan, called Buddha. Or your God is here or there
or somewhere else. But our God is in the heavens.
and he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." That's our God. That's the answer David gave.
Turn to Isaiah 45, and here is the prophet Isaiah writing. In
Isaiah 45, verse 5, he says, I am the Lord. There is none
else, there is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou
hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the
sun, and from the setting of the sun, from the west, that
there's none beside me. I am the Lord, and there's none
else. I form the light, I create darkness. I make peace, I create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things."
Turn one page to Isaiah 46, verse 9 and 10. He says, Remember the former
things of old, for I am God. There's none else. I'm God. There's
none like me. I declare the end from the beginning. I declare the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. That's what God says. Now, brethren, the Bible never
presents our God as anything but an absolute sovereign. Not
a long-whiskered granddaddy sitting up in heaven, hoping somebody
will let him have his way, but an absolute, all-wise, eternal,
almighty King who rules over his creation. by his permissive
or directive will, but who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. God is sovereign in creation.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He
made the Sahara Desert hot because it pleased him to make it so.
He made the Arctic regions cold because it pleased him to make
it so. He made everything as it pleased
him, and he said, Let us make man, and he made man as it pleased
him." God is sovereign in creation. He said to Job, turn over to
Job 38, and listen to God speaking to Job here. Answer Job out of
the whirlwind. And he said in verse 1, Then
the Lord answered Job and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel
by words without knowledge? Gird up now your loins like a
man, and I will demand of you, and you answer me. I'd love for God to pick some
of these mealy-mouthed, fuddly-duddled, fiddling preachers up by the
nap of the neck and ask them some of these questions. Where
were you when I laid the foundations of this earth? Where were you? You answer me if you have understanding. Who laid the measures thereof
if you know? Who stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations of this earth fastened? Who laid
the cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the
sons of God shouted for joy? Who shut up the seas with doors
when it break forth as if it had issued out of the womb? When
I made the cloud the garment thereof, and the thick darkness
a swaddling-band for it, and break up for it my decreed place,
and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shall you come, and
no further, and here shall thy proud wave be stayed." Verse
17, have the gates of death been opened to you? Verse 22, have
you entered into the treasure of the snow? Who made the snowflakes? Have you seen the treasures of
the hail? Verse 26. Can you cause it to rain on the
earth where no man is? On the wilderness wherein there
is no man? Verse 33. Do you know the ordinances
of heaven? Can you set the dominion thereof
in the earth? Can you lift up your voice to
the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee? Can you
send lightning that they may go and say unto thee, Here we
are? That's God, the living God. And the living God is sovereign
in providence. Turn to 1 Samuel, chapter 2.
1 Samuel, chapter 2. And here in chapter 2 of 1 Samuel,
it says, verse 6, and the Lord maketh alive. Job
said, The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken away, blessed
be the name of the Lord. Eli declared when Samuel told
him that tragedy would strike his home, he said, It's the Lord,
let him do what he will. And here Samuel declares in 1
Samuel 2.8, The Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. The
book of Revelation says he has the keys of hell and death. And
he bringeth down to the grave and he bringeth up. The Lord
maketh poor and the Lord maketh rich. The Lord bringeth low and
the Lord lifteth up. Who does it? The Lord does it.
Why does he do it? That's his business, that's not
mine. I don't know. God has not taken me into his
secret chambers and declared to me why he does what he does,
but I just know he does it. The Lord is sovereign. Turn to
Job chapter 14. In Job 14, look at it. In verse
5, man's days are determined. The number of his months are
with the Lord. God hath appointed his bounds
He cannot pass. That's the God of the Bible.
My question tonight is, do we preach, do we worship the God
of the Bible, or do we preach and worship a God that we have
ourselves whittled out, that we ourselves have made that we
ourselves have fashioned according to our own blueprints the way
we want him to be. I hear people say, well, my God
wouldn't do that. Well, maybe you're right. Maybe
your God wouldn't, but would the God of the Bible? They say,
my God's not like that. Well, maybe your God's not. Buddha's
not like that either. Confucius is not like that either.
Mohammed is not like that either. The gods of the Indians are not
like that either. The gods of the Japanese are
not like that either. But the God of the Bible is.
