is always yes or no. It's always
yes or no. I preached this message by the
title of Seven Stubborn Statements before. So much would be instantly settled
if you think about this. So much would be instantly settled
if we could learn the power of saying yes or no. Just that simple, yes or no. these stubborn statements that
I'm going to repeat again and will do next year in 2020 if
I'm alive, demand a yes or no. And you're going to say it in
your own mind and heart. Everybody here this morning is
going to say yes or no to these seven things. You are. You can't escape the fact. You're
going to say yes or no. Anything else is evil. It's that simple. These are the
words of our Lord. They were repeated also by James
in his epistle. The first thing is this. The
Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. Or it's not. That simple. There ain't no two
ways about it. This book is the infallible,
inerrant Word of God. Or it's not. Scripture says it is inspired
Inspired that means God breathed it came from heaven not from
earth It is either the truth Or it is not the truth, and there's
no in-between It's not a book that you can take a verse here
and a verse there and apply it to some aspect of your life And
say you believe the Bible If you believe the Bible, you believe
it from Genesis to Revelation, or you don't believe it at all.
If you can find one place in here and say, well, I don't believe
that, then you're an unbeliever. Just mark that down. That's the
fact. Be not deceived. Right now, you
are bowed to this word, or you're rebelling against it. It is the
record of God's operation of the universe, or it's not. It's that simple. The very nature
of truth brings everything and everyone to account and puts
everyone in his or her place. This is God's divine communique. Or it's not. One or the other. If it is truth, then no part
of it is false. If it's truth, then no part of
it is false. If it's false on any level, then
no part of it is truth. Being truth in it is not a matter
of will you believe? But the revelation that you do
now believe or you do not now believe, it's a revelation. Scripture
says, thy word is truth. Thy word is truth, God's word,
God's word. Think about that. We poor wretched
creatures here on earth have in our hands what was spoken
and declared and inspired from heaven. We have it in our hands. This is God's Word. The thoughts
of God are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our
ways. As high as the heavens are higher
than the earth. And they have been revealed to
His people. And being God's Word, it cannot
be subject to debate, lest maggots make themselves magistrates and
bring God before the bar. If worms rendered opinion carries
weight, then it is their thoughts, and their imagination, and the
imagination of their hearts, which is evil continually, that
are exalted to a higher place than God's thoughts. They have
reached the heights of the serpent's promise, and they've become divine,
sublime serpents, and splendid snakes, and venerated vipers,
however you want to put it. To take a portion of this Word,
and leave another portion off, is to perhaps seeks to justify
yourself in some behavior that you are doing or you have assumed
or declare yourself. But that simply makes you an
unbeliever. That's all. An unbeliever. Say, well, I believe
something. Well, I believe something too.
I believe a goat eats grass, but that don't make me a child
of God. The truth is that this is the
Word of Truth. The Bible is the Word of God,
or it's not. This book, not me, this book,
not the magistrates of this world, this book, not the Supreme Court
of the United States, this book will be your judge in that day. Our Lord said that I'm not going
to judge you in John 12, 48. The words that I speak they shall
be your judge in the last day. Why? Because this is God's word
or it's not. Can't be both ways. And you in
your heart have said yes or you said no. Just that simple. Secondly, God is sovereign or
he's not. God is sovereign What does sovereign
mean? That means to rule and reign
with absolute freedom and liberty. It means that no one or no thing
can stop you from doing what you want to do and what you desire
to do. It means you rule with absolute
sway. The Bible, this book that is
inerrant and infallible, declares that God rules in this world. God rules in this world. He reigns
in this world. He controls all things, or he
doesn't. If he is God, then he is absolutely
sovereign. The word God tells us that. Even
that fellow in the wheelchair that is real smart, I can never
think of his name. He said, if there is such a thing
as God, he must rule absolutely. And he didn't even believe in
God, but he understood the principle. God rules in creation. Most people
will agree with that, that God created the heavens and the earth.
God rules in providence. Most people will agree with that.
They say it, at least at funerals and such. They say there's a
purpose in all things. They say, well, this is according
to plan. So they agree that there's some idea of a God running providence. But the fact is, and this is
where most men fall short and become unbelievers or show their
unbelief. He rules specifically. and gloriously
in the salvation of sinners. He alone rules in the salvation
of sinners. He uses all things that He has
made. He moves all things that He has
made and He uses all men and all women for His purpose. All
of them. Some will end up perishing on
purpose. some will end up in glory on
purpose 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 and that's how it's going to end up there's not a speck of dust that
dances across a sunbeam anywhere in this world without God controlling
it That's how much control he's in. God ceases to be God if he's
not in control. In fact, you could say he's out
of control, out of anybody's control. He just does what he
pleases. Isn't that what we say about
kids who are out of control? They're out of control. Why?
