In this sermon, the preacher discusses a situation where a man ignores certain verses in the Bible that contradict his beliefs. The preacher emphasizes the importance of not cherry-picking verses and instead studying the entire Bible to gain a balanced understanding. He also mentions that God's love and the message of the cross are powerful tools in drawing people to Him. The preacher shares a personal story of witnessing a life transformed by God's grace, which broke down any arguments against the preacher's message.

And so, Father, come in thy mercy, and bless us now by washing me in the blood of Christ afresh, and by grace, to equip me, anoint me, unctionized by the Holy Spirit, that I may be a vessel meet for the Master's use, because of the blood of Christ, and the grace of God in anointing someone so weak and unworthy. In base and as wise as I am, in mercy to us all come, in spite of me, and all my limitations and weaknesses come in spite of that by grace upon us all. To visit our hearts, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Now, I believe we have to vacate this whole place very, very soon, and Brother Don will have a nervous breakdown if I don't be sure I end at a certain time. Well, Brother, you did give me an hour, I suppose, if I'm trying to work out what you really did say, but there we have it. What I'm going to speak on today is the most explosive topics a human could ever dare to touch in his entire ministry, and some might dare just as they're dying, so that people don't kill them prematurely. But I'm going to, by God's grace, touch on them in a way that I hope no one will be offended, but only edified, otherwise what on earth do you come into the pulpit for, if it's just to deliberately offend? That would be very, very foolish. God never called you to offend deliberately, and you have no right to offend. A Christian is a gentleman. Oh, I doubt he's ever been saved. But it's impossible that offense will come, if you are truthful to this word, so long as it isn't your deliberate, offensive attitude. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. I don't think God meant, blessed are they that are persecuted for stupidity in the pulpit. Or carnality. If your harshest word does not throb with God's love, God have mercy on you. If your harshest word does not throb with God's love in the pulpit, I fear for your life, let alone your ministry, brother. So, we take into explosive territory, where I just would like to go once, and hope I come out alive. So I would like just to briefly mention these few verses in 1 Corinthians 1.10. I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of clove, that ye, there are contentions among you. Now this I say that every one of you, now this I say that every one of you, saith, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am Cephas, and I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? That's quite a question. Chapter 3, verse 4, While one saith, I am of Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul? Who is Apollos, but ministers by whom he believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God. Is Christ divided? Are ye not carnal still in being divisive? That is quite a staggering question if one says that the entire Scriptures were not written specifically to people, but for us and to us. It is not an historical record, but the living word of God to anyone guilty of the same thing. Tragically, Christianity today could be defined by the unsaved masses as the great divide. If we were to ask most people about this historical term, they would say you must be speaking about Christianity. Within the fundamental Protestants, even cynical church, they are like two separate religions trying to destroy each other. They are so radically divided and opposed to each other, you would believe they have no worse enemy on earth to attack, to undermine, and to try and destroy, and to literally hate. Forgive me. It seems to me that many of the leaders of our church today believe that as defenders of the faith, their faith, they can not only attack the doctrine, but the character of great men of God, some of the greatest men of God who ever lived. I am stunned to know and to hear people fighting to destroy Charles Finney, and now D.L. Moody. I stood in a pulpit in America where I actually just mentioned John Wesley, and how God used him. And Charles Finney, how God used him. And I was denied access to that pulpit again in my entire life for acknowledging that they even existed in the church history, because they are devilish, the preacher said the following Sunday. Their doctrines are devilish. How do you destroy men like that, that you are not allowed to acknowledge that there was such a man as John Wesley, who the king of England placed in Westminster Abbey with all the monarchy from 8th year, 810. Over a thousand years there is a man called John Wesley lying there, because never did a man greater service to his nation than John Wesley, said the king, while the blood flowed. In France, it was about to spill over, and all the nobility and royalty would have been killed. But God visited that land and healing came, both sides, forgiveness from the poor and suddenly compassion from the rich, when Christ saved the soul. And England was spared. Forgiveness, healing, love, could even unite the different classes, which was impossible in France. Now to say that didn't happen because he was slightly Arminiast. Most people think that, you know. Do you know that the man that influenced John Wesley more than anybody else was John Calvin? Sometimes we don't like to hear that because he looked at other scriptures, that aren't our biased pets to scriptures. Charles Finney was used mightily in America. Over 1,500 towns and cities turned to God in ten years, mostly in their entirety under his ministry. Never in the history of America or in the world was any single man so mightily used by God to bring souls to Christ. Now the arguments are that some of his doctrine is heresy. Well, brother, if you follow every single statement I ever made in my life from the day I first stood up to the day I die, you would find things that I too would be probably buried alive. I want you to tell me that you didn't make a mistake. I want you to show me a man, even Wesley, who apologized for certain statements he made in his zeal for God. But not defiance of the knowledge of God, but later on balanced himself out in many ways. And so did Finney acknowledge there was a divergence and influence in certain stages. Show me a man that can't say, I made a mistake and please forgive me. You're looking at a liar. Oh, take care of burying Charles Finney, sir. You say his converts didn't last. Where did you get that? Where did you get that? Of course, more people came to Christ through him than you or any other living