so so the challenge that Elijah gave
to his people concerning who God was and who
Baal was is a challenge that confronts everyone who is privileged
in this world to hear the Word of God. The content of this message I
preached for almost 40 years It's a seven point message. And
that's to do with the scripture. Paul in writing to the first
Corinthians in the first epistle said he had declared unto them
the gospel. How that Jesus had died according
to the scriptures. How he was buried according to
the scriptures and rose again according to the scriptures. We stand here on Sunday morning
and Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon and use this book as
the theme and song of what we have to say. God wrote this book using men
whom He inspired to write these 66 books in this Bible. spanning millenniums between
these men and their times. And yet, from Genesis chapter
1 to Revelation 22, they are all in agreement. Most of them never met each other.
Some of them served alongside each other. Many of them never
met each other, never talked to each other. Yet they were
inspired to write these books and they all are in agreement. The Bible when preached results in a verdict every time it's
preached. It has to be so because the Word
of God is truth and being truth people are either believing the
truth or not believing the truth there is no matter of indifference
indifference is the same as unbelief Paul in rebuking the Corinthians we'll see this afternoon in our
study finally reached a point where he looked at them and he
was rebuking them because they denied the resurrection which
was according to scripture. He said if there is no resurrection,
why? Why am I doing what I'm doing?
Why should I bother? Why should anyone bother? If
the scripture is not true, and not the truth, and the only thing
that is the truth in this world, then what are we doing? We're
of all men most foolish. We ought to just go out and have
a party or something and not bother with this. The Word of
God is true and it always causes men to come to a conclusion about
themselves whether they want to admit it or not. It's said
to be sharper than any two-edged sword dividing even to the joints
and the marrow and discerning the thoughts and intents of the
heart. This is what the Bible does.
This is the magnificence of this book. This is the magnificence
of scriptures. The power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek for therein the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. This book does the trick. Always is victorious. Always. If it's preached as it
is. And we are confronted with that
fact, especially in the world in which we live today, when
a million voices come from a million different directions, and none
of them are saying the truth. None of them are talking the
truth. The truth is God's Word. No matter
what society says, no matter which way society is leaning,
no matter which way society goes, no matter what society says is
acceptable or not acceptable, God says what's acceptable and
not acceptable, and that's it. That's the truth! That's the truth. So we come
to this place and Elijah said to his people, How long you halt
between two opinions? Now what were their opinions?
They were thinking that God was God and they worshiped God in
the way that God had ordained somewhat in the law given to
Moses on Sinai. But they also kind of liked Baal. And so they, when they would
travel with the tabernacle, they would carry the Ark of the Covenant
as it was told to be carried with the golden staves and through
the golden rings and nobody saw it but the great high priest. They would carry it covered and
he would set it up in the Holy of Holies. But it is said they
also carried statues of Baal. They were getting the best of
both worlds. They were a tolerant society,
an accepting society. He said, how long halt you between
two opinions? You're going to come to this
sooner or later. I hope it's sooner. If God be God, worship
Him. If Baal be Baal, worship Him.
You can't worship both. God does not allow any mixture. So we come to the place of the
message I preached for at least 36 of the 41 years I've been
here. I preached it last February and I'm going to preach it today.
Seven statements. Seven stubborn, exacting statements. And I'll guarantee you this,
everybody here today, everybody here today, will reach a verdict. And it won't be because they
decide to reach a verdict. It will be because Jesus Christ,
the author of this book, has written it and it's the truth
and it creates a verdict in the heart and mind of men. It makes
them come to a verdict. It's a saver of life or a saver
of death. There's no ifs, ands, or buts
about it. So we come to the first thing,
the Bible. The Bible, what you hold in your lap, is the Word
of God or it's not. It's the Word of God or it's
not. We know it's inspired from heaven. for all scriptures given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof,
correction, and instruction, that the man of God might be
truly furnished unto all good works." It's inspired. What does
that mean? It's breathed. God breathed these
words or He didn't. It is either the truth or it's
not. It's the truth or it's a lie. Don't be deceived. Right now
you are bowed to it or you're rebelling against it. You believe
it or you don't. It's that simple. You ain't got
a foot in the door. You believe it or you don't. The very nature of truth brings
everyone and everyone to account and puts everyone in his or her
place. That's the nature of truth. This
is God's divine word, His communique. Or it's not. This is what He
has to say or it's not. If it's the truth, then no part
of it is false. If it is false on any level,
then no part of it is the truth. Being truth, and it is not a
matter of will you believe, but the revelation that you do now
believe, or you don't believe. That's what this reveals. That's
what this Word is. That's the power of it. It's
record of itself is that it is truth. Christ said, My Word is
truth. He said, You shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. God's Word. God has spoken. He didn't speak
for 400 years between the time of Malachi and Matthew, and He
hasn't spoke for 2,000 years since Jesus Christ went to sit
with Him on the throne of glory. I know men say, God told me.