And when you say, My God's not like that, you're not saying
anything. You're saying what countless millions can say. Their
God isn't. But I'm saying the God of the
Bible is the living God. He's sovereign, absolutely sovereign. He is absolutely sovereign in
creation. He is absolutely sovereign in
providence. And providence is anything that
happens to you, or to your loved ones, or to your friends, or
to your community, or to your nation, or to your world. It's
providence, the providence of God. You know, when people say,
well, I'll be at a certain place unless I'm providentially hindered.
That's wise, because that's the truth. And then, my friends,
God is sovereign in salvation. Turn with me to Exodus, chapter
18. Exodus. Chapter 33 it is, Exodus 33.
Now listen to this. In Exodus, chapter 33, verse
18, Moses said, Lord, show me thy glory. I want to see the
Lord. I want to see the glory of the
Lord. I want to see the wisdom and power of the Lord. I want
to see God in his glory. Lord, show me your glory. Moses
had seen the sea part and the people walk through on dry land.
Moses had seen that the river is turned to blood. Moses had
seen that the plague of hail and the plague of frogs and flies. Moses had seen the death of the
firstborn. Moses had seen all of these unusual
miracles, but Moses still wanted to see the glory of the Lord. And God said, all right, Moses,
verse 19, I'll make my goodness pass before you. I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord before you, my name. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. That's the glory of the Lord.
We could preach the glory of the Lord. Our generation could
see the glory of the Lord. If we would just dare to declare
God in his true character, that's what the Lord did for Moses here.
He declared to Moses his glory. He said, Moses, here's my glory! I'm sovereign! I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. All right, the second statement.
Man is either totally, completely spiritually dead, dead, without
spiritual life, without spiritual knowledge, without spiritual
ability, without spiritual hope, without spiritual health. He's
dead. or he's not. Now you can't be
partly dead and partly alive. You're either alive or you're
dead. What happened back yonder in the Garden of Eden? What did
happen? When Adam sinned against God, when Adam who represented
the whole human race, when Adam stood as our representative,
as the man and the only man on this earth, What happened when
he rebelled against God? What happened when he sinned?
What happened when he took the forbidden fruit? Did Adam die
as God said he would and did, or was Adam just slightly wounded,
slightly incapacitated? Did Adam become lame on both
his feet, or was he only crippled in one leg so that he could walk
with some difficulty and with a limp? Did Adam lose his spiritual
sight, or did he just lose the sight of one eye? What happened
when Adam sinned? Is man spiritually dead, or did
man just get slightly wounded in the garden? Now, which one?
Well, the Bible is very emphatic on this point. Turn to Romans
5. Let's see what the God of the Bible said. In Romans 5,
verse 12. Listen to it. Romans 5, verse
12. Wherefore? By one man, that's
Adam, sin entered this world. And death, death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men, for all sinned. Listen to verse 17. For by one
man's offense, death reigned. Look at verse 18, Therefore by
the offense of one judgment, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation. What does Paul mean in Romans
3 when he says, there is none righteous, no, not one. Verse
11, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
not one. Their throat is an open grave.
Their tongues are full of deceit. The poison of snakes is under
their lips, and their mouths are full of cursing. Their feet
are swift to shed blood. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. The whole world is guilty, guilty,
guilty before God. Is that true? Romans 8, verse 7. Is this true? The carnal mind, the natural
mind, is enmity against God. The natural man is not subject
to the law of God. It can't be. In 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, you're
faced with this. Is it true or is it false? The
natural man, verse 14 of 1 Corinthians 2, receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to him. The
natural man, the carnal man, the fleshly man, the unspiritual
man, the unregenerated man, the unbelieving man, the unredeemed
man, doesn't receive the things of God. He makes a mockery of
them and a joke of them, a foolishness to him. And that's what's happened to
our churches and to the ministry. The ministry today, the ministry is filled with a bunch
of jokers. They're joking about the things
of God. It's foolishness, foolishness.
He cannot know them because they're spiritually understood. My friends,
we're dead, dead in sin. The natural man is dead, legally
dead. The sentence has been passed,
spiritually dead, eternally dead, awaiting execution, and only
Christ can give him life. We're in the same shape that
Lazarus was in, we spiritually, Lazarus naturally, when he lay
in that tomb. His sisters couldn't help him.