evangelist, even B.L. Moody and even Billy Graham's responses of what really is staggering, how we can look at a man like Finney and say there was no fruit that lasted. That's a lie. Tell me the greatest revival in America and the world that ever happened was the prayer revival. More people were converted to God in one nation during your prayer revival right through the Civil War. And that prayer revival was because Christians got on their faces, beginning in New York, in Fulton Street, in the Dutch Reformed Church, Jeremiah C. Lanphier. These men began what in weeks was 10,000 people praying in Manhattan, crying to God for the nation. Eventually, over 200,000 people crying out to God in one state. And the souls that came to God never in history were so many people turning to God in such a short space of time in one nation. Where do you think those souls came from? They were the converts, the people converted under the great Finney. You want to attribute that to the devil? That's pretty hard. Because he doesn't exactly put the dot on your doctrine. God forgive us. Now they also place the great D.L. Moody. Books are written against him because he isn't exactly perfect in the doctrinal statement they make. He's of the devil, and his books are to be banned, and he's not allowed to be mentioned in a pulpit. By the way, the man that barred me from his pulpit after even mentioning that there was a man called John Wesley and that God used him and Charles Finney. Within six weeks, he took so ill and has been taken off the ministry for the rest of his life. It is fearful. I was with a German man, Manfred Stegen, who is a very godly and influential Christian in our nation and southern Africa. And he, in his humility, said these words to me, that he has been so deeply moved and broken as he looked at the way the physical body of Christ in the scriptures was so tormented through sufferings and how his body was torn apart. But then he said a greater grief suddenly came upon him when he began to meditate the situation today. The body of Christ is still suffering, is still being torn apart, but this time by Christian groups through their extreme biased views of doctrine, the body of Christ is still suffering in the most incomprehensible way. It has been torn apart. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, has been tragically taken up by both sides of the true evangelical fundamental church to attack each other mercilessly. What a duel is going on. Is Christ divided? Tell me, you say, the other side is of the devil. Can a house divided against itself stand? Christ said, this sword-wielding, sword-fighting jewel has left the church deeply divided, wounded worldwide. There is no tolerance shown by both sides. The moment any preacher dares to suggest that their scriptures have different facets, not only one biased view, he is looked upon as an enemy. They are non-negotiable. They get up and walk out in their spiritual defenders of the faith attitude. But all they are, I believe, if they can't face scriptures that on their doctrines are hypocrites. I actually once saw a man stand in a pulpit in a conference I was in, and he had his certain section of scriptures that he was to read for his sermon, but he took the chance of his life. He decided, this time, let's start from the beginning of the chapter that he hadn't read. And he suddenly came to the words, predestinated, according to the four laws of God. Whom God predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he sanctified. So, he got to these verses which weren't exactly verses he would quote. That's not his doctrine. Even if it's in the Bible. Sorry. So, what did he do? He looks up. And there was fear in his eyes. And I knew his doctrine. And I thought, you're in trouble. So, what did the poor man do? He looks down, he reads them. The shock. I mean, he couldn't hide it. It was shocking watching him. And then, what did he do? He didn't say, look, let's just leave these next four verses. No, five verses. Sorry, I don't believe in that. I can't accept that. He just pretended they're not there. And he just missed them and carried on preaching as if to say to us all, I hope you didn't see them. Because that's not exactly what I believe I'm about to preach. How can we be so radically biased that we cannot read certain scriptures without undoing our doctrines? That's a little bit fearful. It's fearful. Now, to attempt to minister to both sides of these extreme views that has been going on, this war raging between God's people so many centuries, doesn't just start with us. But to attempt to minister to both sides of the spectrum is a very dangerous feat. To attempt to have the right to actually be acceptable to the full Church of Christ, the fundamental evangelical Church of Christ, is a very difficult feat indeed and a dangerous feat. In the Civil War, the American Civil War, there was a man who happened to just be staying in a spot where the fighting was ferocious and the battle came. And he was so scared because he didn't quite know how to stay alive. He did something outrageous as the bullets were going, and anybody with a red jacket on, pow, you're dead if you've got a blue jacket on. And so the fighting was just going on. So what did he do? He thought, well, I'm going to put a red jacket on. And boom, boom, boom. And then he said, no, let me put the blue. And then he said, oh. So he put the pants on that was the one side and the jacket on the other side, holding it for fear of knowing what to do. So both sides started shooting him. It's dangerous. You are really in a vulnerable state, brother. You're in a terrible moment of your life when you haven't belonged and nailed your colors to the mosque. It is really dangerous to not belong to one group where people will look upon you and what you stand for and say he's one of us. But heaven help the man who dares to try to unite the church of Christ from the pulpit doctrinally. He's in trouble. What both sides would do to him is unbelievable. Years ago, a man by the name of Houdini, he walked across the Niagara Falls on a tightrope. And this was a fearful and dangerous task to have attempted. But I would suggest that any preacher to attempt, for any preacher to attempt to walk the tightrope balancing both views and retain acceptance or an open heart from a full spectrum of the fundamental evangelical church is a far more difficult and dangerous task to attempt. We are so divided. There is no greater enemy we have than the church itself, who is not exactly our great perfect doctrine. I dare to attempt the unthinkable. I dare to attempt the impossible. I dare to express these two views in one sentence, in one pulpit, not two separate pulpits to play to the gallery. I dare to see them as complementary rather than contradictory. And get through the Bible 400 