I was sharing with Chuck and Judene just a couple of days ago about a woman who was passing through. She was from somewhere down in Southern California. I'm not sure where now. But she liked what she heard. And she took one of our bulletins and wrote me a letter. after she got back to her home, asking if I would send her a couple of more of my messages. She wanted to hear more of what I had to say. And so, I honored her request and sent her a couple of messages. Then I got a letter from her telling me, you need to take your message on the road and become an evangelist. You preach the same thing over and over." Well, whether she knew it or not, that was a very high compliment. I only have one message. And every time the Lord allows me to preach, that's the message I preach. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I thought about that and I looked up the word evangelist just three or four days ago. And the definition from Strong's Concordance is an evangelist is one who preaches the gospel. One who spreads the good news. That's what pastors do. We preach the gospel. Oh, we'll give, like Brother David is so faithful in doing, explain the meaning of different words. We'll use different texts. We'll give different illustrations. But it always points to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's our message. And so I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 2. Let me share these thoughts with you while you're turning there. Jesus Christ is the good news. He is eternal life, and if we have him, we have all things that pertain unto life and godliness. If we have Christ, we have all the promises of God, and all of them are yea and amen. If we have Christ, we have all the blessings of God. All the blessings are found in Christ. And if we have Christ, There's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, no judgment. We have absolutely no fear of coming judgment if we're in Christ. He took care of our sin debt. washing us clean in His blood and removed all of our sins from God's sight forever. Does that bless you? That blesses me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. If we have Christ, we have absolutely nothing to fear. In Christ Jesus, we are as holy as God Himself. Did you hear that? If we're in Christ Jesus, we're as holy As God himself, God sees no sin in Israel, none. I've shared this before, but I'll share it again. A little boy was coming home from church and there was a mocker standing in his yard. He saw him coming from the church and he stopped the little boy. He said, you believe all that they're preaching down there? He said, yes sir, I do. God tells me that he's put all my sins behind him. And the mocker said, well, what if God turns around? The little boy said, they'll still be behind him. And that's true. There's nothing that can be laid to our charge. If we have Christ, we are delivered from this body of death in his appointed time, and we shall be presented before him faultless. That's what the word of God says. will be presented before the presence of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ our Lord, faultless. I gotta stop and think about that. Because I know my own, not completely, but enough to know that I'm nothing but a sinner. saved by the grace of God. I know I'm a sinner. I sin every day. I have wrong thoughts go through my mind. I entertain wrong thoughts, and I'm sorry, I'm just being honest. So to be presented before Him faultless is something that I can't fully comprehend, but I know it's so. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken care of my sin debt, and I give Him all the praise. Now brethren, there's only one reason God forgives sinners. One reason God bestows His sovereign grace and mercy upon a hell-deserving sinner, such as myself, and that reason is for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. We're to forgive one another even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. Now, Brother David, in one of his recent messages, had two points that he brought before us. Substitution. and satisfaction. Christ is our substitute. He offered himself for our sins. God's wrath was poured out on his darling son because God our Father laid on him the iniquity of us all. And God was perfectly satisfied with the supreme sacrifice that Jesus Christ made. and he receives us into his fellowship when he enlightens our minds to the truths of the gospel and we embrace Jesus Christ as our only hope. God himself embraces us for the glory of Jesus Christ our Savior. Now here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, let me read verses 1 through 5. Paul, writing on a divine inspiration, wrote these words. He said, I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you. I'm in the wrong. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I was in 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 2, starting at verse 1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. Now listen to this, for I determined, I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul didn't care if you were wealthy or poor. He didn't care if you were educated or illiterate. He didn't care if you came from a prominent family or if you were just a common everyday ditch digger. He didn't care anything about you. You could express yourself all that you want to, but he didn't have any interest in that. He wanted this to be brought before the people. I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our Lord asked the same question, what think ye of Christ? And some unbelieving Jews said, He said, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they said, son of David. Our Lord said, then why did David call him Lord? Writing under divine inspiration, and I'm paraphrasing. And they couldn't answer him. So this is what we bring before the people. What think ye of Christ? That's pretty important. Our thoughts should harmonize with God's Word and with most churches and most preachers That is not true. They're false preachers. They bring before you a few truths taken out of context, and they have entered into a religion that points to universal redemption, universal love, and absolutely denies what Jesus Christ did for his people at Calvary 2,000 years ago. God loves everyone. No, he does not. God does not love everyone. I know he hated, what's his name? Jacob Esau. I know he hated Esau, and he hates all workers of iniquity, but hang on to your pew because we're gonna jump a creek right now, and it's a wide one. God never