He couldn't help himself. Oh, they put a little spices
on him, made him smell better. They wrapped him up in the grave
clothes and made him look better. They put a stone in front of
the grave so the community would smell better. And we're doing
that to old sinners. We're getting them to quit drinking
so they'll smell better. We're getting them to come to
church on Sunday so the community will be better. We're doing all
we can do, but we can't give them life. We can get them down
an aisle, get a profession of faith out of them, get them to
join the church. We can do all these things, but
we can't give them life. Only Christ, as he stood there
before the grave of the dead brother and cried out, Lazarus walked out of that grave
a living man. The scripture says in Ephesians
chapter 2, listen to it, that's what happens when God saves a
sinner, he receives spiritual life. That's what happens when
God saves a sinner, he raises the dead. That's what happens
when God saves a sinner, he puts life where there was no life.
In Ephesians chapter 2 it says, You hath he quickened, made alive,
who were dead, dead, dead, in trespasses and sin, dead, dead,
dead to God, dead to truth, dead to the gospel, dead to Christ,
dead. And he made you alive. It says
in verse 5, even when we were dead in sin, God quickened us
together with Christ. We see examples of people getting
religion. They have a big revival in town
and a preacher comes and he preaches a few sermons and tells a few
stories and cracks a few jokes and they sing a few specials
and folks come down the aisle and make a profession. About
two or three weeks later, half of them are gone, and four or
five weeks later, three-fourths of them are gone, and two years
later, ninety-five percent of them are gone. What happened?
But I guarantee you this, I know what didn't happen. I know they
weren't raised from the dead. I know that God didn't give them
life. I know that the Holy Spirit of God didn't quicken them and
bring them to Christ. I know what didn't happen, because
I know when a man is raised from the grave, he's a new creature.
When God Almighty begets life in a dead sinner, he lives, and
he lives eternally! And he loves Christ, and he loves
the people of Christ, and he loves the gospel of Christ, and
he loves the house of God, and he loves the worship of God,
and he loves the law of God, and he walks in pairs of righteousness
with his Lord. And that takes a new birth. That takes the dead being raised. Now the third statement, quickly.
Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. These are either so or they're
not so. In 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, God elected a people to salvation,
or He didn't. Or he didn't. That is, God out
of the mass of mankind, God out of the fallen, dead, corrupted,
polluted, filthy, guilty, sinful race, for the glory of his Son,
by his own grace and mercy, showing mercy to whom he will, picked
out for redemption a people and passed by the rest of them. Or
he didn't. You know, halfway measure here
now. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Paul says, We are
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. I'm saying this to you because
of man's sinful inability, because of man's deadness, because of
man's depravity, because of man's love for darkness. If God had
not chosen us, we never would have chosen Him. If God had not
called out to us, we would have never called out to him. If God
Almighty had not sent his Spirit in our direction and awakened
us, we'd still be in the grave. If Jesus Christ had not on his
own, according to his own will and for his own glory and his
own purpose, if he had not come to the grave of Lazarus and spoke,
Lazarus would still be there. That's what I'm saying. And if
this were the only verse in the Bible that taught God's elective
grace, I'd have to be, I'd have to be compelled to believe it.
But there are hundreds of others. Turn to John 15. The Master here
is talking to the disciples in John chapter 15, and he says
to them in verse 16, John 15, 16, You did not choose me, I
chose you. I chose you. Let me ask you three questions.
Did you choose God, or did God choose you? Hmm? Well, you say, God chose me,
that's what the Bible says. All right, secondly, when did
God choose you? Turn to Ephesians 1. When did
God choose you? Was it when you believed? Was
it when your mama gave you birth? Was it when you made a decision? Just exactly when was it? But
it says in Ephesians 1, verse 3, "...Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings, and the heaven is in Christ, according
as he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world." That's what the Bible says. That's what the Bible says. Now I'm asking this, are we preaching
the God of the Bible? Are we worshiping the God of
the Bible? Are we worshiping the Christ of the Bible, or do
we have our own little God and our own little Jesus? As Paul
said, another gospel, another Jesus by another Spirit. In Romans 8, turn over there
with me. The third question I was going
to ask you, you say God chose you and God chose you before
the foundation of the world. Let me ask you the third question.
Why did God choose you? Why did he choose you? Are you
interested in spiritual things? Your buddy you grew up with isn't.