times, and you will be rebuked by anybody coming near you who sees things as a contradiction and not a complementing oneness and unity. It's those who don't get through the Scriptures but get through every book the Reformed theologians or the Wesleyan aminius have written against each other. But they neglect to defy the Scriptures and to accept every verse and to seek the answers. Of course, the first time when I was saved, when I got to Romans 9, I became quite agitated. This can't be. No, this is not righteous. But I must be honest with you. When you first saved, how much of the Bible can you really grasp? But you read. There you go through the second time, and you compare Scripture and Scripture. You come to Romans 9 by the third or fourth or tenth time, and you love every verse and worship God for what at first you've grown in, because God can't give you a full revelation at salvation. But He gives more and more balanced revelation to bring and to unite the Scriptures and not the contradictions you foresee are gone. Gone! Only when you devour the entire Bible and not one biased lot of books or set of tapes or videos from biased preachers who hate each other to the extremists of each view, the hyper-Calvinists or the hyper-aminius. I may commit sacrilege doctrinally to them as a theologian. He either nails his colors to the mask, or he's a vagabond that belongs nowhere. One preacher walked up to me and said, You're like a chameleon, sir. You change colors. You should have one color so that we know where you stand. I said, If you preach the entire Scriptures without leaving half of them out, you'd say the same of yourself. But you won't. So, who's a chameleon, sir, in God's eyes? To the extreme Calvinists, the words God is no respecter of persons means simply God chooses a man without considering consideration of his works or efforts or motives or desires. It is simply, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Who's stopped? To the Wesleyan Arminius, God is no respecter of persons means God does not choose a man apart from the fruit, the evidence of his works and efforts and desires. But to the Calvinistic, the inclined Wesleyan Arminius, You never heard that. You'll never hear it again. But I belong in the other side of the world, in the jungle. You can't find me. To the Calvinistically inclined Wesleyan Arminius, the words God is no respecter of persons means the sovereign God who through foreknowledge, new beginning from end, which is uncomprehendable to a finite man, will never comprehend God, but don't ever bring a doctrine that blames God for evil, where He has no right to judge a man because He made the man's choice. James says, What of the prophet of the man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith save him? Wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works thou believest as one God? James says, Thou doest well the devils also believe and tremble, but wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works is death? James was not saying you're saved by works. No, by grace are you saved through faith. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness. Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith. By grace are you saved through faith. Not of works, if any man should boast. It's the gift of God. There's nothing you can do. It's all been done. And it's grace through faith. So, James says, What of the prophet, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith save him? He's not saying that you are saved or justified by works. No, you're saved by grace through faith. But you're not saved unless your faith works and brings your life to correspond with everything in this book that God says is the result and the evidence of salvation. You're not saved by the evidence of salvation, but if you're saved, the evidence strewn through this book will be written across your life. I see there's a balance. It doesn't take away from the grace of God, giving man no responsibility. Many theologians box God in to the degree that He has no free will to be able to do anything apart from their interpretation of what sovereignty, His being sovereign, entitles Him to. John Calvin has been the most misquoted man in history. I think if he was in most meetings of those who say they're Calvinists, he would be so offended the Third World War would break out. Same as those who quote Wesley. You'd be stunned how we can twist them to say just what we want. Calvinist theology is sometimes identified with the five points of Calvinism, also called the doctrines of grace, which are point by point response to the five points of Arminian remonstrance. In English, the points are sometimes referred to by the acronym TULIP. Total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. Quite something. Total depravity, I agree, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. Well, now, if you go through to many other statements that John Calvin said, you will find it is a very different interpretation to what has been written there. And I dare to tell you about it. All of grace. Yes, of course it's all of grace. But what is grace defined as in this book? What is your interpretation of grace? What does it mean? A man has grace and that's it. Titus 2.11 That the grace of God that bringeth salvation, the grace of God that bringeth salvation that appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world. The grace of God that bringeth salvation that appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world. Grace? You don't have grace. None of God's grace. If that isn't what you believe grace results in. My, you'll have a doctrine that gives sinners the right to stay in sin and enjoy it in spite of the rest of the Scriptures. Romans 6.1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin any longer? And he goes on. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey His servants ye are? To whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin. But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which has delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. And I could go on, and I'd like to. But there's a book, there's a sermon that's on all your websites of over 340 verses. Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Just what God says by this book is the evidence of salvation. If it's God's grace that ever reaches you, brother, be not deceived, no unrighteous person shall enter into the kingdom of God. Be careful that we don't so put grace as the only thing that man has no responsibility. And a testimony doesn't require repentance. That's heretical. Take away repentance, you are in trouble. Deep trouble. Man is not justified by works. But no man who is justified is without works. No one can be a true Christian without aspiring to holiness in his life. Man is not justified by works as John Calvin. No man who is justified is without works. I think Calvin was very good actually. Irresistible grace. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love. I believe that. You can't come to God unless God draws you. But how does He draw you? Jesus said, I, if I be lifted up from the earth, speaking of His death, will draw all men unto Me. I love that. It's the cross, the love of God, the expression of God for sinners that draws all men unto Himself. Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men. Sorry, I shouldn't have read that verse. God now commanded all men, everywhere, to repent. No. Some men, don't give them an opportunity to respond. You might bring someone to Christ and to eternal salvation that wasn't elected. That's not my wisdom. That was Charles Spurgeon, who we say was our champion. It is God that worketh in you to will and to do His purposes. Man left to himself will never seek God. We all believe that. He draws us to Himself with cords of love. But how? The greatest, strongest drawing power He has ultimately to draw you to Himself is the revelation of Christ on the cross dying for you to be saved. Dying for you to draw near to Him. I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to Myself. How does God draw us? Just this message of the cross? No. No. I see this thing that irresistible grace, this thing that God draws us, you know. I see it as something beautiful. The cross, of course, beyond everything. But the cross's effect on others' lives. God uses everything. He throws out cords of love to draw us to Himself until we are broken down of any resistance to say no to Him. Of course, there's nothing that God will use more than the message of the cross. But before I heard the message of the cross in truth, I saw the effect on my brother's life. And there was one of the cords. I couldn't argue with God at the beautiful transformation of a life. And that broke down arguments that I might have had against the preacher. It drew me. I have just come from a place where I was in a home where the son has been in prison over and over again. Drinking drugs, drinking the most horrific things. And his parents weeping and praying. But God gets hold of this young woman who now is married. They've had their children, but they get married. God gets hold of this girl and saves her wonderfully to such a degree that even if he goes to prison, she says, whatever happens to him, I won't leave him, but I'm going through with God. Now, this has staggered him. A smashed, destroyed soul. Now, the next thing, his closest friend from a little boy. Drugs and drinking and prison. Has been mightily saved. You see, God drawing this man, breaking down all resistance by the woman he loves. Now, loving Christ with her whole heart and living the standard of the Scriptures. No matter what he does, she won't leave him until he comes to God. Now, his closest friend turning to Christ. God draws all men, but it's very effective. The cross on their lives. Hallelujah for God's drawing power. The man left to himself will never be able to see God. God draws. He doesn't put them into a box of one I choose. One goes to hell. One goes to heaven. And you that think you can come to heaven by coming out in meetings, I'll still send you to hell even if you're standing ahead. No. I see God's drawing this irresistible grace as a wonderful love crying out from the pages of this holy book. No, not to him that willeth. We have all these verses. It's nothing to do with man. No, brother. In its context, you must look at the full context of that book, not just one passage. Romans 7 says, O wretched man that I am, who can deliver me the good I want to do? I can't. But of course man left to himself he can't. It's not to him that willeth. Your will isn't enough. But God Christ can set you free. So God Himself, not just to him that willeth. Don't just look at the immediate verse and say, There! It isn't your will. Brother, it is. Otherwise, take the chapters before away. We're born in sin. God has to set us free. The Vatican, Roman Catholics, leading Jesuits, have declared that Rome believes that Christ did not die for all men. And there is word perfect what many of our great movements today believe. So they've joined you. Us. At this point, us. God by His foreknowledge, predestined. Here's time. There never was such a thing as time. Time will be no more. When did God come into this? He only surrounds it. He's eternal. Our finite minds cannot comprehend how God can know beginning from end. But time is not limited. We're limited looking at a watch. We can't begin to comprehend how there will be. Time will be no more. As we know, there won't be time. God didn't begin it and end it and say, there am I at the beginning. God is surrounding it. He's eternal. And that eternal God can't be put into a little box and blame Him for what men did. If He's beyond our comprehension, is there unrighteousness with God because He's sovereign? Oh, we must be so careful that we don't actually make God unrighteous. If He gave you a conscience, brother, has He got no conscience? If we know right from wrong, does our doctrines give us the right to tell people that they were born for one reason. That God chose their choice to reject Him so that they could be judged by a choice He made for them. But what are you saying if you don't say that? Whom He will, He hardens for no reason? Or does God's full knowledge, which you can't blame Him for because He's around it. He knows beginning from end. You won't comprehend Him, but don't bring the word sovereignty to mean making the choice for a man to say, I choose hell because God made me to choose hell, is really taking away that verse, is there unrighteousness with God in this context? Whom He will, He hardens at random for no reason? Or does God's full knowledge know what man would harden his heart first? Does God's full knowledge of man affect His choice in what He says predestined? Is there anything to do with a man who we must not limit God in what God knew from beginning to end? The Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world before the world was created. The full knowledge of God, the sovereignty beyond our human comprehension, we limit it to time. Our concept of time cannot limit God, though. Who has never been limited to time. Began time, time will be no more. He is eternally surrounded. He knows beginning from end. But that doesn't mean we blame Him for the choices man made because He knew full knowledge is not sin in God's hands or unrighteousness. It's God, the uncomprehendable God. But always defend His integrity and righteousness and holiness. Oh, get out of the pulpit! If you're just there to defend your doctrine, whom will He harden at the brandom for no reason? Or did God's full knowledge of a man affect His choice in predestinating