Because they just do what they want to do. Well, they're not.
They'll be stabbed in so many ways, there's so many things
that can stop them, but not God. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased in heaven and earth and
all the deep places and under the seas. He rules all things. This is the God of heaven. This
is the God of the Bible. God ceases to be God if one thing
is outside his predestinated purpose. If one thing is, then
all things are. If he's not in control of everything,
he's not in control of anything. but the scripture declares he's
in control. He says in Isaiah 14, 24, barbaric
thoughts are gonna come to pass. What I think is going to come
to pass. He says that in Isaiah 45, that
he creates evil, that he creates light, that he creates darkness.
He does all these things because he is God. All over the scriptures
in Job 33, he says, I am God and I don't give account of my
matters. You can argue with him all you want to. You can ask
and try to figure out why this happened or why that happened.
God said, I'm not going to tell you. It's none of your business why it
happened. I'm God. I'm God. Nebuchadnezzar knew
it. He doeth his will in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand to say unto him, what doest thou? He's God. Romans chapter 9 makes it clear.
He raises men up and puts them down for his own glory. He makes
some vessels of honor to show forth the glory of his grace.
He makes other vessels to be destroyed to show the glory of
his wrath. He's God or he's not. One or the other. And right now
you're saying you're mine. Yes or no. Third thing is this. that's you
and me. When I say man and I know that's
becoming politically incorrect but I'm going to say it anyway
because I've been saying it for 72 years and I'm not going to
change it. Man, humankind, men and women
are born in this world totally depraved or they're not. That simple. What does that mean, totally
depraved? It doesn't mean you've reached the depths of what you
can. You don't even know how dark you are inside. You don't
know the violence of your own heart and your mind. The heart
is wicked and evil. God says, who can know it? People
say, I know my own heart. Oh, you ain't been put in a position
yet. You ain't been put in a position yet where you will find out what
your heart is like. We're darker than a thousand
midnights down in a cypress swamp. Our heart is black and evil and
wicked. We're born that way. Or we're
not. Or we're not. The Bible declares that man in
no uncertain terms is depraved and the ramification of believing
otherwise called into question the record of God's manner of
salvation. Man is not totally depraved. Why even bother to
try to save him? He can save himself. Man had
within himself the ability to generate faith. People talk about
that. What help your faith? You ain't got no faith unless
God gives it to you, and he gives it to you by grace. By grace,
you're saved through faith, and that faith is not of yourself.
It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. If
a man had within himself an ability to generate faith, to change
who he is, then what was the purpose of Christ coming into
this world at all? Now, people would say, well,
he came as an example. He came as a martyr. He came
to teach us this and to teach us that. He came for one reason,
because sin requires death, and he came to die in the room instead
of his people. If man has 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? when in truth it was
unnecessary because with a little pretty persuasion and a little
cajoling and a little nudge in the right direction, man could
save himself. Why would God put his son on
the cross? Years I spent in vanity and pride,
caring not my Lord was crucified. Knowing what it was meant, knowing
not for me he died on Calvary. We just sang it. The invitation
system Men's pleas to men and the soul winner's ploy are but
prayers and pleas of men to save themselves. If a man is depraved, then it's
right to pray to God for his salvation. If he can't do anything,
then he's utterly depraved. It's right to pray to God to
save him because he can't save himself, but if he ain't utterly
depraved, if he's got this free will that men talk about, if
he's got all this spark of divinity, why don't you just pray to him?
Well, that's what they do, don't they? They say, close your eyes
and raise your hands. Won't you please come down? Won't
you please surrender? Won't you please accept? Well,
they was praying to man. And you should, if he can save
himself, you should pray to him. But if he's utterly depraved,
as the Bible declares him to be, his only help is God. So pray to God for your children.
Pray to God for your children. The Bible declares that man is
totally depraved from the womb. He comes forth speaking lies.