Why you? Are you better than he is? Are
you holier than he is? Maybe you came from a different
race than he did. God chose you, but that fellow
that lived next door to you, he has no interest in spiritual
things. What makes the difference? Who makes a thee to differ from
another? That's what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4. Who made
you different? What have you that you didn't receive? What
do you know that you weren't taught? God made the difference. God made the difference. He chose
you according to the good pleasure of his own will. Look at Romans
8 verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, he
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren, moreover whom
he predestinated, he called, and whom he called, he justified,
whom he justified, he glorified." It's all God. This business of
salvation is all God. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. It's the gift of God. In Romans
chapter 9, the Scripture says here that that when Rebecca,
conceived by Isaac, verse 11, their children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve
the younger. And Paul said, When it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, when it pleased
Him, He revealed His Son to me and in me. In 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4, look at this, 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 4, Paul said, Knowing
brethren, You say, Preacher, you believe that they're an elect
people? I know it. I know it. Well, who are they? That I don't know. Well, why
don't you just preach to the elect? Because I don't know who
they are. But I'll tell you how to find out. I'll tell you how
to find out. You preach the gospel to them,
and if they hear it and believe it, they're one of the elect.
If they don't, it's because they're not one of his sheep. I'm going
to show you that. Now look at 1 Thessalonians 1,
4. Brethren, Paul said, I know your election of God, for our
gospel came to you, came not to you in word only. That's the
way most people hear preaching. They just hear words, words,
words. That's all they ever hear. Word only. It didn't come to
you that way, but our gospel came to you in power, our gospel
came to you in the Holy Ghost, our gospel came to you in much
assurance. And that's how I know, Paul said,
you're one of God's elect. Because when I preached the gospel
to you, you heard it. Not just in words, but you heard
it in power. You heard it in the Holy Ghost.
You heard it in assurance. It did something for you. Now
turn to John 10. Listen to Christ. Now listen
to this. How do you know that a man is elect? How do you know
that he's one of God's chosen? How do you know that he's one
of God's sheep? Because he hears the gospel and
believes it. In John 10, verse 24, the Jews
came round about Christ and they said to him, How long do you
make us doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. And Jesus answered and said,
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 didn't believe me, because you're not of my sheep. I said
unto you, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give them eternal life. What do their sheep do? They
hear my voice. I told you, Christ said, I told
you the same thing I told these other people. But you didn't
believe it. They did. My sheep hear my voice. That's how you know whether or
not you're one of God's people. You hear His voice. He's given
you ears to hear. You see His beauty and His grace.
He's given you eyes to see. You understand His gospel. He's
given you a heart and a mind to understand it. There were
two thieves who died on the cross with Christ, one on each side.
One of them, they heard the same thing, they saw the same thing.
One of them died cursing God, and one of them died praying
for grace. What made the difference? Huh? They were both thieves, they
were both outcasts, they were both condemned criminals, they
were both dying. They both saw the same thing,
they both had no hope. One of them believed, one of
them didn't. And God made the difference. God made the difference. God gives ears to hear. God gives
eyes to see. He said, Peter, whom do you say
that I am? Peter said, thou art the Son
of God. He said, Peter, flesh and blood
didn't show that to you. My Father showed it to you. Blessed
are your ears, they hear, and blessed are your eyes, they see. Don't fall out with a fellow
if he doesn't believe your gospel. He can't hear. You wouldn't fall
out with a man who couldn't hear, would you? You kept shouting
at a fellow, you dummy, don't you hear me? Somebody says, he's
deaf. Oh, I'm sorry. If a fellow's
walking along the street and he stumbles and falls, you say,
well, what's wrong with you? He can't see. Oh, I'm sorry. That's the way these natural
men are. They're blind, they're dead, they're deaf, they're dumb,
they can't see, they can't hear. And our Lord said, God gives
eyes and ears. And it takes God to do it. He
created the ear. The fourth statement. Jesus Christ,
when he died on that cross, he died once, only once. And when he died on that cross,
he either totally and effectually and completely redeemed, redeemed
and delivered and saved, all for whom he died, or he didn't
save anybody. Now, you think about that. His
death was not an offer. It was a sacrifice. It was a
ransom. And I was over in Ireland preaching
for the Northern Baptist Association. About 50 or 60 churches were
having a convention. They invited me to come over
there and speak to the convention. I spoke two nights. One night
I spoke on the subject, What Did Christ Do When He Died on
the Cross? And I read a statement made by
the great Dr. John Owen many, many, many years
ago. And after I made that statement
in the pulpit and finished my message and stepped down from
the pulpit, an old white-haired gentleman came up to me and he
said, Son? I said, Yes, sir. He said, I
never thought I never thought, and he was in his seventies,
I never thought I'd ever live to see the day when that statement
by John Owen, which I believe would be made from a Baptist
pulpit in Ireland, I never thought I'd see that day. And I said
in amazement, I said, Why don't they believe that around here?