did hate us. He loves us with an everlasting love, and in loving kindness, he draws us unto himself. God's love is in Christ Jesus, and we have always been in Christ Jesus from way back before a star ever twinkled in the sky. God shows us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He set his love upon a particular people. And in God's appointed time of love for us, he brings us under the preaching of the gospel and enlightens our minds to the fact that Jesus Christ is God Almighty who became a man to take care of our sin debt. So Paul is saying this, I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. What do you think of that? Then he writes in verse three, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, and here's the reason, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Faith is God's gift to the sinner. Contrary to popular belief, this religious generation believes that faith is your gift to God. We're dead in trespasses and sins in our unregenerate state and we don't have any faith. Faith is God's gift. Grace is God's gift. Mercy is God's gift. And he must give us faith to believe his glorious gospel truths. And when he does, None of those who are enlightened by the Spirit of God will have anything to do with a religion that promotes the works of man in salvation. How can we have anything to offer God if we're dead in trespasses and sins? And he comes to us in that unregenerate state gives us a new heart, life precedes conversion to Christ. We must have life, or we'll go through life hating God, hating Christ, hating His gospel, and go right into eternal torment when we go through that doormark death. We better believe on Him. Now turn over to Acts chapter four, if you will, please. Acts chapter four. The sovereign power of Jesus Christ is the heart of the gospel. All power in heaven and earth has been given to the resurrected Christ of God. All power, not just some, all power has been given to Him. Jesus Christ is the power of God. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. And here we are in this life dealing with these truths without perfect understanding, but with some, that whatever happens, whatever happens in this world today, one minute at a time, was purposed by our God for the glory of Jesus Christ before time began. All things, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the call according to His purpose. All things, And if Jesus Christ wasn't in control of all things, working all things after the counsel of his own will, how could that be true? But I know it's true. I don't understand it, but I know it's true. I know what happens to me one day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time, was decreed by my God for my eternal good and for the glory of Jesus Christ. And if we have that understanding, we won't be so apt to shake our fist at that guy who cut us off when we're in traffic. We won't be so quick to find fault with others when we suffer a little persecution for the glory of Christ. We'll bow before the absolute sovereign power of Jesus Christ and will echo his words, not my will, Lord, but thy will be done. Now here in Acts chapter four, Peter and John had been used of God to bring the good news to that impotent man, and the Lord healed him, raised him from that state of being impotent to strong legs that could jump and leap and praise God. And Peter and John were arrested. They were apprehended by the unbelieving Jews. But they couldn't say much because the miracle was performed and they couldn't deny that. But they threatened Peter and John, told them not to preach in the name of the Lord Jesus. And Peter said, Who should we obey, you or God? You decide that. And so they had to let them go. And when they let them go, they returned to their company. And starting in verse 23 of Acts chapter four, we read this, and being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, when the church, those who in fellowship with Peter and John in the true gospel, when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one chord and said, Lord, thou art God which hath made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ, and of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together." Now I'm pausing on purpose. I want you to pay close attention to verse 28. This is how the church back then prayed. For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." What those Jewish people who hated Christ and those Roman Gentiles who gathered together with those unbelieving Jews to crucify the Lord Jesus, that was determined by God himself to be done. God determined that. Jesus Christ came into this world to die, and that was His appointed time to go to the cross and be nailed to that cruel cross for the sins of His people, determined beforehand to be done. God determined that. That was no accident. That was the purpose of God for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to go to that cruel cross and bear the iniquities of his people. My sins were laid on him. Jesus Christ bore my sins in his own body on the tree and was punished as my substitute, as Brother David brought out in one of his recent messages. Folks, listen, we've been punished already in our substitute. God is holy. He must punish sin. He must. If you're without Christ, and you go through that door marked death without Christ, you're gonna be punished for your sins in eternal torment. But if God gives you a mind to embrace what his word clearly teaches concerning Christ our Savior, and we see him taking our place, we see Him as the one who by Himself purged our sins, and God promises us this, nothing will be laid to our charge. We have eternal life. We have a promise from God Himself that we will never see death. Absent from the body is present with the Lord. We come to Jesus Christ by faith, We bow before Him. We acknowledge that we're sinful, that we hate God in our own legitimate state, and that we need a Savior, and He gives us an understanding. Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Savior, who took care of our sin debt by Himself. Now, if you will please turn over to 2 Thessalonians, Chapter 2, one more passage of Scripture, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now how are we delivered from the power of darkness? How do we obtain grace and mercy from God? Well, He must bring us under the preaching of His gospel, and He does. He must give us His Holy Spirit. He must command the light to shine in our new heart to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God must give us faith to believe that Jesus Christ bore our sins in His own body on a tree, and that we have already been punished for our sins in our substitute, and that He, Jesus Christ, was raised again for our justification. He, God, must give us faith to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, that everything that happens is under His sovereign rule, and that He's working all of these things after the counsel of His own will. I know that's tough. I know it's hard to embrace that wholeheartedly, because things happen that disturb us. Things happen that causes us to be afflicted with sorrow and heartache and pain. But like we heard in Sunday school this morning from Brother Larry, these things are happening for the glory of Jesus Christ and for the good of his people. These things are ordained. Let me say that again. These things are ordained. They're not accidents. Nothing happens accidentally. Everything that comes to pass is purposed by God back in old eternity. Once again, for the glory of Jesus Christ, and for the good of his people. I hear in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, starting at verse 13, Paul has already written concerning the unregenerate people that God sent them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. But then he wrote these words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, but we are bound 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." You all believe that? That's the Word of God. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. You didn't choose God, He chose you. He didn't put His vote against the vote of the devil left the deciding vote up to you. God himself chose you, chose me, if my faith is in Christ. He chose us to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. That word sanctification simply means set apart or made holy. And the Holy Spirit has sanctified us. In the book of Hebrews, in the 10th chapter, we read that our Lord Jesus came to do His Father's will by the which will that He, Jesus Christ, through the sacrifice of Himself, should sanctify His people. And right down in a couple of verses below that, it also says that He perfected us forever by the supreme sacrifice of Himself. We're God's sanctified people. He chose us to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. We believe the truth. This religious generation doesn't know the truth. They don't know the Christ of Holy Scripture. They don't know the gospel. And they shake their fist at those who embrace the truth and try to tell them that they're wrong. I'm telling you, I've dealt with this. The Lord called me out of darkness when I was in my late 20s, and here I am in my 80s, and for all of these years I have dealt with this, and I know what people hate. They hate it when you tell them that it's not of Him that willeth, nor of Him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. They hate that, because they want to rob God of His glory. and try to tell people it's your decision, it's your free will. God's given everybody a will to decide whether they should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or not. That is not the gospel, that is not the truth. He, of his own will, begat he us with the word of truth. And when we come out of darkness into his marvelous light, that truth sets us free. That's the work of the Holy Spirit, to take a hell-deserving sinner, blinded by the God of this world, delivering us from the power of darkness, the power of Satan, the power of sin, the power of self, and we're set free from that bondage we were in. God's grace and His mercy bestowed upon us for the glory of Jesus Christ. So Paul says that God has chosen us to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. And then in verse 14, we read, where unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. God calls his people out of darkness under the preaching of his gospel. In my Early walk before God, I had two preachers that I admired. But they turned against Henry Mahan because Henry Mahan believed that God sends his spirit into the hearts of his chosen people under the preaching of the gospel. And in a passage of scripture, We read that there's divisions among us, and there must needs be that those who are approved may be made manifest. And my Lord gave me an understanding that what Henry Mahan was saying, what Don Fortner was saying, what David Pledger was saying, what Milton Howard was saying, what Donny Bell was saying, and all of God's grace preachers is one and the same. God sends his spirit into our hearts under the preaching of his gospel. Paul said to the Philippians in the third chapter, this only would I learn of you, receive ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. We receive the spirit from God, the spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, under the preaching of His glorious gospel. This only would I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. And so we, as God's enlightened children, have received the Spirit of Jesus Christ who guides us into all truth. We have nothing, absolutely nothing to glory in but Jesus Christ our Lord. He's my Lord and my God, and I am not ashamed to tell you that. Jesus Christ saved me. He by Himself purged my sins. I believe what He says to His children. If our faith is in Him, we will never die. Oh, I know this body has to lay down and go back to the dust from whence it came, but absent from the body is present with the Lord. When God delivers us from this body of death, we will see Jesus Christ in all of His glory. What a day to look forward to, to see Him glorified. We see Him through the eye of faith now glorified, but we're gonna see Him through brand new eyes and a brand new glorified body and for all eternity, for all eternity, we'll give Him all the praise and all the glory. for this great salvation, this unspeakable gift. I was telling Judy just yesterday, I think, you suppose that when we leave this life, God has a special cloud for us that we can ride around on. Well, that's just foolish thinking. We'll be so busy praising our Lord, we won't have any time for anything else but to give him all the glory for what he has done for us. And that day is coming. That day's coming soon for a couple of us. And I pray, I pray earnestly that our Lord will enable us through the eye of faith to keep our eye focused on the Christ of God who loved us and gave himself for us, that we'll see him, see him as our only hope, Christ in you, the hope of glory.