He's a liar, a liar lighter than vanity. Condemned, he drinks
their liquor like water. He's lame, halt, dead, impotent,
doomed, damned, and dying, all those things. Doesn't seek after
God. None righteous, no not one. None that doeth good upon the
earth, no not one. Man is totally depraved. Or he's
not. And you just said in your mind,
in your heart, yes. or no. Fourthly, God elected a people
to salvation or he didn't. That simple. He chose a people
unto salvation or he didn't. The Bible, the inerrant word
of God, declares that he did over 140 times in this book. Since man is totally depraved,
then election is an absolute necessity for anyone to be saved.
If I can't help myself, if I can't save myself, if I can't move
one inch closer toward God, if my whole mind is against God,
if I hate God by nature and I don't want anything to do with God,
if I'm to be saved, God must do something. And God has for
his depraved people. For his depraved elect, he has
chosen them in Christ before the foundation of the world. For men to wind up in hell, all
God will have to do is leave them alone. That's all he'll have to do.
Barney, you say you go to hell if you can. And you will, if
you can. someone to be saved out of that
morass of putrefied humanity. God must choose them. He must
select them. He must elect them. He must sever
them from the ruins of their desolate existence. Election
does not keep anybody out of heaven. It assures that some will enter
in. We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief in the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. according as he's
chosen us in Christ 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 the glory of his grace where it is made us
accepted in the beloved. If God did not in sweet sovereign
grace choose some people to salvation then all would have perished
and rightfully so. God has chosen some to salvation
or he hasn't. Yes or no? Fifthly, Christ actually
redeemed. Actually redeemed, saved, justified,
and sanctified those for whom he died. Or he didn't. The Bible declares that he did.
There is no place no line, no paragraph, no parenthetical expression,
no comma, no semicolon, no colon, no hint or suggestion in this
book where the death of Christ is even vaguely represented as
being anything other than a complete and unqualified success. No place in this Bible. from the name he was given at
his birth to his final words from the cross, his accomplishment
is unequivocally proclaimed. Men say he made salvation possible.
If he only made it possible, then salvation is impossible
because man is depraved. If he only made, if he only tried,
then all he did was fail. He himself declared that he laid
down his life for his sheep, his people. And that his sheep,
when he calls, they will hear his voice and they will follow
him. And he will give to them eternal
life and they will never perish. This is his word, John chapter
10. Paul said in the Romans, no charge
and no condemnation can be laid to the account of those for whom
Christ died. And that's how he worded it.
There is no, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect.
It's God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Yea, rather His risen again is
even at the right hand of the Father. He didn't make salvation
possible. He saved His people. He cannot
be a redeemer of unredeemed men. I mean, you can't use that noun,
that title. and referred to unredeemed man.
He's not a redeemer of someone who's not redeemed. That's stupid.
He's not a savior of someone who's not saved. That's stupid. He's the savior of men, the redeemer
of men. He is exalted right now at the
right hand of the majesty on high for one reason. He got the
job done. When he cried from the cross,
it is finished, it was finished. Salvation was done. For to this
end he both died and rose and resurrected that he might be
the Lord of the living and the dead. Because he was obedient
even to the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted
him and given him a name above every name. that in the name
of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that
He is Lord, because He earned as a human being, who is both
man and God, but He earned as a human being the right for a
human being to be in heaven. And He is our forerunner, and
He's gone in there for us. Absolute success. Absolute success. He finished salvation. Completed
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, holy, and justified, and sanctified, and complete.
For whomsoever His blood was shed, their sins are remitted,
and those for whom He died will never be charged with sin. Either
He actually redeemed His people, or no one was redeemed. Yes or no? Yes or no? Sixthly, the Holy
Spirit effectually gives faith to all for whom Christ died.