Him in what He saw? I love old Spurgeon. He said, Whosoever will, let him come. There's the free will of man, John Wesley. And then you go through into heaven and you're at the door and you look at the other side. Well, the one side says, Whosoever will, let him come. So we come. We go to the other side and there we see elect in the Son. I love that. There's something there that doesn't limit God's sovereignty to give a man a free will. Does God's sovereignty in our uncomprehendable mind... He's uncomprehendable in our finite mind. Don't we put God into a box that sovereignty doesn't give Him the right because we can't comprehend it that a sovereign God in His sovereignty gives man a free will so He can judge him righteously by what He knew. Don't think He didn't know. He's God, but that doesn't mean He hasn't been through this though He knew. It grieves. He didn't weep at something He knew before it was just an act. It's not some play that He knows beginning from end. No. He grieves at man's rejection of Him. Is there unrighteousness with God? Like Pharaoh. He hardened his heart. God hardened His heart. But that's not true. You've got to look in the context. Romans 9 comes from Job. The arguments, what God is saying of the greatness of God that must never be questioned of His integrity, the whole argument. Don't question His holy integrity. Every word you see virtually in Romans 9. Did you know that? And the whole argument in Esau and Jacob come from Hosea. And talking about the integrity that God knew and foresaw. Not something He made the man do. Yes, Pharaoh hardened his heart. How many times? And then the final time, God sealed His choice. Then you read God hardened His heart. Don't read Romans 9 unless you've read Romans 1. Verses 2, 3, 4, and 5. You might blame God for men raping their children. Puppetry theology. You know, sovereignty can be brought that there's nothing that a man does that is his free will. So, Hitler murdered 6 million Jews. Men raped children. It's God doing it. If you want to make God that sovereign that man does only what God makes him do. Be careful. You don't read Romans 9 before you read Romans 1, 2, 3, you'll find God had a reason. For this cause God gave them up. Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up. And to reprobate minds. There's a reason. There's a cause. There's always a reason. So, He settles that. God doesn't give up a man for no reason. Yes, He's sovereign. And He comes to Romans 9. And brothers and sisters, in case you don't know it, Paul was the greatest Methodist that ever lived, even though he was a hyper-Calvinist sometimes. But do you want to be honest? Paul systematically takes every doctrine. There's no doctrinal statement of our faith greater than the book of Romans. And every single doctrine he takes, every aspect of Christianity to a degree that there's nothing that can compare within the whole Scriptures and in any writings by any great reformer or theologian. With this doctrinal statement. But Paul takes everything. He doesn't come to Romans 9 and say, Start there! And don't dare look anywhere else. It's a letter. He starts it. He says, For this cause God gave them up. There's always a cause. And Romans 9 comes. He's dealing with the Jews who said, They're the chosen. God has no right, basically, is what they were crying, to bypass them now for the Gentiles. So, Paul says, What if? I hope you read that before you read the rest. God can do in His sovereign perfection, but there's no unrighteousness with God. And so, to argue with the Jews, to show them that God wants the whole world, not just them. That was His intention through them originally. To put them right in their place and to put everyone under the category of sin. He tells the Jews, They're sinners like the Gentiles. Now that Christ has come, there's nothing of their offering that God in grace tried to make them reach the world. So, the Jews are put in their place. And every statement in the light of the whole Bible, Old Testament, taken back into its context, can be deeply understood that it's the integrity of God we must never question. The holiness of God, the goodness, the perfectness of God, the righteousness of God is what is at stake. Of course, a man left to himself will never find what God says. It's not to him that willeth. So, we don't say that as one single sentence. We look at the rights of the whole book. Jesus will set you free. Apart from God, you will never, ever be set free. But be careful, don't take away the word for knowledge or you're in deep troubles. You're in deep troubles, sir. Can the free will of man oppose the will of God? I haven't been shocked yet. Even saying it. Well, let's just think of this. What was God's will when He said to the Jews, How oft would I have gathered thee? Oh, Jerusalem, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ye would not. I would! That was the will of God. But ye would not! Or was Christ lying doctrinally to put on a show? God sent forth His servants, Matthew 22, to call them that were bidden, that were invited to the wedding. And they would not come. And let's be honest, to the context, it ends off that parable with many are called, but few are chosen. Many are called. Some people now, in doctrinal perfection, will say, that is a general call, but not the specific call. A general call doesn't mean all. How sad that few are chosen when the Master cried to all. For they would not heed His pardon. They would not heed His call. A lovely poem my wife wrote. Ye would not! They would not come! I would! Or is God mocking and sending forth and crying out to all men? Does He? Does He mock man? Is there unrighteousness with God? The general call or the specific call? That's something. As man knows say, though God says, woe to him that striveth with his Maker. Though God says, now is the acceptable time to me. Now is the day of salvation for you to me, if you will harden not your hearts. Or is God lying saying, I want to save you now. You can't. I do the hardening. Though God may seal the choice, you see, they refuse to the love of the truth. So God seals their choice and gave them over to believe a lie and to believe a strong delusion. But their choice, they would not accept the love of the truth. So God seals a man's choice. It's a terrible, terrible thing. Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. If you will harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation, as they did in the Old Testament, or seek ye the Lord while He may be found. It's not a promise. It's a call. It's a warning. It's a warning. Sovereignty means puppetry. That we only act out, whether good or evil, the will and the purposes of God, whether you're Pharaoh or Hitler or men sitting in jail for rape. Then that's going to be something to watch the sovereign God in His righteousness judging. If man had no say in the matter, it does make me scared. It does make me scared. Be careful that we dare not take away personal responsibility and blame God for every choice a man makes. For you'll have people saying, what's the point in seeking your God? He's made me a sinner. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to enjoy my sin. Nevertheless, the foundation of God stands as sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. I believe that. According to the full knowledge of God, I have much people in this city. I believe the full knowledge of God is not something of a lack of integrity or holiness or perfect love. I'm a perfect God. Full knowledge does not give us the right to blame Him because of our little... Time is eternal. Time is not eternal. Time is temporal. God is eternal. And He declares, I am Alpha and Omega. I'm the beginning, the end. There's no such a thing as time. To God, to us, yes. Don't limit Him. Don't limit Him by placing time as a limit on the finite mind. His full knowledge does not make Him guilty of what man does. So, according to the full knowledge of God, He predestined us for what? To be conformed to the image of Christ. God is not static. I won't tell you who that is until the end. Then you'll be stunned. Who is a Calvinist? Well, yet forty days and never shall be overthrown. God told this man Jonah to go. And God gave him that message. But the people there realized that God wouldn't send a man to warn them of what He says is going to happen if there wasn't mercy. And that's what I think we must preach. Don't take away the hope of mercy or free will. These men sought God. And as a result, the Lord repented of what He said He would do unto them. And He did it not. Do you remember Paul standing in the shipwreck? And he said, I believe God who told me every man is going to be saved. Did nothing to fear. But then Paul said, when they wanted to jump out, You cannot be saved if you leave the ship. God's promises does not make a static God put into our little box that He has nothing to do, we have nothing to do. I was in a meeting when a man was preaching predestination and election. Literally, he said, one is to go to heaven, one is to go to hell. And that's the will of God. And there's nothing you can do about it. And you were chosen by God for His good pleasure to put you straight into hell. And that's it. So he went on and on. A very learned man, who I know, stood up and challenged him. And said, sir, can I ask you, why does the Scriptures talk about awe? If you say, it's not awe that God died for, that God wants to reach. What is the word awe there for if it isn't awe? 1 Timothy 2, I therefore exhort for prayer for all men. Verse 4, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Those six who gave up and suffered ransom for awe. He tasted death for every man. I could go on. He is the propitiation, the way to God for mercy, not only for our sins, Christians, but also for the sins of the whole world. Who will have all men. What does it mean, awe? So this preacher and all his learnedness says, well, when the Bible says awe, it doesn't mean awe. Does that answer your question? Yes. From now on whenever I hear God's word saying awe, I know He didn't mean it. He's lying. So he sat down. Well, he was thrown out of the church virtually for being an heretic. I think he was just trying to justify God's integrity and not blame God for what man would say he has no choice in. I don't see that as heresy. I see a balance here. Of course, we cannot be saved by ourselves. Of course, it's irresistible grace. But it's through the cross. And He tasted death for every man who will have all men to save. God not command all men everywhere to repent. I don't limit God into some selected group when He cried out to all. Many are called, but few are saved. Few are chosen. Of course, many are called. But those who respond, those who come with a free will, God will forgive. And God will judge those who don't, though He knew in His foreknowledge what you and I think took time. So He did everything beforehand. No, no, no. I don't believe that. We must fight for God's integrity. We must fight for God's integrity. Oh, what doctrine is this that would want anything less? Where am I? A good preacher knows where he is. A bad preacher stays up through the night and gets that tired that he just doesn't sometimes know where the next lot is of all the notes he wrote and his excitedness. Eternal security, the perseverance of the saints. I once met a great preacher who fell into such sin. I won't say his name. You probably all know it. And the same as the newspapers across the headlines of this wickedness. And I met that man. And I touched him and said, Sir, would you mind if I ask you some questions? Were you ever saved? Were you ever real? Did you always live in sin while you preached to the masses? Was there ever a point of repentance where you were set free by God? For if the Son shall set you free, you shall be free. And did you ever come to repentance or did you just live in sin right through? And he said a staggering thing to me. He said, I came out in a meeting like you. I said the sinner's prayer. I signed the card. And I was taken to a testimony meeting straight from there with young people. And they all testifying to being saved. And they said, You've got a testimony. So I stood up and I said just what I heard. And it was effective, so effective. They said, Phew! You've got an ability to speak. Look, everybody was gripped by... So they put him in the pulpits. In the pulpits, in the pulpits. Eventually to one of the great seminars of the world in your country. And this man suddenly was used. And then he said, Did I ever repent of a life of sin? Did Christ ever set me free? Was there ever any reality? I never repented of sin in my life. I don't remember ever being set free from my sins. But I still believe I'm saved. And 90% of the preachers of the world, of the evangelical fundamental church will agree with me on my side, not yours. If you doubt my salvation. I responded. I came out with a true heart. I meant it. And I believe God saves those that come. Once saved, always saved. Don't you believe that, young man? Oh yes, I believe once saved, always saved. Of course, once saved, always saved. If you stay saved. Where did you see that now? This is going to get me into a little bit of trouble. Luke 8, Jesus talks about the sower. Hired, and there he goes spreading the seed. Some fall on the wayside. And then he goes on to all the different things. The seed is the word of God. The sower is the man who preaches and spreads the word of God. And what happens to the listeners? To those who the word of God comes under the preaching of God's word. He went forth and he sowed the seed which is the word of God. And he comes to every aspect of what can happen upon people's lives. And what does happen? What does happen? But then he comes to a place which is rather a dangerous territory. Doctrinally. Some fell upon a rock. Now in Matthew, Matthew's account in 13 verse 5. Matthew says, some fell upon stony places. Didn't have much earth. And as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it had no moisture. Christ goes on to explain, they that are on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy. Did that happen to you? Do you remember it? Is that your testimony? But listen carefully, it doesn't end there. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. Christ warns as he says these words. They have no root which for a while believe. And then in time of temptation, in time of temptation, they fall away. Mark 4 verse 17. They endure but only for a time. Now, he doesn't say what time that is, how long it is. But he says it. Hebrews seed 12 warns, take heed my brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. Exhaust one another daily while it is called today. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. Yes, I believe in one saved, always saved. Because of the scriptures I'm going to give you now up to one hundred. No, sorry. I'm lucky. I wrote it down. Anyway, we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning. If you continue. Hebrews 10, 38. The just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure. We are not of them who draw back to perdition. That's sinful destruction, spiritual destruction. We are not of them who draw back to perdition, spiritual destruction. But of them who believe to the saving of the soul. 1 John 2, 19. They went out from us. But they were not on us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. Here I'm a Calvinist. Why? Because it's the Calvinist. It's the truth. It's the Bible. I had a man stand up and say, we're kept by the power of God. Of course. So I'm a Calvinist. We're kept by the power of God. But then he said, but wait. It doesn't end there. Through faith. Well, here I'm a Nominist. In the same verse, there's something we've got to do. Give diligence, my brethren, to make your calling and election sure. For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. Election. Place into a category that has nothing to do with man's responsibility. Or the warnings that are strewn to the Scriptures. They went away. Like Christ said, for a time believe, but then they fall away. But if, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out. They may be manifest. If after they've escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they turn again. And the latter end is worse. It would be better for them not to have known anything about the salvation message. Here's one saved. Always saved. You stay saved. Don't want to go into too many other verses. But there's many. A hundred and ten. On one thing. He that endures unto the end, the same shall be saved. I believe that. And I do not see it as heresy. But I do get scared. I preached in a pulpit of a church, a very large church. Where after I preached, the man says from the pulpit, if you're saved, you've responded. If you have a testimony, you will never be judged. You can go out now and commit adultery. You can go now and commit murder. There's no such a thing as judgment. You're soul saved. I said that is a very dangerous statement, sir, that you made there in response to what I preached. Because, sir, I only quoted the Scriptures. And you really had to make that statement outside of the Word of God. Murder? Be not deceived. You know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Well, my word, I wish I had time. But I'm in enough trouble, I don't want to give you more fuel for the fire. If you mean the perseverance of the saints cancels out every Scripture that tells you, if you mean by that you come and believe you're saved, respond with joy, and that gives a man the right to go and live in sin with no fear of judgment. And I cry, sorry, sir, I do not see that in the Bible. And I will warn every man I come near, be he a preacher, that you receive the word of joy. You can go to extremes, though. I had a man stand up and shout at me, that you can be lost after salvation. So I said, to the salvation. So he says, I said, after how many sins? Just one sin, and you're damned. You're unsaved. I said, John Wesley didn't preach that. Anything but that. And you say you're a Wesleyan. And he quoted a few Scriptures. I didn't have to say a word. He was an ever louder back in our pulps again. No man can pluck them from my hand. He that hath begun a good work in you shall. I believe that if you're saved. God is with us. Safe am I, you remember that? Safe am I in the hollow of his hand. No man will pluck you from my hand. Sheltered o'er, sheltered o'er, in the hollow of his hand. No foe can harm me, nor yet alarm me with Jesus by my side. Sheltered o'er, safe am I in the hollow of his hand. What shall we say then? Romans 8, 31. If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all freely. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. It's Christ that died. He also rather is risen again, who is the right hand of God. Who also maketh intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? So tribulation, or distress, or all these things. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things to come, nor things pleasant, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, I am! Hallelujah! I have no doubt that I am safe if all the Scriptures correspond to what I believe. God warns those who aren't safe are still applicable. But don't give me a doctrine that gives the man the right to go out and commit murder. Don't give a man a doctrine that gives him the right to go out without fear and commit adultery and still go to bed without a blinking his eye. Because nothing will touch him. Because he came out of the meeting and received the word with all his heart, with joy at that time. Somehow there wasn't death though. Be careful, dear brethren. Of all the things we say, I wish I could have more time. But I'm probably going to be excommunicated anyway. I may as well just do the worst things, eh? No. There was a boy who said, Can I tell you a joke, Uncle Keith? He said it in the lecture room of a theological seminar. So I said, No, I do not believe in jokes. I believe in funny. You can laugh at funny incidents, but don't tell me a joke. Joy is the result of your relationship with Christ, not jokes. And you have more joy than people screaming with laughter at jokes. If you have the right relationship, you don't have to resort to jokes, especially not in this lecture room. No, but I would believe you would want to hear this joke. All right, please. If you're very sure that this is appropriate, please tell us your joke. I was not impressed, by