They're lying. When people say, God told me,
grab your wallet, because that's what they're after. They're trying
to get a hold of some of your money. You can count on that. I remember
Jimmy Swagger one time said, God told me, And I need eight
million dollars to supply this, or I need millions
of dollars to supply this harvest thing we got going on where we're
gonna preach the gospel throughout the whole world. Well, he got
a lot of money and he built an eight million dollar mansion.
You know, that's what they're after. God has spoken. God Almighty the Creator, Sustainer,
Consummator of this world, the One who holds your breath in
His hand, the One who holds your next heartbeat in His hand, He
has spoken. It cannot be the subject of debate
lest maggots make themselves magistrates and bring God before
the bar of their carnal court. If worms' rendered opinions carried
weight, then it's their thoughts imagination of their hearts,
which God says are evil continually, that are exalted to a higher
place than God s thoughts, and they have reached the heights
of the serpent s promise, have become divine, sublime snakes
and vipers, splendid snakes, venerated vipers, that s all
they are. If they believe they can look
at this Word and say, That s not the Word of God, I don t believe
it. to take a portion of it and leave
another off is perhaps to justify yourself in some behavior you've
assumed is to declare yourself an unbeliever it's God's Word look at it hold
it in your hand it's the Bible it's the truth or it's not secondly God is Sovereign according
to this Word God is sovereign, or He's not. I cannot, as a human
being, plumb the depths of sovereignty. I'll be honest with you. When
men try to theologize the concept of sovereignty, they always go
further than God does in His Word. We know this about God's
sovereignty for sure. He does, and has done, and will
do as he pleases always that means whatever he has intended
or designed or desired or purpose shall without doubt come to pass
men look at circumstances and say well this doesn't seem to
line up give it some time you'll see it lines up perfectly What
does sovereignty mean? It means He rules. It's that
simple. He reigns. He controls all things or He
doesn't. If He doesn't control all things,
He doesn't control anything. If He is God, then He is absolutely
sovereign. He rules in creation, providence,
and most assuredly in salvation. He uses all things, moves all
things, uses all men and women for His purpose. You are being
used at this moment. He has set the world on a course
to bring all things to their appointed end, and that end is
the glorification of His name and His person. God rules. He's sovereign. Or He doesn't. But the Scripture
says that He does. The Scripture says. His very thoughts come to pass,
it says in Isaiah 14. His thoughts, whatever he thinks,
must come to pass, must come to pass. He does not give account
of his matters. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
God that showeth mercy. What if God, willing to show
his wrath, and make his power known, endured with much longsuffering,
the vessels fitted with destruction, that he might show grace and
mercy to those whom he has ordained to salvation the fact is you just heard about
who God is and you've been discovered whether you realize it or not
you've been discovered thirdly man is totally depraved
or he's not it's that simple Man is totally depraved or he's
not. Now the Bible says he is. And
says it in so many ways that to doubt it is to utterly doubt
the scripture. In no uncertain terms. And the
ramification of believing otherwise calls into question the record
of God's manner of salvation. If man is not totally depraved,
why does he need to be saved? Start with. Why don't we even
talk about something like salvation, which means to rescue, to deliver
from sin, to take someone who's captive and free them. That's
what salvation means. It's not walking down an aisle
and saying, I'm gonna get saved, or I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna
make a decision. Go to the jails of America and
say, make a decision to be free. They can decide all they want
to. Will yourself to be free. They can will all they want to.
They ain't free. What's it going to take? It's
going to take somebody with power and a key to open that jail cell
and lift them out of there. Let them loose. Nothing short
of that will work. Man cannot free himself. He's totally depraved. If a man
had within himself the ability to generate faith, to change
what he is, then what was the purpose of Christ coming into
this world? What was the purpose of that debacle then that happened
2,000 years ago on Calvary's tree? If man had a spark of life,
a dram of divinity that could be stirred into faith by a human
recipe, then what cruelty must be laid at the door of God Almighty
for pouring His wrath out on His Son and requiring death that
you and I might live. That was all unnecessary two
thousand years ago, you see. If man with a little pretty persuasion
and a bit of cajoling and a little needling nudge in the right direction
could save himself, what a waste Calvary was. man is not totally
depraved and ruined, then it is right and reasonable to make
a plea to him to do something about his life. That's why preachers do it. They
don't believe man is totally depraved. So they plead to men.
Make a decision. Exercise your will. Generate
faith. Raise yourself from the grave.
They plead to men. Why? Because they don't believe
the fact that men cannot of themselves do anything Godward in the matter
of salvation. They simply don't believe it.