You see, the work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to the elect
what Christ has done for them. That's what it says in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 and verses 9 through 11. He says the Spirit's given
to His people so they know what God's done for them. He's not
given so you'll act like a jerk. He's not given so you'll wave
your hands and jump up and down and act like a fool. That's not
why He's given. He's not given so you'll speak in tongues. He's
not given so you'll have holy laughter. He's not given for
any of those reasons. He's not given so you'll run
to the back of the pew and throw the hymnals around. He's given
for this reason. To teach you what God has done
for you. to show you the things of Jesus
Christ. The Spirit takes the things of
Christ. He says this in John 16. The Spirit takes the things
of Christ and reveals them to Christ's people. He takes the
Word of God and with this Word, miraculously and wondrously regenerates
or gives new birth to the people of God. He's not some religious
influence. He's not some Star Wars force. some mere influence, some available
commodity at the disposal of man. He is God the Holy Spirit. He is the sovereign Holy Spirit
of God. He's sovereign in power and effectual
in His calling. When He calls, you're gonna come. You're gonna come. Now when I
call, you'll sit right where you're at, and you can say, well
that guy's a fool. Don't matter. But if the Holy
Spirit calls you, by this gospel and the word, people better get
out of your way, because you're going to find Christ. Because
that's what He does, you see. What if you were dead, and all
of a sudden your eyes were opened by this Holy Spirit? And He tells
you, you deserve hell. You deserve 10,000 hells. But God has sent his son into
this world and has died your death that you owed God so you
don't owe God a death. Now you rise up and walk in newness
of life with a renewed mind, a new heart, a new spirit and
live for God. Some jerk in religion would say,
well I can reject that. How stupid. The Holy Spirit calls. And when He calls, people come.
He reveals Christ to His elect. He does not operate in the realm
of the conscience, but in the realm of the invisible spirit.
He does not operate in the realm of reformation or behavior modification,
but in the realm of regeneration. He does not convince men of sin
by the law, but by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, of
what He did and where He is now. Isaiah was a sinner. Later in
Isaiah chapter 64, he said, all my righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. We knew all fate is a leaf and
nothing to us. We're like a leaf blowing in
the wind. When did he come to that conclusion?
Well, if you read the first five chapters of Isaiah, Isaiah is
a tough one, tough preacher. He layin' them people out. Woe
unto you for this and woe unto you for that, you rotten people,
you're doin' this, you're doin' that. Woe unto you, woe unto
you, woe unto you. Then in chapter six, Christ shows
up. His train filled the temple.
The pillar shook at the sound of His voice. The King of Glories
come in. The six-wingsed beef flew around
Him, singing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. And Isaiah
never said, woe is you again. From chapter 5, from chapter
6, all the way through chapter 66. The following 60 chapters,
he never said, woe is you again. He said, woe is me. I am undone. I am an unclean
man and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Woe is you. Woe is me. The Holy Spirit teaches
you. I'm going to teach you what you
are. The Holy Spirit does not put people in a trance or manipulate
them to do all manner of goofy and ludicrous, recordable, silly
and ridiculous religious hijinks. The Holy Spirit puts people in
mind of Jesus Christ. And He will never cause any man
to glorify the Holy Spirit. He will always say, glorify Christ. glorify Christ. When He teaches,
when He calls, the elect hear and they heed and they learn. His people, according to Scripture,
are made willing in the day of His power. Finally, the seventh
thing is this. God having elected and chosen
and redeemed and called his people keeps them for eternity or he
doesn't some people say if you sin you lose your salvation if
they apply the word if to sin they don't know what sin is to
start with you don't lose your salvation
because you didn't save yourself if you're saved If you're saved,
God saved you, and so He ain't gonna lose you. The Bible claims
that He keeps His people. You're kept by the power of God
unto salvation. God who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Jesus Christ
before the world began. He will keep His people. He neither
sleeps nor slumbers. His children will not fail. His
children will not leave. If He didn't keep His people,
if He didn't keep me, I'd fall in two minutes, two seconds.
I'm kept by the power of God. I have no integrity. I want to
be a man of integrity. I want to be that. I try to be
that, but I really have no integrity that will stand the test of righteousness. I just don't have any. What about
me? God must keep me. And know this,
if you're out of trouble and ain't in the penitentiary, it
ain't because you're good. It's because God has kept you.
It's because God has kept you. That's the only reason. Don't
think that it's your goodness when it's actually God preventing
you from being what you really are. But he'll keep his people. He said, I give them eternal
life. No man is able to pluck them out of my hand. My Father,
which gave to me, is greater than all. And no man is able
to pluck them out of my Father. Saying, I and my Father are one.
I and my Father are one. God is Savior. He'll keep you. Keep you forever and ever and
ever and ever. Or He won't. Yes or no? Yes or no? The Bible is the Word
of God, or it's not. God is sovereign, or He is not.
Man is totally depraved, or He is 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 effectually calls
to faith all for whom Christ died, or He doesn't. God keeps
His people, or He doesn't. These are seven facts. Yes or no? Yes or no? Let your communication
be yay-yay, nay-nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh to
evil. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.