the way. So he says, Well, there was this Calvinist. No, this Wesleyan Arminianist. And he hated Calvinism. And he fought. And, oh, it was his enemies. He had contempt of this doctrine and these people who pushed it. And then he suddenly was told he was terminally ill. He had three weeks to live. And suddenly he ran around. And he was telling people that he believes in Calvinism. That everything, Calvinism, everything taken from the doctrines of what today is regarded, I believe that, I embrace it. So they eventually said, Well, how can you your whole life hate this doctrine and hate Calvinists? And now you're going to die. And he says, Well, I thought, Well, I better do this. Because if I die, there's at least one less Calvinist in the world. I said to this young fellow, I hate jokes. But I must say, that is rather funny. Vice versa. A good Calvinist could tell that about a Wesleyan who faced terminal death. We have to be so careful here. Dearly beloved, I've dared to do something today that could crucify me. And I want to close with this statement. I once was in a church where a man stood up, a very intellectually renowned person. And I was a young preacher. And he said to me, at the end of the meeting, I suppose if we're to be honest, we have come to realize that Keith is a very strongly Wesleyan Arminiast. Greatly influenced by hyper-Calvinism. And then just when we kind of accept that, he unnerves us and becomes so Arminiastic that we can't believe what he's saying. We get unnerved. He says, But we accept every word you say. Because you only quoted the Scriptures. You didn't say one word in this whole series of meetings. Even the appeals you made were the Scriptures appeals. Word perfect is Scripture. But I learned something, my boy. I learned there are many verses in that Bible I've never dared to preach. But they have a place in the pulpit if we are to be faithful. And not bias, as I have been. Through fear of man. I will not acknowledge those Scriptures up to now. But I for the first time sat in my life with a man who had no preference or biased views. And began to realize that both views should never have contradicted, they should have complemented each other. You see, a man, when I said to some American great theologian, Do you believe in eternal security? He said, Yes. Do you believe in eternal insecurity? I was taken to a woman who tried to commit suicide, twice. So they took me. Her father is a great preacher. Don't want to tell you her name, his name. So I'm not betraying you, sir. She came to the place that she felt that sin meant she's unsaved. Failure of any form. And she got into a tormented state where she literally tried to kill herself through the doctrines. Eternal insecurity is as damnable in my eyes as a man who says eternal security to the degree that you can go out and do what you want to. And you're safe, you don't have to worry about your soul. One man said to me, I grew up in a church where I was told we have no choice in the matter. And they gave me Scriptures. And I had to accept those Scriptures as the Word of God. But for the first time in my life, I heard other Scriptures. And I believe God. And I came to salvation now. After all these years of believing nothing I could do. I heard Scriptures I've never heard quoted. Streams of Scriptures. Of the free will of man. In the eyes of a sovereign God who gave man a free will. Who was he? Oh, he was a preacher for 40 years. What did he preach? What he knew. You can do nothing about it. You go into hell like me, your preacher. We'll only find out up there. Doctrines can become damnable. And thwart the will of God and purposes and plan of God by boxing God into our own limited finite minds. Other preachers preach to such a degree that it's the free will of man. That men are struggling across this world to set themselves free. And believing that only when they have done all these works that they could possibly be accepted by God. That's extreme damnable heresy. You come to God in repentance. What does that mean? That you cannot set yourself free. That's repentance. Not setting yourself free. You've never able to repent on your works. You come to God conscious that there's nothing you can do. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me? So it's not to him that will. It's God. The purposes and plan of God. And in his full knowledge, if he hardens a man's heart, it's because he that hardeneth heart continually shall suddenly be destroyed. And that without remedy. There's both sides. There's both views. What am I? Thank God from a young person, I've had one thing that no one can touch me. Because 80 percent, 87 percent of every sermon I've ever preached, I've just quoted this book. And it unnerved Calvinists. It unnerved Wesleyan Alminiists. But it brought a balance. It gave me the right to preach to both sides. I'll tell you to whom of both sides. Every single one. Preachers and laymen and those in the auditoriums. Washed in the blood. Who will accept God's word fully. And see it as a balance. To protect us. To bring us to God. And to make us give diligence. To make our calling and election sure. For if ye do these things ye shall never fall. Forgive me quoting that in case you don't believe that. But every soul on earth that ever tried to touch me. Were whipped down by their own people. As hypocrites. Because he only quoted the scriptures. Yes. Brother Don says it would be amazing if we have another convention next year. After this it will be. But I'll tell you what. I've never been called to defend the doctrine. I have been called. To give every single person I've preached to. Every aspect of the word of God. To protect them from heresy. Can we stand please. I want Brother Don to please come forward. And to commit us to Christ. Thank you Father for giving us the word. There's probably not a man in the world. That would do what's been done today. Unless he would have the understanding. That you've given to men of the word. And men that have been directed by the spirit to understand this. Men like Tozer who said you could fall off at either end of a log. And he said both groups have fallen off their end. There's balance in your word if we would understand. And if you could help us get the wisdom. Of your word. And why you've done this. Why you taught us the way you did in the word. It should revolutionize our life. And Father speak to our hearts. Because if we're not a soul winner. And have a heart for souls. May you do such work that we would examine ourselves. To see if we are really saved. Thank you for speaking to us. Thank you for this amazing message. Thank you for a man that could only deliver this. Unless he was broken and humble in your sight. Bless him and his family. Thank you for the privilege of us gathering together these last few days. In Jesus name. Amen.