He said, No. Some do, but most don't. You
see, they believe Jesus Christ tried to save some folks when
he died. He didn't actually save them.
He made an effort. He made the down payment, and
we make the rest of the installment payment. When he died, he offered
salvation, and that's up to us to finish it. You see, what they
preach around here, he said, is Jesus did a part, and our
part you know. Sin left a crimson stain, but
me and Jesus washed it white as snow. Who saved you, huh? Did Christ
effectually, totally, completely save you when he died on that
cross, or didn't he? Now John Owen said this. You
think about it a little bit. If Jesus Christ, when he died,
paid for all the sins of all men, then all men are going to
be saved. If Jesus Christ only paid for
some of the sins of all men, and that's what many people preach.
Christ died for all sins but unbelief. If he didn't die for
unbelief, there ain't a soul going to heaven. Because we're
all guilty of the sin of unbelief. And we're guilty of it to our
dying day. You don't have perfect faith.
Don't tell me that. I know better. There are a lot
of times when you don't believe. There are a lot of things you
don't believe. If you had perfect faith, you could move some mountains
around here. Because it only takes a little
bit. If Christ paid for some of the sins of all men, then
nobody's going to be saved. But when Jesus Christ died, if
he paid for all the sins, all the sins, all the sins of some
men, then some men are going to be saved. The Bible says he
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon him by his stripes,
were he? Somebody said, well, Jesus paid
for my past sins. It wasn't any of my sins past
when Jesus died, it was all future. I wasn't born then. That's right, I wasn't born then.
Christ died 2,000 years ago. All my sins were future. And
he paid for all the sins of all his people. Now, he's either
the Savior, or he's not. He's either effectually, completely
redeemed his people, or he redeemed no one. Turn to Hebrews 9, verse
26. Listen to this. It says in Hebrews
9, verse 26, the latter part, that Christ hath appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. of himself. Do you believe Christ died for
Peter, the Apostle Peter? Well sure I do preach it. Is
that why Peter's in heaven? Exactly. Why is Peter in heaven?
Because Christ died for him. Is that why he's in heaven? Well
absolutely. Is there any other reason why he's there? Well no,
he's there because Christ died for him. Did Christ die for Judas?
Well, yes. Well, where's Judas? He's in
hell. Well, why is he in hell? Because he didn't believe. I
thought you said Christ died for him. And Peter's in heaven
because Christ died for him. I thought you said Christ died
for him. And Peter's in heaven because Christ died for him.
Now, if Peter's in heaven and Christ died for him, and Judas
is in hell and Christ died for him, then Christ's death didn't
make a whole lot of difference, did it? It didn't help Judas none. That's right. It didn't help
him a bit. If God loved him and Christ died for him and he went
to hell anyway, then why am I out there preaching? What are you doing out there listening?
If God loved the man and Christ died for him and he still went
to hell, then we're going to have to do something else besides
preach God. We're going to have to preach something else. I just believe that the only
thing I need is the death of Christ. I just believe the Bible
says that the only thing I need is the death of Christ. My only
hope, my only plea is that when he died, he died for me. The fifth statement. The Holy
Spirit effectually calls me into Christ and saving faith, or he
doesn't. I hear preachers saying, the
Holy Spirit's trying to convict you. The Holy Spirit's trying
to regenerate you. The Holy Spirit's trying to convert
you. The Holy Spirit's trying to call
you. We're not talking about the Holy
Spirit. When we talk like that, He's not trying to do anything.
What the Holy Spirit of God attempts to do, He does. He cannot fail. O Spirit of the living God, speak
with that voice that wakes the dead, and bid the sinner rise,
and make the guilty heart dread the death that never dies." God
said, I will put my Spirit in you. I'll write my laws and statutes
on your heart. I will give you a new heart. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1.