There's a reason why we don't have invitations here. There's a reason why I don't
stand up here and plead and beg for people. I plead and beg to
God to save people. I ain't never going to plead
for you to do anything because I know even as a child of God
you can't do anything right. You can never do anything without
sin. You and I both need help that we cannot generate within
ourselves because we are by nature totally depraved. If a man is
depraved, then it's right to pray to God for his salvation.
The Bible clears man to be totally depraved. A liar from his mother's womb,
a leopard that can't change his spots, a liar, a liar, a lighter
than vanity, condemned, drinks iniquity like water, lame, halt,
dead, loom, impotent, damned, and dying, all these none good,
none righteous. This is the declaration you have.
This man is totally depraved or he's not. Now you've heard
it. You've been discovered. You believe it or you don't. Fourthly, God elected a people
to salvation or He didn't. God chose a people unto salvation
or He didn't. The Bible declares that he did.
Since man is totally depraved, then election is an absolute
necessity for anyone to be saved. People say, I don't believe in
election. I say, you don't believe in depravity. That's your problem. That's where the hang-up is.
If you understood that man cannot in any way help himself then
you would understand if God doesn't do something for him, nothing
will be done. You would understand that. But
for someone to be saved out of a mass of putrefaction called
humanity, God must choose them out. He must elect them. He must
sever them from the ruins of their desolate existence. Election
does not keep anyone out of heaven. Everybody is going to hell by
nature. By nature, if it is left up to
nature, you're going to perish in your sin, because that's what
you deserve. But election doesn't keep you from salvation. It guarantees
that some are going to know Christ. It's a guarantee. That's why
Paul thanked God for it. Brethren, beloved of the Lord,
we are bound to give thanks unto God for you, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of spirit and belief in the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel, through the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him, before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame,
before Him in love, having predestinated us to the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ unto Himself, to the praise of His glory, wherein
He has made us accepted in the Beloved." Spiritual gifts, and
God is to be praised. When I've talked about election
before, people have said, that's not my God, and I said, I know. I know. A fellow asked me a question
on Facebook the other day. What do you say to somebody who
says they don't believe in God? I say, look at your watch and
look them in the eye and say, you said that right on time.
Because that's what they did. That's what they did. If God did not choose a people,
nobody would be saved. In sweet sovereign grace, He
chose some to salvation, and if He had not, then all would
have perished and rightfully so. But in reality that wasn't
possible, because He said, I will show mercy, and I will be gracious. God elected a people or He didn't. You've been discovered. This
is light. The gospel is light. and light
discloses. Fifthly, Christ actually redeemed,
actually redeemed, saved, justified, and sanctified those for whom
He died or He didn't. He actually redeemed, saved,
justified, and sanctified those for whom He died or He didn't.
The Bible declares that he did. The Word of God declares that he did. There is
no place, now listen very carefully, no line, no paragraph, no context,
and no parenthetical expression, no hint or suggestion in Scripture
where the death of Christ is evenly, vaguely presented as
being anything other than a complete and unqualified success there
is no place there is no place for the name he was given Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins to his final words in the cross when he said
it is finished his accomplishment is unequivocally proclaimed from
Genesis all the way to Revelation now listen very carefully this
is what men are saying that he tried he made it possible he
tried to save everybody he wants to save everybody made salvation
possible listen if he only tried he only failed If he only tried, he only failed. He himself declared that he laid
down his life for his sheep, and he declared that they all
will hear his voice, and they all will follow him, and he will
give unto all of them eternal life. He declared that. now either that's true or he
is a liar and if he's a liar then he's a fraud and nobody
saved him this whole thing is a farce no charge and no condemnation
can ever be laid to the account of those for whom Christ died
that's the language of scripture who is he that condemneth? well how come they ain't condemned?
it is Christ that died That's the reason that they're not condemned. Now if he died for everybody,
couldn't everybody say that? No, only those whom he died for
can say it because they're the ones who are not condemned. No
charge can ever be laid to them, the Lord said. Listen, we use
language for a reason, to communicate, to have people understand what
we're saying. We use terms, we use titles, these things, it
means something, we understand. and people say Malcolm is a carpenter
top-notch carpenter well we know that means he doesn't fix cars he's a carpenter and doesn't
mean he's trying to be one he means he's a carpenter and he
gets paid carpenters wages Jim is a photographer an excellent
photographer also a bee guy keeps bees, he really knows bees, I've
never seen anybody learn so much about bees in a few years as
this fellow has he's a beekeeper that does not mean he washes
cars for a living we understand that we grasp that Jesus Christ
is called the Redeemer the Savior what does that mean? Does that mean he's trying to
do something? That means, is he trying to do
something else? Make your life better? Give you
tools to improve your existence? Is this what he's doing? No,
he is the Redeemer and the Savior! because He has redeemed and He
has saved His people. That's why you call Him that.
We understand that. And for someone to call Him a
Savior who say He's trying to save but can't, they're using
the wrong title. They don't know what language
means. He's the Redeemer and the Savior. He's not applying
for a job. He's got the job, He finished
the job, He finished salvation, He completed it and it perfected
forever those for whom He died. He put away their sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. He made them accepted, made them
righteous, wholly justified and sanctified and complete in Him. For whomsoever His blood was
shed, their sin was remitted. And those for whom He died will
never be charged with sin and will never die. either he actually
redeemed his people or no one was redeemed that's the truth and you've been
discovered the Holy Spirit sixthly effectually gives faith to all
whom Christ has died for or he doesn't the work of the Holy
Spirit is singular is to reveal to the elect what Christ has
done for them, not what they do for themselves. Our Lord said that through Paul
referred to in Corinthians in chapter 2 and verses 9 through
11. Look over there. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. verse nine says but as it is
written now what was it written Isaiah chapter fifty four I have
not seen nor ear heard neither hath entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him
but that means wait a minute nobody's seen it nobody understand
it but this is an opposing view an opposite but God hath revealed
them to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, yea, even the deep things of God. And He
explains that by giving an example of what we understand about humanity. For what man knoweth the things
of man, save the Spirit of man which is in him? We understand
men because we are men. Even so the things of God knoweth
no man but the Spirit of God. The reason the Spirit of God
understands the things of God is because the Spirit of God
is God. Now, we have not received the
spirit of the world. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own, but because I've chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hates you, he said in John 15,
19. We've not received the spirit of the world, but we've received
the spirit which is of God. Why? That we might know the things
that are freely given to us from God. That's why we have the spirit,
so we'll know what God's done for us. The Spirit takes the
things of Christ and reveals them unto us, it says in the
Scripture. He takes the Word of God, miraculously and wondrously
regenerates the people of God. He's not some religious influence,
some intergalactic force, some mere influence, some available
commodity at the disposal of man on the shelf of a Salvation
Superstore. He's God Almighty, the Sovereign
God, the Holy Spirit, sovereign in power and effectual in His
calling. He reveals Christ to the elect. He does not operate
in the realm of conscience, but in the realm of the invisible
spirit. He does not operate in the realm of reformation or behavioral
modification, but in the realm of regeneration. He does not
convince men of sin by the law, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. of what he did and where he is
now. This is according to John 16. He does not put people in
a trance and manipulate them to do all manner of goofy and
ludicrous and recordable silliness or ridiculous religious hijinks.
He doesn't do that. No matter what people say, well
the Spirit of God was here last night. People's running to the
back of the pews. There wasn't not the Spirit of God. Every time
the Spirit of God is running to somebody in Scripture they
find themselves in the dirt. they ain't shouting and carrying
on they're down in the dirt worshiping God that's what the Spirit of
God does, He takes the things of Christ and reveals them unto
us brings us down, the Holy Spirit puts people in mind of Christ
and His glory not their own teaches them and leading them and guiding
them into all truth and when He teaches the elect here they
learn and they heed His people are made willing in the day of
His power. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He calls all God's people whom
God has chosen, whom Christ has redeemed. He calls them to salvation through
regeneration through the Word of God. The seventh thing is
this. God keeps His people. God keeps His people. or he doesn't. He keeps them. We are kept by
the power of God, people. If you know anything about yourself,
you know that's the case. How many of you win over your
own nature? How many of you win that battle? None of you did. I don't. The more time we cuss our whole
nature than anything else because it's so powerful. What can keep
us from doing what we would is the Spirit of God. And He keeps
us and He'll keep us forever. He'll keep us forever. That's
what the Bible declares. If He didn't keep His people,
all of us would fall into utter ruin. You know that's the case,
because it's in you and it's in me. God keeps His people. The Bible is the Word of God,
you see. Or it's not. God is sovereign or He's not.
Man is totally depraved or he's not. God elected a people to
salvation or He didn't. Christ actually redeemed those
for whom He died or He didn't. The Holy Spirit actually calls
to faith all for whom Christ died or He doesn't. God keeps
His people or He doesn't. That's just the fact. Scripture
says he does and all those aspects. This is light, you see. The properties of light is it
dispels darkness. It reveals and discloses things. That's what happens when the
light is shining in our dark hearts and minds. That's what
happens when people hear the gospel. Light is shining and
people are disclosed and discovered. And they are forced to a verdict. What they hear results in them
coming to a verdict about the player. Maybe one they won't
even admit. Nonetheless, it's true. The Lord
said that all things are discovered. All things that are discovered
are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doth make manifest
is light. And he said to the law and the
testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it's
because there's no light in them. Well, I know something about
everybody here this morning. You either believe or you don't. That's just the fact. Father,
bless us to understand and pray in Christ's name. Amen.