2 Timothy 1, verse 9, listen to this, "...he hath saved us,
and called us with a holy calling." with an irresistible call, with
an effectual call, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. The Holy Spirit has power over
the hearts of men. The Holy Spirit has power over
the will of men. The Holy Spirit has power over
the imagination of men. The Holy Spirit has power to
convert. The Holy Spirit has power to
reveal Christ. The last statement I must close.
The elect of God, those whom God had chosen, those whom the
Holy Spirit had called, those for whom the Lord Jesus gave
his blood, they will all, every one of them, persevere, continue
in the faith, die in the faith, or none of them will. Now believers,
turn to Hebrews quickly, Hebrews chapter 3. Believers are exhorted
in the Word of God to continue in the faith. They're identified
by their perseverance. They're characterized by their
perseverance. They are known by their perseverance. It says in Hebrews 3 verse 6,
Jesus Christ is a son over his own house, whose house you are
if you hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the whole firm
and to the end. Verse 14, we are partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. Those who do not continue, John
says, reveal an absence of grace. Turn to 1 John. Look at this
now, 1 John 2. You say, we preach a lot of people
get religion and drop along the wayside. I know that. And that's
what they did. They got religion. They didn't
partake of Christ. They didn't receive a new heart.
They didn't receive a new nature. They didn't receive a new spirit.
They got religion. And they lost interest. If you
can get it by yourself, you can lose it by yourself. You can get it, lose it, and
not miss it. In 1 John chapter 2, listen to
this. Verse 19. They went out from
us, John said, but they were not of us. If they had been of
us, They would no doubt have continued with us. But they went
out that they might be made manifest. They were not all of us. One
other verse. Turn to 2 Peter 2. Now listen
to this. 2 Peter 2, verse 20. I want you to listen carefully
to this now. 2 Peter 2, 20. If after they
have escaped the pollution of the world, Through the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with
them than the beginning. It had been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, and after they have known it,
to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it has
happened unto them, according to the true Proverbs, The dog
is turned to his own vomit. The dog, not the sheep, not the
people of God. He was a dog to start with and
he's a dog now. And the sow that was washed Not
whose nature was changed, not who became a sheep, not who became
a new creature. They just washed the sow. You
can take an old pig and you can wash him up, clean him up, put
a ribbon around his neck, toenail polish on his nail, put a little
perfume on him, drop him down on the ground, he'll head to
the water, because that's his nature. He never did cease to
be a pig. You had him cleaned up, you had
him washed up, you changed his environment, but you didn't change
him. And he returned to his waller, and that's what the scripture
says here, that these people who leave the gospel, who leave
Christ, never did have a new nature, never were regenerated,
never were changed. They were the same old folks
with just a different exterior. Turn to Philippians chapter 1,
but God will keep his own. In Philippians chapter 1, verse
6, I'm confident of this very thing. that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform that work until the day of Jesus
Christ." It's God who ordained, it's God who justified, it's
God who called, and it's God who glorified. Salvation of the
Lord. What the Lord begins, the Lord
completes. Look at 1 Peter 1, verse 3. In
1 Peter 1, verse 3, it says here, 1 Peter 1, verse 3, "...blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us unto a living hope by the
resurrection of Christ from the dead." to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith." Now, my friends,
I don't want to be contrary, but I'm saying that those statements
are true or they're false. They're in the Word of God, and
we've got to say, well, I believe God's Word, I accept them. Or
I've got to turn my back on the Word of God. Our Father in Heaven,
open these ears to hear Thee speak through Thy Word. Open
our eyes to behold Thee in Thy sovereignty, in Thy power, in
Thy greatness. And let these eyes of ours see
the inability and guilt and filth of the human soul. In the flesh,
no man can please God. Without thee we can do nothing.
May the Spirit of the living God effectually, invincibly,
irresistibly call us to saving faith in Christ Jesus. And keep
us by thy power, and by thy might, and by thy grace. O Lord, let
us be able to say, we are just children. Teach us. Teach us,
O God. There is a way that seemeth right
unto man, and the end is death and destruction. Our thoughts
are not thy thoughts, and our ways are not thy ways. O Lord,
teach us thy ways. Reveal thy will. In Christ's
name, Amen.